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superflyjeff
Cruiser
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Posted: Wed Apr 16th, 2008 02:57 am | 1st Post |
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My wife and I are sailing to Bermuda on the Dawn on June 15 for our 10 year wedding anniversary. We're in an AE Aft Penthouse and I'm looking for anyones opinion that has been in one of these cabins before...we're specifically in 9732.
Our last cruise on the Spirit we were in an AB penthouse and it was so nice. Are we going to be disappointed with the "studio" setup in the AE on Dawn? I know the balcony is much larger in the AE than the AB, but is there enough room to entertain one other couple in the room?
I'm really hoping the upsell fairy calls us to move to an AA...that would probably solve our problem. Our last cruise was in 2005 when you could still call for an upsell....ahhhhh those were the days!
Any advice or opinions are welcome! Thanks....jeff
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Jan 9, 2009 - NCL Sky
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Seahorse123
Habitual Cruiser 2500+
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Posted: Wed Apr 16th, 2008 03:12 am | 2nd Post |
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| That cabin is long and narrow. I did have people out there as guests but it was a tight fit. Now the AD`s on deck ten aft:cloudnine:
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superflyjeff
Cruiser
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Posted: Wed Apr 16th, 2008 03:18 am | 3rd Post |
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| So do you think we should pay to move up to deck 10? Are the rooms up there larger or just the balcony? Oh boy...I better get to praying that we get an upsell offer for an AA, AB or AC for this cruise...we really need some space and the NCL agent really sold me on the Aft location.
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Jan 9, 2009 - NCL Sky
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Seahorse123
Habitual Cruiser 2500+
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Posted: Wed Apr 16th, 2008 03:26 am | 4th Post |
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superflyjeff wrote: So do you think we should pay to move up to deck 10? Are the rooms up there larger or just the balcony? Oh boy...I better get to praying that we get an upsell offer for an AA, AB or AC for this cruise...we really need some space and the NCL agent really sold me on the Aft location.
I won`t sail unless I have an aft. The balconies are larger not the cabins. Sorry, I just read your first post, I thought you were talking about entertaining on the balcony. The Suite is adequate to entertain another couple........but only one other couple.IMO
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superflyjeff
Cruiser
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Posted: Wed Apr 16th, 2008 03:32 am | 5th Post |
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Thanks for the speedy reply. I really like this board...very glad to find everyone here.
We've never sailed on the aft of the ship, but I've always wanted to. We are traveling with one other couple and will probably do some pre-dinner drinks and possibly some appetizers prior to heading out for the night. So, yes...it would def only be one couple.
Now...how different are the AE & AD? Is the balcony a lot larger? I heard they were decorated a little different and of course the whirlpool tub. I think there is only one AD on our sailing left. Let me know your thoughts and perhaps I'll call and make the switch for the wife.
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Jan 9, 2009 - NCL Sky
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Seahorse123
Habitual Cruiser 2500+
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Posted: Wed Apr 16th, 2008 03:37 am | 6th Post |
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superflyjeff wrote: Thanks for the speedy reply. I really like this board...very glad to find everyone here.
We've never sailed on the aft of the ship, but I've always wanted to. We are traveling with one other couple and will probably do some pre-dinner drinks and possibly some appetizers prior to heading out for the night. So, yes...it would def only be one couple.
Now...how different are the AE & AD? Is the balcony a lot larger? I heard they were decorated a little different and of course the whirlpool tub. I think there is only one AD on our sailing left. Let me know your thoughts and perhaps I'll call and make the switch for the wife.
The AD on deck 10 is very, very large compared to the other aft suites. There is no whirlpool tub in the AD, there is a tub tho.
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Ann
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"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have."~~~~~Thomas Jefferson
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shoreguy
Charter Member
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Posted: Wed Apr 16th, 2008 03:41 am | 7th Post |
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Aft cabins are great. For the most part AE,AD, and AC cabins are the same layout. The difference is location and balcony size. AC the largest but forward, AD aft with a perfect balcony, Deck 9 AE a little smaller, and Deck 8 AE a shallow balcony.
You should be fine with another couple for drinks 
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superflyjeff
Cruiser
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Posted: Wed Apr 16th, 2008 03:43 am | 8th Post |
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Ok....making the call now to see how much to move up to the AD. Are the balconies all the same size on deck 10 or are they any larger in the middle vs the side?
