BigDavidO

Sea day spa prices are cheaper & we always write on the top of our form "No Product Sales" and we are never pitched.

Agree that there is no need to book spa services in advance. If want to see what the offerings are like, attend free spa orientations held during embarkation, or some of the free "mini services" offered poolside each day. Also,each day's itinerary will list spa specials for that day. These are usually very good bargains for passengers wanting to stay onboard for all or part of a day in port when spa is generally underused. Finally, if going to an all inclusive resort for your day in port, check out their spa offerings which are sometimes better and much less expensive than the the same services in the ship's spa. And be on lookout for "upsales" and "special-today only" product sales for the most expensive products used during your massage or facial. These products are much more expensive then when purchased in cosmetics or mall stores, but the real bargains are usually online once you are back home. For example, a bottle of Elemis Body milk will cost at least $100 if bought in ship spa after massage, but can be gotten for 20-40% off with free shipping and no tax if bought on Bliss.com during their regular sales.

Alchemy bar for molecular cocktails and for inventing new ones. If this becomes the quasi-official FOD pre-post-dinner bar, will have to invent a rainbow colored TreeHouse of Love at Sea official cocktail that would be available wherever our group meets.

Aft bar should be great during good weather at sea while enjoying the pools, whirlpools and spa. One deck up for sunset cocktails!

Whatever foredeck bar has the best view would be the optimal for an afternoon or sunset reception or party

Atrium bar sounds interesting, especially for people watching during formal evenings and other special events

If there is a wine tasting bar, especially with entertainment, would be great for pre-special dinners or again after shows.

Disco- Where everyone still standing ends up after hours who hasn't finished drinking or socializing, and where cruise staff and even ship officers let down their hair and mingle.

I see a lot of questions about is something available but does anyone have a list of what you can purchase without a script and the best pharmacy close to the port (we're on Princess) to buy if we want?

Having been buying pharmaceuticals abroad can seem to save you a lot of money, beware of very authentic-looking, right down to the holographic seal on the box, counterfeit drugs. Most studies of drugs reimported to the States to save money have shown that you are lucky if the active ingredient(s) are even detectable, and the strength can range from much lower to several times higher than the recommended dose. If you really want to bring back a sufficient quantity of exported drugs to save money, my suggestion is to work with a trusted merchant or advisor who has their business in the Central business district. They should know which are the better stores, how to detect imitations vs. the real product at a price that is reasonable, or if the real drug isn't even available in that port.

And even though you can buy many prescription drugs without a prescription in Mexico, etc., that doesn't mean that they won't be confiscated at US customs Jon your return. According to most international trade agreements, the special pricing of non-generic drugs given to developing countries are barred from reimortation to the US and customs officials are often on the lookout for these items. Finally, the prices for any Pharms are usually much lower in the Central marketplace compared to the stores/malls catering to tourists located close to the port or resort areas. The Doctor

Day 2 - Sea day - We went to the brunch like we usually do and honestly, service was quite slow. We waited at least 15 minutes to have a waiter even stop by the table, we finally got bread, but no plates. The couple that were seated next to us came about 20 minutes after we did and yet our food came out with theirs. So ours was slow and theirs was rushed. But, it was still good! Great french toast, hubby had the steak & eggs which was good.

 

Deck chairs are once again an issue. Walked around 2 decks to try and find just 1 open chair and couldn't find a single one. Walking around, it seemed that as usual, many chairs just being saved. Obviously, I'm not watching every chair, but there were certainly ones that sat "saved" for a long time!

 

Formal night dinner, still had a little issue with timing. It took at least 20 minutes until we even got bread, then orders taken. I ordered the Caesar salad, which I've always enjoyed and it was awful. The dressing was like mayonnaise, with NO flavor! My husband and our friend all tried it too, said the same thing. Dinner was very good though - lobster & prime rib was eaten by a couple of people in our group. We went to the comedy lounge after dinner and it was crowded. We had to wait in line and they clear it out after each show, so you have to wait in line each time. We saw Joe Marlotti and Nery Saenz - Saenz was the better of the two and we went back to see him again the next night. Oh, we also saw the show 88 Keys in the main theater - we thought it was good. But that theater fills up fast, so be prepared to get there a little early or be off on the side. During the evening we also walked by the Dolce Strings and I highly recommend listening to them a few times - excellent musicians.

 

Day 3 - Sea day - We did a Lido deck breakfast then hit the decks. Once again, not a single open chair anywhere on 10 or 11. We ended up going down to deck 5, and had a nice, quiet, time relaxing. Pig & Anchor was OK, nothing spectacular in our opinion. The salad bar on deck 5 was good, although I prefer to have it serve yourself, but that's just me. It was still good. Dinner had lamb shank which was very good, according to my son. We also saw Nery Saenz again, and very funny!!

I find that forming a good relationship with the maitre de at the beginning of the cruise (Best if done ASAP once boarded) really pays off in choice of section, waitstaff and service. Sometimes the most popular waiters take on too many tables, so that can slow things down a bit unless they have good members of their team to make sure no one is overlooked and the meal progresses as it should. And if the food is not what you expected, or the order it is served not to your liking, do what you would do in any fine restaurant and send it back, and if not quickly satisfied, then it's time to get your good buddy, the captain of the room or maitre de, over, and nicely suggest a change in Table, waiter or whatever will make dinner a memorable occasion for the rest of your vacation. While you can get a lot more with honey than vinegar, and in your case, a $50 to the maitre de/captain on day one is well worth the extra attention, view and service you wil get throughout the trip.

I'm sorry, but I think you don't actually get the "bigot" thing.

 

I was taught very long ago by feminist women that they sometimes felt the need for women-only space, but some men barged right in...because their sometimes-unconscious male hegemony made them feel they had a right to go anywhere they wanted to. That doesn't mean that the women were anti-male bigots. It meant that the men who presumed to invade their space were arrogant jerks.

 

If a group of cancer survivors, or elderly Jews, or - gasp - queer people choose to have a meeting restricted to them, it's silly to assume it's because of bigotry. (And yes, because of the history of racism, a whites-only meeting has a whole other overtone than an Asian-only meeting, but that a whole 'nother big subject.)

 

Bars are bars, of course. Public accommodations can't keep out (insert term for straight women who pursue gay men here). But shipboard LGBT meetings are social meetings for a specific group of people, not exercises in bigotry.

 

So perhaps you can tell me why there should be queer meetings if they welcome straights as well? What would make them any different from the rest of the onboard experience?

While most LGBT think it refers to the character of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz played by a young Julie Garland, it actually refers to Dorothy Bainbridge, a lesbian chanteuse whose exploits with her "manager" and the King of Denmark could be quite risqué. Her apartment in Manhattan was a gathering site for not only gay bisexual, lesbian and a tranvestite or two, but also progressive jazz musicians and their admirers. So don't worry about going to a scheduled FOD meeting whatever your sexual orientation or relationship stats as long as you are comfortable around free spirited people. It's the unannounced meetings that you need good "gaydar" to find that you probably should avoid.