Survival and Emergency Preparedness

tom mac wrote: ↑Fri Apr 01, 2022 8:13 am

Mac66 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 31, 2022 1:02 pm We are looking at an NCL cruise in Dec which comes with a drink package. Does NCL allow people to bring their own wine? We kind of have our favorites and like to have some before dinner without having to trek down to the bar.

Per NCL;
Wine & Champagne Policy
Guests may bring bottles of wine and champagne on board. When bottles are brought on board and served or consumed in any restaurant, public room area or in their stateroom, a corkage fee will be charged according to bottle sizes noted below.

750 ml Bottle: $15.00 USD
1,500 ml Magnum: $30.00 USD

Wine or champagne sent directly to the ship by travel agents, friends, family, etc. or from another retail source, are subject to the same fees. Box wines are not allowed on board.

Well....dang!

Let the smuggling begin

Actually the NCL cruise we were looking at has a drink/wifi package. We found an itinerary on Royal that leaves out of Tampa for $200/person less but no drink/wifi package. So basically a $400 difference. The free drinks are double that on Royal so there's that and no wifi. NCL sails out of Canaveral, royal out of Tampa. Both are about a 2 hour drive from the villages.

NCL goes to Dominican republic, tortola, st.thomas, great stirrup cay. Royal goes to Costa maya, cozumel, Belize and Roatan. Been to all those places except DR and Tortola though its been 20 years since Belize. Probably 30+ years since NCLs Island. Would love to go go back and dive in Belize, cozumel and Roatan.

Dont really need a drink/wifi package with our perks on Royal so kinda leaning that way though I'd love to try NCL again.

tom mac wrote: ↑Wed Mar 30, 2022 9:19 am Like you , when I travel, I only bring my mask ( since much of my other equipment is for colder water ) for the warmer weather/water.
But a number of yrs ago I started using a Mares wrist computer. I find it is easy to carry as small and a really good backup for the equipment you usu get from the dive companies. I trust myself and it more than borrowed equipment. Guess it's just a safety thing.

Todays wrist computers are fairly cheap 200-400$ and do so much more than when they first came out ( dating myself with an old Orca Edge from 80's )
Being a bit older, I don't go by only the navy tables as none of us are in shape like those they are originally based on.

Started looking at dive computers. Probably don't need one since all I do are controlled guided dives but a basic one might be beneficial since I really don't know what I'm missing and have to ask depths, temps, times for my manual dive log. Someone on another dive forum recommended a Mare Puck Pro or Puck Pro Plus as a good first/basic one. The Puck Pro is around $220 the Plus about $350.

Yes, the Puck Pro is a good basic starting point...
Not real expensive, but it does allow you a wealth of info as to your dives. Esp since when traveling I don't take my gauge console on my reg setup.
It's small and packs well... just remember an extra battery and maybe o-ring.

tom mac wrote: ↑Wed Apr 06, 2022 9:51 am Yes, the Puck Pro is a good basic starting point...
Not real expensive, but it does allow you a wealth of info as to your dives. Esp since when traveling I don't take my gauge console on my reg setup.
It's small and packs well... just remember an extra battery and maybe o-ring.

Thanks. It looks like I won't be going diving again until next Jan or Feb so the dive comp can wait awhile. Maybe I'll look for sales between now and then. We were looking at doing a cruise in December but have too many things to do at the woods house this year. Food plot, pole barn, landscaping/excavating will eat up funds.

So...we ended up doing a cruise in late November/early December. It was an 8 nighter on RCI to the ABC islands. It was so cheap we couldn't afford not to go. The cruise was $1200 for 8 days with $400 on board credit (OBC) which was refundable, basically a rebate. So for $100/night we got a nice vacation.

We also just got back from the 7 nighter to Cozumel, Roatan, Belize & Costa maya. We went with 2 of my brothers and their wives. Nether of them cruise so it was fun taking them along. We had a very good time. Again another fairly cheap cruise with OBC.

RCI allows you to bring 2 bottles of wine per cabin so we always take wine. We also bring our own booze to avoid the high cost they charge. If you pack it in your checked luggage it will never be found. They xray for weapons and unauthorized electrical appliances but can't see booze in your luggage. My wife and I are at a level on Royal where we get 4 "free" drinks a day so the smuggled booze was for my brothers.

I dived 3 days in a row on the ABC cruise and recently in Roatan and Costa maya. So that's 10 more dives. I never got around to getting a dive computer but probably will pick one up this year if I can find one on sale.

Wow, what a deal that was!

I've always been on the fence about cruising: I like the idea of sitting on my butt and watching the world roll by while overeating, but I really dislike being in close proximity with a lot of other people. (I've thought about repositioning cruises for that reason.) My wife is worried her motion sickness would be an issue despite many people saying it's unlikely (although we know people who've had terrible times in rough seas) - and that's probably that.

Erich wrote: ↑Sun Feb 12, 2023 1:34 pm Wow, what a deal that was!

I've always been on the fence about cruising: I like the idea of sitting on my butt and watching the world roll by while overeating, but I really dislike being in close proximity with a lot of other people. (I've thought about repositioning cruises for that reason.) My wife is worried her motion sickness would be an issue despite many people saying it's unlikely (although we know people who've had terrible times in rough seas) - and that's probably that.

I think for us it's a matter of exploring and visiting new places. We just went to 3 countries. Did 3 other countries last December. Last year we went to 14 different countries on 4 cruises. Dont have to worry about packing and moving. Don't have to worry about where to eat every day, or what to do for entertainment. You can do as much or as little as you want. Not to mention for my wife it's a matter of not having to cook or clean, its truly a vacation for her

And not to mention the diving, snorkeling, cave tubing, river rafting, off roading, zip lining and lots of other cool stuff you can do.

As for sea sickness, there are patches you can wear to prevent SS.

thesher sharks ?? Tail look a bit short

tom mac wrote: ↑Mon Feb 13, 2023 9:17 am thesher sharks ?? Tail look a bit short

If referring to the pics on pg 2 I think they were reef sharks, or at least that was what we were told.

back from an 11 night cruise on Celebrity. Panama canal, Cartagena, Columbia, and the ABC islands...Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao.

The canal was very cool and the nice thing about Celebrity the have lectures/presentations on the ports you visit. Really good historical presentation on the canal and Columbia. Probably wouldn't go to Cartagena on my own but it was interesting to visit doing a ship's tour.

Been to the ABCs numerous times so no diving this time. Took a city bus to a beach on Aruba. Rented a golf cart and drove around the whole island of Bonaire stopping along the way to snorkel. That was fun, got a chance to snorkel with a pod of porposes, rays and turtles. Just went swimming near the ship in Curacao.

Don't have any more cruises planned in the near future.