crazyme5kids
-
Posts
33 -
Joined
Content Type
Forums
Store
Blogs
Downloads
Events
Gallery
Posts posted by crazyme5kids
-
-
I agree with 138east, look at Marriott properties we always had luck with them finding two queens and a sofa bed. Their 3rd Ave property has huge corner rooms, which when we used to stay there with only four of our kids in tow (and only for a day or two, otherwise we got two rooms) had two queens and a sofa bed, and could easily fit a rollaway bed with room to spare.
Another option, which is something we do now on occasion since we are down to only traveling with two kids, and only if we are staying somewhere for a couple of days is to have my son share a bed with my husband, and my daughter share with me. The kids aren't always thrilled with it, but for a few days we can all deal with the arrangement.
Good luck finding an option and hotel that fits your budget and you needs. Have fun in the city.
-
My Grandfather would take me and brother as a kid to Museum of Natural History and the MET, would walk up and give a nickle and ask for 3 admissions (1970's).
Over 6 million people visit the Met a year, think of the numbers.
Met Lawyers (below) say the average paid is $11
Here is an Times article on the subject from 2013 and two lawsuits about the Met and the definition of Admission/Recommended
As a kid I loved getting the little metal tags to wear after paying to get in. I remember paying a quarter (1960's and '70's).
-
No one said you get in free. I said you paid for membership and that paid membership includes free admission.
I'm a native New Yorker and I've never had a permanent home that was outside the city or it's suburbs. I'm one of the people who regularly provide advice here to make people's visits to the area as satisfactory as possible. While it's true that occasionally I learn something new, in reality I'm one of the teachers, not one of the students.
By the way, your earlier statement " I don't know anyone who understands the "fee" structure at the above museums who pay the full recommended price." is laughable. I'm sure you personally know a huge percentage of the millions of annual visitors to the museum, so what or who you say you know should be guidance for everyone.
Guess you and I are both being laughed at over this. You are absolutely right, no one pays less than the recommended amount, no i don't know a huge percentage of the millions of annual visitors to the museum, however you do. You are a wonderful teacher. Consider this student scolded. I can only say what I know as far as the people I know who go to the museum, most of whom are native New Yorker's, or have lived in the city for many, many years.
-
Sorry, call me ignorant (oh, wait, you kind of did :roll eyes:), but, if I've paid for a membership, that cost includes admission, so unless I am sneaking into the museum through some back door, I'm not sure how I get in free. I've paid, just not each time I go.
Yes I support the museum through my membership, and in addition, there are some years I also send them a donation. As for my membership, I actually lose money due to the fact that there are years I don't make it to the museum. In a good year I might get there twice, but more often than not it's maybe once a year or not at all.
Why is my reasoning odd? I don't tell people to walk into the museum for free, but I do tell them that they don't have to pay the suggested/recommended fee, which is a fact, and one that many people seem to not know about. To guilt or shame people into paying the full "recommended" fee is wrong.
I honestly don't understand why people make statements about being able to vacation in NYC, or anywhere for that fact, shouldn't be allowed to ask how, or be informed how, to save money and/or budget for other things. I'm sure the OP will spend lots of money in the city. I'd say a large majority of people that come to these boards come hoping to not only learn about the ins and outs of cruising, but also ways in which to save money and perhaps make their budget for a vacation stretch a little further. I know have, and am not the only one. I'm sure you, and just about everyone else here has reaped the benefit of such knowledge at times.
-
I really don't recommend handing them a dollar or two. If everyone just handed them a dollar or two, these institutions would not be able to remain open. And most visitors do not only pay a dollar or two. The "recommended" fee is not so people can cheap out, it is so that all can enjoy no matter what their income. jmo
Your opinion, however I think you referral that people who don't pay the "recommended" fee are just trying to cheap out is wrong. The Met is a heavily funded museum, one of the richest in the world, pays no rent or city property taxes, has an investment portfolio of over 2 billion dollars, receives donations from corporate and private benefactors, and gets over 6 million visitors a year, some of which pay the "recommended" price, some of who become members ( myself included), some who give a dollar or two, many who spend money in the gift shops and cafes/restaurants, etc... etc.... they aren't hurting for money. There are many museums that are struggling, so my suggestion is search them out and support them.
OP, obviously you should pay what you are comfortable paying, be it a dollar, or twenty five dollars. I don't know anyone who understands the "fee" structure at the above museums who pay the full recommended price. I stand by what I stated, if you are paying $60 extra for the HOHO ticket, use it for other attractions.
-
Thought you might like to know that the Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Cloisters are all recommended admission. You do not have to pay those prices to get in (although for certain exhibits there may be an additional mandatory fee). Just hand them a dollar or two per person and enjoy the museums. Additionally, if you visit the Met, the admission includes the Cloisters (it's part of the Metropolitan Museum). Also, you don't have to go to the Cloisters the same day, I think the admission is good for a week.
So, spending $60.00 for those places would be wasting your money.
-
If your wife loves Christmas, go to Rolf's (German restaurant) for over the top decorations! Sit at the bar and have a drink. It's on 3rd Ave. and I think East 22nd. Then go grab a bite to eat at Molly's (Irish), they have a fireplace to take the chill off. It's on 3rd Ave between East 22nd and East 23rd.
-
Honestly, if it were me, I'd see what everyone wanted to do, and then break up into smaller groups (or twos) and send everyone on their merry way. Take cabs or the subway. Meet up for dinner and talk about what everyone did.
-
honestly I take this subway all the time. when you get to penn station follow the signs to the uptown A train. at 59th street change to the d train its on the same track as the A train. they run every few minutes. then follow the crowd as they get off at the stadium. its probably faster than driving. this makes it a short walk at penn station. its only confusing when people who don't do this put in their .02. you will find the people friendly lots friendlier than the drivers.
OP, follow the directions that smeyer is giving. That's how we go, and is how we always tell people from out of town to go. They are always surprised by how easy it is.
-
greatam, as the mother of a Soldier who was deployed in Afghanistan, I would just like to say thank you. You provide such an important service to our military, so don't let babr upset you.
-
Oh I love Indian food and love the smell of curry! Can anyone tell me which cruise lines tend to feature greater varieties of different ethnic food (Indian, Afghan, South American, Greek, etc....)? Are there any ethnic food cruises?
Most Italian families I knew/know here in the USA didn't or don't have a second kitchen to cook gravy/sauce all day, unless it is in a home that has a separate apartment for grandma and grandpa. In fact, that holds true for most of the different ethnic groups I know.
Generally speaking, when you cook at home or even go out to a restaurant food smells linger, and often cling to your clothes.
-
For these Amazon cruises, was it recommended or required to get a Yellow Fever vaccination?
-
I found one that might work! It supposedly packs about the size of a water bottle, and got very good reviews.
Thanks again for the suggestions :).
-
Sorry, I Was rushing to get out the door this morning, and left out important details. The blanket would be for use on the plane. On his way over to Afghanistan he said he couldn't really sleep much or get comfortable because it was cold. It was a military plane, not commercial.
He is supposedly getting to go on leave to come home in Jan. the first leg will be on the military plane, and I think the second leg, the flight back to the states, will be commercial. I might be wrong about that, but from what he said that seems to be how it will go.
Anyway, obviously the commercial flight will have blankets and will be more comfortable. The military flight, not so much....
I'm not sure what type of flights he will be on going back to Afghanistan, hopefully commercial and military.
Now after my long winded tale of his travel, the blanket needs to be small for packing purpose, think a large fist size one. I went out today, had no luck at all. At this point he won't be getting it for Christmas because I need to send the package out tomorrow. I will keep looking and maybe I'll find something that will work to give him when we see him in Jan.
Thanks again for the suggestions, and keep them coming. I did see some really nice blanket/pillow sets that I think my husband might get for two women he
works with :D!
-
I am hoping someone here can help me find a travel blanket that packs very, very small, but keeps you warm. I want to send one to my son who is currently deployed, hence the need for it to pack as small as possible.
If you can, please tell me where you purchased it from. Thanks in advance,
-
considering the people I've seen in bikinis by the pool, dont fret, you'll look positively anorexic!!!!!!
I think that might very well be where she is heading :(. OP, I will say this as delicately as I can, as a mother of two girls, as well as having know people with eating disorders, it breaks my heart to read your posts. I think maybe you should seek out a mental health professional to help you sort out these issues that you are struggling with.
-
By the way, I'll probably stay at Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inns in my next few trips because I am shy a few thousand points for a free IC night in Tahiti. I've booked the room in case I don't get there, but hoping to cover one of the three nights on points. Free is for me!
Autocorrect responsible for most typos...
We have the most points in IC, followed by Marriott, which I am happy to say my husband is starting to stay at more of them again. For a long time there weren't any Marriotts in a lot of the places he traveled, much to my dismay. The least amount are in Starwood points. What kills me is when he stays at boutique hotels that don't offer any member points.
Between all the different chains though we do have a nice amount of points just waiting to be used.
-
Wow!!! Good job!
-
I'm saving the bulk of my FF miles for getting to and from Australia and NZ for a cruise. We'll fly business or first, and that's a trip we are willing to use as many miles as needed.
