Mum2Mercury

Yuck! On our first cruise a parking attendant told us to clear out all food, saying they have an ant problem. That could make for a sad ride home. We always put our car keys into our room safe. I don't know how bright that is -- it's not like anyone could steal our car -- but it's just what we do. I don't know how they manage "turn over day", so I understand their desire to get started -- but, damn, Dude. Give us a minute. I always bring my back scratcher -- I've been married to him for 33 years. Seriously, though, aside from a few clothes, you really don't need much onboard, and the rooms are small. Bringing extras can easily backfire.

Okay, that's another way to schedule a wake up call!

I'm not inclined to use my cell phone as an alarm clock -- but I'm glad to hear that several of you have successfully scheduled wake-up calls through the ship's phone. Thanks! One less thing to bring.

As I was unpacking from our last-week cruise, I had a thought: I've been bringing my alarm clock -- but can I request a wake-up call on a cruise? I've never considered it before.

Your terminal number is at the bottom of Page 1 of your Cruise Documents. It is set apart by a line /isn't buried in the document. That sounds right, but it was September when I sailed Explorer, and I'm not sure I remember.

Every vacation has its pros and cons. When you're talking about cruises, embarkation and disembarkation are the cons. Each day involves paying attention to time and getting in line. We also drive, and we have an 8-hour drive ahead of us, so we want to go ahead and get started. Here's how we handle disembarkation: - When we leave the car at the port, we "set ourselves up for success": We gas up the car the night before ... we try to park near an elevator /with the car headed out ... we take a picture of the deck number where we left the car ... and we clean out trash from our drive down. - We get up early and eat breakfast in the Windjammer. We eat a full meal, but we don't dwadle. - After breakfast we go back to our room for our luggage ... one rolling suitcase and two backpacks ... and walk off. We carry it off ourselves because it's easier /faster than sending it ahead and searching for it in the terminal. - We typically are in line before they allow anyone off the ship. The line snakes through the MDR, and once it starts moving, it moves fast. We just disembarked Independence last week, and we were in our car, fastening our seat belts at 7:32. If you hang around, you'll have nothing to do ... except sit in the Windjammer or the MDR. Everything else will be closed. Your friendly cabin steward will push you to get out (because he needs to "turn over" the room for his next guest). The pools will be closed with a net over them. The staff won't be rude, but they don't engage /subtly push you towards the door.

No need for me to answer -- these are the thoughts that were in my head. I think the risk of mailing away your wife's only birth certificate is much worse than sailing with the birth certificates. Having said that, if you need another birth certificate for her, ask your local Register of Deeds if they have a service that allows you to get a document from another county or state. Mine does -- it costs more and takes maybe 30 minutes, but you can walk out with the document you need that day.

Breaks even at shipboard prices, yes. But I can give up some convenience on embarkation day to save $70 -- that's an excursion! Yes, I definitely like to save a dollar where I can. It just makes sense.

I'm disappointed: that's almost as much as I'm paying for my husband now. Thanks for the info.

Your terminal number will be in your Cruise Documents (bottom of the first page), which will come out about 30 days before your cruise. Miami is a madhouse, and you do not want to wait until you arrive /count on signs. Why? Because by the time you see the signs, it's too late to get into the right lane. Those Miami drivers are aggressive! Madhouse, I tell you. We were on Explorer (out of Miami) recently. We sailed out of an older terminal (can't remember the number), while Symphony sailed out of the new, fancier terminal.

