SmoothFlying

36 minutes ago, Purvis1231 said:

Most of them will be in the United States soon. 

Well, as some say,' 'Sometimes, ya gotta break a few eggs, so eventually it'll all work out , in the long run'.🙄

Mac

18 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

I guess if you don't like the civic responsibility that goes along with, well, civilization, you could try to find an island someplace and live like "Lord of the Flies" with some other similarly-minded people.

 

Well, I'm sure there are several countries that don't use the jury system (either in  Europe or the Middle East come to mind) where the state appoints 3 judges and if ALL three find ya guilty of some hidious crime like,possession of outlawed papers or books the state objects too, well, it's the hangman's noose for you. No fuss no muss and defitinly NO appeal. The state picks the judges, appoints your lawyer. Presto Bango, Next case, PLEASE ! Can't have our citizens bothered about right/wrong ORif real justice dealt with, right?.

Mac

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

The rules are different in every State and often within different in the different jurisdictions within a State.  You need to deal with the folks who sent you the jury summons.  

 

Hank

He's right (Hank). Your jury summons should state which court (Superor or State court) sent the summons. Each court has a court clerk's office who has a list of those who are eligable for jury duty (the list is either voters OR property owners in the county. So more than likely you'll have to call the clerk's office and asking if you can be excused from serving this term.Hopefully, they can reschedule you till later in the year, Good luck,

Mac

My wife and I will be on the 'ole girl' (Spirit) next cruise. Our second time on her, she took us out of Seattle to Alaska in 2010. It was a WONDERFUL cruise can't wait till we're back aboard on her again. Maybe you'll give us a update on what's new?

Mac

30 minutes ago, stobe1 said:

I don't ever use F2F so I cannot answer that question. I always book flights on my own, and since I work for an airline, half the time I am non-reving to the ports. I only actually book positive space, confirmed seats if I don't have enough flexibility with my schedule to work around it, an

WOW !!! You DEFITINLY are braver than I am. I retired from Delta after thirty years and tried to non-rev twice, once to Miami and then a year after thar nightmare ( tried to fly in a day early on a Friday for a Sat departure, ending up driving late Fri afternoon from ATL stopped midnite at a motel Six,only to get up at six a.m. and drive ALL day Sat and arrived in Miami about 3 p.m and just barely made the cruise on the Valor. the second time tried to non rev to SFO for an 15 day Hawaill cruise, no luck there, just kept getting 'bumped' back on every flight for two days. Finaly we just gave up, but NO driving from Atl to SFO. I'd learned my lesson, my wife said flatly, "NO more non- reving for cruises, EVER!' I bow to YOUR bravery, sir. :))

Mac

5 hours ago, mtnhiker said:

. My wife does not like the idea (not sure why) but she is coming around.  She does not know that I am planning this a s a retirement gift/celebration for both of us.  Should be fun!! 

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh you NAUGHTY NAUGHTY boy :)) She will be SO surprised ana celebrating tht happy monment with a cruise is the BEST way to ensure you both will always remember where and what you were celerbating. Good luck on both, the cruise and retirement.

Mac

The end of last month (November 25 to Dec 10) Long beach to the Hawaill Islands on the Carnival Miracle. FANTASTIC trip! Even though it did rain the first day in Maui (as my SO quietly explained, 'NO use in complaining,' it's God's work, we can't change it'. 

Mac 

19 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

The people who stand in the middle of the pathway and make it nearly impossible for others to get around.  Happens all over the ship

 

Yup !!! It's gotten to the point that this happens at least twice every other day on a cruise (usually teens 16-17 yoa, walking VERY slowly, 6-7 abrest  almost linking arms, and IF they sense you're trying to step around then, they'll move over to block you and laugh. I guess it's a joke to them. wonder if it'll be funny to them when they're twenty or thirty years old ?  

Mac

3 hours ago, LewLewBelle said:

Back in mid August a family from our church Sailed out of Charleston on The Sunshine.   I was talking to her and she said she was disappointed because there were no shows at night.   Can anyone confirm this being true? I have never been on a cruise without shows!!!

I'd be interested in this response to this question also as my wife and I are sailing on the Sunshine next year. 🙂 

Mac

18 hours ago, Hi Hat Crazie said:

Cruised on this ship last September from San Francisco to Hawaii 15 days. I think it rained one day so we really didn’t have any bad weather. Though the Pacific does tend to be rougher than the Caribbean. I don’t think she would have a problem.

