zebra

We are platinum members with Princess and one of the perks is FREE INTERNET!!! So you have to work towards that. I wish Celebrity would have the same deal as Princess - booking a future cruise whilst onboard and you only have to pay $100 deposit. You can use this anytime within 4 years, you don't even need to book a specific cruise (you can if you want to.) It's a great deal!

Our must have is Mini-suite on Princess and Concierge Class on Celebrity....BUT.....there are times we just want to get away on the spur of the moment so I guess we would take anything - even a stowaway on board when we're desperate :grin: Just kidding!

Joey too funny - it was my birthday in Villefranche when we last did this exact same cruise! We're looking forward to Tuscany, Amalfi Coast and Santorini the most. Must tell you this......last year we did a Transatlantic cruise on Legend of the Seas from Fort Lauderdale to Bermuda, Ponte Delgado and Lisbon. At dinner on the first evening I asked the waiter if I could have Escargot as they were not on the menu, he said sure he'd bring them from the next evening, and also would the rest of the table (8) like them? So we got Escargot EVERY night for all the members at our table, plus whichever other starter on the menu we wanted!! RCCL & X are the same company - I'm sure it would work for us on the Millennium as well - should we give it a try?

Everything has already been said. For us it's the entire package. Unpacking once, being pampered by the staff, meeting wonderful folks, seeing and experiencing new places, great food, lying on the balcony with a good book & a glass of wine just looking over the expanse of the beautiful mighty ocean, sunsets over the sea - I totally agree the sea days are best! Bingo (never play at home but love it on board), sitting in a lounge listening to the musicians, coffee at Cafe Cova, massages which I never have time for at home and the pitch and roll of the ship is the BEST, no hotel can offer this to me.

Welcome Craftinmom to Cruise Crazies - I guess your screen name means you do crafts? What crafts? Hope you enjoy being a part as much as I do!

By the way Joey an Ulu is a special knife the Eskimo's use in Alaska for filetting salmon - actually cutting up all meats. It has a semi circular blade and a wooden handle - and extremely sharp.

Welcome Diane & Lou - great to have you join us here!!!

Welcome, welcome - haven't we met somewhere before?

We have late seating - table for 6. We figure that we'll always hits it off with at least one of the couples. Also any bigger than that is really hard to hear everyone. Oh yes we'll definately be doing the specialty restaurant. Goat Cheese Soufle here I come!!!!!!!!!

Late seating or early seating? Who's on what seating?

I'm confused.. which couple is DoggieMom?

Wow, we just need Paula and Trish's cabin number - then we're up to date!

Bubble wrap... I take a roll and wrap it around a bottle to the required length and then cut it off. I then take this template and cut 8 or so more & use them to wrap all our bottles. They weigh nothing just pop them in the bottom of your luggage. Our carryons are the wheeled variety. We l-o-a-d them. Just as well hubby is strong (to lift them into the overhead bins on the plane). Yes they are general VERY, VERY heavy. When we came back from South Africa last week they were both loaded to capacity with heavy groceries that we can't buy here in the States. We just had enough room for our binoculars in the case. Tony carries all the cameras/video in a camera bag as his "other" piece of luggage. If we purchase something breakable we carry it on seperately in a carry bag from the store it was purchased at. You are allowed an extra bag like that e.g. if you bought anything at duty free it would be in a carry bag.

It would also have to be a world cruise for us, without a doubt. I think I woould also choose a Holland America ship for that cruise. Can you just imagine..... kicking back for a couple of months on board? Hey Jeeves.. bring me another Pina Colada please!

Ooooh yes we consume some of our purchases on board. I'm not too sure about the latest customs limits. It's approx. 3 bottles each I believe - does anyone else have the correct quantity? Anyhow we always put all the bottle of wine and Olive Oils in our carry on luggage - no problem. Just remember the bubble wrap!

You know we wanted to ship home a beautiful glass platter which we bought on Santorini. (It has aluminum and other metal work inside the blown glass - really gorgeous.) Anyhow we asked the guy how much it would cost and he quoted Euro 200!! Whaaaaat????? No thanks... so we asked him to package it up really well for the plane which he did - he even made handles on the package - and we just carried it on. So unless it's a piece of furniture or something too big to carry on, I'd just carry it on. If we think we're going to do a fair amount of hopping on a particular cruise, we usually pack a small suitcase inside a larger one so that we have a spare case to come home with all our treasures in. Make sense?

Here's an update to the cabin list: Diane & Lou arrive morning of 10/26 Continental Palacete (6053) Tonia & Becki arrive morning of 10/27 Continental Barcelona (9101) Kareen & Bob arrive morning of 10/27 Continental Palacete (7079) Suanne & Harvey arrive morning of 10/27 Continental Palacete (7081) Gail & Paul arrive noon 10/27 Continental Barcelona Margaret & Mike arrive the afternoon of 10/27 Continental Palacete (8172) Joey & David arrive evening of 10/27 Continental Palacete (9160) Jackie & Tony arrive morning of 10/28 Continental Palacete (8185) Paula & Trish arrive morning of 10/28 Hotel Montecarlo Suzi & Cleve arrive afternoon of 10/28 Continental Palacete (8162) Natalie, Jeff, & Catharine arrive ?? 10/28 Coninental Palacete (8181) Maryann & Tom arrive morning of 10/29 (8078) Maranza & Terry ??????? (8170)

Yes he took one look at the luggage we were pulling around and told us it would be 25 for us and the luggage. I can't remember what Tony gave him as a tip, it could have been 5 Euros.

Oh we've been on so many awesome cruises, but Alaska is definitely on the top of my list. We love the awesome splendour of the glaciers and mountains and the wild side - the whales, puffiins, sea otters, bears, dolphins and seals. I must say the Med. comes a very, very close second. Now if you talk to DH he will say Alaska and then the Panama Canal. To each his own! How about you????

Lisa, great decision! You are going to love the Century. We loved her size - especially now in the day and age of Mega liners. Oh how I wish the cruise lines would build more ships the size of Century. I know, I know, it's all about shekels and how many they can get onboard one vessel. Trust me you're in for a treat.

Please don't have the jitters guys! Honestly Barcelona airport isn't daunting at all. Once you've collected your luggage just proceeed outside, there is a sign showing taxi's/busses. We walked up to the first available taxi driver and just showed him the Hotel confirmation printout from our internet booking, just in case I would mis-pronounce the hotel name. He charged us Euro 25 and told us that included our luggage (a year ago) :) and then took us directly to our hotel. He didn't speak much English but everywhere else we went in Barcelona it seemed most people speak English in some fashion or another. We didn't have ANY problems with the language barrier. Hope this puts everyone's minds at rest. Personally we wouldn't like to "schlep" our luggage on the trains & busses. Let the taxi driver deal with it!

Joey..... Santorini is absolutely breathtaking!!! We did a tour of the entire island and totally fell in love with the beauty and the food! Whatever you do, don't just go into the town, Fira. You must go to Oia (pronounced eeya) it is spectacular. Wow any more superlatives???

I don't know about them being the only cruise line charging, but they do charge at "Scoops" which is an ice cream parlor out on deck near the pool. All other icecream in the restaurants etc is free of course.

Swiper, great to have you join us!

we've been in May and September and have seen plenty of whales on both cruises. On the September cruise we had a pod of Orcas (about 12 of them) swim alongside our ship for more than 30 minutes. The captain stopped and we were able to get fanastic video coverage and they played right next to the ship - totally awesome! :grin: :grin: