Worst part of flying to your cruise port?

[slidergirl]

The part I hate worst is the TSA screening - not what the TSA does, what the other passengers do. Apparently a lot of folks come to the airport with no clue as to what is and is not allowed in carryon luggage and security screening procedures. They also don't think ahead - wear slip on shoes, don't wear a belt, don't have any liquids on your person, don't wear chunky metal jewelry, limit your carryons - just basic stuff that should be obvious and would speed their processing through security.

 

Processing through security would be speeded up and a more "tolerable" experience if they dropped the dog and pony security theater. Go back to the WTMD instead of the nude-o-scope, allow the liquids again (if they WERE a threat, why do the clerks still just throw them in the regular trash bin instead of following hazmat procedures and evacuate the terminal???), go back to using the hand wand to resolve issues instead of the perverted groping. AND, hire people who actually have at least a high school diploma and have passed a full FBI background check, NOT just the generic commercial check. AND, have them train for more than a few hours on how to behave in public. Be sure they know that people from all 50 states PLUS DC are permitted to just show their drivers license/state ID at the desk - just because you are from Alaska or Hawaii or New Mexico or DC you do not need to show a passport :roll eyes: And, peanut butter is not a liquid, nor are designer cupcakes with lots of icing, nor are pumpkin pies, breast milk is not a terrorist tool…

[cruisemom42]

Sometimes I think we are a society of whiners.

 

Really, when you consider what people used to put up with in order to travel versus our current options -- there is no doubt but that we have things pretty good in terms of speed, safety, cost and even (though many are loathe to admit it) convenience.

 

I suggest reading (or re-reading) Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad for a good idea of what travel was like (including by ship) in the 100 years or so before modern air travel.

 

And for those who mourn the more genteel days of air travel, keep in mind that even in the 1950s (before the wide use of jets), a trip across the Atlantic could take 18 hours and even a "standard" economy ticket cost about a third of an average worker’s annual salary. Granted, you got more space and better food for your money -- but there was no in-flight entertainment (and no laptops or tablets) and you probably had to share space with at least a few smokers.

 

I dunno -- it doesn't seem so bad to me. Maybe all those long car trips as a child, strapped into and immobile in a relatively small, airless backseat with few stops and nothing to do but read, look out the window, or sleep has made me able to ignore the small annoyances and discomforts that bother others so much. :p

 

(Note: I'm only talking about voluntary/vacation travel. I fully understand that real road warriors have some valid grumbles.)

[KirkNC]

Mine was a 17-hr flight (IAD - JNB), during which the South African Airways' flight attendants berated me (anyone) who tried to leave their seats. I showed them my swollen ankles to no avail. Also, the pax in aisle seats (talking economy here) weren't even allowed to have a piece of paper, let alone a purse, under the seat in front. I did appreciate the PA announcement not to sleep on the floor...I never felt more of the bottom-of-the food chain...

 

Geez, that sounds like quite the flight.

[SuiteTraveler]

Processing through security would be speeded up and a more "tolerable" experience if they dropped the dog and pony security theater. Go back to the WTMD instead of the nude-o-scope, allow the liquids again (if they WERE a threat, why do the clerks still just throw them in the regular trash bin instead of following hazmat procedures and evacuate the terminal???), go back to using the hand wand to resolve issues instead of the perverted groping. AND, hire people who actually have at least a high school diploma and have passed a full FBI background check, NOT just the generic commercial check. AND, have them train for more than a few hours on how to behave in public. Be sure they know that people from all 50 states PLUS DC are permitted to just show their drivers license/state ID at the desk - just because you are from Alaska or Hawaii or New Mexico or DC you do not need to show a passport :roll eyes: And, peanut butter is not a liquid, nor are designer cupcakes with lots of icing, nor are pumpkin pies, breast milk is not a terrorist tool…

 

Except we're currently stuck with things the way they are. So at this point it is up to the passengers to exercise consideration for their fellow travelers who are also trying to get through security and come prepared to go through security by not bringing stuff that is likely to attract the attention of security. If you bring nothing of interest to security, they are not going to question you. It's really that simple.

[slidergirl]

Yes, we are whiners. I hear them everyday at work. It seems that the more money you have, the more entitled you think you are, and the more you whine in hopes of getting things comp'd. ;)

 

I just want competent security screening that actually does something, performed by competent, qualified people. That doesn't happen now in the US. Even now, some of the people who used to be in charge of TSA have said that things have gone too far and need to be reined back in. But the fear-mongers and the "anything for security" crowd keep the casual traveling group terrorized enough that it won't happen. The current head of TSA wants to, rightly, go back to 9/10 security for 80% of the traveling public and save more "enhanced" methods for the remaining 20%. As it should be…

Think about it - a terminal lobby full of people waiting for TSA is a target-rich environment for a terrorist, more so than an aircraft with hardened, secure cockpit doors with pilots who carry guns, and have air marshals and an aware group of passengers on it.

 

I'll take Emmenthaler as my cheese of choice and Brunello as my whine ;)

[CHEZMARYLOU]

The worst part for us is deciding when to fly. Do we need to go 2 days early because of the distance or potential weather delays, or are we safe flying in the day before?

 

Mary Lou

[SPacificbound]

Some of the TSA screening process can be alleviated with TSA Pre✓ or better yet Global Entry.

 

http://www.cbp.gov/global-entry/about

[wassup4565]

But cruisemom42, you could say the same thing about almost everything. How dare we complain about sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic, when people a hundred years ago didn't have the possibility of driving at all. How dare we complain about lineups at the supermarket, when people a hundred years ago had only a meagre selection of foods to choose from.

 

It's comparing apples to oranges.

[cruisemom42]

But cruisemom42, you could say the same thing about almost everything. How dare we complain about sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic, when people a hundred years ago didn't have the possibility of driving at all. How dare we complain about lineups at the supermarket, when people a hundred years ago had only a meagre selection of foods to choose from.

 

It's comparing apples to oranges.

 

I guess that for my part I don't complain about the supermarket or traffic either. ;)

 

I still think it's pretty amazing that I can be at home in my house and then not a full half-day later I can be sightseeing in Rome, Paris or London. Or aboard a huge, modern wonderful cruise ship heading to sea and new adventures.

Edited December 20, 2014 by cruisemom42

[skandls]

Not a selection - The cost of flying, mostly bad service (those poor flight attendants who now sell Duty Free) and uncomfortable seating (no leg room - worn padding and often not very clean).

[slidergirl]

Some of the TSA screening process can be alleviated with TSA Pre✓ or better yet Global Entry.

 

http://www.cbp.gov/global-entry/about

 

Some, but not as much when the Pre-Check was exclusively for Trusted Traveler credentialed folks. Now, anyone can get in to the line because the clerks decide the other line is getting too long or they just decide to let others in the Pre-Check lines. Then, those of use with actual credentials have to wait in a longer line again as the infrequent traveler bumbles their way through the line…

As for not bringing things that the clerks will have issues with: "attention all breast-feeding mothers: you will not be flying until you no longer need to transport your breast milk"… :roll eyes:

The cupcake issue was real; there were (are) some famous cupcakes that are baked in a Mason jar with some amazing icing. Well, some idiot clerk decided he really needed a snack, so he declared that the cupcake has so much icing and the icing could move on its own if outside the jar that the icing was a liquid, so the traveler had to either voluntarily surrender the hazardous cupcake or not fly that day… It's actually in the TSA blog archives!!!