My First Cruise

[DieHardBrownsFan]

I've heard you can get some great deals on Cruises to China and SE Asia right now. 

[mjp28]

1 hour ago, DieHardBrownsFan said:

I've heard you can get some great deals on Cruises to China and SE Asia right now. 

Yeah you might get an extra 14 days with 3 meals a day for FREE.    

[Axe]

The wife and I came a whisker away from booking a China/Thailand trip not long ago.. Damn glad we didn't..

 

Tex mentioned Roatan, I second that. Awesome place

[The Gipper]

We have selected a couple of our excursions:     On Cozumel we will be doing the Playa Mia "Beach Break" with my daughter and everyone.  Waterpark, snorkeling, eating, drinking.

On Costa Maya we will be doing a Maya ruin tour.  Kohunlich I believe is the name of it.     Nothing decided about Roatan.  The underwater scooter thing is only a slim chance of being selected.  There are also some nature park tours which my son may consider. 

[tiamat63]

8 hours ago, The Gipper said:

We have selected a couple of our excursions:     On Cozumel we will be doing the Playa Mia "Beach Break" with my daughter and everyone.  Waterpark, snorkeling, eating, drinking.

On Costa Maya we will be doing a Maya ruin tour.  Kohunlich I believe is the name of it.     Nothing decided about Roatan.  The underwater scooter thing is only a slim chance of being selected.  There are also some nature park tours which my son may consider. 

Recommend the Cozumel beach break.  The rum punch is outstanding, goes down easy and uhhh.... yeah.  You'll probably be blacked out if you don't know how to hold your liquor.

[The Gipper]

1 hour ago, tiamat63 said:

Recommend the Cozumel beach break.  The rum punch is outstanding, goes down easy and uhhh.... yeah.  You'll probably be blacked out if you don't know how to hold your liquor.

Well...that is what we are doing.  That may be the only time I could get a bit tipsy because we have determined that we are NOT going to buy the drink package. 

[tiamat63]

4 minutes ago, The Gipper said:

Well...that is what we are doing.  That may be the only time I could get a bit tipsy because we have determined that we are NOT going to buy the drink package. 

If I remember right it's called the "yellowbird"...?  I think.   It's a boat, takes about an hour to get to the private island and then it's basically just a beach day.  Still a great time.  But from what little I remember, it was double fisting drinks the moment with got on the catamaran.

[mjp28]

22 hours ago, The Gipper said:

We have selected a couple of our excursions:     On Cozumel we will be doing the Playa Mia "Beach Break" with my daughter and everyone.  Waterpark, snorkeling, eating, drinking.

On Costa Maya we will be doing a Maya ruin tour.  Kohunlich I believe is the name of it.     Nothing decided about Roatan.  The underwater scooter thing is only a slim chance of being selected.  There are also some nature park tours which my son may consider. 

That's the way to do it book ahead.

When my wife and her nurse friends did their turning 50 cruise a few years ago in the Western Caribbean where you are going I got the best excursion packages at the best time of day and prices.  You don't want to wait until you get there to try to pick through the leftover deals in the hottest parts of the day...... and it is HOT there.

They left ft Lauderdale for key West, Cozumel, Belize and back to Ft Lauderdale.  My wife found a Walmart ad for about $499 + air which I did and her travel agent matched it for $899 total plus land excursions which I did.  But that was a decade ago.  They loved it.

[Axe]

Groupon..

[TexasAg1969]

On 2/21/2020 at 7:43 AM, DieHardBrownsFan said:

I've heard you can get some great deals on Cruises to China and SE Asia right now. 

And you don't have to worry about sea sickness since it visits only one port.🤮

[ATOM]

the good ole days of cruising you bring your own booze on the ship

side note: cruise ships give you their water bottles so when you unboard at port bring it along find the booze store and fill it with vodka

[The Gipper]

1 hour ago, ATOM said:

the good ole days of cruising you bring your own booze on the ship

side note: cruise ships give you their water bottles so when you unboard at port bring it along find the booze store and fill it with vodka

I guess they do allow you to bring in  bottle or two per person....from what I understand. 

