Algebralovr

Yes, we took the one the link is to, the Present and Future Panama Canal.

While we really want to see the canal from the inside, we decided to do so when we can actually sail a cruise ship through it. We just have to wait until my vacation allowance gives me enough time off.

We started with a short bus ride to the museum, where we could see ships lined up in the lake waiting for their turn to enter the locks. We saw a short video about the old and new canals, and the differences between how they will operate the new ones. We also saw the new lock apparatus as it had not yet been installed. They are HUGE! It was quite interesting. There was a nice, clean restroom at the museum, as well as a gift ship and snack shop.

Then we were off to the locks, where we got to see what happens when a ship transits. It was very cool.

I would definitely recommend this tour for anyone who doesn't care to spend the entire day on the ferry going through the canal itself. My DH was very pleased as well.

On our next trip, we are considering the railroad alongside the canal.

Your iPad will be fine in most instances, however please keep in mind that you are working with slow data transmission speeds to and from the satellite. Also, when there is cloud cover, the ship may have very little signal.

On Equinox in June, we had a couple of days when we didn't seem to have good connection.

I assume you are going on the Equinox and considering the excursion. If so, expect a very long day for this excursion. Also, make sure to book it in advance, as it sells out every sailing.

In February, we were scheduled to take this excursion. The ship was notified the day before that the canal authorities were not scheduling the excursion to happen on time, but it would instead be about 4 hours late. They were going to hold the ship. After discussing it, we decided not to take that excursion, as we were not expected to return to the ship until nearly 9 pm. We later learned that there were a number of complaints.

We had a great day on a different excursion that took us to the viewing platform, the expansion museum, and allowed us to see more than one ship pass through. We especially enjoyed seeing how the expansion is being done, but we are both engineers.

I bought an unlocked Moto E for $130 from Amazon and got a t-mobile plan for our trip in June. It was good in most of the Med, but not Croatia.

Texts were all included, as was data at 3g and 2g speeds. Calls were $0.20 per minute, whether calling a local number or to home. Bill for the plan for a month was about $50 plus taxes.

Canceled once we got home, since we have poor tmobile at my house.

We did that cruise last year. Every port not only accepted USD, they wanted it.

Enjoy!

We did the Ensenada to Seattle run in May 2013. While our bus ride down wasn't bad, we heard many horror stories about other buses. Ours was a bit dirty, and the bathroom wasn't something I wanted to venture into, but there were many that were much, much worse.

Between the issues with buying between San Diego and Ensenada, and the California laws, my understanding is that Celebrity decided not to bother. That is why this year's repositioning cruise was from Hawaii to Vancouver.

Additionally, the coastal cruise didn't really sell very well. They ended up discounting severely in order to fill the ship.

For me, yes. I was born 64 years ago in a very small town in Quebec, Canada. My family immigrated to the US six years later. The hospital I was born in did not do a very good of maintaining records at the time. And the local records office was not much better. Most documents from that time frame were never converted to electronic formats and are stored in boxes somewhere in a basement. Obtaining a copy is a time consuming process that will try the patience of even the most easy going person. I know because almost twenty years ago my poor brother misplaced his and needed a replacement to adopt a child. He had to go through months of phone calls, writing letters, and waiting before he finally received a copy of his original certificate, one with an embossed official seal, which is required in some instances.

 

I'd rather safeguard mine than have to go through the hassle of applying for a replacement if I don't have to.

In your situation, your citizenship documents and passport are more important than your birth certificate. That said, for someone in your situation, where the BC is difficult to get another copy, I would be at my bank, making additional color copies, and having them notarized as copies of the official documents. Often, a notarized copy will substitute for the original.

If you are not picky about rooms, you might be able to score some great deals. The airfare, however, might be a little higher than you like.

I've seen prices rise and fall after final payment.

My line of choice is Celebrity. My only choices are to sail from Florida of San Juan, PR. Plus I will want to fly, since it is a 20+ hour drive to Miami/Ft Lauderdale. That said, I've seen rooms drop to half what I've paid as the sail date creeps closer and closer. Celebrity puts out an "exciting deals" sheet every week with discounted sailings. I would expect others do as well.

If you can be flexible in where you sail from, and where you stay on the ship, you'll find a cruise you can enjoy.

Another factor to consider, what does the cruise line suggest as your earliest flight? If you go with a flight earlier that their recommendation, will insurance cover you if you are held up and don't make the flight?

http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/go/schengen-fact-sheet.htmlThe US department of state address this on their fact sheet.

Assuming you entered the Schengen area less than 180 days before you will be leaving, you should be able to leave the Schengen area, being stamped out so that the days count, then re-enter, being stamped in and adding to the day count. You could, for example, visit Istanbul, where you will find it less expensive to live for a week or two, and will require a $20 visa, and those days will not count t against the 90 days you are allowed to be in Schengen territory. Please contact the nearest US embassy for assistance in understanding.

