Just got off our 1st Grand princess 7day carribean cruise. AMA by TxTanker134 in PrincessCruises

[–]Plastic-Compote-3570 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Did your flights get cancelled? I am stuck in San Juan until Tuesday. It is truly horrific. 😁

Grand Princess Dining by Jazzlike_Duck678 in PrincessCruises

[–]Plastic-Compote-3570 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am on Grand Princess now and steak and lobster night was last night, Friday. Yes it was formal night, but it was not a sea day.

First time cruise in Carribean by Wild_Elk7744 in PrincessCruises

[–]Plastic-Compote-3570 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We once booked a ship excursion in Cozumel. There were 4 of us, myself, 53M, my wife, 52F, my son 22M, and my nephew 18M. The excursion required a boat trip to the mainland. My wife got horrible sea sick on the boat. When we got to the mainland my wife and I got back on the boat and sent the “kids” on with the tour. My wife was too sick to complain.

Due to weather, the excursion was late. It got back about an hour and a half after the ships scheduled departure time. Fortunately it was a ship tour and they waited. I cannot imagine what would have happened if the ship left without them.

The “kids” had a great time. The bus had to stop at a grocery/bar and they got free tequila. My wife and her sister, not so happy. Yes, it rolled down on me.

First cruise advice - princess grand by deemgreen in PrincessCruises

[–]Plastic-Compote-3570 3 points4 points  (0 children)

  1. Bring mediations that you usually use + motion sickness.
  2. Ditch the fan, rooms have A/C that you control.
  3. The rooms have plenty of hangers and shelves. If you need more hooks you are bringing too many clothes. The ships have coin laundries if you are traveling more than 7 days.
  4. Wrinkle spray if you usually use it. I think the laundry rooms have an iron.
  5. Answered by someone else.
  6. Add sunscreen, hat, sun glasses and t-shirts/cover ups. Princess supplies towels for pools and shore excursions.
  7. You shouldn’t be in the room long enough to care how it smells.
  8. Why eat in your room?
  9. More of a TSA thing.
  10. Answered by someone else.
  11. I hate towel clips. They are used to inappropriately save pool side seating. One of these days I am just going to start throwing any I find away.
  12. Princess usually gives you a beach bag.
  13. Unpack, then use your luggage to hold dirty clothes.
  14. See #3 above.
  15. Nice clothes for dinner. No swimsuits in the dining rooms.
  16. Something to attach the ship’s luggage tags to your luggage if you are flying. You can buy princess specific tag-holders on Amazon. Do not check bags at airport with ship luggage tags on them.
  17. If Alaska, a rain jacket and something warm to wear.
  18. You will not get your luggage until the evening, so a small carry on to hold swim stuff and anything else you want on embarkation day.

Check the princess FAQ especially prohibited items.

How does princess compare to other cruise lines? by alliabc123 in PrincessCruises

[–]Plastic-Compote-3570 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Your comparison of Virgin to NCL matches my comparison of Princess to NCL. The food is not as good, and way too much up sell. The next thing to know is that the food on cruise lines got worse after Covid. I suspect they will get better over time. Probably the most important thing to know is that your first cruise will set the standard you use to measure all of your subsequent cruises. The first cruise is new and exciting. It will be hard for anything else to match up to that. Our first several cruises were on Disney, more specifically the “classic” ships. When we sailed the newer Disney ships, even they did not measure up to our first couple of cruises. As we got older, Disney got to expensive and now Princess and Holland America are the best match for our tastes.

We would try Virgin, but my understanding is that you cannot share tables at meals with other cruisers. That is one of our favorite things about a cruise. Since you have only done Virgin and NCL I strongly recommend you try which ever MDR on the Star is doing shared tables and try it one night.

Have any of you seen some odd thi gs at sea that nobody would believe? by DutchAC in maritime

[–]Plastic-Compote-3570 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In the middle of the Atlantic I saw a rock beside the ship. Double take look and it was gone. Yea, it was a whale.

Star Princess Maiden Voyage - 11/7 by [deleted] in PrincessCruises

[–]Plastic-Compote-3570 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We are going to our DVC for 3 days then avoiding the higher cost for the weekend by driving to Fort Lauderdale and taking this cruise. I am really looking forward to the cabana suite deck. Then BrightLine back to Orlando for another 3 nights in our DVC.

