Z'Loth

I thought I was pushing it with a 11:35 AM flight at FLL. 10 AM flight.... no way... I on vacation to get away from stress, not add stress.

If the passport is one year out from expiration, and you have no travel plans, then go ahead and do the standard processing. Make it easy on yourself and less stress.

As the original poster... allow me to defend myself.... First of all, lets set the proper context... this is the Master Dining Room. The food isn't going to run away on you! much like the all-aboard time is 4:00 PM, but you are advised to be back on ship by 3:30 PM. The ship isn't going to abandon you if you are standing on the gangplank in line waiting to go through security at 3:32 PM. In addition, the MDR, during the evening dinner, usually has assigned seating every night, so your seat isn't going to change. Five minutes after the MDR doors open, you are still at the point of ordering drinks and reviewing the menu, not to mention chatting with your table mates over what interesting things each one of you observed during the day. A MDR meal is about 60-90 minutes long as well. It also takes five minutes to travel from my room, up the elevators, and to the MDR as well. Mind you, I've either travelled solo or my traveling companion has been my mother, not a group. If you promise to meet up at 5:30 PM for dinner, all bets are off. You show up at 5:30 PM so that you aren't a imposition to your fellow travels. For all those who quoting lines that sounds similar to "Lombardi Time", I like to remind you that you are on vacation, and there are enough times where showing up early is a danged good idea, such as for your flight, initial ship boarding, or being part of a tour group. Those are all times where you are waiting and twiddling your thumbs waiting for the tour to start. I really don't want to add "waiting for the MDR doors to open" to that list. And, yes, there have been times where I overslept and missed the early MDR dining. I ended up attending the early show, and then was very apologetic to the Matre'd to see if they accommodate me for late dining. I would agree that there is a major difference between 5 minutes and 15-20 minutes lateness including having a major impact on the dining staff who work their tails off (so tip generously).

I'm just wondering if my cruise ship "hack" is still appropriate. While I completely understand the need to be on time (or even early) for a ship event (just ask a pier runner), I have found it easier to be five minutes "late" (maybe TEN, but that's pushing it) when it comes to dinners on a cruise ship. From my experience, if the dinner is advertised at 5:30 PM, that's when the doors open, and you end up with crowds beforehand waiting, then rushing in to the MDR. If I show up 5 minutes "late", there is no crowd to be seated, the "rush" is over, and the wait staff is a bit more calm, and I still get the full meal. But, is that still true. Note that I'm not excusing the people who are thirty to fourty-five minutes late to the MDR and being turned away. Isn't that what the buffet is for?

I am using the 1Password online password manager which is provided by my employer.

I have scans of my drivers license, health and COVID card, social security card, credit cards (including contact information), password book identification page and passport card, and global entry cards stored as secure documents in my secure password manager on my mobile phone "just in case".

This ignores the fact that a passport is more than just a travel document, it is, for lack of a better word, a "Super Identification" because of the verification requirements. When I moved from California to Texas, I had to get a new drivers license. The passport fulfilled the requirements for both proof of identification as well as proof of citizenship. When the company I worked for was acquired by another company, we had to provide identification again as we were "re-hired". When I showed my passport, the HR person said "perfect! Easiest document to work with" as otherwise, two other forms of identification would be required. In short, it may be a rarely used document, but when it is needed, it comes in very handy. That's why I pay the extra $30 for the passport card. While it is unlikely that I will travel south from Dallas to Mexico, one never knows. But, it is a secondary form of government-provided identification (along with my driver's license) that can come in very handy.

Unless the cruise line states otherwise, keep your passport in the safe. Just carry some form of government-issued identification with you.

I prefer to have the passport card because, quite frankly, it's is a secondary form of Government-issued identification. While you cannot use a passport card for international flights, it is RealID compliant, so just in case you don't have a RealID compliant drivers license, either the passport book or passport card will qualify for both domestic flights and entering federal facilities.

