Cruisin'Christine

I have only been on a Celebrity cruise once, which was an Alaskan cruise. They had excellent educational and very interesting lectures on each of the ports. A naturalist did some of the lectures and a cultural interpreter did the others. They were very well done and informative. I am not sure if the lectures are typical of Celebrity, or if it was just because it was an Alaskan cruise.

I went on an Alaskan cruise that left from Seattle and ended in Vancouver, BC. It was amazing! The stops were Juneau, Icy Strait Point, Ketchikan, Victoria, BC, Nanaimo, BC, and we sailed Tracy Arm Fjord (so beautiful). I think there was one other Alaska stop, which I can't remember at the moment. I fished at Icy Strait Point and caught two halibut! Whale watching was truly amazing in Juneau. BC is beautiful. My husband and I stayed a couple days in Seattle at the beginning and a couple days in Vancouver at the end. What a trip of a lifetime.

I was on the Norwegian Getaway a couple months ago and in the main dining room that offers nightly entertainment (Manhattan room?, escapes my memory at the moment), there is a dance floor and couple would get up and do ballroom dancing. A live band played and people danced.

If you don't gain weight on a cruise, you must not be doing something right!! Lol!

My husband is a plumber. The last thing he does is turn off the water before we leave the house to go on a cruise. Better safe than sorry!

I've done one Alaska cruise, but never a land tour. I loved the cruise!! It went from Seattle to Vancouver. If you go for a cruise, I would recommend a balcony, only because the scenery is so beautiful that it is worth it. I loved spending the day on the balcony (while going on and off into my room to warm up) when we toured Tracy Arm Fjord. I also went fishing at Icy Strait Point and caught a couple of halibut, which was a real treat! Whale watching in Juneau was amazing!! Enjoy your vacation.

I find cash is the easiest to use, although I also bring a credit card, which I will only use at the bigger, nicer stores. For cash, I bring it in my carry-on and then put it in the safe onboard in my room. I will only take a certain amount out of the safe at each port. When swimming at a port, I wear a plastic pouch that goes around my neck and is waterproof (it is a pouch actually meant to keep an ipod dry in the water). Other than that, I carry a purse with my money in it and I am always careful with my purse.

My husband and I are in our early 40's and we love the aspect of getting dressed up on the formal nights. My husband wears a tux and I wear a fancy ballgown type dress. We have never been out of place. Some people dress up a lot and some people dress up a little, but you won't be criticized for either choice. We have done this on Celebrity, Princess, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and most recently Norwegian. In fact, we find that others will compliment our choice of attire, as we move throughout the ship that night. We enjoy dressing up, since we don't get the chance to do it at home too often. We also enjoy getting one nice photo from each cruise as a keepsake of when we are dressed up.

My husband and I are 40 somethings too. We love cruising and have never had a bad trip yet. I think a great start into the world of cruising would be to go on the Allure of the Seas or the Oasis of the Seas. These are very large cruise ships with lots of great things to offer. The shows are amazing, including a high diving show. They both have the Flowrider, which allows you to do surfing and body surfing in a pool-type setting with waves. Really cool. There is a zip line, rock climbing wall, carousel, Johnny Rockets, Central Park, etc. For an itinerary, my favourite tends to be either an Eastern or Southern Caribbean. I prefer these to the islands on the Western Caribbean itinerary.

Live and let live! If it is not on your door, don't worry about it. Some people like to decorate their doors and others do not. It shouldn't impact your vacation any, if people feel the need to let their artistic juices flow on THEIR OWN DOOR.

Thanks for the additional insights! My dad did get the insurance offered by the cruiseline, but also wants to get a separate policy due to the limits of the cruise line policy.

I agree that the Celebrity Solstice class of ships would be a good choice for you. I was on the Solstice and it was elegant and more upscale than RCI, Norwegian, Carnival, etc. I loved their elegant cafe where you can sit and have a coffee or tea. The food was really delicious. Other than Celebrity, I would consider Princess for the requirements that you prefer.

If you can stretch to afford a balcony, an Alaskan cruise is the one I would do that on. The scenery on an Alaskan cruise is so beautiful, plus you have a pretty good chance at spotting wildlife (whales, etc), so a balcony is a real benefit. People will say that you can just go up to a deck to see the scenery, and you can, but it was so nice to have a balcony and keep going in and out of it to get in from the cold when we were cruising Tracy Arm Fjord. I loved all of the photos I captured from the balcony.

Thinking back to our first cruise, it would have been helpful to know that you can ask for extra portions or substitutions in the main dining room. For instance, my husband does not eat cheese, so if the potatoes on the menu for his dish were made with cheese, he would ask for a baked potato. He loves meat, so sometimes he would ask for a double portion of pork tenderloin or roast beef, etc. If you are given something you don't care for in the dining room, you can ask the waiter for something else and they are happy to take back what you didn't like and bring you something you do like. If you don't like the appetizers, you can always ask for a fruit plate, even if it is not on the menu. Get to the Newlywed show early, as it is a favourite with cruisers and it is so funny!

Our first cruise, which was a cruise on the Costa Mediterrania for our honeymoon, got us hooked in 2006. We were supposed to go on the Star Princess, but the week before our cruise, there was a fire on the ship and the cruise was cancelled. What a panic for our honeymoon! We were able to get on the Costa Mediterrania for the same week and a similar Caribbean itinerary. We loved it and have since been on 15 cruises, including ones on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Celebrity, and Norwegian. So glad we discovered cruising!

I've never used a power strip on my cruises. Really, the one thing I use an outlet for is to charge my camera battery, but that is about it.

There is no cure for the cruise addiction. You need to just accept that you will have the addiction for life and surround yourself with like-minded people who will help you to feed your addiction.

Absolutely no problem using US dollars!

Oh, to book with George Leamus in Roatan I found him on Trip Advisor and then clicked on his website. I connected with him by email and he met me just outside the gates of the port with a sign with my name on it.

I was just at these ports in October and had a wonderful time! I would suggest that you go to the monkey park in Honduras to be able to play with the monkeys. You can get some photos with monkeys crawling on you, as you feed them. They will even perch on your head! In Honduras, we did a private excursion with George Leamus, who was really friendly and took us all over the place. I would suggest doing the swimming with the dolphins in Cozumel at the Chankanaab park. You pay to swim with the dolpins and then it includes your park admission. They have a beautiful beach, snorkelling, a pool with swim-up bar, even a Starbucks (if you miss it from home). They give you a lot of time with the dolphins, more than most places. I did the swimming with the manatees, which was the coolest experience I've ever had. We took a taxi to the park and then a taxi back.

You folks are being a little bit rough on the OP. He is asking a question, so there is no need to flog him in the public square. He will probably choose not to bring the drone, since he now has the feedback. Chill out, fine cruisers!

To benefit from a balcony, bring some really good books to read out there. I love to do that! Also, it is fun to order breakfast to be delivered to the room to eat on the balcony, or even just tea, coffee, and muffins to have before going to the dining room for breakfast. Other than that, bring sunglasses and a good camera, because you'll want to be taking pictures. You could bring binoculars too, but I really only found that I used them in Alaska.

I'm trying to get away from home, so I don't bring many of the comforts of home. I will bring an address book to send some postcards though. I am quite happy with the soap, toilet paper, etc. that is provided. I am a low maintenance woman!

Thank you for the pointers! I will look into the companies mentioned. My dad has twice had to make a claim (once he was admitted from a cruise ship to a Florida hospital for a heart attack and had angioplasty done, and another time he had kidney stones), so I am thinking the two insurance companies he used before would likely turn him down, but I guess we can try them too.

Summer Sisters by Judy Blume