Long Cruises

[getting older slowly]

Interesting topic.... we are booked on our longest cruise to date a b2b of 26 nights....like bym49 live in a condo, no pets and most bills are auto pay.... and we are retired.....

 

Thinking back our longest holiday ever has been 28 days but these where all staying a different places .

 

It is nice to get home.....   but we are looking forward to our first longer cruise

 

Cheers Don

[caribill]

The main problem on multiple segments on the same ship is that the Captain and the Cruise Director use the same jokes on each segment.

[PescadoAmarillo]

On 5/10/2019 at 11:17 PM, damiross said:

I've wanted to take a long cruise which I define as at least 5-6 weeks.  I'm curious those of you who do take long cruises manage stuff like bills and your home.

 

On 5/10/2019 at 11:17 PM, damiross said:

Are many of you long cruisers retired or have a lot of vacation time?

We have been doing this since 2010. We are both retired (I didn’t officially retire until four years ago. 

On 5/10/2019 at 11:17 PM, damiross said:

 

What do you do about your home?  Do you rent it out (for those who take multiple month cruises) or have someone watching it while you're gone?

 Are your bills taken care of through automatic payments?

We have neighbors keep an eye on our house. We also have multiple interior and exterior webcams that we can access with our iPhones. We control our furnace remotely, and if someone rings our doorbell (rare), or opens our doors, we get notification and video. 

 

We have nearly everything that can be charged directly to credit cards. Our utility bill cannot be; it is automatically deducted from our checking account.  Our bi-monthly water bill can be, but we pay it online using our credit card. We like to closely monitor that one. Our homeowners’ dues change every January, so we simply email our neighbor to verify the address and the amount and have a check sent from our checking account. 

 

We do not travel with the credit card we use for all of our automatic charges, so as to reduce the possibility of it being stolen. However, one time we were in the first month of a four month cruise and the credit card was compromised at Citibank. They mailed a new card to our house, and said we had two months to update it with our vendors. We had our neighbor, who was getting our mail, find the envelope and open it. We phoned her (over the Internet) and got the number, the expiration date and security code. Next we had to activate the card remotely, using the overseas phone number. That was the hardest part. Then we had to go online and change the card on file with all those vendors. That was the biggest single PITA we’ve had; otherwise, it’s all pretty smooth. 

On 5/10/2019 at 11:17 PM, damiross said:

 

Finally, do you ever get "home sick" while out on the sea for months at a time?

Yes I do! I’m always homesick the first couple of days, and , after that it rarely happens and then only on a sea day with rough seas. It doesn’t last more than a few hours and then I’m good to go again. 

On 5/10/2019 at 11:17 PM, damiross said:

 

Just curious....

 

 

[gatour]

On 5/12/2019 at 10:05 AM, MissP22 said:

You're joking of course? 😉

The last thing I would want is to return to my spotless house after a nice vacation only to have to start cleaning up after renters who couldn't care less about leaving it a mess. 

Why do think this is a joke?  It is a way to offset the cost of the cruise.  Think of it as sweat equity, if you have to do a bit of cleaning.  Not all renters are inconsiderate and will not leave the house "a mess"

[wheezedr]

Really, nobody just has the butler, the maid, the gardener and the chauffeur just tend to things while you are away.  LOL

[suzyed]

47 minutes ago, wheezedr said:

Really, nobody just has the butler, the maid, the gardener and the chauffeur just tend to things while you are away.  LOL

I guess some might!  Not us though!  LOL!

[tanzer22pilot]

Has anyone had mail (think Amazon box) delivered to them at a port?  

[PescadoAmarillo]

 

16 minutes ago, tanzer22pilot said:

Has anyone had mail (think Amazon box) delivered to them at a port?  

I have had a Zappos delivery to the Princess warehouse in Fort Lauderdale and it was brought onboard on a turnaround day. I received it the next day. We’ve also had mail boxed up and delivered to the warehouse in Fort Lauderdale and brought on board. We would never try it in any non-US port because of customs issues. 

[kate59]

37 minutes ago, tanzer22pilot said:

Has anyone had mail (think Amazon box) delivered to them at a port?  

