Kendall James-Vargas

@LukeJ Speaking of sickness, I'm curious how many guests actually get sea sick onboard cruises. As an avid cruiser, I have yet to feel awfully sea sick onboard a cruise itinerary. I have felt sea sickness on a smaller boat but never on a cruise ship! Maybe I have been lucky with smooth sailing or my body is more tolerable than most. I usually bring Dramamine along just in case. For those that get motions sickness, what over the counter medicine works best?

@KeithG I like an evening departure! Most ships try to rush the embarkation/disembarkation process so when it's slower it feels more relaxed. Thanks for sharing the details on Carnival Jubilee's naming ceremony. Were you able to participate/view the ceremony live? I was pretty impressed by those boots!

@LukeJ I don't salt the food after it's done being cooked because I season it to my liking during the cooking process. I find the US diet to be overly salted and the sodium content to be excessive. Most all food, particularly pre-packaged and highly processed foods are very sodium dense. It's the same with the added sugars. Added sugars are off the charts here, but our food standards like likely lower than in Europe. I wish I had space to grow herbs! That's my goal once I move out of my townhome. I would love to try and grow my own organic produce.

@LukeJ It seems like such a seasonal place. I don't know if I would be able to enjoy constant rain, particularly in the cold! The idea of lush and green sounds lovely, but I'm picturing lots of mosquitos. That's an issue of constant humidity and tropical climates, which only seems to happen a during the summer months. It has to be horrid to drive in too. Does Wales salt the roads in order to avoid the cars sliding while driving? Where I live they don't salt the roads because of what it does to the cars, but the city does plow the roads. When it rains, do you get thunder and lightning too? That's the worst because it makes being outdoors so dangerous!

Were you able to confirm if your gaming console would be allowed in your stateroom? I would imagine cruising without the console would be much better overall. It takes up luggage space and would cause for a distraction during your vacation! Hopefully the kids club has some of the games your son will enjoy so he gets to enjoy playing while at sea. That would be the most convenient option!

@Bernie Were you able to find out more details on this promotion? Did you find out if you qualified for it? It was a pretty generous promotion so I hope you were able to take advantage of it! I'm sure it encouraged many guests to consider the card.

@LukeJ Where you live, how many months out of the year do you experience those weather patterns? Does the rain ever end? It must be a very humid place. When I used to reside in Florida, it was very humid, occasionally rainy, but never snows! I wish you were able to experience more sun during that crumby time of year. It makes a big difference! April is when the flowers should start blooming, right? Do you typically cruise to escape that relentless season of grey?

@Seaawgs I agree that bottled water just seems the safest. Thankfully I have never experienced a sickness from water onboard a ship, but I also pride myself in being mindful/careful of the water sources I choose. It's true this seems like a thoughtful strike on a favorable product. Your statement of "who wouldn't pay a few extra bucks to stay alive" made me laugh. Those stock values do speak volumes. I wonder why RCL's stock has recovered seemingly faster than CCL's. What is your thought on that?

@LukeJ Coming from the US, I don't think I have ever heard anyone say they dislike the taste of salt! Everything is salted to the max here. I have friends that have salt all over, and the new popular kind of salt is "flaky salt." Flaky salt is meant for everything, even on desserts and baked goods to balance out the sweetness. Salt is very important to my culture. I choose the lightly salted chips and so forth when I can but there isn't always an option. The cheese here are overly salted too! My last MSC Cruises' itinerary I realized the bread is served with butter, and there is salted for the "Americans" and unsalted for the Europeans. I only wanted the salted butter, along with everyone in my family but that's not the norm in other countries. I like most all flavors and seasonings. It brings food to life! What are some spices most used in your cuisine?

@Seaawgs You make some really great points. I see why cruise lines have increased certain prices to try to recover from those significant losses. I also brush my teeth with the tap water onboard cruise ships and thankfully have been fine. I figure it's safe enough, but I wouldn't drink out of it. I prefer to bring a refillable water onboards my cruises and refill them at the buffet area. If you bring a stainless steel cup, the water will stay cool for hours, and it's simple to bring one along with you and leave one filled in your cabin for night time if needed. Even when I have the drink package, I feel comfortable with my refillable water routine. I snag bottle water here and there, but it doesn't keep my water cool out by the pool. It's annoying that CCL is clearly targeting water and how essential it is to all guests. It's a strategy, but I agree with @LukeJ that it's very evident cruise lines are trying to target the vast majority of guests to pay more for a staple item.

