sanger727

The 2 hours before is for the initial boarding only. On port days you will have to be back by "all aboard" time which can vary. In my experience it's usually 30 minutes ahead of the sail away time (the times listed in the itinerary) for docking ports and 60 minutes ahead of the sail away time for tender ports. The same for disembarking. the within 2 hours is for the final port. All other days disembarking usually starts at the listed arrival time, however, there can always be delays.

My opinion is different. We typically do self-disembark and found it quite easy to manage our own luggage down the stairs with a short line to exit the boat and customs. We did "regular" departure once and will never do it again. We had our breakfast and were assigned an area to wait for our zone to be called. There was some delay with debarking so we were not called until well after our assigned time. This left us sitting on the ship for a couple hours after breakfast with nowhere to go and nothing to do. Then there was a matter of trying to locate our bags as we left the ship and wait in a long line at customs.

I think the OP is well aware that the airfare isn't free. Even on NCL, there is an asterisk next to "free airfare" that says that you have to purchase one ticket to qualify for one free ticket. So it's really BOGO airfare. I have never done this so can't verify if it's "worth" it; however, I have seen many complaints on NCL's forum that suggest it's not. Bad flight times and receiving last minute tickets. I am also extra apprehensive about booking airfare through a third party these days with all the cancellations. We know the policies of the airline we typically book and haven't had any issues fixing flights that have been changed. I wouldn't want to give that up to save a couple hundred dollars.

I've always carried re-fillable water bottles on cruises. You can also get cold ice water from any bar or restaurant on the ship. That being said, I once had a beverage package that included bottled water and it was a convenience to not HAVE to carry my bottle everyone and just pick up when I needed one. Certainly not worth purchasing just for water. And as others said, it's nice to grab a cold bottle on the way out of the door going into port.

I think the OP meant health insurance. There was a point where health insurance companies were all reimbursing covid testing costs. I don't know if that is still the case today. But really, at this point a covid test is just part of the cost of the trip. Not sure the obsession with a "free" test. Are you also expecting a "free" baggage fees and a "free" uber?

Drinking on a cruise ship is nothing like purchasing alcohol on land. You have to show your sail card to purchase alcohol on the ship and it will flag him as being under 21. Doesn't matter a thing about how he looks.

I've been to Pompeii and Athens. 1.5 miles over uneven terrain describes the length of the walk around the site, not just the length of the walk to the site. As others have said, Athens is more uphill. Pompeii is most likely a 3+ mile walk. I have never been on a shore excursion that I actually considered "strenuous", but I've also run a marathon, so 3+ miles with uphill doesn't really phase me. Take the mindset of the average cruiser; someone probably out of shape, overweight, and older when taking into account what they consider strenuous. But I agree with the sentiment that if you are in doubt, you probably shouldn't sign up for it.

2 things. 1. When we went to the Galapagos in September, nobody checked insurance coverage 2. If you are getting it just to satisfy a medical insurance requirement, not because you really want to buy travel insurance - you can get a medical only policy much more cheaply. We use Geoblue. The price varies based on age but is only dollars a day.

I'm pretty sure fishbowls are excluded from cheers since they are considered more than "1" drink. But if you have cheers, you can get the same cocktail in a normal size.

Don't take the chance. Either do another home test with "supervision" or go to a doctor/pharmacy and get a real test. They are used to doing tests on people in your situation. It will all be done in your car with the tester in PPE.

I don’t either. But the cruise line explicitly says in the paperwork that it’s not accepted. I think they are wrong but it’s not worth taking a chance for a couple hundred $$$ at this point.

It was 2008. Everyone had trouble selling. In a downturn market, forcing owners who no longer to live there to sell also brings down property values.

I learned my lesson condo ownership over this issue. My first home was a condo. It was intended to help me start creating wealth. I had a brand new job and was young and single. The plan was to live in it and start earning equity and retain it as a (long term) rental property if I ever got married. When I purchase the condo, that was entirely allowed by the HOA. This was in 2007. By 2009 the HOA opted to change the rental rules to retain owner occupancy in the building to make it easier for new owners to get FHA mortgages. It was a terrible policy because it forced people to sell at a huge loss, and overall lowering market values. By then I had moved in with a long term boyfriend and was renting my unit. We got through that period and eventually sold my unit at a reasonable price. But it was a pretty shocking experience to learn how many restrictions a HOA could impose on a property that I "owned" and that those restrictions could change at any time.