[ATOM]

6 minutes ago, The Gipper said:

I guess they do allow you to bring in  bottle or two per person....from what I understand. 

maybe it varies from cruiseline to cruiseline  also hey if you get the chance try the Alaska inland cruise best time of year to go is june and july

[The Gipper]

7 hours ago, ATOM said:

maybe it varies from cruiseline to cruiseline  also hey if you get the chance try the Alaska inland cruise best time of year to go is june and july

Someday in the future, maybe.  I would love to do it.  

[calfoxwc]

On 2/22/2020 at 12:49 PM, The Gipper said:

We have selected a couple of our excursions:     On Cozumel we will be doing the Playa Mia "Beach Break" with my daughter and everyone.  Waterpark, snorkeling, eating, drinking.

On Costa Maya we will be doing a Maya ruin tour.  Kohunlich I believe is the name of it.     Nothing decided about Roatan.  The underwater scooter thing is only a slim chance of being selected.  There are also some nature park tours which my son may consider. 

Cozumel - we all went to a National? Park beach - it was pretty much enclosed in the distance by a coral reef. Just beautiful safe snorkleing/swimming. Big whatchacallit lizards all around. I guess that is your park. When we took our taxis to that park, the taxi drivers drove way, way too fast. I think they have an autobahn highway right there. If I recall correctly - the other side of the island had dangerous ocean currents. and even back then, I worked hard to know some really relevant sentences to say to the driver...except he already spoke very good English. But he thought it was really funny.

[The Gipper]

10 minutes ago, calfoxwc said:

Cozumel - we all went to a National? Park beach - it was pretty much enclosed in the distance by a coral reef. Just beautiful safe snorkleing/swimming. Big whatchacallit lizards all around. I guess that is your park. When we took our taxis to that park, the taxi drivers drove way, way too fast. I think they have an autobahn highway right there. If I recall correctly - the other side of the island had dangerous ocean currents. and even back then, I worked hard to know some really relevant sentences to say to the driver...except he already spoke very good English. But he thought it was really funny.

Iguanas?  

I don't think we need to take a taxi.  It is an excursion bought through the cruise line.  They are supposed to provide transportation. 

[The Gipper]

25 minutes ago, calfoxwc said:

Cozumel - we all went to a National? Park beach - it was pretty much enclosed in the distance by a coral reef. Just beautiful safe snorkleing/swimming. Big whatchacallit lizards all around. I guess that is your park. When we took our taxis to that park, the taxi drivers drove way, way too fast. I think they have an autobahn highway right there. If I recall correctly - the other side of the island had dangerous ocean currents. and even back then, I worked hard to know some really relevant sentences to say to the driver...except he already spoke very good English. But he thought it was really funny.

Iguanas?  

I don't think we need to take a taxi.  It is an excursion bought through the cruise line.  They are supposed to provide transportation. 

 

[TexasAg1969]

15 hours ago, calfoxwc said:

Cozumel - we all went to a National? Park beach - it was pretty much enclosed in the distance by a coral reef. Just beautiful safe snorkleing/swimming. Big whatchacallit lizards all around. I guess that is your park. When we took our taxis to that park, the taxi drivers drove way, way too fast. I think they have an autobahn highway right there. If I recall correctly - the other side of the island had dangerous ocean currents. and even back then, I worked hard to know some really relevant sentences to say to the driver...except he already spoke very good English. But he thought it was really funny.

LOL! When we first went to Venezuela my Dad was taking intensive Spanish in Caracas because each American engineer was paired up with a new Venezuelan engineer to train them how to run a refinery. The Venezuelans took intensive English so that between the two they could learn to communicate one way or another with each other. Anyway there were several Americans going to lunch one day who had just finished a lesson on how to negotiate a fair taxi price (everything down there is bargained for BTW). So they flagged down a taxi and the bargaining began by this one American asking his "precio". The driver told him "Quince Bolivares." And having just learned his lesson he haggled by saying just what he was taught, "No pago mas de veinte Bolivares". Everyone else including the driver got a great laugh from that as the driver agree that 15 was too much and that the American negotiating for "no more than 20" was a fair price.  LOL!🤑

[mjp28]

22 hours ago, The Gipper said:

Iguanas?  

