Please bear with me while I celebrate my good news.

I just booked our first cruise...I am so excited I can hardly stand myself :lol:

We will be going to Alaska next June on the Regent Seven Seas "Navigator" I was able to get our 1st choice cabin that is located mid-ship.

This cruise line is all inclusive...air travel, luxury hotel for the night before the cruise, all gratuities, dining in all the restaurants on board without additional charge,wine/spirits, soft drinks/water/specialty coffees, and excursions are included. They do have some extra special excursions that have a supplemental charge.

They have already emailed us documents, including the dinner menu from one of the specialty restaurants, a 6 page wine list, a 4 page liquor list, and a 30 page spa catalog.

:lol: :lol: :lol: We aren't big drinkers, but we might be by the end of this cruise. :lol: :lol: :lol:

We never have traveled. Oh, maybe a trip up the coast to Solvang for 2 days, but never a "real vacation". This is a big splurge for us, so I am over the moon with excitement.

Between now and then I want to lose a few pounds so I can eat without guilt, and who knows, maybe take a dip in the pool, or hot tub.

Thank you to all who shared their cruise experiences with me and encouraged me to go for it.

Congrats! I am an avid cruise fan. I'm so envious...unfortunately, I just had to cancel mine that was for November. I hate not having one in the future to look forward to.

Huge Congrats to you!!!!!!

Congratulations, I have been on a cruise ship and was so much fun

also the best thing to eat so you don't get sea sick is apples and crackers

(when I went on the cruise, the waiter told us this and he kept us filled with apples and crackers for our rooms, we never got sick)

we flew to Florida (visiting Florida Keys, Cozumel in Mexico, Cayman Islands and Jamaica)

was so much fun and would love to go on a cruise to Alaska

be sure you get off at any of the ports that they visit, so much fun!

bon voyage!

Can you take your sewing machine???? (LOL)

The ultimate vacation!!! Pampered!!! No cooking, no driving, no lost luggage, you can do so many things, or do nothing at all!!!
LOVE - LOVE - LOVE A CRUISE!!!
My next one will be to Hawaii! It will be my 65 th B-day, 25th wedding anniversary and retirement party all in one!! :thumbup:

Oh, I am so sorry. You must be so disappointed. You didn't say why you had to cancel, but I hope whatever the reason, things work out and you can re-book another cruise. {{{ HUGS }}}

:lol: :lol: :lol: I might be too drunk :lol: :lol: :lol:
:shock: just kidding.

Thanks Craftybear for the tip about the apples and crackers. To be safe, we are thinking of getting the presciption motion sickness patches that a QB member recommended.

Oh, Hawaii...lucky you!!! We have wanted to do this for years. I know we will love the pampering. My husband is already saying that he might not leave the ship when the cruise is over..."I'm ready, lets go again"

How exciting! And for it to be all inclusive like that is really the best, no surprises at the end when you get your bill unless you go crazy shopping on board. I am sure you will have a great time.

Edited to add, if they have a spa go check it out. It is often worth it to pay the extra fee to use the spa.

Very disappointed. We try to go every year. We had a fire at our other house and the insurance doesn't cover the total cost of repairs. i will be on the lookout for a bargain...hopefully next year if we do ok with our tax refund.

I do hope your tax refund is a healthy one and you can score a bargain...maybe a last minute cancellation that happens to be a good cabin, on a ship going somewhere you want to see.

We have been on several and the last one was Hawaii !1 I love to cruise and its one vacations my husband enjoys too...We always go in Feb now, the weather is fabulous and we have never had a bad one yet ..ENJOY !!!!!!!!
We did have one where we were at the tail end of a hurricane (Halloween) it was a different ....but we didnt let it ruin our trip.

The "all inclusive" really appeals to us. We don't want to think about every espresso, diet coke, or glass of wine we drink, or how much the the specialty restaurant meals are costing.

When we bought our current home (new construction) the builder nickled and dimed us to death. "Oh, you want rain gutters?? That will be $$$ extra" "You want a full backsplash behind the cooktop??? That will be $$$ extra"

I know we are paying for all these "it's included" in the fare, but psychologically it feels better than seeing a lower fare price and then a long list of extra charges. This just works better for us.

Sounds like a great trip. Have a great time.

Congratulations!! How exciting!

Congrats. Lucky you.

That might be a good idea. When my hubby went on a cruise with his parents my mother in law was in bed for the first day and a half sick sick sick. She had bought every motion sickness pill, patch, what have you. She knew she would need it and wanted to be prepared. It didn't help. But what did help her was when she finally went down and got the motion sickness pills they had on the boat.
So when we went on our first cruise together my hubby insisted that I didn't need to buy anything. I was so apprehensive. I get sick on swings, car rides, everything. When we got on the boat one of the first things he did was hunt down those special pills they had on the boat for me lol. They worked. Not sure what they are. He is convinced that it was something totally different then what you can buy since his mom was so sick and they made her SOOO much better when the other stuff didn't.