Random thoughts, not really taking a side pro or con: - To be exact, your soda package will not be $8.99/day. It will be $8.99 + the mandatory 18% gratuity, which means $10.60/day or $74.25/week. - I can buy a 12-pack of 12-oz cans for about $5 on sale. I don't usually buy 16.9 oz bottles, but they're on sale right now at Walmart 12 for $6.56 (making the bottles a better deal than the cans --- but it is a sale). Anyway, if you drink 1 - 1.5 sodas per day, that's a huge savings. - Do consider that Royal ships have coolers (not refrigerators) in the rooms; they don't get your soda cold-cold. And some of the older Royal ships don't have coolers. If you like to drink your soda over ice -- like I do -- this may not bother you. - No one mistakes soda for a health drink, and juice has just as much sugar. The lemonade is good, and it has less sugar ... but is still not a health drink. Honestly, in the Caribbean heat, we all should drink a couple glasses of water each day. - I can be quite the schemer, but I have never considered for a single minute that one person could get sodas from the bar with the Ship ID while someone else drank from the soda cup. Gobsmacked. - If you value the soda cup itself /consider it a souvenier, add that to your mental calculations. Personally, I don't want another mismatched cup knocking about my cabinets. - Yes, you're allowed to bring 12 sodas per stateroom; however, as you go through the x-ray machines at the terminal, the staff doesn't really know "who's with whom" -- especially if you and your spouse go through different x-ray machines. (I did tell you I can be a schemer.) - Some of us are super picky about which sodas we drink. Royal only serves Coke products. - You must carry your 12 sodas (or waters, or whatever else) onboard yourself. You're not supposed to put them through for the porters to haul. If this is tough for you physically, consider bringing a roll-on carry-on with you ... carry the sodas in the bag or balance the soda on top of the bag. Or attach it with a bungie cord. - Royal doesn't have enough machines onboard. I've been on Explorer and Independence recently, and each had two machines in the Windjammer and two machines in the Promenade. People were almost always waiting their turn for soda. For what these packages cost, I'd expect not to wait in line. The two machines in the Promenade are available 24 hours/day, whereas the Windjammer closes at times.

Would you mind telling us your monthly premium? If that's too intrusive a question, please don't feel obligated to answer!

I've only sailed a holiday once -- won't do it again -- but I'm sure it's best to go ahead and book ASAP. A holiday cruise is going to be very popular, and your preferred cabin might sell out. Also, the price is likely to go up-up-up, so it's best to "lock in" at whatever price is available now -- and, if it goes down, call for a price match. In short, if you're sure of your dates (and with a holiday, you probably are), you have nothing to gain by waiting.

I always bring a first aid kit with very simple needs: Bonnie, aspirin, and a few other basics. I bring Dayquil /Nyquil capsules; at home I would have a larger selection so I could target just a cough or just sniffle -- but on the ship I just bring the "shotgun med" that hits a bunch of symptoms. Since Covid began, I have brought Covid tests -- my husband did develop a cold, and we were glad to be able to ascertain it was NOT Covid in our own cabin.

I have a preferred cruise line, but I don't particularly think it's better than all the others of its class; rather, sticking to this one line is a financial choice: - If we stick to one line, we will build up "points" and will earn rewards; whereas, if we cruise with a smattering of cruise lines, we will never "get anywhere" with any of their rewards systems. - We purchased stock so we can get OBC for our cruises. Even if every cruise line offered the same deal, we can't necessarily run around buying stock for all the cruise lines.

I agree with everything that's been said. I'll add: - With all those days at sea, I'd plan a needlework project (maybe two!), but that's something I enjoy. If not needlework, what do you enjoy that you could take along to do by the pool or on a lazy afternoon? - I'd have to have my Kindle loaded up with plenty of new novels. If you're not an e-reader, consider paperbacks, which you can abandon to the ship's library after the trip. - Are taking anything battery-powered? A camera or an alarm clock, perhaps? Might you need extra batteries? - I'd definitely bring gym clothes. A cruise of that length could show up on your waist line! - With three cruises and three cruise lines, I'd want all the details written out on a note card for each cruise (with the appropriate luggage tag stapled on) -- boarding terminals, boarding times, OBC, what's already paid, what's already reserved. It'd be so easy to forget a detail here or there.

I agree. To me, it sounds like a mom trying to build herself a side-hussle for some extra cash -- and perhaps she's a bit over-zealous in her advertising. Still, such a tee would not appeal to me in the least. Her attempts at marketing would not bother me; I'd just ignore them.

Ah, that makes sense now. Exactly what I'm thinking. In a perfect and fair world, you'd be right -- but sometimes individual agents don't understand things as well as one might expect. This isn't good, but it's life. For example, I had a very bad interaction with a guy at the DMV. I was totally right, but he kept my daughter from getting her driver's license that day. I was proven right -- but not that day and not by his immediate supervisor, who took his side without even paying attention. I don't want to do anything unusual (like having a school ID) when checking in at a cruise terminal. I'm pretty sure a DMV ID card costs only $5-10. The time involved in getting it would be more effort than the money.

