Go-Bucks!

Thanks to everyone for your advice. The watch I want costs nearly $600, so I didn't want to buy it before asking if anyone had knowledge of them. :)

My next final payment is 9/9 and my TA wants payment by 9/4. This is how it's always been for me.

I would never pay 44 days ahead - I'd be very leary of why they want payment that far ahead. :rolleyes:

I note that they are still taking bookings for excursions for this cruise. Call me cynical but that way they they get our money up front only to refund later (excluding any interest foregone obviously)

Paying up front for ship excursions is the reason we won't book Celebrity excursions. Princess lets us reserve an excursion but pay for it on our shipboard account. So if you change your mind (up to the day before the excursion) you can cancel without paying.

We had a cruise cancelled for a charter and were told that many of the groups that charter a ship are "party hardy folks" who spend lots and lots of money on the ship - more than a typical ship full of folks would. Not sure that's true, but there must be some financial incentive for the cruiselines to be willing to tick off loyal customers. :rolleyes:

I only ask for them to respect my wishes not to participate. The MDR is a big place. There is room for those who like to dress up and those who do not.

I like the suggestion of having formal nights in one dining room and smart casual every night in the other. Would seem to solve the problem, but I do think Princess wants to cash in on formal night photos and maybe sell more expensive wine or other alcohol when passengers are in a more formal mindset.

The only reason I still do the formal night thing is that the food in the MDR is usually better on formal nights! After dinner I go back to the cabin asap and change clothes. ;)

I admit - I really love seeing the men wearing kilts!!! I think they look great. Maybe instead of "formal" night, they should have "kilt" night!

When I first started cruising, formal nights seemed so exciting because I had never gone to a formal affair (and still haven't except on a ship). It wasn't too hard to find formal wear back then but was not really in my budget either since I would only wear it while cruising.

But after many cruises, and formal nights, I've gotten really tired of them. I pack much lighter nowadays (especially for overseas flying) and can't justify taking really formal clothing. What I now do is take a long, lightweight black skirt and 2 tops that are sort of dressy looking. Wear black flats and a nice necklace. If we have 3 formal nights, I repeat the first top. I still look nice without having to spend alot of money on clothes or pack a ton. Occasionally I've just brought one nice dress and worn it both nights - who will remember it or do I even care?!! :D

Has anyone ever bought a Koa Wood Watch sold at Martin & MacArthur? I'm interested in buying one, but wanted some advice before spending quite a chunk of change.

First, are they reliable? And are they big and clunky? Appreciate any thoughts! Thx!

No, they don't "add" to your next port stop. You wouldn't be in Juneau for two days instead. The port that has to be skipped, for whatever reason, becomes a sea day. They can't just spontaneously show up in ports - those things are planned months, if not a year, in advance - and ports cost money in port fees, taxes, charges for security and customs, etc....If you miss a port, that's why you get refunded port fees. But they don't add ports - otherwise, you would be charged extra port fees!

This isn't always the case. We spent the day in Dublin, Ireland and were supposed to go to Belfast, N. Ireland the next day. During the evening in Dublin, a storm hit the Irish Sea and we couldn't leave. We spent the night in the Dublin port and the next day in Dublin. Didn't get to go to Belfast, but a second day in Dublin was very nice. :)

Take care of yourself at your table - not in a dirty bathroom.

If you walk into a restroom on a ship and give yourself an injection, there's nothing "dirty" about it. You don't have to touch any surface. Then wash your hands when finished. Nothing dirtier than in the dining room. ;)

I've done the Dunn's River Falls excursion; I'm sorry to tell you that I will never get off the ship in Ocho Rios again. It is not worth the hassle you get from the very aggressive and rude vendors.

Totally agree with you. I really enjoyed climbing Dunn's River Falls, but the agressive vendors in the parking lot were scary.

I was on a ship tour to the Falls when our bus stopped at a bunch of tables on the side of the road where ladies were selling trinkets. The bus driver made all of us get off the bus and said that only those who bought something could get back on the bus!! :eek: I reluctantly bought an overpriced junky trinket. The sellers of the trinkets turned out to be relatives of the driver! Such a scam.

Like many others have said, I will never go back to Jamaica. If I would happen to be on a ship with that port, I'd stay on the ship.

I have been on many cruises with my free internet minutes. I've always given them back minutes. Only you know,but do you really need the allotted free minutes plus more? Is you visiting US ports! Do you have a smart phone and can use it when on land?

 

Compose everything offline and then sign on.

 

Only suggestions since I would never pay the price for ship internet service that is beyond slow.

Sometimes there are alot of sea days so it's easy to use more than if a cruise is port intensive. And each person is different. :)

Yes we just booked a Window Suite to Alaska and the price was only $100 pp more than a mini-suite. Of course we had to give up the balcony but are willing to do that on this cruise for the suite experience.

We did that for a cool weather cruise to Canada/New England and it was a great choice. Didn't miss the balcony and LOVED the suite perks! :D

I booked our first aft suite on The Grand for our honeymoon cruise in November! Thanks for all the info!

We'll be in an aft suite on the next cruise after yours on Nov. 25! Have a wonderful honeymoon. :D

Celebrity has just introduced a new suite experience this past spring. It includes a new Suite restaurant called Luminea

Yes, I know but it still doesn't make up for the things I enjoy using that Celebrity doesn't provide. Doesn't mean I don't like Celebrity - have a 2016 cruise booked with them.

BTW, my favorite Princess suite perk is the Thermal Suites, then Sabitini's and free laundry. Love the aft suites!

Other lines like NCL and Celebrity have special suite dining rooms, venues, internet and private pools to name a few.

