Bear Down Wildcats

Hardest of passes.

I had a good time on the two I've been on but the older I get the less it appeals to me.

Never been on one, and never will. Just doesn't appeal to me being trapped, and tied into activities that I really aren't interested in anyway.

That cargo ship in the same storm:

There a few that sound cool. The Viking River Cruises, or Alaskan ones. But, yeah. They are way too expensive and I don’t like people enough to be trapped with them.

JMarkJohns wrote:There a few that sound cool. The Viking River Cruises, or Alaskan ones. But, yeah. They are way too expensive and I don’t like people enough to be trapped with them.

Here's a trip for you. This is what my brother and his wife are going to do soon:

Sail from San Francisco thru the panama Canal to Miami.
Get of that ship, board another and sail to Europe.
Fuck around in Europe for a couple of weeks.
Sail back to Miami.
Take Amtrak from Miami to San Francisco.

JMarkJohns wrote:There a few that sound cool. The Viking River Cruises, or Alaskan ones. But, yeah. They are way too expensive and I don’t like people enough to be trapped with them.

Beware the river cruises. The deeper hulled boats are highly dependent on proper river water levels in order to travel. IIRC VRC has been royally fucked during low water months in Europe being unable to travel while other companies' boats continue to operate with ease. Also, knowing this, the cruise company trip insurance plays fast and loose with that contingency.

IMO you get what you pay for on other types of cruises. We've enjoyed Crystal (http://www.crystalcruises.com" target="_blank) but they are spendy. If food and populations less than that of the Rose Bowl matter to you then you have to pay up for it.

We've been on two cruises. The little three day from San Diego to Ensenada and back and seven day Alaska cruise. Liked them both very much.

There is one thing that will definitely make you loath to take a cruise: read the agreement you have to sign in order to be allowed to board. When a company requires you to release it of any claims as to the seaworthiness of its vessel it forces you to make a pointed choice: who is more deserving of death by keel hauling, the company directors or its lawyers?

Gedoudahere with this BS. I'm cruising from Darwin to Broome in August. Nuttin to do and 10 days to do it in.

With Love, From Puke City...

My wife and I cruise quite a bit, usually to the Caribbean over Thanksgiving with a group of friends. Went to Alaska this last May and loved it. Cruising the Mediterranean for a couple weeks, leaving in early May. We always do port intensive cruises so we have a stop most days and not stuck onboard day after day after day.

This lede is ..... whoo boy...

Trumpers love cruises so I anticipate many cruises in the future having massive covid outbreaks.

All non Vaxxed people should get a free cruise together as a way to get us to herd immunity

Thanks Royal Caribbean. I imagine this will really help lift the quarantine requirement for international travelers who fly on airplanes like sane people.

ASUHATER! wrote: ↑Mon Jun 07, 2021 10:08 am Trumpers love cruises so I anticipate many cruises in the future having massive covid outbreaks.

I don't think that's necessarily true. There's a poll on the cruise website Cruise Critic asking if making the proof of vaccination mandatory before passengers are allowed to board. 90% of the respondents said yes. My wife and I cruise and we have many non-Trump friends that cruise too, and we're all vaccinated and would prefer the cruise lines to make vaccinations mandatory. Unfortunately, there's dumbasses like DeSantis that don't believe in it.

A Covid outbreak on a cruise ship is literally my worst nightmare.

Alieberman wrote: ↑Tue Jun 08, 2021 10:10 am A Covid outbreak on a cruise ship is literally my worst nightmare.

Mine is waking up without my penis.

Alieberman wrote: ↑Tue Jun 08, 2021 10:10 am A Covid outbreak on a cruise ship is literally my worst nightmare.

Can't imagine being stuck in your cabin for 24 hours a day with your partner and they bring you food to the cabin, esp in an interior cabin.

But at least I get to keep my penis.

That's my Merkin, glass half full.

Maybe I will take a cruise after all.

Merkin wrote: ↑Thu Jun 30, 2022 3:25 pm Maybe I will take a cruise after all.

Someone went for a cruise with the hope of seeing the Statue of Liberty on deck, but instead saw an Eiffel Tower when they went inside.

I know teh board's general idea on cruises but we're taking another one anyways. Next summer we're going on a Caribbean cruise on the Norwegian Breakaway with about 20 friends. Departs from Miami and hits Puerto Plata, St. Thomas, Tortola, Great Stirrup Cay, then back to Miami. Should be a good time.

With 20 friends? I'm not even sure I know 20 people.

