pris993

Too back north California was not as good as is use to be, I was born in SF 75 years ago, still live on Peninsula. I long for better times and more affordability.

Like you I might not move to cruise. Living near SFO, cruising out of San Francisco is easy. I too would not want to move to Florida ref weather, tropical storms yearly would concern me. I like the politics in FLorida more than California and the cost of living in California is getting more and more difficult so some folks leaving here. Hear taxes are sky high in NYC too, maybe living somewhere else along east coast where one could get an easy get a flight or train to nearby ports. Possibly someone from east coast might have some ideas.

I see you are not from west coast. I was thinking getting off in Seattle, one could easily drive home in a day, if one lived in Washington State or elsewhere on west coast.

How can they stop you from renting a car and driving home?

Don't know for sure, about Tricare, I have a retired Federal Employee BCBS plan that supplements my Medicare. I did have a claim once when out of the country. Contacted BCBS when I returned, had to submit a claim to an international claims office in DC. Contact Tricare, suspect it does cover outside USA.

Oh, now I see did not see last statement. Passengers are not working, so totally different experience.

What is the point of your post?

The only reason to wear a mask is to protect yourself, fabric masks are least effective. I personally would not wear a cloth mask, have not done so for past 2 years. I have not had covid yet. For me, only medical or N95 are options for safety.

Could be. I only wear medical masks, so don't know what other option I would have. I am retired and don't need to wear a mask very often. Will try a N95 when I board ship in December, since then will have to wear in the boarding process. Thanks for suggestion.

We avoid bus transfers. If in this situation, would rent a car and drive ourselves.

Good point, I notice when I wear a mask sometimes I cough when I would not cough without it. I seem to get a tickle in my throat wearing a mass which I only wear when required.

As I mentioned my husband is from France. He deals in cash. Being from France he always seemed to know how to exchange money, if we only had US$ left. I am not suggesting seeking out alternatives as a routine but I was trying to say not impossible either. Just read this week on a neighbor blog, someone used a credit card to purchase ice cream from a local "ice cream truck" and later received a notice from the credit card company that someone had made a $1200 purchase with the card. These kinds of things can happen anywhere. When you are home it is easier to be notified.

True. In major cities one can easily find options, i.e., taxi drivers, small merchants etc.

Good luck and feel better. Thanks for sharing. We are booked on Royal for 15 days in December, so interested in how things go for you.

Folks in Europe are far more flexible. My DH is from France. On a recent trip we arrived after a Mediterranean cruise in England with some euros, some BPs and US$. Stayed at a hotel near Heathrow, did not have enough cash to pay for dinner in BPs, found merchant more than happy to take whatever we had to buy what we wanted. We don't use credit cards for small purchases. Saying that, we usually travel with appropriate money used in a country. We get some cash exchanged before we leave home, because we don't use ATMs.

What venue was that on the Royal? I will be on the Royal this NYE. Will try to avoid it, LOL. By the way, we did a TA on the Royal some years ago, sat on the rail of the Champagne bar, at a table for 2, to watch some activities one night. Would never do that again. We had folks literally hanging over our shoulders with drinks in their hands to see what was going on down below. My DH had on a white dinner jacket, he finally told one woman to back up before she spilled her drink on him.

hope you get what you want!!

We had a complimentary dinner on a recent cruise. My family did prebook and prepay for some dinners when they made reservations. We did not try to mix the complimentary or prepaid dinners. I don't think that will work at all. We decided to use the complimentary dinner the first night on board. No problem. We told staff we would be returning the next night and wanted the same table, that reservations were in family name with different cabin number. Day 3 we discovered we got charged for 2nd night that had been prepaid. We went to Customer Service, they did correct it but told us we had to remind folks at Crown Grill that dinners were repaid each time when we went. There did not seem to be any communications between the prepaid reservations and ship/Crown Grill, even though initial reservation included all guest names with each reservation. Doing so we avoid being charged twice.

I have cruised in December. Have done New Year cruises too enjoyed a lot. This year, doing first Christmas and New Year cruise. Travelling with small group of seniors, 6 of us. One of the things I learned years ago, if something is not working or enjoyable, do something different. Say that reference large groups. I guess if I run into this issue, I will look for less crowded areas to enjoy, some areas of a ship are less used than others. Will see how it goes. Really love how decorated the ships are during the holidays. I am lucky will be going out of home port so don't have to fly and I am not looking for snow. Happy Holidays and Happy Cruising.

lol, personal taste, enjoy your Tito's.

Agree, I also got Gray Goose and Ketel One Martini's. When we went to the Crown Grill our waiter easily suggest a red wine that was covered by the Plus package that we enjoyed.

No extra charge for water, special coffees, wine, beer, cocktails, wifi, or tips daily does add up on a cruise. With tips one glass of wine can be $15, plus tips on a mini suite cabin nearly cover the cost of the plus package. The math does add up to be a good value plus the freedom to have as much or little as you want.

I am happy with Princess Plus. Have it on 15-day cruise in December. My DH and I have 2 drinks at lunch, 2-3 drinks with wine at dinner, maybe a coffee later. At most 6 drinks a day each, with tips covered too, well worth it. We did a 15-day cruise in 2019, did not have the package, paid as much and did not enjoy more than a couple of drinks a day with tips. Princess plus fits our budget. Would not pay more, don't need more.

Everyone needs to decide for themself. We did two cruises on the Queen Victoria, loved the ship, would go again on the Queen Victoria or sistership, the Queen Elizabeth. Did one cruise on QM2, by comparison a disappointment. Everyone says one needs to go on QM2 because Ocean liner vs cruise ship. May be good for a world cruise but otherwise I will stick with a cruise ship, either QV or QE. The cruise we did on QM2 we did a round trip between NYC and Quebec City Canada. Took forever to get off and on the ship in ports, only one gangway. I liked the layout of the cruise ships main passenger decks, nice flow from dinner to dancing and a show. By contrast on the QM2, layout very odd, dance floor at far end of one deck, theatre at the other, we rarely went dancing after theatre as a result. Sharing so you may consider in picking a Cunard ship.