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Jan 9, 2009 - NCL Sky
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shoreguy
Charter Member
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Posted: Wed Apr 16th, 2008 03:54 am | 9th Post |
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superflyjeff wrote: Ok....making the call now to see how much to move up to the AD. Are the balconies all the same size on deck 10 or are they any larger in the middle vs the side?
Quick look AD is $350 more pp At 2399 pp a good deal and $1000 less then the ACsLast edited on Wed Apr 16th, 2008 03:56 am by shoreguy
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superflyjeff
Cruiser
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Posted: Wed Apr 16th, 2008 04:02 am | 10th Post |
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We're in 9732 on the left side (i'm horrible with this port / starboard stuff). Would probably run us $500 to pay for the AD, but it would be 10228 in the middle. Oy vey...I don't know if it's worth it or not to change from the AE right now. If the upsell fairy calls me, I'd gladly pay $500 to bump up to an AC or AA (even better for us...just because we like the space).
You guys rock. Thanks for all the help!
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Jan 9, 2009 - NCL Sky
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superflyjeff
Cruiser
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Posted: Wed Apr 16th, 2008 12:54 pm | 11th Post |
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One more question if you please...
Do the AE cabins have ethernet ports in them or is it just AC and above? I need to be able to email my in-laws that are watchng our babies while we're gone. I know we'd have to pay for access regardless if wifi or wire in room...but would be nice to be able to keep the laptop in my cabin.
Also...I've heard the net is dreadfully slow, so VOIP services like Skype would never work would they? Trying to get creative on how to call during our 3 sea days...we'll call from a land line when we're in Bermuda.
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Jan 9, 2009 - NCL Sky
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shoreguy
Charter Member
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Posted: Wed Apr 16th, 2008 01:27 pm | 12th Post |
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superflyjeff wrote: One more question if you please...
Do the AE cabins have ethernet ports in them or is it just AC and above? I need to be able to email my in-laws that are watchng our babies while we're gone. I know we'd have to pay for access regardless if wifi or wire in room...but would be nice to be able to keep the laptop in my cabin.
Also...I've heard the net is dreadfully slow, so VOIP services like Skype would never work would they? Trying to get creative on how to call during our 3 sea days...we'll call from a land line when we're in Bermuda.
No Ethernet connection at least the last time I was in an AE on the Dawn a few years ago. Skype is blocked on NCL ships as it is a hog on the limited bandwidth. No big deal compose your email in the cabin, go to any public space, logon, cut past and send, download mail, log off. Using the ships terminals you pay for all the compose and read time.
If you have to call the cheapest at sea is your cellphone. $2.49 a minute on AT&T or Verizon and $4.99 with T-Mobile. Text messages are a good alternative, cheaper then email, $.50 outbound $.10 inbound onboard. Even if you in laws are not text savy show them how to send a call me or you got mail message. More real time then email
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superflyjeff
Cruiser
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Posted: Wed Apr 16th, 2008 01:43 pm | 13th Post |
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shoreguy wrote: No Ethernet connection at least the last time I was in an AE on the Dawn a few years ago. Skype is blocked on NCL ships as it is a hog on the limited bandwidth. No big deal compose your email in the cabin, go to any public space, logon, cut past and send, download mail, log off. Using the ships terminals you pay for all the compose and read time.
If you have to call the cheapest at sea is your cellphone. $2.49 a minute on AT&T or Verizon and $4.99 with T-Mobile. Text messages are a good alternative, cheaper then email, $.50 outbound $.10 inbound onboard. Even if you in laws are not text savy show them how to send a call me or you got mail message. More real time then email
Shoreguy...you are the bomb...seriously. I sometimes wonder if there's a single question you CAN'T answer! Thank you so much.
We have Verizon...so I'm assuming that you can use your Verizon phone while out to sea? Now that is freaking cool if so. Excellent idea on the text messaging. I honestly didn't know that the ships had cell service now.
Do you happen to know the going rate for internet connection? I'm not suprised on Skype being blocked...wouldn't take long for people to figure that out and then how would they make money on $15 / minute ship to shore calls ;-)
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Jan 9, 2009 - NCL Sky
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shoreguy
Charter Member
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Posted: Wed Apr 16th, 2008 02:03 pm | 14th Post |
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http://www.wirelessatsea.com/endusers.htm#custinfo
The link to Verizon is broken but all NCL ships have had cell service for a couple of years now. You need to go to the Verizon site to see what you need to do to have access onboard and Bermuda and the exact cost.
http://b2b.vzw.com/international/inside_us.html
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vreihen
Casual Cruiser
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Posted: Wed Apr 16th, 2008 04:00 pm | 15th Post |
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superflyjeff wrote: We have Verizon...so I'm assuming that you can use your Verizon phone while out to sea? Now that is freaking cool if so. Excellent idea on the text messaging. I honestly didn't know that the ships had cell service now.
