boltnut55

When my husband was in his 20s & 30s (Asian male, longer hair, skinny, eyeglasses that tint in the sun), he'd get searched and questioned at every border/customs. He's now almost 60, short white hair, beer belly... nary a problem anymore😁 I should remind him of that.

Anytime I get the flu/covid and cough, my chest muscles/ribs hurt 🙁 Every since my husband saw someone coughed/sneezed into the hand and use same hand to use scooper to get food, I've been bringing food handling gloves to the buffet. And since covid, I've been wiping down the places I've stayed; I'm definitely less detailed now compared to when we didn't have vaccinations available yet. Yup, it's the ones who say "allergies" that I'm worried about. I just assume everyone around me has covid. I mean not in a bad way necessarily because some people may have it and don't have symptoms. I'm asthmatic and diabetic, I seem to get it really bad (out for 3 wks both times), and my DH visits his mom weekly, who is 89. Back to the list: cough drops, guaifenesin, sudafed, tissue w/lotion, oximeter, thermometer, inhalers, advil, masks (N95 for plane; ASTM Level 3 medical mask for other days), food handling gloves, covid tests. June 2022, we went on a 10 day Alaska cruise. Out of the 6 of us, 1 got covid. Crew was 100% masked and passengers were not. In Dec 2022, we were on a 14-day Panama Canal cruise, maybe 5% crew/pax masked, and I started sneezing occasionally on Day 12 and eventually tested positive a few days after I got home. Lots of passengers coughing as the days went by, bunch of single diners who ate at the MDR and brought food back (I know it doesn't mean someone is sick), one person hawking his excursion ticket because wife was sick and was seen at med ctr. (also doesn't mean covid - i get it!), and someone who posted that it was standing room only at the med ctr. Lesson not learned as we're going on a B2B Alaskan cruise in July after saying I was only doing short cruises.

I try to wear the tighter close at the earlier parts of the cruise😂

Sometimes it's knowing when to escalate and how long to wait (I also usually wait too long) because a part of me is like, "they are overworked." And then there's a lot of waiting when you call it in. Will the person come in 30 minutes? 5 hours? 23 hours later? What's acceptable?! On my last couple of cruises, I don't think we saw our stewards until several days later. It was definitely not like earlier cruises where they greet you when you first find your room or like a psychic, they are there every morning when we leave the room. Thank you, OP, for reporting and for updating. I appreciate it so that I can think back to this post if this happens. I have cleaned several showers in hotels and am not looking forward to cleaning one on a cruise ship.

Wow, thanks! Do I give them this code that the OP mentioned at the top: PHO50A

I'm waiting for the update unless I missed it😁 Like YVR, I also wipe down the rooms now (after covid), but thanks for explaining why I might find icky stuff if they are vacuuming the night before (ewww). I happen to freak out (silently in my head, but yell at anyone) over stuff like leftover hair and toenails, but that's me. My friends walk barefoot on the floor and get into the sheets afterwards🤷🏻‍♀️

Thank you!

😁That would be great! I don't really like to work out anyway... but I have to... just don't want stinky clothes for that long even though we put it away in a laundry bag.

We're bronze😁. For the longer cruises, have you seen laundry specials about mid-way? DH seems to recall something like "fill this bag and pay $30" type of thing, but I want to be sure. We will be on a 14-day cruise (happens to be B2B, which might make a difference) and also spending 2 days in Vancouver before boarding so 16 days out of suitcases including about 7 days at the gym! DH said that during our last 14-day cruise, he started smelling our dirty laundry (there were 3 of us in cramped quarters) w/3 going to the gym, and that the laundry special saved us! Thanks!

Thank you, everyone, for your responses. After thinking about it more, I think we gave $20 to the maitre'd who helped us choose our no salt options, $10 for the one who changed a bunch of our reservations (it was a 1-time thing but for a bunch of nights), and $10 for the one who greeted us enthusiastically but didn't do any special work. LHT28 - yeah my poor legs/feet! I'm going to pretty start w/day 1 with no/low salt options instead of waiting a week to see my poor feel bloat. It started w/my MIL and me, but by the last couple of days, my DH and adult daughter did it too!

