pcur

We each take one large expandable suitcase, about 26 - 28 inches in size. We just pack more or less clothes depending on how long we'll be gone. We each have some sort of carry-on, too, with our miscellaneous headphones, book, etc. in it.

Our problem is the weight restrictions, but I manage to pack under a few pounds of the limit.

I agree with you, though, about the clothes. I live in a, well....let's say "casual" town. So, I like to wear my nicer clothes on cruises.

I also limit the number of shoes I take, because they weigh a lot.

Go buy her some Neutragena SPF 100 sunscreen and hope for the best!!

I've always been very fair skinned and have stayed out of the sun for many years.

Me, too, and I've always used sunscreen since I was about 27. But, those dark spots started popping out on my hands and arms about 15 years ago. I'm happy that laser treatments can eliminate them.

Please could you tell me what fillers might work best for me based on what your derm. said? I'm going next week for Botox around my eyes, which I have experience with....but I'd like to try a filler on the () lines beside my mouth/nose..

 

I'm 54 and fair skinned. I would like a long lasting one if possible.

 

Thanks so much....the more knowledge I'm armed with the better.

 

I go to a plastic surgeon's office that has a skin center attached to it.

I've been going there for some time, so I do trust them, but these fillers are new to me.

 

THANKS

What I didn't mention above is I went to a dermatologist while I was shopping for my doc to do my work, and I was really unimpressed with the dermo and her office help. They did the glycolic peels (which I think are great in addition to the juvaderm), and looked like they were fresh out of cosmetology school. Then, I went to the eye clinic and he has a registered RN with 25 years experience doing his peels. So, the combination of the good needle hands and the good peel nurse sold me.

I just had Botox done around my eyes 2 weeks ago. As I said I have very fair skin, so I'm a good "guinea pig" for you. :D

I had tiny bruises for several days at the needle sites, which were completely covered with a dab of make-up. The skin is now very smoother and the fine lines about 90% gone. I'm happy with the results.

The Juvaderm Ultra Plus last the longest. It's a thicker formula, so you have more bulging, but it goes away. You just have to give it some time and not expect instant results everywhere you use it. Around the mouth area, where you flesh is naturally plumper, it blends well. But, on the forehead where there is little fatty tissue, it takes longer for the Juvaderm to "blend" in with the contour. No one notices, but if you run your fingers over the area, you can feel where it is. Goes completely away.

I also had laser spot removal on my hands, arms, chest, neck, and face. THAT is what really makes a difference, too!

I was in a restaurant a few days ago and the cashier didn't ring me up for the senior price. He was very surprised to know that I qualify. I am 61 years old, and with the "new" skin I have on my hands, arms, chest, neck, and face, I look about 45 - 50.

I've had several syringes of Juvederm Ultra Plus, which is the filler that lasts up to a year. It's more expensive by about 25%, but lasts twice as long.

I had very long and deep "11" lines between my eyebrows: from below my brows all the way to the middle of my forehead. Completely gone now.

I have also had small amounts around my mouth and on the marionette lines.

I love the stuff, and I have very fair and sensitive skin. I do not want to do my upper lip, because I think I'll end up with one of those phony looking "straight" lips look. So, I use a lip plumper on the upper lip lines, and that works well.

I also use a good exfoliant and have a lunchtime peel every month. A lot of facial lines are actually dry and dead skin cells.

I went to an eye doctor who does laser surgery and also these injections. Anyone that works on eyes has got a good set of hands, IMO.

I was bruised at the injection site for a few days, and because I had large amounts in my brow, I had some lumpiness for a while until the stuff smoothed out.

You get instant results in the small injections, but the larger ones require some patience and time.

What's interesting is the filler pushes out the skin so you can gently exfoliate, and the deep lines go away. It takes several weeks for the final look with a large injection.

I also had a short "conversation" with a young lady in the hallway. It was 10:30 at night, and she was standing at her cabin door banging on it and YELLING to be let in.

I "shussed" her loudly and told her from down the hallway that people were trying to sleep; use the white telephones to call into the room and wake them up!!! She got real quiet.

My DH is the type that would go out in the hallway every night around 12:55 AM and stand there watching the kids go by. He takes no crap off of kids. He had to (nicely) instruct one 12 yo on the elevator last week that "we let the people get on the elevator FIRST, and THEN press the button to close the door". :D

But curfew won't get rid of me. I'm one that likes to swim and use the hot tubs in the middle of the night.

Well, if you make a whole LOT of noise up there, then it's a problem, but I doubt that. :D:D It ain't the water noise I had a problem with; it was the pitter-patter of the baby elephants on my ceiling at 2:30 AM!!!

Don't bet on that....when I went up to see what all the noise was about at 4am I ran into a teenage girl (maybe 16) soaking wet in her bathing suit walking out to the pool area from inside by the elevator area.