@LukeJ The photo above is the perfect depiction of how I would like my next Christmas to be. I have contemplated spending this upcoming Christmas in Florida but I think it's going to be out of my budget. Unless you can drive to the embarkation port, flights during Christmas can be so outrageous! I really wish that wasn't the case but it's almost double the cost of an off-season ticket. Cruise prices are the same. Off-season prices are so much better than those peak times of the year. Muddy sludge sounds awful. It makes me feel like I shouldn't complain about the nice white snow I get during the winter months. Raining and ice in the bitter cold sound way worse than what I experience in the midwest of the US. I think living in the bitter, icy cold sounds horrid. I think it's better to be a seasonal resident in the UK. It sounds necessary to escape it!

@LukeJ History is nice, but I'm not too impressed by it. That may sound like an uneducated statement but I'm a forward thinker so I'm not as excited about history. Don't get my wrong, I value history and learning about it, but it's not something I go out of my way to look for. I'm more interested to visit Europe for the culture (founded by history I know), food, and scenery! @mikeHive I have heard Scotland and Ireland are amazing! In fact, my uncle and aunt ventured there a couple years ago and fell in love. They have decided once they retire from their careers, which is relatively soon, they will retire in Ireland. It's a bold statement for them because they are usually not that adventurous. It definitely means the area has to be spectacular.

@RoadTravelled Thanks for the tip! I will certainly call AT&T and ask. According to my husband we pay monthly for the phones so we always get an upgrade. We are about due for another upgrade. Maybe I can hold off on the upgrade for a bit, ensuring it's unlocked, and then get a new phone after the trip. It's bound to get broken or stollen at some point anyways. I do loose my phone around the house a lot, but thankfully I have never had it stollen. My motto is, use it till it breaks. This is a good theory, although my husband used to disagree. One way we chartered a yacht with some family and he jumped in the ocean. When he jumped in, he lost his Apple watch. It sunk and the water was very deep. He wanted a new Apple watch and I kept saying no. Now he's thankful he waited because it could have been his brand new one that he lost!

@RoadTravelled That's excellent! I think it's brilliant that you are able to get one eSim that will work for all of your cruise destinations this time around. I didn't know you could earn reward points too! That's great. How much do you have to spend in order to earn extra points? I love that you have a referral code too. When the time comes down to purchasing it, I would absolutely love the code. Well the fact that it isn't a physical SIM card is even better! I can certainly manage downloading an app on my phone. All of these details are very important. I think I pay annually for my phone so I can get the upgrade every few years. That may hinder my usage from this system on my current cellular device.

@RoadTravelled Thanks for sharing all of that info! I haven't used an Airalo eSim card but I would be interested to try in for my Peru trip next year. I will be there some time and happily use wifi for communication, but this time I plan to rent a car so I will need GPS. I have to look up how to insert the SIM card into my fancy Iphone. What's crazy is I known how to navigate my phone so well, but when it comes down to inputing a SIM card, I'm clueless. The price is really good for this eSim card so I'm going to watch a Youtube tutorial and try to figure it out. It can't be too complicated! This tip may have saved me some serious bucks. I could always get a more basic phone if needed just for the purpose of using that SIM card.

@LukeJ You and I must have a similar eating style because I don't always have ice cream in my freezer either. If I did have ice cream in my freezer at all times, my husband and kids would be chowing down on it everyday! There is something really nostalgic about ice cream on a sunny day out by the pool. The idea of having cool ice cream out in the sun is a whole vacation mood in itself. Ice cream in a bowl in the evening in my AC-cooled house is not the same. The little things like unlimited ice cream make guests feel special, and it doesn't come at a huge cost to the cruise lines. When you take away those imperative and stand-out perks that make guests so happy for a very minimal cost, it's not always a good call. Those little things actually keep guests loyal to certain cruise lines. If those niche perks are taken away, you are left to explore other lines because what was once so special doesn't feel the same anymore. That's why loyalty perks are so important! If cruise lines have your loyalty, they should reward you and entice you to keep coming back for more instead of branching out to a competitor.

@ConnorWood I haven't seen an official release yet stating all NCL ships have Starlink onboard, but the roll out should be complete by now. The Starlink service is a game changer, particularly for the crew! The crew members deserve faster speed internet to connect with family and friends abroad. Crew members have to typically pay for their own wifi service to connect with their loved ones. To me, that service should be included for all crew members. Let's not forget these hard-working individuals are isolated from their family and friends to work and primarily send money back home to their families. This job is trying emotionally, and often physically too. It's very important for the crew's sanity to engage with their loved ones regularly. NCL customer service may be able to confirm or deny the Starlink rollout onboard all of it's ships, but for the most part I have read majority of NCL ships are offering it onboard now.