My wife is trying to talk me into taking the Alaskan cruise for our 40th so I may no longer be 100% against cruises. More like 95% against.

Merkin wrote: ↑Mon Dec 11, 2023 3:57 pm With 20 friends? I'm not even sure I know 20 people.

My wife is trying to talk me into taking the Alaskan cruise for our 40th so I may no longer be 100% against cruises. More like 95% against.

We did an Alaska cruise a couple of years ago. Liked it a lot.

Merkin wrote: ↑Mon Dec 11, 2023 3:57 pm With 20 friends? I'm not even sure I know 20 people.

My wife is trying to talk me into taking the Alaskan cruise for our 40th so I may no longer be 100% against cruises. More like 95% against.

While you are considering options, consider the Alaska Marine Highway - could take a vehicle and do asome road travel between up-and-back trip. Not a "cruise" per se, but all the ports, and truly great visuals, too

https://dot.alaska.gov/amhs/index.shtml

azgreg wrote: ↑Mon Dec 11, 2023 3:10 pm I know teh board's general idea on cruises but we're taking another one anyways. Next summer we're going on a Caribbean cruise on the Norwegian Breakaway with about 20 friends. Departs from Miami and hits Puerto Plata, St. Thomas, Tortola, Great Stirrup Cay, then back to Miami. Should be a good time.

Be careful, even with edibles:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/c ... 2906&ei=77

There are horror stories of people who have been kicked off ships in foreign ports or placed on blacklists for violating the cannabis rules, according to the Wall Street Journal, and some told the Journal that they are scared and confused about the crackdown.

Femcat is hammering me about taking a Mediterranean cruise to fulfill my desire to go to Italy. Just two problems with that…

1) Cruise ships are basically waterlogged coffins teaming with potential death & disease, and

2) The whole reason why I want to go to Italy is to visit my family’s town in the hills above Naples and there’s no chance of doing that if we have to be back to the floating death barge by 6pm to go the next tourist trap port or whatever.

I’m actually pretty pissed. Maybe I should tell her I’ll stay home and watch the dog and then I’ll go later by myself to do the trip I’ve been talking about for the better part of a decade.

The smaller the ship, the higher the ratio of crew to customer, the more it's tailored to snooty non-pedestrian themes, the more it costs, the less likely you'll be on that floating petri dish of puke. The real barrier is planning, getting one that meshes with broader plans. This shit usually takes booking a year in advance, and a commitment to travel insurance that most of us just don't wanna fuck with. Good luck.

Chicat wrote: ↑Mon Jul 15, 2024 5:33 pm Femcat is hammering me about taking a Mediterranean cruise to fulfill my desire to go to Italy. Just two problems with that…

1) Cruise ships are basically waterlogged coffins teaming with potential death & disease, and

2) The whole reason why I want to go to Italy is to visit my family’s town in the hills above Naples and there’s no chance of doing that if we have to be back to the floating death barge by 6pm to go the next tourist trap port or whatever.

I’m actually pretty pissed. Maybe I should tell her I’ll stay home and watch the dog and then I’ll go later by myself to do the trip I’ve been talking about for the better part of a decade.

Yeah, this is definitely a shitty scenario.

Might you try taking her on a short three day cruise close to home just to satiate her cruise desire with the agreement you'll do Italy in a better way?

Just getting off in crappy tourist-trap ports of call is no way to visit or experience a country.

She doesn’t want to do a cruise either. But between me driving a rental car all up and down the boot (and maybe into Croatia/Slovenia) over 15 days she’d rather be able to lay out with a drink while a boat takes us to the next town.

I don’t blame her. But it’s not what I want. Let’s get lost in the countryside and let me use my shitty Italian to impose upon some hillside taverna owner to break out the really good wine that his uncle makes just down the hill while we discover all the churches my family made bells for from about the mid-1500s through the late 1800s.

Naaaaaaaaahhhhhh… instead let’s get dropped off at the port right in front of 20 souvenir stands and “authentic” pizza places in Tourist Town. Yeah, that’s the cultural enrichment I’ve been envisioning.

My family is from Atripalda. Which is a town right outside Avellino (where the Sopranos were supposed to be from). I’ve got all the ancestry stuff and probably wouldn’t have an issue finding distant relatives… except instead I’ll be on the Norovirus Express watching a bad Michael Jackson impersonator sing The Hits! Yay.