Just as a warning, those with non-GSM phones (meaning Sprint PCS and Verizon customers) will NOT have text messaging or data services available while onboard the ship. Great tip for some, but the on-board cellular provider isn't repeating those services to anything but GSM phones unless something has changed since February.
You might also want to read the following press release from Verizon, which explains the pre-trip requirements to enable "International Roaming" on your phone, and also implies that TXT messaging won't work in Bermuda even though your phone will make/receive voice calls:
http://news.vzw.com/news/2005/04/pr2005-04-13b.html
Do you happen to know the going rate for internet connection? I'm not suprised on Skype being blocked...wouldn't take long for people to figure that out and then how would they make money on $15 / minute ship to shore calls ;-)
If I recall correctly, the rate on the Gem a few months ago came out to $0.30/minute for satellite Internet service ($100 for a 300-minute plan, more per minute on smaller plans).
As for Skype not working, the reason is pure physics. The speed of light delay from a VoIP packet traveling up/down from the satellite is too long for the VoIP protocol to deal with. Even if there was enough bandwidth available, I doubt that it would work properly.
Also, as I had mentioned in my Gem thread from January, this web site takes literally 5+ minutes to load a message editor window from on the ship, due in part to the latency from having to load/ack packets for all of the little picture trinkets and icons on the screen. Do the Internet connectivity pricing math before you decide to post a "live from the XYZZY" diary.  Likewise, if you ever see a troll making 30 posts an hour claiming to be live on a ship, feel free to point out this impossibility to them.....
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BeckyThane
Habitual Cruiser 2500+
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Posted: Wed Apr 16th, 2008 04:31 pm | 16th Post |
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Vreihen, I'm not quite understanding what you said about text messaging...
I have Verizon, and on the Gem's T/A in December text messaging was my most reliable means of communication. Does this mean I have a GSM Verizon phone? Each text message was charged at my regular rate $0.15/message plus $0.10 or $0.15, don't remember. It's an older phone -- probably four or five years old or more -- so if GSM is a newer technology I probably wouldn't have it.
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shoreguy
Charter Member
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Posted: Wed Apr 16th, 2008 05:38 pm | 17th Post |
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BeckyThane wrote: Vreihen, I'm not quite understanding what you said about text messaging...
I have Verizon, and on the Gem's T/A in December text messaging was my most reliable means of communication. Does this mean I have a GSM Verizon phone? Each text message was charged at my regular rate $0.15/message plus $0.10 or $0.15, don't remember. It's an older phone -- probably four or five years old or more -- so if GSM is a newer technology I probably wouldn't have it.
My son's Verizon phone (like yours not GSM - Verizon has very few) had no issue with text messaging onboard the Gem. Verizon uses CDMA on 99% of their phones. They will need to change it is the Betamax of wireless. Last year wordwide more new GSM phones were added than all the other types including CDMA since the beginning of time. AT&T and T-Mobile have transformed to 100% GSM. If you travel you must have a GSM phone.
Vriehen the cheapest internet plan (you can get bonus minutes if you sign up day one) is $.40 a minute. I question your physics. I have made calls with Skype onboard. It worked. As expected some clipping and delay. But you could communicate. The issue now is the site is blocked by the internet servise provider. VoIP is not a protocol. VoIP is an application that runs on IP (Internet Protocol)
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superflyjeff
Cruiser
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Posted: Wed Apr 16th, 2008 06:10 pm | 18th Post |
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shoreguy wrote:
My son's Verizon phone (like yours not GSM - Verizon has very few) had no issue with text messaging onboard the Gem. Verizon uses CDMA on 99% of their phones. They will need to change it is the Betamax of wireless. Last year wordwide more new GSM phones were added than all the other types including CDMA since the beginning of time. AT&T and T-Mobile have transformed to 100% GSM. If you travel you must have a GSM phone.
