shealea

I have said prayers for him and also his family. I can't imagine what his family and friends must be going through right now. What a sad, sad time for all involved.

Of course, murder / suicide are options, and this has occurred in the past. However, being Spring break week, I have my suspicions. It will be what it will be. Yeah, your chances of surviving such a fall can be pretty slim. If it is murder, that's a different story. Suicide; then do it so you do not affect so many others. Foolishness; you got what you deserved. Sorry.

What a hearltess statement to post!! I have several family with mental health illness. It is something I would not wish upon any human being. It destroys a person. Absolutely takes every bit of them. And to say ANYONE deserves that.......

A person with a mental illness would give and they pray to please make them feel better and normal. Sometimes it's too much for them.... Obviously they are not able to think of how they affect others!! I just pray my closest loved one comes out of her current state........ Because suicide rates in mentally ill are HIGH...VERY HIGH!

NCL has a really good mix of ages. That is one thing I really like about it.

Also, you could book an inside and watch the balcony prices to hope for a price drop. The particular year that we did get the balcony, we originally had an inside. For some reason, balcony cabins really dipped in price.

So I paid $300 total to upgrade from an inside to a balcony. But last year, prices on a balcony cabin did not drop much at all, so we had to stick with an inside.

Heck, it's such a gamble trying to figure out the pricing thing!!!! ha!

You are going to love your cruise whatever you decide. Alaska is gorgeous!!! I will keep going back and never get bored with that cruise!

I've been to Alaska 3 times with an inside and one time with a balcony. Having the balcony was amazing!! But we did just fine on the cruises without it.

Alaska is one cruise where I see a balcony is worth it!! There is so much pretty scenery. One thing I really loved was being out on my balcony early in the am as we approached each port.

On the glacier day, you would love being out on your deck. The trip into the glacier is a few hours, so it's worth it to have a balcony to enjoy the entire trip and day.

But, that said, we did have a fine time when we had insides. On glacier viewing day, We found a spot early on for viewing before the crowds gathered.

Sprint - A Baltics cruise sounds wonderful. You DO have a long time to wait! It sure gives you something fun to think about and look forward to!

And a trip to Washington DC sounds great! We've never been there, but i hope to get there one day!

aspenred - I would love to see our pics of scrapbook pages using Project Life.

We've enjoyed NCL, but our cruises have been to Alaska. So, that probably gets a bit different makeup of crowd than the warm-weather cruises.

NCL gets a pretty good mix of all ages, I think. I never noticed anyone overly drunk and out of control. Except one gal that got escorted out of the show because she kept interrupting it by yellowing out things.

Dh and I are in our mid 50's, but we like to let loose and dance to rock music. They have parties in the Spinnaker that are fun and lively with really good music. There are fun activities throughout the day, for all ages.

We've been on the Pearl and Jewel, not any of the mega ships. The mega ships have a ton of activities to really keep a person busy.

I think you would enjoy NCL. Check them out!

Also....can't folks hold a cabin for 24 hours while they consider and make up their minds about a cabin?

Maybe some were being held and would open back up.

Oh, also.... I never have noticed bunches of kids running around on my NCL cruises to Alaska. And there were a lot of kids onboard, because I could see how busy the kids center was when I dropped off our granddaughter.

I think they have such wonderful activities and entertainment for the kids that the kids want to participate in and are kept busy and not having the free time to run around the ship.

Like I said, kids were no problem running around unsupervised. I'm pretty good at tuning things out though when it comes to kids. Kids noise doesn't bother me in the least. I'm pretty much oblivious to it and don't notice it!!! Probably comes from working as a cook in a school kitchen for several years!!!! ha!!!

Hello - I've been on the Jewel twice to Alaska and to the Pearl twice to Alaska. The ships are very, very similar. Not many differences. I was on the Jewel last summer.

I absolutely LOVE NCl. It's just perfect for my dh and I. But from your post, I'm thinking it may not be exactly what you are hoping for. It's really pretty laid back. I think you are looking for a cruise that is more formal. Although, I can say that on our cruises to Alaska it was NOT a party/drunken atmosphere at all.

They do have some dance parties with rock and roll. Folks have a blast, dancing the night away. Drinking going on, but no one out of control drunk that i ever saw!

They do have hot tubs, but depending on the weather (alaska is very unpredictable), they can be hard to get in to at times. The pool is saltwater, and on the Jewel last summer, it was warm and I was able to stay in relaxing for quite a long time. There is a kids pool and an adult pool.

I have found that the amount of announcement over the speakers really depends on the Cruise Director. Last summer, there were not many announcements at all. On one, on the Pearl, there were many announcements.

On one of the cruises, we had our teenage grandson and granddaughter, who was 9 at the time. The teenager went to the teen center, but then he ended up just meeting up with the teens in the evening instead of going to pre-planned ship activities. They had a blast. They went to the evening shows together, hot tub, dining. He still talks about the good time he had.

There are always places set up to try to get you to spend money: watches, souvenirs, jewelry, perfume etc...... But those places are there for the taking if you want to spend, but dh and I just ignore it. We are not big spenders onboard.

Like I said, we love, love, love NCL. I hope I've been able to help in your decision!