On a side note: I LOVED our cruise! We went as a homecoming trip when my husband came home from Iraq. It was wonderful. So much fun. And the all inclusive is very nice. Having almost everything already paid for makes you vacation easy. You don't have to worry about how quickly everything is adding up! I would go again in a heart beat! Congratulations and happy cruising!

I am excited for you. Enjoy your vacation.

Sounds wonderful! Know you'll have a wonderful trip. Don't forget to share details of your cruise.

That's nice that it's all inclusive. I'd rather pay more up front then be nickel and dimed-well now a days it's more like $20 or $100 here and there every day. It adds up on a week long cruise.

I spend a lot of time on cruisecritic.com when I've planned a cruise, to find out what shore excursions are worth the money, what's available close to port stuff like that. It's a message board like this one, you find the cruise line you are cruising and read about what people thought of their cruise.

Ask your doctor for an Rx for the patches and put one on BEFORE you get on the ship. When sailing to Alaska the water can be choppy as you get more into cold watet. When we went with another couple she denied that she would get sick and would use dramamine if she did. Well, she really ruined our lovely formal dinner as well as for everyone sitting within "smelling" distance of our table.

How lucky! I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to take a cruise, but DH swears he'll be seasick the whole time (says he gets seasick watching a rocking boat on TV!!) In Vanuatu, we get 5 or 6 cruise ships a month come into town-and have talked to so many passengers in my cafe, and always wanted to go. The closest DH has gone is a harbour cruise for 2 hours on a twin-masted sailing ship, and only when the harbour looks like glass when he boards. Once, we were scheduled to go, drove to the harbour and he said "I'll pick you up in 2 hours!" Refused to go at the last minute because he couldn't count the hairs in his eyebrows in the water's reflection-(well, an exageration, but you get the point!) Have a TERRIFIC time!

Oh! I am so excited for you! I went on my first cruise a couple of years ago, it was FUNtastic! The whole experience was great. We did a Carnival cruise to Cozumel, left out of Mobile AL. Hope you have fun planning, shopping and going!

Congrats! I can't even begin to imagine going on a cruise but if I did It would be Alaska for me too!

Sounds wonderful!!!!

I told my husband we should think about taking a cruise someday. He said sure - we'll just go to the local lake, rent a paddleboat, and cruise around the lake!! All we need to do now - he said - was save up enough energy ( not $) to make sure we're able to get back to the shore!! Somehow, I don't think a "ship" is in my future! Ha!

runninL8, yeah, being in Kansas does make it pretty expensive which ever port you cruise out of. Espeically now when the flights are so expensive on top of the cost of the cruise. It really adds up.

But hey, there's still time. You may be able to enjoy one yet.

About motion sickness, you may be surprised about how little you feel the boat moving. Unless it's rough seas and they have the motion sickness bags hanging over everything. That was always the signal we were heading into rough water when you see the motion sickness bags coming out.

Everyone is different so I'm not saying you won't get sick, but you may be pleasantly surprised.

congrats. enjoy

Sounds wonderful. Just enjoy!!!

Be careful those excersions can really add up. They are fun though! Just be sure to set aside some extra $ for them. You are sure to have a blast! Happy for ya'!!

I am envious. I've always wanted to go on a cruise. As a Navy Sailor I've spent plenty of time on the water and in foreign ports, but I definately was not pampered, had no pools or hot tubs, had to work from 6-2, and there certainly wasn't a wine list! lol.

Savor it, you lucky girl :) Leave a little extra room in the seat beside you for all of us who will be with you in spirit.

Enjoy your cruise!!! Please keep in mind that it would be a good idea to tip even though it says "inclusive".

Congrats. We went on an Alaskan Cruise for our 50th Wedding Anniversary. Loved every minute of it. Such beautiful scenery -- the glaciers are awesome. Enjoy.

Have fun!! Enjoy. I have been on one to Alaska and one to Asia and Australia. I enjoyed both.

I was once told that the best thing about a cruise is just having to unpack once.

That's my dream trip - although I'd like to go cross-country on the Canadian Railroad to get to Alaska, too. Have fun!!!

Janet I know you will enjoy your trip we took one to Alaska for our 25th in 2002. See all you can on this trip Just in case you don't get to go back. We have taken 3 and I was on a curise in Hawaii during the 911. Out of the 4 I have been on my favorite was the Alaska. I hope we can go back some time soon. They have a rail and curise trip that my brother in law took. If you have a good camera they have extra Lenes you can rent to get some good pic of the whales. I wanted to do a fishing Excursion. Hubby was to slow signing us up and it filled up.
We also enjoyed just walking through the nice towns. We met a shop owner from Texas. He winters in El Paso.
I look forward to hearing all about your trip.

We love cruises - have a wonderful time and enjoy every minute of it!!! It's so wonderful to feel so pampered and special.