jbond

Can't help you too much, I'm having trouble negotiating the boards. They seem to be overcomplicated and not as user friendly as they used to be. With your font question, I think the problem in your signature is that you have no message. It's just [/size] Try this Type your message, highlight it, choose fonts, re-highlight message, choose size, re-highlight message, choose colour. It should work. For images, click on the immage icon, fourth from the end, and you should get a separate window that prompts you to enter the http location of your image. Enter the location and click OK. You should get an image like this one. Hope this helps.

No. you don't have to be off the ship by a certain time, you can stay onboard all day if you wish. Many people stay on board because the ship is very quiet and relaxing when most of the other passengers have gone ashore. I don't know about NCL, but some cruise lines only have a buffet lunch available when the ships are in port, no dining room service for lunch. Welcome to CruiseCrazies.

In the past 18 months we have done 3 cruises around South America. A B2B on Splendour of the Seas in 2008, that sailed from Valparaiso, Chile, south around Cape Horn and visited Argentina, Brazil and then across the Atlantic, ending in Lisbon, Portugal. It was 29 days at sea and with a pre and post cruise stay, it was a total of 33 days. This year, on Radiance of the Seas, we sailed north from Valparaiso, visiting Peru, Ecuador and Costa Rica. We should also have visited three ports in Mexico, but because of the swine flu scare we spent those days at sea. I have photo albums posted that also include some narrative to explain what the photos are about. The Splendour cruise is at http://family.webshots.com/album/564695088icbspV and the Radiance cruise is at http://family.webshots.com/album/573020830PUcOMc Hope you get a chance to view them.

We stayed at the Sheraton in 2008. We enjoyed it, we had a meal in Caruso's and it was excellent. This year we stayed at the Grand Hyatt, it was a beautiful hotel, very impressive. In 2008 we had friends who had their camera snatched quite close to the Sheraton and this year a lady on the city tour with us had a necklace snnatched in Plaza de Armas. We don't usually feel unsafe, but in Santiago and Buenos Aires we were extra precautious. Did you go to a show at all in Santiago? We went both times and really enjoyed the dancing and the food. Hope you get a chance to look at the photo album, it may bring back some memories for you. I agree with you about enjoying Costa Rica. We have visited it several times and always enjoyed it. Away from the port it is a beautiful country.

Of course it's never their fault. It looked a good idea at the time, but the downturn in the economy and the taxes and regulations cutting into the profit margin has caused the cruiselines to look for more profitable waters. It's like looking for a new job, once you start looking, you forget why and keep looking until you find something.

We did a similar cruise in April of this year, Santiago/Valparaiso Chile to San Diego on the Radiance of the Seas. Unlike your cruise, we didn't leave Valparaiso until April 26th and so we missed our Mexican ports because of the swine flu. It was our second time in Santiago and we spent two days precruise there. It was not my idea of a great city. We both felt unsafe and on both occasions that we have visited it, we met couples that had been mugged. This last visit we toured the city one day and on the second day we visited Portillo, high in the Andes. We got to see Anconcagua, the highest peak in South America at 22,700 ft. We visited La Serena, Chile, Lima, Peru, Manta, Ecuador and Puntarenas, Costa Rica. CR was our favourite port of call. Lima was an interesting city and La Serena was also interesting. In Ecuador we saw poverty that was only equalled by what we had seen previously in Brazil. It will be a long time before we go back to South America. Did you stay at the Sheraton Crown Plaza in Santiago? I think I recognized the photo of the church close by it. I have our photo album posted at http://family.webshots.com/album/573020830PUcOMc

Jamaica Mistaica by Jimmy Buffet, Hot Hot Hot by Arrow, Love Boat Theme by Jack Jones, Red Red Wine by UB40. Anything by Ricky Benn.

It's not so much a record as a project. To try and make better photo albums, albums that are not just a collection of photos, but tell a story. Unfortunately I'm struggling.

I'm surprised that RCI is pushing South America. We cruised Splendour twice last year in SA and Radiance earlier this year. My impression from the crew was that SA was a poor market. We would absolutely never take a Brazil based cruise again. Argentina and Chile were OK, but we would also probably never revisit Ecuador and Peru. South America is not for us.

Booked on Radiance of the Seas out of San Diego for next February. It's a 12 nighter, down to Acapulco and back.

Our first cruise was in 1977 on NCL's Skyward. First port of call was San Juan. We got of the ship and walked along Calle Forteleza, drinking the complimentary Piña Coladas that they served in every souvenir store. Can't believe that it's so long ago.

Sorry to hear that the Mexican Riviera was a little disappointing for you. We love it. We have cruised down there six times and we are going there again next week for El Dia De Los Muertos. I agree that the beaches are not as good as the Caribbean, but where is? We've been on beaches all over the world and we have found nowhere to be as consistently good as the Caribbean. We go to Mexico for the ports, the people and the food. We enjoy just walking around in Puerto Vallarta, the Malecon is so interesting with lots of bars and restaurants. I can't wait to have a cold, cold Corona and some octopus ceviche. Cabo is one of our favourite ports. It's changed over the years, but a trip out to Playa de Amor is always fun, even though the water is a lot cooler than the Caribbean. I think sailing into Cabo is spectacular. At least you were on a really nice ship and you could get away from the heat once back on board.

