Mercruiser

We just spent 5 nights in Lima, pre-cruise, in February. Read about it here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2841192-azamara-onward-february-12-2023-lima-to-miami/?do=findComment&comment=64794992 Miraflores and the adjacent Barranco are the two areas you probably want to visit. Here is my suggested itinerary. 1) Firstly, I'd book a day room in Miraflores, to have a place to rest, shower, change clothes, etc. The Ibis Lima Larco Miraflores is in a good location and is only $52 for a day room. You will have use of the room from 10am to at 6pm. On arrival, I'd ask for a later departure. You can book Accor chain day rooms here: https://all.accor.com/ssr/app/accor/hotels/lima-lima-peru/index.en.shtml?dateIn=2023-06-06&nights=1&compositions=2&stayplus=false&snu=false&accessibleRooms=false 2) Pre-book a transfer to your Miraflores day room hotel through Taxidatum. They will meet you just outside baggage claim, with a sign with your name. https://taxidatum.com/taxi-fares-lima-airport-cusco-airport/ Book it as Callao ship terminal to Miraflores. This will cost $20 for a 50-minute taxi ride. Taxis and Ubers are practically free in Lima, compared to the places we live. 3) Install the Uber app on your phone. Uber's are really cheap in Lima ($3 - $6 per ride) and are the way we got around. Hint: If you want AC (or a nicer car) book "Uber Comfort". The regular Ubers are fine, but the Comforts are nicer cars. 4) You can read my posts in the thread at top for ideas. My top two recommendations for you are: a) Barranco food tour (post #369) https://www.exquisitoperu.com/tour/barranco-lima-food-tour/ b) Walk along the Malecon (post #335) Alternatively, if you are into archeology, visit the Larco Musuem. See post #365. Notice I didn't recommend going to the downtown Lima historic district. It's fine, but I think Miraflores & Barranco are much more enjoyable. 5) To get back to the airport, I'd took an Uber Comfort (this is a longer ride, which is why I would splurge (extra $5?) on the Uber Comfort. Safe travels.

See a video replay here. Ship movement starts at 18:00 per the timestamp on the upper right. Switch the playback speed to 2X for the fast version. This is a "live" feed so I think this only works for the next while.

Given the new M311E cruise, it appears that post #153 is completely wrong. I think we've been pranked.

Here is an article on the scrubber installation in 2016: https://shipandbunker.com/news/world/494161-flagship-cunard-cruise-ship-relaunched-after-scrubber-installations?fbclid=IwAR0nn_V6y1C8phY5i5bR_vjYD4HeYj0HOasiH7vQMnqxLNDLJHzhATm6_vA

Another message from Cunard representatives on the messaging platform that shall not be named. This was posted 3 hours ago. Google translates this as: "author Cunard Due to necessary technical work being carried out on the Queen Mary 2 in Southampton this week, the M310/A voyages to New York and the M311/A voyages from New York unfortunately had to be cancelled. Other trips are not affected." I'm still hedging my bets and have alternate air/hotel arrangement in case this turns out to be a longer term problem. I've been burned once already by Carnival this year (see Signature).

I am a licensed Professional Engineer and I have supervised a customer service organization (CSO). The CSO can and should only share what management tells them to share. Hopefully, management provides accurate information to the CSO. Engineers, on the other hand, are famous for sharing things that management does not want shared. That's why management never want their customers talk to the engineers alone. 😉

This completely contradicts what Cunard is posting on F B Mess enger I'm not picking sides on which version is more/less correct. I'm just documenting that a Cunard representative is saying M313D is not affected. I have a horse in this race, in that I'm booked on the 5/26 NYC-Southampton. Fortunately, I have BA air tickets as a backup, that I booked before I booked the cruise. I never cancelled them.