I hear what you're saying, but a school ID doesn't feel like "enough"; that is, the security behind it isn't nearly so strict as the DMV /driver's licenses. I was in charge of school pictures for years, and the person who makes the IDs is often the photographer. Our school IDs were just a picture and a name -- no birth date, no address, etc.; again, this makes the school ID feel "lesser". Many of our students were insanely excited to have those school IDs -- mostly because it was their first photo ID card. Anyway, I'd be afraid of having a fuss about it at the terminal and wouldn't be willing to go with "just that". Regardless, why would public and private make any difference? Yes, my college ID was my first school ID -- and, as you said, it got me into the residence hall and the cafeteria. I had a driver's license before I went away to college, but I didn't have a car of my own /didn't have insurance. Today you can't have a license without proof of insurance, making a license much more expensive -- and, as I said above, many of my students' families just can't afford it. More than a few of them drive without a license. Mine had savings accounts and driver's licenses at an early age too, but we are a family that had resources and "thought ahead" to building a future for our kids. A whole lot of my students' families are just trying to put food on the table today -- even some who don't appear to be hanging on by a thread. Those families aren't thinking about starting the kids out right with bank accounts, etc. This is exactly why I'd be nervous about traveling with a school ID as identification. Additionally, since most people have a driver's license, a school ID is not what the cruise staff is used to, and "unusual" can prove to be difficult. As for leaving early, no matter what kind of ID you're traveling with, that's difficult to manage. You'd have to wait until the ship reaches an island, then you'd have to hope the island's small airport had a seat available, and you'd have to be able to pay last-minute prices for that ticket. Realistically, leaving a cruise early is difficult and expensive. But I digress.

I taught high school seniors for 30 years. In the last decade, more and more of my students didn't drive -- it was mainly about money: lots of families can't afford insurance for their teens, and a lot of part-time jobs for teens disappeared. I get it. My husband and I were insuring two cars and a house. We added a third car when our oldest turned 16, and our insurance literally doubled. Anyway, if you're a teen who doesn't drive and your family doesn't travel internationally, it's quite likely the only ID in your wallet would be your school ID. I talked to the credit union about opening an account for my infant grandson. They told me I just needed to bring in his SS# -- not the card, just the number. Of course, that was going to be what they call a "Minor by" account -- an account opened for a child by a parent /grandparent, and it would've been under my accounts /under my control. Did I show an ID when I opened my accounts? I don't know; I've been with the credit union since I was 17 years old /about to start my senior year in high school.

I won't swear it was exactly a dollar, but it was close.

Yes, we found that true years ago -- and now that we're "back to cruising", we've been on two cruises in four months and haven't checked on this. I'd like to know the answer! I was genuinely confused for a moment and wondered why Ret MP was paying for photographs. What does a Playmaker's pitcher cost?

Totally understand where you're coming from. - I just retired in June, and I'm sitting pretty: I was a teacher for 30 years, so I have good insurance at no cost until I turn 65 ... then the state will pay for my Medicare D (drug coverage, not very expensive) for life. - BUT I cover my husband, and it costs 20% of my pension check every month. It'll be six years 'til he turns 65 and I can drop him. Okay, that sounded bad -- I don't want to "drop" my husband, but I am looking forward to that sweet raise when he turns 65 and goes on Medicare! - Last year I had a conversation with the school nurse. She's not a school employee like me -- she works for the Health Department -- so she doesn't have health coverage for retirement. She and her husband are considering going without insurance until they hit 65. I think she's a little older than I am, so it'd probably be 3-4 years for her. I'm just afraid to do it -- one of my dear friends went through Breast Cancer last year, and she said over and over, "I'm so glad I have teacher insurance AND my husband's insurance." We had low-premium /catastrophic-only insurance for about a decade, and we saved big. But now we're older and are afraid to do it. - I spent one night in the hospital two years ago -- went into the ER with shooting pains up my left arm, fearing a heart attack. Nope, pulled muscle. Turns out my heart is in better shape than the average 56 year old woman. Cost about 10K. - My husband had a (thankfully small) stroke and spent one night in the hospital. Very little care, but -- again -- about 10K. His physical therapy wasn't cheap, but it was worthwhile. - So we've had two hospital stays in two years. That makes me afraid to self-insure. As I said, it'll be a while 'til Medicare becomes part of our lives, but I'm already convinced that the Advantage plans (sometimes called Medicare Complete) are the best deal. It matters where you live too. My mom, who has a Medicare Advantage plan, moved from one county to another (moved into a rural, poor county) and her premiums went from low to ZERO. Yes, I have several friends who are working JUST for the insurance ... or who retired from their "real jobs" and are working at the grocery store (or similar) just to have insurance.

FYI: Target always has sets of zipper bags for sale around the time beach bags come out.

Just an observation: Beer rings up for a dollar more on the island. Yes, same brand, same size ... was a can on the island, bottle on the ship.