Traveling Fools

CC Amenities (Just copied off the Azamara website) Luxurious cotton bed linens with duvet Terry bathrobes and slippers 24-hour room service Fresh-cut flowers Tote bag Use of umbrella Shoe shine-service Turndown treats Daily news bulletin Complimentary Internet (240 minutes or 50% off the unlimited internet package) One free bag of laundry service per suite, each seven days* Complimentary specialty dining Complimentary access to the Thalassotherapy pool and spa deck

Ok, let me add some perspective to this story. 1. We do not know what kind of clothing she was wearing and if it conformed to Muslim mortality codes. One of the photographs of her shows her sitting at a table in a dress that exposes her cleavage and portions of her breasts. Why would she provide that provocative photo to the media to attach to an article regarding this incident?!? (NOTE: I only point this out because I lived and worked in that part of the world and have personally experienced attitudes of some American women who, after I suggested they dress more conservatively, insisted on wearing exercise shorts split at the sides and runners' T-Shirts to walk around Dubai and it's Gold Market. Those women were police officers from Jacksonville, FL there to participate in the International Police Olympics. They told me they were in the Dubai at the invitation of the Government and that if the locals didn't like what they were wearing it was just too bad. That is just a single illustration of an its' all about me its' a mindset some people have wherever they travel. This would include Muslims traveling to western countries and trying to impose their beliefs on citizens of whatever country they are visiting. 2. She was wearing a compression device that wrapped around her waist. According to comments she made, the compression devise had many pins that had to be latched. This suggest the devise was wide. Such devises are common tools used by smugglers and would warrant a follow-up body search if detected by a preboarding X-ray or Customs officials. A very reasonable reaction. 2. Whatever exchange between her and airport police that happened is going to be a he said, she said exchange. In this instance, the he said party are the police and their version, sans video evidence supporting her claims, carries more weight than her version of events. 3. She was not jailed. Rather, she stayed in a hotel. There is no mention of her movements being restricted to the hotel; only that she was "banned" from departing the country. 4. The incident occurred on July 14th and the articles I read were dated in early October...the New York Post article is dated Oct 2nd. No dated of release was mentioned in the articles I read. One article stated she spent 2-months in detention which correlates with the dates of the incident and the Post's article. Other articles claim she spent 5-months, months on end, and several months under detention, all of which are unfounded and inflated.

Azamara has cancelled port calls in Israel and is in the process of finding replacements.

I echo Chemmo. The first time we booked a suite was in 2011. Booked a CS and CC. CS for us and CC foe DD, her hubby, and our almost 2YO GD. Enjoyed several dinners ensuite and breakfasts every morning for all of us. We liked having a separate living/dinning room; especially in the mornings when one of us woke up before the other. Didn't have to tip toe around the cabin trying not to wake up DW, or her waking me up. DW and I have booked that category of suite ever since. If we are sailing on a special occasion, we will even upgrade to a higher level. We have been taking the Grands on cruises and 6-8 week cross-country RV trips ever since they were infants. The extra room in a suite gives us all room to stretch without bumping into one another. And, given the Grands' ages we either didn't have to pay a fare for them, or if we did it was a reduced rate. The extra room with dinning table enabled us to have breakfast ensuite every morning and eliminated roping cats before going to and after reaching the MDR or buffet for breakfast. We really appreciate the extra room on cruises with multiple sea days. The expedited boarding and debarkation privileges are also a great perk! As are the extra points earned in the relative loyalty program. In respect to those two perks and some of the snarky comments made about them...they are the same perks afforded to airline passengers,,,early boarding and disembarkation and extra points. Or, loyalty programs offered by hotels, car rental agencies, etc. It is something we have paid for and you too can earn/have them if you chose. I dislike cruise lines that have a single tier loyalty point system and that factor can be a deal breaker when booking a cruise. We have had excellent butlers that make you feel like a rock star; and we have had butlers that really suck. The room attendants, who are really the workhorses, have always excelled. We have had some mediocre consigners and some that were really great. If you are fortunate to have both an excellent pre-cruise consigner, on-board consigner, and butler and know how to utilize their skills it really enhances your cruise vacation experience!

We hit these spots in 2004, thus the vaccination.

