clo

Just now, Mary229 said:

The time between 2020 and 2022 when people were not allowed to travel freely 

Oh, silly me. Sheesh. Thanks.

16 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Besides weather and lockdowns

You used lockdowns twice. 'Scuse my ignorance, I have not idea what that is.

4 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

I missed three ports just on my most recent cruise (Panama Canal on Oceania).

 

😡

I know destinations are important to you (as I). Were any of these noteworthy?

8 hours ago, mb777 said:

6:30 reservation plus :10 = 6:40 = late = rude, 100% of the time, no matter how you want to justify this behavior.

At the very least impolite. One's decision to be late is their own, right?

9 minutes ago, ORV said:

Remind me not to stand downwind of you. 

As I've said before "horses sweat, men perspire and ladies glow." That's "ladies" not "women."

10 hours ago, Hlitner said:

 

Having lunch (today) at the Terrace Cafe reinforced our opinion that this indoor "lido" venue is the weakest link among the various dining venues on the Vista.

I hope that's just the Vista. When we were on Marina a few years ago, we had more meals (B/L/D) there than any place else and loved every one.

15 hours ago, anonymousegirl said:

We're on the Nautica in June, our first R class ship and I've been spoiled by the multiple laundry rooms on Riviera. Now I have to plan to bring enough clothes to hold me over the 3 days it takes to get laundry back. Plus, we're spending a week in London first. We get 3 bags, though, as we're in a PH2. I just really hate having my laundry done--I much prefer doing it myself. I hang dry lots of my clothes, and if I send it out, they machine-dry my linen pants, silk blouses, etc. I once had a super luxury hotel ruin (beyond wearing) a pair of linen/silk trousers. Completely unwearable, so a huge dent in my clothing allotment. Losing a pair of trousers when you only brought 5 "bottoms" is a tragedy.  

We sent our a single bag of laundry once. Just underwear and other rough things. I'm sure they were clean but they had a gray tinge to them.

Every single thing I take when traveling can be worn three times easily. Lots of dark colors on top so stains don't kill it. And when we're back in our cabin/room, we change into "lounge wear" a pair of elastic waist pants and a loose top. Keeps the 'going out ' clothes peachy clean far longer.

1 hour ago, CanobieFan said:

and I had a Saint Petersburg overnight replaced with Poland and Lithuania because of the Russia/Ukraine conflict 

We had that also and canceled completely. Saint Petersburg was going to be it. In the past I understand that you can go by land but it's quite tedious.

8 hours ago, DarrenM said:

I am on holiday, I want as much luxury as possible. Surely everyone is like that?

Nope. But I've done land trips in Turkey, Israel, SE Asia and lots of S. America.

Oh, wait, here's a pic of my husband in his bunk on our Norwegian coastal cruise. And we were booked on it again, except for covid.

17 hours ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

Nobody books purely on itinerary - cruiseline,

I do..IIRC 100% of the time.

1 hour ago, deck chair said:

Hi! 

 

FYI, the smaller Rclass ships have abbreviated promenades on deck five.  Check out the deck plans.  This is one of my favorite spaces because there is peace and quiet except for the beautiful sounds of the sea.  It's a great place to sit or nap in the shade under a lifeboat.  It's a marvelous place to sit and read, chat with your fellow passengers (And even crew) and simply watch the sea and scenery go by.  Unfortunately, the larger O  ships such as Vista, Marina and Riviera have no such spaces which is the main reason I will not sail on them.  Good luck!

Deck Chair.

Thanks SO much. We'll be on Nautica in July, loathe the sun and will love what you describe.

2 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

And Cruise Critic respects copyrights.

I didn't realize that newspapers were copyrighted, rather that some papers block access. Good to know. I know the LA Times is just the worst.

On 4/1/2024 at 5:55 AM, navybankerteacher said:

cruise traditions

Yep. Maybe because they're not anywhere long enough to search out authentic things. Whereas most of our travel over the years has been DIY and escorted land tours. Here's one. A scarf that we bought for a few dollars outside a metro station in Rio de Janeiro.

3 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

There are only 200 plus countries in the world. Sure, somebody at a cruise line should know all the possible permutations of visa laws. No problem. ( I am being sarcastic.)

And they can change regularly.

Furthermore I would NEVER take that kind of advice from an unknown, lay person. Fraught with potential problems. JMO

9 hours ago, DoulaAnn said:

Early is no advantage.

Oh, sorry, not advantage. Good manners 🙂

1 hour ago, TRLD said:

Ah the world of cruising where one feels that their obnoxious behavior is perfectly fine while attacking someone else's obnoxious behavior.

