Digmenow

Be careful with steaming a wool suit. Inexperience may result in the permanent loss of proper pant leg creasing as well as severe pucker damage to the coat if the canvassing is fused (very common) instead of stitched (more expensive garments).

Plus, not every port can handle the bigger ships --- both foreign and domestic .....
Case in point, Tampa, Baltimore on the domestic side, and Cuba and Belize on the foreign side.

Yeah, they'd have to abandon Baltimore and Tampa and they seem to be popular and profitable ports.  Or invest in new ports south of the bridges which doesn't seem likely

What's amazing about Baltimore is its proximity to multiple major markets (Baltimore/Washington/Philadelphia) and the ease of getting there from points west (Pittsburgh, the Ohio River Valley)....
Imagine if the state could invest the money into a new port just below the Bay Bridges (Annapolis) ---
Of course, the trade-off would be losing the thrill of going under them and the Key Bridge (I-695)

I actually eat more in the weeks leading up to my cruise, so I'm well stretched for the many meals on board.

If sticking together is the most important factor, just try getting in whichever line is shorter.
If they "can't" join you in the shorter Platinum line, join them in the regular line. Vacation together start to finish.

@Digmenow, appreciate the reference to the luggage line. Unfortunately, new luggage is not in our budget (or timeline at this point, as we fly in 6 days). Have to work with what I have, which doesn't include any integrated garment bag element. Only thought of this now, as it's literally the first time I'm flying anywhere with a suit in tow.
All I can say is that I'm not finding any reference to garment bags on United's web site, either pro or con. I'm taking the utter absence of information on them, combined with the description they provide of the allowed "plus one" item (which basically describes a backpack or any other item that can be stowed under the seat), to mean that they are not allowed by them any longer. I may call them directly and see if I can get any confirmation.

We spent a couple of years gifting each other with various pieces of Briggs and Riley luggage.  The larger pieces came with removable mini garment bags that fit into the lids of the suitcases.  That was over 10 years ago.  Now they build the garment bag into the suitcase.  Not cheap but it comes with a lifetime guarantee against ANY damage, just pay the shipping to return it to the manufacturer.  I used that guarantee before our cruise earlier this month when a corner of the suitcase blew out on a previous trip .  I discovered it a couple of months before the cruise date.  They turned it around to us in under 3 weeks! 
My tux was immaculate when I unpacked it aboard the Jewel.
 

We spent a couple of years gifting each other with various pieces of Briggs and Riley luggage.  The larger pieces came with removable mini garment bags that fit into the lids of the suitcases.  That was over 10 years ago.  Now they build the garment bag into the suitcase.  Not cheap but it comes with a lifetime guarantee against ANY damage, just pay the shipping to return it to the manufacturer.  I used that guarantee before our cruise earlier this month when a corner of the suitcase blew out on a previous trip .  I discovered it a couple of months before the cruise date.  They turned it around to us in under 3 weeks! 
My tux was immaculate when I unpacked it aboard the Jewel.
 

We spent a couple of years gifting each other with various pieces of Briggs and Riley luggage.  The larger pieces came with removable mini garment bags that fit into the lids of the suitcases.  That was over 10 years ago.  Now they build the garment bag into the suitcase.  Not cheap but it comes with a lifetime guarantee against ANY damage, just pay the shipping to return it to the manufacturer.  I used that guarantee before our cruise earlier this month when a corner of the suitcase blew out on a previous trip .  I discovered it a couple of months before the cruise date.  They turned it around to us in under 3 weeks! 
My tux was immaculate when I unpacked it aboard the Jewel.
 

They abandoned the iPad idea and are instead designating 1 out of every 3 elevators "Express."  On the Express elevators, the elevator buttons have been replaced by card swipes.  They'll cost $1.99 per ride, or you can buy an unlimited package for $10.99 per person per day, plus 18% gratuity.  Suite guests will have access to their very own golden elevator with TV screens that let them watch all the people who have to wait for the regular elevators and laugh at them over the ship's loudspeakers.
I kid . . . I kid . . .
(I actually have no idea what happened to the ipad experiment, but it sounds awful and I hope it fails.)
 

Here in 'The Land of Pleasant Living', we have no problem with height restrictions!  

Here in 'The Land of Pleasant Living', we have no problem with height restrictions!  

