mjkacmom

I think FAS is 2 nights of dining for a 7 day cruise.

I believe teppanyaki is very hard to reserve once on board. You are not going to be charged for an extra person, we are 7, I always make reservations for 8.

You do realize that soccer is the most popular sport in the world? I ended up watching 2 dreadful football games this weekend (college and pro) and it was so incredibly boring.

Most ports don’t charge taxes on drinks, I know nyc does since that’s where we cruise out of. As a wine/cocktail drinker, most cost $12+, so I make out better by the 2nd one, $24+ vs. the $21 gratuity.

Not exactly. I know different departments have different budgets, the schools, and then our county takes a big cut, $4000 when we bought the house, $13,000+ now. Many here wonder what the heck is their money going towards.

My property taxes go up every year, no one is telling me why.

I think some stuff comes with a charge because otherwise most wouldn’t get a chance to use it, like the speedway (I think it’s still hard to get a reservation). I wouldn’t count vibe as an up charge, you are paying for a spot with low crowds, that’s the selling point. There is also spice h20 but good luck finding a chair. The thermal spa and arcade cost extra, but I assume the other lines charge as well.

Amtrak is a nice way to get back and forth to Boston.

What was an up charge?

Yes, because it is. https://travel.usnews.com/features/do-you-need-a-passport-to-go-on-a-cruise

It really depends on what folks are comfortable with, many cruise without passports every day. There are people who take a $ day cruise and that’s a one and done. It’s rare to need them, but it happens. Of course no one will be trapped overseas, just have to jump through the hoops.

And if no passports, they will spend the rest of their lives outside if the US, very sad to have families divided like this.

I remember when I had to get a new youth one for my son who was traveling weeks before his 16th birthday for a school trip, so close.

Why? I had to do it a couple of times with my kids, I felt it was torture every time (just trying to get appointments, needing my husband there, getting new photos, writing all of the checks - the fact I have 5 didn’t help). Fortunately the youngest are 20, they went on their own for their adult one and all can just mail them in from this point on.

Youth passports expire after 5 years, if they need to get new ones they need to apply in person for new ones, they don’t get renewed. Only adult passports can be reapplied for in the mail.

Ours was 7 days, actually 2 Ubers are cheaper that a 10 passenger van that we’ve done in the past. There’s no way to get 7 people into an Uber with luggage in a minivan, we drive our own so not 8, plus need to get very creative fitting the luggage in. Pricing it out the cost was very similar.

Why do you think it’s the parents’ decision? Once my kids were teens they were 100% responsible for their assignments. If my child said he or she wanted to stay behind to get an assignment done, that’s what would happen. If they said they wanted to come, that’s what would happen. It’s their assignment and their consequences.

Airports aren’t going to have shuttles to MCT. I can’t imagine what a $15 a night parking lot would be like, $45 is actually not a bad deal. We live 10 miles west of Manhattan and drive to the MCT, Uber is the same cost (7 of us), done it both ways and prefer to drive.

I believe the passenger will have to pay extra.

Atlantis is now up to $200 pp, I wouldn’t take kids as young as the OP’s kids, so many features have height requirements (we took our 9 and 11 year olds and left the 4 and 6 year olds on the shop with grandparents, they got to go the next time when they 7 and 9).

I’m from the NYC area and have no interested in the Jets of Eagles. My sons watch football but would prefer soccer over those two teams.

That was not our experience and it was before Covid and cutbacks. I started ordering 2 at the start of the meal. The bar service elsewhere was fine except maybe more traffic at the pool.

I live in the same town that my dad grew up in, I went to school with my husband, reunions are every 10 years for every class. I’ve found the greatest attendance are ones that take place in town, since many are still around. A couple have been at hotels 20 minutes away, they were less popular. I know it sounds like where we live is in the middle of nowhere, but we are very close to NYC.

It costs them extra to air those events, don’t cruise if you care about what is shown on TV.

Takes very little time, you will go to another table, and they’ll note it.