NoWhiners

I saw all these emails with posts cross my screen but it was our fantasy football draft, so I couldn't jump in. I don't know enough about all the teams to speculate but I do know... Go Swans!

Thanks to both of you for the quick replies and advice. A taxi it shall be! And I have time to read more about the different sites and discuss what we want to do with DH.

This is very helpful. We will be going to Rome in late October and then back for a few days in mid-November and I will try and book our tickets 30 days in advance. It appears from your post that tickets are available at midnight Rome time on the 30th day out, do I understand that correctly? We are in the Mountain time zone, so 8 hours different than Rome. It would be really good to be able to book at 4 in the afternoon! I am also a tiny bit confused about the ticket options. On the official site, I am looking at a "Full experience ticket with access to the arena and underground". I have no clue if this will give us access to all that we "should" see. This is our first trip to Rome and I'm not sure if visiting the Palantine or forum (maybe those are the same??) would be good. We really just want to see the highlights but not miss anything. The ticket says it is good for 2 days from first use, so if there is a lot to see, we could go back! If it helps, we are looking at doing this Oct 29 or 30, otherwise it will have to be Nov 15 or 16. I don't see any issues with those days but I could be missing something. Bonus help--any ideas on how long it would take us to walk from Hotel Navona (near Pantheon and Piazza Navona) to the Colosseum? Or is it too far and we should just take a cab? Any advice/insight would be appreciated!

Oops, yeah, I knew that, just brain fade. Told you I was old!! Hmm, who would we prefer to see playing the Swans?? I guess the Brisbane Lions? Nice to hear you enjoyed your cruise. And another in 8 days--I am totally jealous 😛 Go Swans!

Yes, I think this is the way to go. We are going to the Galapagos next June and got a $750 pp air credit thru FBC. I booked our flights (on Delta) and got the air for a lot less than Delta was charging. Flights are paid for and non-refundable. Our flights were made a little more expensive anyway because we fly into Quito and out of Lima. I'm hoping it all goes Ok, but it's a year away and I'll worry about it when it gets closer 😄

I watched the last quarter of Demons--Bulldogs last night, well actually early this morning. It was still close when I started watching but the Dees took over as the quarter progressed. How did you enjoy your first cruise back? Was it the same as you remembered? I feel like I will be very rusty when we finally travel/cruise in late October. I have forgotten a lot... I don't know if you could another item to get my heart pumping like the Swanettes, but give it a shot 😉. Hope they win. Go Swans!

So happy the Swans won. I was a little worried when I read Leigh's updates but it turned out OK. Another 2 week wait now. And no tricks from Mic this time 😁 Go Swans! (and Swanettes)!

Thanks for this, I haven't seen Travelsafe. The only cc I had that included travel insurance dropped that benefit during covid 🙁 We should have almost 4 hours once we hit ATL, so lots of time. I spent many hours in the ATL airport when I was working, grew to hate it. This will be my first time back there since I retired, so I'm sort of looking forward to it. Yeah, I know, it's a little weird!

Thanks for this. I read that they don't always check but I think there is a big fine if you don't have it. Plus, they specify it has to be medical and evacuation insurance. I am sure the med evac adds a lot to the cost. Although, I don't really know how often people are evacuated from Galapagos cruises. I think I'll google that 😉 Thanks

Thanks for these posts. We were able to book our preferred Delta flights on Celebrity and got the $750 pp credit applied. They had to do that manually, I had to remind them we had it and it took a supervisors approval, but we got it done. To get the $750 credit, we had to go with non-refundable air but we'll hope for the best. I have been checking insurance and finally realized that one reason the policies were so expensive was because I was using the full cost of the pre- and post-cruise stays, as well as the Galapagos cruise. When I changed the cost of the trip to just cover the cruise, it dropped to a much more affordable cost. I even looked at insurance through the big box TA we use (the one in Washington) and that was very affordable and excellent coverage. I am going to go back in and re-price using the total package cost and see what happens. Since insurance is only required for the Galapagos, I may try to limit it to just these costs but I also need to talk to some insurance people and see what they say. Thanks for the help and advice.

Oh yeah, my heart was pumping. Not least because I thought I slept thru a week. I'm getting old and this isn't entirely out of the question 😁 Good one mate!

LOL, you guys almost had me. I saw a string of Swans emails from this thread. I scratched my head thinking, did I miss a week? I thought they weren't playing until next Friday. Maybe we could call them the Swanettes? Go Swanettes!

It sure seems odd that this info isn't posted somewhere more easily discoverable. We'll take whatever tests are required to cruise but we shouldn't have to be investigative reporters to dig info out. And, I'm not completely willing to go with what Princess posts. "Trust but verify"--words to live by 😁

I've read 20E but haven't actually done it myself.

I read it on a Celebrity thread but didn't go check out the source material. Here's a link to the thread: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2875566-celebrity-protocols-are-changing-again-starting-september-5/ As dog noted above, this is being discussed in Ports of Call forum, so I'm headed over there to see what people are finding.

Celebrity is doing it too!

It is a great option. Do you still have to "dress" for dinner every night? I think I've read that dress is formal in their MDR every night? Not sure if they offer a buffet for more casual dining?

Well, I'm no expert but I think the only way to do this is to take an east-bound TA to Europe on a cruise line, then come back on Cunard. But I don't think Cunard ports in Florida. I'm sure there are others who can help more. good luck.

I just wanted to note how timely our discussions are--we were just talking about the MCG rule. Are we all good or what? 😁

Thanks. I'll take a look at X's insurance.

This is really helpful, thanks. We also signed up for the pre-cruise option and Macchu Picchu, so we'll need a flight home from Lima. Did you book thru a TA or direct with X? I suspect that if I want to reprice, I will have to do that thru the TA. Maybe FBC can answer that when I call. Good reminder to call X and let them know my flights if I book my own. Who did you get insurance from? Thanks.

Thanks, I just saw your edit. I agree there are other options but since we've never done it, I thought it would be good to get advice from those who have. Insurance will be my next task after booking flights. I appreciate your help.

Excellent. I'll call FBC and see what they can offer, then call the TA to make the switch if I can. Thanks. You're on a roll--any advice on insurance?? 🙂

Hmm, now I'm worried. My original booking doesn't have that note on it, just the FLYGALAP promo listed. I did switch the booking to a TA but I think I can still use FBC without their being involved. Seems like I've done that in the past. I guess will just have to see what they say when I call. While I have everyone' attention, I just saw the note that Ecuador requires us to have travel insurance, including med evac. Anyone have any suggestions on a good insurance company for this? We've never bought travel insurance before so absolutely no experience. I'm going to check the Insurance thread too. Thanks.

Ohhhh, thank you so much for explaining this. I'm sure they will tell me when I call but it's good to be forewarned! I wouldn't actually mind booking directly thru Delta, seems more straight-forward. I guess I'll be calling FBC tomorrow...