ThyriC

Definitely plates. Also remember, the fridge in your room isnt a refrigerator. Its a "cooler" Also remember you're not going to be going hungry on your cruise, but sometimes you'll want to have a small nosh in your room. That's where the plates come in. Dont forget that room service is also an option. Yes there's a fee, but room service is 24/7, breakfast is free (no delivery fee) but if you really want that 2am nosh, room service can really come in handy. I like bringing a few pastries from the Windjammer or some bacon, or maybe an omelette back to my cabin to enjoy some coffee watching the sunrise over the ocean. The pastries come in handy for interim noshing and they dont take up too much space. Just dont be like some cruisers I've seen before who are food hoarders in their room, taking piles of plates back to their rooms, and storing far more food than they'd ever be able to eat in their room, while at the same time going out to enjoy all of the wonderful restaurant experiences onboard. I'm a fan of small nosh is OK to bring back safely from the Windjammer. Bringing back enough food for 5 people to eat all day off of probably isnt the best idea.

I'd like to see the return of trap or skeet off of the backs of the ships. Or other "shooting" options through the use of augmented reality. Same with golf driving. I know that the environment doesnt like things flying off into the ocean, so let technology take the wheel and use augmented reality to have off the back of the ship golf driving. VR really does open up the options. The sky's the limit. Augmented reality along with the ripcord? With the trampoline thing? Celebrity does great things already with their use of VR so tech really is making massive strides.

In terms of Amsterdam, you MUST eat stroopwafels. They're a very uniquely dutch sweet treat and they're just to DIE for! Also there will be many "coffee shops" marketed for tourists. You wont get a decent cup of coffee in these coffee shops. If you're looking to experience the cannabis culture of Amsterdam, do so responsibly. You'll be able to smell a beverage coffee shop from a smoking coffee shop though from a mile away.

I have a friend who lives in Rotterdam. He would recommend visiting the Rotterdam Zoo (he visits with his wife very frequently) the Spoorwegmuseum in Utrecht and eating at Brasserie Scheffers. I can also ask him for some other local places to eat and drink and visit depending on what kind of experience you're looking for in Rotterdam.

Man and I really wanted to take a cruise to Cuba, I always wanted to visit because it looked so beautiful. Not to mention the culture and the FOOD! Oh well, here's to hoping that relations with Cuba improve

See I like that Donny Osmond approach. And I appreciate how it doesnt work for everyone. But for me, that's kind of what I expect out of my CD. Not to mention, I really feel like he gets to know the individuals on the smaller ships. Maybe its the larger younger crowd ships that he doesnt gel well with?

No I havent but I did watch a bunch of videos with him and his wife in action, and his approach does appeal to me. But I like a lot of the new agey stuff. I can see where some can be put off by that.

Woo I know opinions of John and Kristina are mixed, but I've been following him on FB and I was really hoping he would be the CD for my Oct 26 cruise. YAY!

They do have dispensers available all over the ships. But I personally keep several mini hand sanitizers (thank you bath and body works for your post xmas sale, I got so many nicely scented minis) and toss one in my purse, one in my pocket, one in hub's pocket, one in every room of my stateroom (by the bed, by the couch, on the balcony, in the bathroom). That way regardless of where I am, and what I touch, I'm not at a lack of hand sanitizer.

You'll definitely be able to enjoy your meditation. I've been able to enjoy a balcony respite, just looking at the horizon at sunrise, sunset, open ocean, island horizon, pitch black nighttime sea... all of it. And if I may, when you're meditating, just listen to your own breathing and heartbeat. Focus on breathing, the rhythm of your heart. The serenity of being at one with this great beautiful planet and this vast universe. The background noise will just fade into white noise, and then actually be drowned out by the sound of your own breathing/heartbeat. If you're a novice though to meditation and drowning out background noise, I would avoid having your meditation during events of noise on the pool deck. So sailaway party, if there's any belly flop/hairy chest/sexy man competitions. And dont be concerned too much about the smoke. You're out in the open, and likely several yards away from the smoking area. Think of being at a shopping center and someone's smoking. How close to you need to get to them before you smell the smoke. And that's not in a vehicle travelling 15-20 knots. What if someone was smoking and you drove at 15mph past them. Would you smell the smoke at 10 yards? If your room was right above or right below or on either side immediately of the smoking area, I'd be concerned for you. But if you're 2 decks away from the smokers, that's at least 20 feet away, in the open air, and in a moving vessel.