So only one was obnoxious?

10 hours ago, KarlK said:

Towels are pretty light weight. I have never seen one too heavy to move off a lounge chair before. I have no issue in finding a chair and moving a towel. 

Nor would I. Easy peasy.

5 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

A little story about our Villa Eprussi de Rothchild experience.  DH and I did not know about the shortcut around the sea wall/beach area until coming back from the Villa.  We took a taxi after from the port after getting off of the tender.  After touring the Villa (which we loved!), we asked about getting a taxi back to the ship.  We were told that we would have to call one, or we could easily walk back.  Taking the 2nd option, we began to walk down the steep drive of the Villa when a golf cart stopped and offered us a ride down.  The young man worked at the villa and was heading back to town on business.  He let us off at a hole in the beach wall and told us how to get around to the ship.  Nice people!

 

Hlitner - Several years ago, DH and I took a ships excursion to Cassis and had a lovely tour, and leisurely hot chocolate on the sea front (it was coolish that day) and then walked over to where we heard noise from a crowd of people.  Turned out that we were in Cassis during their annual wine festival.  Lots of dancing, free wine tastings, etc.  Lots of fun!!!

I love these one-off stories. Thanks.

1 minute ago, Honolulu Blue said:

No, I don't live in Hawaii.  I'm from Michigan.  Some of us have a desire to get away from the cold this time of year (though it's not cold today), given any little excuse.

We've been living in Seattle for a few years and agree when it's called "The Big Dark." Visiting Flagstaff AZ where temps are mild in summer and there are four seasons.

6 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

One thing for sure is that if we go ashore outside of a tour, we never go with anyone else - just my husband and I go.  Husband and I have very close interests in what we want to do and see so together we are great.  When we go ashore outside of an excursion, we want to spend the time we want to spend in a shop, or whatever and don't want to feel that others are not interested in what we are interested in.  We know that our shopping interests are not the same, so we just go alone.

We're very much that way. We've done a number of escorted land trips...and leave the group regularly. When they get off the coach and go to the right, we go left. When they go straight we turn up little side streets. And have terrific food that some people wouldn't care for. 

6 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

I just finished a group of four in three months, all on different cruise lines. And next year I will have a cluster of three cruises in six weeks.

I would lose my mind (even more than it's already lost)! Do you live in Hawaii? That might explain it. I've heard that people feel the need to leave more often than non-Hawaiians .

4 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

I think that we all can get offended from time to time because of sarcastic responses to something that we have said, or from people who disagree with our opinion.

 

I have talked about this before.  Textual based communication is often mis-interpreted because it lacks the vocal tone, inflection, body language and all other cues that we take for granted in face-to-face communication.

 

The person that just replied with a comment to one of my posts can boil my blood, but what I don't know because the reply is so short is whether they are joking or serious.  If joking, then great, but if serious then you have just completely offended me.

 

One post recently that I left the reply alone and did not counter was a short response that in my part of the world carries the connotation of a four letter work starting with F and a You after it. I work in 8 global countries and what is offensive to me may not be in another country.  Some sayings or words that I may use may offend the Australians, but not folks from the UK.  For this reason I walk away from many things and consider the source.

 

I just walk away from anything that I consider to be offensive to me because it may only be offensive to me.  There are discussions that get way out of hand with debates that don't benefit anyone.  These ones I just tend to walk by.

Perhaps I am too easily offended but I still appreciate that the vast majority of people on this site are very respectful of others and the information and learning gained from Cruise Critic is of huge value.

I couldn't agree with you more...and would like to elect you to Czar of CC!

I am the object of some of those replies and honestly believe that they're intended to be offensive. Recently I've reported a couple and they were actually removed. Enough said and thanks.

On 4/14/2024 at 1:56 PM, MEFIowa said:

Have you looked at the various threads over time here? To see all the discussions about food and comparisons to other lines, including "family" NCL and Regents.

Try looking at the post below yours.

9 minutes ago, GTO-Girl said:

We have some friends that we occasionally sail with but we prefer cruises where it’s just the two of us.

 

We call our style of cruising “love ‘em and leave ‘em”.  We love meeting people and having short chats but then we can walk away and do our own thing and not feel guilty….

 

I am so glad to see we are not the only ones…..😂😂

I'm not remotely judgmental when people post here about friends they've made over the years. But not even !% of what we would want.

9 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

I believe you misread - four between now and October '25 - that would be four cruises in eighteen months.  And we are rather social at home.

I did! I thought you were saying October 25TH! And it did cross my mind why you were being that specific 🙂 Have fun everywhere.