sjay80

My guess is the reason they went to the auto tipping system in the first place is because the other way wasn't working out so well. A lot of people with good intentions may have found it hard not to spend all their cash on shopping, excursions, etc. I think my husband and I will love the auto tipping........one less thing we have to do ourselves. Sandy

We aren't going on our first cruise til May of '05 but are planning to budget $100 per day (for the 2 of us) and that will include the tipping at the end. Sandy

Wow Jeff, you've been through a lot. But you now have an opportunity to reinvent yourself in whatever ways feel good to you. It's a brand new canvas and you get to paint the picture with whatever you want! Thanks for the upbeat humor you bring to the boards. Sandy

Our first cruise isn't til May but we were assigned a table for 4, I called and had it changed to a table for 8 or 10 as we look forward to meeting people and hearing everyone's stories. :cheesy:

I am looking for advice from those of you who have cruised multiple times.... 1. Do you shop around or stick with a booking company you like? 2. Who are your favorite companies? 3. Do you book by phone or online or both? 4. How far in advance do you generally book? TIF ~Sandy

Post your favorite travel quotes or...... just make one up!!<] "The rewards of the journey far outweigh the risk of leaving the harbor." ~unknown "The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page." ~Augustine "Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the journey." ~Babs Hoffman

Welcome back! Alaska is definitely one of our plans for the future. I have a sister who lives in Anchorage.

Now that we've told our families we are going on a cruise my sister and her daughter (grown) are booking the same cruise! Wow, this will be fun, there really is a fever to this stuff! Can't wait! We booked for May of '05 and are really wishing we'd booked earlier...... but that's okay, there's more to come! Hmmmm wonder if other family will jump on board :grin: Sandy

Okay, I get it...... thanks for the heads up!!

We will be going to Cozumel on our cruise and everyone talks about Carlos & Charlie's. It's gotta be more than just a bar and restaurant. What's the scoop?

I am wondering if safes on the ships are big enough for items like cameras and if it is safe enough to leave a wallet in? Sandy

I LOVED the story about your Dad! I saw my own family members flash right before my eyes! Thanks for the laugh! :grin: Sandy

One of the best sites to compare airfares is at Mobissimo Travel Search. It is a metasearch tool and goes to the airlines and other booking sites like travelocity to get results. It's web-based (not software download). It even searches consolidators such as onetravel and international sites like zuji and opedo. Another site I use a lot for air, hotel or car is an easy software download that sits at your desktop called sidestep. I got this information from the webflyer.com site and have found it very helpful myself and thought I'd share. We will need a hotel in New Orleans when we cruise to the western carribbean so I am going to try and find the cheapest price for a 4 star hotel (Hilton) then go to priceline and see how low they will go. If it's not low enough we always can stay in a less expensive place. It's worth a shot. I'll use the above search tools for the cheapest airfare to New Orleans as well. I'm always looking for ways to save money without cutting out the comforts! :wink: Sandy & Gordon cruising on 5/2/05 - Sensation

My husband and I are taking our first cruise 5/2/05 on the Carnival Sensation to the Western Carribbean, leaving from New Orleans. Sure glad I found this sight to educate myself! :smiley:

I am wondering whether we should rent a tux onboard or take a suit for my husband. Does anyone know what they charge? I know locally (Arizona) it's around $75. Also, should we expect to pay from $20 and up for a bottle of wine or am I calculating too low? From what I read the tipping is about $10 per day per person? Do you find it's more? As newtimers doing our first cruise next year in May :cool: I'm trying to get the facts and I appreciate the tremendous amount of information and help available here. Thank You! :smiley: Sandy

Hi, I am new here and new to cruising. We just booked our first one but won't be going until May '05 (Western Carribbean). When I went to book thru RCI and give up our timeshare week I decided to compare and got the same cruise for $210 less thru cruise.com. I'm just wondering if it's ever worth trading in your timeshare week for a cruise at RCI?