This article was kind of interesting: (Red emphasis mine) Source: https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/23477247.cunard-abps-statements-second-queen-mary-2-voyage-cancelled/ ABP, the company which runs the port, says the ship won't be able to depart until "technical issues are rectified". A spokesperson said: "The QM2 will have an extended stay in port until its technical issues are rectified. "We are working with Cunard to establish a plan to continue our operations and support the safe sail of the ship." If accurate, they will be making the repairs locally, versus moving to a shipyard at another port.

If correct, I would expect to see the ship moved to a pier equipped with a crane. They would start extracting the failed exhaust components through the top of the funnel. That would be easy to see from the port. This would be the cruise ship counterpart of taking your car to the muffler shop to replace a leaking exhaust pipe.

Listening to this, there is no way to know the direction of the noise. It could very well be from a construction project at the port, off camera. There is my speculation for now! 😁

It is a setback for the Starship heavy lift rocket. This was a test flight and had no payload. No StarLink satellites were involved. But to your point, Starship has 10X payload capacity compared to Falcon. Starlink has been using Falcon so far for all StarLink launches. Starlink needs Starships' 10X payload to get the thousands of satellites launched that they need for full deployment. Speaking of Falcon, they launched another 21 StarLink satellites yesterday. https://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2023/04/19/spacex-launch-today-follow-live-falcon-9-starlink-cape-canaveral-space-force-florida-updates/70120968007/ This didn't make the national news because it didn't blow up. As the news folks say, "If it bleeds, it leads" These are exciting times for a Apollo era kid like me. But I'm still disappointed we don't have the supersonic passenger planes they promised to us 1970s kids. I'm tired of all those 10 hour flights. It amazes me that they retired Concord without any replacement.

Jazzbeau, Are you licensed to practice law in Scotland? If not, why do people without legal credentials feel the need to give legal opinions? I'm just having a little fun at your expense 😁 I appreciate the work you do moderating these forums!

I also like how the Airalo phone app shows how much data and calendar time is left.

I like that Airalo shows which networks and and speed they support in the various countries. In contrast, some of the other eSIM company's do not disclose what network and what speeds they support. I don't want the cheapest eSIM. I want the one with the best coverage. For most of my Europe trip, I'll be in the UK and Norway. For the UK, I can see that they support three networks. EE and Vodaphone are amongst the best UK network. (I am unfamiliar with Hutch).

If you are new to eSIMs, I strongly recommend testing this ahead of time from home, to avoid problems and wasted time while travelling. I bought a 1GB Airalo eSIM for the USA for $4.50. I'm testing it now from home. Changing my phone's data from Google Fi to Airalo, and then back to Google Fi is pretty easy. But I wanted to practice this ahead of time, so that I don't make a mistake while travelling and waste time trying to fix a problem. Also, for a beginner, I'd suggest using Airalo. Their app makes it easy. In contrast, there are some dodgy looking companies selling eSIMs.

I sure miss have Bonnie MacLaird, former Azamara Chief Blogging Officer. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/profile/1095707-bbmaclaird/ We could ask her a question, like why is Journey's Internet so slow, and she would get an answer from management. Unfortunately, Azamara eliminated the position during the Covid pause, and has not reinstated it.

I think the American cost advantage will disappear over time, as eSIMs take over the world. Did I mention that I'm testing the Airalo eSIM on my wife's phone on our next international trip to Europe and Tanzania? If that works well, I may be switching to a cheap prepaid plan for domestic use (AT&T $300/year) and then supplement it as needed with international eSIMs. The great thing about eSIM is they don't care what country you are from, only what country you are visiting. The disadvantage of eSIMs: 1) Need a phone that supports eSIM: all recent iPhones, Pixels, and most recent Samsungs, plus many others. 2) Not all international destinations support eSIMs (yet). But since the newest iPhones have gone totally eSIM, all carriers need to upgrade to allow eSIMs. 3) Some destinations, like most of South America and Africa, have very expensive eSIMs. This is especially surprising since their conventional SIM prices are dirt cheap. I expect their eSIMs will become more competitive over time. 4) Since you are roaming on another carrier's network (like Deutsch Telecom), your data is lower priority than their local customers. You may see slower data speeds than a local customer.