It is, indeed a small world 🙂 I and my wife and my sister were on the SFO/Alaska 15 day cruise in August 2022.We also had just one day of rain which was the twelve day ( a small we sailed through from one a.m. for a couple of hours) so it really didn't even spoil that day. We really enjoyed that cruise.

Mac

13 hours ago, momin05 said:

Anything powder will definitely interest TSA. My husband has a powdered medicine and they swab it all the time. Sometimes we really struggle to get it through, especially international flights. 

Oh well,,at least I'm not alone. 🙂

Mac

3 hours ago, Twintowngirl said:

I have been bringing the big bottles on board the ship and never had a problem. I keep them in my carry on luggage and have never had to show that they are still sealed ( I do leave them sealed up). In November I am traveling to Australia so will bring the powdered form just for ease and less weight in my luggage. 

Hope you have better luck w/powered coffee creamer in carry on and TSA than I did when I flew from Atl to SFO this last June for our 15 day cruise to the Pacific islands. I had my creamer in a 22oz plastic coffee creamer jar and I guess a jar that BIG must have set off all kinds of red flags, because they (TSA) swabbed the container, the whole inside of my carry-on, my hands (one at a time) and all of my coat pockets.  Oh well, it's all in a day's air travel in today's world I guess.

Mac

7 minutes ago, Georgia Peach 4 said:

Where do you find this listed??? I want to check mine too please.

IF and I say 'IF' it's made and available I wish they had 'Sierra Mist sugar-free' But since it's not on the availability list, oh well guess I'll have to settle for whiskey and Pepsi zero. But that's okay, I like Pepsi zero/sugar free as well as well as the coke brands.

Mac 

2 minutes ago, staceyglow said:

Coffee that hot can cause second degree burns, and I would guess that most food service establishments would never knowingly serve coffee that hot.  

 

Remember the lady that got millions of dollars from McDonald's because she burned herself with their coffee? That's the temperature range her coffee was at. 

Oh, I know Stac, all I can say is, 'Thank goodness, for microwaves!' That's what I use at homes to warm my just brewed Keurig coffee to my microwave for 45sec/ 1min. That's just the right temperature range for my coffee. :))

Mac

1 hour ago, davy jones said:

Hot is good (actually it is assumed)

You'd think soooo and I agree w/you. But you'd be surprised at the times we got 75 degree coffee at the breakfast buffet.😨 I even started bringing instant coffee with me (because the Ledo water tap, which I guess is meant to be used for hot tea was VERY hot) finally would give me hot enough coffee to drink. Hard core coffee addicts would ask me, "How can you drink 'instant sludge'. I'd tell them, ' If I have to do that to get HOT coffee to drink it's worth it, to me. Any coffee is better than NO coffee. (IMHO)

Mac

6 hours ago, davy jones said:

I'm not a coffee "snob" and drink straight up black coffee.  I find it to be perfectly fine, particularly if the coffee urn is freshly brewed.

I'm definitly NOT a 'coffee snob' ( I love the ledo deck buffet coffee) But, I DO like it HOT about 190-200 degrees F. Lukewarm coffee( tome) is like a coffee milk shake. Yuck !!🥵

Mac

1 hour ago, Markmom18 said:

Until 10-1/2 years ago I drank alcohol …. a lot as I’m a recovering alcoholic.

📘💙 🌌
 

Anyway, I never stopped cruising. In addition to week long vacations, I still do 4 day cruises out of my home port of Long Beach. Booze Cruise?  Well, they aren’t for me anymore. Yes, people drink to excess on land and on sea. But, I love to cruise and to participate !!  
 

The trouble makers in life or on cruises can be left behind. IF needed I would just go to another spot.  Fingers crossed in years of cruising never witnessed a fight … yet.

 

🛳️🛳️

Bobbi
 

I know exactly what you're talking about. From the time I was six till I left home at nineteen my Dad was a weekend alcoholic 😞 Monday through Friday he was sober as a priest, BUT Friday night, he'd really tie one on and didn't stop till Sunday morning. Almost turned me completely off alcohol until I decided A REAL adult had to learn 'moderation' about dealing with alcohol. Rather ironic, I took a job in my early twenties as a uniformed deputy and spent the next ten years dealing with drunks every weekend.  So glad in our (My wife and I) 20+cruises since 2007 we've never ever seen a fight on any ship. She'd be shocked, as she's never seen such violence but I'd just shake my head and remember the countless times I was forced to use force to seperate a drunken brawl. People just do NOT realize how too much alcohol can change their  personality.

