atm55

Just wondering where you get information for theme cruising similar to Flower Power.

Where do you get information on future cruises like Flower Power or other entertainers?

Thanks.

High school graduation? Seems like that age is mostly interested in beaches and tanning. Wait until college graduation for the Med. EM

I agree.

I think I'd let her have a hand in choosing, and her parents, if they are invited. But I'm one of those crazies who thinks planning the trip is *almost* as fun as taking it, so I'd be sad if I didn't get to help choose.

 

I'd go with a RCI Oasis-class, NCL Getaway, or Carnival Vista cruise if I were a teen and not paying for it. :)

Well, this is a gift, so I can't let her choose because it could cost way more than I am planning if it was up to her. She will have fun planning when I give her the info. Her mother does not like to fly so she will not be coming, but thank you for that input. Now, on to researching Oasis, Getaway and Vista.

__________________

I agree.

I think I'd let her have a hand in choosing, and her parents, if they are invited. But I'm one of those crazies who thinks planning the trip is *almost* as fun as taking it, so I'd be sad if I didn't get to help choose.

 

I'd go with a RCI Oasis-class, NCL Getaway, or Carnival Vista cruise if I were a teen and not paying for it. :)

Well, this is a gift, so I can't let her choose because it could cost way more than I am planning if it was up to her:). She will have fun planning when I give her the info. Her mother does not like to fly so she will not be coming, but thank you for that input. Now, on to researching Oasis, Getaway and Vista.

What are 2.0 upgrades?

Do all Carnival ships offer balconies? It seems on some of the ships they are not available.

Any suggestions for a cruise to take my granddaughter on for her high school graduation?

I am a single woman who is 56. I have safely traveled quite abit - in fact my friends would say I am a travel addict. I do not take unrealistic risks but with being a woman engineer I am also not an extremely fearful person. I am saying this because I wanted you to have an idea of the type of person who is offering this advice. I have safely traveled on both HAL (Holland America) and Celebrity in the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Alaska and Hawaii. I always ask for a 6 - 8 person table - assigned formal dining room. The people at the tables I have been assigned to have always been very nice and I have often gone to the entertainment later with those people. Even if that does not happen you often can start up a conversation with other people in the theater. I would not say I have never had moments of being lonely but in general they have been short and fleeting. There are quite a number of female solo travelers that you meet on cruise ships - there are not that many single men on the cruises.

 

I personally would not go on a singles cruise - I know for me that would be setting myself up for disappointment and for being possibly hassled. Interesting people are not just single people...all I try to find is friendly people.

 

When I do cruise I have a cabin to myself - I have never wanted a stranger for a roomate...more expensive but for me at least the right answer. I generally do excursions thru the cruise line - I just feel it is more secure.

 

If you Mom is ready to take on the adventure I would say encourage her but until she is ready and want the adventure (because everything will not go perfect) I would not suggest you push her. If you want to discuss this further just let me know.

I am 54 and have gone on 2 solo cruises these last two years. I was a little nervous at first but got over it fast. I loved it. However, avoid going on short cruises over the summer months. I took a short summer cruise last year because the price was so cheap $299 on RCCL. I didn't care much for the ship and there were 700 high school kids from Argentina on board for a school field trip. Yikes! The other cruise I took was at Christmas time and it was awesome. Lastly, I took a Disney cruise with my granddaughter and although we did have fun - I'm looking forward to another solo cruise. It is so relaxing!

i just stumbled onto the 55+ forum and my head is reeling after having read all the postings since sometime in 2005! You all may be interested in reading the letter i recently emailed to my many cyberfriends in canada, the us and in europe and if you have questions, don't hesitate!

 

Musicus

 

dear friends,

 

come the middle of september, you’ll not get any more forwardings from me and i’ll ask you to take me off your mailing list, if i happen to be on it. From that time onwards and for at least one entire year, my internet access will be severely restricted, although i hope to stay in touch with many friends on a personal level.

 

But let me explain…

 

having outlived my wife, many close friends and. With exception of my son, all my family, i’ve reached the age where assisted living with its amenities looms large. I visited several such facilities but despite comfortable lodgings, the often quite pleasant surroundings exude a depressing “waiting for god” feeling for me when i see some of the residents. I think that i am not ready for this- yet.

 

After my thoroughly enjoyable 14-day panama canal cruise over christmas/new years (my second cruise experience), i began to think of cruise ships as a viable alternative.

A comfortable room with all amenities, from satellite tv,

air conditioning to private bath (and no more making the bed each morning, cleaning room and bath, changing linen); a choice of restaurants with fabulous menus (goodbye tv dinners or having to cook and then eat alone); nightly broadway class entertainment in a luxurious theater (beats lousy tv fare); swimming pools, jaccuzzis, well equipped gym and a medical facility complete with doctor and nurse - all a short walk away; a well stocked library and lectures, a casino, bars and interesting people to meet - and to top it all off, travel to places you would never have seen otherwise -- all in all, what more could you want?

 

For many months i have been working on a plan to spend one year on a cruise ship, which entailed arduous computer research covering cruise lines, their ships and itineraries (which often were hard to find for more than a few months) and finally, costs!

 

To my chagrin i discovered that i would be faced with a single supplement varying between 50% and 100% of the double occupancy rate, which is the industry’s standard and i knew then that i would have to stretch my budget limitation by at least $10,000 to get anywhere near to my goal.

 

I am happy to report that i finally succeeded in finding the right line, ship, itinerary and price (which however will mean that i’ll spend more of my son’s inheritance …) and i will leave on msc's "poesia"

october 9 at quebec city, returning to there october 15, 2011.

Oh yes, i forgot to tell you: I was born february 9, 1917.

 

Attached is my itinerary. It certainly would be nice if some of you would decide to take one or two of the cruise legs and we would see each other! And should you be alone, don’t forget that my stateroom has twin beds! Sharing the stateroom with me will save you a lot of money and if i am lucky and you are female, be assured that i will be on my best gentlemanly behavior!

 

Ahoy!

 

Egon

 

my itinerary on msc “poesia” 2010/2011

004 saturday oct. 9 – sat. 16 - 7 quebec, sydney, nova scotia, bar harbor, maine, boston, ma, newport, r.i., new york

p005 saturday oct. 16 – sat.23, 2010 - 7 new york, hallifax, sydney, charlottetown, quebec

p006 sat. Oct.23 - nov 1, 2010 - 7 quebec, sydney, boston, newport, new york, fort everglades

po07 mon, nov 01, thu, nov 11, 10 port everglades, cozumel, puerto limon, cristobal, cartagena, montego bay, port everglades

po08 thu, nov 11, 2010 sun, nov 14, 2010 3 port everglades, coco bay, nassau, port everglades

po09 sun, nov 14, 2010 sun, nov 21, 2010 7 port everglades, charlotte amalie, philipsburg, nassau, port everglades

po10 sun, nov 21, 2010 sun, nov 28, 2010 7 port everglades, key west, ocho rios, georgetown, cozumel, port everglades

po11 sun, nov 28, sun, dec 05, 7 port everglades, charlotte amalie, philipsburg, nassau, port everglades cozumel, port everglade

p012 sun. Dec 5, 2010 - sun. Dec 12, 2010 7 port everglades, key west, ocho rios, georgetown,,cosumel, port everglades

po13 sun, dec 12, 2010 sun, dec 19, 2010 7 port everglades, philipsburg, charlotte amalie, nassau, port everglades

po14 sun, dec 19, 2010 sun, dec 26, 2010 7 port everglades, key west, ocho rios, georgetown, cozumel, port everglades

po15 sun, dec 26, 2010 sun, jan 02, 2011 7 port everglades, charlotte amalie, philipsburg, nassau, port everglades

po16 sunday, jan. 2nd – tuesday jan. 4th, 2010 – fort lauderdale, nassau, fort lauderdale

jan 4 - 9 charter

po18 sun, jan 09, 2011 sun, jan 16, 2011 7 port everglades, charlotte amalie, philipsburg, nassau, port everglades

po19 sun, jan 16, 2011 sun, jan 23, 2011 7 port everglades, key west, ocho rios, georgetown, sunday,

po20 sun, jan 23, 2011 sun, jan 30, 2011 7 port everglades, charlotte amalie, philipsburg, nassau, port everglades

po21 sun, jan 30, 2011 sun, feb 06, 2011 7 port everglades, key west, ocho rios, georgetown, cozumel, port everglades

po22 sun, feb 06, 2011 sun, feb 13, 2011 7 port everglades, charlotte amalie, philipsburg, nassau, port everglades

po23 sun, feb 13, 2011 sun, feb 20, 2011 7 port everglades, key west, ocho rios, georgetown, cozumel, port everglades

po24 sun, feb 20, 2011 sun, feb 27, 2011 7 port everglades, charlotte amalie, philipsburg, nassau, port everglades

