FireFishII

This almost wants me to gamble and buy a drink package. LOL!  What luck!

Just bought 100 shares at $40.91/share.  Now I need to scramble to see if I can get OBC applied for Sunday's cruise. 

Real reason why I purchased 100 shares: Because I think it is a fine deal.  I plan on holding on to it for several years.   

Thanks for all the advice I have read on this thread.   My hubby just purchased 100 shares (at my nagging).  Our cruise is this Sunday.  Now I know that I should fill out the PDF and send it via email.  Keep your fingers and toes cross that I get a fast response.  

13 minutes ago, Qeyton Dude said:

Not if you are driving distance of the great state of New Hampshire.  

I was just going to say the same thing.  NH is well known for our cheap state liquor stores.  We even have our state liquor stores on the highway.  But don't drink and drive!

I think I figured out the problem but I could be wrong.  When I went to the upgrade website on my phone, I was able to select my bid but I did not realized that I had to scroll down to the bottom of the page where there was a "Continue" button.  From there I was sent to a page where I had to enter my CC info.  All this time I thought I had entered a bid but I had not.  But when I went to the website on a regular laptop, I could see that there were 3 steps involved: bid, CC info, and review.  

So all this time I had THOUGHT I had entered a bid but I really had not.  I hope others have not made the same mistake I had made. 

4 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

This was my experience in the past 10 days.

When I just did my Royal Up for my sister, it did not ask for a CC.  We both have CC numbers on file so I don't know which one it will use.  I am going to assume my sister's since I made the Royal Up on her reservation.  We will see. I will keep you informed IF the Royal Up is accepted. 

I agree with your assessment. The at home procotor test result would include a Certification Number, not a CLIA number.

I had read on Amtrak site that your ArriveCan is tied to your passport.  So when the border agent scans your passport, they will see your ArriveCan info. 

I just saw that Oasis of the Seas went to Nova Scotia.  I was wondering how I missed that cruise.  I live in NE and always wanted to visit Nova Scotia. I was just thinking of doing a cruise to there.  What port did you go out of?

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

Seems like the author wanted to write an article about how much she doesn't like cruising, so she did 

I wonder if she was force to take the cruise. Or just desperate for an article to write. 

37 minutes ago, CruiseGus said:

I'm pretty sure you were correct the first time you wrote it, at least if you were using definition 1.  Now if you were using # 2, you should be sorry. 

                                                                                      Just call it the way I see it.

I was definitely using the first definition.  Of course, I was not thinking of foolish....

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

It will charge the card on file for the reservation.

That is what I thought. I can just image the conversation now: SURPRISE SISTER!!!  I just changed $1000 on your credit card.  LOL!  I hope I live long enough to board the ship. 

I placed a bid in my sister's reservations. I told her what I did and I will be paying for it if she wins.  The program says it will be charging a credit card.  Will it be her credit card since I put the bid under her reservation?  Or will I be given the opportunity to switch CC numbers?  This is not a problem either way since I can just make a deposit into her bank account using Zelle. 

1 hour ago, endofturn said:

I probably wouldn't call someone an idiot but we book mid ship rooms as low as we can get. I get bad motion sickness. I use prescription patches, ginger capsules, ginger ale, looking at the horizon, floating in the pool, getting in a big room, drinking sprite, taking Dramamine... All simultaneously and I still feel sick.

I still love cruising though.

Yeah, calling someone an idiot was not a good call.  My bad. But it just gets frustrating when you read all of those poorly written, incorrect, or just bad articles that are getting out on the web. It just hits home that you can't believe everything you read.

I use the prescription patch since I can get motion sickness just sitting in a car. But I do something that they warn you not to do - I cut the patch by 1/4. When I do this, I wear gloves and immediately wash my hands and scissors. It helps A LOT!  For short trips - like a plane trip, I take Dramamine or Bonine.  Then I plan on sleeping for the next hour.    

I read the same article and I thought the author was an idiot.  I would think that any journalist worth their salt would thoroughly investigate their topic (or in this case a cruise) prior to experiencing it. And I am sorry but if you get motion sickness, getting a room in the middle of the ship and near the bottom is NOT going to help you.  After all, restaurants, venues, pools are not in your room.  Plus you can still feel the motion of the ship - just maybe not as severe. Idiot! 

@Suite SnobI totally agree about the statistical manipulation. And I agree what while one member does not show any symptoms of anything, may not be able to perform their function the next day.  But that is true with any type of illness or accidents.  I also think in a true emergency, all able seamen/women would be showing up to their station - even if they are hacking up a lung or in a splint.  But if a ship is starting off short staff, then during an inspection, there will not be enough crew members to man a station. That is what I was referring to. 

Mine were delivered 3 to 4 weeks after I had ordered them.  I had almost forgot I had ordered them.

20 minutes ago, Suite Snob said:

Totally agree, "tip generously", they deserve it.  

I also wonder about the crew numbers.  For all the reasons mentioned!  But, I also question the safety aspect of crew numbers.  Is there enough available crew members to cover ALL of the emergency procedures?  I'm sure that there are rules/laws that stipulate a ratio or whatever is needed to be considered a safe ship based upon the number of passengers vs crew.  I guess we will never know unless something really serious happens and I truly do hope it doesn't come to that.

I would think that is where the Coast Guard comes in when they inspect the ships.  They would verify not only safety equipment but also the crew and to make sure the right number of crew members are trained on the equipment. That is one reason why I am not upset when a cruise is delayed for a surprise inspection by the Coast Guard or other agency.  

The moms may want to investigate into baby-led weaning.  This is when the babies are given soft adult foods that they can initially gum but soon learn to chew.  The baby can begin as early as 6 months. Baby-led weaning skips right over the puree foods. The babies decide how much to eat.   Here is a couple of things to watch out for: Cut up the foods so the baby can pick it up themselves.  Do not spice the foods - keep them simple.  Make sure at least 1 meal is enriched with iron or the baby is on iron supplements prescribed by their doctor.  Final warning: IT IS MESSY!!  

My granddaughter is now 7.5 months old. Her mom started her on foods when she was 6 months.  She eats a lot of fruits, vegetables, and eggs. Broccoli and watermelon are two of her favorites. They do occasionally give her puree foods when it is convenient but that is even baby-led where the baby is given the spoon with the puree on it.  Did I mention it will be MESSY! 

I think if the kitchen is given enough warning (like a day before), they can make a bland dish that the baby can eat. Good luck and have fun with the little ones on board.  

38 minutes ago, DevilDog84 said:

It is. When I click the link there it takes me to the excursion and it shows as reserved, but also says “Sorry, we’re working on enhancing excursion options. Check back soon.” It’s been like this for at least a couple of weeks though.

I sometimes get that message when a shore excursion is sold out.  Maybe they are trying to add a second tour??  But I really don't know.

I also agree with @HeWhoWaits.  I just looked at my credit card statement.  I had to laugh at how many refunds I had received from RCCL because of the things I had purchased and then canceled when I found a better deal.  My husband almost had a heartache when he saw how long the list was.  He thought those were all the items I had purchased, not realizing that some of the items were repeats. 

My advise: keep an eye for those discounts but go ahead and purchase them when you see them.  You can always cancel and repurchase when the price goes down.

WARNING: Don't go just by the % off.  Sometimes RCCL will increase the price but then offer the item at a bigger discount - which may be the same or more than the old price/discount.

If you drive a Subaru in reverse, what are you? 

U r a bus

3 hours ago, Aron_Ross said:

@FireFishII  yes please let me know I'm curious.  Judging by Riley's text above, I wonder if the smaller ships that don't have some of the restaurants (150 Central Park and Wonderland) are not cooking the food properly?  At least on Allure I think you have both of those.

I don't believe we have Wonderland on Allure.  I know that Allure does have 150 Central Park.

I had tried to use surf and was disappointed by the slow speeds.  I did not try facetime.  For us, it is better to get 1 package of "stream" and share it between my husband and I. 

I am going for the refreshment package. Between the mocktails, shakes, smoothies, and sodas, I should be able to drink my way up to the daily price.  My husband elected to go with the soda package.  He can usually drink between 4-5 sodas a day.