MicDay

Welcome to the message boards!
I think this video will provide a few ideas:
 

We took our 2 adult offspring on our last cruise so I got a really nice picture of the 4 of us. Well except for me.  I look like crap in pictures.

Well, that's because you are a newlywed.  Just wait until you two get to know each other.
😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

I dress for no one. Not at work (OK, maybe for customers), not at home, and not on a cruise. With one massive exception. I dress for my soulmate. Since I really can’t see what I am wearing, and I really could care less about what anyone else thinks, I dress for only one person ... the woman I fell in love with 43 years ago and the woman I want to make happy every single day of my life. 
I also do not care what other people wear … I am looking at my soulmate, everyone else is the equivalent of “visual background noise” … Sorry if some of you are upset.
These genuine requests for what is normal and tolerated in the MDR and on Formal nights are sincere questions (and good ones). My advice is ... Ask your soulmate(s). Ask the person(s) who you are devoted to. Ask the only person(s) on the earth that matters. You and they will be much happier as a result. 
On a cruise (and many times at home), I wear what my soulmate wants.  She also asks me what I prefer that she wears, and I am honest and very appreciative when she responds. When we do this, almost always she says I “look sexy”, and I feel great (I also laugh a little ... OK, maybe a lot). I think she is the most beautiful woman on the ship, and I would wear anything to make her happy. 
I hope everyone can have this feeling when they go cruising. 
Curt from Canada. 

A lazy river is a long (usually) and slow moving stream of water,  kind of like a calm river.

I would love if this lazy river was long enough to take you throughout CocoCay. Can you imagine getting one near the entrance of thrill water park and having it through out the island so you could get off at south beach or the beach club. I think that would be cool. I know the logistics of that would take too long but it would be interesting. 

Just thinking about this, floating, drink in my hand, no children jumping in along the way, pure bliss.

@JLMoranme too!!!  I LOVE LOVE a good lazy river.  Disney has some of the best lazy rivers at their waterparks.  Do not try the one at Discovery Cove, it's a nightmare.  
I might have to book a cruise going to Coco Cay when the lazy river is done ?

Following, this is on my list!! 💖
Have an awesome time, can't wait to hear all about it!!💫

Another step closer… 🙂🤞
I forgot to mention that I’ll be posting to my IG account as well. Same handle, @Lovetocruise2002.
Feel free to ask any questions along the way. Happy to try to answer anyway that I can. 

 

Glad to have you guys along! 

Following, this is on my list!! 💖
Have an awesome time, can't wait to hear all about it!!💫

Very patriotic of you to not be in England on July 4th, acceptable for Sabrina since she is Canadian. 

I booked the Homewood Suites by Hilton Boston Seaport with free cancellation if I decide to change it to one of the Blog's better suggestions. 🙂

We are coming in September, wanted to book the October itinerary but my husbands work schedule didn't allow it. 
I've got the Hilton Homewood Suites booked but was eyeing the Hilton Boston Faneuil Hall Downtown (using points so only looking at Hilton) both get great reviews.
 

Day two of the land tour.
We met in the lobby at 7:30am and got on the bus with the 40 other people on tour 3B to head to the train station. Our train left at 8:15am.
We boarded a double decker, domed rail car. The dining car and restrooms were on the bottom level, and the seating area was on the top level. There was a narrow spiral staircase to get between the two decks, but they did also have a small elevator.
I didn't get a great shot of the train, but on the back it said it was 18 feet 1 inch tall.

Everyone started upstairs in the main seating area, and shortly after we left the station, they started seating people for breakfast. We thought the kids would enjoy eating on the train, so we opted to skip the buffet at the hotel. The kids both ordered the Miner's Breakfast and the Blueberry pancakes, and both tried the reindeer sausage. DH And I both got the Denali Scramble thinking we would get to try some of the kids' pancakes...we were wrong. 



 
Did I mention the bar? DH and I also had Bloody Marys with breakfast which I guess made up for the kids not sharing their pancakes. 
The train made a couple of stops along the way to pick up people in small towns, but the main stop on our 7.5 hour journey was Talkeetna. Our tour stops here on the way back. Everyone stayed onboard and we continued to Denali. Because we took both legs of the journey, we could also order lunch. This is a partial menu from the Wilderness Express website - they also had a vegetarian and kids menu. I didn't get any good food pictures from lunch, but the birch syrup ice cream was really good.

 
The views from the train were stunning, and you could go out onto the platforms on the bottom level. Here are a few shots from our trek north.




