shipgeeks

Agree. This is one of the reasons we continue to choose "older" ships.

Basil ice cream: sounds interesting. Once upon a time I had an ice cream maker, and a recipe book. I said I would close my eyes and open to a page and make that. It was zucchini. It was mild. Actually, I came here to ask if anyone ever had Spumoni on a cruise. The name came to me, unbidden, this morning, and I've been drooling at the thought of it. Cherry, pistachio, and chocolate ice cream or gelato, with bits of nuts and fruits throughout. I looked through the entire freezer section at the grocery this morning; nothing even close. And now I want some. Might MSC have it at their gelato bars? (Not to be compared to the bland Neopolitan ice creams we had as children at birthday parties: individually wrapped blocks containing vanilla, strawberry and chocolate layers.)

Last evening we heard a sound we haven't heard for years: a calliope. We live near the first lock on the Ohio River just downstream from Pittsburgh. Long ago, when a calliope was unexpectedly heard, many of us would run down to the viewing area to watch a riverboat lock through, with calliope celebrating the beginning of a river cruise. We sometimes felt like extras in "Showboat". Then, apparently, someone complained about the noise, and the boats came through silently. We missed those events. In this morning's paper we learned that American Queen was the boat. Wishing all of you aboard a wonderful cruise, and happy viewing to all of us on shore along the way.

What time is All Aboard on the ship? The tender will be based on that. It's a short trip, but important! I suspect the ship's planner will state the tender time before you leave the ship.

The river cruise option sounds like a good one, as a stepping stone. Regarding ocean cruises, I understand your concern, and your desire to get a feel for "what are the chances?" For what it's worth: Our experiences: 46 cruises, approaching 500 days. Two of us. Number of rough days? Some/a few. Number of times feeling seasick: zero. Meds or products used: none. Another experience, this one a very small sample, but very specific outcome. 42 days at sea, with perhaps five days of extreme weather, mid-Pacific. Ship was turned around by the seas, passengers tossed out of beds, meals served on wet tablecloths to keep dishes on the tables. Only one passenger out of the 12 aboard missed a meal or reported being uncomfortable. The advice above, especially from Heidi, re cabin location, is good. I wish you luck in finding the perfect solutions!

We have only done eastbound, in the spring, but what was most surprising to me was how cold it felt out on deck, due to the strong wind factor of sailing fast with no land barriers nearby. I wore a lot of nice "athleisure" attire, with the tops layered; sometimes three layers if I was going to be doing pooldeck aerobics, for example. The weather was fabulous, but that wind was a constant.

We sail mainstream lines, but we pay for the cruise and gratuities in advance, and consider it done. We don't have much interest in excursions, specialty dining, spa, etc., so no expectation of being hit with expenses there. As far as photographers, art auction, etc., we just say "no thank you" and there is no further pressure. We have loyalty levels that give us several drinks a day free of charge. We barely use them, and personally, I would not be as interested in having unlimited drinks as part of my cruise fare, thus subsidizing others who drink all day. Excursions included? No thanks; we've done that. We are happy to stick with the mainstream lines. OP, Can you tell us more about your negative experiences? In what areas/situations did you find the nickel-and-diming?

I'm grateful that this topic has come up, and been discussed. I realize that we use a humidifier at home all winter, and have not had any respiratory problems for a number of years. We will consider doing the ice bucket or wet towel thing on our next cruise.

We never stayed in our cabin on Panama Canal cruises. So much better being on the open decks.

We, too, blame AC. We don't have it at home, and we no longer go to offices. If hydration is the answer, thank goodness for the deliciousness of ship tap water.

According to the post, it really happened. Lots of likes.

I'm envious. 42 is exactly the number of days I spent aboard a cargo ship going from NYC to Sydney, Australia back in 1969. No ports between Panama and Australia, (and no dance classes/water slides/movies/theater), but I was never bored. As I recall, I washed clothes in the bathroom sink, and hung them over the tub to drip dry.

There was a mention on CC a couple of weeks ago that on one of the RC ships, drinks could not be obtained until individual muster drill was completed.

We still dress in tuxedo and gowns or cocktail dresses for all formal nights. On the other evenings, I am now more likely to wear linen or crepe palazzo pants with a nice top, and fewer dresses, allowing me to wear pantihose fewer times. (Yes, I will wear them any time I wear a dress; otherwise, my veins and other imperfections will negate any positives.) Always heels, still. We pack more prescription meds now, as well as multiple eyeglasses. What I no longer pack is dresses for afternoon tea. My outfits, sometimes with a hat, and DH's outfits, no longer have that occasion to wear them for. We have never packed any of the cabin things such as organizers, and I don't think we ever will. DH now only packs one sportscoat or blazer per cruise; used to be two, as well as his tuxedo. We have easily packed everything we needed for a month in Europe, including party clothes, in one medium case for the two of us. But for cruising, we still pack as much as we want, and always enjoy having Date Night every night.

Wishing you smooth travels every day!

I started a Baked Beans post in UK Cruising, The Pub,, to see if we could find some more answers. We did! Have a look.

Tweezers, once each hair is long enough to grip (it doesn't take much). And tweezers are small and easy to pack for any hairs that appear while on a cruise.

OP, It might be of interest to you, being in Australia, that Royal Caribbean will have a fairly small ship, Brilliance of the Seas, doing ANZ cruises starting next year. Her capacity is a bit over 2,000 pax, I believe, which is certainly smaller than the biggies that have 5,000 or more. We find that class of ship quite comfortable and appealing. (We, too, are not at all interested in ships with malls down the middle, thrill rides, etc.)

OP, Now I understand your frustration even more clearly. We too were at Ocean Cay prior to our more recent visit to Coco Cay. At Ocean Cay, we could see the entire layout of the island from the ship: the beaches, the loungers and umbrellas, the walkways, the food areas. Choosing a destination was easy, and easily walked (or golf carted) to. IMO, Ocean Cay is a tough act to follow! It sure was for us.

Oops, I should have said "sister ships" re the two groupings. All, of course, were fleetmates.

Horizon and Zenith were fleetmates. They sailed prior to Century, Galaxy and Mercury, which were fleetmates. Those were all preceded by Britanis, and then Meridian.

But it is convenient, for the $50 or less that I might want to take ashore.

Galaxy.

Not CelebrityX. Just Celebrity, or X. X is the Greek relating to Chandris, the family that started what is now Celebrity. While I'm here, I'd like to offer a suggestion re a difference. As NCL is Anytime Dining, and I expect you are used to that, don't think you can walk in to a set dining restaurant on Celebrity, sit wherever you want, walk around, invite friends to join you at the table, and otherwise disrupt the meal of the people assigned to that table. It happened to us on our last X cruise, with a number of NCL cruisers, and it was not a happy experience. There are some differences.

We, like the OP, were disappointed with Coco Cay, and we had maps. We took the tram around the circuit. Loud music everywhere, a closed-in feeling along most of the route; very little opportunity to see beaches, pool, or other attractions. We were one small ship in port, but it felt like being at a mall just before Christmas, with all the hype. We completed the circuit, sat for a while in Adirondack chairs, then went straight back to the ship. The photos above do not look anything like what we saw. What we saw were the new adventure park rides and such. Not my idea of a private island day. We have probably been spoiled by visiting MSC's Ocean Cay. Now that is an island paradise! Just the sights and sounds of nature, visibility across the island, white sand, turquoise waters, palm trees, very few buildings, very soft music along a few of the walkways. We are due there again in November, and will give it a try, but I have to agree that it was not the positive experience that we expected.