I tend to agree with RC that a source of the food waste is the buffet, not the MDR. And I think giving smaller plates is a wonderful way to reduce waste. This is a common practice in Vegas buffets with the smaller plates. If you took one of your dinner plates at home, and placed it next to a Vegas dinner plate, its a few inches smaller. Not enough to notice when its in a big stack of plates, and since there's nothing to really compare it to, you dont mind. Its not like they're using saucer size plates where you'd notice. But its just an inch or two smaller, designed in vegas to maximize profit by reducing waste. But those are also buffets you pay for. The rationale may be different, but the result is the same, less food on the plate, less waste.

Oh one tip I heard for those travelling with little ones. Take photos of your kids before heading off the ship. You can disguise this as an outfit of the day thing, or a morning ritual thing, whatever. But what's important, having a current photo of your child in what they're wearing that day. If you're separated from your child, you not only have a description of what they're wearing, but a picture of it. Because god forbid the worst happens and you're a distraught parent trying to describe your child to the police. 3 feet tall and brown hair isnt much of a description to go off of. But a picture is worth a thousand words. Hopefully this is one of those tips you'll never ever need, but if you do, you have the tip.

Oh boy I love tips! 1. Break in your shoes before you cruise! My new mantra and it saves my feet not just on cruising, but for any travel. I know brand new shoes look all shiny and pretty, but they also come with blisters and foot pain. I recommend wearing the shoes you're breaking in for at least 8 hours a day for 2 weeks to a month before cruising. This goes for sandals/flipflops as well. Dont be the person with angry feet after your first day! In case of blisters, bring a few blister bandaids (and for the love of pete dont break the blister yourself, this invites not only infection, but it hurts WORSE!) 2. Bring medications for every forseeable onboard condition. Decongestants, allergy, tummy upset meds (take care of your tummy and the other end as well), ibuprofern, naproxen, my list is kind of crazy what I can fit in my medicine bag, but bringing a dollar's worth of medication onboard and committing a bit of luggage space to your travelling pharmacy, its way better than paying onboard prices for the same medications. This also goes for a small dental repair kit. At sea even the doctor onboard is not a dentist. They cannot handle dental issues. Hopefully you'll never need to use the dental kit, but in case you need it, its there for you. 3. Packing cubes are a life changer for me. I can pack a cube and toss it in my luggage 3 months, 3 weeks or 3 days in advance. If its something that's not going to wrinkle and I'm not going to use it until the cruise, into the cube it goes! It makes packing so much easier for me. Just pack a cube rather than racing the night before travel day to pack all of your luggage. Some cubes are waterproof so your liquids can go in there, or wet swimsuits, or dirty laundry to keep it segregated from your clean clothes. 4. When eating onboard, do small plates if possible. There is a LOT of food onboard your cruise. So enjoy the wonderful tastes. Nothing's stopping you from having some "2nd breakfast" at the MDR instead of the Windjammer. Nothing's stopping you from eating nothing but appetizers and dessert for dinner. I highly recommend doing a "food tour" of the ship and enjoying a small bite at each restaurant if you can. You enjoy all of the amazing tastes without committing to a full meal. 5. Unpack as soon as you possibly can when your luggage arrives. Get the unpack out of the way before hending to the bars, the sail away party, the MDR for dinner. With embarkation day being SO busy you'll likely be tired that day. And the last thing you want to do when you're sleepy is doing the "chore" of unpacking.

