Travelling2Some

18 minutes ago, mistertomatoe said:

Wasn't there some story about an unpaid airport transfer causing a cancellation? My transfer from South Hampton to Heathrow was $75.

Yes, that was an appalling story.  The person had put it in her cart but never proceeded with the purchase because she wanted to first consult with others in her party.  People put things in carts on internet websites all the time and then decide against buying them without incident.  NCL IT is scary!  I checked very carefully to make sure nothing was in my cart and no balance due anywhere and I have a copy of my conversation with our PCC.  Remembering that story was part of why I was worried!

4 hours ago, Water_Baby_ said:

Ducks ... I worked a charity duck race for a few years and although we tried to corral all the ducks, some always went missing. And they wound up in bins around the area, which bothered me. I'd feel the same way about a lot of ducks on a ship. They'll wind up in the garbage. 

The "Duck Thing" is the very essence of recycling though.  The game is to keep passing your found duck along by re-hiding it. Those who choose not to re-hide keep it as a memento of their cruise.  I would think very few just toss them in the garbage.

We usually book specialty on the first night.  Unlike the majority, we shy away from booking big dinners on sea days.  Because we've been on the ship all day we tend to eat and drink more and  have less of an appetite when dinnertime comes.  Also on most lines the "dress up" night(s) have the best MDR menus and are on the sea days.  On port days we eat breakfast and then are gone all day.  We don't eat lunch in port as we don't want to take time out from seeing the sights.  On port days we come back to the ship ready to relax over a nice dinner. 

Good tip.  Everything is fine, as I did get the e-Docs, but I will remember that for the future and go straight to Tech Support if needed.  The summary pages leads you to believe that your e-Docs should be ready as soon as you have met all the requirements.  But I did see another screen that stated "within 24 hours" so a bit of a contradiction there.  Thank you for the response.!

11 hours ago, tsahall01 said:

Are you one of the higher ranking CAS people??  They now get FAS Plus for no charge--but, again, that is something your PCC should have caught.

No, I never even go to the casinos.  Good guess though. 

3 hours ago, Lena11033 said:

Ducks I think it's newer on Celebrity but there is a group on another site dedicated to ducks, like letting people know they are placing them on x ship or when people find them.

I have two I brought home from Constellation Mardi Gras cruise. I'm considering ducks for my next one but depends on luggage space - I have issues with bringing more than I need 🙃

I like the ducks but it's about luggage space for me also.  We travel carry-on only except when we sail out of our home port.  I hide them a children's eye level and it is so much fun when you see a small kid just light up at finding a little prize. I bet it makes a lasting memory for them.

1 minute ago, Sun Lover said:

What about when we go other places beside churches?

Here's the thing:  When we go out to walk around any city in Italy (or Spain, or France) we naturally encounter "unplanned" churches as well as churches we planned to see.  The churches in these countries are almost always worth dropping into as they are beautiful and full of art - like free museums!  Even on a practical level, churches give you a nice cool place to sit and rest a bit.  Therefore, we always wear clothing that meets church standards when walking about the cities.  That's our habit and reasons but you can do it differently if you prefer.

Door decorations for cruising are in the same category as party decorations.  Both are temporary and tend to be kind of gaudy/tacky.  Having a front yard full of plastic pink flamingos is more of a permanent display.  My view is that "temporary tacky" is fun but permanent tacky is tasteless.  Halloween costumes are like that too.  Fun but not something to wear everyday.

Thanks, I was able to print the e-Docs the next day, so no problem.  I will be boarding in Rome and  just walking over to the port gate since my hotel is only 2 blocks away. I know the set up there and strongly suspect the guard would not let me onto the property without a boarding pass. There is no way to reach the NCL terminal except via the internal shuttle bus that runs around to all the piers.  Moot point now, luckily, but thank you for the suggestion.

35 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

You left out the worst of all, often discussed here in the past.  A balcony near people who have the nerve to blow bubbles off their balcony.  According to many experts here, if one of those bubbles pops on your balcony, it will create a tremendous mess that will take hours to clean up and, even worse, an immediate safety hazard for anybody who foolishly enters that hazard zone.  The horrors.😱

Oh my goodness, how could I ever forget that one?  And how about those people who devastate the environment by hiding innocent rubber duckies?

Another one - Just a couple of days ago I went to print out our summary on a cruise that is a few weeks away and fully paid for.  Strangely, it showed that I had purchased FAS Plus.  This was news to me and I certainly had never bought or paid for any such thing.  Checked around my account and no money due.  Called PCC and she had no idea why FAS Plus was showing as a "Purchased Item".  She also agreed that there was no money due.  Was able to print out my e-docs so I guess it was just a glitch.