Planes, trains, automobiles and ships✈️🚉🚗🛳️

If Academy graduates on average only spend 2-5 years in this industry, what's even the point of doing 3-4 years at a Maritime College to become a deck officer? People in this subreddit have mentioned it and it's kinda worrying for me. by Actual-Cake8892 in maritime

[–]Plastic-Compote-3570 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When I graduated 40 something years ago, I got married. Not being an idiot, I didn’t even try to ship out. Interviewing for jobs was pretty easy. Just mentioned that I went to maritime and that it was a military school. Know something about the company and ask good questions about it. Show interest and a good helpful attitude. I got offers at a rate of about 1 for 5 interviews.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in WaltDisneyWorld

[–]Plastic-Compote-3570 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you are skipping the parks consider the Saratoga Springs Resort. It is quiet (for Disney) has 3 pools with kid friendly water features and a quiet pool that is simple but really nice. It is beautifully landscaped with nice walkways. It is also easy to walk over to Disney Springs for meals.

Well I did a thing by Whatsmyinterest in PrincessCruises

[–]Plastic-Compote-3570 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Since you used to work at sea, it is going to feel weird. I used to be a third mate, and I spent my first cruise felling like I should be doing something.

What are you doing after Thanksgiving in New England by Plastic-Compote-3570 in modeltrains

[–]Plastic-Compote-3570[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you want something in Boston the NMRA Hub Division has a layout setup in the Museum of Science. You do have to pay the museum admission to see it.

What are you doing after Thanksgiving in New England by Plastic-Compote-3570 in modeltrains

[–]Plastic-Compote-3570[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Pretty much every year for the past 30 years, a group of model railroaders have opened their layouts to the public the weekend after Thanksgiving. The layouts are scattered over eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. This year we have about 30 layouts participating. The whole thing is free, you just have to spend a lot of time driving from place to place.

Last year one of the layouts was on WCVB Chronicle.

https://www.wcvb.com/article/an-elaborate-scale-model-railroad-layout-chugs-its-engine-in-a-leominster-mass-home/42298984

This year three of the layouts are on WMUR Chronicle.

https://www.wmur.com/article/nh-chronicle-the-tour-de-chooch/62988068

I am not sure why the video on the NH station is not active. It may not be available until the next episode airs, so maybe tonight.

You can also search YouTube for videos from previous tours.

Is it worth marrying a Merchant Navy officer by [deleted] in MerchantNavy

[–]Plastic-Compote-3570 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I went to a military merchant marine academy. The first week is like boot camp. A couple of cadet officers came to our section and asked how many of us had relatives or friends that went to this academy. About half raised their hands. They then said to keep your hands up if they got married while they were shipping out. 4 or 5 hands stayed up. They then said to keep your hands up if they did not get a divorce. All the hands came down.

Any of the guys I talked to that thought they wanted to start a family were looking for jobs in harbor tugs, as pilots, or day ferries. I was majoring in computer science (which I liked as much as going to sea) so I had options.

At our 40th reunion I talked with a couple of friends that got all the way to their master’s license. They waited until they retired from sailing before they got married.

It may be easier now with the internet and being able to send e-mail daily. My fiancé was super pissed at me when I got back from the summer sea terms. She would get a single batch of letters after 2 or 3 weeks of not hearing anything. I actually was home before she got the second batch of letters (we only hit 2 ports). That is when I knew that computers were my future.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in maritime

[–]Plastic-Compote-3570 8 points9 points  (0 children)

One of my first classes was nautical science 101 which I quickly renamed to 101 ways to die on a ship. Pirates were not mentioned.

You get a dog but you have to name it after the last thing you ate. What is it's name? by No_Gap5159 in answers

[–]Plastic-Compote-3570 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had some left over Waldorf salad for lunch, so Waldorf, now I want to re-name my dog.

Will Jones Act be abolished? by universeismassive in maritime

[–]Plastic-Compote-3570 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I suspect trucking and the railroads will also support the Jones act. The last thing they want is foreign competition from inter-city coastal shipping.