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Okay, I know that no one here is going on this cruise with me, but I wanted to jot some things down, anyway, for future reference when this board gets huge and people want to know about certain lines and/or holiday cruises.
I took the lowest, inside guarantee (NN), but have already been upgraded five categories to K412. I have been in this area before, during our Panama Canal cruise. Maybe even the same cabin! I don't know how I could find out if it was. We have moved since then and I don't know if I kept the info.
Interestingly enough, I do know some people who are going on this cruise. One is a man from southern California who is a poker player, like me, and just happened to book this cruise solo, like me, due to a last minute deal. I have found cruisers who like to play poker, I have found poker players who go on poker cruises, but this is the first time I've run across a person who is a long time cruiser and long time poker player.
I am scheduled for late dinner, downstairs at 8:30pm. I am hoping to get a seat somewhere earlier. Eating that late is just bad for me. Tiatur, who was our dining steward last cruise, said he would get me in his section again, fit me in somewhere, earlier dining. I suppose it is easy to do that with a solo cruiser. None of the bigger tables were ever full during our last cruise.
Reading some of the holiday cruise accounts here and on different forums convinced me that I should make a wee attempt at celebrating onboard. So I bought one of those 96 cent Thankgiving bows at Walmart to put on my cabin door. Just a small thing, but a little touch.
I also bought a rug for the bathroom. It was only 83 cents at Walmart. I hate wearing socks or slippers everywhere, so my feet are frequently cold in the bathroom, even with using the bath mat to cover most areas. I figured this would give me a little extra coverage, and if he likes it, I can give it to the cabin steward at the end of the trip.
I brought one of those suction cup trays to hang up in the shower. The tiny little one they have on the ship isn't very big. I don't take a lot of things with me when I travel, my bottles are small, but that tray is super tiny in the shower.
I streamlined my clothing. I learned from my first cruise that I needed to take things like sweaters and long pants. Outside may be humid and hot, but they keep the ship very cold. On the second cruise, we didn't make nearly as many mistakes in packing, but I still made some. Hopefully third time is the charm. I'm only taking a small, Samsonite roll-on and a carry-on. I'm not checking any luggage.
I bought a RT ticket on Amtrak from Kingman, Arizona to San Diego. The station is just two blocks from the pier. It is right behind the cruise parking lot. No problem. Holland America is giving a 25% reduction in train fares if one uses Amtrak to get to the cruise. I was able to get the reduction on my outbound trip, but not my return trip due to black-out dates around Thankgiving. Still, I saved about $25, and the trip is red-eye, overnight, getting me to San Diego about noon on the 17th of November. Should work out perfectly.
Now if I can just get rid of this cold...
I can't wait!
Felicia
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Originally Posted by isujim
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