jmps

One can easily invest money in stocks or bonds for a year or two and makes thousands.

Or lose thousands.

My husband and I have been together for over thirty years and have been on 36 cruises. About twenty years ago on a european cruise we were on our balcony and started to speak with our neighbors about the people in the cabin below us that were very loud. We started hanging out with them in the evenings before and after dinner. At first Tom seemed nervous around us but soon warmed up to us. By the end of the cruise we were great friends and still are to this day. Tom at the end of the cruise took me aside and told me that we had changed the way he felt about gay people. When we go on cruises with them now, he brags to others that Jay and I have been together for over thirty years and that we are the greatest couple,"straight or gay" he as ever met.

The power of being fully out. It will change the world. Thanks for posting.

LOL fantastic story. At least they didn't say "Oh wonderful, we know a lesbian back home" If you had stuck around after desert they might have asked about health or financial issues or perhaps social security numbers. :-) I am sure you thought "oh it is wonderful that you are heterosexual" but you didn't want to yell it.

When our grown daughters were that age they LOVED Royal Caribbean. We have found Royal, Celebrity, and HAL to be very LGBT friendly but Royal Caribbean is the most kid friendly just because more kids are aboard. Our girls didn't want to leave the ship and met so many other kids in the kids programs. When we go just the two of us we prefer Celebrity and HAL at that level of cruise line pricing. Enjoy!

Two connected balconies are great. You can have the divider opened on most ships and have a large veranda. Enjoy!

Unless the family traveling with you are children that need to stay in the same cabin I recommend getting two cabins. Best would be two connected cabins. The issue is bathrooms for adults or teens. If they can't be connected they could still be near. This also gives pricing flexibility to all family members if the cost is being shared. If you like suites there are often smaller cabins connected to suites. This often isn't much more than adding people to one larger cabin. If you do all end up in one cabin remember that that the bathroom in the gym can be used to shower.

I think relying on dialysis during a shore visit is pretty risky. I think we have missed Grand Cayman twice because of wind/waves for instance. I think we will now move to finding dialysis centers on land vacations.

I had to start hemodialysis a few months ago and had to cancel our 30th anniversary cruise with HAL. It is too bad because HAL is one of our favorite lines. I don't think we will be cruising much anymore given the cost of dialysis on the ships.

We booked a cruise using a "big box" travel agency. We had to cancel (for the first time ever) for medical reasons prior to the date where you lose any deposit. It turned out contrary to all the documentation in the booking that it was a nonrefundable fare. They honored that and paid me the deposit back since HAL would not. We did have cruise insurance that would have paid as well but we didn't need it for this deposit. They apparently have had this happen with others. With HAL changing their policy on some fares it caused the agency system to not indicate the fare quoted was nonrefundable. We would NEVER book a cruise more than three or so months out that was nonrefundable. If this trend continues we will be booking cruises much closer in to sail date.

Good advice about Total WIne. You can preorder wine from there and pick it up at Noon on Sunday on the way to the ship or Saturday night on way to hotel. This will speed up the transaction. This store is close to to the port and port hotels.

I have had no issues on a cruise. I am a transgender woman. We have only been on HAL since transition but have sailed Celebrity and don't think it will be different because passenger mix is similar. I travel with my wife and sometimes with grown children. Tablemates have still been great. We have had no issues with crew other than once being asked if we wanted the beds separated in case we were 'just friends'. Didn't bother us.

Her having IDs matching presentation will make things much easier. I wouldn't worry at all and just enjoy the cruise.

I don't think she will have any issues in port as long as her passport has been changed. Only issue might be any display of affection with another female in some ports like St Petersburg or Jamaica. We had no problem in St Petersburg.

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I, too, recommend the Eurodam choice. We did a Alaska round trip from Vancouver on the Zuiderdam (same class) and loved it. We had three in a Neptune and it is very comfortable. The HAL larger ships are a good value since they have a lot of balconies and suites thus they are often at lower prices. Glacier Bay was very nice.

