A belated welcome, Joe. I haven't tried SS but hope to in the future. Glad you've joined us.

A VERY belated welcome Joe....nice to see another midwestern person here,.....we always need to hear all about everyone's babies. Yours are adorable!!!!! :)

Trish

Hi Joe,
So thrilled to find another Chicago person!!!! Here is our thing, we have had 3 Radisson cruises, and one Silverseas. We are heading out on Radisson in about 6 weeks. We love both, really love both, the Silverseas all inclusive really sold us, particularly since the price was comprible. We DO adore Radisson, and will continue with them until the price gap closes, which frankly looks like it is a bit, but not completely. we'll keep checking as the itinerarys are what we look for!!!!! glad to hear from you....
cindy

Thank you all so much. This place is like a second home. I post on other boards but this is by far the best.

Thanks again..................Joe

Welcome Joe!! LCT should have a warning that it becomes addictive!! We have daughters in Chicago but we try to visit in the summer! Joanna

Welcome Joe to LCT!

Betty

Well I am not the chatty one but I am the one that does the computer stuff, so here goes- Carol and I have done three Princess cruises with two other couples. The last was a Baltic cruise in mid 04. Could not stand the food and the millions of people. Said that was my last one on that line. I have always wanted to see Macho Picchu and Radisson was the cruise line that offered the best itinerary.

We live in So Calif. and in the So Calif desert where we have a second home. We also go to Maui twice a year where I am involved in the management of a resort called Napili Kai Beach Resort in West Maui. We are both in that over 60 but under 70 age bracket.

We are fortunate that our two sons also live in So Calif so we get to see them quite often. The grandkids (2 boys and a girl) are fun to be with also.

It would be fun to meet any of you and get to know you. Talking directly to persons that are such cruise experts would give Carol and I a leg up on picking the next cruise. Yes, there will be more. Cruising is the way to see soo much of the world.

Welcome welcome - you have lots of CA friends - Joanna

Welcome....but you forgot to tell us your name! :D

There are so many helpful people on this board that can always answer any questions you may have. Your management in the Maui resort sounds great....lots of people would love that job I'm sure!!

djw521,

Welcome to LCT! I know you will enjoy this board.

Betty

A BIG welcome to you djw521!!!

Trish

djw521, so glad you found us. Welcome to LCT! Great information and wonderful people here. Enjoy.

DJW - Welcome to LCT. We just had a land gathering two weeks ago. We'll have another one fairly soon, since we all like each other enough to do that frequently! And we're all over So. Calif! - San Diego to Ventura County

I'm very familiar with the Napili Kai - lots of friends who have stayed there over the years. We were just in the area recently up at Kapalua not so long ago ... :)

Welcome to LCT!

Masaki

Good to hear that Napili Kai is known among the LCT group. I would wage that if you were in the Kapalua area you probably ate dinner at the SeaHouse on Napili Bay.

Hi,
We have just registered, and we love sailing on the Voyager. Our next cruise will be our fouth, the Hong Kong to Singapore segment of the word cruise. We have met wonderful people onboard and look forward to meeting some of you during our trip.

Welcome to the board, DnA!! What an exciting itinerary you are sailing on!

Hi Karen,
Thanks so much for the warm welcome! I hope to hear from some LCT members that will be onboard segment 3 of the WC with us. We were onboard for this segment last year and met so many fun friendly people that we decieded to go back and visit all the sites we just didn't have time for last year. We will be in Hong Kong for a few days before boarding the Voyager. I hope the weather is better than last year so we can get to the top of Victoria Peak with out the fog. I understand the view is fantastic. Looking forward to hearing from all you world cruisers...

DnA, did you meet Marcie, a member of this board, who was on the World cruise last year?

Welcome to LCT djw and DnA. We hope you enjoy it here. It is really a fun group.

Also, I don't think I ever acknowledged JoefromChicago, who is going on our SS cruise with us next December.

Welcome to LCT, djw and DnA! Hope you will post often and become active participants on this great board!

Hi Karen,
No, we did not meet Marcie. I don't think we met anyone on this board. I just found this board last week, and it is full of great information.

