limace

Can you move the clamshells? And how was shopping in st Thomas? We are interested in local handicrafts rather than jewelry and electronics.

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So for anyone that might be wondering, here is the update on my dad. :) (and yes, I wish that I was still on the ship! I could totally do a 120 day cruise and be juuuuuuuust fine. Unfortunately that is going to have to wait for retirement. poo)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It rained off and on for the two days I spent at Kalaloch in Washington. I know Kalaloch is known for rain, but this particular storm is the same one that this weekend brought so much snow to Wyoming and the Dakotas.

 

 

 

By the time I got to Oregon, the storm had moved on, and I have enjoyed bright, sunny days along the Pacific coast as I meander down the coast. I spent one evening in Astoria, near the mouth of the Columbia River. I spent two days in Newport, where I enjoyed wide expanses of beach right in front of the hotel, fine seafood dinners, and beautiful .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the fabulous review-I'm cruising with my mom in a few weeks and it's great to see how much fun you have traveling with your dad

Oregonian here so love these pics. My grandparents actually used to be caretakers at that light house and my folks had their rehearsal dinner there back in '65 :)

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Last cruise -- took a few by Elmore Leonard -- great characters, easy reads and very entertaining. Recommend his short story collections and if you've watched the TV series Justified you'll enjoy even more. The other I took was David Sedaris - will not be to everyone's taste but it made me laugh out loud. Other good vacation reads for me would be a John Grisham - recommend the Litigators.

Love both Leonard and Sedaris! I really like light but engaging reading while I travel, but I hate poorly written books (of course, that's always a subjective opinion). Preparing for this trip, I've been checking the Kindle Daily Deals every day, and loading up on some well-reviewed and fun looking books for $1.99 each or so. I'm also a big sci fi fan, so may pick up the new Vernor Vinge (big space opera sort of books, just wonderful and fun). Today I bought Diana Gabaldon's great book Outlander as a Kindle deal-I've read it before but it's huge and would be a pain to bring along in hard back. It's long and so much fun-time travel, historical fiction, romance, really well-written.

I've been researching a lot, though the only port we'll be visiting in common is St. Thomas. I've decided to do a visit to Sapphire Beach in the morning. $10 cab ride from the port each way, per person. Very safe beach, as it's surrounded by condos so there aren't lots of vendors bugging you. Decent food and drinks, good snorkeling, lots of shade (important for my mom and I). We will then take a cab to town for a couple hours of shopping, hoping to find some locally crafted items...not interested in electronics and jewelry. Siimple and inexpensive.

What ports will you be hitting? I'm doing the Southern and Eastern Caribbean later this month and have been researching a lot-I'll be doing either private excursions or just exploring on my own in all but one port. I only booked a ship's excursion in St Maarten, as there are six ships in port that day and I didn't want to be competing with 18,000 other people for activities. This will be my first cruise, so I'm by no means an expert, but everything I read indicates that most Caribbean ports are easy to do private excursions in, and the excursions are much cheaper than the ship's excursions are (and have better reviews generally). Have you found the Ports of Call Boards here? You can read tips, island by island.

So, can you use the GPS function in an iPhone geocache app while data is turned off? This would be so fun to do!

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We did the HAL Art Tour excursion on St. Martin earlier this month and it was one of the best Caribbean non-beach activities we've done.

 

We visited five artists in their homes or galleries. One was in a hilltop mansion overlooking the French side bay, one was a famous folk artist's gallery, etc. It was both relaxing and interesting, so if you're considering St.M., give it a look.

So glad to hear this! With six ships in port the same day we're there on the Noordam, I felt the need to book a ship's tour (the only one I've booked) and I picked this one based on the rave reviews. I think it will be a great one for both mom and I. Did you buy anything? Do you get food or a chance to eat on this tour?

Thanks for your review! A question for experienced HAL folks: would it be possible to bring your own larger class for iced tea?