Vriehen the cheapest internet plan (you can get bonus minutes if you sign up day one) is $.40 a minute. I question your physics. I have made calls with Skype onboard. It worked. As expected some clipping and delay. But you could communicate. The issue now is the site is blocked by the internet servise provider. VoIP is not a protocol. VoIP is an application that runs on IP (Internet Protocol)
I can confirm that I was told by Verizon International Roaming Support team this morning that NCL ships DO support text messaging & CDMS phones from Verizon. $0.25 to send / $0.05 to receive both at sea and in Bermuda.
Verizon phones will also work in Bermuda. The rate is only $1.29 / minute to USA from Bermuda....not too bad...at least it's half of what it is when out to sea.
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vreihen
Casual Cruiser
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Posted: Wed Apr 16th, 2008 06:42 pm | 19th Post |
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BeckyThane wrote: It's an older phone -- probably four or five years old or more -- so if GSM is a newer technology I probably wouldn't have it.
Maybe it was using an older CDMA messaging standard or something being used by your phone, or perhaps Verizon and Sprint use different SMS (text messaging) standards? I honestly didn't turn my Verizon phone on during my last cruise, but I did notice that WirelessAtSea does not carry the Verizon/Sprint EV-DO or 1X data protocols per the charts in the techical part of their web site. They only carry GPRS, which is a GSM data standard.
I do know for a fact that my office Sprint PCS phone had no SMS service while at sea. Sprint's international service web information was 100% spot-on for what services would be available at each port. In case anyone is wondering:
on Gem - voice only
St Thomas - voice + data
Antigua - nada
Barbados - PCS voice @ $1.99/minute, must dial "00" for calls to USA.
Grenada - nada
Dominica - nada
Tortola - PCS voice @ $3.49/minute, must dial "1" for calls to USA.
I had several office disaster and weather alert messages (a pleasure to ignore!) sent to my phone during this cruise, and received the back-logged collection of them only in St. Thomas and when passing by St. Thomas after leaving Tortola. I made a voice call from St. Thomas and that was the only time I used the phone for the entire trip, so I can't tell you if voice worked when the phone indicated coverage was available.
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=12913174&postcount=12
My only recommendation is to read this post from the DS (different cruise line, Verizon phone, Bermuda run) and be prepared with a backup plan before you leave home if your texting doesn't work from the ship or in port. Otherwise, you might not get the message about an emergency at home until an hour before the ship docks on disembarkment day.....
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watchdiva
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Posted: Thu Apr 17th, 2008 12:16 am | 20th Post |
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Hey SG:
I'm in 10226 on the 6/8 Bermuda cruise and had the same question as the OP, is the balcony on 10226 the same size as the balcony in 10228? I think I can still switch for a bigger balcony...........
BTW - you are missed by MANY over on the DS...............
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superflyjeff
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Posted: Thu Apr 17th, 2008 01:28 am | 21st Post |
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| This doesn't answer your question, but NCL did tell me today that the AD Romance Suites balcony is 125 sq ft oppossed to the 74 sq ft of my little AE balcony on deck nine :-( They quoted me $1000 to switch to the larger balcony, but that's probably because there is only one AD left.
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watchdiva
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Posted: Thu Apr 17th, 2008 01:34 am | 22nd Post |
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| Thanks - did they happen to mention which suite #? I've seen some posts that the inside AD's may be slightly larger but either way, I'm stoked!
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superflyjeff
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Posted: Thu Apr 17th, 2008 01:45 am | 23rd Post |
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From what I've been told by various reps at NCL is that the AE & AD cabins are exactly the same size. The difference being the decor, tub, and larger balcony than those AE's on 8 & 9....with deck 8 balconies being the smallest of them all.
SG...please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. I'm no expert :)
Last edited on Thu Apr 17th, 2008 01:46 am by superflyjeff
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shoreguy
Charter Member
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Posted: Thu Apr 17th, 2008 02:29 am | 24th Post |
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superflyjeff wrote: From what I've been told by various reps at NCL is that the AE & AD cabins are exactly the same size. The difference being the decor, tub, and larger balcony than those AE's on 8 & 9....with deck 8 balconies being the smallest of them all.
SG...please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. I'm no expert :)
The interior of cabins are exactly the same except decor. No diference in the tub. It is all about location and balcony size. Balcony widths are all the same it is all about depth. 8 being ithe smallest, then 9, and the ADs on 10 the deepest.Last edited on Thu Apr 17th, 2008 02:29 am by shoreguy
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musicgirl
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Posted: Sat Apr 19th, 2008 02:29 am | 25th Post |
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Just remember superflyjeff, if you go for the upgrade you'll be right next to us!!!! Good to see you over here!!
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