Mare10

I had the same experience after my first cruise in 1998. Came back to work and remember having to brace myself along the wall sometimes as I walked.... miserable feeling! It lasted about a week or so. I had worn the patch on that cruise and wondered if taking the patch off started my problem.

After a few years with no cruises I've done a few more and haven't had the problem at all. I never used the patch again but took bonine every night and the ginger capsules twice daily. Happy to say I haven't experienced any seasickness or the post cruise vertigo. I am prone to occasional bouts of vertigo and take a bonine which seems to solve the problem.

Hope you can enjoy many more cruises!

I agree with everyone speaking for a good TA. Our first cruise to Alaska we booked with an online agency. The next two cruises we booked with a wonderful local TA. Now I'm sorry to say she's retiring this month! We'll be able to use someone in her company but she will be hard to beat. Since we already booked through her we'll stick with that company to get us through this next cruise! Not knowing how they are we'll have to watch for the drops in price ourselves and alert them if we see one!

Happy Cruising which ever you choose to book!

The only suites we stay in. Just finished a trip on the Golden and have three more booked over the next 16 months or so. If we can't get what we want on the aft we find another cruise plain and simple. We love the sound of the wake and the view. As long as you are on a deck between two passenger decks it will be very quiet and there won't be much traffic near your room other than those who are also staying back there and the staff. You will hear some noise and often feel some vibration from the aft thrusters when pulling into and out of port but thats about it. Normally you pull into a port early in the morning so this can be an issue for those that like to sleep late. We rise early so its never been an issue for us. As mentioned you do have farther to walk to get to the hub of activities but for us it is a small price to pay and actually has the benefit of working off some of the extra food one tends to eat on a cruise. If you are prone to motion sickness this might not be the best location for you. There is more movement at the bow and the stern than you will feel midship. Again never an issue for us. We have always had a wonderful experience in aft cabins and hope you will as well.

I'm so glad I read this thread! We haven't cruised often but have always had mid ship balcony cabins. Thanks to all the advice here on cc we have booked a mini suite... farthest aft... for our 15 day Hawaiian Islands cruise! I can't wait to try this cabin after all the wonderful postings here.

Marilyn :)

To : Mare10 lakeguy Woobstr112G

 

Hope that this finds each and everyone of you healthy and with those that you love. We have so much to be thankful for in this wonderful country.

 

Eat some dressing/stuffing and dark meat for me and I will gain the weight instead of you. How's that for a gift! ;)

 

As Always,

Thank you RetiredNTraveling (Mike I think?)!!!!

The same wishes back to you and your family. We're doing our other favorite form of travel.... in our RV at a favorite resort in the Mountains only 30 minute drive from home. The hubby has been cooking our turkey on the Weber kettle bbq for most of our 42 years of marriage!

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!!!!!

Love,

Marilyn

Marilyn, we are looking for our best options. In '13 we were there in Mar/April and everything was great, however, we kept hearing that it was the end of the whale season and while we saw some, Not Enough! So that brings us to early Feb. 2, 2015 or maybe early March. :confused:

I check both bookings for the rooms that we like and as long as they are available, I am holding off. (Giving the stock market :eek: more time to make more money for us.)

 

I am following the CC rollcall for the Mar 4, 2015 cruise! ;) So keep it going.

I do hope you might choose the March 4th sailing. Would be fun to have familiar faces at the Meet & Greet!!!! Keep us posted. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

Marilyn

No worries about the spelling... I tried to google them and kept misspelling it too! We're going on the Grand out of LA in 2015.... probably too soon to know their schedule but sure hope they're there. I know we'll have a fantastic time no matter what. Already on a roll call and love the planning process!!!!!!

Marilyn :)

This has been an interesting thread and goes to show how peoples opinions can vary so drastically.

We'll be doing our first cruise to Hawaii in March of 15. I suppose it's too soon to know who will doing the cultural program but I look forward to the cruise and to experiencing the Grand for the first time!

RetirednTraveling... are you going in Feb for sure? I know you were considering March in 15?

Marilyn

I totally agree! Just know that some staff members will say you have to go to the buffet. If you can get to your cabin to check the "patter" look on there and it will tell you which dining room is open for lunch. It's one of those best kept secrets. The dining room will not be crowded and it's a wonderfully relaxing way to start your cruise!

If I read it right they're doing this sale again but with 50% of the total cruise amount given back as FCC.

Anyone else seeing that?

Sounds like Starboard is what we should book... unless we decide on a cabin in the aft. Decisions decisions! Fun planning ahead. :)

If you go for a Mini suite, take the ones on Emerald deck as they are covered balconies. Dolphin deck totally uncovered and with a few days of cooler weather, you won't use it. We always go for larger balconies on Caribe deck for our balconiy cabins.The best cabin we ever had for Hawaii was the corner aft facing on Caribe deck. We had some days of rain and we could sit out there without the rain blowing in. Friends with side facing had the wind blowing and rain on their balcony.

