Taxguy77

Accountants and those who conduct polls/surveys have a time tested saying.

 

Figures lie and liars figure.

 

Sure do, and just being on this thread makes the "survey" suspect.

 

Retired CPA

(I can figure or lie :D )

A lot of people in those Countries speak English unless you are going into the back hills you probably will not have a problem with language

 

Many Greeks come to Canada in the winter to work in the Greek restaurants :D

We met a waiter on Rhodes whose uncle owned a restaurant it Toronto where he worked in the winter months

 

Famous last words! :D

 

DW... Everybody in Hong Kong speaks English. Result, taxi driver finally called dispatch to understand the name of the Hotel!!

 

Both of us.... English is required in the Netherlands schools. Result, asked 4 people if we were on the right direction to a famous restaurant. Finally found a table of young men having some beers after work who said yes and pointed it out down the street.

My grandchildren have had passports since they were pre-school, as they lived in China. When we visited them we babysat while our kids enjoyed the company condo in Hong Kong (Independent then).

The kids gave us the grandkids passports and said if we got a "Bug OUt call, we had 15 minutes to get things and be ready to be picked up in front of the house.

DW slept with her clothes on!

For us to cruise we have to fly to a port in the US except Alaska . Even then if you want to go from Skagway across the Canada/US border you'll still need a passport. The US under the WHTI program requires that returning from Canada or Mexico a passport is required.

 

We live next to the Mexico border near a town that has not seen any violence. People cross there all the time, but we feel sorry for our favorite waiter (and the other waiters, cooks, etc.) who no longer have any dinner trade.

The difficulty of getting back home (remember to take the passports!)with the long inspection cuts down on traffic except for low-cost meds.

 

We love the ocean and cruising, mostly TAs, now that we have visited many ports and spent time (More than a day) at many places, we enjoy going to different places. Ships and AIs are limited, but with a car I can go to any restaurant around. If we don't like a place. we leave and go somewhere else, we are in control, not some corporation.

DW likes to gamble, so we usually get enough comps to cover the hotel and food at about half our stops.

 

We have had many adventures, some great:) and some not:(

 

Always smile and look for the best; if you look for what's wrong you'll find it but you won't like the trip.:eek:

We have always liked our trips, even when I thought I was going to freeze; we finally found our way out and a pub with great scotch to warm us.

We like the idea of paying it forward... we have been on the giving and receiving of paying it forward. My husband helped a black woman repair a tire and she wanted to pay him but he said just pass it forward. Not too long on a cold and rainy day I had a flat tire and a large black man stopped and used a portable lift to lift up my car and replaced the tire with my spare.. after asking to pay him he said just pass it foreward...

 

Take care...

Irene & Miles

 

I had my own small fishing boat and learned this really works! I don't know if I was ahead or behind when I sold my boat, but maybe someone out there will benefit if I was ahead.

I feel more cheated than ever!!!

Our only HAL cruise was a transatlantic where trivia can get very interesting, but on HAL, they sent a young girl to run it without giving her any time to even read the questions. It was all on American History and my wife helped another lady and I give this grad of a US Hischool a history lesson; and my wife never went to school in the US or even in English!!

Sad commentary on our school system. :(

Water!

 

Plus coffe. and tea almost 24 hrs a day; juices at mealtime. Soft and hard drinks and specialty coffees are extra most of the time.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

Have had them both, and on larger ships, prefer fixed. Our Celebrity cruise we had super good waiter and assistant, but all lines have made cuts since then.

Our last cruise was HAL where we requested fixed but got open. Tried it 3 times and didn't like it, so ate from then on in the buffet, a much happier place.

I thought of another intriguing possibility if you are an especially energetic and hardly person, would be a transatlantic to the Baltic, train to St. Petersburg, high speed rail to Moscow and then on the transmongolian to asia, then another reposition to the west coast. Some people do it and I wish I had when I was younger and had the energy and enthusiasm but little money and time. Now I have the money and time but not the energy and fortitude.

 

A saying I heard a looong time ago:

 

We get too soon strong and too late rich.

It really depends on them - and how well you really know them. If you are fully confident that they will not be disruptive or an annoyance to fellow passengers, that would give half the answer. Then, would you let them wander around a strange town you just came to visit, where they did not know anyone, while you were perfectly secure in the knowledge that they would not do anything foolish or dangerous?

 

You know them, you have to decide. There are some nineteen year olds who should not be inflicted on real people, so it is hard to set a specific age at which someone should be given free rein.

