Zacharius

And much easier to market a "private island" than it is to promote a "peninsula attached to a country that a lot of people are uncomfortable visiting"

Just because I'm a professional nit-picker - Labadee is not an island, it's a fenced-off peninsula. It's fully connected by land to the rest of Haiti, and only a 20-30 minute drive from Cap-Haitien, one of the largest cities/towns in Haiti.

Haiti is a wonderful place with incredible people. It's also incredibly poor and undeveloped. It's not for the faint of heart, but I've never had an issue during my visits there. That being said...as my predecessors on this thread have said, you are only "kinda sorta" in Haiti. For all intents and purposes, you are anywhere put Haiti and you will never see the real Haiti, for good and for bad. It's a beautiful place, enjoy.

San Juan is fairly compact and easy to get around when it comes to the touristy areas, so while your ship may leave out of Pan American, don't hesitate to stay on the beach or in Old Town. The ride from either to the pier is fairly short. Even the airport isn't that far away, but I definitely recommend either Old Town or beach-front for the hotel. We've stayed at Decanter Hotel and enjoyed it.

I have degrees from a "Big 12" which has 10 schools, expanding to 14, and a degree from a "Pac 12" school, which is about to go back to having 10. Weird...

I think it depends on the business model and the competition. For example, I know that a lot of breweries are card only...because, uh, I visit a lot of them :). Those that are card only have made the conscious decision to add 2-3% to each beer price, but make it a nice round number like $7 instead of $6.80. Nobody notices, nobody cares, and the majority of their clientele will be using a card anyways in 2022. No need to count money at the end of the night, visit banks to make deposits, etc. etc. Pros and cons. You mean B1G 10? Because their grads can't spell either

In the case of overbooking, an airline doesn't really consider if you have a seat allocated (purchased or otherwise) or not. They're going to look at things like airline/alliance status as well as fare codes. The fact that many cruiseline procured flights are on special, non-published fares (read: often low priced) is likely to put you at a little higher risk of being bumped than not having a seat allocation would.

Oh this is absolutely the case. They mean well...they're tipping. And they're tipping with something that seems "fun" and "unique". But I have found that these people are often the ones who haven't traveled much outside of cruising or similar planned/guided trips and don't understand that when these folks get back home, even if they're from developed places like Western Europe (which most aren't), those $2 bills are worthless. I am from a small (population wise) country in southern Africa and can assure you probably .001% of the population knows they even exist.

"I was going to give them $5, but okay, here's $2"

Yeah, definitely avoid doing this with non-US persons. I'm saying that as a non-US person. $2 bills are pretty much unheard of outside the US - very few people know they exist, and even fewer are able to change them out in their own country (or any other country, for that matter). Stick to the normal currencies.

"No man, it's me...I'll take my shoes off and we can match them up to prove it!"

It's kind of like the Jurassic Park line to me - "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should." In your case, yes, you could. But as many others have stated before me...should you? I would not feel comfortable leaving the country without one or even both (I'm a dual citizen) of my passports. Doesn't matter how close or how far, to me, there are too many risks.

I am just picturing folks wandering around the ship giving out individual jelly beans from their pocket.

To all the folks mentioning using pills - just please be careful. While it's exceedingly rare, there are times when evacuation is necessary, and being on certain meds/pills/drugs can definitely hamper this and cause issue to yourself and those around you. I am an aerospace engineer who is also a private pilot. I have had many conversations with people who were clearly nervous flying, and have said that my explanations have helped. I really do try to hammer home the point that we spend years and years (literally) designing and testing new aircraft, as well as creating incredibly sophisticated and all-encompassing maintenance routines. Sure, we're not perfect, but one look at the number of commercial aviation deaths in the developed world over the last 20-30 years goes to show that it works pretty damn well.

Is that the Vegas themed cruise? /s

Take a look at Google Maps and you'll see. It's wild. Never been there myself, but I'm definitely aware of the legend of the long pier. I love Turks & Caicos, but can't imagine taking a cruise there. It's definitely a place to spend a week, not a few hours, in my book. And I prefer other islands to Grand Turk.

I always like this map - https://www.britannica.com/story/whats-the-difference-between-great-britain-and-the-united-kingdom

More than just about any other airline in the US, Southwest's times depend on more than just the season, they can depend on the day of the week. LGB-DAL may be 9am Monday through Friday, but 12pm on Saturday and 4pm on Sunday. That's just kind of the way they are, especially from smaller out-stations like LGB. So, I can tell you today's LGB-DAL nonstop left at 2:30pm, but yesterday there wasn't a nonstop at all.

If you're only looking at Southwest, you're right, they don't do many nonstops LAX-DAL. If you're willing to expand your search and look at AA, they will likely offer a lot more LAX-DFW flights. For example, today, AA has 15 nonstop LAX-DFW flights, whereas Southwest has four nonstop LAX-DAL flights, plus a single direct flight (that makes not one but two stops along the way, but since you don't change planes along the way it's considered a direct flight). That is true, there is one daily LGB-DAL nonstop which is a decent option.

No need to watch it, we already know the GOAT will win:

My fellow vacationers are lucky I pack even the most basic clothes. If I could stroll on with a garbage bag full of just shorts and t-shirts, I would.

I can see how it could feel stressful, but here's how I look at the drink package (and why I always get it) - (a) it's more than just alcohol, as it's a good way to get coffees, bottled waters (which are handy for excursions too), and sodas, and (b) it's a good way to try new drinks...if you don't like what you got, cast it aside and get another. It's a low-risk way to expand your cocktail horizons. While I usually have no problem breaking even when I factor everything (beyond just alcohol) in to it, I end up not being too concerned because it is a good way to try new stuff.

I'd say it just increases your choices, both for cruises AND for airfares. There are airlines that only fly to FLL, ones that only fly to MIA, ones that fly to both. Some cities have nonstops to one, or the other, or both. Don't forget West Palm Beach (PBI) too - it's definitely further, but it's yet another option for flights. Just be sure to factor in time and cost of that airport if you end up going that route (I think it's like an hour from PBI to Port Everglades)

As long as you're physically able, one of the biggest mistakes in my book is taking elevators. Not only are they busy a lot of the time and may require a wait, but the walking and stair climbing is good for combatting the food and drink! Heck, we purposely choose a room as far from the elevators as possible.

As mentioned, FLL is hands down the closest. But, that being said, Port of Miami is by no means far from MIA airport...something like 9 miles, which even in rush hour traffic isn't too far (as a reference, MSY Airport to the Port of New Orleans is 15-16 miles). I personally wouldn't base my cruise decision off of that - neither are hard to get to, and it's not even that hard to get from FLL to Port of Miami, or from MIA to Port Everglades, via shuttle or Uber/Lyft/taxi. I say choose the cruise you want and the flights that work best (schedule wise, fare wise, whatever you prioritize) and go from there. Hotel wise, I believe FLL has more options in proximity of the port than MIA does.