tismon

gina - There is no wifi on board except the ship wifi. It is not free! Cle-Guy is correct. ATT is the partner. I do note that Celebrity is getting ready to install new internet systems starting late this fall. Am sure they still will be slow because of bandwidth issues.

 

There is free wifi in many ports.

Do you possibly have a link for this? We're planning a January cruise that this might effect.

Thank you

I've opted for small hotels about a block away from the Hollywood beach. The ones on booking.com with great reviews run around $140-160/night before tax.

Booking.com is great for reviews, but tripadvisor is still better for photos.

The trouble with that is that, lately, we've been dressed up and the folks at the table next to us considers formal to be turning his baseball hat around instead of wearing it backward. So, we have mixed feelings on this. Last year, we were on the Oasis for Christmas and there were still a few in tuxedos besides me on Christmas Eve. We'll be on the Eclipse this Christmas and, as of today, I will be leaving the tux (and my red Christmas bow tie) in the closet.

In that case, I guess that we had our hopes up for nothing anyway. We'll still do a tie/dress number, but I'll probably leave the jacket at home.

Thank you for the insight.

We'll be going on our first cruise in January to the Caribbean and will definitely have to cache some along the way. At least one at each stop, though an EarthCache/virtual plus a traditional at each wouldn't be bad either. It looks like most excursions have a cache placed nearby as well.

We're actually bummed a bit at the change. We would have at least like to go to one of them, but since our first cruise is in January, that won't happen now.

Since even for formal nights, there were other dining options, I don't quite grasp the issue. Dressing up at all is only fun when those around you do the same.

The more logical step would have been to dedicate one of the smaller venues as formal only for a night to remove the idea that the main dining option isn't welcoming.

EDIT: and for the record, we're both in our late 20s

Driving is a very good thought, though we'll probably fly.

Although we can't splurge on everything, a pair of non-stop southwest flights seem worth it to me.

Thank you, I'll look into Princess a bit more.

My time frame is pretty open. I just hit the year mark with this job in June, but anytime after that is open.

We are typically adventurous and the next trip will be a Jackson Hole week in winter, but we've never just had a hands-off trip and could really use some relaxation.

That would be best, but since I don't have the ability to move or delete this one without a mod's help, all that I can do is to repost, which is usually looked down on in other forums.

That's exactly what I was hoping for. Thanks for the tips.

It looks like this will be a fall trip then.

I meant to add Norwegian to the list, but can't edit yet it seems.

Just signed up with each of the lines. Although I'm a planner, cost is a variable worth being patient for.

And I plan to minimize issues, but so far don't have a history of stressing too much over little things

Thanks

EDIT: ...I clicked on the wrong section. I thought that I was in the First Time area. My fault.

I'm mostly looking for suggestions, but I will definitely have more questions as I get deeper into this. And it looks like you just gave me one. I saw the gap in their schedules, but couldn't figure out why.

It can be for the fall as well. I haven't gotten to weather patterns just yet.

Should this thread go somewhere else?

First, this forum is exactly what I was looking for. So thank you to the mods and the community for building this resource.

Into the question:

I tend to be a perfectionist while planning so that I can relax more during a trip and this is our first time shooting for a cruise. And wow, this is a different beast entirely from regular travel.

I will be researching everything and writing out many scenarios so this isn't a request to plan our trip for me. Rather, I'm hoping for the common pitfalls and tricks of the trade that would make this a lot easier. I've already dug into a dozen or so articles on this site (more on others) from the romatic cruises and honeymoon lines, to internet access and My First Cruise.

The purpose is for a delayed honeymoon (new job, no vacation until June) that was this past weekend. Now that the nuptial planning is officially done, time to get on that trip.

And as young newlyweds, cost is a factor. To help with that, I have about $1000 in Discover cashback that can be doubled with partner cruise lines.

So, points for me to start looking:

Discover Partners (* made the romantic list | # made the honeymoon list):

Celebrity Cruises *#

Princess Cruises *#

Royal Caribbean International#

Carnival Cruise Lines #

Holland America

Norwegian Cruise Line *

Also partners for shore activities:

Shore Excursions Group

Tour Sales

Tauck Tours

I'm leaning towards a Caribbean cruise and probably a western one to include Belize and specifically Cave Tubing.

----------------------------

I will probably use this as a public journal during planning to outline my process in case someone else would like to reference.

To start, I'm focusing on Celebrity and Princess at the moment and will definitely book some form of romance package.