I bring a USB hub for my chargeables. Pretty much everything I have is USB chargeable. That way all I need to do is plug in my laptop and my USB hub, and I have my charging situation in hand, and if I need an additional outlet, I can always unplug the laptop to use the plug it occupied. One tip I like giving is, bring a travel adapter. That way you can make use of all of the plugs in the room. In the rooms with a limited plug situation, they'll have one plug that's a US plug, and one Euro plug. Get the adapter that goes from euro to US, and you now have two outlets when before you'd only have one. (or if you're Euro, one US to Euro adapter so you can have the benefit of two plugs as well)

See I love that look! There are a few videos on Youtube about getting a bermuda shorts suit in bermuda, about the colors used. Like that suit there isnt as vibrant as many of the bermuda shorts suits I've seen. Dont get me wrong, that's a great suit, but I want one in vibrant colors! These men look so SHARP!

I'm tempted to do the "when in Rome" model of dressing for the MDR and wearing a bermuda shorts suit. I've always wanted one and I'm getting one when in Bermuda.

Oh definitely! And I know ladies who get their hair colored before a cruise. If you're not coloring with vibrants, you'll "probably" be fine with non paraben, non sulfate free hair products. Down the line your color might fade a bit faster than usual, but on permanent color you should be OK. However if you're using a semi permanent or demi permanent hair color, you need to stay AWAY from the parabens and sulfates. (should probably also stay away from the pool with semi permanent hair color, especially vibrants) How do you know if you're using a semi or demi permanent hair color? Is ammonia involved in your coloring? If so, you've got a permanent color. If not, its likely a semi permanent and you need to be careful. Also, if the color is something not naturally occurring (ie vibrants or pastels) its a semi permanent. Semis can last a good long time but you need to care like crazy for them. Pastels the same way and can wash out crazy fast if you're not mindful of what goes on your hair. Sorry for getting on a rant. I love vibrant "fun" hair colors and I've made them last as long as permanent hair color with a lot of work and care. Stay AWAY from the parabens and sulfates!! Even some "color safe" products have these ingredients (Redken I'm looking at you!!!)

I'm really super picky about my haircare products and have super long damaged hair, so I bring my own. They do provide, and they're decent products, but I like my old faithful. When it comes to soap, i'm the same way. Same with lotion. They provide it, but I like bringing my own. This said, I dont fly. So I dont need to consider the liquids rule for flying. But I do have a method to my liquids madness. I have a packing cube I use exclusively for my liquids. That way if any happen to spill, the spill is isolated to the liquids cube. I keep shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, hair spray, sunscreen, and my face care products in the cube. Within the cube I do additional isolation of liquids in quart size ziploc bags. Hair stuff goes it their own isolation bag, body wash has its own, face stuff, etc. On shorter cruises I'll use samples. I wind up with SO many freakin samples from Sephora and a cruise provides a great opportunity to thin the sample herd. Curling irons are not provided, but are allowed. Hairdryers are permitted and are provided. So its up to you if you need your super high power blow dryer, or if you're good with a hotel hair dryer quality. Personally, I use a little extra conditioner or a hair mask, and I use nature to get my hair from wet to nearly dry. Then I style with the in room dryer to finish the job. But my hair is thin and doesnt need aggressive blow drying. The in room hair dryer isnt like a high end blow dryer. Think the cheapest blow dryer you can possibly find at Walmart, and put about 500 hours of dry time on that inexpensive hair dryer, and you've got about the quality of blow dryer onboard.

I think its GREAT! I have a floor length black gown I like wearing for formal night. I love embracing formal night. My mother has borrowed an old prom gown of mine for a cruise (was kind of funny seeing her rocking my circa 1990 peach colored prom dress but hey, like daughter like mother!) She now has a sequined jumpsuit and a silk pantsuit she uses as well. I dont think there's anything that would be "too fancy" for formal night. If you want to rock a ball gown, you rock that ball gown. If you want to rock a gown with a train, you do you. And if you want to rock a sundress or a pantsuit, you rock that pretty sundress or pantsuit. In the end, if you want to wear that black sequinned gown, then you rock out that gown! Have photos taken (you dont have to purchase them), take your own photos, dance with your +1 if you have a +1. Make it a wonderful night to remember!

