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Don’t forget the lime. Wouldn’t want to come down with scurvy.

Mosquitos carry all sorts of nasty diseases and you should take strong precautions to avoid getting bit no matter what. As for Yellow Fever, technically it’s recommended. But the risk is extraordinarily low unless you are going someplace with an active ongoing outbreak. I’m one of the most pro-vaccine people you will meet, but I wouldn’t bother. And it can be a bother to get the shot. There is no vaccine for Malaria. There are a couple drugs to prevent getting infected, but they all have problems. If you were overnighting in the jungle that would be one thing. If staying on a cruise ship and visiting cities?? Again, I wouldn’t bother.

I think there’s an idealized muster drill where people first watch the safety video at their leisure, then everybody goes to their muster station at the same time, where everything is well organized. But right now, no cruise line does such a thing. We are offered a choice between group mustering with disorganized safety lesson, and emuster. Of the two, I vote for emuster.

Funny, I’d always been led to believe that if there’s a bank error in your favor, you get to collect $200.

The annoying kids you kinda hope will die.

I’d love a “hard hat” tour if the restocking process in port.

Just to give an alternative view: I love visiting American fast food restaurants overseas. Fun to see what things are the same, and which are different. One of my favorite memories of Paris was enjoying some McVin, from the McDonalds Champs-Élysées.

Titanic. Duh.

Attention passengers: There will be a muster drill today sometime between 3:00 and 4:00 pm. Note that the primary purpose of the drill is to train the crew and we want it to be as realistic as possible. Think how you would behave during an actual emergency. Will you panic? Be a little hysterical? Is there a chance you will forget and go to the wrong assembly point? Then that’s how you should behave today. Let’s get the crew trained, and have some fun in the process.

An ode to a travel agent: And we can plan this cruise togetherStanding strong foreverNothing's gonna stop us nowAnd if this world runs out of cruisersWe'll still have each otherNothing's gonna stop usNothing's gonna stop us

I always book direct with the cruise line. The question for me is would I cruise less if I had to use an agent.

Literally millions of people cruise without a passport or leave their passport in a safe when walking around a foreign country. These people aren’t idiots. They’ve looked at the pros and cons and made a decision. I know people mean well, ok most of you mean well. But calling people names for making a different choice than you would make isn’t helpful.

Alternate opinion: The amount of “safety” that is added by any muster drill is approximately zero. For the passengers at least (it may help the crew.) We can all have opinions on which is better, but the idea that one is measurably and demonstratively better… not buying it.

Up to you. I would absolutely notify the crew that someone in that cabin was smoking on their balcony. I would absolutely not speculate about what they were smoking or possible illegality.

Bonine is a brand name for meclizine. Works great for me.

Assuming we are talking about Livorno, it is a massive (seriously!) industrial port. If your goal is to come back to the ship late at night, have a plan on how you are going to get to the ship itself. oh, and I’ll add to the love for Lucca.

I book directly. I like controlling my reservation. But that’s just me; to each their own.

If you don’t see generic meclizine in your pharmacy, you can get it from Amazon. Works wonders for me.

Wait, you folks up in the Haven get signs pointing you to your cabin? You get all the good stuff. But you pay extra, so we’ll deserved.

And…. end thread.

Americans are more likely to have Facebook/Messenger on their phones than What’s App.

Back in my day, we used two tin cans and a long string to communicate. And we liked it. Don’t know if that would work today; ships were smaller back then. Anyway, while I respect those who want to do without cell phones on a cruise, I find them way too useful. Nice to be able to text somebody “I’m up in the sky lounge and there’s a band you would love. Come on up.”

To get into the legal weeds for a second… in the US (and I haven’t a clue how much of this applies to cruise ships) discrimination, even against a protected class, is both legal and generally considered morally acceptable so long as (1) you have a good reason (2) you don’t have a decent alternative way to accomplish that reason. Pregnant women are highly protected. Keeping late-stage pregnant women off cruise ships is a good thing.

If you freaked out, image how your actual wife/girlfriend would feel. I wouldn’t want to have to explain this one 🙂

Cruising now is better than any time in history. People complain about negative changes, but those have to be balanced against the constant change for god going on