And that, Pirate Steve, is when we call Customer Service. Curfew is 1 AM for anyone under 18, I believe, and they took it very seriously on the Majesty last week! That's what I complained about.

We sailed on Voyager in Feb in room 1308. Every night about 4 they would wake us up for about half an hour. Then it would be gone.

 

Good Luck

 

Don't bother complaining. It did us no good.

 

 

Matt

I did complain, and it did us some good. HOWEVER, I was sure to tell them that I know their staff has to do their jobs, and the pool party one night was going to happen, so it was the STUFF THAT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN I was complaining about. The kids running overhead after curfew. They were really upset over that, and gave us a credit.

I also went to the Loyalty Ambassador and talked to her about it first, and let her deal with Customer Service. She emailed the manager directly while I was talking to her.

It's all about how you handle the complaint, IMO.

However, I agree with everyone, and my DH, too, that it doesn't make a lot of sense to charge extra for cabins that have this noise problem.

We had the same problem on the Majesty last week.

Just take some soft ear plugs to sleep with. You won't hear a thing. I should have remembered them, because we usually take them in case of noisy neighbors.

However, we also complained to Customer Service about children running up there after curfew, and they took THAT very seriously!! The crew securing the loungers is just part of their routine, but they might take care of it before 11 PM, in my opinion.

Anyway, take the ear plugs and you'll be fine.

Thank you!!!:D

I guess where I misunderstood their service was wanting to fly into my port of departure on the embarkation day (within their policies), but fly out of another location after debarkation, and 3 days later. I think the 3 days would have been OK, but since the cruise didn't end in HNL, they wanted to fly me from Perth where my second cruise ends.

Lesson learned.

Peggy, that's exactly it. With custom air you have to fly into the airport where the ship embarks and fly home from the airport where the ship disembarks - and they have a limit on how many days in advance you can fly in and how many days after you can stay (with RCCL it's usually 3). Your request was completely out of the realm of custom air.

Thanks, and you've just reinforced my thoughts that there's really no "custom" in "custom air". :D

I haven't booked cruise air in about 15 years, but I heard that RCCL's custom air was usually priced very competitively, so I had my TA check with them today. What a fiasco!!!

We are flying LAX-HNL, cruising on a b2b, and ending up in Perth. I have already purchased Perth-Sydney, and Sydney-HNL. All my TA asked for was a quote on the LAX-HNL roundtrip portion.

Well, the "custom air" quoted LAX-HNL, then PERTH-HNL!!! My TA said, no, we want LAX-HNL roundtrip. RCCL insisted on doing the booking their way, and said we could change it later. Go figure that one out??????

Also, their quote was $500 more per person than what I can get for my total air myself.

I asked my TA, "where is the 'custom' in the phrase 'custom air'???? We are almost Diamond Plus with RCCL, and either my TA caught a newbie on the phone, or RCCL's air department doesn't do anything other than embarkation-debarkation flights.

I told my TA to forget the cruise air, and she and I are looking for separate air for the LAX-HNL run.

Insurance:

 

You REALLY need insurance going overseas. Medical evacuation is generally NOT covered in most US health policies. The bills could be HUGE. And what about trip cancellation/trip interruption??? What if your NCL booked flights have a glitch and you miss the cruise??? How are you going to get to the next port??? Who is going to eat the cost of hotels, transport, food??? It is NOT going to be NCL. AND the airlines have NO obligation to get you any further than your original destination with your consolidator class, heavily discounted business class tickets. So you are one your own-you MAY get some help rebooking a flight from NCL (don't count on it). But most of the costs are going to be paid BY YOU.

 

I wouldn't leave the USA without VERY good travel insurance. IMHO, very, very foolish.

Before buying trip insurance, check your other existing options first, then you can tailor the travel insurance to your needs.

For instance, we do have medical evacuation and care covered anywhere in the world through our medical coverage. We have to pay first, so we make sure we have a credit card with a large credit line with us. Pre-approval usually takes a few days, and then all the bills would go to our carrier.

Most credit cards cover trip interruption and delayed luggage to some degree. Check and see what your credit card includes (the one you use to pay for the air and cruise). A business credit card has more coverage, I believe.

So, when I buy travel insurance, I only get the cancellation and interruption coverage, and not the medical.

You have good reason to worry. I have an RSS feed from US Today's Travel section, because they are following that story.

All the US port ships / itineraries will be affected. I predict the cruise lines will be changing ports around, or leaving from foreign ports. Hawaii sailings are going to most likely start leaving from Ensenada again, and there were lots of complaints about that before!!

We went through on the Vision. Deck 5, the Promenade Deck, was the best spot for us. It's right at ground level (a la the muffin gift stated above:D ), and you are outside, on a huge "porch", but out of the rain, etc.

