Zacharius

6 hours ago, memebag said:

An island is land that is surrounded by water. That makes all the land on earth “islands”. A peninsula of an island is still part of an island.

12 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Much easier to market a private island than a private peninsula

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"

1 hour ago, AlohaLivin said:

it is my favorite private island by far.  

1 hour ago, Allen2 said:

extra caution may be necessary on this island.  

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. 

17 minutes ago, HeWhoWaits said:

And calling it anything "10" proves the University Presidents can't count!

note - this phenomenon is not unique to the former Big2-Little8.

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...

2 hours ago, HeWhoWaits said:

I find this phenomenon amusing.

The credit card companies charge retailers a "swipe fee" (in the US it's usually $2 or two percent of the purchase amount, whichever is less) on every transaction. So "credit card only" stores are paying out $2 (or more) for every purchase I make. If I buy a pack of gum for $1.29 plus tax using a credit card, the store loses money on the transaction by refusing to accept cash. Makes that $2 bill look pretty good, doesn't it?

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. 

17 hours ago, Vancity Cruiser said:

Besides if it wasn't for the CFL where would all those Big 10 players not good enough for the NFL end up? 

14 hours ago, CharmMicah68 said:

One of the funniest things I've ever read.....as a BIG 10 Fan (Go Blue!)!  Classic!  I    will be taking this as my own personal slam to other BIG 10 Fans!

You mean B1G 10? Because their grads can't spell either

14 minutes ago, tjcruisers said:

I didn't wait for our seat to be assigned by the airline, but rather paid to select our seats when everything was straightened out, only ended up being about $30 (concerned with overbooking could we get bumped otherwise).

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. 

25 minutes ago, ellcee said:

I think people mean well by giving $2...but the same people don't realize that many people in the USA don't even realize they are real, let alone people outside of the USA.
 

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. 

3 hours ago, teddy said:

Many years ago I used to work in one of our stores that was near a “social“ bar and the workers from there would have hundreds of dollars in twos that they used to pay for their groceries. 
 

I finally had to ask and was told that the management of the bar encouraged patrons to tip with $2 bills. 

"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. 

8 hours ago, mscinmia said:

not the novelty one from the hospital with the footprints

"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. 

1 hour ago, RafaellaCG said:

I would take wrapped candy (like a mini Hershey bar) but not bare candy (like some jellybeans).

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. 

48 minutes ago, Auto said:

I don't know if it would help you in your particular situation, but sometimes it helps to talk with someone knowledgable about the situation, i.e. a pilot. I've talked to several people about their fear of flying from a pilot's perspective, and I like to think it helped them somewhat.

Full disclosure, I am a pilot and also have an overwhelming fear of heights and roller coasters.

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. 

10 hours ago, Luisrve said:

Sinphony of the seas

Is that the Vegas themed cruise? /s

13 hours ago, AlohaLivin said:

4 mile pier???

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. 

6 hours ago, PhillyLady said:

My least favorite port is probably Grand Turk, but that is because it is very small with not a lot to do for land tours.

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. 

19 hours ago, Toby said:

Sorry if I got the name wrong. Is it called England then?  Is U.K. to all encompassing?  A internet search showed a team name "England" in 2018 World Cup bracket.

 

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

56 minutes ago, Eyeonhevn said:

what time is the daily flight out of LGB to Dal? Would we make it in time on disembarkation day? 

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. 

1 hour ago, Eyeonhevn said:

Most of us are flying Southwest… and although we have booked our flight to Florida- they haven’t opened tickets yet for our return trip from LA. But checking earlier dates, there aren’t many options anywhere for nonstop flights to Dallas… which is a mystery to me! 

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). 

13 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

You could fly Southwest to Love FIeld from Long Beach.

That is true, there is one daily LGB-DAL nonstop which is a decent option. 

On 9/7/2022 at 10:36 AM, Berdjm said:

Hi all,

I have a cruise coming up in a few days on the Symphony and i'm wondering if Playmakers has a set schedule or follows ESPN broadcast times.  I specifically want to watch the Formula 1 race on Sunday and just want to figure out if i can either through the stateroom TV or at Playmakers.  The eastern broadcast time says it will air on ESPN2 at 8:30am and then replay again at 11:30pm.  I can't help but feel like these would be outside the operation times for playmakers anyways.

If anyone has some insight i would greatly appreciate it!

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

12 minutes ago, Morganno said:

we usually have two pretty full cases with slacks, suit, toiletries

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. 

3 hours ago, b_resh_uh said:

Much discussion here on the drink package, but seriously do the math on whether it makes sense for you. I got what I thought was a smoking deal on the package and still wound up having to drink like a fish to feel like I was getting my money's worth. Actually was more stressful that way. 

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. 

On 8/30/2022 at 8:43 PM, Al. said:

Thank y'all for your comments. They have been helpful. I'm liking Ft Lauderdale from what I've read but of course, if I get a good deal on a cruise in another port, I'm certainly not averse to booking it. I just thought I would ask. 

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.