We allowed for 2 hours last year because we were traveling w/MIL who was 88, and we're the ones who order 3 appetizers and 2 entrees each😁, but I think 90 mins is enough. The shows usually last 45 mins from what I remembered.

Wow, thank you! I travel with folks who love taking photos, and I'm more of, "why bother if we're not buying them?" which is silly because they always want to buy them. I'm much happier with 4x6 types anyway... kinda wish I knew this ahead of time. Do we just give them the code at the Photo Gallery when we're ready to order? Do they all seem to know about this spcial? We happened to buy our cruise from the TA involved anyway.

First I was like, "oooh, it comes w/free drinks" which hardly means anything to me since no one drinks alcohol... then i saw the gratuities and unclick the box. I can't even afford the gratuities! I wish they would give us a choice of replacing w/free soda. It saves them money but can still collect on the gratuities.

I'm almost scared to post this because I know tipping can be a very charged topic from "why are you so cheap?!" to "I'm sick and tired of tipping!"😁 However, I'll be on a cruise in about 6 weeks again, and I want to get a feel of others would do in our situation assuming it comes up again, so thanks in advance! Our last cruise was 14 days, and it was our family of 3 and my elderly MIL. We ended up eating mostly in the 2 smaller free dining rooms that were right across from each other, and there were several head waiter/assistant maitre'ds who approached us from the beginning. They had a friendly competition between the 2 dining rooms like, "Come here tomorrow night; we're nicer!" type of thing. However, after a couple of days, if I had to be blunt, I would say that they were ingratiating themselves to us. Yes, I know they could have also wanted to be nice and helpful especially since MIL is so cute, but I don't know as I'm kind of cynical... They greeted us enthusiastically especially MIL, one had to change a bunch of reservations for us once we found out the show times, and another took our next evening orders during that last week because MIL and my feet were ballooning because of the salt intake, and some handed out their business cards, but there was also the "tomorrow is the last night, but I will be at the ____ restaurant instead" which I took as "in case you're handing out tips." Obviously, we did the regular gratuities, and in the end, my husband was feeling like he should give them all an extra. I was feeling more like that's their job but also feeling some obligation to give extra on top of whatever their normal was, so on the last night, we handed out envelopes, and I told them, "thank you... this is just a little something extra..." something like $10 - $20/each since we didn't have extra cash since gratuities were already paid for. What I'm trying to figure out is whether it should be considered they were doing their jobs or whether they were going out of their way for us. What do you think? Would you have tipped extra? A lot more? None? Maybe just to those who had to do extra work?🤷🏻‍♀️

I don't know about less folks from certain countries, but like you on my last Norwegian cruise, I found that they weren't as service oriented as before. I never saw our steward, buffet waiters would ignore dirty plates piling up even though they were even slowly walking by, etc. Every night, we heard dropped plates, and the head waiter mentioned that a lot were new, so they were still in training. Regarding smiling... culturally, I suppose some aren't as gregarious as others... maybe smile after they get to know you but just trying to be efficient. Or they are new and are still timid about this job. Some I spoke to had never been on a ship before, and this was a new assignment. Hopefully in a year or two, things will be back to normal.

Funny you should ask this... last night, my husband was reading out the menu from one of the specialty dining restaurants and said something about not liking the dessert. I suddenly thought, "I wonder if we could go to the MDR for just dessert?!" It's never occurred to me to do that before till last night!

This is what I needed to do in the last cruise. Due to show reservations (AFTER i got onto the ship), I had to change most of the dining reservations afterwards. While I tried to have a pattern when I booked prior to getting on, most changed, and my family kept asking what time and where was dinner.

Thanks for sharing this as I'm lost on what time to make dining reservations (I'm used to early/late dining with show times that correspond). I just know I'm going to make it for the wrong time and miss all the shows. If you have times for Footloose and the Beatles show, I would appreciate that too. I know they don't play every night, but I just want to have better chances.

