rudeney

Wow, 10 pages of hatin' on Cats. This is more fun than any tipping or "shorts in the MDR" thread - and nearly as entertaining as Cats itself!

Not counting houses we owned before we married, or vacation property, we are on our 3rd house. This will be the last one until we move to the cemetery (unless we have to move to assisted living). We moved 3 years ago to get everything on one level. Now, if we can just retire and spend more time cruising...🙂

Same here - it's called a "U.S. 9/11 Security Fee" and it's $11.20 per flight (direct or connecting), per person.

I was the DP (now called IT) manager for a mortgage company back in the 80's and I remember those rates! By the late 80's our refi department was booming. That manager would have us pulling daily reports for mortgagees with rates over xx% to solicit them for refinance. The lowest rate we've ever had on a mortgage was 1.25% rate - it was an ARM but the cap was 8%. It went up and down a few times, but was always lower the the then-current rates. I think we're at 3.75% on our house now. My wife works for a mortgage company and finds the best deals - I just show up and sign.

I have leased a few cars, but in the last 20 years, I have been buying just-out-of-warranty used Mercedes-Benz vehicles, driving them for a few years, and trading for another when I want a change. That works for me because I am a highly skilled DIY mechanic (including advance electronic systems) and have a lot of experience with that brand (I worked for them at one time). My wife has always leased cars, but a few years back, when her last lease was up, she decided to buy something. She chose a three-year old BMW X5. It's so nice not to have a car payment. We drive a combined 10K miles a year, so our cars tend to last. I used to play all the games with points and cash back and stuff, but I realized the those were come-ons designed to extract my money. Now I have an AMEX card that gets PIF each month, and we have a few store-branded cards (BestBuy, Home Depot) that we use for X-months same as cash. If we were willing to cruise in anything other than a suite, we'd cruise more often. But once every two years seems to work for us.

I think this is a problem with all alcohol - I hear many people reporting that there was a limited selection of bourbons and Scotch on their cruises.

I work in the collections industry (my company writes software for creditor's lawyers). Everyone is gearing up for a massive influx of new business - Citi, CapOne, BofA, Chase, Discover, etc. Almost all credit cards use variable rate interest based on the fed rate, which is going up. People who have been relying on credit cards to supplement additional expenses due to inflation are going to be pushed over the edge.

For passports, all they need is the number.

An interesting read: https://lipperalpha.refinitiv.com/2022/07/q2-2022-u-s-retail-scorecard-update-july-5-2022/

I think it's just when purchased in the specialty restaurant. From the description: "Plus, enjoy a discount of 40% off bottles of wine under $100 and 20% off bottles above $100 while dining in specialty restaurants." I would guess that if you purchased a discounted bottled in a specialty restaurant and did not finish it, they would store it and it could be retrieved by any other restaurant or MDR, as with any wine purchase. I doubt they would mark it just for use in the specialty restaurants. As for taking the bottle with you, out of the restaurant, I don't see why not. They might not let you take an unopened bottle, though.

They said to go online, hence the paper I have with the QR code. I think it will be fine - I laminated our cards so they look the same and you can't tell hers is paper except that it has nothing on the back. Apparently, our state and local health departments don't keep those records. Hence the reason that the QR code on that download form CVS doesn't work - to read it, you have to get an app connected to the state/county health department and it decodes it. Ours have no such app. I appreciate the ideas, but I think we'll be fine. One thing that is in our favor is that we both got the single-shot J&J and a booster. We got our boosters at the same pharmacy, so our entries have the same date and lot number, and mine is on a real card. I am guessing that if they scrutinize her card to the point of thinking it's fake, they can compare it to mine.

You can do online check-in ahead of time using the Royal App or your computer. This lets you upload images of your ID (e.g. passport) and COVID-19 vaccine card, as well as fill out forms that you normally do at the port. You will also select your port arrival -in time. Early times go quickly, so you want to do this as soon as online check-in opens, which is usually at 12:01am departure port time, 45 days before embarkation. Most people find the app easier to use and also it let's you pick your port arrival time first, then come back and fill in the rest.

That's an interesting question, which reminds me that I have a related issue with my wife's vaccine card. She got her single-dose J&J shot at CVS. This was a the very beginning of availability (3/7/2020). They said they had run out of official CDC vaccine cards, so they used a photocopy (single-sided showing just the front). They did fill in the appropriate info. It's hand-written, not a sticker from the dosage vial. She did get a booster, and at a different independent pharmacy, and they just added that dosage info (also handwritten) to the existing paper photocopy. Being concerned that this may look like a fake vaccine card, I did some research and found that I could download a PDF from CVS showing her vaccine info (name, DOB, brand, date, lot #). It does include a QR code. The problem is, our state does not support tracking COVID vaccines. My understanding is the QR code tracks back to state records, but without them, it's useless. I am going to bring both her vaccine "card" and this paper, but I hope this isn't a problem. I am going to be highly pissed if CVS's lack of official CDC cards causes us to be denied boarding.