 

Mac

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I would have agreed with you until our recent trip to Japan.  When you travel around Japan, you see many Japanese moving around with luggage (often large pieces).  Everywhere we went, we primarily saw the hard side, carbon fiber, luggage with 4 wheels.  While we would be pulling our 2 wheel luggage, the Japanese would be pulling, pushing, having their luggage in front, on their side, etc.  They had an easier time maneuvering in crowded areas (and on trains) than we did with our trusty 2 wheelers.  Consider that you can push a 4 wheel bag, sideways, down a narrow island.  We were sold and will soon add some of those newer carbon fiber bags to our collection.

 

Hank

W-WWhattt !!😨 Ya mean like over here, American women and their hand bags ?? Shessssh !!

Mac

AND !! Some the BEST scuba diving in this hemisphere !🥰 Of course this is (IMHO)

Mac

49 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

OP, if you do decide to bring the yogurt and instant breakfast items along with you, you might want to reach out to the management team at which ever port you are sailing from.  If they are aware of your situation, they will give the security team a head's up as to what you are carrying on board, and there should be no problem.

 

Also, if the folks at the terminal can offer expedited boarding to you and your son, whether he is severely disabled, or if he autistic.  The Carnival program is called KultureCity.

IMPO this OP needs to take a DEEP breath, calm down reach out to KultureCity seeif they can give them some helpful advice about getting the necesay foods for his son-either provided by Carnival OR brought on board by the father. If needbe get a letter from the Dr (on his letterhead) stating the need by this patient. I'm sorry if this advice has already been posted and I didn't see it. Don't mean to waste anybodies time here.

Mac

49 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

https://www.carnival.com/about-carnival/special-needs/kulturecity-sensory-certified

 

4 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

@DarrenM, thank you for sharing your story.

 

The closest I've come is one cruise where we had a cruiser that needed medical assistance off the ship ASAP.  A medevac was tried, but it didn't happen - too windy where we were.  So we went to plan B - make haste to our final disembarkation port (I think it was Miami or Ft. Lauderdale).

That's our story too, we were on the Pride out of Tampa on a seven day W. Carribean cruise and in the early morning of our 2nd day at sea the captain made an announcement that we had a medical emergency to the nearest land based medical center (Nassau). Our midship balcony just happen to be on the starboard side, just aft of the gangway. We had a birdseye view, saw the emergency vehicle and the medical team and EMT's standing by. Saw a man walk down the gangway, followed by 2 figures in white ship's medical team (I guess) and a ship's officer (in an officer's whites, saw the shirt boards but couldn't tell his rank. About 15 mins, after the EMTS left, they pulled the gangway up and away we went. Funny thing is, Nassau was going to be our LAST stop before heading home, but of course no docking then, just a tender stop.

Mac

8 hours ago, mysticbluebmw said:

I was shocked at the few folks that complained about this review. They’re allowed to have an opinion.

Yup !! And that is the VERY reason I will NEVER read anybody's review (good OR bad) about certain elements of a cruise. Nor will I ever write a review about a past one.  I imagine three folks on the SAME cruise would and could write three different opinions after the cruise. 

Mac

3 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

No, they don't need to do a thing unless the auto tips were removed.  

  Whewwww ! (Sigh of relief) Thank you soo much !! We are so happy that ugly rumor was just that., we couldn't believe it was true. However, you never know when it comes to $$ what people are willing to do 

Mac

3 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

Yes, if the auto grats are paid, they get to get any additional. 

I have read here, on this topic, on another thread. That they (the steward) has to report the 'extra' tip. My wife has always given extra, usually between $100-150 on the last night but has never even thought to ask if this is true.. She had just considered this 'extra' besides the auto tip, a personal sign of how much we both appreciated great service. Does anybody know for sure if they do have to report the cash 'gift'. Thanks,

Mac

1 hour ago, staceyglow said:

They must have read on Cruise Critic how horrible Carnival cruises are, and decided to wait for a better cruise line to rescue them.

Odds are, they probably though it was an 'older' Costa slum ship and knew about their reputation after the Concordia sinking !! (I'm kidding !) 🙂

Mac