We had a bunch of odd little charges suddenly appear once after we had made final payment and everything had been a zero balance.  Took awhile to figure out what had happened (PCC was at a loss too.)  Turned out that my husband had been looking around in the app and, since he did not know his Latitudes number or the significance of it (I do all that stuff) he went ahead and signed up for a new number. So, essentially, he had forfeited his loyalty status and all these dinky little charges were reflective of his Platinum discounts on shore excursions being lost.

We book balconies sometimes but not usually.  As others have said, it depends on itinerary and relative cost.  It's a combination of factors so I can't put a "dollar per day" ceiling on it.  Not going to pay anywhere near twice as much for the exact same cruise for that little bit of extra real estate though.  Just not value for money for me.  Last time we had a balcony I was pretty much unable to use it because there was a row of 3 cabins of people traveling in the same (loud) group adjacent to us.  They had their balcony dividers removed and were pretty much holding one big continuous gathering out there.  Impossible for us to read or enjoy a quiet drink or conversation.

There are just so many reasons that you can end up not using a balcony much:  too hot, too cold, too windy, neighbors who smoke, neighbors with boom box.  To many variables usually.  On most ships the OVs seem to be located under a public deck or way up forward where there is too much motion for us or we would probably book those more often.

There are many, many choices on what to do with money besides either spending it all on yourself or having your children spend it on luxuries.  There are favorite causes and charities.  Some families may have a child or grandchild that they want to provide for due to a disability unlikely to ever fly anywhere in either first class or basic economy. 

There are also people who are living large and foolishly going into debt for luxuries.  Lots of different choices when it comes to spending.

20 minutes ago, slidemaster5 said:

 Some people only book suites and drive cheap cars and some only book inside cabins and drive expensive cars.

 

Very good way of putting it.  People with the same economic level may use that money very differently. 

I agree with those recommending Virgin and Carnival for maximum late night party.  However, NCL has very reasonable drink packages.  While they are not quite Free" as advertised, you pay only the gratuities and the real cost amounts to about $20 a person per day.  You may want to consider NCL's shorter Caribbean or Mexican Riviera cruises.  Passengers are younger and less interested in the ports on those itineraries so they stay up later.

On 4/25/2024 at 11:28 AM, KeithJenner said:

I use the bill breakers in the casino to get smaller bills for tips etc.

So good and useful to learn this!  I don't go to the casino so I was unaware there were bill breakers in there.  Be careful, my brother married one.

5 hours ago, jrt.mom said:

I put mine under the bed and pull it out to put the dirty laundry in. Some use collapsible mesh hampers but that's just one more thing to pack, and the suitcase serves the same purpose. 

Yes, we do the same.

Thanks for the replies.  I'll have to call if I can't get them tomorrow.  Wouldn't normally be so concerned but we are leaving soon to do some extra traveling before we board the ship.

I checked in at midnight last night and my e-Docs don't seem to be available yet?  I've fulfilled all the requirements to download them (check in complete, don't owe any money, 21 days from cruise).  I can't remember if they usually take a day or so extra?  Thank for sharing your experience.

56 minutes ago, complawyer said:

 i am truly technologically challenged, and if it wasn't for my 25 year old grandson, i would "NEVER" be able to accomplish  that.

 

Me too.  Tech is one of the (many) reasons we are now thankful that we had lots of children!  It remains a mystery though, since they just grab the device and do it for you.  I bet our immigrant parents felt this way, lol. Like us, they were smart but couldn't communicate in this new way.

Coincidentally, I just did the check-in for our Viva cruise an hour ago and I was pleasantly surprised.  I always recall it as being a pain in the butt but this time a lot of the stuff was autofilled.  We saved our pictures from the last ordeal and uploading them went smoothly this time too.  They still ask a few needless questions and try to sell you stuff but, all in all, I'm thinking the process has improved.

4 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Well said, but there is one thing I would disagree with. There are ports that you definitely cannot see everything you want from one cruise visit. Rome is an example. And there are ports where there are multiple towns available, so for example, one time you explore Nice and the next time Cannes.

Totally.  We do land trips to places that need multiple days instead of cruising.  I try to book "one way" cruises whenever possible too.  That way we can spend multiple days in the embarkation and debarkation regions. 

My take is that you might be overthinking it.  Just be yourself and walk away from anything you encounter that you don't care for.  Longer is always better because a very short cruise is hardly worth the packing and unpacking.  Time to leave before you even feel settled and relaxed.

22 minutes ago, roddy good boy said:

We just had the exact experience with my 9/1 cruise! We got a $1,000 FCC for a price drop. I was also happy to see that we have two years to use the FCC. I was initially told we would only have a year. We take a lot of land trips and I didn’t know whether we would want to take another week plus cruise next year.

Yes, I was very pleasantly surprised to get the email and see it is good for 2 years.  Not sure two years from what date but not going to "look a gift horse in the mouth".