billslowsky

Figure out what you already have first. Travel insurance is not unlike the extra insurance rental car agencies try to coerce you into buying. You may find that you want additional coverage, especially for medical evacuation. If you carry health insurance already, ask about foreign coverage already included.

Less than 50%. As noted above, just do what you prefer. Your trip.

Don't be ridiculous...

I don't think you can fly from BDL to EWR non-stop. Bayonne is not on any Amtrak line. You could take Amtrak to Newark and then Uber from there to the port. Since you'll probably have to change trains in New Haven you could take the CT train to save a few bucks and then switch to Amtrak. It's going to take some additional time with the stop in Penn Station, not the 3.5 hours. If you took the 7:08 am itinerary on a Saturday, you'd get to Newark Penn Station at 10:51 am. Then to the port at around noon. One way fare (advance purchase) is $39 per adult. The return trip isn't so good, not a lot of trains if you can't make the 10:27 Vermonter. Maybe arrange for pickup in New Haven; more trains available because you skip the leg through Hartford. If you drove, it's $20 per day for parking, plus gas plus tolls.

Too true.

You could do it with your phone and forward it to your email. You could. I won't bother.

The photo is supposed to look like you do when you board the ship. If your appearance never changes you can upload the same photo each time. Otherwise they want it to reflect your current look.

No restriction like that. You are free to even smile.

I was on the Gem this past January... the ride back was pretty s l o w ... not enough to do, particularly the last two days when the temperatures were too low to spend any time poolside. The sea was pretty rough and we felt it. That was last year's weather... but you'll have sea days to fill without the anticipation of the beginning of the trip. It was much better than being at home! But I would opt for the bigger ship.

I prefer to wait till I get there. That way I can photobomb my wife's picture. And I did. And they accepted it.

Items that put out heat, like hair dryers and kettles - not much chance of getting those on. Electric razor and electric toothbrush shouldn't be a problem.

Yup, and it's not a bad model. I did a sailaway rate last year, paid a really low fare, had a little envy for the UBP, but completely understood my decision. I drank less than I would have and paid less than I would have.

We followed Hurricane Sandy into Florida and we felt the rough seas, sickness bags placed on the stairwells, you felt a little unsteady walking down hallways. Not terrible. Up till then it was very smooth.

Your approach seems to be to just throw any ridiculous claim up against the wall and see if any of them sticks. So far, you've batted 0.000. Obviously context is a foreign concept to you. When I posted for something in writing, it was back to the dumb post demanding statistics. But you take it out of context. Parsing is not a particularly well-thought approach. I KNOW about the rules on the ship because I ASKED. Did you? And by the way, the section on jeans with tears reads "visors and jeans that are overly faded with holes or tears and worn below the hips are not permitted". Therefore, even when relying in this over-simplified paragraph on the website, the girl's ripped jeans ARE permitted unless they are also overly faded. That's using the over-simplified version. This certainly does NOT say that jeans with rips are not permitted under any circumstances. Nor will it lead to future criminal behavior - one of the absolutely dumbest things I have ever read here. So back to the OP, when one of these intolerant people gives your daughter a dirty look for wearing her ripped jeans in the dining room, remind them that's it's allowed according to the website. The same paragraph would allow wearing a shirt with profanity written on it. So when someone is refused entry for doing so, make sure to intervene on their behalf. "It's on the website." LOL

Please show us all your knowledge of "pay grades"is actually true. There must be something in writing that you can cite for us. The rule is what the cruise line says it is. That they put a dumbed-down version online does not restrict them from having a rule that is actually applied that is different. Your nonsensical claim about "pay grades" is not only judgmental, but would result in virtually every host or hostess being disciplined after every dinner. Funny how that doesn't work out that way. Not funny to you of course, it likely creates tremendous aggravation. Which is funny to the rest of us. Why don't you confront the host on a night where you have determined that one of these "sacred rules" has been violated and tell him or her that they can't allow it because the decision is "below their pay grade"? Maybe you'll get an insincere apology and a plastic key ring for the gross imposition.