If I understand you correctly, you have two lines on the Magenta MAX 55+ plan (or are you getting some other discount to get to $45?). The two line cost of Fi is $55 per per person plus tax. Even so, the T-Mobile plan is cheaper. A must for me is tethering / hotspot. I do all my CC posts, emails, and other correspondence from my notebook computer. I cannot stand typing with my thumbs. I also process my photos on my notebook before uploading them to the cloud. As best I can tell, T-Mobile does not support tethering / hotspot internationally. If so, that's a deal breaker for me. On our last cruise, we used the tethering / hotspot to share our one Google Fi plan. (My wife used her phone on Wi-Fi only, using my data.) So our cost, for the two of us was $65 plus tax. I completely agree. One size does not fit all.

Looking at the fine print, "unlimited data" really means data limited to 20 GB: "*After your first 20GB of high speed data enjoy unlimited 3G data." That's probably enough for 1 person. They do not appear to support tethering. So you cannot share your data with another device (notebook, tablet, i-pad, Kindle, etc.) Again, that might not be a problem for you. The big advantage of this, for you, is that it's easy and simple. Make sure you Verizon phone is relatively new (the older Verizon CDMA phones are NOT internationally compatible.)

Which plan? Please provide a link.

My wife uses AT&T Prepaid ($300/year for 16 GB/mo data). Her plan supports Wi-Fi calling and texting. I had to turn it on in settings. I can turn off her AT&T service, turn on Wi-Fi, and sent texts and call her over wifi. This should work anywhere in the world. I'm going to try this on our next trip, by setting her up with an Airalo eSIM and leaving the AT&T physical SIM in the phone. I don't think I'll need Skype.

First, a little bit of background: Until retiring recently, I've been a road-warrior, business traveler my entire adult life. I've been to 60 countries and have used a mobile phone in all of them, both voice and data. Additionally, I lived in the Netherlands for two years (2018 & 2019), and had a USA phone plan with the the entire time (see below). Here are my observations, from a USA customer perspective. If you want the simplest, fastest, cheapest, and most reliable international service. There is one hands-down winner: Google Fi Unlimited Plus. https://fi.google.com/about/plans Their Unlimited Plus plan costs $65 per month for up to 50 GB of high-speed (4G mostly) data in 200+ destinations. Hotspot tethering is included, up to the 50 GB limit. This also includes free texts and 20 cent/min voice calls to/from your USA phone number. Wi-Fi calls to a USA number are free. I've used Google Fi as my personal phone for many years, including the two years I lived in the Netherlands. Google Fi never failed me and I never had a surprise bill. It just works everywhere (that has cell service). The worst problem I've had is occasionally having to restart my phone when landing in a new country. What's the catch? 1) You need an unlocked phone that works internationally. I bought my unlocked Pixel 6A for $299 from Amazon. 2) Google Fi is not especially competitive for domestic use. For example, a $300/year AT&T prepaid plan will get you 16 GB/month in USA, Canada, and Mexico. (This is what my wife uses.) Google Fi allows you to easily downgrade your plan to a $50 a month version without international roaming. That's still way more than AT&T Prepaid. Recently, I used Google Fi while on a 1-month trip that included a Panama Canal cruise from Lima, Peru to Miami. My wife and I used 30 GB of data on that trip. I had Google Fi, and my wife used my data via my phone's hotspot. She did not have international service on her phone. It worked great. We got 4G and LTE service most everywhere we went (Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Honduras, Costa Rica, Belize, Mexico). (Occasionally, we had 3G in remote areas.) Other considerations for evaluating an international plan: Two- factor authentication - Almost every financial/ecommerce/social web site you use now requires two-factor authentication, using a numeric code text messages to your home mobile phone number (Banks, credit card companies, Google, Facebook, etc.) How are you going to handle two-factor authentication on an extended trip without international roaming on your home phone? When we go on our next 60 day trip, we will have to pay bills, which requires logging into banking and credit card sites. A great way to trigger a two-factor authentication challenge is to log in from a foreign IP address. Hotspot tethering - How are you going to get data on your notebook, tablet, i-Pad, Kindle, etc? Many international plans do NOT include tethering, especially if they are advertised as Unlimited. Tethering is also a great way to share an international plan with another phone. International data speeds - How fast is the data you get while travelling internationally? Some very popular plans only provide 256 Kbps data speed while abroad. Others provide a limited bucket of high-speed data and then switch you to a glacial 256 Kbps. I'm looking at you T-Mobile. https://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone-plans/international-roaming-plans (Get your magnifying glass and read the tiny font at the bottom.) My wife and I used 30 GB of high-speed data in one month on our recent trip. Glad the last 25 GB wasn't at 256 Kbps. Our next trip Our next international trip will be 60 days, including two cruises and a Tanzania photo safari. I'll be using Google Fi Unlimited Plus. My wife will be use Airalo eSIMs for international data. Here AT&T Prepaid plan includes Wi-Fi calling/texting. She will be able to send/receive text messages on her home phone number using Airalo data or hotel Wi-Fi. We will have to pay bills during this trip, so the two-factor authentication issue is an important consideration.

