Fouremco

I'm familiar with HIA and the various beverage packages, but this is the first that I've heard of a beverage card on HAL, let alone a refundable one. Is it for alcoholic beverages, or for drinks like coffee or water?

A couple of thoughts... Would it be possible to embark at the first port beyond India? That would shorten your cruise, but with a 48-night itinerary, missing a night or two in India shouldn't be too much of a loss. It might be worthwhile checking with your TA or cruise line. As things stand currently, I wouldn't want to travel to India now even if I could get a visa. But diplomatic squabbles come and go, and it's always possible that visas will be available again by the time of your cruise. Unless you are considering booking a different cruise during the same general time frame as a replacement, and need to book now, maybe you should hold off cancelling until final payment. By then, you'll have a better idea whether or not relations with India are likely to improve sufficiently for visas to be issued again.

The last ferry back to Crown Bay leaves at 6:15PM, so with an 8:00PM departure, there's no need to worry.

I think that when the 15 drink limit was introduced, there was some talk of it being related to avoiding alcohol abuse, but you're quite right, you could be cut off after 14 bottles of water and a light beer. I suspect that the true motivator was simply reducing the number of "free" drinks they have to hand out under the BP. Some lines handle it differently. With HAL, for example, with the Elite BP, there's 15-drink daily limit on alcoholic drinks, but you can enjoy unlimited non-alcoholic beverages.

I overheard a bartender advising a passenger that he had hit the 15 drink max and wasn't able to use his card to charge a drink to his account. The passenger was well into his cups, and maybe this was simply a ruse on the part of the bartender to cut him off without any confrontation.

While that may be the case with RCI, there are other cruise lines whose travel document requirements vary based on cruise itinerary.

I've never reached the 15 drink limit, but if you max out, I believe that your card won't allow the bartender to make the charge. A bit like when you max out your credit card ashore. 😵‍💫

If you each have a beverage package, you'll need her sea pass as well, but she doesn't need to join you. If you are buying the drinks, then you can buy as many as you want at a time.

Don't forget to update your passport information in NEXUS before initiating the update. Yes!!!

You might also want to try your roll call.

Yes, you can purchase one card that will cover all of those countries. However, there are many different cards at many different prices that offer varying levels of coverage. I'd suggest that you go to amazon.ca, search on "esim Europe", and read the details for a variety of cards to get an idea of the differences. I'm not suggesting that you buy from amazon, but they sell a wide variety and it makes it easy to do your research

On the other hand, DW and I both struggle to make the weight limit for our checked bags, so we tend to put heavy items into our 4-wheel carry ons.

I sympathize... but the rules are the rules.

Carry on, many, many flights with no issues.

I'm not sure why, but AT flight to FLL out of Montreal are 7 days a week, but out of Toronto are only 4 days a week. And AT doesn't fly there Thursday or Friday, inconvenient for cruisers with weekend departures. I'm sure Porter with be happy to accommodate them! 😇

Not that I'd promote AT over Porter, but they are still flying to Fort Lauderdale.

As @time4u2go indicates, the safes are battery operated and independent of the ship's electrical grid. Depending on the make, some keypads light up. But I never travel without a flashlight, and both my iPhone and Apple Watch have lights as well.

Cathy, you might want to post this on the San Juan Ports of Call forum as well: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/80-san-juan-pr/ Many cruise lines also have excursions at disembarkation that will terminate at the airport. This also solves your other issue about what to do with your luggage, as it will accompany you on the excursion. You might want to check on the NCL forum as well as on the NCL website.

If the website, email and "my profile" section of the app all have it right, I'd think that it was an app problem. You might want to try deleting the app and any related information, then download it again and start over. In the meantime, given the email's and website's correct information, I wouldn't be worried.

Egyptian authorities are well aware of ship traffic in its waters and knows that your ship didn't surreptitiously divert to another country.

I totally respect your personal perspective on TA's, and your related expectations, but not everyone has the same wants or needs. Moreover, what someone is looking for in a TA can change over time. Having used a TA for a good number of years who gave nothing more than a bottle of cheap wine as a perk for our continued loyalty, I was quite happy to switch to our current TA when it opened in Canada offering very generous perks. Yes, I do all the research and know exactly what I want before making a booking, but as a retiree I have the time and I enjoy the research.

What does it say if you pull it up on the website instead of the app? Either way, I'd get it confirmed now rather than wait until you are onboard. One less thing to worry about.

If there are no unforeseen delays, it's certainly doable. Personally, after a relaxing cruise, the last thing that I want to do is rush, rush, rush, carry off my baggage and worry that I might miss my flight. Of course, taking the 8:30PM flight and arriving in San Francisco at 3:00AM ET is no fun either. I think I'd look at other possible flight options. Fly out of Miami, use a different airline, or consider a connecting flight later that morning..

I guess it all depends on where you are flying from. Our problem was quite the opposite, AC switched our flight to FLL from 5:05PM to 6:15AM, far too early for us. We cancelled and booked with Porter with a much more civilized 4:45PM flight.

The link you have quoted is to a USCBP "Knowledge Article" while mine is to the Code of Federal Regulations held by the National Archive and Records Administration. I'd imagine that the latter is probably more accurate and up to date, if for no other reason than because I doubt that the fine would ever go down. Here are just a couple of several non-governmental websites that also quote the $941 amount: https://www.fair-sailing.com/1faqs-pvsa https://www.adn.com/opinions/2023/08/18/opinion-i-decided-to-give-an-alaska-cruise-a-try-then-i-got-fined/ The second item is an article written by a passenger who was unaware of the PVSA and fines until she purposely disembarked in her home town instead of completing her cruise. It's an interesting article to read.