USCG Teacher

It's interesting, I know more and more stories about conflicts over seat saving and customers finding "jetway Jesus" have been making the rounds, but most of the hardcore Southwesties that I know still love the open seating. According to the ABC report, though, "Southwest conducted "robust operational testing" of both live and more than 8 million simulation-based boarding trials, citing research that showed 80% of its customers and 86% of potential customers prefer an assigned seat. I guess we'll see how this turns out! https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Travel/southwest-airlines-moves-assigned-seats-adds-premium-cabin/story?id=112261721

Given the choice, there's several ballets I'd take instead of having Cats on Oasis.

I don't have any experience with BA, but I have flown AA through Air2Sea. I was not able to select seats until the airfare was paid. At 6'3", seat selection is fairly important to me, so I was able to pay my airfare specifically ahead of final payment so that AA would allow me to select my seats. Not sure if it is relevant to their standard procedures, but my flight was domestic. As with all things Air2Sea related, it seems that YMMV.

Amen to that. Wow! Sounds like your boss rocks! Good plan on your part. Godspeed!

Just had a Mancos pie at CBP on Sunday. It was...not good. I'm with you on Sam's, Mancos has been in a slow decline ever since the Macks left, even the OC product isn't what it used to be. Yes, now I'd like you all to get off my lawn.

I don't know about anyone else, but it looks like I might be spending a lot more time in the English Pub in the future. Between the Bee's Knees and these new cocktails, I'd be a very happy camper. Thanks for all of this as always, @PG Cruiser!

This is a question that people have opinions on. Here's a 25 page thread that answers literally any question you might possibly have about getting to, leaving from, staying in, dining in or anything else Galveston related. You can probably skip the first 10 or so pages as much of the info there is now outdated. I found it incredibly helpful in planning my trip to Galveston last summer.

You could probably charge a bit more for those seats to some Gen. X/Yers for the nostalgia alone!

Just got back yesterday, and was surprised just how many families with kids were at the Borgata. I worked there years ago, and I never saw that many kids on site! Wasn't an issue, just a surprise. FWIW, old school Triple Diamond machines here. Certainly not as exciting as the video style games, but they definitely seem to stretch my play further than the "Play 12,387 lines!" games.

Ugh. This meme gave me an olfactory memory of a frat house basement.

I have had great success in calling the customer service line to have them expedite the OBC into my Cruise Planner. After calling, it's never been more than 48 hours before it showed up.

Not to be a wet blanket here, but your milage may vary on that Symphony cruise. That's the Bayonne departure, and she arrives in Port Canaveral pretty late in the day, generally around 1:00 PM. Because of that, the KSC tours are usually either very truncated or they're not available through the cruise planner at all. Hope I'm wrong in your case (especially since I'll be on Symphony next July as well!), but just want you to temper expectations. You can still try to go on your own, but I think it closes around 5 or 6.

While others have accurately explained why they do, I'd like to add that the fact that they do is a huge selling point for me. Being able to go anywhere on the island without a single thought of being late for all aboard is extremely freeing, and going into Hamilton at night is awesome. Pro-tip: always follow the crew's advice if you're looking for the best places for nightlife. They know where to go!

July 13, 2025 - Symphony of the Seas out of Bayonne. Joining #TeamDeck17 for the first time.

This is it right here. In the grand scheme of things, recovering the cost of a vacation is important, but if I couldn't it's not devastating. Having an event that required getting Medivaced back to the US could potentially bankrupt us.