GrannyJ

I took one swimsuit on my last cruise and never used it. Between the cold pool that looked like Times Square on New Years Eve and the hot tubs (or Giant Tub 'o Cream of Unmentionable Bodily Excretions Soup, as I call them), I didn't see the attraction. But then, I live in Florida, so it's not a novelty.

If I wore heels in the evening (or any other time), I'd probably be taking a trip to the emergency room and I'd be wearing a cast.

I love the hat AND the dress.....just not together.

If it's on Facebook and it looks "too good to be true", well, run.... Run fast. Do not click go, you won't be collecting anything.

I asked several employees for duct tape (since they didn't sell it in any of the shops) when my suitcase broke, but nobody could get me any. I always carry a small roll now. The flight attendants had duct tape once when I really needed it. I had broken a bone in my foot while on vacation and my foot swelled up so badly during a transatlantic flight that I couldn't get my shoe back on. They cut my shoe open and reconstructed it with duct tape so that it was big enough to accommodate my foot. Then they decorated the other shoe to make the two look more alike. Bless 'em! Duct tape is like The Force.....it has a light side and a dark side and it holds the universe together.

Nobody pronounces my first name or middle name correctly. Nobody on earth CAN pronounce my last name correctly unless you're related. So I've learned to smile and answer to anything that vaguely resembles any of my names. It's easy enough to do. I may correct the pronunciation somewhere along the line or I may not. It's not that important.

It was either Cape Canaveral Cruise Line or the Dolphin. I wish I could remember. I remember when one of the day-trip ships burned for weeks in Port Canaveral. They'd put out the fire and then it would burst out again. I believe it turned out that a young man who had been contracted as a firefighter (not associated with any local fire departments) had kept restarting the fire because he wanted to continue his employment.

I need a memory jog. I remember taking a cruise out of Port Canaveral somewhere around 1990. I cannot remember the cruiseline or the name of the ship. I'm pretty sure it wasn't Premier Cruiselines (The Big Red Ship) because they joked about it being called Not The Big Red Ship. Or did Premier have two ships operating out of Canaveral? This ship was smaller than The Big Red Ship. If I remember correctly, Premier was branded with Disney at the time. This ship didn't have Disney characters, it had some other characters (maybe Universal Studios?). There was also another ship in the 1980's that did day cruises only out of Canaveral. You could get a cabin for the day or just mill around the ship. Can't remember the name of that one, either. Man, I'm getting old and the memory is fading. Can anyone help me out?

1967....the old Queen Elizabeth on one of its last sailings. My sister and I were teenagers, coming back from three months of bumming around Europe, first time ever off on our own. We had a dark little cabin in "tourist class" (steerage, in other words....) The old girl was getting pretty shabby but we thought it was the Ritz. Veddy, veddy British and proper, nothing like today's cruises. We had a great time.

You do NOT want to be in the middle of any kind of disturbance in Istanbul. The police stop disturbances quickly and violently. When I was last there, I was told that if I hear any kind of singing, clapping, shouting, etc., to turn straight around IMMEDIATELY and make tracks as fast as possible in the opposite direction. We came across a rather peaceful demonstration by students concerning a professor at the university who had been fired. The police were gathering on one side of the square, with shields, riot guns, and armored vehicles mounted with guns. Believe me, we made tracks..... Istanbul is my favorite city on earth, but it's a place you have to be vigilant about your safety, just like any big city.

I went on one Disney cruise. I went for free, even. They'd have to pay me to go on another one.

I usually get up about 4 a.m. and watch the pilot boat arrive and enjoy watching the ship pull into port. If necessary, I'll get up even earlier. Then I grab a cup of tea and a pastry if available and go back to bed until a civilized hour....LOL. I love seeing the lights of the islands in the distance and watching us pulling closer. One time, I got up early enough pulling back into Tampa to watch the ship go under the bridge. It was like having a huge spaceship fly over just over the ship. I was looking up and got so disoriented by the sight that I fell down flat on my back on the deck. Didn't hurt myself, thank goodness.

I figured they were afraid she was going to threaten to clip the captain's nails too short unless he skipped the Nassau stop.......

My sister had her nail clippers confiscated a few years ago. So she had to buy another pair in the ship gift shop. Same clippers. What a great scheme to get you to have to buy stuff on board, huh?

1967. My sister and I, both teenagers, were returning from three months of bumming around Europe. We sailed home on the old Queen Elizabeth. It was an eye-opening experience.