I've always loved all of my NCL cruises, so I'm surprised to read that some will never use them.

I've not tried Carnival yet, but we are considering it on the Miracle this Fall to Mexican Riviera

You got a very good deal! Have a wonderful cruise!

Well I tapped into my mother inlaws email ( she never checks it), sure enough she had the same upgrade offer, so what did we do? We are surprising her and her friend and we paid the $110....Seriously, its a great offer!..

And she went from the bowels of the ship deck 1, to a deck 8!! I'm thinking she is gonna be quite happy!

What a sweet thing to do for your mil. I would love to see her face when she opens her cabin door and sees a BALCONY!!! She will be thrilled, I'm sure. Have a wonderful cruise!!!!!

vplsh - Thanks for posting your pages. I love your use of colors and your use of the patterns. Very nice!!!

Northern Light - When I used to go to crops, I also had a hard time deciding what to bring! I usually brought way too much and didn't use a lot of what I brought. ha! But I always worried I would want something I had left at home!!! he,he

Minnesotamamafish - I'm glad you've been able to get inspired/motivated here! It's really so much fun to visit with others about a hobby you love!

That's why I wanted to keep this topic alive -- it's fun to hear others' ideas on scrapbooking and what they are doing. So much fun to hear about others' cruises.

And we can help to keep other motivated to finish our scrapbooks.

Does anyone have any cruise coming up soon? Not me!

AspenRed and Fergus - I like your idea of using Project Life in with my regular scrapbooking. I had not thought of that. I love the project life cards and style.

That would save me a ton of time! I have PL cards, just no pages to put them and pics in. I think I will check out ordering them!

It's all of the positive posts about Carnival here on Cruise Critic that makes me excited to cruise with them on our next cruise!!!!

I kind of have the opposite problem. I can't book till very last minute, due to circumstances here.

It just kills me the deals I see everyone getting here and there as the months go by till when I want to cruise. I feel like I'm letting $$$'s slip away at times with promotions I see that I can't act on since I really need to book last minute.

But, at the same time I can pounce on last minute deals most times.

It's really killing me that I can't take advantage of these latest promotions. I'm almost wondering if I should go ahead a book and get "cancel for any reason insurance" in case we do have to cancel or change cruise dates. I always buy insurance anyway since dh has crohns and could possibly not be able to cruise.

But, I really do feel for folks that book and a super good promo comes along. It's just a gamble either way. You can miss out on good deals either way!!!

I'm not sure if anyone posted yet about the made-to-order crepes each evening. The station is just past the Garden Buffet.

I can't remember the starting time... maybe 4:30ish?? Ask when onboard and find out. They are so very good. The choices on fillings change around. My favorite was lemon and blueberry.

Is there a friend he has that would like to go along on a cruise with you all? Or maybe a cousin???

That could make all the difference and get him excited and less afraid!

We've sailed twice on the Jewel to Alaska.

We loved the Jewel. Perfect size! Staff is great! We enjoyed the main dining room food. The buffet is very good -- lots and lots of choices -- great variety. Outstanding entertainment.

If you want to hear more about the Jewel, I'm happy to share more of my thoughts and things you want to be certain to try.

I'll ask my question first.....

Have any of you had your photos taken in the onboard photography studio? I've been slowly hinting to dh that it would be nice to get our photos done there. I'm thinking something really easy and casual. Us in jeans and casual tops. I just really want to look kind of nice but how we live in "real life". Just some fun pictures to give family and for us to enjoy on our wall.

I love, love, love pictures!!! I take many on cruises and love to scrapbook. First couple of cruise I bought several pictures that the wandering photographers take and the ones taken as you are leaving the ship at ports. I think some of them turn out cute and some really nice! But I don't buy those anymore -- although I do always buy the embarkation photo.

A couple of years ago, we had our pics taken on the dress-up-or-not night. We do not dress fancy on those nights. Our pics were in slacks and kind of nice, but casual tops. They really turned out very good, I thought. Given that they get you through without taking much time. We have been married 38 years, and that is the one and only time we have had our pics taken together professionally (if you can call it that)! ha!

I took advantage because I just know I'll never, ever get dh to go to a photography studio at home.

So, I would love to hear about your photo experiences...... how do you think your pics turn out. And do you usually buy the pics that are taken by photographers onboard????

I've always thought it was kind of funny that it seems to be something special to have a mint on your pillow. Woo Hoo!, I think!!!!! What is the big deal??

But some people really get a kick out of it, I guess! ha!

But then the towel animals...... my dh told me to tell our lovely lady room steward that she didn't need to take her time and make us towel animals. He felt bad that she had to do that as hard as she works.

WHAT??????? No towel animal???? That was my reply... Are you crazy?? That is me.... I love opening my door to a towel animal in the evening!!!

So everyone has their things on a cruise that they get a kick out of ...... And things that they could do without and not be upset!!!

I don't miss the chocolate buffet ..... I love the made to order crepes. I miss the creme brulee in the MD. I miss the brownie sundaes. Loved those things!!! But I'm just ecstatic on a cruise, so there aren't any cutbacks that have spoiled my time.