island lady

IMHO...this exactly ^. My DH had his back pack stolen in St. Maarten once many years ago. Passport...poof. 😮 We have not carried them ever since. But to each their own. 😉

Your safe is the first place the officers will look for your passport before they leave without you. Standard procedure. They then hand to port officials before they pull gangway. I have seen it happen several times. If you have your passport card with you in port...that will help as well. Not always a sure bet if having to book flights...but better than a DL. Those of you that insist on having your passport in port would not want to be on the World Cruise (or the 3 week European river cruise we did last year). They take your passport from you upon boarding, keeping it in the ship's safe for officials to inspect at each country. I now have quite a few stamps in my new passport that was not in my possession for weeks.

LOL....I never carry my passport anyway. But we both carry our passport cards as government issued photo ID. Fits snuggly with my sea pass card and RCI credit card inside my front button down pocket.

RCI: Really Consistently Inconsistent. 😄

Yes, long drive up to Antiqua....but very interesting along the way. Worst part was the first 20 minutes on the "kidney buster highway". After that...some very interesting views, especially the huge coffee plantations. We did a food tour, popping along on the way up there for various foodie samples. I picked up some yummy coffee! Then we had about 2 hours on our own in unique Antiqua. Volcano very close by was kind to us and did not get upset and lose it's top while we were there. 😄 Except for the pickpocket...we would have been happy just doing what you did. 🙂

And bonus: Local AT&T calling at each port! 🙂

Exactly this and exactly what we do. 🙂 ^^ We love using our passport cards as government issued photo idea. Slips into my pocket with my sea pass card. Very convenient.

As I already mentioned in my post: "To each their own".

Great photos again Teeara. Looks like you had fun! We took a tour up into the mountain town near the volcanos, that included a visit to the factory, museum, and store of that Jade outlet while there on Serenade. It was really fascinating! We were Amazed how large that shopping area is! Really did not need a tour at that port with that being there, and we never had enough time to really spend there due to our long tour day. We did however have to walk all the way through there to get to our tour bus. That is when I was pick pocketed. 😮 Fortunately I only put a few dollars in my back pocket (12 bucks that time) with the bigger bills, my passport card, credit card, sea pass card in my front button down pockets. I never felt the pickpocket...they were that good. I have that habit of doing it that way, assuming the pick pocket will think that is all I had and leave. It worked...still out 12 bucks...but could have been worse.

As a suite guest in a GS on ships that have a Coastal Kitchen/SL combo they indeed man the bar for drinks 11-11. Beer (but they have downgraded that choice now to cheap domestic), wine (also downgraded) and sodas are complimentary to you during that time. The full cocktails are also complimentary, but only from 5-8 during the scheduled happy hour (some times vary on different ships). I have used my vouchers by choice when I wanted a higher grade wine or beer not during happy hour. But like many of us...do be sure (keep track of it) that they don't charge your vouchers during those complimentary times. It has happened to us, many times. Sometimes the concierge will insist on changing out your D+ card to a different color suite's card to alert the bartender to use your suite's perk, not your vouchers. Or simply make sure you let them know not to charge your vouchers during that time.

LOL...you have that right! 😄

Actually kind of cool to do so...feels like we are really going at that point. Part of the fun of preparing. 😉

Agree....booking a B2B is no different than booking a single cruise, of which I do myself. Have done B2B and more several times. Like others, I just be sure to pair up the same cabins, as to avoid a move. I love being already unpacked on TAD. 🙂

Totally agree. Two tags per bag. Learned the hard way years ago! 😮 IMHO...I love my reusable plastic sleeve tags I buy from Amazon, and like you...use those indestructible zip ties. 🙂 I also just reload them with my disembarkation tags when it is time to leave.

Some of us like the convenience of already being prepared. One less thing to do at bag check in, which can be crazy at times. I am not a fan of the "porter scribble" either. But to each their own.