rudeney

I'm taking mine anyhow and will show it if asked, but I don't anticipate that will be the case, even for Canada since as of today, they ended all of their COVID-related restrictions.

I laminated ours. Then when we got boosted, they write on to of the laminate in Sharpie. The I re-laminated it. Unless something changes dramatically, we won't be getting any more boosters.

I have not cruised since the recent changes but I follow many of the roll calls and other "groups". Since the Sept. 9th change (I think that was the date) where all passengers are welcome regardless of vaccine status, everyone reports that they just ask about whether they are vaccinated or not. In fact, RCCL even states it this way: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/do-i-need-a-covid-vaccine-to-cruise-what-counts-as-proof#north-america For Cruises Departing From U.S. (including San Juan, Puerto Rico) and Canada Homeports COVID-19 vaccination is not required for sailings departing from U.S. home ports, as long as they do not visit Bermuda. Royal Caribbean still strongly recommends that guests are fully vaccinated, if eligible, with the final dose administered at least 14 days before sailing. For these sailings, documentation of vaccination is not required to board, but we will ask that you disclose your vaccination status prior to boarding (via the Royal Caribbean app, on our website, or at the terminal). We recommend you bring your vaccination documentation with you, as local authorities or businesses in some destinations may request to see it for entrance. Guests who are not fully vaccinated will need to bring a negative test result for any COVID-19 test taken within the 3 days before boarding day.

If you're on a cruise of less than 10 days out of the US and not going to Bermuda, they won't even look at the card. You will be asked if you are fully vaccinated (meaning two dose of Moderna/Pfizer or one dose of J&J) and if you answer yes, that's it - you're on the ship. Boosters and vaccine cards are not needed on these cruises.

Yep, a passport lacks an address, so that could be an issue for why a DMV might not accept it for certain things, such as trying to register a car and needing to prove you live in that county.

So I guess when (if?!) you get it to show up, print it really quick! 🙂

But what if you were in port and they had one of those same sandwich shops? You'd miss a punch! 😜 But seriously, I'm the same - I take all unnecessary things out of my wallet as does my wife. In fact, she swaps out that luggage she calls a purse for an actual purse-sized purse. I guess if whatever transaction your are doing required a NC DL (like renewing a license, registering a car, etc.) then that makes sense, but if it's just general ID needed, they should accept a passport, such as ID to show if you lost your DL and are getting a replacement. If they refuse to accept a US passport as general ID in a situation like that, there are some channels you can go through at the federal level that will result in someone at the DMV getting a nasty phone call with the threat of losing some federal funding.

This is why I print mine on paper - just in case Royal IT strikes at the terminal!

That's a good point. I have my AMEX and wife has hers (separate accounts) plus I have a corporate AMEX card and a debit card. I travel and spend so much on AMEX, I've never had them freeze my card, but I have had fraud issues where they needed to cancel and issue a new card, so that's a consideration.

This talk of stockpiling reminds me of a funny thing that happened before Y2K. My mother is a bit of a worrier, so in the months leading up to Y2K, she began to stockpile essential things in their basement. I went over there one day and there were dozens of cases of wine and liquor in the basement. I joked about being truly prepared for a disaster, but it turned out it wasn't for their stockpile. At the time, my mother was still working and she was the recruiter/HR director for the internal medicine program at UAB and was in charge of their parties. They had just picked up all the liquor for the program's Christmas party. But that did make me consider how much booze I need to keep on hand in the even of a disaster.

You could always scan them, then combine them into one image.

Another thing to consider is the CFAR (cancel for any reason) option. Like the pre-existing conditions waiver, it usually has to be purchased within some number of days of your initial payment or booking. You won't get all your money back, but a percentage based on when you cancel, and most policies require you to cancel 2 or 3 days before departure to get anything. This can help in those odd cases where something happens that isn't a covered medical event, such as medical problems with a pet, or death of a close friend, etc.

That plus my DL and credit card. I have copies of everything in my computer, which is mirrored to OneDrive, and I can access it all from my phone or anywhere with an Internet connection.

Since FPL can show hourly usage, I'd think they could also show status of power being on or off. And that quarter idea is pretty ingenious!

Definitely! I have many friends in the area. I pray that everyone down there survives this storm.

I don't believe there are any government requirements for that - it's just RCCL's policy.

So you guys went full rock-star AND Titanic, huh? 👋

No worries! I figured it was just a typo. We'll be sure to take care of VOyager for you while we sail on her next week.

Except that you missed your cruise! 😮 Or did you mean Oct. 9th - 16th? 🙂

A friend called it "phantom COVID". So now we have a disease that we can't easily detect, is about as bad as a common cold, but maybe more contagious. I can live with that!

RCCL finally updated - no testing for Canada! https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/will-i-have-to-take-a-test-before-i-cruise If your cruise visits Bermuda or departs prior to October 1, 2022 and visits Canada, test protocols for your cruise are in the next section.

Great photos! I agree - the angles make it interesting and make the ship look even larger. I am sure he was your friend after you fed him $6 worth of lobster! Not bad - By my calculations, you saved over $250 compared to onboard prices! 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

When I worked for a company that had RFID cards doubling as our ID badges, I used one of these clipped to my belt. It could also be clipped to a lanyard.

Yep, that's exactly what I meant. Our driver's manual does state that you are to keep right except to pass, so people who just cruise along in the left lane were already breaking the rules. The new "anti-road rage law" was just feel-good politics.

The lowest price on my next cruise for 2 devices surf + stream was $31/day. I just ignore the percentages and sale banners and buy things based on lowest price. The difference between surf and stream is maximum capped speed. Surf is capped at something like 1.5 Mbps and Stream is capped at 5Mbps. I may be off a bit on those numbers, but it's something close, but my point is, it's the capped maximum speed. The good news is that unless you really want to stream video, you can get by with Surf for "scrolling" and wifi calling and texting. In fact, you'll be really lucky to get 1.5Mbps speeds even if you purchase the faster "stream" service. There are three things that will affect overall performance of your Voom Internet connection: The strength of the ship's satellite signal, the strength of the signal of the internal wifi repeaters that your device connect to, and how many other people are sharing those signals. The ship needs clear skies for a good connection to the satellite. Wifi signal strength varies throughout the ship. Move around and see if it gets better. Also, the access points don't "hand-off" smoothly, so when moving, try shutting wifi off and back on to have it reset the connection. Finally, when it's cold and rainy and everyone is in their rooms whining about it on the forums, expect Voom to be extra-slow.