Those That Take Longer Cruises

[Gunner22aa]

All of our bills less the house taxes are automatically withdrawn from one of our bank accounts so this is never an issue. The taxes are due at a time we never cruise so that is a non issue. If you don't like the idea of automatic withdrawl just pre pay a reasonable amount prior to leaving based upon past consumption, water, power gas and alike. You might end up owing a fer bucks on the next bill or have a small credit. My next door neighbour is a Sgt on the local police force and he keeps an eye on the house. He has the door code to get in the house, knows who should be around the place and who shouldn't. My daughter takes the dog and its a vacation with her two "cousins" while we are away. If she and her family happen to be on the trip with us then they all go to the same kennel which we have used for years. Daughter swings by once a week to water the plants. We keep in touch once a week or so by e mail and she has the ships phone number to reach me if something really goes south. I also leave a standing power of atorney with her authorizing her to charge any amount of money in my name should emergency repairs be required to our home or the dog need something. Thankfully she has never had to call the ship or have repairs done to my home or the dog.

[ceba]

Do you have to pay for her services? Our sitters are free.

 

That's very fortunate for you

[Mermen]

Although the longest cruise I've taken has been only 15 days and I have a 23 day one coming up I can give you some idea. My money income goes directly to my checking account. All of my bills are automatically taken from my checking account - that includes all my utilities, credit cards, just everything. The amounts withheld are the same from month to month so I don't worry if one month my payment might be a little higher or lower. I board my dog at his vet's. They charge me $20/day, plus I provide his food. I stop my newspaper and my mail.

 

Hope this helps.

 

We were gone a month last year on a B2B and did exactly this. All of our bills were scheduled to go out after the direct deposit into our checking accounts. A quick log in (quick, on a cruise? lol) to your bank account while cruising, and you can verify the bills were paid.

 

We hire a dog sitter to do nothing but watch Bear and collect the mail / water plants. Hope you are able to take a long cruise, soon!!

[vickie_bernie]

we often take longer voyages

 

like others have stated here we set up our bills for auto pay - or sometimes just make a large payment to cover the upcoming month or months

 

We live in a condo so we just have to lock the door. But for the past few trips we have had a friend stay at our place while we have been away as it is closer to their work/school.

 

We also know all our neighbours and they notice when something is odd. Our neighbour across the hall has a key and she stops in if no one is staying her to check things every few days. We have an alarm and there is security in our complex.

 

The hardest thing for my honey is not being able to watch hockey while we are away... but he suffers :p

 

We use to have an issue with people phoning and leaving messages on our home phone that needed dealing with but we didn't know about till we got home. Now we call forward our phone to our cell's voicemail - problem solved.

 

Enjoy

 

Vickie

[Kenswing]

This is great information.. THANKS! :)

[PescadoAmarillo]

We use to have an issue with people phoning and leaving messages on our home phone that needed dealing with but we didn't know about till we got home. Now we call forward our phone to our cell's voicemail - problem solved.

For those in the US who have Comcast phone, there is a choice here: you can forward to your cell phone, but then you don't get it until you take your cell phone off Airplane Mode (and there will likely be a roaming charge for that), or you can continue to receive the calls at home, but receive an email with the recorded message and also a transcription of the recorded message. So all we have to do is log on to ship's WiFi to get our home phone messages. Furthermore, if you have a smartphone, using the Xfinity app, you can listen to the message that way too, using ship's WiFi.

 

Most of the time I don't even listen to the message. I just read the transcription email and can tell from that whether or not action is required.

 

I wish we'd had a thread like this a few years ago when we first started taking longer cruises!

[vickie_bernie]

 

Most of the time I don't even listen to the message. I just read the transcription email and can tell from that whether or not action is required.

 

I wish we'd had a thread like this a few years ago when we first started taking longer cruises!

 

This is what we do now - it comes in the form of an email, also have the option of a text but we take an email. Most of the time it is nothing much and doesn't require action.

 

I have learned a lot from so many others here and on facebook.... great info.

 

Vickie

[vickie_bernie]

F!

 

Oh also PescadoAmarillo - J&G we are heading to Alaska on the Diamond in May for round trip out of Vancouver, just re read your blog to get more ideas. Thanks again.

 

Vickie

[paul929207]

we often take longer voyages

 

like others have stated here we set up our bills for auto pay - or sometimes just make a large payment to cover the upcoming month or months

 

We live in a condo so we just have to lock the door. But for the past few trips we have had a friend stay at our place while we have been away as it is closer to their work/school.

 

We also know all our neighbours and they notice when something is odd. Our neighbour across the hall has a key and she stops in if no one is staying her to check things every few days. We have an alarm and there is security in our complex.

 

The hardest thing for my honey is not being able to watch hockey while we are away... but he suffers :p

 

We use to have an issue with people phoning and leaving messages on our home phone that needed dealing with but we didn't know about till we got home. Now we call forward our phone to our cell's voicemail - problem solved.

