Zacharius

20 hours ago, CruisingNewb said:

It is a cardinal rule that if you are an adult, the number one, first and foremost, most important, absolutely necessary thing to do once you board is order a drink! 

I once bypassed this rule and decided to hop in the pool (instead of the bar) immediately upon arrival. While getting in, I slipped and sprained by thumb. It was incredibly painful and almost considered leaving the ship to run to an urgent care before departure. Instead, I went and got a Bud Light aluminum can and held it against my finger while drinking. Several years later, I occasionally still have pain in that thumb, but it taught me the importance of alcohol on vacation. 

19 hours ago, Ryan79 said:

That is more than a rule, it’s tradition!!! 

Law, one would say. International law. 

34 minutes ago, Cactus527 said:

Every single ST actor/actress I would want to meet is on this cruise. WHY AM I NOT SIGNED UP YET?????

Yeah this lineup looks particularly strong. Maybe it's time to finally pull the trigger. 

13 minutes ago, CrimsonCruiser said:

Unless Jean Luc Picard is tucking me in every night

This is a terrible idea, but if you're dead set on it, I definitely recommend pricing out a one-way rental to pick up at MCO Airport and drop off either at FLL Airport or the cruiseport itself. Either way, you're making it way too easy to miss your cruise with this itinerary. 

I have always wanted to do this...honestly not sure why I haven't. My wife always makes fun of me, but as someone who grew up on TNG, DS9 and Voyager, it truly is a bucket list item for me. Not sure I'm the "Dress up as Dr. Reyga" kind of guy, but would still love to go. But year...every year I just forget about it until it's too late. 

50 minutes ago, Bingee said:

Is it worth the extra £100 per head via RC to ensure getting back on the boat or will one of the many other operators get us back on time?
Also do you have any recommendations, please.

Heck no. As mentioned, there are tons of legit third-party excursions all over the world. It will take some research, but usually results in getting more for less. Look for the companies that have been around for years, because they wouldn't be around that long if they made customers miss the ship. 

42 minutes ago, Mturk said:

My brother and his family stayed there in March. He wasn't impressed at said he wouldn't book there again and that it was very basic. Another hotel to stay away from is the Ivy Hotel. It looked nice in pictures and i originally booked it for my family for our March cruise through Expedia. At the time of booking, the website said that i would only be charged when i checked-in but the hotel had other ideas and charged my credit card that same night. We decided that we would go back to the Marriott Stelaris and so i cancelled the reservation at Ivy, which had free cancellation. It took me about 2 months to get my refund and only after many emails and phone calls with Expedia and the hotel. It finally got resolved when Expedia wrote me a letter to give to my credit card company to dispute the charge. Once they had that they reversed the charge.

Based on what you're saying, I could see that being an issue with your travel agent (Expedia) as much as with the hotel. I could see it being either - Expedia incorrectly listing it as a "pay later" rate, or the hotel incorrectly charging early. 

You mention nothing about your citizenship, which is critical information. Pending that, yes, the Canadian Government is the best (and really only) source to get that info. 

16 hours ago, wordell1 said:

Costco only takes Visa.  Since you are using them as your TA, you will have to pay through them.

It kind of depends how you shop at Costco, and where Costco Travel "lives" within the Costco system (answer: I don't know). Costco stores and gas stations only take Visa, but Costco.com purchases can also be done in Mastercard, Discover, JCB, and Diners (because apparently some people still live in 1983 and use Diners). Obviously none are Amex, but more than just Visa. 

17 minutes ago, RCVoyager said:

That's a great point.  We are flying in a day early for a cruise, so I wasn't as worried about it.  Haven't booked yet and can go out of Indy or Cincinnati.

While flying in a day ahead is wonderful, it's still a bit risky with these airlines that have limited presence on routes (or even limited presence in a city). For example, Allegiant only flies 3 or 4x weekly CVG-SFB, so while that extra day might buy them time to get in a new aircraft or crew should there be an issue, there is still more of a concern to me than someone like DL, for example, who not only flies CVG-MCO at least 2x daily but can re-route you via ATL, DTW, MSP, and more. 

3 hours ago, lkg276 said:

Consider looking at Allegiant to SFB (Orlando Sanford) 

I have nothing against Allegiant, but I am always hesitant to book an airline like Allegiant, Frontier or Spirit in the case of a time sensitive event like a cruise, wedding, or business trip. Their limited schedule and general lack of being able to re-route/re-accommodate you can cause serious issues. I've taken Spirit and Allegiant to, for example, a guys weekend in Vegas...if I am late or flat out miss it, it stinks but isn't a big deal. I wouldn't risk it to something like a cruise where, if I miss it, I'm in a lot bigger trouble. In that case, an airline like AA, DL, UA, or WN can offer a myriad of re-routing options with a better chance of getting you there. 

I have never heard of them, but as someone who travels for a living and has seen a million scams, this sounds...sketchy as hell. I can picture any legit way this actually works. 

"Food" is pretty broad. As sammyg mentioned, avoid fresh/perishable items since those are often against customs laws. Packaged/non-perishable food is usually fine. 

16 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

This would be at Canada immigrations at the airport, not the cruise port.

 

I understand, I was just using another means of transportation and another country to highlight. It's on the passenger at the time of booking to make sure they're able to actually get in to the country; it's generally not on the transportation provider to verify that until travel actually occurs. 

1 hour ago, Bmac said:

I called RCL and was told I would have to pay a 25% penalty for cancellation which is unacceptable to me as I was never made aware of this requirement. 

If you book a flight to China, American Airlines isn't going to hold your hand on visa/entry documentation at booking. It's up to you to sort it and them to verify it when you check in. Cruises aren't really any different...you, as the passenger, need to make sure you have the proper documentation (however obscure it may be) for every country you're visiting. 