The Bricknell area is fairly close to the cruise terminals, isn't it?

We took a South American cruise in 2004 and it was "recommended" then for Brazil. Just to be on the safe side we got one.

I've had 3 of them. Last one in 2004. Good to learn we don't need another one.

I bet you stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night

The whole point of this thread is to discuss the ramifications of X shifting their sales staff and CSRs off shore. One of those ramifications is the language barrier and in 99% of the posts made in this thread it relates to an ability to understand and comprehend English, but also to understand the nuances relative to the company they represent. Many, if not most, times the off-shore representative is following a script and deviation from that script results in frustrations on both ends! You can't understand them, they don't understand you, they can't comprehend why you are calling and what you want, and you can't find the words to make them understand. Further, when you ask for an American/Canadian/British Supervisor you are told one isn't available. Or, like Adobe's off-shore CSRs, if you ask for the telephone number in the USA, or whatever country you are calling from, your told there isn't one. Bottom line, your frustration level rises to the point that you become REALLY pissed off. In this instance your going to be dissatisfied and pissed off at X. And, IMHO, that is reasonable. Let me cite and recent example I experienced very recently with NCL. In 2008, my Mom paid the freight for all her children to go on an Alaskan cruise. The only condition being we had to all meet for dinner. Since then, I have wanted to do the same thing with our children. Because my oldest son and his wife (really just his wife) don't like cruising, and since Thanksgiving weekend of 2009 our oldest daughter has been hospitalized because of a head wound, that leaves our youngest daughter, her husband, and their two children. We all know that Holiday cruise prices are pricey, that sail for free perks disappear during peak seasons, and that prices during peak seasons are higher than the off-seasons. Those reasons have kept me from booking a family cruise. Recently, I looked at this year's school calendar and note their Christmas break started and ended a week later, that the Monday after the break was a no-school day, that Thursday was a half-day, and Friday was also a non-school day. I immediately went on line and found two connecting cabins in the Haven were available. After conferring with and getting permission from the Commander-in-Chief, I called NCL to book the two cabins. My call was answered by an Asian off-shore rep. She could not comprehend what I wanted to do. 20-minutes later, I told her I had an important incoming call and hung up. I went on-line and booked both suites. The next morning I transferred the booking to my TA. This was not a complicated transaction and should have been easily handled. And, there is no excuse for it not being handled properly. The fault was NCL's and who ever they have contracted with to off-shore to represent them. That contractor has failed NCL by not hiring employees who can think outside the box and who have sufficient language and language comprehension skills to handle relative transactions. Permit me to extrapolate this incident and apply it to someone with less moxy and who is perhaps intimidated of calling any cruise line to purchase a cruise. I can assure you there are CC members on X's forum that fit this description. AND, OBTW, there are others who have the moxy and are not intimidated that will take it out on the CSR and then complain on this forum. While I won't condone their treatment of the CSR, their complaints about X transferring sales and CSR operations to an off-shore entity will be justified.

If you have a beverage package, buy yourself three bottles of Veuve at Costco for the same price they will charge you for one on board and take them aboard with you. Pop the cork of one on your sail away, save one for your anniversary, and enjoy the third some other evening. I note you are traveling from Ohio. You can purchase traveling wine pouches at your local wine store, or on line, and pack the bottles in the center of your checked baggage. Have done that a dozen times and have never had a problem between the travel pouch and cushion of clothing you'll be fine. For added padding ask someone you know with infants for several disposable diapers and wrap the diapers around the travel pouch. Like I said been there done that and will be doing again in Nov, Feb, and next September all three cruise are international and the September one is our 50th anniversary. If you are traveling in a Suite, ask the pre-cruise concierge to inform the on-board concierge and make any special requests through them. At the very least let the on-board concierge and your butler know it is an anniversary cruise as soon as you board. On our 40th we took a Scandinavia/St. Petersburg cruise. We were met dockside by the Concierge and I was able to give him our wedding rings that I had repaired without DW's knowledge (cash does wonders!😁). I had also reserved the Chef's table and the Concierge was able to get the kitchen staff to put them in a pastry box. Totally surprised DW. The head chef had not been made aware that it was our anniversary and was pissed. Her personally delivered this cake then next day .