 

Enjoy

 

Vickie

Vickie,

I guess it made things easier for your husband when they shortened the hockey season again this year. :)

[NearEnough]

Living in Australia it takes so long to get anywhere, we usually make it a long holiday - 6 weeks in North America last year, cruise to England - 54 days and time in the UK & USA, the year before. Direct debiting of bills is the way to go. We can also have the post office hold our mail but we redirect all mail to our son who lives 2 hours away and he deals with anything that slips through. Don't know if you have this facility in the US but would be worth investigating. We can also get up to six months prescriptions at one go so this is useful. The last two trips we have had a friend from Vancouver, BC come and house sit on and off - her brother lives in a nearby town so she spends time here and time with them. Neighbours water plants and, as we live on 1 acre, we pay someone to mow the lawn. If you have pets, I would say housesitting is the way to go. Even if you have someone come in and feed them - it's a long time to leave a pet without company. There is always some solution. I worry about all the above before we go but tend not to give it a thought once I've boarded the ship.:)

[vickie_bernie]

Vickie,

I guess it made things easier for your husband when they shortened the hockey season again this year. :)

 

lol

you would think, but we sailed Jan 14 and the season began right then too - but he managed 30 days without it :)

[paul929207]

lol

you would think, but we sailed Jan 14 and the season began right then too - but he managed 30 days without it :)

Maybe you and the NHL can time the next strike better.

[PescadoAmarillo]

Oh also PescadoAmarillo - J&G we are heading to Alaska on the Diamond in May for round trip out of Vancouver, just re read your blog to get more ideas. Thanks again.

You're welcome! Hope your weather is as good as we had. Lucky you! 207 days for us (not that I'm counting!).

[vickie_bernie]

You're welcome! Hope your weather is as good as we had. Lucky you! 207 days for us (not that I'm counting!).

 

We haven't decided what we are going to do next Jan. Bill/Cathy Mike/Sue are doing the Crown 7 day then the Royal 7 day but we would rather spend ten days on the EMerald for the cost of the 7 day Royal.

 

Also we want to sail with Johan again and he will be on the Crown until mid Jan.

 

But we may see you again :eek:

[ceba]

That's very fortunate for you

 

 

Sorry, we are traveling and somehow lost my connection. My post sounded abrupt and rude. What I would have finished saying to answer your question is it is fortunate for you to have that option. I guess because one dog requires a daily medication and I leave list for the sitter, I am comfortable compensating her. I set the price, (she always says she doesn't care) and its still cheaper than a local kennel. My animals love her and she enjoys the house. It's great for us.

[Pam in CA]

For those in the US who have Comcast phone, there is a choice here: you can forward to your cell phone, but then you don't get it until you take your cell phone off Airplane Mode (and there will likely be a roaming charge for that), or you can continue to receive the calls at home, but receive an email with the recorded message and also a transcription of the recorded message. So all we have to do is log on to ship's WiFi to get our home phone messages. Furthermore, if you have a smartphone, using the Xfinity app, you can listen to the message that way too, using ship's WiFi.

I have Cox and like you, have the option of having my home phone voice mail either forwarded or my cell phone or sent to my email as a message. Even when not traveling, I have VM messages sent to my phone via email.

 

My daughter just told me about this so I haven't tested it yet but if you have an iPhone or iPad and someone with an iPhone or iPad wants to send you a text message, they can do so using iMessage and there's no cost. You will need to have WiFi and use data but since a text message doesn't use much data, that would be negligible. She said the trick is to turn off "Send as SMS" messaging from Settings > Messages:

 

[Mom33]

I have Cox and like you, have the option of having my home phone voice mail either forwarded or my cell phone or sent to my email as a message. Even when not traveling, I have VM messages sent to my phone via email.

 

My daughter just told me about this so I haven't tested it yet but if you have an iPhone or iPad and someone with an iPhone or iPad wants to send you a text message, they can do so using iMessage and there's no cost. You will need to have WiFi and use data but since a text message doesn't use much data, that would be negligible. She said the trick is to turn off "Send as SMS" messaging from Settings > Messages:

 

 

Yes Pam, it works. I was able to IM my kids on my ipad from Barbados on the ship at no charge for text. I used wifi and there is no data usage necessary. My wifi was free minutes due to Platinum status.

We even Face timed! No roaming charges, no long distance charges and no data usage. We all have iphones and ipads so keeping in touch is easy.

[vickie_bernie]

I have Cox and like you, have the option of having my home phone voice mail either forwarded or my cell phone or sent to my email as a message. Even when not traveling, I have VM messages sent to my phone via email.

 

My daughter just told me about this so I haven't tested it yet but if you have an iPhone or iPad and someone with an iPhone or iPad wants to send you a text message, they can do so using iMessage and there's no cost. You will need to have WiFi and use data but since a text message doesn't use much data, that would be negligible. She said the trick is to turn off "Send as SMS" messaging from Settings > Messages:

 

this is GREAT Thanks Pam, I wasn't aware of this and since I have a Canadian contract/phone I have to pay to send out text messages when in the US to my friends. This will work GREAT. thanks again

 

vickie