bcarney

Ditto here.  On one of our first cruises we purchased a beautiful light blue opal necklace for my wife at Effy in St. Maarten, and it was some sort of stone that they had as an exclusive.  I usually find the jewelry buying process fairly traumatic (especially the bit where you hand them your credit card), but the staff there were businesslike-but-friendly and frankly I felt like I got a good value for the transaction.  The next time we were in SXM we stopped in again, and before we even hit the door they noticed her necklace and sold us matching earrings.
 
Now each time we take a cruise and there is island with an Effy store there we try to go and purchase something as a momento.  And each time she wears the light blue opals I think of the Caribbean and give her a hug.

Well what types of gifts are you looking for? One year I bought my wife a fancy necklace that she could wear with a dress on formal night on the cruise. Women love jewelry, clothing, shoes. They really aren't hard to buy for. 
 
If you can't find something that she needs before the cruise, decide to get something on the cruise for her. Example: Pandora charm bracelet. Buy her the bracelet now and when you're in a port of call with a Pandora store you can buy charms. Each time you cruise you can buy a few charms that symbolize that trip.
 
I bought my wife a pair of gem earrings in Grand Cayman once and she treasures them and each time she wears them it reminds her of that wonderful cruise we took on Freedom of the Seas!

We (me, wife & 2 kiddos) found this place to be a good value and close to the dock:
 
http://embassysuites3.hilton.com/en/hotels/florida/embassy-suites-fort-lauderdale-17th-street-FLLSOES/index.html
 
I wanted to stay there again for my April cruise but unfortunately they are all booked, so we chose this place:
 
http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/florida/hilton-fort-lauderdale-marina-FLLGRHH/index.html
 
It's a big step up pricing wise, but I wanted to be on the ocean…hoping this will be a "best experience" style hotel.

I think a full quarter of the earth's population was there so it's quite possible… :)  We arrived the Saturday after Thanksgiving and came home on Sat Dec 7th. We had a layover in Minneapolis where the temp was a full 85 degrees lower than when we left Florida. 

I love the MDR; in fact, I prefer the traditional dining over "My Time" (and I've actually only done the Windjammer once at dinner time, and only because my brother in law who was on the cruise insisted).  It's having to schlep a garment bag half way across the continent (so I can wear a suit for a few hours just like I do at the office) that I dislike.  And the obligatory photographs of me in that suit that my wife insists on purchasing, of course. :)
 
Actually, I've also not done any specialty restaurants on board.  I'm fine with the main dining room, but on our next cruise I may try to persuade my wife to do one of them with the special chef (Chef's Table, can't recall the name offhand).  I think she would enjoy that and I'm hoping for extra bonus points with her for suggesting it, LOL.

Whoops - need to edit my signature; I thought I was on Adventure in Nov 2001, but it debuted on Nov 18th.  The timestamps on my photos are from 2002 so it was just after it's 1st Anniversary.  

Voyager class, because we love Adventure so much.  We haven't been on anything bigger, yet, so that may change.

The smaller ships have their appeal, though; we were on Empress 'back in the day' and liked it very much - you get more intimate with the staff and passengers, and can stop at more exotic ports that can't handle the big ships.
 
164 Days till Oasis. :)

Go to the RC Investor Site for details on the credit: http://www.rclinvestor.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=103045&p=irol-shareholderbenefit_pf   
 
Note that the credit is not combinable with other credits - when I was a shareholder, I never used it as I had Crown and Anchor discounts, etc.

Go to the RC Investor Site for details on the credit: http://www.rclinvestor.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=103045&p=irol-shareholderbenefit_pf   
 
Note that the credit is not combinable with other credits - when I was a shareholder, I never used it as I had Crown and Anchor discounts, etc.

Cruising must be a mid-Michigan thing... I too live around the corner from Tyler over in Grand Ledge.
 
We should probably form some sort of support group....  :)

Cruising must be a mid-Michigan thing... I too live around the corner from Tyler over in Grand Ledge.
 
We should probably form some sort of support group....  :)

Right around the corner from me!

At $170/pp I'd have to have at least 10 seconds "at the wheel", with a free photo to prove it happened.   :)

At $170/pp I'd have to have at least 10 seconds "at the wheel", with a free photo to prove it happened.   :)

My wife played blackjack and was $100 up when she (surprisingly) quit.  That's a win in my book.  :)

Better, in my humble opinion.  More ships, with more things to do on board.  Yeah, the up-sell to the specialty restaurants rub me the wrong way, but I've not eaten in one yet.  

I first started cruising in 1999.  I do think in the middle/late last decade the MDR food quality dipped, but they listened to the customers and made it better.