po25 sun, feb 27, 2011 sun, mar 06, 2011 7 port everglades, key west, ocho rios, georgetown, cozumel, port everglades

po26 sun, mar 06, wed, mar 23, 17 port everglades, san juan, st. John's, castries, funchal, malaga , alicante, barcelona, genoa

po27 wed, mar 23, 2011 thu, mar 31, 2011 8 genoa, malaga, cadiz, lisbon, gibraltar, alicante, barcelona, genoa

po28 thu, mar 31, 2011 fri, apr 08, 2011 8 genoa, malaga, cadiz, lisbon, gibraltar, alicante, barcelona, genoa

po29 fri, apr 08, 2011 sat, apr 16, 2011 8 genoa, malaga, cadiz, lisbon, gibraltar, alicante, barcelona, genoa

po30 sat, apr 16, 2011 sun, apr 24, 2011 8 genoa, malaga, cadiz, lisbon, gibraltar, alicante, barcelona, genoa

po31 sun, apr 24, 2011 mon, may 02, 2011 8 genoa, malaga, cadiz, lisbon, gibraltar, alicante, barcelona, genoa

po32 mon, may 02, 2011 tue, may 10, 2011 8 genoa, malaga, cadiz, lisbon, gibraltar, alicante, barcelona, genoa

po33 tue, may 10, 2011 fri, may 20, 2011 10 genoa, malaga, cadiz, lisbon, vigo, southampton, zeebrugge, kiel

po34 fri, may 20, 2011 mon, may 23, 2011 3 kiel, oslo, copenhagen, kiel

po35 mon, may 23, 2011 fri, jun 03, 2011 11 kiel, bergen, tórshavn, akureyri, isafjordur, reykjavík, lerwick, kiel

po36 fri, jun 03, 2011 tue, jun 14, 11 kiel, copenhagen, trondeim, honningsvag, tromso, hellesylt & geiranger, bergen, kiel

po37 tue, jun 14, 2011 sat, jun 25, 11 kiel, copenhagen, trondeim, honningsvag, tromso, hellesylt & geiranger, bergen, kiel

po38 sat, jun 25, 2011 sat, jul 02, 2011 7 kiel, copenhagen, olden, bergen, kristiansand, oslo, kiel

po39 sat, jul 02, 2011 sat, jul 09, 2011 7 kiel, copenhagen, stockholm, tallin, st. Petersburg, kiel

po40 sat, jul 09, 2011 sat, jul 16, 2011 7 kiel, copenhagen, olden, bergen, kristiansand, oslo, kiel

po41 sat, jul 16, 2011 sat, jul 23, 2011 7 kiel, copenhagen, stockholm, tallin, st. Petersburg, kiel

po42 sat, jul 23, 2011 sat, jul 30, 2011 7 kiel, copenhagen, olden, bergen, kristiansand, oslo, kiel

po43 sat, jul 30, 2011 sat, aug 06, 2011 7 kiel, copenhagen, stockholm, tallin, st. Petersburg, kiel

po44 sat, aug 06, 2011 sat, aug 13, 2011 7 kiel, copenhagen, olden, bergen, kristiansand, oslo, kiel

po45 sat, aug 13, 2011 sat, aug 20, 2011 7 kiel, copenhagen, stockholm, tallin, st. Petersburg, kiel

po46 sat, aug 20, 2011 sat, aug 27, 2011 7 kiel, copenhagen, olden, bergen, kristiansand, oslo, kiel

po47 sat, aug 27, 2011 sat, sep 03, 2011 7 kiel, copenhagen, stockholm, tallin, st. Petersburg, kiel

po48 sat, sep 03, 2011 sat, sep 10, 2011 7 kiel, copenhagen, olden, bergen, kristiansand, oslo, kiel

po01 sat, sep 10, 2011 wed, sep 28, 2011 18 kiel, copenhagen, zeebrugge, southampton, vigo, lisbon, ponta delgada, king's wharf, new york city

po02 wed, sep 28, 2011 sat, oct 08, 2011 10 new york city, sydney, charlottetown, quebec, halifax, newport, new york city po03 sat, oct 08, 2011 sat, oct 15, 2011 7 new york city, halifax, sydney, charlottetown, quebec

way to go!!! What a great idea!

familycruzer, thanks so much for sharing. The pictures are awesome. wdowns9, thanks for your input, it was very helpful. Both of you have given me a better picture of what to expect.

Why do you like El Mirador so much? Is it better than El Cedral. The tour I'm considering doesn't go there. It goes to El Cedral, Tequila Farm, Coconuts Bar and then the city tour.