-Lew-

It appears the Verizon plan will cover you in Turkey, but not Dubai...and you didn't specify the other Middle East countries. SIMs would definitely offer the best solution. I find the best place to learn what might be available is the esimdb website. If your cell phone can take advantage of eSIMs you'll find the site especially convenient.

Overstuffed...is that even possible? 🙄

We're long-time Princess cruisers and were spoiled by their OBC carryover on B2Bs. One of the few things Princess did well before we left them for other cruise lines.

Just as I feared, Ken. Thank you for your response...

We'll be boarding the Edge in about a month for a B2B2B. We'll have fairly large non-refundable OBCs on each of the three itineraries. My question: Will those OBCs carryover to the following cruise or will we lose whatever is not used? It would be nice if we could use the combined OBCs during the final itinerary to do some shopping in the upscale shops.

We use the Chase Sapphire Reserve card for all travel related purchases. I could be wrong, but I don't believe it's available in Canada.

Hyatt does charge at some locations also. The existence of a resort fee needs to be made clear at the time of booking or if can be contested. If the hotel will not remove the charge your credit card financial institution will, but you need to request it.

Yes...we would definitely do a one-night stay there. We've never been charged a resort fee and I don't see one mentioned on their website. They offer a shuttle from the airport and to the port for a fee. If there are two of you, a taxi might be less expensive and more convenient.

Hyatt Place Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port offers halfway decent bagels and cream cheese at their free breakfast. Although Einstein Bagels are good the poster specified no chain restaurants

I can recommend the following... New York Marina Deli Boatyard Kelly's Landing New England Seafood Gilbert's 17th Street Grill Joe's Cafe

It's about 1.2 miles to the closest water taxi stop...

To cruise both ways, not during the hot, crowded summer months, click here for availability of eastbound TAs in September 2023 as shown on Cruisetimetables.com. The one below on Cunard sails from Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona. After arrival in Barcelona you can travel Europe by train...not to be compared to train travel in the US. Trains in Europe run on time, are clean, and are a very pleasant experience. For your return you'll find there are plenty of westbound TAs during October, November, and December embarking in Barcelona, Rome, and others.

The bus to to Place d'Armes, Monaco leaves from Aéroport Terminal 2. The ride is 45-50 minutes and costs the equivalent of $2US.

We like Hyatt Place Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port at 1851 SE 10th Avenue just off 17th Street. It's close to restaurants, Publix, and Total Wine. We always use our Chase Sapphire Reserve Rewards Points so have never paid to stay there.

In addition there is no Celebrity ship embarking, disembarking, or calling on Boston during December 2022. Does the OP know which cruise line, ship, month, or year she has booked?

Thank you, Dave...

iCloud can be used for storing your travel plans; however, there are some apps that work much better. I used to use the free Evernote app (I now use DEVONthink) for planning and storing travel documents. Evernote offers clients for just about every device and operating system and syncs data automatically in the background. If you check your devices before you leave for your travel and everything has synced you don't need to access your data on the internet as it will already be within the app on your devices. This is especially convenient when off the ship traveling in a foreign country and need to check something; this can be done without using cell data or searching for Wi-Fi. I have friends who use the Apple Notes app that's already on your iOS devices and Mac. Notes also syncs among all your Apple devices.

IMHO you paid for something you will not need for accessing your files on iCloud. The iCloud website is like any other site you might want to access in Mobile Safari. But you don't need to login to the iCloud website to access your files. I use two apps for accessing files on my iPhone and iPad... Documents by Readdle Files by Apple I suggest you install one or both to learn whether they'll work for you onboard. Again they not bandwidth hogs and both will allow you to access your files on iCloud.

Hello again Judy and George... If I recall correctly, Nan and I cruised with you fall 2016 on the Royal Princess TA and again in fall 2019 on the Sky Princess TA. Kinda' sad to leave Princess after 50+ cruises, but they made the decision easy for us. There's so much more to experience. Enjoy your cruise on the Marina in December. Looking forward to learning your thoughts post cruise.

Speaking of luggage damage... We purchased four pieces of Away Luggage back in 2017. Have experienced two instances of damage and both times Away sent new replacements with no questions asked. Excellent luggage...excellent company! Not having to deal with the airlines or travel insurance is a big plus. Also, you can use the luggage for 100 days and return it (free shipping) if you're not happy.

We would also like to learn of @Arizona cruisers or any other long time PCL cruisers' thoughts after cruising on Oceania. Although we're booked through winter 2024 there will be opportunities to try other lines beyond then. For anyone who listens to podcasts, you might be interested in Gary Bembridge's Tips for Travelers. Check out his July 18th episode, I Keep Cruising On Oceania Despite These Issues. You can listen on your podcast app after subscribing or simply click on the episode to listen.

So sorry to learn of your flight issue... For future air travel I suggest using a flight tracking app on your smart phone. Enter your flight info and open the app on a regular basis. If a flight can no longer be found you'll know to check the airline's website to determine the reason. It may be as simple as a change of flight number in which case you'll just need to update the app...or a cancellation. An app will also show changes of flight times so there will be no surprises. I use the free FlightView app.

For your reading enjoyment... New High-Speed Rail Service Connecting Rome’s Airport with Florence and Naples