Incognito1

Love this airport for yet another reason -- they didn't have the invasive Rapiscans last time we were there. I asked one of the security agents who told me that most of them were prior military or LEOs and that Bellingham airport management had decided it was much more fruitful to hire excellent people and provide comprehensive training rather than rely on a machine.

"Majestic Princess is specifically customized to serve Chinese guests, incorporating a unique blend of international and Chinese features." Can anyone speak to the travel agent's comments? Booking a transatlantic and concerned with what is meant by 'specifically customized to serve Chinese'.

There's a great deal for a 14-day cruise that comes out to ~$400 apiece when using the promotion (!). I'm wondering if anyone has changed their passenger info for the 3rd & 4th guests after booking. The 2 of us are definites, but 3 and 4 are iffy right now. If we book with John Doe and later want to change to Jane Smith, is that doable? I couldn't find the info on Princess' site.

Doesn't necessarily have to be the same ship or even same line.

Met a Scrabble champ on one of my cruises. She brought her own board and it was a real challenge (I play on isc.ro, but she was far smarter than I am). I usually go to these, but they're often poorly organized and/or poorly attended. I think the intent is to keep the mahjong players that hog all the buffet table space from doing so - it doesn't work. I second Exploding Kittens! Great game. I had my BurningCat pins all ready for Portland, and was really sad to see that it's been indefinitely canceled.

You could add on a cruise. Princess has some from Vancouver that are less than $200pp for 4 days to Los Angeles or San Francisco. Southwest has non-stop flights LAX-BNA for as little as 10k points. Oakland, SJC, SFO to BNA for as little as 5k. If the dates don't exactly work, add on a trip to Great America or something. Might still be less expensive AND you get the extra days (and extra status points toward next Princess level.)

Not all handicaps are visible. Was it worth the argument? More flies with honey...

Catalina was wonderful! Rent a golf cart and go geocaching; ride the city trolley for $3 +tip and the onboard assistant will give you as good a tour as the ship's overpriced one; go snorkeling but watch out for the tiger sharks; hike to the top of the mountain (bring a water bottle!) and start/end in the botanical garden. Lots to do without ship's tours. We have been there a few times and loved it. If you want the golf cart, you should book and pay beforehand. They go quickly.

Yes, you can get a card. Yes, you can use an RFID blocker (even tinfoil in a wallet). The tracking is useful for Princess from a financial standpoint. If only 10 people show up for an event while 200 others are at a "craft" (in quotes because folding paper is a cheap substitute for a real craft), guess which will be replaced with a revenue-generator in the future. It can also show an aggregation of the way people travel on a ship resulting in a better layout for new ships. We choose not to be part of this, but each person needs to find their own comfort level.

I'm seeing a lot of cruises departing or ending in New York at huge discounts off the brochure price. If you want less crowded on the ship, that might be the way to go. Ex: 10 days in June for $399pp (inside) or 14 days in August on a balcony reduced again to $891. Guessing those ones are not close to full. The Caribbean cruises are not "discounted" nearly so heavily.

We generally prefer to tip people individually so remove the auto-gratuity. Guest services has never asked about it nor shot us a dirty look. Careful not to paint all people who do things differently from you with the same 'cheapskate' brush.

Thanks. Princess is running a similar promotion and it's 3rd & 4th pax free regardless of age. Decided to book there instead.

No, not going to fudge it. Was just wondering if I actually booked it, would it charge the 13 year old as an adult. Guessing so. Too bad - she doesn't take up a lot of space, but I'm not really wanting to spend a full adult price for her.

Your photography is beautiful! You might not get as much out of it as we did :-). They had a few small-sized hands-on events limited to 25 people and taught by one of the portrait photographers (not the annoying dressed liked an idiot ones at the docks). He was young, but knew his craft. One was in the studio all about lighting and another was about motion - for that one we took pics around the ship (few of which turned out well. lol)

When I'm looking at booking and put in 2 adults, 2 kids under 12, it's substantially less expensive than considering a 13 year old as an adult. Anyone know if they actually care about the "kids" ages or if it's just a marketing thing? Have you booked with the KSF promotion and brought teens?

Yes.

If we're in interior, twins pushed against opposite walls - leaves more room for walking around.

We were on one where the enrichment talks were from a retired Canadian Mountie. Really interesting! Next best thing was photography events. Although we're pretty decent photographers, we did learn some things and took some great photos.

We did one awhile back out of San Francisco. Never again. Not enough people had signed up for it, so Princess ran a "local special" discounted for Bay Area folks. Ended up super crowded and full of rude, pushy people determined to get their money's worth by clearing out anything good at the buffet, hogging spaces, and just generally being nasty and entitled. YMMV.

What worked better for us was to put the super strong magnet hooks on the ceiling and then hang swimsuits/gym clothes near the air vent. Dried much faster.

Has anyone ever had GOOD experiences with EZAir? After reading some of the horror stories like this one, I can't imagine ever using them. We generally fly with changeable tickets on our preferred airline. Might cost a little more, but not worth the potential headaches to save a few $.

Use the Brave browser -- then you don't get the popups at all.

We noticed that on our last cruise, every single offer in the International Cafe was either meatless or pork-based. Every one. No chicken, no beef, no turkey. I'm guessing pork prices must've been down, but it was disappointing for what has traditionally been our favorite spot to have only pork -- and only cake or mousse for dessert. Make sure you fill out your questionnaire (and return it within 72 hours) and ask for more non-pork offerings.

It's from 2023. But your point is well taken. I'd assume that NYC is now in the top 10 (no source, just an assumption.)

The two are separate issues. That's why a period between the sentences, and why the second sentence begins with ALSO.