Alternatively, you can look into a short term residence visa.

We purchase insurance every time, because of preexisting conditions. These days, I use an insurance company that lets me add coverage as I add expenses. That way, I only spend a minimal amount on insurance at the start.

I know I'm really tired because I've been up all night, but can someone please explain to me how the OP would end up paying 3 fares for a cabin where he's already paid for two people, if his roommate cancels?

There have been people who have claimed that when passenger #2 cancelled, cruise lines imposed a single supplement to passenger #1, and that it happened even if the cancellation was after final payment, even if passenger #2 didn't receive a refund.

It does sound a bit strange, since the room fare had been paid, but you never know.

No, they will not deliver an iron to your cabin. They are considered a fire hazard.

OP, your post is confusing. Are you planning to fly in day of the cruise and trying to determine if you'll make the ship? If so, I would be nervous. Please fly in the day before if at all possible.

If you are looking at your flights home, it is hard to say. We have done the trip 3 times so far. The first two, we disembarked and had no issues getting to the airport, POM to FLL, leaving the ship at 7:30 or so, and at the airport by about 9am. We arranged a shared shuttle, through SAS, and it was fine. We did, however, have one crazy line once we arrived at FLL. Once, it took nearly 3 hours to get through bag drop and security. One problem was that we arrived after a whole bunch of Allure of the Seas passengers.

Last February, we disembarked on a Friday in Port Everglades, and were told that Customs was being extra vigilant after receiving word of a "credible threat". That time, we had a disembarkation time of 7:30, but we were held on board until after 8:30. Once we left the ship, we were again held about 20 minutes in line, before we could collect our luggage. We finally were allowed to collect our bags and get in line for Customs, and waited in another long and slow moving line. We were lucky, as we didn't fly out until 5 pm, and just planned to rent a car for the day and head to the beach. The people behind us missed their 10:30 am flight out of FLL. We finally reached our shuttle to the rental agency about 11 am.

Keep in mind, Customs doesn't allow cell phone use in the Customs area (for some reason they choose not to divulge). The people who missed their flights had to finish getting through the customs ares, then call to see how they could rearrange their missed flight.

Based on that experience, I'm no longer going to book any flights out before 1 pm in Florida. It just isn't worth the stress. I'd rather book a late flight and a rental car and spend a few extra hours on vacation.

I'm curious, would it make sense for some of the Panama Canal cruises to go from Galveston to San Diego rather than Miami to San Diego? If course, that wouldn't offer the OP and others from Texas what they really want.

For me, it is a really long drive to get to Galveston, long enough I might as well fly. If I'm flying in the winter, I want to get as far south as I can to the warm weather. Would South Texas be as warm as Miami?

We traveled in June with about $100 US in cash plus credit and debit cards. When we landed in Venice, I used a credit card to purchase our transfers to the apartment we had rented through AirBnB, and went to the ATM first thing once we arrived.

We spent 3 days in Venice, and simply withdrew enough each day for expenses. Our bank didn't charge any fees for using the ATM. Before getting on the ship, we withdrew enough Euros for the expected expenses of the cruise. We had already arranged our excursions, and we had paid in advance for a number of them, so we knew we wouldn't need a lot.

Once we reached Turkey, we used an ATM to withdraw funds in TL. It was interesting in Turkey that some vendors only wanted USD or Euros and others only wanted TL. Best to carry a little of everything there.

I wouldn't buy on board the ship, their exchange rate was the worst we encountered.

Watch the prices carefully. When we were on Equinox in February, they were selling the iPad air for about $30 MORE than MSRP. I was very surprised. The Brits I met were thrilled with the price, since it was less than at home, but I met an older fellow from the US who was not so happy to learn that.

If you are buying your first iPad, I highly recommend getting it at home, and setting it all up before leaving. Hopefully you can find an Apple store that will assist in set up and provide some lessons.

Also, discuss how you wish to use it, to determine if the 16 gb is sufficient for your needs.

If you read a lot, you might need a bigger one to load up. If you want to download movies, you might need a bigger one. The Apple rep can assist you in determining that.

US MSRP has been stable for quite a few years for the new release. 16 GB is $499, 32 GB is $599, 64 GB is $699.

If your roommate cancels, and the room converts to a single at the higher rate, your insurance may pay the upcharge single supplement. Ask your insurance company if you have one. If either of you do not have insurance, I recommend the person who cannot go just be a no-show.

Also, I second the idea of seeing if there is someone else who wants to go.

For $4.95, it is laundered and pressed.