I don't think we need to take a taxi.  It is an excursion bought through the cruise line.  They are supposed to provide transportation. 

All of the day excursions we bought were from the cruise line and they met you and dropped you off at the ship at your designated times.

Even trips I've been on in the Eastern Caribbean and even Mexico provided transportation -but- some of the Mexican taxis I've been in were a bit scary, same with rental cars with cracked windshields, wipers that barely worked, bald tires and all empty gas tanks.  They'd siphon all the gas out, you fill them up when returning they'd do it again so the next guy would buy more gas.

Oh reminds me once of when I was in Freeport in the Bahamas on a trip to a casino when our ride ran out of gas and had to get a can to get to a station.

Ah the good ol' safe USA !

[The Gipper]

On 2/26/2020 at 11:05 AM, mjp28 said:

All of the day excursions we bought were from the cruise line and they met you and dropped you off at the ship at your designated times.

Even trips I've been on in the Eastern Caribbean and even Mexico provided transportation -but- some of the Mexican taxis I've been in were a bit scary, same with rental cars with cracked windshields, wipers that barely worked, bald tires and all empty gas tanks.  They'd siphon all the gas out, you fill them up when returning they'd do it again so the next guy would buy more gas.

Oh reminds me once of when I was in Freeport in the Bahamas on a trip to a casino when our ride ran out of gas and had to get a can to get to a station.

Ah the good ol' safe USA !

Well...this trip was not my choice, it was my daughter's.  While I do have a couple of Caribbean destinations on my bucket list, they consist of US territories.  (St. Croix and Puerto Rico).   Otherwise, my bucket list as it stands right now includes:   

19 Continental US destinations  (3-4 of which are booked)

The two Carib. described above.

About a 3 week trip to Hawaii including Kauai, Oahu, Big Island.

An Alaskan cruise

And several European destinations:   England, Scotland, Paris, French Riviera,  Barcelona and Costa Del Sol in Spain.  Venice and maybe some other Italy.

Plus this wedding cruise. 

So, I am open to donations for the completion of the above.  

[DieHardBrownsFan]

Put this on your list.

 

https://theculturetrip.com/asia/china/articles/12-reasons-you-should-visit-wuhan-in-china/

[mjp28]

51 minutes ago, The Gipper said:

Well...this trip was not my choice, it was my daughter's.  While I do have a couple of Caribbean destinations on my bucket list, they consist of US territories.  (St. Croix and Puerto Rico).   Otherwise, my bucket list as it stands right now includes:   

19 Continental US destinations  (2 of which are booked)

The two Carib. described above.

About a 3 week trip to Hawaii including Kauai, Oahu, Big Island.

An Alaskan cruise

And several European destinations:   England, Scotland, Paris, French Riviera,  Barcelona and Costa Del Sol in Spain.  Venice and maybe some other Italy.

Plus this wedding cruise. 

So, I am open to donations for the completion of the above.    

My wife and her two friends (one dropped out, later sorry she did) loved their trip especially Key West and Belize and Cozumel was interesting, they went in late April and it was still HOT well for us snowbirds.

Bahamas like Freeport, Nassau was nice maybe ok the casinos and the casinos on the ship were big money ripoffs more just fun to play a few bucks in.  We liked Atlantic City 1980 much better when the Trump and Playboy casinos were new.......now extinct.

Oahu is my favorite place of all hands down.  Try to stay long enough to see Pearl Harbor, Punchbowl, the North Shore (especially if the big waves are there), the Polynesian Cultural Center among others.   We stayed at the beautiful HHV the Hilton Hawaiian Village for 14 days on my first trip the far opposite end of Waikiki and by itself.

If you can go into the Diamond Head volcano crater it is amazing, in 1979 I actually climbed up through the cutout passageway to the top with my fiance and her cousin Barbie it was awesome we had no idea about doing that I was driving our rental Jeep that we had a few days and drove around the island in, saw the sign Diamondhead entrance and went in.  Take a pocket flashlight! The tunnel up gets dark. Also I just happened to have a camera (remember them?) 5 pics left got 4 amazing pictures of Waikiki Beach, Diamondhead and one of me on the very top with my Youngstown State t-shirt on. I met the only other person up there a guy from Lake Placid, NY one year before the 1980 Olympics he took my picture.  The girls were too afraid to climb the last spiral staircase to the very top they stayed in the concrete gun emplacement put in by the Army in WWII still a great view of Waikiki and the Pacific Ocean.  Almost NO tourists go there.

