Ray

I believe the Bahamas are the only Caribbean country that offers Vat cash back for tourists. 

Some countries may have a minimum of 100 of whatever currency per item while others could be only 25. You can not claim refunds for food and drink.

One problem is that shops can use different companies ie superdry may use Global Blue while Mango uses another company for Tax refunds this means you need to find different locations at airport to make your claims. 

You must remember to get a VAT tax back receipt as well as your normal receipt. 

Global Blue is probably the main company that does this and they have an easy to use App 

20 hours ago, Mrs L said:

Thank you all for your replies, I’m glad I asked, I definitely won’t be bringing this one now as it has got a surge protector on it. I will have a look and see if I can find something similar without. Just wanted to be sure before purchasing another. Greatly appreciate all your answers.

I take both US and EU adapters with me, that way you can use all of the sockets for UK plugs. 

16 minutes ago, Southern Waters said:

If bowling was available on ships, maybe the venue would be closed on rough sea days like the pools are?

I know Virgin has bowling allies on their ships not sure if they close on rough sea days though

15 minutes ago, Bowen said:

If your think anyone is going to complain to guest services, you’re not paying attention. No one is going to risk getting black balled from a cruise line or risk being charged with a hate crime for not wanting to see a man in a bikini. Believe me, no one is going to say anything at all. The OP and their gender fluid partner will be fine.

I've paid attention to this whole subject for 8 yrs.....ever since my daughter came out as lesbian! So I'm pretty clued up on the stigma! The abuse! Or even just the glaring stare that makes her feel uneasy and not welcome...

16 minutes ago, Bowen said:

 

And now that the thread has experienced anything other than “acceptable” responses, I expect it will be locked soon. 

I actually thought it would have been locked after the post saying topless women would be a bigger issue! 

58 minutes ago, Bowen said:

Yes your gender fluid partner will get looks. No, no one will say anything. 

Maybe not to their face but its almost certain thing's will be said others or complaints made to guest services! 

You only have to read these threads to see that there are people who will complain about anything and everything if its not to their liking or how they think things should be. 

My only concern would be if it was leopard skin print! I just don't think it is that nice no matter who's wearing it lol 

1 hour ago, Mike n Ky said:

 The only problem I have is socially inappropriate behavior 

You mean like people wearing knee length socks with sandals? Cause to me that is just totally unacceptable!!! 

One thing I have noticed is that prices on UK and US differ...figures are the same they just change the £ sign to a $ sign! 

So £1400 becomes $1400 for same cabin.

Only cruise line I can think of that has an Adult Deck for Nude sunbathing is Aida...

1 hour ago, twangster said:

Once Singaporeans see DCL pricing it might help RCI. 

Trying it once is one thing.  Filling a ship week after week is another matter.    

Excluding Expats living in Asia, there are probably only 5 countries that side of the world that I can think of where cruising would be something the average household would consider as a possible vacation...Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand and for a lot of them cost will come into the equation because not everyone who cruises is a High Roller..

Could just be they picked Singapore because its an Airport Hub so easier for people to get to! 

Marco Polo Airport is Venice not Ravanna and is about a 2-3 hr bus trip. 

Most airports recommend 3hrs for International flights. 

9 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

ETIAS is just a travel tax

Rest of the world just catching up with US after they have done it for years with the Esta.

Hopefully the UK finally gets its act together and introduces city taxes etc for tourists booking hotel rooms and also start charging resort fees if you use the WiFi like so many other countries do.

8 hours ago, gavvy said:

 

The ESTA just went up to $21 pp having been introduced at $14.

 

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/

That's the cost and link for the US official Esta site which anyone travelling to the us should use as there are other sites that will charge you the $21 plus an extra fee of about $50 ( Ripping off the unsuspecting tourist) 

1 hour ago, KDK said:

It was $58 per person for us

Thanks 

Does anyone know the cost of this transfer? 

Thanks 

On 3/9/2023 at 11:59 PM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

My 16 year old gave me the lecture on climate change yesterday when I mentioned that. I don't know about Alberta, but here in Ontario, we had unusually warm temps in December/Jan and now winter doesn't seem to want to go away.

I was shocked flying over Canada last week at how white everything was! 

On 3/13/2023 at 8:37 PM, jbrinkm said:

 You were lucky in Dublin to be flying from an airport that uses GE. Anyone hoping to use it, you can check the list to see if you'll be able to use it at your International airport:

As far as i am aware GE is for entry into US only so it's only for Airports where US customs are located which is why Dublin has it. 

Once you pass customs in Dublin its basically a domestic flight for arrival in the US.

15 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

I would be surprised if this is true.  I've had discussions with crew about their wifi and that never came up. Just that they do have to pay and are limited to their downtime to use it. 

The more hardship stories crew tell the more chance of bigger tips because people feel sorry for them! 

EasyJet!!! You may consider flying in a week early just so you meet your luggage lol 

Joking aside never fly in on the day of a cruise. You can use Skyscanner to check the history of your flight! See if its always late arriving at destination or if its cancelled on a regular basis.

I use a Revolut prepay Mastercard. I can convert money into 68 different currencies and keep them on locked card until i need to use, once used i can just freeze card again on an App.

Exchange rates are also better than banks and i can withdraw currency abroad FOC. 

Ship tenders at Santoroni,to get to Mykonos you will need to take a 2 to 3 hr ferry trip as its a completely seperate island roughly 130 miles away.

There is not a direct train from Porto Corsini to Bologna. You would need to get from Porto Corsini to Ravanna then get a train from there. 

On 2/19/2023 at 8:22 PM, NotPayinExtra said:

You keep pushing this guy in a conversation turned argument that has nothing to do with you. The other guy even apologized already. Only you keep going. 

Actually if you look back to my first post i was Actually trying to defuse the situation by saying it was a misunderstanding due to a poor choice of words! This post was directly under the one you posted thats now deleted where you also get involved in an argument saying it had been reported.

We could go even further back to where someone was told to shut up but thats been overlooked.

None of my posts have been argumentative there's a difference between arguing and highlighting a point...well there is if you can see the point.

As for continuing it, you've now jumped in again and continued it when i wasn't bothered! Hadn't logged in 2 days because to me it wasn't a big deal 

Yes i did write it wasn't offensive!!

Because i read it as someone not involved in any argument and understood what it meant! 

You would have read it blinkered by previous posts and not fully understood it and yes you would have found it offensive because thats what you were looking for.

It happens! No harm done! At the end of the day not getting bed turned down at night is not a big issue! Pretty sure 1000s of people in Turkey would just be happy to have an actual bed! 

Think about how trival these little things are compared to whats actual going on the world!