It has to do with international television rights. As a cruise ship, they have to negotiate the rebroadcast rights for the channel as a commercial entity through a available satellite provider, and the monthly costs tend to be on the expected occupancy. I don't know about cruise ships, but for restaurants, especially for NFL Sunday Ticket, it is based upon the maximum occupancy of the establishment based upon fire codes. Obviously, some people consider live sporting events (e.g. football games) to be not-miss things, so priority is given to those and may be restricted to bars to control the cost. (The sports channels such as E$PN are expensive on a per-subscriber basis for both residential and commercial subscribers) I did not watch any television on my cruises in 2017 or 2018. However, in 2005 when I cruised with Carnival in Mexico, they were utilizing DirecTV Latin America, and the linear television programing through some of the same-named network (e.g. Cartoon Network) was different from the US-version verses Latin America version. In this case, the primary audio was in Spanish, so they were using the English secondary audio even though the program was originally broadcast in English. The on-screen graphics were in Spanish instead of English, and in some cases, the foreign-language title was being used (e.g. Batman of the Future instead of Batman Beyond). There was even a soccer-based anime that was broadcast, but because no English dub was produced, it was broadcast in Spanish with no subtitles. If you really need to view your favorite non-sports programs, you are better off investigating how to pre-download those programs to your phone or tablet from your favorite streaming service for offline viewing.

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles/do-you-need-a-passport-to-go-on-a-cruise https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/need-passport/card.html What is there so much hesitation in getting a passport book and passport card?

See https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles/do-you-need-a-passport-to-go-on-a-cruise . Get the passport book and passport card, have it live in the safe unless told otherwise, and put it in a nice passport holder.

Show them this page from the State Department: What is a Passport Card? Then, ask them if they feel lucky.

🤷‍♂️ Does it really matter? It's your vacation, and the interactions and observations of other people just help to enhance those vacation stories told many years afterwards..

My upcoming cruise may be the last one for quite a while. It's a makeup cruise from where I had to cancel in September 2022, and it was one of those "use it or lose it" situations.

Balcony? Uhhhh.... I can understand the appeal of the balcony having book said cabins in the past with my mother. I'm a solo traveler now, thus I have to pay for TWO people. Under the circumstances, a ocreanview or a inside cave is more friendly to my wallet.

Might as well start an interesting discussion topic... What were some major cruises that you had planned a year or so in advance, only to have it blown apart, cancelled, or otherwise major changes occur due to events completely out of your control? I'm sure that a certain pandemic would play a role in this, but please include when you booked the cruise and when the cruise was supposed to sail. I'll start... 10 Day Eastern Carribean Cruise that would visit Antigua, Barbatos, St Lucia, Martinique, St Kitts & Nevis in late September 2022. This was booked in September 2021 as a "revenge" cruise for my mother and myself after I had to work through a birthday week off due to a major project at work, plus it was to be my first major vacation after moving halfway across the country at the beginning of 2019. We were even lucky to score a Sunset Veranda cabin, plus I was the first poster for the Cruise Critic Role Call. Flash forward to July-August 2022 time frame, and my mother was having some health issues, and her physician provided a note stating that a cruise was inadvisable, and since I was her caretaker, the cruise was cancelled. My initial plans were to have my passport renewed at the end of the cruise, but within 24 hours of cancelling the cruise, my passport was on it's way to Irving for routine renewal. The cruise has since been rebooked for January 2024, but it's a solo cruise for myself with an Oceanview cabin. I'm also paying for a relative to fly and take care of my mother while I take this long overdue vacation.

