Traveling Mike

6 hours ago, twangster said:

Welcome to Florida!  

Check in for Alaska might occur in the local time zone back out West.  Let us know how that works out.

It looks like they use the time zone of the port.  It opened up for my Alaska cruise at 3:00 am EST or 12:00 am PST

I made it to Fort Lauderdale without any issues.  Everything went smoothly.  The nice lady that has the Airbnb that I am staying at came and picked me up for and extra $20.  I like the Airbnb Link to Airbnb and it is a quite room with my own bathroom and shower.  I took my covid test yesterday at work and was negative before leaving California.  Tonight I had 3 of the self proctored tests from RCL that are going to expire in 3 weeks so I decided to do one tonight so I know what I am doing before I have to do it in Spain.  the test was fairly easy to do because I had a good connection and could hear the directions  from the proctor.  Now I am sleepy and will put a movie on my computer and see if I can get a good night sleep and board the ship tomorrow.

One last note:  I have an alarm set to get up at midnight to check in for my June 13 Alaska cruise.

I love pre-check.  If you do not have it, you need to look into getting it.  I have Global Pass and It is not much more money or work, and it gets you into the United States without any hassle.  I got to the airport in Fresno, a medium size airport, and it was very busy outside at 4:20 am.  I lucked out and American Airlines was not the busy one this morning.  Everyone was loading other airlines.  I got my ticket and dropped my bag (34 lbs.) very quickly.  I got over to security and the regular line was very long.  I got in the Pre-Check line and walked right to the front of it.  As soon as the guard was done with the person, she was working on she called me in front of the people in the regular line.  She checked me really quick and sent me to the line by the wall where no one was at.  The guard was working with a Spanish speaker having him pull off his sweeter and shoes and belt and everything out of his pockets.  He waived me around him, and I just dropped my computer backpack (with the computer in it) on the belt and waked through with everything still on.  I was in and out so fast I felt guilty.  Now I just have to wait an hour for my flight to load to take me to Dallas then to Fort Lauderdale.

Talk to you later,

Mike

302

Anyone reading this log, get ready... you are going to feel great about yourself.  Yes, I am packing at the last minute, and I left my computer power cord at work.  I just had to take the dogs and drive 20 minutes downtown and to get my power cord.  That was 1 hour of time I did not have.  Yes... I am stupid, I took it out of my bag on purpose.  I was trying to lighten my bag, so I took the extra cords out of my bag at work, not home, and by mistake my power cord was part of them.  Now time to charge my computer and try to get 4 hours of sleep.

This is my typical trip; it is 9 hours until my flight and I am washing cloths so I can pack.  I am wondering what I will forget and wondering if I will get to sleep before midnight.  My suitcase is out so the dogs are mad.  The older one will not come near me and they younger one will not leave my side.

Pluto

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

Even though I travel solo a lot, I don't think I could do a transatlantic solo, so I am excited to follow along.

I enjoyed your other blog, are you still on a diet and will be counting your calories?

Yes, but for some reason my weight loss stopped and I am only down 2 lbs from my February cruise.  I am going to use this cruise a little different because of all the sea days to start the cruise.  I am going to swim laps in the pool early in the morning, then try to walk at least 5 miles every day.  I am hoping to get up to walking 10 miles before we hit the canary islands.

I just checked in for my flight that leaves Fresno California and takes me to Fort Lauderdale.  Like all my flights this year the flight is overbooked.  American Airlines sends me emails asking  me if I will fly a different day.  I am also at work trying to get ready to leave.  I do not want to work but have lots to do.  I came in early and will be working until late tonight.  Then I get to go home and finish packing.  I hope to get some sleep on the flight.

Lessons Learned

I am going to add a list of my lessons learned here so you do not have to read through all my random postings you do not care about.

1. Don't forget toothpaste or hair conditioner.  This lesson cost me $8 for toothpaste and $15 for hair conditioner
2. Don't leave any kind of medication at home.  I left my over-the-counter allergy medicine at home and found out they no longer carry it on the ship.  If you need any kind of medicine, aspirin, binadrill ... you have to talk to the doctor on the ship and get it from them.  They want to test you for Covid before treating you sniffles for setting in the casino and getting a snoot full of cigarette smoke.
3. Ocean View on a Trans-Atlantic does not do much good.  The window stays wet and gets dirty after two days so it is not usable.  Lucky they gave it to me with a free upgrade.
4. You don't have to eat every meal and have 4 or 5 courses.  I am doing great with No Bread, no appetizer and no desert.
5. You can take desert back to your room.  I do not want to stuff at dinner so if there is a desert that looks really good I get it to go.  I take it to the cabin and have it for a snack before bed.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I am very sorry... I am writing this for my enjoyment.  If you want to follow that would be OK and you might enjoy it also... just do not expect too much.  I am going on the Vision of the Seas on Friday April 29, 2022.  We are doing a 14-day Trans-Atlantic Cruise going through the Canary Islands, the Mediterranean and ending up in Barcelona.   I have been trying to pack for the last 3 days but my dog, Jupiter, is making it very hard.  Every time he sees the suitcase he gets upset and shows me he is mad at me.  Jupiter remembers the suitcase and knows it means I will be gone for a longer time, and he does not like that.  The younger dog, Pluto, does not remember the suitcase or does not care.  For now, I just have to get everything ready and will pull out the suitcase tomorrow night and pack everything at once.  So, to end up tonight I will post something about me.

