Kendall James-Vargas

@LukeJ After having to manage bills and schedules, facing extra responsibility everyday, I love the idea of checking out. Cruising can really be so mindless if you want it to be. I don't have to think about shopping for groceries or rushing to an appointment, I just show up wherever whenever. It's a true break when I don't have to constantly manage my schedule in order to get all of my duties accomplished for the day. Oftentimes, I go to bed thinking about the things I was unable to complete that day. Not having to report or accomplish anything on a cruise is life-giving! I do agree that cruising is so popular for this reason. Not only do I have nothing bogging my mind down, but I don't even have access to connecting with anything via cell service or wi-fi that could potentially distract me from being present with myself and my family while cruising! I love that I have the option to refuse wi-fi. Pretty much no other vacation offers that as an option. The costs of flight and stay alone end up being more costly than cruising! After doing some math, I figured feeding my family for a week of going out for every meal for an entire week ends up being about $1,000. That's half the cost of the cruise! It can definitely be a cheaper if not the cheapest travel option.

@Woody14 Your wife sounds wonderful! Being a full-time teacher is not for the faint of heart. Hopefully, once she finishes her teaching career you will be able to pursue more efficient cruise travel. Even the flights during peak season are priced so much higher than off-season. Does your wife have a particular vacation in mind once she isn't bound to the teacher schedule anymore? There are ways around cruising and saving money, one of those ways would be to have flexible housing instead of being bound to a mortgage! You could even rent your property off to have it pay for itself while you life your life without any strings attached for a couple of years. After being bound to a set schedule for most of your life, it could feel so freeing to do whatever you want whenever you want! It's like a new wave of living.

@LukeJ I'm so glad you agree! I think you and I may be the only ones that feel this way. I appreciate just one lounge chair if I can get my hands on one, but something I certainly won't do is move people's things. The last cruise we took, we traveled with friends. Our friends took their children to the water slides for about an hour but came back and spent hours more by the indoor pool where we had left our things. My children were too cold by the slides so we stayed put at the indoor pool, but there was a couple that came to their loungers and moved all of their things off of their chairs onto the floor! Obviously I said those were my friends' things, but the couple proceeded stating that they hadn't seen anyone at the chair for 30 minutes and they wanted a place to sit and watch their child swim. I can't imagine anyone doing that! It's pretty bold to be able to touch people's things and place them on the floor, while taking their seats. They sat their until my friends approached and then they got up and left. Would you be able to do something like that? I don't think I could.

@Crsr22 It does usually depend on where you are cruising from. As someone who has cruised out of the US underage before, I can attest that 21 is the legal drinking age onboard. If you get off the ship and the drinking age is different (say 18 years old), you can consume what you would like off of the ship. If you were to cruise out of Europe or another country with a lower drinking age, you should be able to drink alcohol onboard as long as you are of the legal drinking age for the departure location. You can always call and confirm theses details with the cruise line directly. Which cruise line will you be cruising with? Each line has its own rules and regulations for this.

@Rainy I love when cruise lines offer this perk for guests. Although I usually don't utilize the perk often, it's just really nice to know it's available if you want/need it. Do you ever order lunch or dinner to your stateroom? I'm more likely to order a pastry or fresh fruit to arrive in the morning over a full afternoon meal. You sound like a kind spouse. I turn on the light and let my partner know I'm going to eat regardless if he wants to join me or not. I'm definitely not the type to wait for his wakeup time. When my belly is rumbling, time is of the essence!

@LukeJ Thanks for your feedback. I have many friends that have traveled to Spain (and extended family that lives there), but I don't have any personal experience exploring the region. Which part of Spain did you visit? I know there are some truly lovely areas with amazing history and culture. Sailing through Gibraltar would be an unforgettable experience. The weather is certainly enjoyable most of the year in comparison to many other surrounding regions but I think I would choose cruising to Portugal over Spain. Speaking of weather, I hope there is more rain coming to this region. I'm hopeful it will recover and fully reopen quickly for cruise guests.

@FJB Is Lanzarote in the Canary Islands a dormant volcano? I have seen some very scary films recently after teaching my children about volcanoes, and I wouldn't want to visit one knowing it could potentially erupt at any given moment. I'm assuming if guests are allowed to explore the area, it isn't a threat. I didn't realize how many there are in the United States! I thought most of them were far from the States, but after watching a film on Mt. Saint Helen, I realized how catastrophic volcanoes can be so close to home!

@brian amos What compensation did the cruise line offer you for this cancellation? Was there any option for you to receive a flight credit from the airline company with documentation of the cruise cancellation? I really hope you were able to get your money back or at least a credit so you could try a do-over. I'm not sure where you were cruising from but flights to Australia aren't known to be affordable. Did MSC Cruises allow for you to rebook on another MSC Sinfonia itinerary?