Not to port, but in Australia I have had things delivered to nearest Post Office for pick up.

[tanzer22pilot]

11 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

 

I have had a Zappos delivery to the Princess warehouse in Fort Lauderdale and it was brought onboard on a turnaround day. I received it the next day. We’ve also had mail boxed up and delivered to the warehouse in Fort Lauderdale and brought on board. We would never try it in any non-US port because of customs issues. 

 

Agree with the non-US ports.

 

Do you have the address and a contact point for the Ft. Lauderdale warehouse,  

[MissP22]

On 5/14/2019 at 5:50 PM, gatour said:

Why do think this is a joke?  It is a way to offset the cost of the cruise.  Think of it as sweat equity, if you have to do a bit of cleaning.  Not all renters are inconsiderate and will not leave the house "a mess"

Simply because I've rented property for many years & I know how all renters treat rental property. Even the cleanest ones leave their mess behind & don't look back. The last thing I need on my relaxing vacation is thinking about all the cleaning I'll have to do when I return home.

A few dollars extra in my pocket isn't going to change much. 

[Thrak]

On 5/14/2019 at 2:50 PM, gatour said:

Why do think this is a joke?  It is a way to offset the cost of the cruise.  Think of it as sweat equity, if you have to do a bit of cleaning.  Not all renters are inconsiderate and will not leave the house "a mess"

 

2 hours ago, MissP22 said:

Simply because I've rented property for many years & I know how all renters treat rental property. Even the cleanest ones leave their mess behind & don't look back. The last thing I need on my relaxing vacation is thinking about all the cleaning I'll have to do when I return home.

A few dollars extra in my pocket isn't going to change much. 

 

We had people in our house for a month while cruising. My niece lost everything in the recent Camp Fire. We were leaving for a month of cruising. We let her, her husband, and her daughter live in our house while we were gone so they could figure out what to do. No mess at all.

 

We used to be renters. When we left a place we cleaned it within an inch of its life. We left one place (quite my job, bought a small travel trailer, and left) and went to the landlord's office to retrieve our cleaning deposit. He laughed at us. I got pissed off and made him go to the house with us and check it out. He was blown away. He was especially amazed that we had totally cleaned the oven. He apologized and returned our deposit. Not all renters are dirt bags. (Although we have also had a rental and I have seen what you were talking about.)

[Alaskawoman]

May be a silly question, but how do I find Pescado Amarillo’s blog on long cruises?

[caribill]

3 hours ago, Alaskawoman said:

May be a silly question, but how do I find Pescado Amarillo’s blog on long cruises?

http://pescadoamarillo.blogspot.com/

[Alaskawoman]

Thanks so much,  🌴

 

[MissP22]

6 hours ago, Thrak said:

Not all renters are dirt bags.

I do agree with that but finding the good ones is hard to do sometimes & at my stage in life I'ed prefer not to. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

On 5/15/2019 at 12:26 PM, tanzer22pilot said:

Has anyone had mail (think Amazon box) delivered to them at a port?  

Amazon has lockers in various cities. I used them on a trip to the US last year. You have to get the timing right though, they only hold the items for three days. You get sent a code and just enter it, or scan it off your phone, and the locker pops open. 

[PescadoAmarillo]

On 5/15/2019 at 8:01 AM, tanzer22pilot said:

 

Agree with the non-US ports.

 

Do you have the address and a contact point for the Ft. Lauderdale warehouse,  

I thought I answered this and now wonder if my post was deleted or if I actually did ever hit submit.  So I will try again.  If it gets deleted again, I'll try with just the phone number, and you can call Fort Lauderdale and get the address.  Since my information is over four years old, I recommend calling them anyway to ensure they are still fine with you doing this. 

 

PRINCESS CRUISES

<Ship Name> Princess

<Passenger Name> - PASSENGERS Stateroom XXXX

3721 SW 30th Ave.

Fort Lauderdale FL 33312

954-525-8520

[PescadoAmarillo]

13 hours ago, Alaskawoman said:

May be a silly question, but how do I find Pescado Amarillo’s blog on long cruises?

To see just the FAQs I've posted on how we manage our travel and home while we're away for months at a time, see:

FAQs on how we cruise for extended periods of time