 
We departed the train at 3:40pm and boarded a bus to take us to Denali Park Village. The rooms in this hotel are teeny tiny, and when you're traveling with 4 people and your land and cruise luggage, it's a really tight fit. You know what else they don't tell you in the brochure? Most hotels in the interior don't have air conditioning. It makes sense when the highs only get to the 70s or 80s, but it was pretty warm when we arrived. Our room faced the sun, and with only a fan that we found hidden in the armoire, it was a pretty miserable night. There aren't a lot of dining options at this resort - the dinner buffet and the bar were the only two venues open when we got there, and the buffet was $55 per person. 
One of the optional excursions we wanted to do was the Husky Homestead which is in Denali. It started at 7pm and was about a 30 minute bus ride to get to the Dog Gone It Kennels in Cantwell. We had about 10 minutes to hold puppies, which would have been ok (let's face it, that's the real reason we came), but a second bus load of people pulled up behind us. There were about 100 people on this tour (45-50 per bus), and those other people cut into our fur baby time! 😆 We also got to see, but not hold of course, pups that were just born the day before. So small! Then we were walked around to where the older dogs were kept and they hooked some of the dogs up to a 4 wheeler for summer training. The next 1.5-2 hours was a very well put together slideshow and presentation about the Iditarod - how they train for and run the race. It was about 15 minutes too long for me, and about 30-45 minutes too long for the kids. They just wanted more time with the dogs. It was really well run, and a lot of interesting information. It was 10pm by the time we got back to the hot hotel, so we got ready for bed. Bags had to be out by 7:30 in the morning.




 
 
 
 

Waiter, head waiter, assistant waiter and your stateroom attendant.
Yes, when you buy a drink package, you pay a "service fee" that covers gratuities.
Every order they take, they get a bigger piece of the pie of gratuities for that day

Just a few thoughts on the tipping issue:
1. Pre-paid gratuities means just that.  You have done your part as a consumer.  No doubt that the cruise employees are grateful.
2. Lots of people say that they understand the service industry...Assuming many of those people are from the USA, do they understand that cruise lines are not generally bound to US Federal Minimum Wage laws?  These are international waters' ship and crews.  So, many employees may be paid much more than they would in their own countries, but some, like US employees are getting paid less than the US minimum wage.  From checking with friends and family members who are cruise ship employees, they earn around $1,250 every 2 weeks (that is USD).  This amounts to about $30,000 a year.  Tips help make up for the low salary.
3. Cruise employees typically work 14 hour days and consecutive work days before getting a day off.  
4. Cruise employees also wear many hats.  A waiter from breakfast may be a bartender at lunch and something else at night.  It seems like difficult manual labor.
5. Cruise employees are NOT like a regular waiter or barista.  Most service industry employees see a customer anywhere from 30 seconds to an hour.  Cruise employees are serving us cruisers all day and night.  I hope that most of us are kind and generous people, but some are NOT.  For those few bad apple cruisers, cruise employees have to serve them throughout the trips.  That is hard work.
6. Choosing to tip extra is great.  Choosing not to is acceptable.  It depends on you.  Our first cruise was the cheapest 3 night cruise that we could afford when my wife and I were still in grad school.  Extra tipping was not really an option.  Now, it is an option and we take at least $200 to $300 in small bills and tip often. 
7. My understanding is that the pre-paid gratuities are global tips and shared equally amongst the employees.  As it should be (read number 4).  So even if you do not dine in MDR, those same employees are likely serving you elsewhere in some other capacity.

The most interesting part of this thread (for me) is realizing that I am not the only person on the planet who does not have a FB account !  I’m delighted to find so many people who do not do FB !  

I love the Duck hiding/hunting finally got to cruise again last September and forgot my ducks 😞I was so bummed
We are going September 18th on Voyager, got my ducks ready and packed.
I'd love a site that I can see my ducks and ones I find (I've been on three cruises since this started and I have never seen one)
 

I love the Duck hiding/hunting finally got to cruise again last September and forgot my ducks 😞I was so bummed
We are going September 18th on Voyager, got my ducks ready and packed.
I'd love a site that I can see my ducks and ones I find (I've been on three cruises since this started and I have never seen one)
 

I'll be on Harmony in Jan 2024, while I don't participate in the Duck Hunting I like to hide something I purchase while in a Port of Call and leave it somewhere on the ship, then give a clue for someone to find it on the next cruise after ours.  I'm going to make that MY custom on every cruise I take. 
I love cruising!  I love making it interesting for not just my party but for others as well.  I think you and those like you are doing a great job of that, too.

He had to leave. He couldn’t produce a negative antigen test.

That is what I was thinking, maybe too much Kraken??