@Lou Thanks for this tip! It's really great to know there is a hotel option like this near the Port of Galveston. @Woody14 I try to cruise at least once a year too since it is my favorite vacation, but sometimes life gets in the way. As long as I can make it work with my families' schedule, you can consider me an annual cruiser too. I'm getting to the point in life where skipping my annual cruise isn't really an option any more because I love it too much. When cruising with a budget, what cruise line do you typically choose? Have you considered a transpacific voyage? It could potentially cut the flight costs in half, but I know those itineraries are few and far between.

@Rainy This is very exciting! I'm not sure what cruise lines you have sailed with before, but I have a feeling you will love Princess Cruises. Typically, Princess Cruises does not attract young families with children, and I doubt you will see many children (if any) on your cruise. The ages of you daughters are perfect for cruising with the line. I think this is going to be a cruise to remember for you and your family! What ports of call will you be visiting during this itinerary? The summer season is a great one for a New England cruise!

@FJB Thanks for your response here. It was an unfortunate delay but as you said, it wasn't too bad. @Norm Hicks That sounded like a traumatic experience! Bad weather is no joke. I can't imagine how crazy it must have felt like to be onboard this sailing! CCL usually does it right!

@FJB It's a wait, but 15 minutes isn't that bad. It's way different than 30 plus minutes. I think I would still prefer to just walk up and to my table and be served right away. I'm not the type to be able to wait for food. In the morning, I rush to eat breakfast actually. I'm not an over eater, but when I'm hungry I eat. That's one reason I love the bread and butter at the table. I grab one of those and it puts me in a good mood instantly. Maybe food is my love language.

@LukeJ I'm glad you agree. Can you imagine if it happened again? I'm sure the ship's reputation would just be destroyed at that point. That's something you can't mess around with. It's pretty uncommon that an outbreak like this even occurs due to those really stringent sanitary protocols. Cruise lines have to stay on top of everything to keep themselves as attractive. There are many options out there in the industry; I believe more than ever before! It's a competitive market for sure. Cruise lines are only looking for good publicity, not negative!

@euroguy It was a headache but it all worked itself out in the end! It felt good to vent about it on the boards though. It's a reminder to all to not wait until the last minute for anything. I blame my husband for the entire experience. I'm more of a "get it done a year in advance" type of person. This may be why I booked another cruise for two years out onboard this last cruise! The deposits and onboard cruise credit were just too good to pass up. The only downside, cruising out of a cruise port that is a little inconvenient for me. It's a new-to-me port of embarkation so I'm excited to give it a go. I definitely learned my lesson about the passport though. I will never wait that long again. In case of an emergency, I always want to have an active passport in hand regardless if I have a cruise planned or not.

@Seaawgs That's a great point about the amplification of sounds. Children are definitely a loud group, almost like adults during happy hour. The Solarium seems to be the only adults-only pool area onboard. I think those spaces are important and there are other great options for children. As someone who cruises with my children regularly, I see the benefit to opening up the Solarium to children if there is poor weather. On my recent cruise I spent alot of time at the indoor/retractable roof pool because it was rainy and cold. Some days it was the only pool time my kids got that day due to the weather. I appreciate the ships that have the adults-only pool outside. Then I have the opportunity to take the children to an indoor and outdoor pool without impeding on the adults-only space. @Rainy Chair hogging is a whole other issue! Even though I have a large family, I only need one or two loungers to accommodate my group. We spend most of our time in the pool anyways! I'm not a fan of those who take so many pool loungers but never really even sit on them. I find that pointless and unthoughtful of others. Even if I don't find a lounger, I will throw my stuff in a corner and hop in the pool. You can't let a chair ruin your fun!

@FJB Thanks for sharing your tips and tricks for utilizing your loyalty perks to your advantage! I can't imagine paying $1,700 for two beverage packages. It really is the price of an entire cruise! It's hard for me to imagine I would be able to consume that much alcohol at this stage in my life now. My husband probably would be able to get his money's worth, but there is no way I would. I will have to look into the bottle saving with MSC Cruises. I do believe that it's an option with this cruise line and most others if you purchase the bottle of wine. I also think you could have the option to take it back to your stateroom. That's a very low deposit. Do they have free cancellation within a certain timeframe as well? In fact, the deposit price is almost unheard of!

@LukeJ These things so happen, but with the high sanitary standards of cruises today, they shouldn't be happening. The cholera outbreak shouldn't be happening if the ship is following the strict sanitary standards cruise lines enforce for their ships. It's certainly not a good look for NCL to have an outbreak like this. Thankfully it's handled and under control now. After this, I highly doubt Norwegian Dawn will ever experience this again. All eyes will be on the ship and ship staff to ensure this doesn't occur. One thing is a virus that isn't because of the ships doing and another is completely the ships fault due to contaminated water. I would think if anything Norwegian Dawn is cleaner and more sanitized now that it ever was before!

