pris993

Self-checkout is made for you, great. Not for me!! I am retired and have time and like using the checkers. Do the same at the bank, have used an ATM only once, when I was trying to deposit $10,000 in cash and the teller told me she could not do, given new regulations. I told the teller you will have to help me do it, since I have never used an ATM. Teller did, have not used an ATM since. Don't do online banking either. At some banks I don't even have to wait in line since so few people do banking the old fashion way. I am in and out in a flash.

I see threads asking about favorite from MDR, etc. Wonder if some folks have favorites from the buffet. I am planning to eat at the buffet on the Royal Princess on a 15-day cruise in December for lunch and dinner. We have eaten at the buffet on prior cruises, but it has been a number of years since we were on the Royal. Thought I see if I get any ideas on what to look for at the buffet. My dh has dementia so it is easy for me to find things he will eat at the buffet, i.e., rice, white fish and some vegetables. Know the Royal buffet is more extensive than other ships.

Only time I have swollen ankles is when flying.

Interesting, I am in the SF BAY AREA, the home of high tech, have not seen markets adding service charges here. Regardless, I like personal service, I am retired, have time to shop when it is not busy which is what I usually do.

Agree but that does not mean I have to cave to tech. I was at the supermarket yesterday, two checkers were talking that they could not force shoppers to use the self-check outs. I told them the self-checkout risk the loss of jobs. I make a point of not using them, and ATMs, for that reason. It was interesting they mentioned then Elon Musk firing tech workers. I did not tell them these were mostly folks working from home vs front line workers like them. I not concerned about tech workers losing jobs. They have good severance packages. \

Not just on cruises, yesterday, I got an email for my dh eye doctor appointment. It was apparent the preference for rebooking was online - but that involved setting up an app on my iphone which I do not care to do. I goggled for a phone number, did take 15-20 minutes to run down a phone number and rebook an appointment. It seems more and more of our world is being taken over by technology and forcing us to do or use devices when a simple phone can can do it just as well.

I just ignore them, I prefer to just call the main line at Princess and book while on board.

What category cabin?? Would guess inside.

What I am talking about, is confirming I will be doing the flight within 24 hours of the flight. Some international carriers I have flown request travelers do so, or risk losing seat assignments, on return flight to USA. Last time I flew international was 2018, so may have changed.

If you think cruise lines are tough, how about airlines. I finally got an iPhone because I need to check in for international travel, airlines I travel on require that or you might lose your seats. I pick and choose what I do. Just got an iPhone attachment I can hang around my neck, like I do the room key. Less risk of losing the phone on board.

I going out of my home port, so no concern about number or weight. Probably 3-day walking shoes, 6 evening dressy heels, pool shoes, slippers. Going on a 15-day cruises.

We have never tipped in advance on 60+ cruises on 9 different lines. We do tip extra at the end of the cruise. My DH is a very demanding customer, he wants extra blankets, extra tissues, extra towels and to have his sheets changed more often than the regular schedule, plus we need ice several times daily. We tip well but not till the end of the cruise. We appreciate the service received. We have always found staff more than willing to respond to our requests.

Will try again, since it worked for you last week.

We used to do the same thing and like you it worked. I think it changed when Carnival took over, no sure. We used to go out of SF a lot once the Matre'd changed, never got it. It was nice, we always keep our write ins to something easy to do, like scrambled eggs or eggs over easy. Tried a few times on a Coral Princess cruise in late 2019, never worked. They ignored write ins.

You are correct, brochures are what I mean. I am in the San Francisco Bay Area; rents alone have driven out small business and that was before the Pandemic.

In our dancing days, we did not always drink but we sure enjoyed a nice glass of cold water. We used to tip the server $5 when we first ordered water. Whenever we came again, we never had to ask for water it was automatically brought to us. Respecting the staff with a little tip goes a long way. Does not tipping them mean that much to you? Staff are working hard either way, if they are tipped or not. I like a world where service and doing a good job is valued.

They could not afford to stay in business, when they went out of business, I started booking all my travel direct. Enjoyed the store fronts because we could walk in and get procedures for a long-range planning. Booking direct, we booked early and got what we wanted, if price dropped, we got the new fare on cruises. Could do the same with hotels. I am sure some may find better deals, finding the best deal was not our top priority.

We always tip extra, no matter how far they need to go. We value that they seek us out and never seem to need to wait for service. Princess staff are the best, so why not give a little extra.

Agree 10:30 pm is way too late!! We head back to our cabin by 11 pm at the latest.

The servers take care of you, they may share tips with the bar staff too, I don't know. Princess staff are outstanding.

We did not do either, we got to know the servers, they came around to see us on regular basis to take our orders. Tipped them a couple of bucks each trip. Worked out well.

We have cruised both Celebrity, Princess, HAL, Cunard recently.

Often it is when bookings first open, so price is good, I get the specific cabin I want, book with a future booking credit - deposit only $100 pp, plus get OBC. Sometimes they have some other freebees too. That is it. If price drops before final payment, I call and get the new cruise fare.

Good suggestions, I found orange marmalade was my husband's trigger. When I tried to buy some without corn syrup, found impossible. Then I started to notice what else had corn syrup. After eliminating foods with it, his problems went away.

My DH stop having problems when we avoided food with corn syrup. Tried it.