mnocket

I hope the second time is a charm. I've recently booked our first Amazon cruise for Dec'23. I sure hope this bucket list item lives up my expectations (which have been reduced somewhat).

I just started reading the 2017 threads. One thing that surprised me right off the bat was the discussion of Visas for travel to Brazil. I'm guessing things have changed as my quick research indicates that Brazil does not currently require Visas for Visitors? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

They already have your picture. Facial scans when you get on/off the ship don't really further compromise your privacy. I believe facial recognition software works off both photos and live scans. If the US government was collecting passenger images from cruise ships, they'd already have yours with or without facial scans.

It really doesn't matter how Princess chooses to brand itself - what matters is how customers perceive Princess. Some see Princess as premium and others see it as mass market. My take is that the difference between mass market and premium has been shrinking. There was once a very significant distinction - not so much any longer.

I did this cruise just before the Covid shutdown. Unfortunately American Somoa was canceled because of a measles outbreak. Otherwise we loved this cruise and were thinking about doing it again, but since Bora Bora is no longer a port of call we're rethinking it. Two nights in Tahiti is no replacement for Bora Bora imho.

Correct. In the past I've found that the perks associated the the 3-Day Sale were better than any of the Princess "sales". Even better than I got from my usual big box TA. However since Princess has changed their pricing model I was wondering if this was still such a good sale. I haven't been following pricing closely so I don't know.

I have previously booked a cruise during the 3-Day Sale, but haven't been following Princess pricing & sales lately. Is this a good deal? That TAs pricing isn't usually that good, but in the past I've found this sale to be very good.

I seem to remember reading about Bora Bora starting to restrict the size ships that can enter the lagoon. I expected the ships would just start anchoring outside the lagoon and tendering in. I did this same cruise in 2000 (got back right before the Covid shutdown). An extra night in Tahiti is no replacement for Bora Bora! I enjoyed that cruise so much that I have thought about doing it again.

How in the world did you manage to get there when it wasn't overrun with people? I didn't think that was possible😉

Cruising with Covid restrictions is unacceptable to some people Cruising without Covid restrictions is unacceptable to some people No surprise here.

I guess if food is subjective, art is hyper-subjective. I pretty much see the Mona Lisa as the Kardishan of paintings - famous for being famous. But what do I know🙃

I pretty much suspected this when I visited Ireland and wisely skipped it. I saw no reason to do this other than to be able to say you did it - not a good enough reason for me.

So my expectations should focus on flora and fauna, but not the people. Got it.

My next bucket item is a cruise up the Amazon river. I know anywhere I go I will be accompanied by others from the ship, but I sure hope there's some authenticity to the experience.

I've already decided that I will die without ever seeing the Mona Lisa and I'm perfectly fine with that👌 I've also decided that I can skip the Leaning Tower of Pisa - though there are other areas of Italy that I haven't yet visited that I very much want to.

For me it was mainly the Vatican Museum. I even had a private tour, but it just wasn't what I expected.

Our bucket lists all contain those things that we are most excited to see & experience, but sometimes reality doesn't live up to expectations. Have you gotten to cross off any bucket list items that kinda disappointed? Things that you would caution others to think twice about so they don't waste precious time and resources trying?

I agree. The definition says exactly what it means. I don't know why a "This OR That" statement is confusing.