 

Also some 39 year olds! :eek:

I got to agree with Sail. Oasis and Allure might be great ships, and the OP may enjoy them. But that doesn't automatically make them the best for everyone. Personally, we aren't interested in the ultra huge ships. Sail correctly suggested some research as to what ship might work for the OP.

 

I agree. :) We have friends who like the larger ships, but we really don't. :(

By the way, there are no "hidden fees". By doing a little research, you will see what is charged for, and what is included. As others have stated, an excellent place to start is the Princess board. These types of things are discussed here every day. The Princess website will also tell you some of these things.

 

True, but they seem hidden until you've booked a couple.

Our worst was Houston. Security (?) seemed to be stalling, but when we got off at noon they weren't even around!!

From the number of times he's told us this, it does sound like he's bragging about it! ;)

 

Can't win on a HAL site. :rolleyes:

On our HAL cruise, one bar man was great. We (BW & 2 friends) rewarded him by ordering only from him, not the other servers, so he could get the 15% bonus.

We also gave him a good tip at the END of the cruise, I don't want good service because they think I'm a sucker. just because they give good service!!

On one of the islands the bar bill was out-of-sight! :eek: I guess prices are higher if you can see more than one 110'+ ship (Except in Puerto Banus, Spain).

In the old Hong Kong airport, I got a ride on a stand-up bus to the plane.

Boy, there's a lot of steps up to the door! :D

[COLOR="DarkRed"]We were on a ship into Houston, and told our DD to come to the dock about 9 so we should be off and through immigration by then.
She came at 8 and finally went to a store and bought sandwiches! :eek: The Feds held a slowdown or something.:eek:
Other ships have been held up by one or two people not going where they should, when the should. Anything can happen.
Murphy wrote a law about it! :rolleyes:[/COLOR]

I always wanted to do a river cruise, but the only one I booked was cancelled. :(

Now I don't have the mobility to enjoy the ports like I did before.

Go while you have the chance to enjoy, and have a good beer for me at one of the ports. ;)

We'd have to disagree based on firsthand experience.

 

There are plenty of deals in various ports - but most shoppers we've observed simply don't know enough about Tanzanite (quality and pricing) themselves and rely on sales people guiding them. That's not a good approach in most cases.

 

Jewelry with Tanzanite is often inflated in retail pricing, so promoted "60% off sales" are actually misleading.

But to the original post - few deals are found on ships in comparison to what you can find in port. Even then...you have to know (ahead of time) what is a good price and what is good quality when it comes to Tanzanite.

 

You could well substitute "anything" for tanzanite, and anywhere for port.

DW saw some jewelry in a store several miles from Santiago on a trip, later (years) after learning more about it a tour we were on stopped at the same store. She finally got the items and price she wanted, but it took an hour of bargaining and she is a native Spanish speaker.

Another time in Cozumel she had about given up finding a store that would bargain at all, but after lunch while shopping on a small street away from most of the tourists, she found a gold cross and chain for our grandson's baptisem.

We'd have to disagree based on firsthand experience.

 

There are plenty of deals in various ports - but most shoppers we've observed simply don't know enough about Tanzanite (quality and pricing) themselves and rely on sales people guiding them. That's not a good approach in most cases.

 

Jewelry with Tanzanite is often inflated in retail pricing, so promoted "60% off sales" are actually misleading.

But to the original post - few deals are found on ships in comparison to what you can find in port. Even then...you have to know (ahead of time) what is a good price and what is good quality when it comes to Tanzanite.

 

You could well substitute "anything" for tanzanite, and anywhere for port.

DW saw some jewelry in a store several miles from Santiago on a trip, later (years) after learning more about it a tour we were on stopped at the same store. She finally got the items and price she wanted, but it took an hour of bargaining and she is a native Spanish speaker.

Another time in Cozumel she had about given up finding a store that would bargain at all, but after lunch while shopping on a small street away from most of the tourists, she found a gold cross and chain for our grandson's baptisem.

A few years ago on Celebrity, we had it as the first station in the buffet every evening. I often looked at the rest of the items and came back to it for my main dish.

First of all, get out of Mahogany Bay as fast as your feet will take you. Go see Roatan.

 

OK then. Hot sauce. Get it in Belize. You want Marie Sharp's products. There is a variety. They will satisfy your need for hot. For a better price, go into town to a store.

Belizw will also have Lissette's Special Sauce. It isn't so hot but it isn't for use as a hot sauce. More of cooking additive/glaze.

 

Enjoy.

 

Marie Sharp has some great sauces. A restaurant we used to patronize had them and they were well liked.

Roatan; the back of the island is great. We spent the day at a small resort with no one in sight except a waiter quite a ways away.