ladysail2

Wow, that’s different…I was introduced to Skittles. Had never heard of them!

I suppose you could give to your cabin steward and ask him to give it back or give it to him/her to keep. I appreciate the gesture. A basket of bacon wouldn’t thrill me, LOL

Wonder if I’ll get them next year? I have 2 b2bs booked. It shows appreciation.

They must have restarted the gesture. That’s nice of them!

….and when we did B2Bs in the good old days, you received a nice fruit basket with a bottle of wine in your cabin. That was a really nice touch.

I’m happy to read all these comments. Paradise was my very first cruise way back in 2002…..and I’m booked on her for a B2B in 2024. I hope more folks chime in with comments…I’m really looking forward to sailing on her again! 😊

I did the Tailgating cooking on Celebration in November. We made about 4 appetizer type foods. There are two people per station, all ingredients are supplied and prepped mostly. The teacher explained what to do. Staff helpers take the food away to be cooked. It was fun…..you do eat the food you made. They will email the recipes to you if you provide your email address. We each received a red spatula to take home.

I tend to book in Canadian $$. I still receive the OBC in U.S. $$, that doesn’t change and neither does the deposit. The CDN equivalent of the U.S. deposit is quite comparable. I love the Easy Pay system, use it all the time. It’s the dropping CDN dollar that is a bummer. My one EP monthly payment is $36 U.S. per month….which started out converting to about $50 CDN…..now it’s up above $60 CDN. My cruise is getting more expensive as time goes on. And the B of C is putting interest rates up again. Will see what happens..might be better off paying in full.

Yorkshire Pudding!!!

Hopefully you can see the Sunday Roast lunch at Duke of Wellington. I had Sticky Toffee for dessert. The veggies with the meal are in behind the ‘bun’ (I know it’s not a bun, but the name escapes me right now. It was a delicious meal.

If you’re in Southampton on a Sunday..I would recommend having the Sunday Roast lunch at the Duke of Wellington pub. I did this past November and really enjoyed it. You must make a reservation though..it fills up quickly. The pub is in easy walking distance from the mall….in fact, I walked from Ennio’s to the Mall without a problem. The pub was on the way!

Not that long ago I bought $75 worth of OBC, it cost me $97.50 CDN. I’m not sure if that’s a great deal….but I wanted to supplement a travel agent OBC.

Most people give the server a tip when served the drink, even though gratuities have already been added when purchasing the beverage package.

Sailed on Celebration in November. Afternoon tea was served a few times on sea days….it certainly wasn’t like Harrod’s Afternoon tea..🤣…but it was an enjoyable gathering with friends to eat scones, desserts and drink tea. Tea was a pot of hot water and tea bags….we brought our own. Tea bags were offered but not a great selection..maybe one or two varieties.

Thank you Saint Greg and hfdad. I’ll watch for it as the excursions are listed.

Does one reserve the shuttle to the Cruise Port from the airport through the Carnival website? I have some Carnival cruises booked for 2024. Thank you. 😊

That’s really good information Dutch_Travelgirl. I wasn’t aware of the process. Tulip bulbs start appearing in my stores towards the end of August….so maybe that means that they are year-old bulbs! I guess I will be too early to buy 2023 bulbs. Canada receives many thousand bulbs from the Netherlands every year in appreciation of our help during the war. I live in Canada’s capital and can enjoy those thousands of really nice tulips planted in beds around the city. Thank you for your information. 😊

Lots of bulbs from Holland are sold where I live…I wanted to buy some in Holland. Hopefully i will.

Last time in Holland, I went to Kinderdijk, which was very interesting. I also did a canal cruise and will do that again this time. There are so many to choose from….😊

The Keukenhof closes in May and I won’t be in Holland until August, so that idea won’t work. Thanks anyway.

Thank you Dutch Travelgirl. I respect your opinion. I will cancel my reservations at the other two hotels. Thank you very much for the museum tip and flower market tip. I was interested in bringing some bulbs back to Canada. I can bring back 6 bulbs without a licence. Is there anywhere that you can recommend a person buy healthy bulbs? That’s also too bad about the flowers..hopefully I can buy some flowers somewhere. As you say, the entrance fees are reasonable, LOL, so I’ll take a look anyway. No buying!! Thank you again for responding! 😊

After much scrutiny and hemming and hawing, looking for a hotel in Amsterdam where I don’t have to sell my first born, LOL…I have three hotels on reserve….I’ve reserved a single room at Pension Homeland, Koopermoolen and Prins Hendrick. One person wasn’t happy with the tiny room at Koopermoolen; it’s inside the red light district so I’d be worried about noise at night. The reviews for Pension Homeland were average. I think Prins Hendrick is what I’m leaning towards as far as location, walk ability to the Tulip Museum, flower market, shopping, the Dam Square, and a few other places. The reservation is for the end of August. I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on one of these places. I’m just looking for a decent room, nothing fancy but bigger than a large closet. Hopefully it has a window and is clean. I usually book a double room, but these prices are wow! The Grand Prix must be driving the prices up. Thank you for any insight into the choices..😊

I phone Carnival to book in CDN. Have never seen where I can do it on their website. Royal Caribbean can do both, wonder why Carnival won’t? I’m not sure you will get the $50 deposit in CDN bookings though. At least they keep any OBC in US funds.

The email from Carnival doesn’t specifically say what the 25% FCC is based on. The email does say that all monies paid so far will be totally refunded including the deposit..even for Early Saver. I’ve paid the deposit plus made equal monthly payments to the tune of about $1600. I’m presuming the 25% FCC is based on the cruise fare only…not port fees and taxes. They are giving a $100 OBC for the inconvenience…..are they giving another $100 OBC for booking a future cruise by Feb 2023? Shucks, when my cruise was cancelled in 2020…we got $600 OBC….that was nice! Will Carnival inform us of the amount of the FCC, or does the travel agent do that? Guess I’ll just have to wait for Carnival or my ta to inform me of amounts.

Just wondering if the Tube strike set for Nov 3 has been postponed similar to the train strikes due to Poppy Day? I’ve Googled the question but the info is still saying a strike is set. At least the buses are still running if the Tube trains are not…not totally out of luck for getting around. 😕