Introduction:

• Name:  Michael, Mike, Traveling Mike, Dad, Coach.
• Age: 61 … Still trying to figure out if I am old enough for the adults table at Thanksgiving
• Hometown:  Fresno California … Hopefully soon I can same I am from the world traveling. 
• Traveling With:  Solo... I have been a single father for 24 years traveling with my son and now he stays at home and works so my traveling partner is myself now.
• Occupation:  I spent 16 years driving truck, went back to school and now I drive a Computer (computer programmer for a school district)
• Spare Time:  I coach water polo.  I coach elementary kids and high school varsity
• Cruising Experience:  as close as I can figure I have been on 20 cruises (5 with 1st wife, 12 with my son & 5 solo) (5 Disney, 6 Carnival, 2 RCL, 4 NCL, 3 Princes, 2 Celebrity)

I know this is not much but don't worry I will be like a bad penny and my posts will keep showing up here.

2 hours ago, KMSP17 said:

If you have a prescription for something it shouldn't be banned anywhere. Unless medication was supposed to be in quotes.
But not once have I ever been asked about what medications I am bringing. I am curious to know who do you think is going to ask?

 

You are assuming I will stay on the ship and just do excursions.  Before Covid I stayed in Japan for a week.  I am going on a Trans-Pacific Cruise and will be staying in Spain for 5 days.  In September I am staying in Prague for 4 days and taking a train from Prague to Copenhagen then staying in Copenhagen for 4 days.  Next year I will be staying in Singapore for a week before that cruise then in Japan for a week before the next cruise and then in Australia for a week before cruising home.  Anytime while traveling around the country, they can check my bags and see my prescription and over the counter medications.  I really do not want to be in jail in Japan because I have medicine that is against their laws.

Does anyone know of a website that I can check my medication to see if it is allowed in the countries I am visiting?  I would assume that there would be a website I can put in my medication and it would show me the countries it is banned.  I was just trying to look for Spain and cannot seem to find a list or a place that would tell me what is excepted.

On 4/21/2022 at 8:15 AM, CruisingNewb said:

WTH....this is STRESSFUL! I NEED HELP. LOL

Just remember the only thing you have to have is your vaccination card, covid test results, passport and the cloths on your back.  Everything else is extra.  If you forget something you must not have needed it.  Have fun

As a computer programmer and someone that books a lot of GTY cabins I am sure the computer program holds cabins for the GTY reservations.  The program will show 1 cabin open when there could be 5 cabins being held for GTY reservations.  The only thing I am not sure of is how high of a level will the allow a GTY cabin to jump.  On one of my cruises, I booked a GTY Inside and got a Balcony.  One a different one I booked a GTY Oceanview and got the worst location with a Oceanview of a lifeboat.  The short answer is your cabin should be held unless someone overrides the computer software.

The OBC is attached to the Booking (reservation) number.  If you reprice, they keep that number.  If you move to a different sailing, make sure they keep the same booking number that way the OBC moves with it.

I have 4 cruises on the books right now and there really is not that much difference in the price of the packages.  The size of ship seems to make a little difference.  If you can give us an idea of what you are looking for we can give you the current price span of the items.  You also need to remember things often go on sale.  I purchased a lot on Black Friday this last year.

An Example for Full Drink Package:

Vision of the Seas April 29, 2022:  $63.00

Quantum of the Seas June 13, 2022:  $66.99

Voyager of the Seas Sept 4, 2022: $70.00

Navigator of the Seas Nov 20, 2022: $79.99

Book an inside room in the worst location and maybe you will feel better.  If not book the balcony room on the 8th floor overlooking the Boardwalk.  You can set on the balcony and make fun of all the stupid people on the big ship.

On my NCL cruise back in 2019 they loaded the customs agent the day before and cleared the entire ship before we got to Southampton.  I was worried because I had a third-party excursion that dropped me off in London.  They had an early meeting time.  I found out they had 6 busses waiting for people and we ended up waiting for 45 minutes for someone that was in a suite and thought they would not have to wait in line to get off like the rest of us.