Just to close this out, the pack and play, though smaller than he's used to, was large enough for him to move around. We pulled the sofa forward and put the crib between it and the wall. The cabin steward congratulated our layout, saying that despite his recommendation to do it like that, most folks ignore him and put the crib in front of the sofa, rendering it unusable for seating. The room darkening curtains attached to the ceiling with small, strong magnets from Amazon and clipped to the wall with (barely sufficient strength) dollar store magnetic clips, create a tiny bedroom for the little guy. We had to pull down an opening at the ceiling and aim the back panel inward whenever he was in the crib so that all of the AC didn't blow directly down into the crib. Otherwise, sweet!

I'm showing those pics to my wife...maybe she'll let me book another JS if we can curtain off a section ?

Just to close this out, the pack and play, though smaller than he's used to, was large enough for him to move around. We pulled the sofa forward and put the crib between it and the wall. The cabin steward congratulated our layout, saying that despite his recommendation to do it like that, most folks ignore him and put the crib in front of the sofa, rendering it unusable for seating. The room darkening curtains attached to the ceiling with small, strong magnets from Amazon and clipped to the wall with (barely sufficient strength) dollar store magnetic clips, create a tiny bedroom for the little guy. We had to pull down an opening at the ceiling and aim the back panel inward whenever he was in the crib so that all of the AC didn't blow directly down into the crib. Otherwise, sweet!

Haven't had much opportunity to follow many threads. Here's our superior balcony stateroom 9536 on the Jewel of the Seas out of San Juan on March 4th. The extra length and width is making our son in law jealous as their cabin just ahead of the forward elevators is shorter and narrower. Heh, even the safe is larger!

Haven't had much opportunity to follow many threads. Here's our superior balcony stateroom 9536 on the Jewel of the Seas out of San Juan on March 4th. The extra length and width is making our son in law jealous as their cabin just ahead of the forward elevators is shorter and narrower. Heh, even the safe is larger!

Just to close this out, the pack and play, though smaller than he's used to, was large enough for him to move around. We pulled the sofa forward and put the crib between it and the wall. The cabin steward congratulated our layout, saying that despite his recommendation to do it like that, most folks ignore him and put the crib in front of the sofa, rendering it unusable for seating. The room darkening curtains attached to the ceiling with small, strong magnets from Amazon and clipped to the wall with (barely sufficient strength) dollar store magnetic clips, create a tiny bedroom for the little guy. We had to pull down an opening at the ceiling and aim the back panel inward whenever he was in the crib so that all of the AC didn't blow directly down into the crib. Otherwise, sweet!

This is our setup. Six table cloth clips and two towels per chair. The clips keep the towels on in a good wind as well.

Just to close this out, the pack and play, though smaller than he's used to, was large enough for him to move around. We pulled the sofa forward and put the crib between it and the wall. The cabin steward congratulated our layout, saying that despite his recommendation to do it like that, most folks ignore him and put the crib in front of the sofa, rendering it unusable for seating. The room darkening curtains attached to the ceiling with small, strong magnets from Amazon and clipped to the wall with (barely sufficient strength) dollar store magnetic clips, create a tiny bedroom for the little guy. We had to pull down an opening at the ceiling and aim the back panel inward whenever he was in the crib so that all of the AC didn't blow directly down into the crib. Otherwise, sweet!

Engineering genius !

@Digmenow  Wow!  That is an awesome set up!

Just to close this out, the pack and play, though smaller than he's used to, was large enough for him to move around. We pulled the sofa forward and put the crib between it and the wall. The cabin steward congratulated our layout, saying that despite his recommendation to do it like that, most folks ignore him and put the crib in front of the sofa, rendering it unusable for seating. The room darkening curtains attached to the ceiling with small, strong magnets from Amazon and clipped to the wall with (barely sufficient strength) dollar store magnetic clips, create a tiny bedroom for the little guy. We had to pull down an opening at the ceiling and aim the back panel inward whenever he was in the crib so that all of the AC didn't blow directly down into the crib. Otherwise, sweet!

Just to close this out, the pack and play, though smaller than he's used to, was large enough for him to move around. We pulled the sofa forward and put the crib between it and the wall. The cabin steward congratulated our layout, saying that despite his recommendation to do it like that, most folks ignore him and put the crib in front of the sofa, rendering it unusable for seating. The room darkening curtains attached to the ceiling with small, strong magnets from Amazon and clipped to the wall with (barely sufficient strength) dollar store magnetic clips, create a tiny bedroom for the little guy. We had to pull down an opening at the ceiling and aim the back panel inward whenever he was in the crib so that all of the AC didn't blow directly down into the crib. Otherwise, sweet!