I was in a full suite on Celebrity last year and the perks were no better than Princess, and actually worse since we didn't even get any laundry discount, let alone free laundry. And this was a 14 day cruise so we had to pay alot for laundry or do it in the bathroom. And they don't even have self-serve laundromats! No minibar setup, no dry cleaning, no free Persian Gardens, or formal night corsage. :rolleyes:

The butler was useless, gave us lots of wrong advice and just cost more in gratuities. The steward and his asst. were more helpful. The butler said we would be charged to eat in Blu but the manager in Blu said "no", it's for suites as well as Aqua.

Check out the Princess suite perks at the Princess website. You might be surprised at what you find! ;)

I have a very hard time taking seriously a laundry list of complaints in a very first post. Have seen it many times and it just doesn't add up. And the screen name sure doesn't scream positive attitude.

There are so many complaints that who knows where to begin??? :rolleyes:

The pool is not much bigger than the noodle and would easily impose on other's personal space. I'd leave it home.

Noodles come in small sizes and can be "wrapped" around someone so it doesn't stick out at the sides. Research the different types. ;)

The pools aren't very big. What if EVERYONE decided to bring a noodle ..... ...

Highly unlikely that everyone will have a noodle! When I swim in the adult pools, there are rarely more than 1 or 2 others in them at a time.

I think a noodle for exercising sounds great. Or the styrofoam hand weights used in water aerobics would be fun. Too bad there aren't water aerobic classes - I'd join one even if I had to pay!

I don't gain weight on cruises anymore (used to) because we now book cabins in the back of the ship so we have to do ALOT of walking. Since we started doing that, the weight gain has stopped. Also, I don't eat a larger quantity of food than I normally do at home, just get to enjoy the taste of different things than I normally cook.

If you're checking your blood sugars with lancets, giving insulin with syringes or pen needles . . . just contact Princess ahead of your cruise and they'll have a sharps container ready for you in your bathroom. Protects their staff and you don't have to worry about bringing a container. :D

Unless it is a Roth IRA where the increase in stock value (if sold) and dividends will never be taxed, it is better to own the stock in a non-IRA account.

 

Sooner or later for a regular IRA the assets have to be withdrawn and will be taxed at full normal tax rates. No reduced capital gains rate. No lower dividend tax rate.

It's in a Roth.

We took the Rivas, Lake Nicaragua & Scenic Drive tour which was okay but nothing exceptional.

 

A drive to the small city of Rivas with an average church & small plaza. A quick dance performance next to the large lake with a free drink & a hazy view of the volcanoes. Next time I'd stay in San Juan del Sur although from what I saw of it there wasn't much to do there either.

 

There might be better things to do in Nicaragua but none of the other available tours interested us.

We took this tour and it turned out to be horrible and we were refunded 25% of the cost. The church was closed and locked up. It was pouring rain so we couldn't get out of the bus while parked on the plaza, but the driver wouldn't leave because we'd get to the next stop early. So we just sat there in a roasting hot and humid bus for an hour! Then we drove to the "resort" which was just a place to get a small cup of chopped fruit and a small cup of juice. We sat under a roof while it was still raining and the fog was too thick to see the volcanoes. The infrastructure is not good enough for supporting thousands of tourists and it was sad to see such poor living conditions.

After returning to SJDS, we walked around the town (not raining there), went into their quaint church, wrote emails at an Internet cafe, and had a very nice time at the bookstore/coffee shop called Gato Negro. It's where the many American ex-pats who live in SJDS frequently gather. Wish we had just stayed in town and not taken that lame excursion.

I know this has probably been asked/answered before, but unable to find it. Are the aft balcony doors sliders or a door that pushes open. We might want to keep door open for a bit and trying to decide if I need to pack a bungy cord.

 

Lisa

They slide. Some posters may chide you for wanting to keep your door open because they claim it messes up the air conditioning. It doesn't, so ignore them. Enjoy your vacation!!

I've always been happy with this investment. I bought 100 shares at $25/share in 2008 and now it's worth $52/share! I let all profits be reinvested, so between this increase and dividends I now have 115 shares. And this is in my IRA. I've already received $1,250 in OBC and will get $250 more in a few months. :D

Lokelina & Kimo, are you scheduled for any Princess cruises this fall (2015)?

They will be on the Grand leaving San Francisco on Nov. 25, 2015. (So will I!). :D

He has been known to carry an old empty wallet in his back pocket. Once he felt someone go for it, but he moved and the hand ran. I think that was in Barcelona. It was kind of an experiment. Good for a decoy tho.

I did something similar once when I was in Paris. I traveled around the city on the Metro subway wearing a backpack (with nothing in it) that I had put locks on all the zippered compartments except one that was at the top of the backpack. Nothing was in it, but I was curious if someone would try to open it. Lo and behold, it didn't take but 5 min. and I checked the unlocked compartment and it was open! I had not felt anything. So I zipped it back up and got back on the subway. This time I was standing up and a man in a business suit was behind me (I saw him in the reflection of the subway door). I felt the backpack move and heard the zipper being opened. I looked back at him but he stood there stonefaced. When I got out, the compartment was indeed open.

So . . . . even though you might not think a thief can get your things, think twice. You likely won't even feel anything. Moral of the story is use an under-clothing money belt and you can keep your vacation from turning into a nightmare. :p

Like a couple others have said, I use a Rick Steves (www dot rick steves dot com) money belt for my money, credit card, passport, and cruise card. It needs to be worn UNDER clothing so as not to be seen by others - this is your "deep storage." I can't imagine anyone would wear one outside their clothing, but I've read about it. When I need to access my money belt, I either go into a restroom or stand in some quiet place with my back to people. It is quick and easy to get into.

I usually also carry a small bag/purse with just my water bottle, money equal to $20 for small purchases, and a guidebook.