firegal2539

I have 12 cruises booked but not with any European lines. I have done, Carnival, (yuck), Princess, (love), Royal, (love), Norwegian, (UMMM), Celebrity, (love & love), Holland America, (love). I have also done two organized tours, Trafalgar and Tauck and really, really enjoyed that because like cruising everything is included.

 

I had a cruise booked on Crystal but cancelled when I found out you must wear formal evening wear on certain nights, dress codes were crazy. If I am on vacation no evening wear for me. Since then Crystal has relaxed their policies and I have been looking at their cruises.

I worked for my city's Fire Department for over 30 years. One of the Assistant Fire Chiefs and his wife retired when they were 50 and decided they were going to try living on a cruise ship. They went with Crystal and managed to stay for six months and then had enough. Now they pick a city on a map, anywhere, and live there for 6 months, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland OR, San Francisco, Napa Valley.

 

I have looked in to it and the cost is so prohibitive. When I read the story about Lee on Crystal I wanted to find out more about her. Her husband was a millionaire, before he passed away he told her that he wanted her to keep cruising. She sold their 5 million dollar house in Florida and now lives on Crystal. That is all we need, a significant other, husband, wife, etc., that is a multimillionaire. Anybody have one?

DocLC,

 

I agree with you completely, especially with Guy's Burger Joint. When I found it I thought I had died and gone to heaven. A cheeseburger is my meal of choice and it is so good, greasy, big, tasty and the fries are fantastic.

 

Candie

Almost every shuttle I have taken whether it is a contracted line for the cruise lines, Super Shuttle, GoShuttle, the buses don't seem to be in the best of condition. Usually the air doesn't work well and if you sit towards the back it gets really hot fast. The last shuttle from Miami to Fort Lauderdale, I kid you not, the bus driver was new and didn't know exactly how to get to the airport, so he had to use his radio and get directions. I like to be on a van, not a huge bus, but they try to get as many people on as they can.

 

Fort Lauderdale to Miami and return is around $60 round trip and when you add the air, most of the time it comes out the same as flying in to Miami and taking the transfers for Miami International.

I feel that all cruise lines, Carnival, Princess, Norwegian, Royal, Holland America and Celebrity nickle and dime all passengers. The employees can  be very aggressive when trying to get you to buy the drink of the day, a photo package, specialty shops, etc. They are trained to push for the profit.

 

I have noticed something on all the cruises I have been on within the last two or three years. The older the employee and longer he has worked for the cruise line, the more friendly, outgoing, helpful, they are. The young employees almost act like they are afraid to talk to the passengers or try to help them. They aren't very outgoing like they were 3 or 4 years ago. I believe it has to do with training but also trying to get people to work for them, they need to hire more for the newer ships. If you have ever looked at the job section of the different cruise lines, the amount of jobs available is plentiful.

Everyone that cruises does things differently. I keep a file for each cruise I have booked. Everything about that cruise goes in the file and then the file goes with me on the cruise, because it has all of the paperwork necessary, boarding pass, luggage tags, shore excursions reservations, OBC, etc. that you don't put on until you get to the port, etc.

 

I am the kind of person that must have everything done and paid for months before. The only advice I would give you (there has been a lot of discussion about this) don't pay your cruise off completely. That way if the price drops, you might get some money deducted from the price of your cruise. I always leave a balance of $100 on each cruise for that reason.

 

Candie

I have sailed several cruise lines and I know that Princess doesn't usually open shore excursions until 90 to 180 days before the cruise. Carnival opens them immediately but adds to them. NCL doesn't have the slightest idea what they are doing. Celebrity opens theirs right away and adds to them. RCCL, I have some open right now for one of my cruises but only one port, the cruise is 10 months away. The other ports have no excursions listed. I think when the cruise line gets them set in stone then they open them.

Soulboy,

 

Just my opinion but I don't think they hold back availability. I think they want the dining options sold out even before anyone gets on board. I would book it and like you said, when you get onboard, see if you can change it.

