Harry and Lucille

The simple answer is YES.

When I hear the landing gear being raised when we leave the airport. My mind goes blank regarding anything before that moment. New adventure has started.

We used a travel agent for our first cruise. 37 cruses ago. We book directly with the cruise line because if we hit any bumps, we can resolve them ourselves and not have to go thru a 3rd party.

9 days to go time.

Casino VIP player here. We always book thru the Casino. Too many great deals and perks. 5 cruises in the last 5 months and 3 more booked. TA's can't beat the deals and, Princess direct never seems to know about the Casino because they are a different business. Ocean Players Club.

On 4/7/2022 at 4:13 PM, Gregg00ss said:

Pretty sure it is $5.  

My experience with Princess. No $5 tables. Minimum bet is $6. Encourages $1 side bet that pays when first two cards are 20 points. Good money maker for Casino.

5 hours ago, janbear said:

Does anyone know the rules for when the casino can open on an Alaska cruise? I remember on the last one we did there were a couple nights while sailing that it remained closed but not sure the reasoning behind that. We will be on the Eclipse from Vancouver in July.

Closed when 12 miles from ports.

On 2/17/2022 at 12:46 AM, pootsien2 said:

I received a postcard in January from Princess players club and set it aside until yesterday. It said book by March 2. I called Princess reservations yesterday and asked if any West coast cruises were still available? Now I have booked a Cabo 5 day cruise on Discovery in April. I will be going solo. $398 balcony,drinks, $150 OBC, and $500 casino freeplay!! This is my first time claiming one of these offers and I hope it won't be my last offer. 

Best cruising deals. Leaving Friday for 15 days. 9 sea days for gaming. 3 more booked for the year/ All thru the Casino. Booking time frame is short however great ones fit in well. Ocean to Ocean, Voyage of the glaciers, Greenland and Hawaii (4th. time).

At times, I don"t care for the menu choices and I am not a large eater so I order shrimp cocktail or two, escargo when available.small plate of assorted cheeses, tossed salad with cheese dressing, crisp bread rolls and a glass of wine. Just wait for dessert.

Try to take as many Casino offer cruises as we can. Have 3 booked. Hawaii, Panama canal ocean to ocean and Greenland. 2 are comp cabins and all have great perks. Harry

180, 260, and 431. Always waiting to go.

I only say this because it is the subject. We are Elite. OK. I SAID IT, NOW FORGET IT.

It's the loyalty perks that we enjoy. They are really no big deal but, it's the thought that counts. In all of our cruises, I have never seen anyone flaunt their position.

Who cares???

What brand of hot dogs does Princess use at the grill?

Which cruise line. I have done quite a few on Princess. Slot pulls and private tours also.

Wondering if Churchills smoking lounge access is walker friendly .

I use a walker only. Can be a problem with elevators. If elevator is crowded? I will wait for another. When I enter an elevator, I let every one know where I am going, move out of the way letting those who are going to a lower deck stand in front. Yes. I will open doors for others and let  scooters go first. I never have a problem. I just  allow the time to get where I'm going. People wonder why I open doors for them. Simple. They walk faster than I do. I am on a cruise and have the rest of my life getting to where I want to go. LOL

According to my information, and a cruise that we have booked, Feb. 15 on the Sky Princess is a VIP Casino cruise. I receive early notification. Guess they want some of their money back.

Yes. I smoke. I also drink and gamble. I cruise a couple of times a year. When I was young, every one I knew started smoking around the age of 10. I have been smoking a pack a day for over 70 years. 

Interesting thing. I brought up the subject with my doctor about quitting and he kind of smiled and said "at your age and the time you have smoked, the stress of quitting would probably give you a heart attack before you came down with cancer". Hummm.

At 81, I don't plan on changing my ways. Also, it seems that the smoking areas have the most congenial laid back cruisers on the ship.

This may help.

https://www.gi.alaska.edu/monitors/aurora-forecast

I will be donating two copies of Thor Heyerdals book, The Voyage of the Kon Tiki to the library on the Crown Princess in Sept.

Non fiction of a trip on a raft across the Pacific to discover how people came from Peru to Polynesia. With pictures. 4,000 miles in 101 days on a hand made balsa wood raft. First published in 1950.

Will make you appreciate how they do it now. Sit back, relax and picture your self on the trip of discovery.

I was taught the cleanness is next to Godliness. 

Now with tongue in cheek. 

No matter how good the smell of the hand soap is. Please don't come out of the bathroom sniffing your fingers. LOl

Hand washing is so important. We bring wipes for our cabin. Door handles, phone, remote and anything that we will be touching before we sail. Noro kill type. Wash hands often and use sterilizers often. 

I press elevator buttons with my fingers. I play slot machines. I use the hand rails and yes, I shake hands. It may sound a little paranoid but I bring a small black  light called the hotel inspector. I look around the room. Floors and bedding, etc. Detects human activity that is not clean.

We start off clean and stay that way. I have even had trays of food removed from the buffet because of some idiot touching and tasting and placing back.

There are people that just don't know or even care. They are the ones that we need to watch out for.

Noro pops up wherever people group together. Always hear about cruise ships but schools, shopping centers, ball games, nursing homes, etc. are prone to this also.

On our first cruise in 1978 the wife came down with Noro. Not a good 4 days on a 7 day cruise. Not worth the risk. 

Sorry. I don't understand. You are looking for a good entertaining cruise for your grandsons to have many activities to enjoy but, you don't want other kids on board? Not going to happen.

I love lobster but, not on a cruise. Small tails cooked early and held under heat lamps produce over cooked tidbits. Usually the same size as the 2 prawns that come with them.

I live in Colorado. Long way from the sea and lobster is very expensive however, I will pay the price to cook it to perfection at home.

I don't eat a lot so, usually what I do. I enjoy Escargo. I will order one or two (depending on how hungry I am). Request a plate of assorted cheeses, pair with a glass of wine and have the crispy bread rolls to sop up the garlic butter.

Sorta my version of a French picnic lunch. Can always fill up with desert.

Come on now. Just like fishing. I caught a fish THIS BIG. Everybody wins?

Cruise Casinos are like Las Vegas in the 50's and 60" and I spent some time there.

What happens in the Casino stays in the Casino. Everything else is just chatter. I learned this from a distant cousin who happened to own the Silver Slipper.

I can say I won a bundle but, did I really? You will never know. LOL

I am a smoker and gambler. Pack a day for over 70 years. I respect the non smokers. I stay out of their area and expect them to stay out of mine. 

What upsets me is the few who wander into the smoking areas and start to preach to us about how bad it is. Case in point.

In an attempt to cut down a bit, I tried vaping. I enjoy sitting on the fantail (in the smoking area) and watching the sunrise. A lady was jogging one deck above. Every time she came around, she would slow down and glare at me. Finally she had enough, stormed down the stairs and started telling me that my smoke was blowing into her face while she was jogging. 

She was in no way polite and told me to put my cig out. Nasty. I pointed out the sign for the smoking area. She started shouting at me to put it out. She didn't care because I was impacting her health. WELL?

I slowly took a big drag on my smoke. She did notice that it lit up blue, and I just dropped it into my shirt pocket. She just huffed "well" and stormed off. Never saw her again and my sunrise mornings were peaceful again.

If you are a non smoker, I don't need your preaching. I smoke in the smoking areas. You don't like that? Don't presume to tell me how to live my life and I won't tell you how to live yours. OK?