MacMadame

when you find it, can you see if mine is there too? 🤣

You don't really have to drink that much alcohol if you drink soda, fancy coffee drinks, bottled water and/or fresh juice. For Mr. Mac and I, we figure we'll break even with just 1 alcoholic drink a day. Since OP's husband doesn't drink, OP will have to drink 2 a day though. 😄 It made sense for us because we do plan to drink 1 alcoholic drink a day, maybe 2 and Mr. Mac likes soda and coffee and I drink a lot of water and would want to bring bottled water on all our excursions. But I plan to use the fitness classes and we will both use the casual dining and turn on Ocean Now while other people might not.

I think the idea is that you have access to lounge chairs that are limited to a small group of people. So you aren't fighting for one in the more public areas. I see other lines have "balcony" cabins where the balcony leads to a deck and not a view of the ocean so I guess people like that. Not me. But other people. 🤣

January.

FYI: I prefer a Shout Wipe to the pen. It works better IME. You didn't mention magnet hooks to put hats, purses, clothes that have been worn but aren't ready for the hamper, etc. I see those on lists all the time.

Not everyone, just one person. And, based on the Accounting class I took when I was working on an MBA, they are correct.

I'm job searching and got an email from a recruiter for a contract job with Princess. I was very interested in this one line from the email: Client is getting off of First Data (AUD) and customized mainframe solution (POLAR) for shipboard financial settlement/tokenization. (For people who don't know, POLAR is the system the TAs and cruise lines use to book and manage your cruise -- and other travel. First Data is a company that processes financial transactions, i.e., credit cards) The job description also says: Must be an expert in Java 11 development. They also will be using SpringBoot for this project and the middleware layer is MuleSoft. The backend database is Oracle. Translation for non-techies. It seems that at least some of your onboard folio is managed via POLAR and the credit card processing, at least for cruises that use AUD, is done by First Data both 3rd party products. And Princess wants to stop doing that for some reason (most likely to have more control or to avoid paying those 3rd parties). For my fellow techies, what do you think? IMO they use what I consider to be a reasonable but old-fashioned tech stack where you run all the logic on the backend (using Java/Spring) and it burps out the HTML/CSS/Javascript that you see on the screen. These days the majority of web development job postings I see are for jobs where a Javascript/Typescript framework of some sort (Angular, React, Vue.js) runs on the client and gets data from the backend via APIs. I am wondering if this explains why sometimes princess.com is not very responsive. IME, too much backend processing can lead to 504 errors. Also, IME, using an older tech stack can make it hard to attract quality talent. I've been writing web apps using React, Typescript/Javascript, and GraphQL apis that run on a node.js server for over 8 years now so even though I have done a big application using Java/Spring on the backend, I am totally not interested in this job. (Okay, the fact that it's a contract job doesn't help. LOL) Anyway, I thought it was interesting and some IT/Software Developers on CC might have some opinions about it. I don't consider this private info since I got it from an unsolicited email.

Yeah, it might be better to charge one casual dining (free) and one a la carte dessert.

IIRC, it was a mixed bag. Not a lot of reports and with slightly more failures than successes, but with so few reports, it's hard to say. ETA and @2and2's experience is yet another one who got charged for 2 meals when only 1 person ordered the fixed prix option.

I do want that if at all possible.

Oh, that's a good idea!

We're cruising out of Port Everglades next year and I'm looking into making hotel reservations and (possibly) booking our flights. It seems like Fort Lauderdale is pretty close to Miami so I'm wondering if there is any benefit to flying into Miami instead. Is it cheaper or easier to get transportation? I'm also wondering about cruise line transfers. Should we book those and stay near the airport or just take a Lyft in the AM from a hotel near the port? We would be flying in the day before from the West Coast, probably SFO but maybe Oakland or San Jose airport if that turns out to be cheaper or more convenient. So probably getting there in the evening and going to the port first thing in the AM. IOW, sightseeing is not on the schedule but a nice dinner at a local restaurant might be.

That's awesome! I plan to live that long so ... goals! 😄

I booked our excursions the day they became available and now 2 of them are a lower price with only one being the same price. So for our 2025 cruise, it wasn't a bait and switch. I was planning to book the excursions at the new price and then cancel my original ones but it sounds like, if I do that, I'll end up with OBC and not a refund to my credit card. Is that correct?

Or using OceanNow.

I fly AlaskaAir a lot and our carry-on fits. It's 22.5 x 9.5 x 13.5 if you include wheels and handles and anything else that sticks out. There was one time this carry-on didn't fit in an overhead and it was because of the wheels. I don't remember which airline. Something I have come to realize is that many luggage companies advertise a "carry-on" item that, like ours, is slightly too big in one or more directions. Most of us just take their word that the carry-on size is the correct size. I know I did!

If the 21-day segment is also divided into 3 7-day segments, wouldn't they get 6 free dinners? That's my understanding of how it works.

The one I talked to had a British accent. No idea where she was located but I heard the CVPs are located in the US and the UK so it tracks.

IME, the inside cabins do vary in size. In my first cruise, my cabin was so small that it was hard to turn around in! The one we had on our Disney cruise easily fit the two of us and our two small kids. And the Panama Canal!

This is still free. Delivery Choices: OceanNow: one-time $14.95 fee and you can get food delivered anywhere on the ship *including* your cabin. It has it's own menu that is different from the Room service menu. Room Service: Using the phone to order from the Room service menu is a $5 charge each time. Breakfast Door Hanger: Free. Writing in other items sometimes works and sometimes does not.

I don't do it as an exercise but as a test of my fitness. So far, so good... 😄 I have friends in their 70s and even 80s who still train for triathlons or long-distance cycling/running events so I am comparing myself to some really fit people. It can be discouraging especially when I compare myself to when I was at my fittest (in my 50s). I was slowing down in my 60s even before the pandemic screwed up my routines. Right now I walk my dog for 30-60 minutes most days, swim 1-2 times a week, and ride my bike 1-2 times a week. Starting next week, I'm on a program through my triathlon club and will be adding strength training back in and gradually ramping up the other stuff and changing walking to running. 🤞

I was on a general CC forum and someone was complaining about the NCL call center. Same complaints as here. It really does seem to be the way of things these days. The reason I didn't use a TA is that I couldn't figure out which ones are good and which ones aren't. So I just booked myself.

I've only been in inside cabins on my cruises. I like how dark they are while sleeping and we never spent much time in them. Just sleeping and changing clothes. However, our next cruise has a lot of scenery and a lot of port days so we're springing for a balcony. Time will tell if this was a good decision.

I got a re-fare through a CVP two weeks ago for a cruise that I booked myself online. Final payment is in Oct. and I'm nowhere near paying it. 🤷‍♂️

For everyone on the Sun and in Reserve class cabins, I hope that those chairs are placeholders for the real thing (which are delayed but will show up eventually).