We drove cross country this summer, and covered all hotels with points from Hilton and Marriott. Some places we just grabbed a Fairfield or Hampton for a place to sleep and shower along the way, but we stayed at a JW Marriott in San Francisco, the Marriott Resort in Napa, and the Hilton Grand Vacations in Vegas. Even after that and a donation to Make A Wish, I still have enough to do that trip again, thanks to business travel and my Hilton branded AmEx. We'll use a good chunk of them in Paris in 2015.
Autocorrect responsible for most typos...
That's fantastic you are able to maximize your points into mainly two chains! I wish my husband would be able to do that.
I haven't stayed in a Fairfield or Hampton Inn in probably at least ten or more years. The last time I stayed in one, but I at this point I don't remember which one it was, it was so disgustingly dirty. In fact, it was so bad even my kids mentioned it:eek:. Had it not been so late when we arrived, I would have gone to a different hotel. Thank goodness it was only one night, but at the time it changed my view about certain categories of hotel chains.
That being said, for years I wouldn't stay at Holiday Inns, but one trip had too due to it being the only option. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality, and now don't hesitate to stay at Holiday Inns, or Holiday Inn Express. Naturally, I do try and look online and read some reviews of any place I am going to stay at.
-
You know, lots of people spend lots of time analyzing comparative values of points, etc., but at the end of the day, the best use of them is for something that you want.
For instance, last year, our last 2 nights in Rome before our cruise were spent at a Holiday Inn Express that cost me 25,000 points/night. Now, by anybody's standards, that was a pretty mediocre use of points, as that hotel could probably be had for 100 euros/night. But, as I already have said, we wanted to do all free nights, and this choice got me exactly what I wanted: a clean room with a free breakfast that my mom could actually eat (she's allergic to wheat, so a croissant and jam just doesn't cut it), a comfortable 10-minute walk to a train station where we caught a direct train to Civitavecchia for our cruise. It may not have been good value for my points, but it was good value to me, and ultimately that's what's important.
You have to remember, for hotel points especially, they can loose their value thru devaluations/category adjustments, so hanging on to them for too long isn't that good an idea.
Re: domestic flights on points: certainly from where I live, if you're talking mile value-wise, this can be a very good use of miles, as we have rather expensive domestic flights (I consider anything under $400 to be borderline miraculous), and Air Canada has short-haul redemptions for 15,000 miles.
You are right. Two years ago we had to throw together a trip to Arizona on fairly short notice to see my son graduate from AIT (army). We decided to spend a few nights before seeing him at the Grand Canyon and one night in Vegas. We stayed in Tuscon for three nights, but we also wanted to it to be somewhat of a budget trip. We used points for the hotels in Vegas and Tuscon, and paid for our stay at the Grand Canyon. We also used FF miles for two round trips, and a one way ticket for my son to come home for his leave. We rented a car I think we used points for that, but am not positive.
Going into it, I knew using the hotel points wasn't the smartest, but I felt that it balanced out the cost of staying at the Grand Canyon.
Those FF points were the best use of points ever! :D
-
Thanks for your replies, I find them very interesting. I will say, the last three years we've used miles for a number of domestic flights though, probably eight or nine times. Not the smartest use of mile points, but it did save us a boatload of money when all was said and done.
Luckily we have, or I should say my husband still has a lot of points left. He will be hitting a mileage milestone with AA very soon, so he'll also get a few nice perks as a result of that.
I don't know why I hate using hotel points so much for rooms under $300.00. My husband thinks I'm nuts not wanting to use them.
Edited to add: only two of those domestic flights were for my husband and I.
-
I use a personal benchmark of 2c per mile in redeemed value. In other words, if it takes 25,000 miles for a ticket that costs less than $500, I'll keep the miles and just earn more on the flight.
Redeeming 100,000 miles for a business class round trip to Europe (which from the west coast typically runs in the $3000 - $4000 range if bought) is my current preference. That and Cathay Pacific in first class from Vancouver to JFK for 32,500 AA miles each way. OMG.
I like the 2 cent rule of thumb idea, and usually have a $600.00 or less rule of thumb, or I should say, I have that rule. My husband is a "we have them, use them" kind of a guy :eek:.
-
I'm just curious, how other people decide when, and, or how they will use points for airfare or hotel stays.
We tend to let price determine if we will use miles or points. For example, if a hotel is under $200 to $300 per night we usually won't use points. Same with airfare, if it's under a certain amount, we won't use mileage points.
The exception to this rule is if we are using points or mileage to help a family member or friend travel.
Again, just curious, there is no right or wrong, just personal preferences.
Can I get away with this?
in Cruise Fashions & Beauty
Posted
I think you and I would become great fashion friends if we ever met! I just recently wore my harem Hammer Time pants to a Paul McCartney concert. I love those pants.