BND

And, I have my new passport. Now I get to wait for my old one to be returned.

And, I have my new passport. Now I get to wait for my old one to be returned.

And, I have my new passport. Now I get to wait for my old one to be returned.

Mailed my renewal on 17 May, received by DOS on 19 May. Post office notification (informed delivery) stated yesterday that I had something coming from Passport Services DOS Tucscon today and today's informed delivery shows it will be here today. I didn't expedite or pay for express mail. 8 weeks and 6 days from their receipt to delivery today.

The fact is it's US Federal Law being followed. As I said, you obviously don't know how the Federal acquisition process works and the laws that HAVE to be followed if no one wants to go to jail. Just because you want it to go a particular way doesn't mean it can. Let it go.

You obviously never worked for the Fed Gov and saw all the regulations that surround awarding contracts. The process takes months and sometimes a year or more depending on what is being contracted for. First, they have to write and issue a request for bid that includes the scope of work (how many bodies, how many hours, what results are required), then there is a group from the organization requesting the bids who have to work through the bids and award based on several criteria, all of which are laid out in the initial request. They all have to be Gov employees. During this the money side is working on the budget for said contract based on current and future need. You can't simply move money around from pot to pot. That's illegal without working through a process. Then of course there is the chance that a losing bidder may challenge the award so that adds time to work through and make sure the loser doesn't have a valid claim. Yes, I worked in contracts the last 5 years of my career as a Fed Employee. There is so much oversight and the book that governs contracts is huge.

Those are for official US Gov passports. They are not the blue book. They are red and say "Official Passport" on the cover. I know a few people who had them and they were for official Gov travel, not personal use. I also know some people who wouldn't use them as they do draw attention and there are plenty of governments monitoring for "visitors" like that.

It appears mine will be coming tomorrow. We get informed delivery from the post office and it says "arriving soon. Passport Services/DOS Tucson" with expected delivery date of tomorrow 20 July. If so, that would be 8 weeks and 6 days since they received it and 9 weeks 2 days since I mailed it certified mail. Not expedited nor did I pay extra for faster mailing/overnight.

That's what parenting a baby is. I can't imagine taking a baby on a cruise and our boys were great travelers. It certainly isn't really relaxing for the parents.

We get notified of what is being delivered in our mail everyday. Today it shows that tomorrow we're getting something from passport services Tucson which I assume is my renewed passport. I did not expedite or anything extra and it'll be 9 weeks Friday since it was received by the passport/State Dept office (5/19) via regular mail. Two days ago my status showed as "in process". Today it shows "approved". We're doing a b2b in Oct. 10 days NJ to Quebec and 10 days Quebec to NJ so I needed my passport as it's not closed loop.

Carnival had a topless deck. I don't remember Royal ever having it. It also was hard to "stumble upon" as it was on a very top deck with signs at the bottom of the outside stairs clearly saying it was topless and only for 18 and above. Only accessible via that one set of stairs.

We cruised on EX 4 times when it was in NJ but haven't been on Voyager class since. Will be on AD in early 2025. We used to go up and look down on the bridge when the curtains were open. Not really much to watch lol. Usually just a couple of officers sitting/standing.

We've had several suites with doorbells and never had anyone do that.

That's only a thing on Voyager class.

Steward has to do it regardless of when. They usually don't make changes until after you board anyway.

Hence the problem with children on the dance floor. Not that some parents care what the rules are. I do know that in the Compass we have seen a statement requesting kids not be on the dance floor in the evenings.

It wasn't chicken "patties". It was chicken breast pieces with a sauce and it was called Honey Stung? Chicken. It was just okay.

How can you not get how children on the dance floor can be a major issue? We had a conversation with CD Bobby on EN last year. He said he has a lot of issues with people letting their small children run around on the dance floor while adults are trying to dance. They become a major trip and fall hazard for adults who are just trying to dance. There is zero reason for kids to be playing on dance floors when adults are dancing. Other than people being afraid to tell their children no.

By adults? LOL. It's reported pretty regularly.

Someone always says this. I haven't seen adults running up and down the stairs, hallways, around corners into people or pushing all the elevator buttons. In fact, in 36 cruises, we have seen a couple of adults arguing one time and a couple of drunk people barely able to walk. That's pretty much it.

This. Our friends were with us on EN in an OV in April and had a cooler. We were in a JS. I have seen several videos of insides on Vision class and you can see there are no coolers.

Yes, there is also a purse forum and it's all about designer purses, bragging and showing them off. I can't remember the name of the forum anymore.

Problem is, anyone can sue over anything for any reason and most just hope to settle for some cash. My MIL, who was almost legally blind at the time tripped over a curb in a hospital parking garage as she was approaching a stairwell with my FIL. They decided to sue because the curb wasn't painted. I can't remember her injuries, but they weren't severe. My BIL had his divorce lawyer represent them. They came to a fairly quick settlement (medical bills and about 65K in cash). My FIL had threatened to sue several Dr's over the years but this was the first time he actually did. Some people have that mentality. I figure if I trip over a curb it's because I wasn't paying attention.

There is a jewelry board called Price Scope. I no longer go on it as it's full of all kinds of snobs, including watch ones. There are threads with people who not only own lots of expensive jewelry, but also watches. They treat their high end watches like expensive jewelry and believe me, they are very snobby about them. I have some very nice jewelry, but when it comes to watches, I don't even wear my regular old Citizen Eco-Drives anymore (I have a couple of very nice ones) because I wear my fitbit everyday which is far from pretty lol.