zebra

Jerbet, this is the first time that we're RV'ing outside Florida. We're now going to be touring the States (we retired a month ago) - actually we also plan to be in Arizona this winter. Where do you usually go to there?

My two cents worth....... We have been twice. Once on a 14 day cruise/land (by train) package, on a smaller ship, the Sea Princess, and the 2nd time we did a 7 day inside passage cruise from Seattle on a much larger ship, the Diamond Princess. Firstly, IMHO there is absolutely NO comparison between the land/cruise package and the inside passage. I would fully advise you to do the land/cruise cruise. This package gives you a true experience of Alaska, which is more than awesome! Not only are the Princess lodges wonderful but the itinerary takes you to the best glaciers, which are further north. Spending a day cruising Glacier Bay we had a close ip experience with a pod of Killer whales, right alongside the ship. They stayed with us for about 30 minutes and we have it all on video! We also saw a Grizzly bear on the beach, which we could see clearly with the naked eye, from the ship Sea Princess (1950 pax). Of course this package will probably be 12 - 14 days. The ship was small enough for the captain to maneuver it close to the "calving" glaciers etc etc. Now the Diamond Princess, for those who haven't been on her, is a gorgeous new ship, but that's a huge part of your vacation (covered pools etc) but she can't get into all the same bays that the smaller ships can. Also they have her on the Inside Passage, which after experiencing the above, doesn't even compare. (Sorry about the reitteration!) We haven't had experience on other cruise lines to Alaska - but Princess and HAL have the biggest share of that market according to cruise magazines. So in a nutshell - smaller ship and a cruise that starts in Valdez or Seward - are going to give you the most "travel bang for your buck".

Sorry Joey, it looks like January we'll probably be in your neck of the woods (or close) maybe Arizona, not sure. Don't think we'll be back in Florida until sometime after our 2007 summer in Alaska.

Yes at the FLL airport they had a 'sample" ziplock with small bottle & tubes in it. They ask you if you have one of those, if you say yes you have to show it to them. We only had a 45 min flight from FLL to Tampa after getting off our cruise, so we just packed ALL bottles/tubes etc in our checked baggage - this of course will not be the case for a transatlantic flight - we'll need some of these goodies with us.

Joey, on the evening of the crossing we docked in Cristobal/Colon. We were only there for 4 hours, it has a craft market on the pier that's all. We've done this before so we went to a movie onboard instead.

Is anyone else using Air France by chance? Our return trip from Venice is to Atlanta via Paris - which is on Delta but operated by Air France. I have checked their website for baggage allowances etc and don't see anything particularly different from Delta's baggage policies. Does anyone else know anything different?

Joey can you send a bottle to the Olympic? It was my understanding that they offer an entirely different selection of wines, if fact even have their own wine cellar. I thought they only push their selection. You can also buy just a glass - at a premium :grin: My TA is sending us wine to our cabin as a Bon Voyage gift, so now with Tony's new medical limitations we won't be bringing anything onboard. Of course I can still drink, but it's no fun drinking on my own. So we've chosen to do our wine drinking mostly in port, because as I said before, we love the Spanish reds and Italian Chianti - so seeing we are on ration :grin: we choose to rather drink those that we can't get at home.

Yeah.... since Tony's diagnosis - the max alcohol he can have is one glass of wine in a day - and then that's only once in a while.

Thanks for updating us on your trip Gail - hope you have the BEST time!! Joey... no wine package for us - Tony is Diabetic so we are trying hard to control his sugar. Diane... I couldn't believe how much extra weight those toiletries, perfumes etc added to our baggage. We used to carry them in our carryon's.... bummer.

Jeoy... please would you put the date and time of the pre-cruise meet & greet on your Millie Group Page - it only mentions the location. Thanks you're a star!

Margaret & Mike, we are also booked at the Olympic for 7pm on the 4th...Gee I wonder if there will be any Goat Cheese Souffle left over for Joey & David when they get there??? :undecided:

Joey that's the same night that we're going to the Olympic - see you there :grin:

Just a reminder - don't forget to notify your credit card companies that you'll be using your credit/debit cards in Europe. I don't know if this is specifically my Bank (Credit Union) or if it applies to everyone, but they say that any monies draw at an ATM or anywhere where you need to use your PIN, with your Debit Card, outside of the USA, these funds come out of your SAVINGS account. So you withdraw cash out of your savings account. Of course, if you purchase anything with the Debit Card then it is withdrawn out of the checking account. Just FYI !!!!!!

I don't know if Celebrity offers the same excursion. But, if you are going to Puntarenas, Costa Rica - we did the "Costa Rica Favorites" excursion (pricey) but BY FAR the highlight of our cruise. It was spectacular, you do a cruise down a river, and an aerial tram through the canopy of the forest, included was a mid morning fruit buffet and then at lunch time at the Rainforest we had a buffet style lunch - all excellent!! There airconditioned coaches are also the latest and greatest, extremely comfortable. It was operated by Elite.

Diane, the Brilliance was docked right across from us in Venice last year.

thesunvol, Welcome to CruiseCrazies, hope to see you posting often!!!

Welcome Stan115, looking forward to getting to know you!!!!!

Welcome edahan, great to have you onboard!!!!

Welcome happycs4u, looking forward to getting to know you!!!

Welcome Elva to the friendliest cruise board on the net!!!! So glad you've joined us.

Welcome bluesky - great to have you onboard, please post often.

Welcome liv4dalord, great to have you onboard - please post often, this is a very firendly group and we'll be more than happy to answer any questions you might have. Enjoy CruiseCrazies!!!!

Welcome learnin, so great to see you posting - glad you have joined us!!!!

Welcome purr_30, great to have you onboard!!!!!

Welcome louiethelou - so glad you found your way here, this is a great cruising family!!!