An interesting new area to cruise, but I don't see us travelling all that way just to do a seven day cruise. I'll hold off on judgement until I see more details on the itineraries.

Welcome to Cruisecrazies. We haven't sailed on Independence, but we sailed on Freedom this past January. It's an awesome class of ship. The Royal promenade is quite spectacular and make sure you don't miss the parade. There is never a dull moment on the ship, with ice skating, climbing the rockwall and surfing. Our grandson and SIL had a great time surfing on the Flowrider. The ice show is also very good, especially when you realise you are on a cruise ship in the middle of the Caribbean.

I voted "no change", but if you'd had a "So far no change", I'd have chosen that. We have a cruise in three weeks, Mexican Riviera, so that is a done deal. We also have a cruise to South America for April next year. We still have three months before final payment, so I'm looking closely at what is happening with the rescue plan, rescue sounds more positive than bailout. Unless there is a continued down trend, I'm sure we'll still complete that cruise. We're retired and I fully understand your concern. Our total assets that help support our retirement have taken an enormous hit. Soc Sec is very minimal and hardly covers utilities. I would really like to be assured that my pension is safe, but with the banks and Wall Street in such turmoil, I have grave concerns. I'm way too old to start over again.

I think that they should stay the same, but if they are increased, so be it. I like the way RCI handles the "pre-paid" tipping. You have the option and if you go with it you get a voucher to put in an envelope along with any additional amount you may decide upon. Princess doesn't give the voucher and I always feel a little uncomfortable telling the staff that this is a little extra for the excellent service. Well, I can't feel sorry for the staff that makes a decent living, gets free room and board and their incomes are tax free. Our 21 year old grandson has a full time job, he makes less than $400 a week and it's taxable, but he does get free room, but not food. He also works really hard and many times very long hours and no extra pay for it. Like the people that work on the cruiseships, his line of work is of his own choosing. Next year he will get an opportunity to visit an exotic location, but not as exotic as the cruiseship employees get to see. His employer is undecided whether they should go to Afghanistan or Iraq, the former looks the most probable. I forgot to mention that he also has to buy most of the uniforms his employer requires him to wear and he also pays for his own laundry.

I realise that this is off topic, but if you are comparing air prices for a European cruise, make sure that you do a true comparison. Depending where you are cruising from, transfers can be very expensive. Cruising out of England for instance, a transfer from London Heatrow to Central London can cost around $100 per couple and from Central London to the port of Harwich can cost an additional $200. You can do it for less, take the train for example, but with luggage etc, it can be a hassle. Cruise air usually includes transfers, so just be aware.

I take two black bowties for formal nights, just in case one breaks down. Yes, I'm paranoid. They are both pre tied. I have a "real" bowtie, but I can't master tying it, it always looks like a propellor. For smart casual, I usually take twice as many ties as I need, they don't take up any space and I can decide which one at the last minute.

We've had "hump" cabins on Serenade and Brilliance. We also have one on Radiance for our South American cruise next year. We have always had a fwd looking cabin and I like them because of the better visibility. We have had aft cabins twice and I don't like them. I think an aft looking hump cabin would also not be my choice.

They are basically just get aways, but we have sailed to celebrate our 40th and 50th wedding anniversaries and both our grandkids high school graduations.

We are Diamond Plus with RCI and Platinum Elite with Princess, but about the only thing that I'm certain of when it comes to cruise lines is that it varies considerably by ship and itinerary. We have sailed Splendour of the Seas four times, four different itineraries and four different experiences.

He would have been a very unhappy person who learned a lesson the hard way. One way airfares are quite expensive and it was comforting to know that we had insurance. We also incurred a $140 phone bill that RCI reimbursed us for.

We were on RCI Brilliance of the Seas on a Med cruise when the ship was delayed getting back to Barcelona due to a blockade of the port by Spanish fishermen. We had insurance, but had booked our own air. RCI took care of all the air arrangements for their air passengers, but we had to rebook our own. We spent two days in Barcelona before we got a flight, but our cruise insurance paid for everything. We would never leave home without it. At our age, even though we are both quite healthy, the thoughts of being taken sick while in a foreign country make insurance a real comforter. We usually book our own air, but just recently we have not been able to come even close to RCI's prices. Using their custom air programme also makes it a very convenient way to book flights.

Can't help with Charlie Soto, but have you visited Puntarenas before? If not, I'd recommend that you definitely take a tour of some kind. There is not a lot to see in town, it gets very untidy right at the end of the pier and the local beach is pretty poor. We've been there three times and taken the rain forest tour, the tree top gondola tour and a trip to Sarchi. We will be there again in April and we intend to take the eco-river tour. Once outside of the port, it's a beautiful place to visit.

Marseilles is a great port. It was raining really heavily when we were there. We'd planned to visit thhe Chateau D'If (Count of Monte Christo fame), but the weather was so bad the ferries were shut down. We took the cute little train around town and then had lunch at a great restaurant on the waterfront. We sat under a canopy, in the rain, eating bouillabaise.