TheSkipper

Never been wild about NCL anyway, but this caps it! I'll cast my vote by not booking with them again! If enough folks do that they may get the message.

Never been wild about NCL anyway, but this caps it! I'll cast my vote by not booking with them again! If enough folks do that they may get the message.

Well, that will teach me to read "the stuff at the bottom!!" Dawn is a beautiful ship, a good choice for you very first cruise. Enjoy! :wink:

Well, that will teach me to read "the stuff at the bottom!!" Dawn is a beautiful ship, a good choice for you very first cruise. Enjoy! :wink:

Anticipation is a large part of a cruise vacation. You did not mention when or on which ship you are cruising, so we can't tell if you have a month or a year to wait. Start doing "cruise related" things over the remaining time. Have you applied for a passport?? I know you most likely will not NEED it for this trip, but it is by far the best form of ID you can have and you will need it on future cruises, and, yes, there will be future cruises. Start shopping for your "cruise wardrobe" and set things aside you want to take with you one the cruise. Get your little things together, camera, film or memory chips, benoculars, duct tape, power strip, some new TSA luggage locks, CruiseCrazies door sign. Just to mention a few things you may want to start getting together. Plan your shore excursions in advance of sailing. There are tons of things you can be doing to help make the time pass. :wink:

Anticipation is a large part of a cruise vacation. You did not mention when or on which ship you are cruising, so we can't tell if you have a month or a year to wait. Start doing "cruise related" things over the remaining time. Have you applied for a passport?? I know you most likely will not NEED it for this trip, but it is by far the best form of ID you can have and you will need it on future cruises, and, yes, there will be future cruises. Start shopping for your "cruise wardrobe" and set things aside you want to take with you one the cruise. Get your little things together, camera, film or memory chips, benoculars, duct tape, power strip, some new TSA luggage locks, CruiseCrazies door sign. Just to mention a few things you may want to start getting together. Plan your shore excursions in advance of sailing. There are tons of things you can be doing to help make the time pass. :wink:

As any "Skipper" will tell you, a cruise ship is one of the safest places to be during a hurricane. It has excellent radar and it can MOVE or divert. We have cruised in hurrican season more times than I can could and have had no problems worth mentioning. :wink:

As any "Skipper" will tell you, a cruise ship is one of the safest places to be during a hurricane. It has excellent radar and it can MOVE or divert. We have cruised in hurrican season more times than I can could and have had no problems worth mentioning. :wink:

Now that would be the way to attend the Olympics!! We attended the Olympics in Mexico City, Munich and Montreal and had tickets for Moscow before President Carter pulled the US team. Have not gotten back into the "groove" of attending since then. Even missed LA and that was only a 4 hour drive away! We were not wild about Athens when our cruise stopped there. The most congested city I have ever seen anywhere. The day we were there was cold and rainy and simply miserable. We were on a shore excursion from the Silver Wind and about three hours into it we all voted to return to the ship and bag the rest of the excrusion!

Now that would be the way to attend the Olympics!! We attended the Olympics in Mexico City, Munich and Montreal and had tickets for Moscow before President Carter pulled the US team. Have not gotten back into the "groove" of attending since then. Even missed LA and that was only a 4 hour drive away! We were not wild about Athens when our cruise stopped there. The most congested city I have ever seen anywhere. The day we were there was cold and rainy and simply miserable. We were on a shore excursion from the Silver Wind and about three hours into it we all voted to return to the ship and bag the rest of the excrusion!

Jaxon, Welcome aboard! The Grand is a beautiful ship. Did you try Sabitini's while you were on board? In April (while you were sailing the Grand) we were aboard the Sun for our 16th cruise with Princess. A very good cruise line IMHO. Where are you headed next? :wink:

Jaxon, Welcome aboard! The Grand is a beautiful ship. Did you try Sabitini's while you were on board? In April (while you were sailing the Grand) we were aboard the Sun for our 16th cruise with Princess. A very good cruise line IMHO. Where are you headed next? :wink:

I'm not sure that I'd spend my cruise dollars to cruise on a former cargo ship that is 50 years old. But, to each his own. :wink: Thanks for keeping us updated Jason.

I'm not sure that I'd spend my cruise dollars to cruise on a former cargo ship that is 50 years old. But, to each his own. :wink: Thanks for keeping us updated Jason.

As an aside, smoking the the staterooms is the reason we always bring an very good air freshener with us when we cruise. Stewarts do a very good job of cleaning the staterooms, but sometimes there is still that lingering odor of the former occupants smoking. Just one of our little things that we take to make the cruise more enjoyable, kinda like a power strip and duct tape. :grin:

As an aside, smoking the the staterooms is the reason we always bring an very good air freshener with us when we cruise. Stewarts do a very good job of cleaning the staterooms, but sometimes there is still that lingering odor of the former occupants smoking. Just one of our little things that we take to make the cruise more enjoyable, kinda like a power strip and duct tape. :grin:

Intresting article Jason. I lugged my laptop on a couple of cruises and it was more of a pain than a pleasure. So, now I just spend a half hour in an internet cafe ashore from time to time to catch up on my email and let it go at that. Aboard Princess we get unlimited internet access free as Elite members of the Captain's Club, so take advantage of that once in awhile, mainly to let our kids know we are alive and well. Still kinda liked the days before cruise ships had TV and telephones in the staterooms!! :wink:

Hi, We are going on the Legend on Sept. 5th and will be happy to check out the GS for you, Do you need it, no there are other options, but I'll be it will be great. Two adjoing rooms would probably be less costly, but not as much fun for you. We have done every type of room including a number of suites. To us a basic cabin is fine because we can do two cruise in one of those for the price of one in a suite. And, to us, more is better. Have done 41 cruises to date. The Legend will be number 42. :wink:

ANY day on a cruise is a great day for us!! Love 'em all. :grin:

April, Don't remember RCI policy, but sailing on the Legend in about three weeks and will check it out. One thing I can tell you in all our cruises internet access is NOT free. Sometimes their is a computer room or area and at other times you check out a wireless laptop and have to use it in the lobby area. The charges are per minute of use with the average being about .95 per minute. Some lines have cabin hookups and they run a little over $100 per week. Except when we sail on Princess (where we get free access because we are Elite members of the Captain's Club), we use Internet Cafes ashore, much more reasonable. :wink:

I can hear those Marachi trumpets now. The Doc Dance has begun. Docs arrived yesterday as promised by FedEx. Been online and filled out all the boarding stuff on the RCI site and we are ready to sail aboard Legend of the Seas on September 5ht to the Mexican Rivera as "Diamond" members of their Crown and Anchor club. If I had a sombrero, I'd try the Mexican Hat Dance :cool:

Our first cruise was April 10, 1983 aboard Carnival's Mardi Gras. Seven days to the Western caribbean. Stateroom #M58. See what keeping a cruise log does for you?? 41 cruises later, I still have all the data at my finger tips! :grin:

The first time we sailed with Auto Tipping, I really had my mind made up that I would hate it. Well, I was wrong. I found it wonderfully convienent and it eliminated the hassle of getting the proper denominations in cash ready to stuff the envelopes. In addition to the Auto Tipping, I still give cash to waiters and other who performed above and beyone IMHO. So, at the end of the day, I am in favor of the automatic tipping. I think it will also help prevent the "stiffing" of the staff by some passengers. I used to look around on the last night and see who skipped the meal to avoid the tipping. Happened more often than you might think.

Just had a email from FedEx that our docs are in Las Vegas and scheduled for Monday delivery. I can hear those steel drums already. Standby for the doc dance. :grin:

Hey Jason, I think it is RCI not RCCL anymore. :wink: