Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Rondar on March 09, 2009, 01:07:55 PM
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Wife and I leaving this weekend and going to cruise a week on Carnival Pride down the Mexican Riviera. Puerto Valarta, Mazatlan and Cabo san Lucas.
Just wondered if anybody from here might possibly be on it.
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If anyone was, you'd have to ignore them. That's Mrs. Rondar's time *wink*
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Wont be on that particular one...we just did the Greater Antillies last October for our 25th Anniversary.
The cruise itself will be awesome. Just follow the daily literary.
The folks who serve you depend on the tips at the end (last night) for their livelyhood--there will be a recommended percentage list for each person in your cruise info pack. The folks are from all over the planet, so enjoy meeting very nice people from every corner of the earth.
In port--there won't be a price tag on anything at the markets. Why? It's all about bartering and negotiating for the final price. In Mexico, when you are looking at things to buy, they won't say jack until you start asking how much it costs--then--they think they have you. They will normally ask for twice what it really costs and like used car dealers here--pray you are a sucker. Don't fall for it. Think in your head what half is and offer that. If they won't bite...start walking away. If they are smart, they will follow you around yapping on and on about stuff and then counter offer. Think quickly what 20% less of that is and counter offer with that. Usually, it's a sale and you got a bargain.
It's also no joke about "dont drink the water" and that includes ice cubes in drinks while in port.
Have fun and please stay safe, bro!! :salute :salute :salute
ROX
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Flew to Athens then cruised islands in the Aegean till eventually flying back from Instanbul. That was about 15 years ago. Not sure I'd want to do it again in today's political climate.
As far as Mexico goes, prepare to be molested incessantly by street vendors and guys pushing time shares. The bit about the water is mostly true. It's probably ok at the larger hotels, but elsewhere beware. :uhoh One word... cerveza. :aok
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Did the first Nicolodeon Cruise last August with the kids.
In about 2 weeks we are going on another to Honduras, Belize and a few other places on the Norwegian line.
I was dreading the first one, but it was actually enjoyable.
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Did the first Nicolodeon Cruise last August with the kids.
In about 2 weeks we are going on another to Honduras, Belize and a few other places on the Norwegian line.
I was dreading the first one, but it was actually enjoyable.
Never heard of a Nickelodeon Cruise? Very expensive? (relatively speaking)
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Never heard of a Nickelodeon Cruise? Very expensive? (relatively speaking)
It was ridiculously expensive.
For a family of 5 (3 kids 2 adults) it was just over $11,000. For that we had adjoining balcony cabins.
The cruise we just booked we paid $3,700, for that we got a balcony suite and one inside room. (I won't do a cruise unless I have a balcony, that was part of the reason I enjoyed the first one).
The one we did last August (Nickelodeon) was the first one they did...they brought a couple of the stars from iCarly on the ship and had lots of theme stuff going on. It was on a Royal Caribbean ship, but you had to book with Nickelodeon.
NOT worth it IMHO...for almost 1/3 the cost you can do the same cruise.
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It was ridiculously expensive.
For a family of 5 (3 kids 2 adults) it was just over $11,000. For that we had adjoining balcony cabins.
The cruise we just booked we paid $3,700, for that we got a balcony suite and one inside room. (I won't do a cruise unless I have a balcony, that was part of the reason I enjoyed the first one).
The one we did last August (Nickelodeon) was the first one they did...they brought a couple of the stars from iCarly on the ship and had lots of theme stuff going on. It was on a Royal Caribbean ship, but you had to book with Nickelodeon.
NOT worth it IMHO...for almost 1/3 the cost you can do the same cruise.
OUCH!@! :uhoh
The cruise I took in Greece was only slightly more than that, but that was ten days and included airfare to/from DFW. If you're interested, check out Windstar cruises. Very nice. :aok Got a special treat one morning when we sailed into Rhodes and there was Enterprise anchored in the harbor. :D
The ships are very nice. (complete with functional sails)
(http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/774/windstar.jpg) (http://img407.imageshack.us/my.php?image=windstar.jpg)
Funny story: The ship's crew was telling us that the previous outing had been a chartered Gays-Only cruise. We made a point of bringing it up often just to see the crew shudder. :lol
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i joined the navy did the med cruise thing.. all for free
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i joined the navy did the med cruise thing.. all for free
Cool! We had 24hr open bar and didn't have to clean any toilets. :D
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I'm going on a cruise in July...