My father-in-law was stationed in the Pacific in WWII and loves Oahu he and his wife were there 26 times!  My wife went with them 8 times. It was great to be with them and visit the Arizona Memorial, still have the pictures and memories.

.......Oh yeah your travel fund, have you tried the lottery ?   

(This is about half of Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head, only 7 hotels are on the beach itself the rest are across the street. It is also my screensaver on everything I have....I love the 2 mile long Waikiki Beach you can walk way out and still be in waist deep warm water.)

[The Gipper]

2 hours ago, DieHardBrownsFan said:

Put this on your list.

 

https://theculturetrip.com/asia/china/articles/12-reasons-you-should-visit-wuhan-in-china/

No.  No interest.  You go if you want. 

[The Gipper]

1 hour ago, mjp28 said:

My wife and her two friends (one dropped out, later sorry she did) loved their trip especially Key West and Belize and Cozumel was interesting, they went in late April and it was still HOT well for us snowbirds.

Bahamas like Freeport, Nassau was nice maybe ok the casinos and the casinos on the ship were big money ripoffs more just fun to play a few bucks in.  We liked Atlantic City 1980 much better when the Trump and Playboy casinos were new.......now extinct.

Oahu is my favorite place of all hands down.  Try to stay long enough to see Pearl Harbor, Punchbowl, the North Shore (especially if the big waves are there), the Polynesian Cultural Center among others.   We stayed at the beautiful HHV the Hilton Hawaiian Village for 14 days on my first trip the far opposite end of Waikiki and by itself.

If you can go into the Diamond Head volcano crater it is amazing, in 1979 I actually climbed up through the cutout passageway to the top with my fiance and her cousin Barbie it was awesome we had no idea about doing that I was driving our rental Jeep that we had a few days and drove around the island in, saw the sign Diamondhead entrance and went in.  Take a pocket flashlight! The tunnel up gets dark. Also I just happened to have a camera (remember them?) 5 pics left got 4 amazing pictures of Waikiki Beach, Diamondhead and one of me on the very top with my Youngstown State t-shirt on. I met the only other person up there a guy from Lake Placid, NY one year before the 1980 Olympics he took my picture.  The girls were too afraid to climb the last spiral staircase to the very top they stayed in the concrete gun emplacement put in by the Army in WWII still a great view of Waikiki and the Pacific Ocean.  Almost NO tourists go there.

My father-in-law was stationed in the Pacific in WWII and loves Oahu he and his wife were there 26 times!  My wife went with them 8 times. It was great to be with them and visit the Arizona Memorial, still have the pictures and memories.

.......Oh yeah your travel fund, have you tried the lottery ?   

(This is about half of Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head, only 7 hotels are on the beach itself the rest are across the street. It is also my screensaver on everything I have....I love the 2 mile long Waikiki Beach you can walk way out and still be in waist deep warm water.)

I have been there before...as well at to the Big Island.   Want to go back to see a few things I did not see the first time around.  Plus Kauai, which I have never been to.

And why would I need something as unreliable as the lottery when I have you to fund my travels? 

[calfoxwc]

2 hours ago, The Gipper said:

About a 3 week trip to Hawaii including Kauai, Oahu, Big Island.

An Alaskan cruise

3 weeks in Hawaii - you will not regret the extra week. I will say, try to go to Maui, too - unless that was just an accidental omission....

you won't want to miss one of the most spectacular views - like you are on another planet -

https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g60631-d11447179-Haleakala_Maui_Sunrise_Tour_with_Breakfast_and_Pickup-Kahului_Maui_Hawaii.html#/media/11447179/'-1':p/?mediaIds=-1

Our TWO week trip included all four major islands - Kaui, at least back then - was the most undeveloped. Our package - we flew between islands  - about a 15' flight by small jet. I think the island of Kaui - we took a small zodiac inflatable boat ride about the scenic end of the island - scene of several movies - like James Bond, etc.