@LukeJ Sometimes it's nice to mix up land and cruise adventures! A little bit of both can end up making for the perfect vacation. I like land vacations because I don't have a limited time to explore the area. I can spend a night or two at a hotel or travel via car more inland to get the experience a cruise may not be able to give me. I prefer to travel via cruise ideally, but cruises don't always give you enough time to explore certain regions at the port. Balancing some time in a hotel and other time on a cruise is the perfect scenario. You are very well traveled! In fact, you have visited many of my bucket list destinations in Europe. I really want to go to Europe. Everyone in my extended family have visited there on multiple occasions except for me!

@Lindsay That an awesome cruise! I love when cruises have different embarkation and disembarkation ports. Will you be cruising out this April? Hawaii will be lovely this time of year. It will be warm, sunny, and humid with not much chance of rain. Bringing a light rain jacket is a good idea because it is spring. You never know when you will get some rain, so it's better to be prepared just in case. There are lots of excursion options in Hawaii from beaches to more adventurous hikes. Which Hawaiian island would you like excursion recommendations for? https://www.cruisehive.com/category/cruise-port-tips/hawaii

@Shanna That must have been such a horrifying sight! That poor pelican, no one should be so inhumane. I'm assuming/hoping the goal of that child wasn't to harm the bird, but you have no idea. You never know what's going through a person's head. Let's just hope that out of control behavior doesn't continue on, putting other people/things in harms way. I tell my children) who are young), if you don't learn how to behavior yourself properly in society/with others now, you are going to break the rules when you are older. That would lead them to a life in jail. It's my job as a parent to teach my children how to behave and acceptable coping mechanisms. Throwing and hurting things are not acceptable behaviors at any age. @LukeJ It was a horrifying sight, I understand it's cultural practice, but I can't get onboard with it. I can't imagine how it would have felt to approach this scene. It would have ruined my day. In fact, I think it may have ruined many of the guests' day onboard that cruise itinerary.

@LukeJ As long as you don't come down with a bug, I think most cruise guests expect, and are comfortable with, the idea of gaining weight on a cruise. It's best to limit yourself while home, but give yourself less limits on vacation. It's nice not to have to worry about the little things on vacation and let loose. Life is all about balance, right? Staying active is one way to feel confident in eating outside of your typical diet. Another way to feel comfortable with eating more/different foods is just to use portion control! You can eat wheat you want within reason. Many people use intermittent fasting to control their weight, eating whatever they want during a certain timeframe. I personally avoid certain food groups, such as most sugar items like dessert and sugar beverages. Those foods always make me feel horrible and often trigger a migraine. Staying active on the ship/off the ship is another great way to feel confident to eat what you crave!

@kefthecruiser Tampa is a booming! It's such a fun port to visit, and it's pretty simple to cruise out of too. It's even better if you can get dropped off at the port and avoid parking or drive just a short distance to get there. Let's just hope Tampa doesn't become Miami; Tampa is big enough and has grown substantially over the years. Growth is good, but to me, the size of the Port of Tampa is ideal. It has lots of traffic without feeling overwhelming. The last minute prices aren't the same! I remember last minute deals to be such good prices. Sometimes the earlier you book, the more you save. Also, many cruise lines price match if the rate goes lower, and I love that. That makes booking earlier even better.

@LukeJ It's so cool you have had the opportunity to travel to Spain! I have a friend who is heading to Portugal all next month and I can't wait to hear about her experiences. She's more adventurous than I am, so she will likely stay in hostels, but I still can't want to hear about all of the beauty she explores. I'm more of the hotel/cruise the region type of person, but I did just hike/tent camp in Zion National Park. I wouldn't say it was an amazing sleeping situation, but my kids had a blast and the scenery was unforgettable so that was the important part! I don't think it helps that it dropped to to 30 degrees Fahrenheit in the evening and I'm a little too pregnant. Alicante sounds amazing and I'm noticing some cruise lines sailing out of/near that region! I'm officially a Diamond member with MSC Cruises and the line offers a few cruises out of Alicante that would totally interest me. You aren't the only one who enjoys Alicante! https://www.cruisehive.com/spanish-port-sailing-toward-record-cruise-traffic-in-2024/120628

@LukeJ I find the name Turkey Hill quite ironic because, as we all know, turkeys don't produce milk. It would make more sense if the company name was "Cow Hill." Don't you think? Does anyone like Tillamook? It's sold pretty much at all major grocers now and it's great quality for it's affordable price. Tillamook's mint chocolate chip doesn't have any artificial flavors or colors in it, meaning it's not necessarily bright green. It's comes in a larger size and at a great price for it's quality!

@Harriet Thanks for that! Mahogany Bay is in fact in Honduras. Many people get it confused to be in Jamaica, and I think it's because of Montego Bay. Montego Bay is a beach town west of Falmouth, Jamaica. It's a lovely port to explore! Jamaica is currently at a level three travel advisory, meaning you should reconsider travel at this time. Have you cruised to Jamaica in the past?