I admittedly miss the midnight gala or the midnight buffets from the "old days" But I also remember during the "old days" the regular buffet wasnt nearly so expansive as they are today. I seem to recall the usual fresh fruit and salad, but the entree selections were incredibly limited while now the entree selections are so vast I couldnt possibly dream of anything else. Not to mention, if I'm really feeling noshy at midnight, I can call up room service and make my own midnight buffet! It just wont have carved fruit or ice sculptures. Maybe the lack of midnight buffet can be chalked up to food waste. Buffets can really waste a LOT of food. And having not just your standard breakfast lunch and dinner buffets, but also a separate midnight buffet? Yah that's a lot of wasted food. Though something at midnight would be nice. Even if it takes one of the premium lines doing it, that might bring back midnight food. There's also the staffing needed for a midnight food offering even if its just for setup and takedown. Not to mention, most ships today dwarf the ships of yesteryear. While midnight buffets used to be able to serve a ship full of 2500 passengers on larger ships, can you imagine a fully loaded Oasis having a midnight buffet? Sounds great on paper but trying to coordinate 6k people blasting into one area at midnight is bound to disappoint people in terms of lines.

I'm a fan of Samsonite or American Tourister for being able to stand up to the abuse of travel. I've gotten both from Ebags and they've lasted me a good long time. I also have a carryon from the ebags brand and I think I've owned this little green piece I got for like 30 bucks for almost 10 years now and its never had an issue and its been though a TON of business travel

I'll be waving to you both as you pass under the bay bridge!! Love watching Grandeur.

In reaction to the "mens only" post, that's pretty much what my hub did. I told him he didnt need to wear a tuxedo, but he'll do the suit thing because I'm wearing a formal dress. For me, formal night is like adult prom, I get to have fun dressing up in something I almost never get a chance to wear, and hub isnt too put off by having a suit on for a few hours.

Finally saw this sale be effective for my Grandeur sailing. Its only $3 a day difference though from the package I got that included Voom, so while the waiting was worth it, I dont think its enough worth it to rebook both. I'm happy at my 52 for the deluxe drink package and 12 for 2 voom users vs 49 for the DDP and 20 for voom for 2 or drop to voom for one user at 14. A dollar savings per day to me, to lose one of the vooms, just not worth it to me. Even though I likely wont use both, its nice to have in case my hub wants to use my phone while I use my tablet or something like that

I think online reviews need to be taken with a grain of salt. Should negative reviews be completely ignored? No I dont think they should. However I think that they need to be looked at critically. If someone is completely bashing in a review, of anything from a cruise ship to a candy bar, I'd look critically at their review, what are they trying to say or what are they trying to gain by the negative review. Same with positively glowing nothing is wrong reviews. Everyone is different in their needs and expectations. Some people expect a Silversea experience for Carnival prices. Others are absolutely thrilled if someone brings them a glass of water. Both are both unreasonable expectations both positive and negative. Also 4 year old reviews for a cruise you're going on next week arent that valuable because a lot likely has changed in the past 4 years. However in depth reviews or blogs have more value to me because then people tend to explain their expectations so you can decide for yourself if these expectations are excessive. I dont think a ship naming change needs to happen unless the ship has undergone something traumatic like the Triumph. If a ship is refreshed or has extensive renovations, I dont think that's enough to warrant a name change. Most reviews arent based on the deck plans, most reviews are based on the customer experience and customer expectations. And those are mostly in the hands of staff. Should a ship get a name change after a crew change? That can impact the customer experience far more than the addition of a waterslide or a bar. Not to mention, more people are likely to post negative reviews on any product rather than positive reviews. So people are more likely to be critical in reviews, and sometimes unnecessarily so.