atexsix

Thanks for the shout out, have a great time on your cruise as well!

You better believe I learned a lesson, I haven't had a massage since. Like you, I'm not really a massage person either, I just thought it sounded different. We leave a week from today. My bed is full of clothes as I type, I'm doing my packing test, course it's almost guaranteed that 40% of what I have out will not be touched on the trip.

A massage was when they tried to sell me on thousands of dollars worth of product while I was face down, relaxed, and vulnerable; I really didn't appreciate that. They had already upsold me to the hot stone version, again while I was face down, relaxed, and vulnerable.

Viking?

There were reports in the Princess testing discussion linked below (post #951) in which Port Everglades misinterpreted the cruise lines 3 day testing rule as including embarkation day, but the cruise line "example" clearly did not include it as part of the 3 day window, although you can still test same day if you need to. They asked for a supervisor and even they were adamant about it. So there appears to be room for interpretation by terminal staff. Anybody sailing out of Seattle having a problem with this? We're sailing on Sunday (ship departs at 3) and have our tests Thursday at 3 (exactly 72 hours). We didn't have an issue last September when everybody was using the 2 day rule, so have the terminal employees been brought up to date? Or are they just doing "whatever"?

Sigh....will this confusion ever end? Princess Website: voyages that embark in Canada = within 72 hours for PCR Holland America Website: voyages that embark in U.S. that include Canada in itinerary = within 72 hours So the Princess website only refers to the 72 hour rule for Canadian departures, but the HAL website refers to the 72 hour rule for U.S. departures that include a Canadian stop. Princess says nothing about U.S. departures that include a Canadian stop. What am I missing?

Since the testing policies on every line use the word embarkation, can someone please clarify what that means? I want to make sure I'm advising our roll call correctly. Is embarkation the time you board the ship or the time the ship departs?

FYI: if your LO is a veteran, the V.A. will give you the disposable pads, briefs, or diapers for free. But if you don't have any, the disposable kind you buy for pets will work just as well.

Thanks for all the replies. See this is why Cruise Critic is so wonderful, everybody is very helpful even in a Devil's Advocate kinda way without being rude and ridiculing at the same time. I will let everybody know what we decided in the end.

We looked at some of the lengthier Australia itineraries but we're concerned their rates will go up during the southern hemisphere winter and they'll close the borders again. Course we'd really like to do a 30 day South America and HAL has yet to offer the RT San Diego again.

Yes I thought of that. You'd have to be incredibly organized for it to work, but I envision having to remove everything 50 times because of something that sank to the bottom. I'm still going to do a test run and see how it goes, I have another week before we leave. I did that on a trip to europe once and man did they grill me coming back through U.S. Customs, wanting to know why I traveled with so few belongings...I guess that raised suspicions....my answer though "because your own state department website recommended traveling lightly".

I know. Especially since embarkation is still scheduled for 11, I don't think they could make it much earlier without overlapping with people disembarking. Not sure how long it takes to clear a ship, but on my last cruise our limo was late and I can see people were still coming off the ship at 9:30.

I know. I've watched a few videos and I'm floored as well. I think it's more the type of luggage than amount of clothes, even though I always way overpack. I don't know where I was going either. But I think we can combine suitcases so that's a plus. But carryon only will be harder to pull off for two people less than spry.

I think we may have to do this compromise....ever notice when you begin to lay out everything on the bed there's a million items you hadn't thought about?

First of all, it's Alaska in the spring, so in other words: expect anything. But we'll have to pack heavier clothes for sure. On formal nights, we're tired of them, we've done so many they don't really impress anymore and we're not nightlife people. As to laundry, I don't mind doing laundry a couple times during a 7 day at all. Thankfully Princess ships still have laundry rooms and it's not necessary to wait 2 to 3 days. Not exactly like the packs your describing, but close. I have the luggage cubes and I'm going to see if they will fit into these, if not there's still time to make another amazon purchase, assuming we don't scrap the idea altogether.

You all brought up great points, I'm honestly not sure it's going to work. Do we really want to break our backs? I will still use one for our carryon stuff, but I don't know about as our only form of luggage. I'm going to do a test run tomorrow. The challenge for us is finding a porter at the terminal so we are not struggling with the wheelchair or walker and our rolling luggage. We are not always successful, in Seattle the porters like to venture way out to where the buses are coming in to drop off masses of people, they never seem to be right by the main entrance. This exactly! Especially disabled seniors or a near senior in my case. I guess if cruise terminals didn't turn into 3 ring circuses while everybody boards as if their lives depend on it; we'd probably wait until the stampede is in the buffet having lunch if it wasn't for the fact Princess changed the departure time, now everybody has to be on the ship by 2:30.

Oh wow! I forgot all about this post, I wasn't receiving any notifications and thought nobody either cared or it got buried by other posts. I will read through and respond to everybody.

I'm glad you mentioned it, I think I better add a couple of the pads to my diaper bag. We're already bringing a pack of the pull ups. And I'll talk to the room steward about something for the waste because I use the wet wipes on my Dad and you can't flush them, even though it says you can, but I wouldn't chance it on a ship.

But are you subjected to the product pitch every time you go in there? Also: the advantages of having a shaved head (by choice-not because of hair loss)

Yeah that figures! We'll hit the shore x desk as soon as we're onboard to get more details, hopefully they will be able to help out on the matter.

Beautiful pictures as usual, yikes on those planes landing! I love the lizards!

What a beautiful deck? I love elevated terraces like this.

We had our 2nd booster last month, I sure hope it gives the promised extra layer of protection for our cruise. Are you still doing Hawaii in the spring? How terrible about the wrong diagnosis. That happened to me years ago with cancer, for a week I thought I had it, can you imagine? I wasn't happy about it but what can you do? Hate to burst your bubble, but more rain on the way tomorrow. At least everything is green.

I get to tackle my gardening as soon as I'm back from our cruise, it sounds late but we're having such a cold wet spring that it should be fine, I want to get some potatoes and green beans done....the strawberries are up and running and already producing a few berries.

Noise or not, I think it'll be worth it, we will only have a neighboring verandah on one side because of the pool itself. I also don't think anybody from above can see into our balcony (unlike the decks below us) thanks to the Wake View area, so there's good and bad.