sailorfool57

We were getting ready to leave on a July 9 cruise and my husband mentioned we had 1000 shares 3 days before  the cruise and wondered if it might get us on the ship earlier. I told him  “No” but there could possibly have been OBC if he’d requested it earlier. He sent request, anyway, and we were notified a few days after getting home that our account had been credited.  So, Carnival, I’ll sail with you, again! 

I’ve boarded in Galveston, Baltimore and Boston and these three ports seem to have a handle on the process.  Only Galveston since pandemic, though, and husband was wheelchair assisted, so it was easy. Boston might have been HAL and Baltimore might have been RCCL, but can’t remember offhand.

Went up to Red Frog bar at 6:30 am the morning off to grab an early time slot ticket.  Supposedly disembark at 10:30 without ticket. Had to be back on ship at 1:30.  I got a 9:30 time slot, then found they had already opened it up to everyone 30 minutes before. Coming back was a little rougher because the line wrapped around and up and down the whole area.  Get off early, but come back very early!

I only realized we had 1000 shares the week before our cruise last week and told my husband about the credit.  He sent an email along with statement but we never heard anything back.  I realize it was short notice, but figured we’d get some kind of response.

I will be passing you on the 9th!  Keep us posted with anything we need to anticipate or look forward to checking out, please. Did this same itinerary in 2005 on Conquest. I’m just ready be back on a boat after 2019! I think we have a cove balcony on Deck 2. I do love Galveston!

9 hours ago, ChuckF said:

My wife always has to have at least one chocolate martini.

 

This is so funny!  My younger sister left Saturday on a Carnival cruise to somewhere and I told her to have a chocolate martini for me and our other sister. She sent me a picture of her "first drink."   My other sister and I leave for Western Caribbean cruise on July 9, and we'll have one for her and take a picture.  We say we stay bonded this way! After that, it's either wine or old-fashions for me!

Maybe she was on Triumph!  Same destinations and the 1st or 2nd week in July!  Several things have happened since July 1019 and I’m older!  But, it was the same problem.  

I’m booked July 9th-16th. Hope it’s not delayed!  My granddaughter was on Vista in ‘19 when they were having same trouble.  The cruise was delayed a day, then they lost power for a couple of hours.  We were leaving to fly to Costa Rica that day and the family she was cruising with brought her straight to DFW from Galveston in the nick of time to make the flight. Thank Heaven she didn’t need different clothes and we could just wash her dirty ones when we got to Jaco!

I see people talking about viruses on ships and griping about people not using the provided sanitizers.  I wash my hands thoroughly several times a day and always before I eat any meals.  I was in a horrible habit of using strong hand sanitizers a few years ago and many of them hurt my hands.  I'm skittish about some sanitizers and won't use them in the dining areas if I've just come from my room and washed my hands before I left.  So, I don't judge anyone I see skip the sanitizing station.

As long as I don't have to cook it, and it's not fast food, I'm not griping, and I'm known to be a pretty darn good cook.  Anything in the main dining room is probably fancier than what I cook at home, so it will be great for me.  If I want to spend more money to eat at a better place, it won't be on the ship--- it will be in one of the port cities or when I get home.  I try to eat grass-fed or organic while at home, but I just enjoy food on my cruises for what it is. Everyone needs a little eggs benedict or lox and bagel in their lives.  Throw in a few snails and lobsters while we're at it!

On a HAL cruise last year, my sister and I walked to the theater to get seats for the show that started 25 minutes later while our husbands went to the men's room.  We found some good seats and sat down, leaving room for our husbands.  A lady from two rows up came down and tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to please move, she was saving those seats for people in her group who were still in the dining room.  She was watching great seats on three rows like a hawk, asking everyone to move, and had not placed anything on the seats to save them (probably the best seats on that side of the theater). Some people refused, and she acted huffy, and when her group of 20+ came in, she was pointing and griping. She was quite a bit older, so I just moved on around to the side.  I felt sorry for her that she thought she had the right to do that. I just thought, "Bless her heart!" 

I always stay up later than most in my party and I love sneaking up to buffet and/or café areas to get my cookies and a drink on different cruises.  I sometimes even grab a pizza.  I'll then either sit on the balcony or go out on a deck (since we usually book insides or OVs) with my Paperwhite and read and watch the water go by.  I call that my praying time.  I believe an HAL cruise had several different desserts to choose from, but I always have to have at least one cookie. Since this is our first Celebrity cruise, I hope they have something similar!

Thanks!  I've sailed RC, HAL, Princess and Carnival and I'm headed out on a Celebrity next month.  As long as I'm sailing, I'm happy!  I've been on more RC and Carnival cruises, one Princess and one HAL, and except for the age of the crowds, they're all about the same.  I've only booked one balcony, two oceanviews and the rest insides, but I'm only in the cabin to sleep. I just tell my kids to put me in a canoe, put a drink in my hand and send me down any old river and everything will be ALL RIGHT!  I appreciate your review and it sounds like you're lots of fun!

My go to drink is always an old-fashioned!  On a cruise, though, I try everything out.  Try the smoky-flavored old-fashioned!  It's different, for a change.

I also can't have carbonation, so I generally stick with vodka and lemonade, or gin and lime juice.  I think I have signed up for the premium drink package, so I will slip in an old-fashioned or two during the cruise.  I'm trying to watch my sugar, too, but I relax the rules a bit when I'm away from home.  That being said, while on vacay, it's a bloody mary with breakfast and a glass of wine for dinner.  I've never had a drink package before----this could be dangerous!

I did the Inside Passage in May of 2012 and it was certainly worth it for that cruise.  There were several of us and we all had balcony cabins lined up on the side and visited much of the time. I would leave my door slightly open and let the cool air in while I was warm and toasty in my bed.   If you are going to be on one of the Princess ships, there was a back deck where we spent some time, too.  Go up to the pool area and grab a blanket to bring down and relax in the chairs on the back.  I saw some amazing sights from my room balcony and that back balcony.  On other cruises, I don't pay the price. I was lucky enough to get an OV room on HA right beside an exit hallway, and I could be out on deck in 2 seconds, with a chair right under my window.  I got almost the same perks as the people who paid for the Verandah rooms, but for much less.

This may be a good place for this question. We are doing the July 1 to 8 cruise from Seward to Vancouver. We are trying to decide which are the best excursions to take. We've never been to Alaska before and would love to not only see the beauty and the wildlife but also perhaps spend some time fishing. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I the 10 day Explorer package on the Princess in 2012 and loved every minute of it. It was my first and only time on a Princess, but it might be the only time I make it to Alaska. Take the plane trip to the base of Denali. We loved it and my husband still encourages everyone to do that. How often do you get a chance to land on a glacier? It was amazing! We cruised in May from Vancouver and we had a balcony, but I spent most of my time on the back deck, wrapped in a blanket and drinking hot drinks, watching the wildlife and gazing at glaciers. Get off the ship and see all of the towns. The totem poles, the fish hatcheries, the eagles, the whales, etc. Walking back to our bus after whale-watching, I looked down beside the dock and saw several of the largest starfish I've ever seen. We saw the sheep on the hills while driving down the Yukon highway, we saw moose and caribou, we saw eagles, we saw a mama bear and her babies on the shore from the back of the ship. We took the train at the end of the week and stayed in the three different lodges before heading home. Probably the most I've ever spent on a trip, but it was well worth it!