That's exactly what we did, but we went from Crown Bay dock. Hopped in an open air taxi to Sapphire at around 8:15 am. After a few drop offs along the way we were on the beach by about 9:00 am. Swam, snorkeled, sunned, relaxed until about 12:30 pm. Got a taxi back to town and met up with some friends who didn't want to beach at about 2:00 pm. Shopped a little, then ate and drank our way through town for a couple hours and headed back to the ship at around 4 pm. We had a blast.

That looks like our plan-I think we'll be at Crown Bay too. Thank you for the report!

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Can't wait for the blues band on my January cruise! Thanks for the updates.

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Thanks! How long does taxi to town take?

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We'll be there from 8-5 on the Noordam 1/30/14 and I'd love to spend a few hours at Sapphire Beach as well as doing a little shopping in town. Is that practical? What order should we do them in, if so? And how long between them?

Thanks!

Thank you so much-about to go on my first cruise and this is super helpful.

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Why should his wife have to snorkel from land at one of the stops rather than take an excursion she wants to take? What an awful comment. Good grief, he isn't "taking a spot" away from anyone. As others have said, he will be charged full fee and will be accompanying his wife on an excursion on which he has as much right to be as anyone else.

 

Honestly, every single time I come to these boards, I am surprised at how downright rude people can be.

Amen! Man, people, take a moment to think about how your response might sound or make people feel before you post.

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Just ordered Don't Stop the Carnival-plan to read it before I wrap it :). Can't believe it was written by Herman Wouk-we are big fans of Winds of War but this seems like such a different animal.

I love Skinny Dip-might actually have that one already.

Thanks for the recs-any more?

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Sorry but I know I wouldn't want someone to crash my cruise. Of course you know your brothers so they may not mind.

 

Hope they weren't planing some down time away from their sisters.

 

Don

I love that it took only like five posts for someone to rain on the parade :rolleyes:

OP, sounds so awesome! We don't know your brothers, you do, and of course I trust you to know if they'd love it or not.

I might text them before you leave port, sending photos that show you getting closer and closer to the room....but my family is creepy like that. Love the idea of surprising them at dinner!

Thanks for the updated menu! I couldn't find wine on it-is that a separate list?

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I know I'm new here, but it's really discouraging how so many innocent threads on this board turn into fights. I end up feeling worried that someone will be watching everyone on board, waiting to jump on rule violations!

Anyway.....can we get back to LC vs PG? I'm very curious about the question :)

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My mom and I are going on our first cruise in January, so I'd love to surprise her with some cruise-related Christmas presents. Under $50 or so, everything from stocking stuffers on up. Neither of us are knick-knack type people, so I'm really looking for things that will be useful or fun on the trip itself. I've searched some past threads but didn't find anything specific...Thanks!

I'd like to buy my mom a couple books to help her get excited about our cruise-but she's not a fan of nonfiction, generally. Any recommendations for decent mysteries, romance novels...or zombie stories! set in the Caribbean?

Man this would be so fabulous. Ballpark, what is pricing looking like on this cruise?

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It looks like the price on HAL for cabanas has dropped back down to 299...is that since the two story cabanas were build.

I also see the aquatrax excursion still available-is that the same as wave runner?

Woohoo! We are booked...Jan 27, 11 days on the Noordam. So excited :)

I think folks who don't see the use for this are folks who aren't cruising with small children anymore :). I am totally impressed with your ingenuity! Nice job!

I have to say this is actually one of the crabbier message boards I frequent (I stalk the Disboards and other Disney boards, and chowhound, among others). There seems to often be an assumption that folks haven't bothered to search, that people are "trying to get away with something" or are cheating, and that if there are any problems, it's probably the poster's fault. I will say that I think strong moderation makes all the difference on a message board-my favorite question and answer site of all time, ask.metafilter.com, requires a one time $5 membership fee to post and is strongly moderated and the tone and quality of the conversation on that board is lightyears more helpful than almost any other corner of the internet.