 

Candie

I agree with BCarney that a monkey is doing their pricing specials. I think the same monkey is doing American Airlines pricing. I have been looking for flights for two cruises, one in January and one in February, round trip has been over $400 for each one. I check every day. Today I go to AA.com and low and behold my February flight is $250 round trip. Ok I book it immediately even though I am sailing out of Miami, with transfers a savings of over $100. The January cruise is $290, I book that too. Same exact flight numbers, same exact arrival and departure times, same seats on both flights, why would the one in January cost more? That makes no sense at all. RCCL must rent that monkey out.

 

Candie

Raye,

 

I checked all three of the cruises I have booked with RCCL and nothing. The price is exactly the same on two and even a few dollars higher on the third. I can't a sale any where. It does state BOGO 60% off the second person, which they would give to me but it doesn't help. I didn't find any OBC, dining, internet or any incentives.

 

Thanks for the heads up.

 

Candie

Thanks RCVoyager now you have me wanting to collect it. My daughter is an artsy craftsy person and she would love it, but whenever I see a beautiful bottle, any shape, any size, I buy it if it is cheap and save it for that purpose.

 

Candie

Raye,

 

It is open 24 hours. You need to go through the shops on the left side of the building and it takes you to some stairs, go down the stairs and there is the casino.

 

Candie

Here is what I found on the Royal website.

 

 

All professional Photo operations are handled by Image Photo Services on all Royal Caribbean ships. There is no ability to offer post-cruise sales of any photographic products or services.

All shipboard photo products and services musty be either purchased pre-cruise at www.ourcruisephotos.com or onboard during a cruise vacation.

For more information please visit http://support.ourcruisephotos.com/ or call +1-850-250-3423 

 

Candie

I do the same thing as WAAAYTOOO! My first time in port I book a tour of the city, whatever it is called or a Hop On Hop Off trolley ride. Atlantis has many different tours, can't remember them all but there is the water park, the aquarium, the place itself. I have been to Nassau so many times, that I hop the $5 cab from the pier to Atlantis and visit the casino.

 

Raye I can't believe you don't go to the Atlantis casino.

 

Candie

I booked the specialty dining package for my RCCL cruise in October 2015. I had no problem booking the steak house twice and another restaurant when I bought the 3 meal package. I asked the young lady that booked for me and she said I could use the 3 meals in the steak house only if that is what I wanted, now I wish I had. I would book them now, if you can get a discount. I believe the first day of the cruise there is a discount on the meal packages but I can't remember what it was. The first day onboard there were employees standing outside the restaurants taking your dining reservations and she booked for both restaurants.

 

Candie

I want to be a suite person. This solo cruiser stuff stinks. I can't afford a suite. Maybe I need to take a two day cruise to nowhere and book a suite just to live the life.

 

Candie

I always take my Halo Cell Phone Charger. I bought four of them on QVC, one for me and three for Xmas gifts. You charge them at home once and it holds a charge for about 3 months. It has the adapters for any phone, tablet or laptop and when I am on a plane, in an airport or on a cruise it is the way to go to charge your phone. And they come in cool and pretty colors.

 

I take an empty journal, so people I meet, I can get their name, telephone number and email address, if they want to give it to me. I also write the name of the ports, what I saw and what pictures I took so when I get home I can label them. I find this is really a good way to keep everything straight. I just buy a small pocket journal.

 

I take a few clothes pins, if I want to hang up anything to dry and magnets, just in case.

 

Candie

RCVoyager,

 

Obviously I am dumb, what exactly is sea glass and where do you find it? I love having different kinds of jars with rocks, glass, etc. inside them.

 

Candie

Raye,

 

That is good to know. I think the reason I took it was Teri wants to know all about it so she can recommend it to other travelers. So now I am a guinea pig for my TA. How Cool!

dejagatkins,

 

Like you, I have sailed in a few interior cabins and I actually like them. I have problems sleeping at night and there is complete blackness in an interior room. But, I would much rather have an ocean view room. I just want to see the water. 

 

My TA has a group Alaskan cruise in May 2017 and asked if I wanted to go, the more the merrier, so I booked because it was so cheap, especially since I am a solo cruiser and she put me in a Virtual Reality Balcony on the Explorer OTS. She is more excited then I am, she wants me to take a million pictures. I told her I hope you can shut the dang thing down at night so I can sleep, HAHA!