The WOMEN'S area on the Vision (and, I assume they are the same for the men's area, and similar on all the ships) had two private showers, a sauna that would hold about 10 people, and a steam room the same size. The changing room with lockers was large and could hold 15 people, and there is a regular bathroom with sink, toilet, and locking door there, too.

Yes, they are segregated but definitely clothing optional. If you want to take a dip in the pool, then I would just keep the suit on. Saves you the time getting in and out of it.

I preferred the jacuzzi, but that's just my preference. My muscles respond better to moist heat than dry heat.

It's a treat, though, to have the facilities available all day and evening. Just get your SeaPass card back before the spa closes!!

I used the female facilities on the Vision this month. The men and women's changing rooms, sauna, steam room, and showers are back in the spa area. You give your SeaPass card and get a key to a locker.

The spa is next to the Solarium, so with bathing suit on you can go into the jacuzzi, which is open 24 hours a day, and use the pool when it is open (I think until 10 or 11 each night). I ran into one woman in the sauna, and a few in the changing/locker room.

Only the jacuzzi's were busy.

Wow, thanks, Truffles! Is that train service National Express? I checked the trains leaving from Victoria and I'm concerned about their luggage restrictions. Wondering if a different train has different restrictions. I plan to bring one large suitcase on wheels and a carry-on, but NE limits you to two "medium" -sized bags in a very strange/small dimension.

 

Thanks again!

National Express is the bus service, and it leaves from the Central Coach Station about 1.5 blocks from the Victoria Tube and Train station. As I posted in another thread, I think your luggage will be OK.

I'm traveling with two friends and the cruise line wants to book us into two separate rooms in their "official" pre-cruise hotel. I think it might be a better choice to find a hotel that also offers a additional sleeper sofa, rollaway, or suite-style accommodations. We're only staying for a couple of nights prior to our cruise next September. Any suggestions?

 

Thanks!

It depends on how interested you are in saving money, IMO.

If the cruise line includes transportation to the hotel and then to the port, then it's probably a convenient package. That would be in comparison to a private car to take you to the hotel and port, plus getting your own hotel.

However, if you want to stay in a nice, but less expensive, hotel, and take National Express or the train, then doing it on your own can be much less expensive.

I know the hotel we stayed in had a "family" room that would sleep 4 - 6 in the room/suite.

There are other threads on this board with many hotel recommendations, depending on where you want to stay, and how much you want to spend. If you take the train, then stay near Paddington Station in London. National Express would be in the Victoria Station area (Central London).

Be sure to research the amenities at any hotel you consider, because it's expensive in London, as mentioned above.

If the lower priced hotels include location near transpo, breakfast, and internet (important to me, but maybe not to everyone), then I consider that a deal. If your hotel is not near a Tube or Hop on/off bus stop, then you have the extra expense of transportation. Breakfast can be expensive, too.

I just posted this a few minutes ago on a thread about using the National Express bus Heathrow - London - Southampton. Our hotel info is in it:

We used National Express several times on our recent cruise. I sincerely hope you are doing a stopover in London the night before, because you are going to be one pooped pup doing an international flight, then the bus to Southampton all at one time.

"Here's what we did, and it worked very, very well for us:

Heathrow to London on National Express goes to Victoria. This bus terminal is about 1.5 blocks from the Tube/train Victoria station.

We stayed about 4 blocks down Belgrave Road at the Luna and Simone hotel. Look it up on tripadvisor.com; it has RAVE reviews (including mine!!). Very reasonably priced, too. Lovely people own/run it.

Anyway, then you can use the Tube to do a little sighteeing if you aren't too jet lagged (we spent 2 nights in London).

Then, the day of the cruise we walked back to National Express, and got on the bus for Southampton.

In Southampton, catch a taxi right outside the bus station to the cruise terminal. About 5 - 10 minutes; cost is about 5 GBP.

The cost for all of this was $374 for two people, two nights, not including food. This includes ALL our transpo Heathrow - London - Southampton, AND the hotel for two nights.

Check for funfares on the National Express web site. We went Heathrow - London - Southampton for $18 US total for two of us!!!!"

You're going to get a variety of answers on your question, and some will say "take the train, see the statue of David, take the train back". However, I'm just more conservative when it comes to the cities like Rome and Florence that are so far away from the port.

We took the tour from the ship that gave us time on our own in Florence. The tour stops right next to the Academie, so if you have your tickets, then you can walk right over to it. It was literally around the corner.

The tickets to the museum are around 14 Euros last time I checked.

Taking the train will be cheaper than the ship's tour, but I would pay the extra for Florence and Rome, and go on your own in Villefranche and Barcelona where you are docked right in the city.

Just MO.