shipgeeks

Papaya, followed by cantaloupe and watermelon.

See the "Well this is disconcerting" post. Yes, it is disconcerting that they can publish untruths like this. How do they get away with it? Knowing the source, not surprising, but still......

A friend just noticed that her luggage tags say BWI (Baltimore Washington airport). She was concerned that her cruise bags might be sent to the airport. Further investigation led us to believe that BWI is also the code for the Port, and appears on all RC tags for Baltimore departures. So don't worry if you see that on yours.

I've experienced what you describe on just about all of our Med cruises. I am a person who only wears long pants ashore, regardless of temperature. If it's chilly, I wear nice stretch pants with a long sleeve jersey, and a jacket that I can take off later. If it's warm becoming hot, linen pants with a lighter jersey and a lighter jacket. If I were a cardigan person, I could substitute that for a jacket, and perhaps tie it around my waist or shoulders once the temperature goes up. On ships, I almost always wear garments with sleeves, as we do not have AC at home, and I freeze when I'm in a place that has it. But that's probably different for you! It seemed that onboard, women were less likely to wear "Carib" style dresses, even though perhaps sleeveless or otherwise summery. Have a wonderful cruise!

Well now I have a song stuck in my brain all day! (not complaining) We've never gone to a sailaway on a cruise, but I recollect hearing this at one of the evening theater shows, by one of the fantastic male singers. Wonderful!

Are you aware that doing so will shut off the AC in your cabin plus your neighbors' cabins?

We went to Snorkel Beach with our own gear. Pretty close to the ship.

Agree. It was very quick and easy -- and we are not even ATM or smartphone users.

My longest, 42 days, was on a cargo ship, New York to Sydney, Australia. After loading the cargo, 40 tons of dynamite, in Georgia, then going through the Panama Canal, we did not have another port until we arrived in Queensland, Australia. It was fabulous.

norn iron, You did reply with the type of answer I was seeking, and I thank you for that.

We've noticed that on the RC ships we sail, too: Guest Services, Loyalty Desk, etc. are within the all-day music and games venue, and lots of times it's impossible to hear and be heard at the desk.

I'm an American who agrees with norn iron that peanut butter and jelly are awful together, even though I eat both separately. And American cheese has no appeal to me, although I do love cheese generally.

One of the things I especially enjoy on a non-American cruiseline is eating some things differently, and trying things I haven't had before. Apparently not everyone agrees with me. A long post on CC a few years ago complained about how bad the pizza was on his Italian ship. After much discussion, it appeared that his complaints included the fact that the sausage was different, and there was never any cheddar or American cheese on it. More recently, a big issue has been made of the fact that a cruiser, again on an Italian ship, did not always get butter with her bread. Despite being told that butter is not standard in Italy and elsewhere, but that she could request it, as well as suggestions to try the Italian bread, croissants, Danish, and sticky buns, she continued to complain, and is thinking of taking her own bread and butter on her next cruise. Another review stated that a serious issue on her cruise was ketchup not always being readily available on an Italian ship. And now someone is concerned about a rumor that there might be no soft-serve ice cream dispensers on an Italian ship. Your thoughts? How far should cruiselines go to satisfy a minority group of their passengers?

We had a similar offer a number of years ago, on a different cruiseline. Ours came by phone call, on the Friday before a Tuesday cruise. We turned it down, but then thought some more, and tried to call the rep who had called us. She was gone for the weekend. We called on Monday, took her up on it, and did the cruise about seven months later. I think the main reason we were called was that we had air and shuttles all booked through the cruiseline. She cancelled them, and rebooked everything once we chose a replacement cruise. The amusing thing was that at the end of the cruise, we were pinged as we tried to depart. Security insisted that we go to Guest Services. We did, we were told we had to take the refund of our unused OBC. We said Sure, here's my credit card. No sir, I have to give you cash. So we got $1,500+ in cash to carry home with us.

We found that most of the "theme" menu items were NOT in that theme, so no worries of not wanting a Mexican/Asian/British/etc. meal. Mexican night, for example, might include Indian, French, American, and many other dishes.

Nothing wrong with overpacking, unless you have to pay airline fees for overweight bags. I went through a phase of minimalizing, but am back to taking what I want. If things don't fit in the closet, they can stay in the suitcase, under the bed. However, I'm talking clothes and accessories. I don't pack electronics, decorations, bedspread, curtains, flower vases, or the 45 other things that some recommend.

I remember the chocolate buffet (extravaganza) on Norway, as well. It was held in the afternoon one day, and very well attended! The best midnight buffets in our cruising history were on the Premier ships. We would go with the intention to just look, and maybe have a glass of milk. Run into a dinner companion, grab a table together, end up consuming a bunch of crab legs, pastrami sandwiches, cheesecake, and so much more.

How mobile is your mother and friend? We had a balcony on our AK cruise but never used it. We spent all our waking hours on upper decks or promenade deck, or public rooms with huge windows. All of those were so far superior to the view from our balcony. If the ladies can comfortably move around, occasionally to your balcony with you, or primarily to public spaces, IMO they will enjoy the views so much more.

Cambriah, I hope that whatever you decide makes you very happy. I might mention that one of the things that worked out for us was deciding to take advantage of a bus company nearby that does cruise packages. We have both given up our drivers licenses, and our car. The bus typically carries 20-30 people, on a bus that holds 60, so it is very comfortable, and nothing like the crush and the uncertainty of air travel. We know they are absolutely reliable, with good backup systems. You don't say where you live, or what it will take to get you to a cruise port. If we had to fly every time we wanted to cruise, I'm sure we would not be doing as many.

I might mention that even though we rarely get off the ship, we do regularly hang out somewhere to watch the activity in the port and/or the scenery.

None of the above. Both times we were there we spent the morning at a beach, then back onto the ship to change clothes and have lunch, then back onto the island for a walk. All close and easy.

Well said: the ship is the destination, plus, in our case, the ocean.

Interesting, as when our cruise ended in Barcelona, the cruise shuttle passengers were the first priority in disembarking the ship and claiming our luggage. Our flight was also through the cruiseline, however, so the flight was not overly early (noon, as I recall), as that service does not book early flights.

We still enjoyed music and dancing every night on our AK cruise, but I don't think there was any pool scene as there would be in Carib. I have to disagree about having a balcony cabin. We absolutely loved the scenery, but we observed it from the public decks, all day every day. Our balcony went to waste; we only spent about two hours there during the entire 10 days. And it somewhat blocked the view we would have had in an OV cabin.

It is for reasons like that that we've always used the cruiseline transfers for something as important as getting to the airport while overseas. Same in Montreal, where our cruise terminated downstream of the port. Our airport bus was there, but no taxis or private shuttles in sight.