3113Timmy

I'm a doctor and I'm (relatively) young and fit, but yes I do get altitude sickness and fully expect it.

I have limited time off so I don't like "wasting" time on sea days and I love to get to places with the minimum amount of wriggle room! Unfortunately, on some occasions I have come to grief.

I'm looking at meeting the ship further down the line in Pisco or even La Serena, Chile.

I'm considering doing the cruise from Fort Lauderdale to South America on the 40 day version debarking at BA in Oct-Nov.

Is it permissible to do your own overland excursion for Macchu Picchu, for example, leaving at Lima and picking up at Pisco? 

Do they allow you to do your own thing and come back on a later port? I am happy to pay for my own expenses in the meantime.

Thinking about going on the Voyage of the Vikings Rotterdam-Boston this summer via Iceland.

The Berlitz guide did not give an inspiring review of the included food on HAL ships, stating they were lacking in "passion and taste" and there is overuse on rice and iceberg lettuce and a deficiency in green vegetables (read: blatant cost-cutting). Food is a huge factor in choosing yea or nay on a cruise for me, I don't need lobster every night, but I don't accept boarding-house-grade-slop either.

Went on Royal Carribbean in Alaska 11 years ago and the food had no issues at all - every meal was tasty.

Any opinions?

Hope everything going well with recovery. It's a bit like being caught between a rock and a hard place. Getting some form of exercise in is good even exercising your arms first.

I'm stable here at just under 150. I was progressing very well until I got invited to a Brazilian buffet last night. I haven't had processed meats for months now. God help me when I get to Bologna. Still, I skipped dessert.

Only 15 days to embarkation now. I won't skip the business class airline food there either.

Thanks for your advice. If I had the time, I would do that. But realistically, I cannot do that as I don't have the option of taking more leave from work, and could only really take my time when I am retired and my elderly parents are no longer require caring for (perhaps in 30+ years' time). It is fortunate enough for me that I am able to travel at all. Most of the people I see at work are barely able to provide a subsistence existence to their families, never mind vacations.

I am fortunate that I can take in a lot of information in a short time and I read up on what I visit in a fair bit of detail. I intend to savour and marvel at every second of it.

Well I did the math, if I went on the MSC cruise I'd need to fly from Barcelona to Athens the same day that my Oceania cruise ends.

And MSC would make me do a PCR test in the 48 hours immediately before their departure. The logistics are just too unrealistic. Also my conscience will not allow me to have another week of cruise-related weight gain.

Maybe I'll have to save up for another Oceania cruise in the Greek Islands in future...... I'm only 42 so I've got many cruises left in me as long as I don't blow my bankroll.

Hope you are improving steadily Izena!

My cruise starts in Rome April 15 with a business class flight there from Oz

Got to my lowest point in 5 years Monday 148 after running 3.5 miles for the first time ever in my life. Hiked 5 miles yesterday and ran another 3.5 today. Eating limited food in moderation hungry but tolerating it. 

This is reminding me of the days when everyone else at school had candy and I had none.

20 minutes ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

 

Normally when I mention my masters in Statistics (UCDavis) with degrees in mathematics, computer science and environmental sciences folks’ eyes glaze over. I can see this might be a slightly different experience.  😎

I was a mathematician before I became a doctor. I still love numbers and read the math books in popular science. When I retire I'll volunteer to teach an adult numeracy class, like my grandmother did for literacy. Not being able to do your sums is like inability to swim: you drown in debt!

24 minutes ago, PhD-iva said:

PS I didn’t mean to imply that I have ever worked at Oceania or Regent. Just that they are my preferred cruise lines! 

I still dream to do a PhD in public health obesity and diabetes. Oh, the irony.....

20 minutes ago, PhD-iva said:

Accounting at UCONN.

Ok, since you asked: 

undergraduate degree at Berkeley with honors

MBA at New York University

Masters of accounting at UConn

PhD in accounting at UConn

Oceania/Regent: retired and cruising!

OK, I will stop blowing my own horn now.

My late grandfather was an accountant and by all accounts (no pun intended) was a perfectly satisfactory one, but he could never balance his own family's budget sheet. Expensive tastes for food, ladies, cigarettes (his liver was genetically unable to process alcohol!) and clothing definitely didn't help.

This is why none of us ever became accountants after. Luckily, I put enough into my social security and savings to go on cruises in later life.

24 minutes ago, PhD-iva said:

Welcome to O! I truly think that you will have an amazing experience. On this board we have several very knowledgeable, detail oriented, responsive posters so I am confident that you will get all of your questions answered. Maybe even multiple times. I’m probably not the best source of information since I only have two cruises under my belt (but several more are booked!).