Hi Everyone,
I’ve been lurking now for well over a year and wasn’t going to post (make an introduction) until I had at least one LC under my belt…….but after reading your posts and coming on this site more and more whenever I’m home, this has become my favorite site and I feel as though I already know most of you. I thought that I might have a few questions to ask before I booked my first LC and thought it appropriate that I come out of lurking mode and make an introduction. I can have a tendency to be a little long winded but I’ll try to spare you all and cut to the chase as much as possible. I was over on CC before and posted a few times (mostly asking questions) and a very nice woman directed me to Brown & Keene and I then phoned and talked with Ngaire and she invited me to join in here……so join I did only in lurk mode until now. My name is Ralph and I’m a 60-year-old single man. I’m a semi-retired Marine Engineer and should be completely retired in about 2-3 years. I work on ships ( no laughing) I know it sounds like a busman’s holiday but believe me there is no comparison. It would be like comparing melons to cannon balls. I’ve only “cruised” on the QE11 way back in the 70’s on a trip to SA and a few years ago I went on a HAL cruise to the eastern Caribbean. Other than a couple of short cruises in Europe on some obscure European lines a long time ago, that is the extent of my “cruise” experience. However I still enjoy the serenity of being at sea and I think that luxury cruising is an elegant, relaxing, way to travel and make some wonderful friends.
I’m originally from Boston, have lived in New Hampshire for about 13 years and finally made the permanent move to Hobe Sound, Florida (New England winters had finally lost the little, if any, charm that they once might have had!) I’ll be a solo cruiser to start (I haven’t, as yet, been able to find a woman who wants to cruise as much as me in retirement) and once retired I’d love to do a world cruise or at least a long term one where I could really unwind. In the mean time I’ll probably get my feet wet, so to speak, (no pun………I HOPE!!!!) on a RSSC trip next year, hopefully to the Panama Canal …..Either Ft Laud to LA or vise-versa. In any event Ngaire will be hearing from me when it’s time to book. I do look forward to posting and asking what I’m sure will sound like very elementary questions. Just from what I’ve read over the past year from you nice people has been a wealth of information. Thank you all very much!……and I wish you all smooth sailing with good following seas and all the best in the New Year!
Ralph

Welcome to LCT, Ralph! And good for you that you've come out of lurk mode!! :D Feel free to ask whatever you like - I probably won't be able to answer your questions either but I'm sure amongst the collective wisdom here, there'll be somebody who can!

Masaki

Ralph,

Welcome to LCT!

Betty

Welcome aboard, Ralph. Thanks for the introduction.

Hi Ralph! I saw you online last night and got a chuckle out of your nickname! Welcome to the board, even if you have been lurking since last year! Jeez, a single guy who likes to cruise, you will probably become the cat's pajamas around here ;)

Holler if you would like an avatar and need some help installing it.

Thanks for posting your introduction, Ralph. Welcome to LCT!

We hope you become an active participant on our boards!

Welcome Ralph!! Hobe Sound is beautiful! Joanna

Welcome Ralph! So glad you came out of the lurking mode and joined us!! We love new members. I love your sense of humor!

I wish more lurkers would join us. Just yesterday 2 close friends (Marc and Harry) asked me to say hi to Doris & Alfred. When I asked who are Doris and Alfred? Marc said "They were on the WC and read LCT everyday" so a big hello to them too!

Calling all lurkers....feel free to join us!

Thank you all very much for the warm welcome! Yes Karen, at some point I’ll probably be bothering you for help with an avatar. I’m barely computer literate and will need some help getting a photo up of me or my little companion “Duffy” who is an 11 year old Cocker Spaniel. I had some photos on a floppy disc but can’t find them as they’re probably in one of the boxes that I haven’t as yet unpacked from the move from NH. Duffy will probably get the nod, as I wouldn’t want to alienate anyone with my pic at this early stage of the game.

Hi Ralph,

Welcome to LCT! Looking forward to your posts. We were on the Mariner in 2003 through the canacl (FLL to LAX). It's been one of our favorites.

And as you've been lurking, you know that we have lots of animal lovers here, so Duffy is welcome too!