I have been researching the ports for my next 3 cruises with Belize City being one of them. I have read numerous articles on this city and every one of them has a warning. Here is one from the cruise port itself.

 

"If you decide to spend some time in Belize City, just be vigilant about your surroundings and what you're doing. The cruise ship personnel will tell you that the city isn't a safe place to visit. For the more intrepid and experienced travelers, Belize City can be an interesting experience."

 

Since I am a solo cruiser I am going to stay with a shore excursion offered from the cruise line. I just don't like that every site I read has Belize City warnings.

My very first cruise back in the late 1990s was to the Caribbean. I took my 13 year old grandson with me. One of the ports was Montego Bay, Jamaica. I had been warned by cruise ship personnel to stay within the shopping district, don't wander down any side roads or only take the ship's shore excursions and the reasons given were drugs, robbery, pickpockets and prostitution. When we got off the ship and through the horrible looking port building and were walking towards the shopping area, there was a lady with a fruit basket on her head. I snapped a photo, the next thing I knew the lady and her male companion were in my face saying I owed them $10 for the picture. I told both to get away or I would call the police, whose presence was nonexistent. They harassed both my grandson and me for over 30 minutes until I finally saw a policeman and he made them go away. I decided to head for the ship so nothing else would happen. On the way back to the ship a very young girl, maybe 13 or 14, approached my grandson and me and said that if he wanted a companion for the rest of the time in port she was available for a small fee. That did it, I decided I would never go to Montego Bay again. That is my least favorite port, followed by any port in Jamaica.

 

I love Key West, probably my favorite. Just love the vibe of the city, everything there is to do, and the people who live there. I have found aggressive taxi and tour operators in almost every port. In Nassau, while taking the taxi van to Atlantis, the driver made it known that he accepted tips for his services and was expecting everyone to tip him since the taxi ride was only $5.00. Several people refused to tip him, but I felt like an earlier poster, this was the way he made his living and probably tips were most of his pay, so what did it hurt to give $2 or $3 for his services.

 

Candie

I have always been told by my TA to only book shore excursions through the cruise line. Why? Most land based shore excursion companies/suppliers guarantee to get you to your ship, not sure what they do if they don't make it! I have been looking for excursions for all of my upcoming cruises, 10 of them, and like WHStoneman, I am not finding anything that appeals to me. I am not a beach person, sand fleas look at me as their next meal, I swim but choose not to. I have done parasailing, wind surfing, swimming with dolphins, rays, and sharks, helicoptered to a glacier, whale watching and Mayan ruins, so I am running out of things to do.  I love the history of the place I am visiting, I especially love trolley, train or sightseeing rides to see the port.

 

Right now I am trying to build a shore excursion guide for all ports in the Caribbean, Southern, Eastern, Western, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Mexico, Pacific Coastal and New England/Canada. I am having fun doing this and am going on the reviews and ratings of the passengers from Google, Trip Advisor, CruiseCritic and other places, who took the excursions. I am listing the shore excursion company, website, telephone number, review ratings, the shore excursions they offer, how much and how long. I am including the activity level, if I find one. I am also adding port information for all of the above listed ports, what city the port is located in, how many ships can dock there, what is at the port that a passenger can do for free or almost free. I am trying to build a shopping guide in each port, too. And last but not least I am listing all ports that have a casino, the casino rating, address, phone number, hours open, etc.

 

Obviously I don't have a life, if I have time to do this. The reason I started this is I too, couldn't find any really interesting shore excursions.

 

Candie

I will never pay retail price for anything I buy. All merchandise has to be at least 50% off. I shop at the Outlet Malls, unfortunately a lot of them have their inventory made just for the outlet store. It is lesser quality merchandise. I usually buy my MK handbags online at his store in the clearance section. I have gotten 2 of my 4 handbags for over 70% off. 

 

If I spend my money on Michael Kors handbags than I might not be able to take a cruise. Let's see, a cruise in one hand and a MK handbag in the other. I will pick the cruise every time.

 

Unfortunately Matt I spend my OBC in the casino. I just realized I have a handbag and shoe obsession and a gambling problem. Glad I am enjoying them.

 

Candie

I did not want to know that there is a Michael Kors store on the Oasis. I only own four of his handbags and I just know I could buy more on the ship. Really bad news for me.