We have two grown daughters and went thru these choices several times at different ages. We have done all the permutations at some point. Since your two children are so different in ages and one so young I think you only have two choices. Book the Neptune or two interconnecting cabins unless you parents want to split up. In a few years you could do the inside/outside route which works great for older children to lower total cost. So I think Kazu nailed the solution.

Four in Neptune is still very comfortable and it has nice benefits. As pointed out the only issue is that the sofa is not split-table so factor that in in who sleeps where. Given the prices quoted I would go with the Neptune for sure. There are often 3rd/4th cruise for free and upsells that could even further lower cost. We did Alaska in our first Neptune and really liked it. We liked breakfast in the Pinnacle and the laundry benefits.

I was an AB seaman from 1967 to 1981. I was on the MV Nordic Prince,

The Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, from 1973 to 1974.

I enjoyed my work aboard when I worked there as a deckhand.

Loved to cruise round the islands and met many nice pasansjerer in that time.

Only good memories of that time.

 

Regards: K.W. :) [ATTACH]401396[/ATTACH]

We honeymooned on the Nordic Prince in 1987. We have the postcard you posted! It was the most luxurious thing we had ever seen. We were in a tiny forward cabin with a porthole. :-)

We just spent five days in Hong Kong. A self tour is very viable there. The HoHo (BigBus) works great. We combined that with a Octopus card to the EXCELLENT train/ferry/bus system and it worked well. An occasional taxi was not expensive either.

Given the recent election it is a good time for your wife to get her IDs updated. Social Security and a passport are straight forward once you have a name change done. Hopefully you live in a state where the DMV only requires a doctors letter to change gender. Once all that is done travel will be much easier. Best wishes.

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Your photos are amazing. Thanks for posting. We are thinking of doing this cruise next year and your blog is really interesting!

 

For those of us who feel this way, there ARE some other options. And I'm not one to keep repeating the same experience on the same line and then whine about it after. That's why six of my last seven cruises have been with specialty cruise lines. I've found a couple of these niche lines that replicate most closely the things I liked about my earlier cruising days: small ships, almost all inclusive, no specialty restaurants or special "suite only" ship areas, good enrichment programs, etc. (And, by the way, excellent libraries...)

 

Can you give examples of these cruise lines? Thanks.

We usually sail with HAL or Celebrity but have taken one Carnival Cruise. We had a good time on the Carnival cruise. The two things we found different were the food choices and decor. They had more "comfort" items like fried chicken on the menu. The everyday items were of a lower quality like lower cuts of steak. But there were choices we found good each night. The decor of the ship was off putting. It was done in purple and used urns big and small everywhere.

We didn't find any wet tee shirt contests or drunkenness of the past stereotype for Carnival at all. The service was the same level as what we are used to. It isn't our first choice but we would certainly go with them again. You should have a great time especially in a suite.

If you are amused by HAL carpets take a Carnival cruise. The one we went on felt like we cruising on a cross between a Vegas casino and a brothel. The main themes were purple and urns of all sizes. We enjoyed the cruise it was a fun time but we still talk about that decor.

We won't be on this cruise but we love the Solstice class and the Equinox. The ship is very nicely done and cruising on Celebrity is wonderful. Have a GREAT time!

Having a Neptune for Alaska is very nice. If it is cooler you can pop in and out of the inside to warm up or grab a hot drink or blanket. Also, the large windows allow a great view even while inside. Enjoy!

Out take is much the same as others. We thought is was worth going to once. The service (different dinnerware was neat) is the same but the food choices are unique. We don't think we will do it over the normal Pinnacle menu again.

In Napier I recommend hiring an antique car through the Art Deco Trust. It is a a great way to see the historic town with a private guide for a very reasonable fee and it supports the Trust. Be sure to stop in a the Trust and watch the film about the earthquake that precipitated the Art Deco town.

Good tours with good prices are available from the tourist offices at the pier or in town for Dunedin. The tourist effort is just about the best run operation I have seen like it. Going out of the harbor you will pass right by a wonderful wildlife sanctuary and can get some great bird and animal shots with a long lens. The highlight are the Albatross.

Pancakes on the Rocks will be near where your are staying for a hearty reasonably priced breakfast. I'll also second Harry's for a unique lunch experience. The meat pies are great.