sparky-elpaso

Its not exactly a nightmare, but I have occasional dreams where I'm on a really huge ship and I can't find my cabin and can't remember the number. But then I also have dreams that I'm back in high school and can't remember where my locker is, or where my next class is. So I figure they are just different versions of the same thing. And I'm also one of those people that check I have all my paperwork about 20 times on the way to the airport.

Me too - including the ones about high school (and I graduated in 1964). I remember my grandmother telling me about her dreams about being late for trains, etc. And she was probably the most prompt person on the planet.

There's an area at the Grand Canyon where you can see remnants of some of the equipment that was used to mine uranium (back in the 50's, I think). One person standing near us told his friend that that was some of the equipment used to dig the canyon. At first I thought he might be kidding but then came to the conclusion he was serious.

Most of the intelligent comments we heard were from folks who were obviously from other countries.

Be prepared for your little one to be very spoiled by crew members. They miss their kids at home and little ones get lots of attention.

Was it one punch, even for the largest size?

No. 1 punch was for the small size 1 shot. Medium size was 2 shots / 2 punches - I don't know about the large size.

I suppose you might be able to request just 1 shot for the medium or large size but that might be kind of weak in the taste department.

We just sailed on Vision. I asked and it was one punch per shot. DH prefers the iced drinks which are medium sized with 2 shots, I get iced or hot depending on my mood. So we decided not to get the cards.

My daughter-in-law has been notified that her flight from PHL to Houston on Sat has been canceled on American Air.

We're flying United from El Paso to NJ on the 5th for our cruise from NJ to Quebec on the 7th. Our original route was El Paso to Houston to NJ. I decided that I would be proactive and get things changed when United said they would waive change fees. So we're going El Paso to Denver to NJ - for only $30 more. I still check our flight every day to make sure nothing has changed.

If you did this in my country you would get arrested or a large fine. Agricultural biosecurity is taken very seriously here (and rightly so!). I know many other countries have similar rules. Why do you think this doesn't apply to you?

And there are cute little beagles to make sure you don't get away with anything. They have great noses.

If I remember correctly we weren't allowed to take anything off in our NZ ports - no bottled water, granola bars - nothing. And they had puppies too.

Welcome aboard.

One thing I like to do is check out each port in Google Earth. A "birds eye" view can give lots of info on what's in the area of where the ship docks.

Work up a bit of a budget for shopping, etc. in the ports so you have an idea of how much cash you might need. I prefer to use cash in port but credit cards are ok too. We get our cash ahead of time from our bank so we don't have to mess with ATM's. And be sure to let your bank / credit card companies know that you'll be traveling.

In countries where we don't speak the language we prefer to use ship's tours for excursions. Or you can do-it-yourself if you're comfortable with that.

Bring along any over the counter meds you generally use. The ship has a little store with that kind of stuff but it's expensive and probably wouldn't be the brand you like.

I'm sure you'll have a great time and it won't be your last cruise.

This thread is a great idea.

We were having lunch in the buffet on our TA from the Med to Florida and were chatting with the couple at the table next to us. During the usual "where are you from" talk I said we lived in El Paso, TX but were originally from Michigan. The gal asked where and when I said Lansing she said her son was a police officer in East Lansing.

I tend to be a planner but nothing (with the exception of excursions) is written in stone.

I do have sunrise and sunset times noted in my planner because I like to take photos. Inside cabin on upcoming cruise so DH is going to have to get used to getting up a little early :D.

OMG....just looked at your pics on your Flickr page (going on Equinox soon)...AMAZING

Thanks. Equinox was a beautiful ship. Great food and entertainment.

A lady was yelling at the person at the guest service counter insisting that she must eat at 5pm every evening or she would become deathly ill.

 

I listened for a couple of minutes, then asked the lady how she planned to handle the four time zone changes we would have on the trip.

 

After a few seconds of silence, she quietly walked away.

 

I am sure I heard a few chuckles from others in line.

Love this.

Sort of like the gentleman I saw fussing to the guest services gal about not having gotten any dinner. The problem was that we hadn't left port and it wasn't dinner time yet.

Then I realized at about the same time the crew member did that he wasn't talking about the current cruise - but the previous one. Unfortunately I was called over to the desk before hearing what answer he got.

One cash item on board may be a tip for room service delivery. Other than that any extra charges will go on your onboard account. I was going to mention specialty coffees but that's usually included in the beverage package.

Since we're retired I always feel odd using the word "vacation". I think of a vacation as time off from work or school - neither of which we do any more.

So our cruises I guess would be trips or voyages - depending on the length. Our 34 day circumnavigation of Australia and NZ was an incredible voyage.