If you need a replacement PP while traveling you will have to go either to the Embassy in the relative country or one of it's consulates. They have devises that can read that card and derive your PP number. Reporting it lost or stolen to the local authorities is one thing, replacing it is quite another.

We were offered a 2-night stay In Istanbul on their dime and extended it for 2 more nights just to get some quality time in Istanbul. That permitted us to have a better choice of departure times.

Breakfast in Cagney's...wasn't unaware of any other meal being offered in a specialty restaurant. But then we didn't have any sea days and we were always ashore during lunch. And Cagney's was the work station for the Concierge.

Do you ever attend the reunions?

Wow, that's astounding! Just think about all those who had booked the cruise and are now SOL. Some may have booked for a special occasion to celebrate on that specific itinerary. Others for the itinerary. Think about all the relative factors involve in booking a foreign cruise that need to addressed. We have booked an "Intensive Greek Island" cruise next September with X. We chose that cruise because of 1) Itinerary and 2) Timing. We will be celebrating our 50th anniversary and have booked a specific suite. I continue to track other lines who sail out of Athens and they don't make many Greek port calls and instead focus on ports that we have visited by land and have stayed for days. And, because cruise in this part of Mediterranean tend to book out early, the inventory of suites is limited. If X involuntarily canceled our reservation it would be really disruptive to us!

69-70, Departed RVN days before the Cambodia invasion.

In Sept 1984 while on a Carnival cruise, a ship with a large X on the stack steamed by us. Everyone on deck looked and laughed. To us the X translated to cross that line off your list. Who would have thunk 20 years later we would end booking our 2nd major cruise with X, and that it would become one of our go too lines.

While your actual PP number doesn't appear on a PP Card, all other pertinent information and numbers do. If you look at the strip on the bottom of your PP you will see a series of numbers that include your PP #, DOB, and a string of numbers. Now look at your PP Card. The string of numbers on the back includes the number of your PP Card, your DOB followed by a string of numbers matching those on your PP. Yes, you could. But take a second and think about that. If you are carrying either of a copy of your PP or PP Card they could be lost or stolen. If you leave either of them in your hotel room the same thing that happened to Mike's parents could happen to you....they could be stolen. Perhaps the best solution is to travel with both. Leave the copy in your room safe and carry the card with you.

Just need to wear for our 50th Anniversary. The rest of the cruise I will cutoffs, a sleeveless T-shirt, flip flops, and a ball cap turned backwards with a logo of a middle finger saluting all who look at it. I'm one of those guys everyone loves.

In the U.S. you can order a Pass Port card at the same time you order your PP. It contains all the relative information contained on the face page of your PP, including photo. It isn't a substitute for a PP, but eliminate the need to make copies of your PP.

Sorry...there isn't a lap pool aboard ship and if there was one it would be congested or you would have to schedule your swim time.

Any of your Traveling Companions have the same 1 liter duty free exemption. So, if there are two of you will be subject to pay duty and Federal Excise taxes on about 8 bottles. Because of the paperwork the CBP Officer has to complete, sometimes they will let you pass without paying duty and tax. Just be sure to declare it. https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-190?language=en_US

I copied this DHS directive "Procedures Relating to a Lapse in Appropriations" Following are stated examples of exempt DHS personnel. Like , I was Legacy U.S. Customs Special Agent/Criminal Investigator for 33 years and classified as Exempt. Legacy Customs Inspectors (now know as CBP Officers) also fell into the Exempt classification. However, support personnel were classified non-exempt and did show up for work. EXAMPLES [of DHS exempt personnel] : • Maintaining law enforcement operations, including drug interdiction and irregular migration management • Continuing passenger processing and cargo inspection functions at ports of entry • Providing the protective functions of the U.S. Secret Service • Maintaining counter-terrorism watches or intelligence gathering or dissemination in support of terrorist threat warnings • Retaining minimal personnel to maintain telecommunications necessary for excepted activities • Personnel required to provide direct staff support to the Unified Coordination Group and to support Department of State activities associated with Afghanistan resettlement (ie, Operation Allies Welcome) chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2022-09/DHS%20Procedures%20Related%20to%20a%20Lapse%20in%20Appropriations%2009-30-2022.pdf