seafun

Has anyone been on Sapphire around Antarctica?  I am worried that even with StarLink, the wifi signal may be weak or nonexistant for the days at "the bottom of the world," far from satellites.

Thank you both very much.

Hi folks, I'm doing Sep 20 to Oct 7 on Diamond Princess, as two segments that return to Yokohama on Fri Sep 29.  I would love to see the huge Tokyo National Museum, but speak no Japanese.  Theoretically, I should be able to use public transportation to get to the museum and back.  Has anyone done this before?  Any suggestions?  I'm usually brave, but this seems a bit daunting.  Thanks for any help. 🙂

Please ignore my post above.  Finally got it to work on my phone.  Laughing at myself because I can't figure out how to delete my own post.  Guess I don't use Cruise Critic as much any more.  🙂

Heck, you all are further along than I am.  My cruise isn't until May 22, but I can't even get the app to install on my Android phone.  Tried the "web version" on my home computer, and wouldn't let me enter any info -- "try again later."  Not very professional.....

Come on Norwegian -- please!  Many of us have spent many thousands of dollars for an enjoyable cruise (2/27 for me), and you have had those dollars for many months.  I also put down a LOT of frequent flyer miles and cash for comfortable flights to and from the cruise, and hotel reservations.  You have told us that we will lose everything if WE cancel.  Come on, the writing on the wall is getting clearer -- it is not safe for most people (I am - ahem - over 65) to risk this virus.  Please, won't YOU cancel these cruises, and let us all get on with our lives?  Many of us stand to lose a lot, just on airfare to and from the cruise.

Most other carriers have cancelled their cruises -- RCI, Celebrity, Cunard, Princess, etc.  I hope you are having daily executive meetings, and will  make the right business decision, SOON!  There are people on my cruise that you have done this to before, cancelling a cruisewith 48 hours notice.  Don't do that again, please.  Please give us notice NOW, so we can make other plans, and cancel what we can cancel. People are watching.  Your reputation is definitely at stake.

Thank you Edinburghgirl!  I am scheduled for the 20 day on Jade starting on 2/27.  I am wondering if they will cancel the 2/10 and/or 2/17 cruises.  Quite a mess!  But thank you for your report.  Safe travels home!

Love your review so far! About 12 days until I climb onto the Liberty of the Seas for a B2B, so you are whetting my cruising appetite. All the photos and your narrative are quite enjoyable. Thank you!

Thanks for this thread and the tips! I board the Radiance a month from today, in Oahu, headed through the South Pacific to Sydney. So looking forward to it! :-)

Here's a suggestion for packing lists. The links I tried would not post, so you can Google Cruise Diva packing lists.

I hope this gets you started.:)

I also love ziplining Milo. I booked the tour to Gumbalimba Park with Princess, then had plenty of time to add on the zip lining after the tour of the park. I believe the ziplining was only about $40.00 more, purchased at the park (VERY reasonable these days.)

There were only about 4 people that added ziplining, so there basically were no waits and the guides were great -- taking photos of us with our cameras, as well as offering photos they took. I ended up buying their photo disc for another $15.00 or so. Oh, and they were GREAT lines, through the jungle, over and through the canopy, and ending literally at the edge of the beach. Very fun!

I had time to walk on the beach and take some photos and eat before the Princess transportation took us back to the ship. It was a great combo of "their tour" and my adding to it, with dependable transportation included.

I heartily recommend it!

I was on the Royal Princess that was the first cruise ship to call on Dominica on October 5. I had booked a tour with Nature Isle Explorers and it went very well.

Yes, the damage was quite obvious in many places, and there was lots of visible destruction. We drove right by the yellow church and across the bridge it is next to in the youtube video. Obviously, some bridges are open and others are impassible.

We were able to see all the tourist areas planned -- the Champagne Reef, Titou Gorge, Trafalgar Falls, the Botanical gardens and the overlook of the city. All were very beautiful. I had been to Dominica about 6 years ago, and the beautiful, unspoiled nature of the island is easy to see wherever you go.

Several of the roads around the island -particularly those by rivers - are somewhat washed away, but I never felt unsafe on them. You could see exposed water pipes along roads and banks that had washed away. We passed several road crews doing repair work.

There are major and minor landslides that are visible most places we went. They have cleared the roads and are continuing to improve road conditions. The worst damage I saw to the sights we visited was at Trafalgar Falls. The scenic pools below the falls have been destroyed by massive rock boulder avalanches, so it's just a jumble of boulders below them but the falls are still there, and the scenic rain forest you walk through to get there is still just as beautiful.