Another option is airfare is really high is to check secondary airports or secondary airlines. For example, instead of flying out of STL, we might fly out of Belleville, IL on Allegiant and fly into Sanford/Orlando. We also check flying out of MCI (Kansas City) and Springfield/Branson. All are within not too awful a drive, and all offer different price points and schedules. The other thing to do is to just keep checking.

When I started looking at airfare in July/August for our February cruise, it was looking like $600 per person round trip for the tickets. Once Southwest released their schedule. It came down a little bit, but not much, still $450 per person. I started considering Allegiant out of Belleville, particularly since my Mom would keep our car so I didn't have to pay to park. It would have meant flying Thursday instead of Friday, and home on Sunday instead of Saturday. It would have also meant flying into Sanford instead of FLL, meaning a car rental both ways. Plus, two additional nights in hotels, although I probably have enough points to cover those for free.

I finally caught Southwest at just the right time, and was able to get DH'S ticket with points, mine with cash since if the prices dropped I would use the credit and he would be unlikely to do so.

We were tempted to spend an extra day in FL, though!

I will never fly in the day of if I can help it. The last time I had a really early flight, the plane had dead batteries and we couldn't take off. It was finally canceled an hours after we were supposed to have left, but I couldn't find another flight out. If I had not rented a car and driven to my next leg, I would have been stuck there over night.

My wife was called for Federal Grand Jury in VA and the judge said hed didn't care if my wife was disabled with Lyme and she could just forgo her treatments until it was over (6 months) and another lady had a newborn a week old and he told her to get a nanny and she could feed the baby at break time. They also paid $50.00 a day for her to drive 70 miles one way and there is a 4-$5 toll going to the courthouse. I going to fall in dead if they summon me.

OMG! I know a couple of judges. Some of them are quite self-important. Some are very good people.

The idea that someone should put off medical treatment is ridiculously stupid. The idea that someone should hire a nanny, on the $50 per day stipend, is also stupid. I hope they reported him to his colleagues and that he was reprimanded.

I don't see where the OP lists their state, and I know it is different in every state, however all the states should have a law on the books to allow you to defer service.

In MO, the state allows the counties some individual flexibility in how they do jury duty. In my county, you receive a letter telling you that you've been called, then you serve for 4 months, checking on the phone every so often to see when you have to show up. They also ask you at that time to list any dates you are not available as of the date of the summons. If you already have plans, and they are reasonable, you are automatically excused for those days. Vacations are accepted, as long as you report them on the form in advance.

It is interesting how judges look at things. The last time I had jury duty, my children were 7 and 9 or 8 and 10. They are now 18 and 20. We were to appear for a panel to be formed on the Thursday before Easter. Work wasn't an issue for me, as a teacher they called a sub and it wasn't allowed to count against me by law. However, my children were off school on Good Friday. So we are in the courtroom, and the judge is asking if we have any problem with being on a jury that will start that day, probably go late that day, and continue the next day all day. He wanted to get the case over with.

I stated that I had a problem with the next day, as I had fairly young school-aged children who were not old enough to left at home alone for the day, and I had no one else to stay with them the next day when there was no school. I commented that I was off the next day to stay home with them since I also worked for the school.

Another woman said her children were in school, but they would probably be OK at home alone.

She was placed on the jury, I was not.

We've been wondering the same thing. I'm doing enough flying that I'm ready to pay for pre-check. GOES is only $15 more, but requires me to travel out of state for the interview. We will, however, be in Las Vegas on Dec 23, and could do the interview then if they will be open.

I'm trying to decide if I want to wait and do the interview then, or just do the TSA one as soon as I can take a day off work to go to a location that offers it.

Anyone know any updates?

After our experiences this year, we have learned so much!

DH couldn't lift bags because he didn't recover from shoulder surgery as fast as expected. Therefore my DS and I did the lifting. Luckily we had DS, because DD was in a wheelchair for the cruise (and summer) and he could lift her over stairs, push her up hill over the cobblestone streets, etc.

We were in a non-accessible cabin. Thank goodness DD could walk a few steps. The looks she got were mostly sympathy, but we got a few dirty ones when we were escorted doing plane changes.

If you are in a WC or a scooter, and need it, just book the accessible cabin. A wheelchair doesn't fit through the doors of a standard cabin.

She is walking now, but still struggling. Silly girl, she doesn't want to ask the Dr to give her a disabled parking tag for another month. I'm not sure why not - since when she stands for any period of time the swelling in her legs starts again.

We have had both good and not so good waiters on all the ships. We were on Equinox in February and May, and had good servers the whole time. We like sitting right by the rail and people watching.

Of the 5 cruises on S - class ships in the last 3 years, all in Select dining, I believe we only had one waiter we did not care for. If you have a good one the first night, just ask to keep him/her. If you don't like who you have the first night, ask for someone else the second night.