If you are using US currency, try to have bills that are not torn or too tattered. In some places, the locals have trouble converting US currency that is in bad shape. Some places will give you your change back in U.S. Dollars if you ask, some will give change in local currency, so make sure you have smaller bills if you don't want a lot of local currency left over when you go home. A lot of places I've been, the electronic cash registers will ring up that day's exchange rate if you pay in dollars. Interestingly enough, Ecuador adopted the U.S. Dollar years ago as its currency. They no longer have their own currency, except for a certain coin kept for tradition. It sure makes figuring out conversions easier.

Well, my first cruise was on the old Queen Elizabeth in 1967. My sister and I, teenagers, were backpacking it around Europe for three months and came back to the U.S. by ship. The Old Girl was on one of her last voyages and things were getting a bit shabby but to me, it was sheer elegance. Veddy, veddy British. You can bet there were no hairy chest contests or newly-wed games. The swimming pool was a dark, dank, cold tank somewhere down in the bowels of the ship. Alcohol was very, very cheap, so I had my first cocktail, then my second cocktail, third cocktail, and so on....followed by my first hangover. Our cabin was a tiny, tiny little cubby-hole with no porthole, but we did have our own tiny, tiny head, unlike most of the ones in our class of cabin. You could sit on the toilet, hang your head in the sink and shower most of your body at the same time. There was First Class, Cabin Class and our class, called Tourist but more like steerage. You did.not.under.pains.of.walking.the.plank stray from your "class". You had to rent a deck chair that was yours for the duration of the voyage, but since it was blowing a gale and colder than the dickens outside, it wasn't much of a treat. I remember the deck steward gave us blankets and cups of hot consomme, which I had trouble deciding whether to drink or pour on my cold feet. Not a lot of entertainment. Somebody playing piano in the lounge. Cards. Bingo, I think. There was a rather stodgy band playing every night in the ballroom. We banded together with other young folks and tipped them to play at least a couple of more lively songs. Mostly we drank. Food was weird to an American teen. There were not a lot of choices, the menu was somewhat limited. One morning I was given a bowl of pickled herrings on a bed of chopped onions. These days, I would have loved it, but back then? Nooooo. We passed the Queen Mary at sea. There was much hooting of ship's horns and skyrockets shot off. Very exciting. It was a great experience and I didn't cruise for another 10 years or so. I enjoy the cruises a lot more now.

I didn't shop for the food, I didn't have to cook the food, I didn't have to serve the food, and I sure as heck didn't have to clean up afterwards. That said, how bad could it be? I'd be happy with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich if someone else made it for me.....

I don't know if this was because it was a special circumstance, but on a Port Canaveral->Bahamas->Key West->Port Canaveral cruise, my other half became very sick and was being kept in the infirmary. The doctor agreed that he did not need to be put off the ship in the Bahamas as they would continue caring for him. I said if he didn't get better, we'd leave the cruise in Key West. Doctor said that would be no problem, he could arrange everything and we could leave the cruise. Luckily, with the excellent care he received on the ship, he was able to finish the cruise.

I don't like to dress up on a cruise. I certainly don't get offended if others don't dress up, either. I think 99% of the food on a cruise is just fine, since I don't have to shop for it, cook it, serve it and clean up afterwards. I love the buffet. I actually like inside cabins. I don't care about the pool or lolling around it all day. I live in Florida...pools are not a novelty. There's no way I'm getting in that jacuzzi...... I think the shows are great. I don't go on cruises to buy designer purses, precious stones, or perfumes. Or souvenirs. I don't bring all my jewelry, cosmetics, toiletries, clothing steamers, chachkis, etc. I use the ship's toiletries. My hair won't fall out and my skin won't fall off if I use them for a week. I don't really care if my hair is less than perfect or if my clothes are a bit wrinkled. I don't have to get falling-down drunk every night.

If you have time, there are three things I can recommend in Mumbai: Take the boat to Elephanta Island (watch out for the monkeys) Watch the "tiffin boys" at the train station Have "high tea" at the Taj

No, you actually have to sit there until you eat it. If you go to the MDR in the morning, you can see people who didn't eat their okra or chicken livers, asleep at the table. If you still refuse to eat it the next morning, you are publicly scolded and sent to your cabin without breakfast. That's why I ALWAYS eat what is put in front of me. Even okra....and chicken livers. I'm terrified of Stuart the Stern Steward.

I left my late husband's casual pants hanging on the back of the bedroom door as I was planning to fold them neatly on their hangers and put them in the suitcase shortly before leaving, and, of course, forgot them. So I'm unpacking in the cabin and all he had was shorts and the suit pants. He was ticked. So..... he had to wear his suit pants every night in the dining room. All week. With his Hawaiian shirts. Luckily we did buffet for lunches.