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OUCH!@! :uhoh
The cruise I took in Greece was only slightly more than that, but that was ten days and included airfare to/from DFW. If you're interested, check out Windstar cruises. Very nice. :aok Got a special treat one morning when we sailed into Rhodes and there was Enterprise anchored in the harbor. :D
The ships are very nice. (complete with functional sails)
(http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/774/windstar.jpg) (http://img407.imageshack.us/my.php?image=windstar.jpg)
Funny story: The ship's crew was telling us that the previous outing had been a chartered Gays-Only cruise. We made a point of bringing it up often just to see the crew shudder. :lol
Looks nice.
The Med is a possibility for the future but I think we will be looking at doing an Asian cruise in the next couple of years.
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Considering it seems just about every other week either the passengers get sick. Or more frequently lately, turn up missing. You couldnt get me on a cruise if you gave it to me for free.
then again hmmm
Maybe I could send the wife :D
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Wifey and I did a 5-day of Royal Caribbean a few years ago as her post-chemo celebration, went to Cayman, Cozumel....by the end we were trying to figure how how to get jobs on boat and just never leave!
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Heh...I cruise around the pacific on a commercial fishing vessel.
They have really good catering! Ravioli in a can under the exhaust manifold! :lol
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Heh...I cruise around the pacific on a commercial fishing vessel.
They have really good catering! Ravioli in a can under the exhaust manifold! :lol
College Cuisine on the High Seas. Shuffleboard anyone? :lol
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Actually the wife and I prefer to get a room on AMTRAK. ABQ to CHI and return is good times....
Last year we went from Albany NY to ABQ 2 days no teens.... priceless (Grin)
Regards,
Kevin
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We've talked about doing a train trip sometime as it sounds like fun to do that.
This will be our 4th cruise. We know about drinking the water and watching for surroundings like we would do in any city, and to stay on main street, so to speak. We've never been to California though, so we are going a couple extra days early and going to see the queen mary and some other stuff, then go on the cruise.
So.. :D See y'alls in "TWO WEEKS"
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Well, seems we got lucky on this cruise. 3 couples went from our town. One couple won a few hundred dollars on a penny slot machine. My wife and I went to the "art auction" ha ha and all that, and she won a painting that will be sent in a few weeks, also won a 500 dollar art certificate if you bought a painting 1000 or higher, and also got free art that everyone gets if you stay until the end of the auction. Anyone going to a cruise art auction knows things are terribly overinflated pricing, and we sure werent going to spend 500 or more to use the 500 dollar certificate. Pretty lucky getting her name pulled out of a raffle basket.
We thought we were really doing well and we were. I even managed to bring home 61 bucks more than I spent in the slot machines myself for 3 days. Ahhh what could be better? Wife spent 20 dollars on a raffle tickets for a free 7 day cruise since another couple from our town won one last fall on a cruise. Yep.. wife almost wet her pants when they called her number out on the last night of the cruise. So our next one is free free free.... (almost... we have to pay fuel surcharge and taxes). We were very lucky indeed.
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I went on a week long cruise with the family up to Alaska this past August. Flew from here in LA to Vancouver where our ship was. Ship took us up through the panhandle making some stops along the way, eventually ending up in glacier bay. Went up to Anchorage, flew back home to LA. Best trip I've ever been on...made me want to move to Alaska. It was with Princess Cruises, BTW. I got (some) pics if anyone's interested.
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I've been on 2 cruises. Both on Royal Caribbean, both fantastic. :rock
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Rondar you lucky sob you.
Sounds like you had an awesome time.
We leave Thursday to head to Miami and then off on our cruise on Sunday.
:pray <- For good weather. :)
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Flew to Athens then cruised islands in the Aegean till eventually flying back from Instanbul. That was about 15 years ago. Not sure I'd want to do it again in today's political climate.
As far as Mexico goes, prepare to be molested incessantly by street vendors and guys pushing time shares. The bit about the water is mostly true. It's probably ok at the larger hotels, but elsewhere beware. :uhoh One word... cerveza. :aok
There be dragons there, mate!... Of course not, it is a perfectly save area. In fact, far safer than Mexican water.
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Curval what cruise line and ship you leaving on. All 4 of our cruises have been Carnival and all have been great so far, no complaints. Always something to do and always somewhere quiet to go to also whenever we wanted that.
I liked to stay up late after most people went to bed, and just walk around outside and find a cozy spot behind a glass/plexiglas shield and smoke a cigar. I always carried a bunch extra and whenever I would spot one of the crew somewhere grabbing a smoke, I would go and offer them one. It really made their day and mine also. Some of those guys get treated like crap, and I like to try and make a difference back to them. A lot of them cant or wont speak english but they sure do smile like we do when I gave them a couple of cigars.
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Norweigan...we are on the "Pearl". Last one was Royal Caribbean.
