wcook

I’ve never actually sailed in the Pacific, but if Ferdinand Magellan says it’s the Peaceful Ocean, that’s good enough for me. I predict smooth sailing the whole way. Have a great trip. 

Note that those are the Caribbean prices; prices are different in the rest of the world (often cheaper) and just for fun are priced in pounds or euros to make things a shade more complicated for Americans to think about. 
 

But whatever you do, pre book. If nothing else you won’t have to pay the 15% service charge. 

I find Gary’s videos to be very entertaining. But you gotta be careful with his advice (or anybody’s advice for that matter.) Gary just did a video on Alaska where he bragged about his travel agent for being so smart and “finding” him a train that goes from Anchorage to Whittier. 30 seconds of Google time will find you dozens of articles on how to make the trip. Every one of them mentioning the train. There’s only a couple ways to make the journey. Also, keep in mind Gary spends a ton of money on luxury cruises. Because commissions are higher, TA’s have a lot more they can do for you when booking expensive cruises or suites.
 

When it comes to run of the mill cruises, an individual who like to research and plan can do everything a TA can. And by booking everything direct, you’ll never have a problem when you want to change something and the cruise line says “we can’t talk to you, you have to talk to your TA.
 

Keep in mind you are on a forum where most of us not only can research and plan, that’s part of the fun. Where a TA really helps us when you don’t want to have to deal with all the minutia - you just want to tell somebody that you want to take a cruise in October, have them ask you a few questions and get to work for you.  

26 minutes ago, SbbquilterUT said:

more than we know how many people we sit with at work, church or at a bar are positive.

That’s why I drink alone, yeah
With nobody else
Yeah, you know when I drink alone
I prefer to be by myself

38 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

minute later we saw the drop a rope ladder and two crew members climbed down (about 5 feet) to the pier.  They handed up all the packages and then assisted those ladies up the rope ladder.

Would have been funny if they’d taken the packages and left the ladies. 

7 hours ago, Markanddonna said:

I agree about the close ports in the Med. You could easily take a train if you miss.

 
Unless you are in Malta 🙂

Both your spouse and the person you are cheating on them with. It’s one or the other. 

The only statistic that might make sense - and I’m just guessing here - is that 20% of the people who are getting tested because they have possible symptoms are positive. 

  I forget which ship, but I distinctly remember my first sail out of Barcelona when “early” dinner was 7:00. 

14 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

 

The title of your thread here... Holiday road was a feature song in National lampoon's family vacation which was a movie based on a vacation full of disaster's.

 

Great song. I was humming it as soon as I saw the thread title. I just hope the next post isn’t “Sorry folks, San Juan is closed. Moose out front should have told you.”

7 hours ago, alohayall said:

You can always give it a try - join us “normal” people and book Fantastica.

No no no. Us normal folks sail Bella. The pampered and entitled said Fantastica 🙂

Confession time: I’ve booked Fantastica for my next cruise. I’m (cue music) Movin’ on Up. To the port side. To a deluxe apartm… er, to a inside cabin on the 10th deck. Yeah I’m movin’ on up

No one knows. But I recently cancelled a land trip to Japan scheduled for October 22. I see little reason to hope for change anytime soon. 

The dress code on gala night is…. whatever the hell you want to wear. Dressy is good, sparkly is better, but whatever makes you feel dressed up and looking fabulous 

20 hours ago, sue402001 said:

20!

 

Twenty factorial? That’s a looong time. 

Siri says it’s a hundred and fourth two days. 

This is just me, but I wouldn’t sail in the Gulf during hurricane season. If a storm comes while you are there, you are screwed. But I’d have zero problem sailing in the Atlantic or Caribbean. If a storm is coming, there are a ton of options. Just be prepared to be flexible. 

1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

I have seen passengers brought to the ship twice on pilot boats. 

How cool would that be? Cutting things a bit too close for my anxiety, but for other people, talk about having a great story to tell…

9 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

Savannah to Kathmandu, also not a cruise.

Good thing you clarified that 🙂

5 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

My longest has been from Atlanta to Bangkok, which is about 9150 miles as the crow flies....  Or about the same as SFO to Perth. 

But did you spend One Night in Bangkok before your cruise? 

2 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

You're so right!  

I suspect that same person installed the idea of "we'll get you back to the ship" into cruiser's minds, insinuating that other tour operators don't do this.  

I’ve often suspected that the cruise lines themselves are behind all the “pier runner” videos. I should point out, however, that I have an official diagnosis as paranoid, so maybe I’m not the best source on these issues. 

11 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

or heaven forbid.... Andales in my winter home of Puerto Vallart

Andales (Andale Andale) is fine, but I prefer Arriba Arriba. 

Imagine you are hanging out at Señor Frogs when you spot the ships captain downing a Devil’s Margarita. 

13 hours ago, finney1000 said:

Has anyone else with an upcoming non U.S. cruise gotten any answers from MSC? We’re sailing from Hamburg next month, booked in 2020, and the rep said today we still needed insurance. Hopefully MSC will clarify this requirement on their website!

On July 4th I booked a cruise leaving Cairo November 2022. The booking engine said travel insurance was mandatory for my cruise (US resident leaving out of non-US port.) Of course, this is MSC we are talking about. The rule could have changed and nobody bothered to update the booking engine. 

This brings up a philosophical question. I just booked a cruise leaving from Cairo, Egypt. Now I’m obviously also going to explore Cairo while I’m there. So am I traveling all the way to Cairo from New England for my cruise? Or am I traveling to Cairo for its own sake, then traveling the 100 miles to the actual port for my cruise? 

I think the correct answer is “yes dear.” And try hard not to visibly roll your eyes.