donaldsc

Why didn't you have any insurance. Most people do buy it. DON

A whole cruise w no shower and they give you a measly $200. I would have definitely discussed this w staff. Considering that ships now cruise with >100% capacity I wonder how they handle cabins w long term toilet issues since there are probably no cabins to move the people to. Give them buckets? Put porta potties such as these - https://www.amazon.com/Thetford-White-92820-Porta-Potti/dp/B07CHVQ3RM/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=3VUNOBCGZXEWL&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.mFMFLdl59yxCXfZn7LzyxeVc7vNqKa-e4wdpO4Jeh4QtcWqwOs1nIxib65_r6NTM7-Azez_gSrAT-5EbQgqE6s-hI8O1Cvd2h0UhxMtRbt4W8tDBGN3XFud7nVqfZ8znzxNkH_1SkbtDYuPSMujMR4JdaJqOdsjGxrGClvBbgclDbX3O1DzeOqDl1yQLrS663Qi7lw9F-_fdXHcq_wbuqQrZn_mm1CARlZo4wzifM1uc9BVhbEUvFUrN_nHN8kqWy56ZE1L5guXrxv4ulg4KfvxBauI8BsqDaJIhQiGPPbg.CRTAwAIdlEdoZF0fYElUP1vcMKfLcY1AijxTAhavIyY&dib_tag=se&keywords=porta%2Bpotties&qid=1723246831&sprefix=portapo%2Caps%2C143&sr=8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1 - in the cabins. Tell them to hold it and go to a public toilet somewhere in the ship? DON

Yet another reason not to cruise on mass market ships. We never have a problem on any of the smaller ships or upscale cruises such as Viking that we travel on. DON

If it doesn't come you can get one when you board. We never get them in advance. DON

Remember what happened a week or so when the internet essentially went down. How many flights were cancelled. Stuff happens. Maybe not too often but stuff happens. DON

Thanks for reminding me of the Fugs. Great group. Look them up on the WEB. Some of their songs are unique. This is their Wikipedia listing - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fugs. DON

I am going to do a mixture of private, smaller group Viator type and Atlas tours. It would be nice if I could access other people on the ship as some of the private tours are pricy. Hopefully I might meet some people on the ship who want to share. Looking forward to the cruise. DON

I wonder how many people have thousands of photos on their cell phones and never either delete the bad ones or back up the good ones. I back up my phone and my camera every day when I travel. DON

I would not pay $5 for a stick-on but I am not surprised that people pay for them. DON

I also read that but it of no help. I want to pay fairly but not overpay. I am hoping to get responses from people who have actually done dours w them. DON

It may be only $5 but why would anyone care what the medallion looks like. DON

I am thinking of using Guruwalks for several of my stops on my Spain and Portugal cruise. Two questions - 1) Are Guruwalks usually pretty good. Anyone with any experiences positive or negative w them. 2) I want to pay them fairly. How much do you usually give them for the tour assuming that they do a good job. DON

I have had 2 instances where I had to call my TA from the airplane while we were sitting in the runway waiting for a very late takeoff that made it unlikely that I would make the next flight. Both times my TA had the problem solved by the time my 1st flight landed. DON

How else would you back up your photographs? I assume that you do back them up. DON

Not surprising. The tour companies have maybe 4+ months to make enough money to live on for the dead months. DON

I would bring a backup that is 100% compatible w my goto camera. That means that you have to bring one of everything instead of 2 of everything. Also all the muscle memory that you are used to with your goto camera will carry over to the backup. Rent your 2nd camera if necessary. Compared with the cost of your trip the cost of the backup camera will be cheap. DON

I have an older TG and I like it. Just remember that most underwater cameras DO NOT FLOAT. If you let go of them they go to the bottom. You need to buy a flotation strap to go w the camera and make sure to test everything in your pool or bathtub before you take it onto the open ocean. DON

The cabin on my windjammer was not exactly big. In fact it was so small that when Carole was getting dressed or changing I had to sit on the bed. DON

Age doesn't matter. My 1st cruise ever in about 2005 was on a Maine Windjammer that was built in 1871. That would have made her about 134 years old. It was also one of my best cruises ever. DON

Thanks for all the information. I had read somewhere that Atlas tended to cancellation shore excursions. This is my first Atlas cruise and my TA said that her clients who went w Atlas had a positive experience. One more question. What are the group sizes on most of the tours. When I cruise I usually do private tours and I keep my group size to 8 people maximum and often less. I don't like big bus tours. Again - thanks a lot. I am looking forward to my 1st Atlas cruise. DON

Just make sure that if your cruise line says that it is OK that you have them confirm it all in writing. Verbal agreements or contracts are not enforceable. DON

Have you considered really small ships that have between 200 and 800 passengers especially as you have a good budget and care more about what you see outside of the ship instead of the stuff on the ship. You have a lot of choices with the good budget that you have. We have don AK on ships that held 50 passengers and also about 200 passengers and the trips were wonderful. We got into all sorts of places that the bigger ships never get into and the trips are somewhat flexible. Check them out on the WEB or try to find a TA who specializes in AK. Don't ask me to recommend a TA as we are not allowed to recommend TAs on CC. My brother has also done several small ship AK cruises and he has also loved them. DON

We are doing a Spain and Portugal Atlas cruise. This will be my 1st Atlas cruise. I have read complaints that Atlas is not good at managing excursions and that excursions are sometimes or often cancelled. Any thoughts on this. DON

Just buy a couple of cruise ship approved extension devices and don't worry about it. I have 2 of these - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09W2393ZN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1. DON

Things will go wrong or not according to plan. There isn't anything that you can do about it so don't bother to worry about it. DON