We had looked at a Carnival cruise but the timing wasn't right. One thing though...they talked about "Freestyle cruising" on the Carnival website...being a concept that, for example, you eat when you want to...not at set times. But then when I started to read the detail I noticed that dinner had two seatings and was from X.XX o'clock to Y.YY o'clock. (don't remember the exact times) I thought that was a bit misleading. What do they mean by free style cruising then?
I'm beginning to get pretty psyched for our trip now, up until now I had such a long "to do" list at the office that I was pretty stressed and unable to get excited. I have one day left but at least there is light at the end of the tunnel as far as what I need to get done.
Actually I have every reason to celebrate as well, just got some great news...so it is gonna be a fun trip.
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Good news? You can do better than that... Did the latest boatload of pink shorts come in?
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hehe
Nope.
Yesterday a Supreme Court judge here signed an Order we sought on March 18 to dissolve 8 of 9 companies my partner and I were appointed to liquidate. The one remaining company could not be dissolved because we were waiting to get a tax clearance from the Russian tax authority. We actually received it on the 18th but too late to include that company in the application. In April we will dissolve the last one. It is the largest (to date) court ordered liquidation to have been conducted here and will be a career building feather in our caps.
Back on topic though, last night I went upstairs to watch a little tv before crashing and there was a show all about the Norweign Pearl on. I very quickly discovered that my last post showed how confused I was. Freestyle cruising is a Norweigan line thing and frankly it is no different than Royal Caribbean. The Freestyle eating is available at the specialty restaurants, not the main dining rooms and of course the specialty restaurants cost. It is purely a money making concept.
But, who cares...I'm going to have fun with the family. We leave tomorrow morning for Miami and then jump on the ship on Sunday. :rock
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rondar you lucky tard :aok glad it was a good trip bud
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Thanks Skullman. Surre hope things are looking better for you also.
Curval, we had assigned seating if we wanted to eat in the nice dining room. There was a supper club on board that you made reservations for if you were so inclined. It would have cost us 30 bucks per person per day to eat there. We are plenty happy with the dining room food which is included in the cost of the cruise, so we dont even think of spending another 60 bucks plus tips on one meal which we have already paid for lol. There is no cost reduction if you eat in the super duper supper club and dont eat in the regular dining rooms. Anyway, have a great time. I know you will because I dont know how u could have a bad time on a cruise, really.
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ya,,,,,i used to go to the local webers drive in, with some buddies, back when i had my 67 stang. they were some fun curise nights.
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Curval, we had assigned seating if we wanted to eat in the nice dining room. There was a supper club on board that you made reservations for if you were so inclined. It would have cost us 30 bucks per person per day to eat there. We are plenty happy with the dining room food which is included in the cost of the cruise, so we dont even think of spending another 60 bucks plus tips on one meal which we have already paid for lol. There is no cost reduction if you eat in the super duper supper club and dont eat in the regular dining rooms. Anyway, have a great time. I know you will because I dont know how u could have a bad time on a cruise, really.
Okay, that is another Freestyle thing I guess, there's no assigned seating in the main dining room. We did the same as you on the last cruise but this one the wife wants to eat her sushi etc. so for $15-$25 she can go there, with any of the kids that want to go and then the rest can eat with me. Put some lobster and steak in front of me and I'm good. :)
I will have a great time, I'm sure. How can you go wrong in a floating hotel in a room with a balcony? Bookstore is my first stop in Miami. :)
I can't believe that I am actually in a position to go though...I sort of surfaced at about 6.30pm from a mass of paper and realised that I had run out of stuff that had to be done. I hope I haven't forgotten anything though because we have an 8.30am flight to NY.
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Well, we did that cruise and it was great.
I have, in fact, just put down a deposit on a 5 day Celebrity cruise to Jamaica and Cayman.
We'll leave Dec 12.
This one is just the wife and I and will (hopefully) be a suprise for her Christmas present. She is under the impression that we have to go to Miami for a conference and I won't tell her what is going on until we pull into the Port of Miami.
Then we will go aboard and stay in the Royal Suite for 5 nights.
The guy who helped organise the trip asked me what dinner seating time I'd like and I told him that it didn't matter...we have our own dining room and won't need any seating in the main one.
:)
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That is the only way to cruise!!!! Gosh darn commercial cruise ships are unsafe....... In this day and age, world-wide, more then 1 person per day disappears from cruise ships.
i joined the navy did the med cruise thing.. all for free
So the moral of the story is..... Don't be a drunk on any open air decks of the ship! (You may fall over, and in the evenings, you are as good as gone soon as it happens)
Stay Safe Rondar!!!
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Glad to hear you had a great time. Sounds like this next one will be awesome.