navybankerteacher

Balcony rooms: a) Norwegian Gem, 7 day Boston/Bermuda March 29 $1149 b) MSC Miraviglia, Brooklyn/Bahamas March 17 $2739 c) Norwegian 7 day New York/Bermuda March 24 $1079 d) Carnival Venezia 11 day New York/Caribbean March 25 $959

Pretty likely, but if there are somewhat later options, I would suggest you consider one. You have to be on the plane before 11:00 - and might need at least an hour to check in and clear TSA, at least a half hour to get to LGA - meaning you need to be in your taxi shortly after 9:00. MCT is a mess for debarking passengers grabbing land transportation. Is there another ship in that day - which could make it a real mess?

Debarkation day always strikes me as a good morning to have a leisurely room service breakfast - than hang out in room as long as possible unless I am trying to make an early flight.

And, depending upon where home is, perhaps rail to Newark followed by Uber or taxi to the port. There always seems to be many people reluctant to consider public transportation.

You happy optimist - I think it’s a tad over 50% —- have you driven lately, or watched much TV?

It is still a TRAIN - one of the modes barred by someone who “…won’t do subways and TRAINS etc”

Those islands are better enjoyed on land visits (when you can shelter in place on busy port call days) rather than when overrun by thousands of cruise passengers.

Mono rail and NJ transit train are hardly helpful suggestions for someone who “…won’t do subways and trains etc.”

A key question: arriving at 4:15 means VERY little time to get out of airport, get to hotel, check in, drop off luggage, and get to theater. Unless hotel was in airport or right next door to theatre it would be very tight.

Generally, yes - but on my (only) carnival cruise there was an obviously foldable scooter which was continually left in the corridor next to the cabin next to mine. It’s not so much the equipment, it’s the entitled attitude of the passenger which makes scooters, walkers, strollers, etc. such annoyances.

Of course we missed that part - but a full transit would have included the frankly dreary ports up the west side of Mexico and a required transcontinental flight home. I believe the partial transit was precisely what we wanted… we all have different inclinations.

Then why not fly to where you want to go? Less time “wasted” at sea, more time (several days vs several hours) in the destinations you want to see. Sure, fewer destinations, but in your case it would seem that three days in each of two destinations should trump six five hour (insufficient) visits, separated by boring evenings, nights and early mornings at sea. For us, a Caribbean cruise means staying on board in a warm climate, as a brief escape from northern winter. Seeing Mediterranean cities means flying over, staying one or more nights in the places worth really seeing, then coming back on a TA repositioning cruise.

We did a partial on HAL’s Zuiderdam - hardly like “kissing your sister” - you experience the locks, turn around in Gatun Lake, and head back -perhaps hitting a couple of ports before getting back to FL. You get the idea - without needing a cross-continent flight home.

The spring break “problem” ordinarily involves low cost, two or three day booze cruises populated by fun-seeking budget-minded students sailing out of Florida ports—- who are unlikely to impact river cruises - which tend to be expensive US-crewed or distant European boat rides.

Good point - drop her at the (very convenient) elevator, have her wait till you park and then join her - avoiding what could be a time-consuming round-about while she had to wait for you at the more crowded terminal entrance.

If you are boarding a ship with four to five thousand other passengers, you have to expect lines, delays, etc. This past September we boarded a small ship, the only one sailing from MCT that day — with just 640 or so others - it was a matter of just walking through - boarding the ship about five minutes after our ride dropped us off in front of the terminal.

Of course. The lines are in business to operate profitably -not to make bargain hunters happy. If you want a particular kind of cabin, select it and pay for it; if you want to save money, let the line assign you cabins that others do not want.

The problem is that if you let the rules get bent a little, you step onto a slippery slope - if one bends things a little, there will be a tendency for the next one to also bend it a little. It’s better to seriously decide if a matter is important before making a rule about it in the first place - and then be grown up enough to play by the rules. Better to have very few important rules strictly enforced than a cluster of what turns out to be wishy-washy suggestions. What if you preferred to wear you own top - which just looked a fair amount like the provided tops?

There are two ways to do it - the obvious (and stupid) one is to let the cruise line pick your flights, which means that they will look for the cheapest - giving you tight connections and very little advance notice of the details. The other, which I have used a number of times when booking trans-Atlantic repositionings on HAL, Celebrity and Cunard, permits you to select airline, flight, and even seats. To get this option you have to pay the cruise fare in full - then you are given a code which lets you book a very inexpensive one way flight, avoiding the absurdity of sometimes paying more for a one way than a round trip. I do not like paying cruise fare in full so much in advance, but the savings in air fare - and getting the exact flight you want (including seat selection) - makes it definitely worth while.

I am not sure how long I would want to hold out for a good price if I were suffering from acute appendicitis.

Highly unlikely.

CDO - Command Duty Officer SOPA - Senior Officer Present Afloat OOD - Officer Of the Deck WQSB -Watch, Quarter and Station Bill COMDESRON - Commander Destroyer Sqadron COMASWTRALANT - Commander Anti Submarine Warfare Training Atlantic BUPERS - Bureau of Personnel

Perhaps it would produce no revenue, but it may come to be seen as a way of maintaining revenue. There is one line I doubt I will ever sail again, in large part because of the ambience created by the schlubs - and a number of others I will avoid unless they offer an extraordinary itineraries at good prices.

You rarely, if ever, show both at the same time - so the difference is immaterial. It would, however, be a good idea to book travel in the name which appears on the form of identification you plan to use.

The word passenger describes precisely what the folks who pay to go on a cruise ship’s itinerary. They have booked passage and are passengers.