pcur

I have gone the KIS route my whole life: Keep It Simple. I have started using Neutragena products and they are wonderful, in my opinion. Inexpensive, great quality, and do the job. I highly recommend their Hydro Boost line. I use the Gel Moisturizer, the Exfoliating Cleanser, and the Gentle Cleanser. They also have a night repair, and other daytime booster moisturizers, but that's based on need. I use one to get a little extra moisture around wrinkle areas. Wrinkles, by the way, are worse if you skin is dry. The cleansers I alternate, and sometimes mix together. I have found that exfoliation is the key to good skin. Gently removing the dead skin cells keeps the skin's surface soft and helps immensely with skin tone. Neutragena's exfoliation cleanser is their regular gentle cleanser mixed with an exfoliating agent. I love it. An absolute MUST is sunscreen. It's never too late to start using it. I have fair skin (you will see it in the thread link below), and use Neutragena's SPF 100+. It's said that anything over SPF 35 is a waste, and I disagree. The 100+ keeps the dark spots from forming. I burn instantly, seriously. With Neutragena's sunscreen I never get beyond a 24 hours redder skin at the worst in the Caribbean, and have never, ever peeled. So, I know the sun damage is being minimized. Make-up. I use Dermacol, since I am older and do have some dark spots. I mix it with my sunscreen and use it on my face, neck, back of my hands, and arms. There's a trick to using it properly, and if you just need to match and even out your skin tone, then match the color to your skin. If, like me, you also want to cover darker spots, get one shade LIGHTER. I have both skin color and one lighter. It's a dabbing thing to apply. Dab, dab, dab, all over the area, then smooth. A VERY, VERY little goes a long way. A tube lasts me 9 months. It's also fabulous if you have any broken veins on your legs, ankles, or feet. I had several infected mosquito bites a few years ago that caused broken veins around the bite, and Dermacol covers them beautifully. Go to Youtube.com and watch the videos on color selection and application. Then, put on about 1/3 of what they do. Good luck! If you go to this thread, I have written about a simple regime I use for puffy eyelids and under eye bags: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2634737-eye-bags-and-upper-lid-skin-remedy/

Yes, these "banquet" style tables for 2 are what Mr. Pcur refers to as "eating with 12 of my unknown best friends", and we avoid them. We have found our best way of getting a table we like is to email about 3 weeks in advance, because that's when the table assignments start to be finalized. On the first day we go into the MTD or TD room and look at the tables for two. It's empty and we just tell the staff that's what we are doing: no one cares. We jot down the table numbers that we like, and then at the correct time and location (ask a dining staff member) we go to the head waiter to request one of those tables. Go about 15 minutes early.

I think the FCC is one of RCCL's last bits of flexible pricing policy. Their rules and policies are so strict and convoluted now that I feel like I'm in a pricing straight-jacket. The FCC we got in April was like "cruise money". I applied it to an already booked cruise, I repriced that booking, I moved that booking to another ship and date (all within the straight-jacket rules), and the FCC just floated along with it all.

I think they changed the recipe for the apple purse, because I love almond flavoring, and have a keen sense of taste and smell, and I had no taste or smell of almond in the pie. Cinnamon, YES, but I think the almond is gone. I love key lime pie, but I have found the quality is not consistent among RCCL's ships. I found that HAL's key lime meringue pie was a truly die-and-go-to-heaven-come-back-for-another-piece of pie!! Just amazing flavor. We have a HAL cruise booked a year from now, and my mouth is watering just thinking of having that pie again.

Bob is correct. We were on multiple back-to-backs, two ships, earlier this year. Even when you're on the ship you can't request a favorite waiter: you have to wait until 3pm or later for the assignments to be made on embarkation day. We would just show up the first night of each cruise and ask for his section, table for 2.

