HeWhoWaits

You'll love Chihuly Gardens. We happened upon it as a "that looks interesting, let's check it out" activity when visiting the Space Needle. Turned out to be a real highlight of our trip.

Great news on the recovery front. Good thing that an Alaska cruise can be wonderful just watching the scenery - it's one way to help assure that sufficient relaxation time takes place.

The only time to carry the cup when there are no freestyle machines is to fill it up with something that you want to take back to the room for later.

That's the real question that needs to be answered, especially for first-time cruisers and for those who are considering the experience with children. If you intend to eat with the kids, MDR or Windjammer may be a better option. If you plan to take the kids to Windjammer for their dinner and drop them off at Adventure Ocean for the evening while the adults eat then the "worth the price" question becomes relevant.

In general, we choose to try new itineraries so that we get to see more new places. There are some things on board that we tend to do regardless of ship, but in general it's play it by ear and explore the ship.

After all, Windsor is due south of Detroit.

What are the cultural and historical options on Coco Cay? "Any other Caribbean port" has those options available.

1998 - Song of America - New York to Bermuda Those were the days - docking in Bermuda meant being right downtown in St. George's (one night) and in Hamilton (two nights). Beach day at Tobacco Bay meant either a five minute bus ride ($1 per person) and two minute walk or a fifteen minute walk if you didn't mind the hills.

Nickel and dime? No, it's more like 50s and 100s. Yet another reason to select itineraries that don't include this stop or to spend the day on the ship with minimized crowds.

Those who don't want to spend two days at Coco Cay (myself included) can just avoid the itineraries that include it. Those who want the extra time there will eat up the opportunity.

As long as they are published as "recommendations" there is nothing that can be done. The requirement for no sleeveless shirts for men is enforceable.

This obviously varies greatly ship to ship and sailing to sailing. In our lone Concierge Lounge experience to date, our family of six were often the only ones in the lounge other than the Concierge and the bartender. When it was "crowded" we encountered as many as 20 people at one time. I don't care if all 14 others were Pinnacle (or even not really eligible to be in the lounge) - it's not as though our ability to enjoy the perks was compromised.

Any chance you could book it with a guest and then cancel just you and let the guest have the reservation?

Helipad is my favorite. Good second option is your own balcony if you have an aft facing balcony - wave "bye bye" to the unfortunates who aren't sailing with you.

Read a few live blogs - best therapy short of getting on a cruise of your own.

I don't know the full answer, but from checking a few posts in another thread I read, it requires no more than 24 posts to move from "newbie" to "member."

7 night cruise plus 3 night cruisetour will garner you 10 points (assuming you're not in a suite) and bump you to Emerald before your next trip.

Helipad for sail away. Facing east topside at sunrise.

If true, I envision spending what we normally set aside for extra tips on each cruise to purchase stateroom upgrades.

Whenever you renew prior to the expiration date, the new time (ten years for adults, five for children) is added to the original expiration date. Renewing in advance doesn't shorten the useful life of the passport.

No savings on anything we've purchased for October. Always worth checking, though.

Have never had a problem with online waivers.

Go to Guest Services the first time there's not much of a line. The process to get additional cards goes very quickly.

The aluminum ones are the earliest we have as well. Would the comparison be based on number of different style/color combinations or can I count the 15 or so of one style/color? 5 adults having at least one per night adds up in hurry!

Welcome, Tim. Be sure to list your planned cruise in the "When is your next cruise?" thread so @DocLC can add you to the master member cruise list.