Suzieanna

Love this!

There is a strange phenomena (sp) called Schadenfreude (or some such thing).... pleasure in other's misfortune. People seem to take delight in the fact that others have spent shed loads of money and then got sick!! kind of a "let's all laugh at those "rich" people, who think they are so great having their wonderful vacation!"....

Jealousy turns people a similar shade of green to D&V I believe???

I always book early when I want the six bedroom suite with the piano and it's own private staff of lackeys to run around after me.... Haha only kidding! The only reason we book so early is because we need to plan work and school etc. Can't wait to be able to have last minute holidays ... Of any sort!

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What does it mean if you know you are definitely riff raff, but you paid a Vantage fare?

Hi Island Star

I have been in touch with eco dive and we are just waiting until nearer the time to see if enough people want to go that day to justify getting boat out fingers crossed!!!

Thanks for the recommendation. They look great!

If you can see things by snorkelling, then that's great!

I really like the one of the person stuck at the typewriter... it reminds me of myself!

I LOVE when its the middle of the night and you can go and sit on your balcony and just look out into the blackness and watch the waves as your ship pounds through them.... It really gives me a sense of how time flies, but nothing really changes. I think about how amazing it was that I was once a twinkle in somebody's eye - and how lucky I was to have been born where (and when) I was!

I always get profound on the balcony and start thinking about and counting my many blessings.

Do you not need a scuba diving qualification to see these sculptures? I thought you needed PADI to be able to dive?

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I was only being playful when I mentioned dress codes :p

gosh - I am probably the opposite and would be more likely to wear a swimsuit in my own shower cubicle than I would to go au naturel.... prude alert thats me.....!

See, this is what happens when cruise lines will not instigate a specific dress code for such an occasion!!!;)

Well, if my neighbours looked round and saw me in my nudieness, I am not sure who would be the most traumatised!!

However, the older I get the more I get to thinking about the importance of celebrating being alive and enjoying each day, (whilst not frightening the horses that is!! )

One time I was stood at a railing looking down into an atrium, and a lady came and stood exactly behind me and then complained to her husband (very loudly) that she just "couldn't see a darned thing!"

Not an overheard complaint - just more of an observation on the strangeness of humans! . Lots of men "think" they can dance, and they always blame the woman when things go wrong in the lesson.... A couple we met on a sea day tango thing - the poor wife, everything she did was wrong!! I danced with the husband, I was making the same mistakes too apparently - then my daughter who has danced every day for 14 years got to dance with him - don't think he quite knew how to tell her she couldnt dance either! haha!! bless him!!

Another vote for adjoining balconies. I did this last year (me and my teenage daughter in one - my parents next door)

And it worked perfectly. We kept the adjoining door open in the day, and then at night everyone had their privacy - and of course a shower room for yourself that your daughters will not take over with their stuff!

I first heard of Peter Max at an RCI art shindig.

I have been on Azura and I loved it! I think people just like to compare their cruise experiences, and you will hear stuff like "it's not like this on ship A", "on ship B they do x y and z" etc....

It's strange because you would never hear someone going to France and then saying "it's not like this in Spain" or taking delight in telling you that they have had 28 land vacations and are "platinum" members of the Premier Inn rewards scheme.......

But, when you dont know anything about a person, it's natural to talk about the one thing you do have in common - i.e. a love of cruising!

Sometimes the critics have a point though - yes, we are lucky to be going to the Caribbean but when you are dropping seven grand for a couple of weeks holiday I think you can expect a high standard and if corners are being cut the more experienced cruisers among us will notice quickly - whereas the likes of me, perhaps not so much?!

Shoes that dont hurt your feet! Yep, this is something I have learned through bitter experience! Prancing round in a variety of heels for a week, and then having to resort to reeboks for week 2 because of swelling, blisters etc! OUCH!!!

Mo' money!

A great big smile, a friendly spirit and an open mind.

The only thing I found myself "without" on my first cruise was a couple of painkillers when I got a bad headache. The cabin next door had some though! Make friends with your neighbours early!!

I am reading John Grisham "he last juror". Admit I was hoping for a book about 12 murders like the cover leads you to believe......

popcorn books that you can pick up and put down are good - I like James Patterson - probably more the early stuff like Kiss the Girls or something though.

I agree that if a person is determined to break into a suitcase, then there is not a lock under the sun that will stop this.