As for being a single cruiser, you might want to get your feet wet on our MUSH cruise to Alaska. There'll be quite a few singles on that one, plus many of our smiling faces, so you will have a lot of friends on board!

Good idea Kathy! MUSH would be perfect for you Ralph. August 29th on the Mariner with so many LCT people! Here's the roll call:

LCT ALASKA MARINER LIST

Ngaire and Ken to be assigned
730 Olivia
731 Joe and Robin
732 Masaki and Amanda
733 Suzanne
734 Andrea and Doug
735 Tom and Marcie
736 John and Kimmi
737 Mark and Karen
738 George and Marsha
739 Tony and JoAnna
740 Grant and Dena
741 Frank and Kathy
742 Fred and Pat
743 Lee
744 Peter and Mark
745 Dean and Donna
747 Friends of Masaki
748 Hale and Alberta
749 Frances and Linda
750 Carol
751 Lawrence
752 Roger and Iris
753 Wes and Ida
754 Elisabeth and Mary
756 Betty Whitehead
757 Jim and Tracey
758 John and Tonya
759 JOhn and Sandra
760 David and Marjorie
761 James and Patricia
763 Elizabeth Minor
765 John and Kathy
766 Andrea Novick
767 Don and Diana
769 Frank and Joann
771 Ray and Linda
775 Dick and Nancy (Joann's friends)
776 Mary and Julie
778 Frank and Carla
G?? John and Glenda (Joann's friends)
G?? Marc and Arlene
817 Lievsay, Donald, Marjorie and David
821 Clyde and Jean
835 Brad and Leslie
839 Jerald and Mary
916 Allan and Margaret
933 Robert and Suzanne

Hi Ralph,
Happy semi-retirement. Like you I moved back to the south 4 years ago. It's great. I always tell people - I've slid through my last stop sign. Wonderful feeling.
You must do MUSH. I think this will be the biggest LCT group ever assembled on one ship up to this point. Great way to get your cruising feet wet.

Hi Marcie,
We are Doris and Alfred, hence the DnA. We spent a lovely afternoon here at home with Marc and Harry yesterday. Alfred helped Harry set up his new laptop so I'm hoping for wonderful seamail. I'm sorry that we didn't meet last year on the world cruise, but we will be on segment 3 this year, and we are waitlisted for segment 2 in 2007. We will also be on the Voyager on December 18, 2006 for a carribean cruise. I hope that you will be on one or all of these trips so we can meet.

Now I get it.......you're Doris & Alfred!! I feel foolish because Marc told me you were still "lurkers". So happy to get to know you as we are such good friends with Marc and Harry and they speak so highly of you and tell me about your dog too! Yes, one of these days we will meet. We've probably passed each other on the Voyager many times without knowing it! (I was probably the one looking to get into mischief :D )

Thank you very much Kathy & Marcie for your welcome & kind enthusiastic invitation to join you all on MUSH! Don’t think that I haven’t been reading all the hype here and thinking of what a great cruise this would be to go on and meet so many people from LCT. Unfortunately I will probably be working at that time and won’t get home until the end of August or first of September. If I am able to make it at all it would have to be a last minute booking. I won’t know anything definite regarding my schedule until sometime this spring. Will this cruise sell-out early? From what I hear it probably will, as I’m sure that Alaska is a very popular destination that time of year. But, believe me, if there is any way that I can do it, you can rest assured that I’ll be there with bells!
Thank you also Betty for your welcome and I know exactly what you mean about sliding through your last stop sign. I’ve had similar experiences, not to mention sliding down the driveway on my butt. There definitely is something to be said for going out in the morning to pick up the paper in the driveway in your flip-flops, shorts, & tee shirt and then reading it while having your morning coffee on the back patio IN THE MIDDLE OF JANUARY!!!
Ralph

Ralph: I'll keep my fingers and toes crossed you'll be able to book last minute - it really is great group - Joanna

Even if it's sold out, you can always be put on the waitlist as someone always cancels before payment is due and you can probably get a cabin!

Yes I agree - the walk to get the mail or paper in shorts - sunshine is good for the soul!!!