The ship had a lot of tours and I believe they all went off without a hitch as well, as I didn't hear a single complaint from other passengers.

If you plan on going to Dominica, I would advise you to continue those plans. The people are warm and welcoming (well, other than the folks over-zealously hawking their tours and taxis just as you exit the port area, but isn't it that way everywhere?)

Obviously, they need the tourism dollars, but you will not be walking into devastation. You will learn things, see things and experience things you can't learn on any other island.

I hope this information is helpful! :-)

I was on the Royal Princess that was the first cruise ship to call on Dominica on October 5. I had booked a tour with Nature Isle Explorers and it went very well.

Yes, the damage was quite obvious in many places, and there was lots of visible destruction. We drove right by the yellow church and across the bridge it is next to in the youtube video. Obviously, some bridges are open and others are impassible.

We were able to see all the tourist areas planned -- the Champagne Reef, Titou Gorge, Trafalgar Falls, the Botanical gardens and the overlook of the city. All were very beautiful. I had been to Dominica about 6 years ago, and the beautiful, unspoiled nature of the island is easy to see wherever you go.

Several of the roads around the island -particularly those by rivers - are somewhat washed away, but I never felt unsafe on them. You could see exposed water pipes along roads and banks that had washed away. We passed several road crews doing repair work.

There are major and minor landslides that are visible most places we went. They have cleared the roads and are continuing to improve road conditions. The worst damage I saw to the sights we visited was at Trafalgar Falls. The scenic pools below the falls have been destroyed by massive rock boulder avalanches, so it's just a jumble of boulders below them but the falls are still there, and the scenic rain forest you walk through to get there is still just as beautiful.

The ship had a lot of tours and I believe they all went off without a hitch as well, as I didn't hear a single complaint from other passengers.

If you plan on going to Dominica, I would advise you to continue those plans. The people are warm and welcoming (well, other than the folks over-zealously hawking their tours and taxis just as you exit the port area, but isn't it that way everywhere?)

Obviously, they need the tourism dollars, but you will not be walking into devastation. You will learn things, see things and experience things you can't learn on any other island.

I hope this information is helpful! :-)

Thanks Fishywood and Caribill. Just as I suspected.

No outlook-like program on my machine. I should have said Chromebook instead of netbook I guess. It's a great little machine but not real practical for shipboard composing of notes.

Well... either I'd better practice my penmanship (to write notes by hand :eek:) -- or, maybe a little shopping is in order tomorrow, LOL.

Thanks guys.

I've got a netbook to bring with me rather than the bulky laptop. Just discovered that unless it's online, I can't use the equivalent of "Word" to write a document to upload ((trip notes, travel blog, etc).

Does anyone recall if you can use the computers in the Royal's internet café for something like that? (To compose a document to upload, while offline.) I know I once uploaded a memory card to one of their computers on another ship, but don't remember if I was logged in or not.

Any answers would be most appreciated.

I was trying to travel smarter, and I may have taken a step backwards. :o

Dominica got hit hard today. For those of us who have visited before, and who plan to visit again (early October for me), my heart goes out to the people affected.

If you have an upcoming visit or tour, there may be changes in store.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/tropical-storm-erika-marching-1/52021729

I also have Norton, and I also got it when I tried to click on Royal Roll Calls. Norton advised me to close out. Weird stuff, but hopefully no damage done.

I'm looking forward to your review! :D

I just got home last week from sailing in that very room. Loved it! You can look straight out the window, unobstructed except for the roof above -- no life boats in sight. You have to lean way up against the window and turn way right or left to see the obstructions.

I'm sorry I don't have time to try and (fight to) post photos of the view. But I would call it virtually unobstructed.

I got off the ship 3/21, and the survey came on 3/30.

This is my Egypt "travelogue" you asked about.

I'll be on the Crown this time next week and you've whetted my proverbial appetite with your review and photos.

Looking forward to getting away from it all for a few days. Whether one can "come back new" in just 7 days remains to be seen, LOL, but I will certainly try! :D

Glad to see one of my favorite threads back!

Yes, I remember them too. As a matter of fact, have one of the "pleather" ones next to me and will fill it with my home-printed stuff in another couple weeks.

Good memories! :)

Your description of your day in Santorini, like the rest of your review, was delightful! Thanks for taking the time to share it all. :-)