The real issue I see is that RCCL is creating a policy that they don't always enforce. If they aren't going to enforce check-in times, then they should not require reserving them. It just makes passengers anxious about jumping through one more hoop before their cruise. It would be like Southwest Airlines still having people check-in or pay for Early Bird and then show up to the airport without any boarding order enforcement. It's going to create havoc and piss off all the people who tried to play be the rules.

I tip the concierge based on how much I used those services. I once tried to tip the Flowrider crew after a private lesson, and they would not accept it.

I have enjoyed all the beef dishes in the MDR, but the tenderloin was my favorite. It was not as good as a Chops filet mignon, but better than the other MDR beef offerings. Of course non of them are "very" good, like a land-based steak restaurant (Outback, Texas Roadhouse) , but as good or better than a typical family-dining restaurant (Applebee's, etc.) Other than Johnny Rocket's, I've never had a burger on an RCCL ship - there are just too many other choices. BUt we ahve the UDP on our next cruise, so I might try on in Chops. Best of luck with that cast!

OK, very good info - thanks!

I would hope you are correct. I just know how money-grubbing RCCL can be and I could see them not doing this. It wouldn't really matter for me because I generally drink $10-$11 mixed drinks, so unless those go up by more than $2, the $13 limit still works.

I just ignore the "SALE" banners and look at the bottom line price. They manipulate the base price so the percentage-off sales are meaningless. I do wonder what happens if you pre-buy a drink package that includes drinks "up to $13", but then they raise on-board drink prices. I guess since the package was purchased with a $13 limit, they can enforce that and charge more. I think the proper thing to do is raise the limit on the pre-purchased package. They will have held my money for many months prior to the cruise, and buying early like that, it should insulate me from higher on-board prices. But I would expect them to make me pay extra.

This reminds me of a commercial a few years ago where Nissan advertised their compact truck. It was shown doing things that the truck was simply not capable of doing, like flying and jumping over ravines and mountaintops. There was a small bit of fine print on the screen that seemed to disclaim this as impossible, but it was still inappropriate. What's next? Will the advertise Hostess Twinkies as vegan, calorie-free, fat-free but with a fine-print disclaimer stating that "food is not actually calories and fat free"?

Agreed. If you drink $13 drinks or $9 drinks pre-tax, compare that to the pre-tax DBP price. Or, add 18% to those per-drink prices and then compare them to the DBP + 18% - it makes no difference. If you spend on average, $10 per drink pre-tax and drink 7 drinks per day, then anything less than $70/day pre-tax is a good deal. If you add gratuities, that's $11.80/drink and $83.60 for the DBP as a break-even.

Well, you are more of a "foodie" than me. I can't tell the taste or texture of a prawn from a shrimp. And I have bought many pounds of fresh (live and still crawling) shrimp from boats on the gulf coast as they were headed back to port.

Those may very well be shrimp, but once peeled and cooked, it's nearly impossible to tell shrimp from prawns - it's not about the size. Regardless, if they do substitute shrimp for prawns or vice-versa, they probably should tell you. It would be like selling ground bison and calling it extra-lean ground beef - few people could tell the difference, but it is not the same animal.

Many EVs do have cooling systems with radiators and pumps that will need maintenance and could fail just like with an ICE. Many use low-resistance tires that have a significantly short lifespan. Using that AC (and esp. heat) will significantly reduce mileage. But yes, overall, less maintenance and long-term costs. It depends on the retirement structure and the state. For example, in Alabama, we pay no state income tax on social security, and certain structured retirement plans (not IRS/401k plans) are also tax-exempt. For federal taxes, social security is taxed, but some retirement is not. For example, if you had saved money that had already been taxed, you won't pay taxes when you spend it. Another thing some people do is invest heavily in pricey real estate, then draw against that asset in a reverse mortgage. It is quite possible to live a tax-free retirement if you are in the right state and plan your savings accordingly.

I find the food in the MDR and Windjammer to be good - not exciting, memorable or fabulous - just good. Since you like to be adventurous, don't hesitate to order new things to try. They will bring you multiple servings of whatever you like, and swap out other items for things you don't like. For example, I had never tried escargot until I was on a cruise ship and the waiter explained that if I did not like it, he would whisk it away and replace it with something else. I loved it, so after that, he would always bring me an escargot appetizer in addition to whatever else I ordered. I've had them bring me multiple entrees, extra steaks and lobster tails - whatever I liked, often without me even asking.