My advice for everyone right now is expect the worst and things will be good.  The cruise industry has been shut down for 2 years.  They have new people in new roles and are trying to get things working again with different protocols.  Go into your cruise expecting people to be learning and disorganized.   Then when something works well you will be happy.  The perfect example is expecting the boarding of the ship to take 4 to 5 hours and have you setting around.  When you get on the ship you will not get your luggage until 11 pm at night.  Then when you get through boarding and your luggage is in your room at 2 pm you will think you had the best boarding ever.  If your boarding takes 2 hours and you have your luggage at 5 pm you think things are not bad.  When the boarding takes 4 hours, and your luggage is lost you can say i expected that.

I am a 61 year old single man and am starting to book a lot of cruises getting ready for retirement.  I travel solo because that is what I enjoy and I do not have a partner of any kind.  What I am concerned with is what happens if I book all of my cruises as a solo and I meet someone that I want to start traveling with.  I know if I book and put my sons name as the second person I can change who the person is but that is such a hassle when I deal with my reservation.  If a second person does not go I still pay for them but get my taxes and port fees back.  What I do not know is if I book solo and down the road I want to add a second person can I do it without price change.  Booking Solo I pay double supplement but will they just let me add someone and pay the taxes and port fees?

Your granddaughter can be tested anywhere.  You can always have her parents help her test "Because she is going to visit her grandparents and we are being safe where the old people do not get Covid".  That way she is tested and not told about the cruise.  As far as she know she needs to do it to be with her grandparents.  I guess that is a half truth.

A few tricks in case you are flying:

• You can get breast milk through security but you have to follow the reasonable quantities rules. This means you're exempt from the 3-1-1 rule limiting liquids to 3.4 ounces.  Pack formula, expressed breastmilk, or water for mixing with powder separately and be ready to let the TSA know you have it. You may ask that they not go through the x-ray machine (although this shouldn't cause a health problem). Visit the TSA website for more information.

• Dress in layers. The temperature in a plane can vary widely, especially if you are stuck waiting on a runway, so layers of clothing are best. As you pick out clothing, choose outfits that make diaper changing in a small space easier. Also, pack a change of clothes or two, in case turbulence hits during a diaper change or when you are feeding. Bring plastic bags for soiled clothing.

• Be ready for ear pain. During the climb after takeoff and descent before landing, changes in pressure between the outer ear and middle ear can cause discomfort. If your baby has had ear surgery or an ear infection in the past two weeks, ask his or her doctor if it's OK to fly. Having babies drink from the breast or a bottle, or suck on a pacifier, can help. If your child has a cold or ear infection, a dose of acetaminophen or ibuprofen may help; check with your doctor for the right amount to give your child.

• Keep in mind that sleeping babies are easier for everyone. If possible, travel at a time when your baby naturally sleeps, or consider trying to put off a nap until it's time to fly. Flight delays can cause this to backfire if your exhausted baby decides to scream instead of sleep. But it may be worth a try.

The Gratuities cover everyone on the ship that should be taken care of.  With that said I have cruised with my son.  I always tipped extra at the begging of the cruise and apologized for the messes that my son was going to make while I was out.  Now that I cruise solo, I tip extra at the beginning of the cruise out of habit and knowing i will be taken care of.

51 minutes ago, TheRick said:

Also, will she be able to FaceTime the grandkids with the surf and stream feature or does it take up too much data or is the data too slow?

I work while I am on my cruises.  In February I was on Symphony of the Seas and had the Surf and Stream.  I was able to FaceTime without a delay.  I also was able to stream videos, remote desktop and do Zoom Calls and Microsoft Team Meetings.  

I know this is not for everyone, but if you do not mind pulling luggage here is how me and my son are getting downtown and back.  Once at our hotel it is a short Taxi or Uber to the ship.  

24 minutes ago, Wanderlust876 said:

I'm on hold with Royal now but wanted to see if anyone has run into this. My oldest son who just turned 18 can't find his ID. We went to DMV today and they are mailing a new one but it won't get to us by Monday. 

I see on the check in it allows me to choose birth certificate plus student ID as an option. Is this OK since he's 18? He is a senior in HS still. 

He has a passport but it's expired. I'm totally panicking right now.

Stay on the phone and talk to them.  Here is the RCL site that states they need a Government Issued ID.

What travel documents do I need to board a cruise ship (U.S. Citizens)? | Royal Caribbean Cruises

1 hour ago, Ja-sun said:

Can anybody tell me if the discounts are worth it, scheduling your next cruise while on board your current cruise, or just the same or better with a TA?

The answer is maybe.   When I booked in February, I got an extra $150 OBC for a $700 cruise.  I also told them who my TA was, and they placed my booking under my TA.  Then my TA got the booking and added their perks.