I don't have an exact answer for your question, but the times I have disembarked at San Juan, I have found US immigration to be particularly slow. And whenever I fly out of SJU, I have found TSA/security to be particularly slow. So, I wouldn't be super eager to cut it close. 

13 hours ago, CruiseGus said:

time for the US to step up with Biometric Passports, then you will "Never Leave Home Without It"

Not quite sure what you mean, the US (like most countries) issue biometric passports these days. There are some African and Asian countries that don't, but most countries (including the US) do. 

I think this is a case of (a) where you are, (b) what citizenship do you have, and (c) where is the next stop. Here's why:

(a) where you are - does the country require non-citizens to carry their passport? Most of Europe is not the case here, but other places do. Also, "where are you" meaning "is it safe to carry your passport?" In Europe, not really an issue; in some other countries, it can be unsafe to carry valuables (including passports and electronics). 

(b) what is your citizenship - how easy is it to get a new passport? If you are a US citizen, while it is a bit of a pain in the ass, it's not too hard to find a US consulate/embassy to go to, especially in Europe. If you are, say, a Namibian citizen (like me, who is dual)...well, it's a bit trickier. We have like 6-7 embassies in all of Europe. If I lose my Namibian passport and don't have another to fall back on, it's a pain. 

(c) where is the next stop - if you are in Rome and the next stop is Marseilles, it's easy to hop on a train and get to Marseilles without a passport. If the next stop is, say, Greece, or Morocco, it's not so easy. 

That may sound overly complicated, so I will just say that in most cases I do NOT bring my passport off of the ship. Sometimes I do. No matter what, I carry a copy of the information page in addition to photo ID (driving license) and the other stuff in my wallet. 

So I'll say this as someone who is an extremely adventurous traveler and has been to (and eaten in) something like 75% of the countries in this world. I have only been sick a few times, and half of those times were in "safe" places (US, western Europe, that kind of thing). Obviously there's going to be a risk in a lot of places eating the local food away from touristy areas (or even in touristy areas), but if you're of good health, you will likely be fine. I do avoid water in many countries in the world, though...that scares me much more. 

14 minutes ago, twangster said:

Loyalty to an airline doesn't pay these days.  

I personally disagree. The number of times I have been bailed out on delays/cancellations/flight changes by AA/OneWorld over the years, including just last week, has saved me so much time and frustration. My domestic Y to F upgrades are almost 100%, and my international J to F upgrades do still occasionally happen (though I am still shocked when they do). The number of miles in my account means my wife and I never have to pay to fly on vacation or to visit family, which we do quite often. To each their own, but my loyalty to AA/OneWorld continues to pay off for me. 

1 minute ago, Pooch said:

That’s what I do.  I book with points and check every morning over coffee.  For our BDL-FLL (and brothers BOS-FLL) trip in May, flights started at about 24,000 each RT.  By the time we flew, I had gotten everyone below 15,000.  It’s easy to watch for and easy to make the change.

Also a reminder for people booking hotels and rental cars - those are worth keeping an eye on too! Example - I have a rental car booked for a vacation to Destin this fall. Originally it was $850 for the week, and is now down to $600...easy to re-book as long as you haven't purchased a restricted fare. Also easy to re-book flexible hotel rates to save some money. 

7 minutes ago, Baked Alaska said:

^^^^THIS^^^^ So, let's solve this First World problem here! What are everyone's hacks for navigating a Southwest booking? And, what are you criteria to abandon that booking in favor of another airline? 

My Southwest hack is to fly American and always get upgrades and seat assignments

(To be fair, most of my travel these days is international, so loyalty to a global airline/alliance is imperative) 

On 6/9/2023 at 5:50 PM, Ampurp85 said:

I only do direct

Direct is great, but you should try nonstop some day

On 6/9/2023 at 7:14 PM, twangster said:

This is the downfall of WN.

Let's say that there is a big event in MIA.  The Icon inaugural sailing for example.

You are flying Chicago to Miami.

The plane started in Los Angeles, flies to Chicago and then to Miami.

Let's say 150 people board in LAX.  Of those 100 are heading to MIA.  The plane stops in MDW and 50 people get off, but 100 passengers are flying through to MIA.   

You are boarding MDW with an A1 boarding pass.  You are now passenger 101 on the plane in row 20, middle seat.  Welcome to SWA.

Back in the late 2000s, I found myself flying the Saturday morning, 6am ONT-PHX-MDW flight 1-2x monthly for like six months in a row. This was before WN had an ONT-MDW nonstop. There were always like 60-70 of us through passengers in Phoenix, sometimes more. Every. Single. Time. I guess that's why they started doing nonstops on the route. Anyways, those people in Phoenix who thought their A20 meant something got a shock when they found out they were really like the 85th person onboard and most of the good seats were long gone. 

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

I have done Business Select mostly when flying SWA and it is nothing to write home about. I have been A3/4/5 the last three times I flew them and want to guess how many people were in front of me? at least 20+ each time.

One other thing to consider with WN that you don't have to consider on any other airline - being a stop along a direct flight. You could very well be A10 just to find out 30 through passengers are on the plane coming in, so it's suddenly like you're B40. 

3 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I didn't realize SWA even HAD a Business class fare, so that was news to me.  If I was forced to fly SWA for some reason, I guess I would have to spring for the BC fare for both of us.  What a circus.

It's called "Business Select" and has nothing to do with true Business Class. You get higher boarding, you get one drink, you get extra miles...but it's the same seat, same legroom, same everything else. Hell, even Spirit offers a bigger seat and legroom on its highest fare (well, technically an add-on, but it's available and it's comfy).