I have one question though - if your case is not locked, does it invalidate any travel insurance that may have covered losses and thefts?

There was also a thing in the daily mail online about contortionists squashing into suitcases so they could get "backstage" at airports and help themselves to stuff.... wow!! thats one type of determined thief!!

I am hoping there are young adults on my forthcoming cruise too (Ventura 14 Feb)... otherwise my 18yr old will be cramping my style and I dont want that!!!

It is very exciting seeing the Pope, bit like being at a concert waiting for Bono and the lads to come out! Lots of flag waving and singing etc... Maybe you and Dad could go with his KSC friends and you could leave everyone else at home.

I do know why you want to vacation with your Daddy and your family. Me and my daughter vacationed with my ma and pa last year - but they did find it really exhausting, I have to say.

I didnt realise it was 2,500 dollars........ thats not much at all for Europe. sorry :( You can easily pay 10 dollars for a drink in a small cafe.

You are right to forget Paris - its full of excrement on the streets, and even among the rest of us Europeans nobody really likes the French - and they dont like anybody except themselves!!

I think this all sounds so wonderful - and is doable with lots of planning!

The best advice I can give, is to be very honest with each other about mobility limitations. I have been on a few Europe cruises, I am mid forties, fit and well but I got tired, day after day of walking round for miles takes its toll. The last cruise I was with my mum and dad, and they were knackered!!! (mid sixties)

There are so many things that able bodied and physically well people do not have to think about, such as running to dodge terrible traffic, crowds crushing you (and trying to mug you) while you try to get on and off a train, - public toilets are virtually impossible to find. I mention this because it was a real issue for my mum!

If you want to see the Pope, you write and apply (or have the priest do it for you) Then you get a letter back from them to say there is tickets for you and you have to collect them on the Tuesday night or very early Wednesday morning. LONG LONG QUEUES . Now, if you want a seat, you need to be at St Peters very very early! Also, some times in the year they do the audience in the Paul VI (think its there?) so a seat is even more of a premium! Some people in wheelchairs were at the front when I was there last year so make sure Dad brings his chair!

I think if this was my family I would go in April, fly to Rome a day or two early, stay in a central place for Vatican... get Dad to see P Francis, and then another day resting before going to Venice.... Venice has lots of bridges but the streets were in a better condition than Rome!

Rest as much as you can on the cruise. Croatia is indeed beautiful. Maybe a ships tour would in order?

Cant help on Paris. I dont like it there!

Make sure the Pope is not away for his summer holidays!

Pre-paid is the way forward!

Mainly because I honestly do not think this money is a tip... it is their wages. That £12 a day (or whatever it is), is not just paying for the services of the staff you see - what about the people who wash the pans and iron the sheets and peel the spuds and all that other stuff that just "magically" happens!

Stop your auto-tips and give a few dollars in an envelope cos you want to feel good about yourself being the big man handing out the pennies, but dont kid yourself that you have anything but your OWN financial situation in mind.

People should expect a fair days pay for a fair days work... and if they are not up to stratch they should be fired. This tipping nonsense just muddies the waters.

yes, a shallow little part of me was quite flattered!! :)

Thinking about the professinal photographer situation. My teenage daughter is a ballroom dancer and there are photographers at these things who can then take whatever photo of whatever child they want. These are printed off at the competitions and then plastered all over their website for any old random person to buy at £10 a photo..... yeah, now when you put yourself up for that sort of thing you expect pictures to be taken and sold - I dont mind that, but there are two strange things.....

One time my daughter had a sleepover at a friends house and the friend's little sister had a massive formal portrait of Laura in her bedroom (much like a person might have a picture of Audrey Hepburn or Marilyn Monroe) ?!?!

Yet, the same comp organisers will not let parents take photos of their own children at all due to child protection issues?

oh the second thing - someone bought my picture once because they liked my hair and wanted to take the picture to their hairdresser!! but at least she told me!!

:o It took me until my fourth cruise until I realised you could go to the main restaurant for your breakfast and were not restricted to Windjammer and the like every morning!

I wish I knew that I am not much good at Poker and I wouldn't have found myself down all those hundreds of dollars within hours of setting foot onboard

I wish I had known how great cruising was - and I wish I had known about Cruise Critic when I was a real newbie. Still learning though! Keep those handy hints coming!