Enjoy your cruise!

PhD-iva, I wonder what you did your PhD in!

I've been dieting all Lent, the last week it's been bordering on full on fasting.

I'm on a 10 day cruise starting April 15 and I will aim to do a lot of walking whilst in port. I'm not going to skip lunch as I do want to sample the local food. I aim to put on no more than 5 pounds, which I think is a realistic goal.

Absolutely goes without saying there will be no Burger King until then.

17 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Indeed.  I have been unable to shed the extra waistline I gained on Riviera in January.

Jazzbeau, have you been on cruises since? How long were you on Riviera in January and how much did you gain? I am going to try to do a lot of walking in port to minimize the inevitable.

Oh no! Gelato will undo all the good work while I fasted this Lent. 😞

I'm booked on the Riviera on Oceania Cruises, Rome to Barcelona starting April 15.

First time I've gone under 150 in five years today (I'm m/5'7''). This morning I also ran 3.5 miles, the first time I was ever able to run that far. It's never too late!

When I got home I found I'd expended a full pound just doing that run..... 148!

Have to go to a dinner tonight so mostly fasted during the day and had a clear soup for lunch...

Good luck everyone, onward and downward!

Way back in 2010 I spent six days in Paris in the middle of winter and saw the biggest sights.

I am returning post-cruise in the first week of May this year. I have four full days.

I want to go to the Musee D'Orsay and Versailles. I went to Versailles last time but nothing was growing and it was bare. The former I haven't been to, only the Louvre and I love Impressionism. I also want to fit in a visit to my friend who lives in Orleans.

This is a plan:

Day 1: Musee D'Orsay and Orangerie, maybe Pompidou Centre time permitting and an evening dinner cruise on the Seine River?

Day 2: Giverny in the morning and Rouen for the afternoon and evening?

Day 3: Train to Chenonceaux, then return to Orleans in the afternoon, have dinner with friend and return (stay overnight in Orleans?)

Day 4: A day trip to Versailles and finish up sightseeing in Paris in the afternoon

I want to go to the D-day beaches and Mont St-Michel but would that require six days? I could try and play around with my itinerary to fit in 5 days but 6 would be pushing it. I am young (42) and fit and can do a lot of moving about in a day!

Any suggestions please?

I intend to be still doing this well past 80, I have good, well, VERY good genes and take very good care of myself and my finances, unlike most of my patients.

Nice, Ajaccio, marseille

How do the on demand movies work?

Do you borrow a DVD from their library or directly watch it on your TV under a closed circuit movie channel?

Assume the former is available but what the OP is posting about works with the latter.

Has anyone been on any expedition-type small ships to the Subantarctic Islands? Heritage Expeditions in New Zealand do lots of trip down to the Subantarctic Islands in New Zealand, although I've never had the holiday time or feel generous enough to go. I gather that ports of call often get cancelled due to weather. It's wet, windy and chilly to mild all year. (Case in point - one station in the Auckland Islands have never recorded a temperature under 35 or over 65.)

The only problem is seasickness... so trying to gather your experiences and advice...

I cruised solo on the Cruise and Maritime Discovery when I was 33, visited the Faroe Islands, Orkney, Shetland and Iceland. Had a wonderful time.

I was probably in the five youngest guests of that whole cruise. There were five or six of us singles under 65 and we would be seated together on the same table and we would all listen to each other's life stories and empathize with each other's difficulties. One of us had just lost his wife to cancer at 40. It was a great healing experience for all of us! 

As a lifelong railway enthusiast, I'm just wondering have any of you cruisers found the time while in port to do a shortish scenic train ride? It's probably not enough time to do one along its full length but I'd be very happy riding for a couple of hours while saving a bit of time to see the usual sights too. I love anything that runs on rails, so streetcars as well.

Examples:

Nice to Digne

Ajaccio to Corte (Corsica)

Not limited to France where I am going next but would be interested in hearing your thoughts.

I don't mind that at all. I used to work with obviously mostly older people during my residency years and they were from all over the world and always had something to talk about and learn from in the few spare moments I got to sit down and talk to them. In many ways that was the best part of my job!

Personally, I really look forward to being able to do long-term cruising when I retire in 25 years' time. But I do have the responsibility of making sure my mom and dad who are non-cruisers get through their life with maximum extent, quality and dignity first!

The ship that I would be considering (unlikely at this stage) would be the Lirica.

I can tolerate even the tiniest staterooms, but stodgy food is a different matter.

Well one of the MSC fleet anyway!