I've visited Eureka a couple of times in the past 4 years, and I'm surprised this was a cruise stop as there's not that much to do. I would suggest walking around Old Town and/or renting a car so that you can drive through the Avenue of the Giants. There is a visitor center somewhere in there, and I think this is the coolest thing to do. We also drove to Arcata to their Plaza as there are some restaurants and shops to walk through. Just thought I'd share in case this comes up again.

We will be on a Panama Canal cruise in December, and my mother-in-law will be 89 in January. She walks with a cane but can't walk a long way (I added this because I've seen older people using a cane and completing half marathons!). We are considering the Hop on, Hop Off, Walking Tour in Cartegena but wonder if it'd be too much for her. The info provided does talk about the streets being difficult to walk on, but I don't know if that is a generic warning or not. Also not sure if others have taken this... I think she can stay on the bus the entire time? And maybe she can get off if it's a stop that's not too much walking and then wait for the next bus? Just trying to figure out whether there is some hope of an excursion or if we'll be on the ship all the time. Thank you. Our ports: - Cartegena - Panama City - Puerto Quetzel - Acapulco - I hear safety might be an issue, so I'm okay w/not touring but open to hearing suggestions. - Puerto Vallarta - I remember walking to the Malecon but doubt she can walk that far and not sure about taking a taxi (feeling more vulnerable as I get older) - Cabo: once we get off the ship, are there stores/restaurants we can go to? or do we need to walk a while? I can't remember

This reminds me of a post I read on a FB group. There was an article about how a man drove into a storefront; he had been wearing a medical boot and shouldn't have been driving, of course, and I'm guessing his wide boot hit the wrong pedal. The article showed the person's face, on the "older" side but might not even have been even 60. Of course, people don't read the articles, and someone commented, "They should take driver license away from old people, like when they turn 65!" I was maybe 54 at the time thinking, "ya know... 65 really isn't that old, and someday before you know it, you'll be 65!" But I get it... when you're 25-30, 65 is ancient.

Things I like that others might not: Sleeping in and sleeping late: We were on a 10-day cruise to Alaska, and most days, we woke up in time for lunch and slept around 3:00AM. We also got room service before bed because... well, it's been about 8 hours since our last meal!😂 Ordering lots of dishes in the MDR: One night I had 5 appetizers/soups and 1 entree🤷🏻‍♀️ Eating in the MDR: love how waitstaff remember us, love dressing up (mostly because I don't get to at home, but my next cruise is on NCL, so I will just wear my daytime clothes) Using the fitness center: I try to go every other day and work out about an hour each time Shows: I'm paying a lot of money, and they've practiced hard, so I'm going! Dueling pianos: Love this whether on land or at sea ----------------------------------------------------- Things others might like that I don't: "Older" music: I grew up with 80's music, so i'm less interested in 50's - 70's but noticed a lot of that on my last cruise (not NCL) Yes, those shower dispensers: normally i bring my own but forgot last time; because I'm pessimistic, I'm leery that they've been tampered with! I know it's just my imagination. Pool: Other than resting for a few minutes on one of those lounge chairs once or twice, I have never been poolside on any of my cruises. I've maybe been in a pool 1-2x and probably no longer than 30 mins. Buffet: I'd rather be served; also I've seen people cough into the same hands they scoop food out of. Photos: hate taking them and hate paying for them, but the people I go with seem to like to take photos, so I go along w/it🤦🏻‍♀️

Yes 120 days out... was not expecting that when i saw it was due in late July!

Ooh, I'd love to know this. On another ship, it turned out we couldn't purchase the water bottle package at the advertised price once we got on the ship, so we'd have to pay about double that. The package price on NCL is already at that doubled rate, lol, so I'd hate to have to pay more.

In case we do it again, I have a couple of questions: - Was it easy to get a cab on your return trip? - Approximate how much was the ride in each direction? Thanks!