If I've got the timeline right, Starlink was turned on for Journey around March 22. It's been unusably slow ever since (approx. 0.5 Mbps). We are approaching a month since then. I'm really surprised this is not fixed. The results reported for Onward are wonderful (as fast as 90 Mbps and more, post #36 and others). The results for Quest are very good (2 Mbps, post #25) Pursuit is also slow (0.84 Mbps, see post #18). I'm really wondering why Onward is so must faster than the rest? This was especially evident in Gibralter when Onward and Journey were docked adjacent (post #42).

Thanks - I finally found it. See screen capture. Next problem is figuring out how to get rid of the "Incomplete" arrival status. I think it has to do with ordering the Medallions. It will not let me order anything except lanyards. Probably because my 1st order is in limbo - the Android app locked up while ordering them the first time.

Wow. Wow. Wow. This is a truly horrid check-in experience. I am going through the OCEANREADY part of the Princess MedallionClass app for Android. One could not accidentally come up with a smart phone app this bad. Plain old incompetency could not produce this. This application was clearly written by a group of evil geniuses who are skilled in the dark arts of user-hostile software development. It's as if Darth Sidious were the project lead software developer. "Everything that has transpired has done so according to my design. Your feeble programming skills are no match for the power of the Dark Side." Firstly, I spent about 30 minutes figuring out that this app is never going to run on my Pixel 6A. Anytime I get into "Oceanready" we just get the spinning "Loading" display. It never makes it past that. Next, I installed the app on my Samsung tablet, also running Android 13. For some reason, the app likes Samsung, but not Pixel 6A. Now that we are on the Samsung tablet, I find that every screen change takes 40 or more seconds. I spend about 30 minutes getting the passport info entered for the two of us. This takes less than 5 minutes doing check-in for my Cunard QM2 cruise on their web interface. Why does Princess insist on using a phone app for check-in? I'm presently stuck on ordering the Medallion wearable. It takes about 2 minutes to update the screen every time I click on a button. After about 25 minutes of trying, I thought I finished ordering the Medallions. But the app still indicates I need to "Chose you Medallion wearable". I don't see a way to confirm if the original order was successful. The thing that really amazes me here is that there over 5140 posts in "Ocean Medallion App - Part 3". Clearly Princess has had many years opportunity to fix this. Clearly, they don't care. The app home screen says "Your dream vacation starts in 59 days . . ." Using this app is a nightmare. I certainly hope this app is not a preview of coming attractions.