@euroguy Your personal assistant really get's it done! I'mm impressed, and slightly jealous, at how good CCL is to you, but I can only imagine you deserve it. You are extremely loyal to the cruise line, and rightfully so! You are an awesome cruise guest to have onboard any ship. Also I have never seen more than like five offers at a time through CCL. The offers aren't anything out of this world either! I guess I need to prove my worth to the line! @FJB Those are somme really lovely and unforgettable ports, so different than the traditional Caribbean ports. What did you think of these first-time stops for you? Which one was your favorite? I absolutely loved Antigua when I visited. I look forward to returning soon.

@euroguy Sea days are the perfect time to enjoy the wifi package I'm assuming you purchased! I can't wait to hear all about the new dining menu and what you think of it. It's wonderful to switch things up. The classics are nice but they aren't exciting to me after a while. I would also love to hear about the elevators. On MSC Seashore you have four elevator car options and you are assigned to an elevator car based on your deck selection. I loved the elevator processes so much more this way. It greatly simplified the wait times and entire process. I think it's the best way and most cruise lines are beginning to do it. Running up and down the decks is no joke. I was dripping sweat after the first couple rounds! It's not for the faint of heart.

@LukeJ It's so popular here I didn't even think about how other countries likely don't even know the product! To be honest, I think Europe likely has better ice cream and gelato options. In the United States, everything is overly processed and made with lower quality ingredients. The food standards in Europe are much better than those in the US in general. After just coming off a MSC Cruises' ship I can tell you the ice cream offering onboard is superb. The flavors are so creamy and delicious, without being overly sweetened like the options offered on other cruise lines. I prefer pastries as well. MSC Cruises also has the best pastries out of all of the cruise lines I have tried. I indulge in those daily with a cappuccino daily instead of the "American" breakfast. I can make eggs and bacon any day at home!

@euroguy I wouldn't want to wait to be seated. If that's the case, I would prefer to dine at the selected dining time. I prefer the predictability piece of not not having to wait. Once I roll up to the dining room, I'm ready to eat! I also enjoy the early dining hour when possible. I don't mind leaving a port early to make it back in time to get ready before my dinner slot either. The MDR experience is a luxury I hate to miss. I typically try to dine in the MDR as often as possible, including lunch and breakfast if the schedule allows. Sometimes it's harder to make lunch in the MDR when you are having a good time out by the pool. Pizza and burgers can end up being more convenient if you have a good spot near the poolside entertainment!

@Cleve Unfortunately, the diamond level perks are not reciprocal amongst stateroom occupants. Each guest holds its own loyalty status with the line and each guest will get different perks depending on which loyalty level they currently hold. As a RCL diamond guest, you receive better perks than most but you cannot extend those perks to another guest, even if they are in the same stateroom as you. For instance, you will receive a free bag of laundry, but any other guest in your stateroom that doesn't hold your loyalty status will not receive that perk.

@euroguy I would imagine you are coming back from your cruise relatively soon now! I was unaware you had seen the statue in years past. It will be so awesome to see it again for sure! I can't wait to read all about your Mardi Gras adventure. In fact, I saw it docked when were were docked in I believe it was Nassau. I think I snapped a photo too I will have to go through my photos to confirm. It's such a huge ship! It certainly appeared a bit larger than MSC Seashore. It was such a sight to see them right next to each other and think you would be cruising on it just a few days after. How cool would it have been if you were on that sailing? Our dates were so close but not quite. We got amazing weather on our cruise considering the rainy forecast. I enjoyed the straw market while in Nassau. Have you been to that market before? It's so convenient, right outside the port area.

@mikeHive Thanks for sharing this. It's so unfortunate that Spain is experiencing such a severe drought. This region will truly suffer if cruise ships aren't able to stop there. This article is particularly interesting because it gives detailed insight to why the drought is such a big deal for cruises. Cruise ships that travel to this area would have to agree not to draw or utilize water supplies from the port. The ships would need to be able to produce their own water supply onboard. I hope that ships will be able to make accommodations and modifications to meet the needs of the area so guests can continue to travel to Spain via cruise despite their current water deficit.

@Faye Burckhalter I agree that using these cute ducks for the purpose of advertisement just ruins the fun. Even the ducks without any information tags are good enough for me. @Richard Melton I love this! It must have been such a treat to find re-hidden ducks on your recent cruise! It's really all about the simple things in life. I'm glad to hear you feel as fondly as I do about rubber ducks onboard, and you enjoy the fun of the entire experience with your family. DO you typically move the ducks you find from one ship to another? I typically only re-hide them onboard the same ship. The idea of brining them along onto another ship is something that hasn't crossed my mind before until now.