I think Maui? was our mini-sub ride down to a couple of hundred feet.... and yes, the climb up Diamond Head is a LOT OF STEPS- but the scene is amazing on Oahu.

The Arizona Memorial - is a magic place you won't want to miss. If you look at the pics of Mt. Haleakala - they don't do the place justice. We drove it ourselves - like most of the time.

   I've already told the story about my Father-in-law and me driving our rented sedan on the Hana HIghway.

  I will tell you want not to do: and I did....

Rented a jeep, planned on a private excursion to a private beach that was small enough, and secluded behind trees and a row of houses... just the right size for the two of us. Romantic. sexy. heh heh heh.......

 Well, I drove the jeep down the gravel road that the article talked about, and only after walking out onto the beach and stomping on it, out onto the beach like the article talked about. Solid sand, We were good. BTW, you lost your 200 dollar deposit if they know you took it out on sand and damaged the brakes etc.

It was freaking beautiful, I drove halfway down the beach about a couple of football fields long, and all of a sudden I realized I was driving along and we were staying still. ... we get out and could hardly walk on this stupid stretch of sand. I found out later, from a leftguard at the pool - that there is "new" sand and "old" sand. "Old" sand is..well, old - enough that it is worn rounded in tiny marble like granules. "New" sand is angular - crystaline in shape and is solid. Walking is not easy with old sand.

    The old sand is like a lot of tiny little marbles. You don't drive through that. and I engaged the four wheel drive.....

So, instead of a romantic getaway in the middle of a very warm afternoon, I was jogging up and down the beach a lot of times, getting dropped palm fronds and sticks and rocks... to put under the tires. It took over half hr to get 25 yards up to good sand and solid ground - we drove through somebody's back yard, down their driveway and went and returned our jeep. With my Wife driving - because at the end of our arduous sand trap trek - I got mad and actually was lifting the back of the jeep, bouncing it off the sand to get enough traction to get to the solid ground, I pulled a muscle in my back/shoulder blades that made it hurt to breathe, and got pukey sick and dizzy from heat exhaustion/dehydration.

    Yeah, that story got told a bijillion times later on........ if Ohio had big beautiful sand beaches - I would have known better.

[The Gipper]

Been there, done all that on Maui. ....well, not the nude beach or whatever it was you were trying to get at with getting stuck there.

[TexasAg1969]

4 hours ago, The Gipper said:

I have been there before...as well at to the Big Island.   Want to go back to see a few things I did not see the first time around.  Plus Kauai, which I have never been to.

And why would I need something as unreliable as the lottery when I have you to fund my travels? 

I have spent at least multiple weeks on Kauai, Maui, Oahu and last time The Big Island. My favorite is Kauai because no one is allowed to build any hotels or other buildings any higher than the highest palm tree, so no building has more than 4 floors. Consequently the views are better there. Plus there are several good snorkeling sites and the state bird (wild chickens everywhere). 😁

Also a nice kayak trip into the interior and a decent "Grand Canyon".

[The Gipper]

2 hours ago, TexasAg1969 said:

I have spent at least multiple weeks on Kauai, Maui, Oahu and last time The Big Island. My favorite is Kauai because no one is allowed to build any hotels or other buildings any higher than the highest palm tree, so no building has more than 4 floors. Consequently the views are better there. Plus there are several good snorkeling sites and the state bird (wild chickens everywhere). 😁

Also a nice kayak trip into the interior and a decent "Grand Canyon".

I would look at Kauai for my 40th anniversary, if I last that long...in about 2024. 

[TexasAg1969]

7 hours ago, The Gipper said:

I would look at Kauai for my 40th anniversary, if I last that long...in about 2024. 

If you like snorkeling I recommend Anini Beach. The breakers are a few hundred yards from shore giving calm waters to snorkel in with plenty of fish/turtles. You can go out to just short of the breakers and see a lot of reef fish too. During the week my brother and I were sometimes the only snorkelers out there. More crowded with families & picnicers on weekends & holidays.

https://honupointvacationrental.com/anini-beach-kauai-hawaii/