I've posted this before. My two cents worth from a United States perspective: Travel insurance... I get it for one big key reason: Emergency medical evacuation back to the states which can easily cost $100k and upward. Also, your medical coverage may not be available outside the United States. The rest, like trip interruption and lost luggage, are plain gravy to me. Always fly in at least the day prior to the cruise. Yes, that means paying for a hotel stay, but it's better than waking up at o'gawd thirty to catch a 6 AM flight which you hope doesn't get delayed, only to be dog-tired on the first night of the cruise. If you are staying a few days prior to the cruise, spend a little extra money so that your hotel is within walking or public transit distance of the local attractions instead of renting a car. In addition to putting your contact information on the tag on your luggage (and instead of using that string, plastic zip ties), also include the contact information and hotel you are staying at inside your luggage. Also, since every piece of luggage looks the same, a luggage handle wrap on both handles comes in very handy. Know how to put your phone in airplane mode, then enable the WiFi mode. Know how to use the offline maps function of Google Maps so that you can pre-download the port areas or islands of the ports of call. Know how to use the parking function of Google Maps. You may not be renting a car, but once you disembark the ship at each port, you want to set where it is "parked" to make it easier to re-board. This is especially great when multiple ships are at the same port-of-call. Noise canceling Bluetooth headsets and charger. A USB battery pack is also very handy. Know how to use the offline download mode of your favorite entertainment apps so that you can listen to your favorite audiobooks or music and watch your favorite movies or TV shows while on the flight and/or lounging at the pool on sea days. If you have a password app like 1Password, you can securely store scans of your driver's license, passport card and book, global entry, and health insurance cards as secure documents for viewing on your mobile device For those of us who stopped wearing a watch over ten years ago and rely on their mobile phones, know how to manually set the time zone on your phone in case the local time is one hour off ship time. Always take along a small umbrella that can fit into your day bag. Not only is it good for rain purposes, but it's also qualifies as "portable shade". Relas! Have fun! You are on vacation.

What to do on your first day/night? Place your phones on airplane mode, then enable WiFi to avoid unintentional phone charges. Relax. Verify any specialty restaurant reservations. Meander around the ship to get your bearings. Relax. If your room isn't ready, head up to the pool deck with your carry-ons and enjoy a drink and/or a burger. Relax. It's going to be several hours for your luggage to arrive. Relax. I didn't unpack my luggage on my last ten day cruse until the next morning. The most important part is that you attend the mandatory muster drill at your muster station. Otherwise, your cruise may end very prematurely. Oh yeah, relax. You are on vacation.

I love the fact that it also includes TSA Pre-Check as well as expedited re-entry to the United States at a slight premium over just TSA Pre-Check alone. Hopefully, more international travel is in my future.

Please don't hold me to this, and please double-check, but I believe you need to have the renewal submitted prior to the expiration date to take advantage of the additional grace period.

When I moved to North Dallas, one of the things that I was looking forward to was doing more traveling as DFW International and Love Field have non-stop flights, plus DFW was a interview center. So, in September 2019, my mother and I both got Global Entry cards which include the TSA Pre-Check., and with only a $15 price difference for five years. Then, Covid came, and all travel plans got thrown into the shredder. Then, my mother had health issues. Anyways, if you take a look at https://appointmentscanner.com/locations/global-entry , you can see the wait times for an appointment can go up to one YEAR depending on the center. You can also monitor https://twitter.com/globalentrynow?lang=en on Twitter for any slots that can pop up. If push comes to shove, you can always schedule a weekend trip to Canada or Mexico and do a Interview on Entry. Once you go get your Global Entry card, the first things you will want to do is make sure your airline profiles have your Trusted Traveler Number. Also, mark down on your calendar one year prior to the expiration date so that you can begin the renewal process as appropriate.

The last two times I was on jury duty in California, I ended up spending the entire day on my work computer waiting to be summoned before being dismissed-time served in the mid-afternoon. And, they were apologetic. In fact, in a six month period in 2018-2019, I had a September cruise, has a jury summons waiting for me when I got home, had the one day of jury duty, and applied for and got job relocated to Dallas. (WHEW!) Funny thing... I got my first summons for Texas jury duty which will occur one week after taking vacation in Oklahoma City.

Not true, that's for Global Entry. My passport was set to expire in mid-September this year. When my scheduled cruise for last fall got cancelled in early August, 2022, I immediately got it renewed even though it was more than one year out because I had no travel planned at that point, so I took advantage of the normal processing time. Also, one thing to consider... you also have to get a new passport if you run out of "blank pages" for visa stamps. Some countries requires 2-4 blank pages (per state department), and you cannot get additional pages, you can only get a new passport with more pages in it.