Chicat wrote: ↑Mon Jul 15, 2024 5:33 pm Femcat is hammering me about taking a Mediterranean cruise to fulfill my desire to go to Italy. Just two problems with that…

1) Cruise ships are basically waterlogged coffins teaming with potential death & disease, and

2) The whole reason why I want to go to Italy is to visit my family’s town in the hills above Naples and there’s no chance of doing that if we have to be back to the floating death barge by 6pm to go the next tourist trap port or whatever.

I’m actually pretty pissed. Maybe I should tell her I’ll stay home and watch the dog and then I’ll go later by myself to do the trip I’ve been talking about for the better part of a decade.

Sounds like you're on the fence here. Give yourself a few days to reflect.

Chi, trust your gut. Speaking as someone with distant relatives that my deceased uncle hunted down in the 70s and that each subsequent generation of my family is incumbent on keeping up the ties, your plan is the way.

Even if you have no familial ties to Italy, slow Italy is the best Italy.

My family town is 1hr north of Turin next to a national park in the foothills of the alps. Just stunning. We explored what is basically now a ghost town and found this resturant at one of the trailheads of this park. Owner and her husband new come connection form the 1920s from the side that stayed and we had exactly that: probably our best meal from scratch including my at times pain in the ass vegetation wife (PITA for dietary choices lol) multiple course multiple drinks and then they busted out the homemade grappa . Best meal in our 3 trips to Italy.

The post man came to deliver mail, have lunch and take a nap on the hammock, then off to deliver more mail.

My kids had run of the property. It was spectacular.

For where you’re going you could easily do both.

Explore your home town, see Pompeii, I know you from this site to be a history buff, you would really love a visit to Pompeii. Then give fem cat the time of her life by shelling out for 3nights on Capri at some swank hotel.

Or if you really want to have luxury beach resort vacay (this is my wife’s jam too) that’s off the beaten track, check out the island of Ischia. Might have to get selective between sandy beaches vs pebbly. Or just go to the amalfi coast.

People are hit and miss on Capri and during the day it can be a zoo. Stay overnight a few nights, and you have the island to yourself and it’s pretty magical. Just one persons opinion.

Pm me if you want more details. I don’t know much but did spend anvoit 8-9days around Naples and the Sorrento coast/Capri last summer.

Shit one more “Italy is amazing story”. We are at the marina having dinner and want to rent a boat. I go to the shops and it’s like 1000euro for the day. Nope.

I tell my Wife I’m going for a walk. I find some old cosge working on his boat in his garage and ask if he knew anyone who could take me out , in my shitty train of course. He tells me to find the old lady in the tabbachi shop. So I find the tabbachi shop and the old lady with a cig hang out of her mouth. She says wait a minute, makes a call and then some 20 something from a restaurant comes and meets me. 250 euro without skipper, 350 euro with skipper, the whole day go where ever we want. Found a locals beach club, swam in the bed, swam under waterfalls, when in hidden caves. Just awesome.

Italy rules. Good luck with your planning and negotiations.

CalStateTempe wrote: ↑Mon Jul 15, 2024 7:00 pm multiple course multiple drinks and then they busted out the homemade grappa .

GRAPPA! No Roman hangover will suffice without it!

We did a 2-week Mediterranean Cruise right before Covid hit and loved it. Started in Barcelona and ended up in Venice. Took private tours and hit all the main places in Italy and Greece and a few other countries along the way. Had 12 hours in port at the main cities. Good way to see a snapshot of a lot of different places.

We also just did a 2 week land trip in Italy, going to some of the smaller cities. Landed in Naples and then took a shuttle to get to the Amalfi Coast and back. Once back in Naples, the train system is amazing and got us everywhere else we needed to go.

Great post, agreed the train system at Naples is fantastic

Trenitalia for the win!

I’ve never done Italo.

Italo is ok. Nice trains, private enterprise. A tad cheaper and saved me from getting stuck in Naples trying to get back to Rome for a flight, but I prefer trenitalia for the route network and timetables

I’m a never Cruise kind of guy but my parents are in their 80s and it might be our only real opinion left of doing a big family vacation

CalStateTempe wrote: ↑Wed Jul 17, 2024 2:18 pm Italo is ok. Nice trains, private enterprise. A tad cheaper and saved me from getting stuck in Naples trying to get back to Rome for a flight, but I prefer trenitalia for the route network and timetables

I’ve seen Italo trains in the stations, I’ve always used Trenitalia.

The Frecciarossa is pretty well appointed. 1x2 or 2x2 plush leather seats. The cafe car has Illy espresso.

I’m a simple man, an Illy Doppio makes my day.

Muggy as fuck in Miami.