I just booked a few days ago with this kind of pricing structure: paid $600 more for the cruise, and got $600 in obc. It worked great for us, because: - we use obc for gratuities and happy hour on board the ship - we got a higher obc from our big box travel agent because we paid a higher price for the cruise - we got a better cabin with the deal, as the higher price was for an unobstructed ocean view - we got a free Pinnacle Grill dinner for two - we got a $25 beverage card per person

We actually LOOOOOOOOVED the apple pie dessert. It's made elsewhere, probably frozen, and served in the main dining room. Don't let the word "frozen" turn you off: it's the most delicious apple pie dessert Mr. Pcur and I have ever had. Ever. It's an small single serving apple pie "purse" dessert, but the crust isn't pulled completely shut. So, the wonderful and cinnamon-y filling is there at the middle. Crust is super flakey, and with vanilla ice cream, it's heaven! Our head waiter on the Jewel said it was also her all time favorite.

I'm thinking the overflow policy is fleet wide by now. I was told by the LA on the Adventure in April this year that if they reached 450 D, D+, and P's they made the VCL the overflow, and set up huge appetizer tables on the dancefloor/stage area. It was very nice for that cruise. They also did the daily coffee bonus on our cards, but we don't drink coffee, so never used it.

I was price checking today, and found our two b2b cruises in 2021 on the Adventure have ocean view cabins cheaper than the promenade view cabin we had booked. I called my Big Box TA and added a third cruise, plus got the cabin changed for the two already booked. The price drop on the first two was $259, plus we got a better cabin for all three cruises. She told me that they are finding that RCCL especially is lowering it's prices for late 2020 and into 2021. I told her I wondered if it was because of the recession talk going on in the news lately, and also the election in November 2020. RCCL wants the deposit money for the future dates. Personally, I think it's about time RCCL threw we customers a few bones. I have found over the last 2 years that price drops are not as frequent as before. I also wonder if they will start to loosen their policies about making changes before final payment date. I was not pleased when I wanted to change two cruises to a different date and ship, something I was able to do up until the last few years. I would have been charged $400 for the changes, and I told Mr. Pcur, "It's not like they are losing business with these changes!!" I think the new cruises were actually a little more expensive.

Thank you so very much! They certainly hid that well, didn't they?

I'm having a hard time navigating HAL's web site, trying to find where I can purchase soda cards. Last year I bought the Soda Fountain Value Card online, but I can't see if it's still available. That's the $25 card / get $50 worth of soda. Thanks for any help, especially a link to the right web page???????

Inventory also means they want to have the right alcohol on hand, based on passengers' preferences for mixed drinks. It might be for that cruise, or for that month, or for that ship, or for the whole fleet. Cost control if they get a better estimate of volume needed.

I'm not trying to judge anyone as being "lucky" or "unlucky" : just pass along what has worked for us. What I mean by "planned ahead" is based on experience going through security lines at airports, especially. I cannot remember how many times I've hear calls for someone to come back to security and get their passport, wallet, etc. It's so distracting keeping track of jackets, change, keys, wallets, passports, laptops, etc. I try to make us less susceptible by using what I've described above. I'm protecting myself from MYSELF in this case. If it's all zipped into the travel purse after getting checked by TSA, then I have less to gather up at the other end of the conveyer. Plus, my husband travels with insulin and a cpap, and pretty much always gets pulled out for extra "attention". Then, I have HIS stuff to gather up, too.

Interesting information. Thank you. Since I use an iphone, the pictures of our passports are not only on my phone, but also in my icloud account. So, they can be reached anywhere with an internet connection. My husband carries nothing in his pockets when he travels. He wears loose fitting short and the pockets are easy to get in and out of. As a matter of fact, he had me sew small pieces of velcro on all of them so his wallet wouldn't fall out here at home!

We are not fans of the Oasis (and above) class of ships. Our favorites are Jewel (ask for Ben Amor in the dining room), Radiance, Vision, Rhapsody, and Serenade. One of our best cruises was the Serenade from Vancouver to Hawaii. Now that Southwest flies to Hawaii we are thinking of a redo. However, we also are happy with the Adventure, but that's more due to the crew than the ship.