Many years ago, my late DH & I decided that there were "trips" and there were "vacations" (US version of a holiday).

 

Trips were made by/on land & required a good bit of work, tho were usually very interesting/enjoyable (our Kenyan safari, tours of France, Italy, etc).

 

Vacations were cruises -- unpack once, see multiple places w/little effort, no arguing about where to eat, being together doing different things (he played bridge; I sat in the shade on deck & read; met for dinner).

 

Over the years, cruises soon out-numbered trips -- easier as we/I aged. Sometimes I'm tempted by a land tour, but then decide it's too much for these older bones!

You've hit the nail on the head.

We took lots of car trips when we were first married and when our sons were younger. We started cruising fairly recently - 2008 to Alaska. Now we're working on our "bucket list".

Or like the lady we met in Alaska. When the Captain announced that there were sea lions on an ice floe "at 9:00" she looked at her watch and said he was a bit late since it was about noon.

I was nice and explained about the bow being 12:00, stern 6:00, etc. We were on the port side of the ship and I figured she would like to see the sea lions.

Absolutely. My family's 4 generations of military thank you.

Thanks a lot. Looks like getting the coffee card may be worth it. Depends on if the iced drinks take 2 punches like some recent posts have said.

I'll have to ask for the details before we buy.

We're going on Vison of the Seas in September and I'm looking for prices at Café Latte-tudes.

Just ballpark figures for things like mochas, etc. - both iced and hot. Trying to figure if getting the coffee card will be a good idea or paying individually would be better.

Also, what's the average price for a can of soda?

Thanks.

Heck, I even go back to before dirt was invented when we had a party line. Ours was one long ring followed by two short rings. Dialing out required contacting the operator who dialed for us. None of these new fangled cellular phones in our pockets. Yet, somehow we survived!

Right.

My grandmother had a party line - although I don't think there was a special ring - this would have been probably the mid 1950's. I think it came down to the party line being a bit cheaper than a private line.

I love your description, an Ethernet into the phone. haha! I remember the days of having to sit next to a wall to talk to someone. It was fine back then but thinking back, man that was painful. Having to sit around and wait on that call you're waiting on to come in... Having to check messages when you got home. If you weren't fortunate enough to have call waiting and caller ID, to blindly pick up the phone or have to get off of the phone to allow the second call to come in. Thankfully we had both.Now, we haven't had a landline in over 14 years. Don't miss it one bit!

Or if you're really really old (my son's description) you remember phones with dials rather than push buttons and definitely no way to leave a message. If the person you were calling didn't answer or the line was busy (beep, beep, beep) you called them back later.

While I embrace most of the new technology - I have a computer, laptop, tablet with games and e-readers, and a digital camera - I really don't like cellphones. We're retired and I keep our phone charged just in case. Most calls we get are recorded sales calls. I do like being able to send a text to our sons - then they can get back to us whenever they get a chance.

I keep my fitness band on. It's the best watch, and it counts my steps.

 

 

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Me too (you beat me to it). It'll be interesting to see how far we walk around the ship.

Welcome aboard! And prepare to be hooked - I'll bet your first cruise won't be your last.

One thing I like to do is look at our ports in Google Earth to get the "lay of the land". Sometimes you may even be able to see where your ship will dock.

And if possible be our on deck when you sail in to and out of port - some ports are really scenic and watching the ship dock and tie up, etc. is very interesting.

Most of all - have a great time.

If anything goes wrong they're there to handle it.

On our Princess British Isles cruise Jeffrey was a lifesaver. He had come by and introduced himself and we told him we were easy to care for - just ice a couple times a day. We then noticed our toilet didn't seem to be flushing properly so we told him about it when we left the cabin to go to muster. We didn't go back to our cabin until after dinner - to find the bathroom floor full of water and the carpet in front of the door soaked.

Called Jeffrey's pager number and had to wait about 30 seconds for a call back. Told him the problem - his response was, "I thought they fixed that." He showed up at our door in the next minute or so, made a couple of calls. The young man with the water vacuum came first, then the plumber. Had the whole thing fixed in about half an hour. Not another problem after that.

We went to Guest Services the next day for the form to fill out complimenting Jeff and the other crew members.

In addition to the other things folks have mentioned:

Sunrise and sunset.

Anything weather related - clouds, waves, etc.

We try to be out on deck for sail-in to the port and sail-out.

Keep an eye out for other ships in the area when at sea. You might even see an oil drilling platform or something like that.

I have photo books made after all of our cruises so I've learned to take both landscape and portrait views of things since I never know what I might need for a page layout.