With that all said, we are booked to go to Hawaii end of this month. Prices really good so could have done Mini or Balcony cabin. Chose the Balcony side facing(aft facing was sold). There are so many activities on sea days, find we don't spend much time in cabin. In the mid afternoon I like to sit out there and read, rest of the day is for trivia, lectures, movies, sun on deck etc.

Enjoy your planning. Join your Cruise Critic roll call. A good part of the enjoyment of cruising is the planning and anticipation of the trip.

Sue... do recall the cabin number of that one you mentioned? Sounds really nice!

Thanks for all the great advice. I'll sit down with our TA in a couple days and get our cabin identified! I have a feeling that no matter what we pick we will have a fantastic time. I am totally hooked cruising!!!

I hope I'm in the right place for this question! We'll be doing the 15 day Hawaiian Islands cruise out of LA in 2015. A ways ahead but I'm already enjoying the planning phase.

On our previous two Princess cruises we enjoyed a Caribe deck balcony cabin. Wondering since this one is longer if we'd be happier with a mini suite for more space. I think a balcony is a must for us.

Any previous cruisers opinions would be appreciated. Would love a full suite but that's not affordable for us!

So... opinions on cabin type and location????? Thank you!

Last year we stayed in a Vista suite on the Golden, this year we took the Owner's Suite on the Star.

 

Were now looking at a Penthouse or Vista on the Grand for next year and cannot see any difference between them for the money except the location.

 

Hey Slomotion, this is RetiredNTraveling. I hope that you don't mind my using your "Bye-line". It fit us to a tea! As I am spending more $$ than we should on cruising.

As for suites, well, we have had the opportunity to upgrade to suites on each of the last 3 cruises and guess what..........we are spoiled! The closest we have been to an aft suite is on the Golden up on the Sun Deck PH's last March 27. I think we will consider a stern suite on our next cruise to Hawaii in 2015!

 

Woobstr112G

Bob, thanks for the pictures as they answer a lot of questions about the beam!

 

Mare10

Wasn't the Can/NE cruise good? Why don't you start a Roll Call for the March 4, 2015 Hawaii Cruise? Even though we were planning on the Feb 2, 2015 cruise we might be pursuaded to change to 3-4-15~!

 

Yes RTN the Can/NE cruise was fabulous!!!!! It was fun meeting you and asking about this next cruise! Not 100% sure that March 4th will be our date even though I pre-booked. Might have to do Feb. instead... should know soon. I love CC and all the great ideas and people I meet on here!

I'll get with our TA soon and see what the difference is in price. Sounds like a great upgrade!

I'll chime here and try not to repeat what has already been said.

As a parent and now a grandparent I would never have tried crusing with a 14 year old boy! We are also RVers and while raising our kids that was our travel of choice.

Now that it's the two of us we absolutely love cruising but continue to enjoy our RV. If I were to consider taking the grandkids I would find a cruise that appealed to them before spending all that money!

Everyone obviously enjoys different things... makes us all unique.

My DH and I did the round trip 7 day out of Seattle with Princess. Then the following year I did same cruise but out of Vancouver BC with a girlfriend and we went with Holland.

Having done both I would say I loved them both for different reasons. They each did Glacier Bay which is a must. The Holland ship was a bit smaller and was able to get in closer. The age of fellow travellers did seem a bit younger on Princess but that didn't matter to us.

In my opinion you would be happy with either line. It's all about the itineray and just make sure it includes Glacier Bay! We loved touring both Seattle and Vancouver ahead of time.

One more advantage with Holland was that it was a Wed-Wed itinerary which meant fewer ships in each port so way less crowded. Our Princess cruise was Sat-Sat.

Enjoy your planning!

Thanks Bob... I'll definitely check that out!

Bob, I think we're booked on the same cruise to Hawaii... March 2015. It's way out there but planning and anticipating is such fun!

We haven't done this cruise and normally have a Caribe balcony. I'm thinking I should check with our TA on these Vista suites now that I'm reading this thread!

Marilyn

My DH and I are in our early 60's. He wasn't too keen on trying a cruise but I convinced him in 2010 and we did an Alaskan 7 day with Princess. He absolutely loved it as much as I did! We're like several other posters here... I'm the extrovert and he tends to be more of an introvert. We've also done all inclusive resorts which we enjoy but for us cruising is our first choice! We've done Princess and I did Holland and RC with girlfriends. My favorite is Princess.

Happy Planning!

Just recently came off that ship and they did install those yet... sure would be nice though!

So, if you pay for a cup of regular coffee with that include refills?

Thanks

Putterdude...

Would you please explain the "Hoho" tours! My companion and I will be spending a day in Vancouver and are trying to plan carefully so we hit the highlights.

Thanks!

Thanks Putterdude! You've helped us alot in our planning for Vancouver.

Another train question here. My friend and I will be taking the early train from Vancouver to Seattle as we hear it's a beautiful trip. Suggestion has been made to book the business class. Wondering if we should request the "right" side of the train for more scenic views?

Also... how early before departure do we need to get to the train station?

Thanks in advance!

Marilyn :)