Incognito1

We are scheduled for an 8:45am bus from Southampton to Liverpool. Ship is supposed to be offloading at 6:30am. We will have no luggage. What has been your experience as far as time efficiency for that port of entry? It's a 10 minute Uber ride to the bus station. Are we cutting it too close?

If you interact with that server once, then no. But I do give my bank teller and our favorite restaurant server a gift at Christmas. The comparison is not valid. Gifts are just that - gifts. They should be accepted graciously -- even if they're pajamas from your grandmother that are meant for an 8 year old when you're 22.

Cannot? On what are you basing that? The highest percentage of crew members are Filipino, and they definitely drink alcohol. Security forces are often Thai, which is largely Buddhist, so they wouldn't be consuming bourbon balls, but they're security anyway. Eastern Europeans, in my experience, have developed more than the average amount of enzymes required to metabolize alcohol and will drink most people under the table. Mexican crew members are often Catholic and drinking abounds. Alcohol is a big part of Chinese culture. Trying to figure out which crew members you're referring to. But you do you. I'm sure that both chocolate and bourbon balls will find willing recipients.

Chocolate is good, but generic. The bourbon balls are probably something they haven't tried before. I think that anything -- when it's IN ADDITION to $ -- is appreciated.

It's the thought that counts. I'm sure it earns them points with the crew member to whom they're gifted. Double bonus. It's not as if she's giving them INSTEAD of a tip; they're something personal and somebody will be happy to get them.

Bad behavior on the (likely drunk) husband's part, and he should've been removed, BUT it was a shove, hardly what most people think of when they hear an "assault." Methinks the magician is looking for some big payout from RCCL.

^ This ^. Get a good TA and when you see a sale, have him jump on it. As for the flu, that's horrible. The first thing we do after dropping bags in the bathroom (usually cleanest part of the cabin) is thoroughly wipe down the room with Lysol wipes. But do look on the bright side -- that's a lot of money that you can use to explore with road trips.

They're "crew socks."

I think you may be responding to the wrong person.

I don't consider a cruise vacation a "waste." It's an investment in my mental health.

I actually got a call from Princess security about this. Turns out it is from a recent cruise. Did not realize I had the article of clothing that I thought was newer than that. My bad. The cruise terminal looks really similar to the airport and the people in the background just happened to look very similar to where I was. Anyway, I appreciate their actually reaching out. She assured me that they have no access to the GE database, and would never breach someone's privacy like that. Whew.

Gift cards. They're supposed to turn in cash, but they don't have to turn in Visa gift cards. Last Filipino steward we had laughed and told us that his wife thanks us from the bottom of her heart.

One reason we're done cruising out of SF. Basic human courtesy lacking on our last cruise from there. As for two people who take a six person table in the buffet when there are no tables available, I just smile warmly and sit down.

I'm just done with chair hoggers. What's the supposed rule, 30 minutes? I think I will leave a note with the time on the hogged chairs I want, then move the hoggers' bags next time. The level of rudeness is just astounding.

No, it is the photo at the front of the TSA Global Entry line that THEY take. I don't even have a photo of me at that airport. I've written them to ask -- btw, passengerrelations@princesscruises.com and jpadgett@princess.com both got returned to sender. Appears that customerrelations@princesscruises.com went through. It's not just incompetence, though. It's a legal violation.

Not sure; I don't think so (and their website is down so I can't check), but it's not the photo from the card. It's the photo they take at the security line in the airport - and it's over a month old, not the "brief period" VibeGuy quoted. I will update if they actually respond to me.

So, I'm booking my Internet for an upcoming cruise and log into Medallion Net. My security photo is NOT the photo I uploaded. Instead, it's a photo of me from a recent trip where I passed through Global Entry at the airport. The airport is clearly visible in it and I'm wearing apparel that I recently purchased, so I know exactly when and where, and I haven't taken a cruise since well before the photo was taken. How does Princess have this? I consider this a huge invasion of my privacy, a government agency giving information to a private company. Does anyone know if there is a place in the contract I may have inadvertently agreed to this? It's alarming to me, and it's not Princess' business where I've been.

WOW! Maybe the key is waiting until the last minute. Nicely done.

I doubt it. The OBC costs them little, and retains their customer base (mostly).

We are doing Princess Ft. Lauderdale - Southampton (4/16-4/30), and returning a few weeks later on Carnival Venezia (5/29-6/13). This is only possible because it's Venezia's first run. There are a few other TAs heading to Europe that could shorten the time between the trips - though we're doing an Iceland/Scotland cruise inbetween. There's RCCL May 1-12 (jab required) or Disney May 7-20 (twice as much $) NCL Apr 22-May 7 That's just a sampling. April/May is when a lot of cruise ships head to Europe. What makes it good is the Venezia heading back. We paid about the same amount for the cruise back as what airline tix would cost.

It's exactly why we bought it. Nobody should buy stocks with money they need just for perks. For us, we spent "unexpected winfall" money. Years ago was gifted Disney, Victoria's Secret, and Wrigley's for the same reason (but they don't give the perks any more.) Carnival isn't going to take away the benefit - that $250 of OBC probably has a real cost of less than $50; and it's good for retention.

Princess put the OBC in our account the following day. Carnival (on the same email) took a week. re: the stocks being a loser; we bought at way too high a price, are still a little in the red, but we don't play stocks with money we need, and we bought it specifically for the OBC. By the time it gets willed to our grand/children, I expect that it will have rebounded well, and we will have enjoyed many things we wouldn't have otherwise paid cash for.

As someone who usually travels in "steerage class," I don't have a problem with those who are paying more money enjoying more perks. Isn't it BETTER for us not to have the cost of extra perks spread across everyone instead of those receiving them? I don't begrudge those who start their vacations in the first class section of the plane, either. It is those paying premium prices who will keep the company afloat.

Thanks you so much for the details. I think you're probably right that the 2 day is a better choice. Much appreciated.

We've never done the UDP before, but are considering it for our upcoming Iceland/Scotland cruise. There are 7 port days and only 4 cruising days. Did y'all find that you use the package enough that it's worthwhile? I know we wouldn't be using the lunches on the port days, but this is really tempting. This would amazing on a TA :-). Also, is it worth the Teppanyaki surcharge?