starvenger

Unfortunately there aren't any direct flights to Canada. Not sure there has been since IAH opened. In fact, Delta and American don't even do direct flights to/from Toronto (makes sense, given that Houston is not a hub for them), so you're stuck with either United or Air Canada. In any event, we are booked on the late flight, so we're not going to be in a rush to go anywhere.

Unfortunate but it's a good reminder for us to bring a passport if you're getting close to expiry or you're in that limbo zone of being approved but waiting for the new card.

I don't think I've ever had to wait very long in the NEXUS line. My last trip (granted this was in October) I think it took my wife and I a minute total on the machines. However, this was T1, and none of that mattered because we still had to wait for Air Canada to get our luggage to the claim area.

I always thought 6 months was the recommendation, because last renewal cycle (2019 for me, 2021 for everyone else) I did it at the beginning of the year (everyone in the household has a birthday towards year-end). But would agree that you do it as soon as you can.

Has something like that come back post-shutdown though? Perhaps during a Black Friday "sale"?

Respectfully, I'm not sure that makes sense. Let's look at cost first. If you price an unlimited package at a reasonable amount over the 10 print package - let's say at $200 versus the $170 we saw earlier in the thread - there is a huge value add for the consumer, and a huge incentive to pay the extra money because you're getting a lot of images. Even if you priced it at $30/night, that's $210 for a seven-night cruise, and I think it's still good value versus the 10 print package. As for the staff, whether people have a package or no, their job doesn't change. They're still asked to go around, take photos, do whatever it is they've always done. Their workload won't increase or decrease because people have an unlimited package. So going back to my scenario, you're not paying staff more than before, but you can increase the revenue per stateroom. I'm not sure how that would be a net negative for the cruise line.

I can't see how it wouldn't, tbh. Everything is digital now - no need to purchase or develop rolls of film or print pictures to entice people.

Figured as much. 6:5 + continuous shuffle is a nonstarter. But I'm comfortable with a $25 ante, so there might be something there for me.

Thanks!

Do you remember if it was 6:5 or 3:2 payout? And was it a shoe or shufflemaster? Does anyone know what the minimums (inside/outside) were for roulette?

Thanks. Not what I wanted to hear, but I needed to hear it.

So to be clear, is it only the 5/10 pictures you select that's on the thumb drive?

Agreed here. And if you're a stickler for time, just pre-order the uber. I also wouldn't bother with the airport transfer after the cruise. A taxi will cost way less than the cost of one transfer.

This is good information. I don't mind wearing a suit tbh, and packing a jacket isn't really that hard, but bringing shoes to match are a hassle and just take up a lot of space and weight (why are men's dress shoes so heavy?) in my luggage. So if I don't have to bring them, I won't.

If I couldn't book the Hyatt I'd still book in this area. I like that there's things like Publix, Dollar Tree, TJ Maxx and Ross within walking distance as that covers around 90% of the things you might forget to pack. Plus two wine shops.

Can confirm as I've used valuetrips a few times to book the Hyatt. The website feels dodgy as hell but it works.

Good to hear that you still had a car when you got back.

I see a "The Extremely Extreme Zipline from Mahogany Bay". Is this the same thing as the one the cruise line offers?

Hope you enjoy yourselves over there. Will certainly be a different vibe (basically the same Pacific Northwest vibe you see in Seattle and Portland) than what you encountered on the east coast.

Thanks for the advice. Seems like the fog is the x-factor here. So I think we might get off and do something for a few hours (Johnson Space Center, maybe) before heading to the airport.

I get the sentiment. But when I put my project planning hat on, I have to assess all the risks, so I won't rule edge cases out until I have enough information to do so. And I think I got that.

Thanks for the advice, appreciate it. And nice to hear that nothing has changed in Houston with regards to freeway construction. I think the Katy and Southwest freeways were always at some level on construction when I lived there.

Hi folks, I'm looking at a cruise out of Galveston (Regal Princess, 4 people), with debarkation set for Jan 7th. I did live in Houston in the early 00s, so not unfamiliar with the freeways there (although I'm sure traffic is worse now). Am looking at a couple of flights via United/Air Canada, so likely Terminal C/E departure. One is at 6pm - no real worries there, would need to determine something to do to kill time for that one. But the one I have questions about is a 12pm departure. I am curious if the flight is makeable given the following: - Would self-disembark - Would check in online the day before - Can take either Uber/Lyft or a shuttle (not sure which would be cheaper - advice?) - Flying to Toronto/YYZ (insert Rush song here) - If we have luggage, we would need to check it in an hour before departure (we might go CarryOn x 4 and gate check if necessary) - We have NEXUS, so we should get TSA Precheck. Given that it's early Sunday, I don't anticipate huge amounts of traffic, so in my mind we should comfortably make the flight. But would appreciate any thoughts on this.