Sure. Popularity of vacation rentals like airbnb and vrbo continue to become more popular. Especially since covid and people wanting their own space. And cities seem to doing more to cut down on short term rentals due to it affecting hospitality and housing markets.

Yes, there are 4 vietnam consulates in the US. DC and NYC are the closest to us but certainly not close enough to drive to. NYC doesn't issue visas anymore and DC is the one who told us we had to work with a Vietnamese travel company to arrange one.

Thanks, We have looked into it more. The only way to get the 30 day visa is to arrange it through a travel company (per the Vietnam consulate). However, we will be in Cambodia for 2 days prior to boarding the river cruise and not having the visa ahead isn't an acceptable option to us. We are stuck because we have to send out passports out either way and would much rather send them to DC than off to an unknown company in Vietnam. Plus, shipping would eat away at the cost savings.

I don't believe any of the "bars" will be open. You can have a leisurely breakfast in the MDR. I assume they will still be serving cocktails if requested.

I personally wouldn't bring wine on a flight. They throw the bags around; too much chance of breakage. When we bring wine on we buy it locally.

Technically speaking, if you drink your own wine at a venue that sells wine, you would be charged a corkage fee for their loss of revenue. It doesn't matter whether you bring in your bottle, wine in a water bottle, or your own glass. As someone else said, it's not a service fee for serving your wine. It's a fee for you to bring your own wine bought cheaply as opposed to purchasing their wine. Some cruise lines, for example Norwegian, just charge corkage for bringing wine on the ship to avoid these "loopholes". But in practical terms, if you bring wine in a Carnival glass in, there's no way for them to know whether you brought it or bought in a bar. I wouldn't feel badly about getting glasses from a bar, having a glass in my room, and carrying a glass in to dinner. I would feel more sleazy sneaking the bottle in some way, such as in a water bottle. I personally don't think you should put your server in the position where it's obvious you brought your own wine and are also trying to get out of paying corkage. Keep in mind that the corkage fee is not a gratuity. So the server isn't charging it to make money for themselves. It only makes money for Carnival. If they charge it they are doing it because they are trying to do their job and follow the rules.

The nonrefundable fare is a discount to lock you in to paying something. It would be a poor business decision to allow someone to book a good rate early, refundable to not lose anything; and then switch to non-refundable and get the same discount at final payment. It would have be a cancel and rebook. Now, it may still be a good pricing decision if the cost of the cruise increases by more than the difference in fare.

The TA I use that offers much better prices than Celebrity usually offers me an obstructed view balcony. They also use group rates. So between those two we tend to get good rates.

I don't presume to know what YOU need. The OP was "and why is the fire danger not spelled out clearly on one’s booking confirmation?" And the answer to that is that surge protectors are not a common travel item. You would never complete a booking if they threw everything you couldn't bring into the booking confirmation. I am sure it is in the cruise contract along with 5 million other things most people don't bother to read.

you don’t need a USB outlet. You bring a plug that goes in a standard outlet that has usb slots. Most people do not bring extension or power cords on vacation. Maybe most people on this website. But no, that is not a normal ‘bring on vacation’ item like a swim suit.

Am I the only one who things that a "surge protector" isn't an obvious item to bring on a vacation? I can honestly say I've never brought any kind of extension cord, power strip, or anything of the like on a vacation. In the days of USB charges, why? You can get 2 USB slots out of one charger and there should be at least 2 outlets per room. How many chargers do you need plugged in at once? I know power cords and extension cords are often recommended items on here; but most people don't take those on a vacation. So there's no reason to put it front in center in someone's face when they book. The FAQs of prohibited items is a perfectly fine place. I also wouldn't consider bringing a drone or skateboard on a vacation. But clearly someone has so they have to say somewhere not to.

So, an update on the consulate. There appears no way to contact them. All of the e-mail addresses listed are blocked when you try to use them. None of the phone numbers work, they all go to wireless voicemails that are not set up or full. Definitely not sending any money or information to them by mail at this point.