Magicat

On 3/20/2024 at 6:20 AM, CDNPolar said:

Not to rain on your parade, but we have abandoned the window / aisle concept expecting that maybe, just maybe, we will have the full row.  

 

We have watched flights and seats for many years and now more than ever flights rarely operate under full and it is like a lottery win if you get an empty seat beside you.

 

We will watch the seat maps and even the day of the flight they show open seats - lots of them - and then we are amazed as the people keep coming and coming and coming until every seat is full.

 

We have perhaps a unique strategy if we are flying economy.  I especially do not like to be blocked in on an overnight flight, so will never book a window.  I don't want one or two people between me and the aisle.  I also cannot tolerate a middle seat.

 

We book aisle seats one in front of the other.  I will be 25C and my husband is 26C.

 

We love this strategy!  

 

We also add to this strategy, because we are both right handed, that we only book aisle seats on the left side of the aircraft - so mostly the "C" seat.  This is because during the meal, your right arm is on the aisle and not encumbered by whoever is sitting in the middle seat.

 

We don't talk during a flight anyway...  my husband sleeps for most of any flight and I watch movies.

We have done the strategy of sitting same letter different row and it works out great. 

Sorry to hear about your mother.  I lived in Mexico for 6 years and yes, hospitals, clinics, labs and every medical profession can be found in neighbourhoods that are not where you would find a modern medical facility.  Inside they are modern and well equipped. 

 I had my appendix burst while in Mexico and had to pay for the surgery before they would perform the operation.  Good thing I had my credit card with me in my go bag.  When I had my eye worked on I was on the table waiting for the funds my wife was transferring to the clinic to go through before they put me under.  This is how it works in Mexico in general not just in the cruise ports. 

When paying sometimes you have an option to be charged in the local currency or Canadian.  Unless you have a card that waives fees, choose to pay in Canadian.  We have found that the exchange rate the bank of the machine is better than the exchange rate from Visa.

We used the 747 Bus to take us downtown.  Fortunately the bus stop was 1 block from our hotel but I am sure a cab or Uber from the nearest stop shouldn't be very expensive.

On 12/13/2023 at 4:39 PM, LHT28 said:

if you somehow  can connect the  bookings

https://www.torontopearson.com/en/connections

 

Wondering why you just not  fly from Mexico to FLL & avoid the trex back to Toronto?

Long story.... but one reason was that the flight times direct from Monterrey for a reasonable cost were less than desirable.  Using a combination of cash and Aeroplan points we found this as our best option.  There were other factors that played into this decision as well.

1 minute ago, gnome12 said:

 

MagiCat

I would think that IF it is possible to link the 2 itineraries that you would not need to go through Canadian customs and immigration; you would be treated as a transit passenger and would go straight to US pre-clearance. 
 

If you remain on 2 separate tickets I think you would need to go through Canadian customs and immigration before claiming your luggage and checking in for the second flight. 

Interesting, thanks

I will have to call, thanks.  Just wondering if we do connect the flights will we have to collect our luggage and recheck them for the flight to FLL?

Hi, has anyone ever tried to link 2 different itineraries on Air Canada?  For example, we are flying from Mexico on one flight reservation and then 5 1/2 hours later flying to FLL on a different flight booking.

Another question if it is possible to link the different flights, if we arrive in YYZ from MEX on an Air Canada flight and then fly out on a connection to FLL, we would have to clear Canadian Customs and go to US pre clearance.  Would we be required to collect our bags and recheck them? This part is new to us as YYZ is usually our final destination.  Thanks in advance for your answers.

Yes.  There are 2 locations.  One before you get on the water taxi and the other one in town.

We received our Covid Pfizer and flu shot over the weekend at Shoppers.

Last year on while on a cruise through Norway and Iceland, we purchased a EU sim card in Copenhagen.  I believe it was a 30 day sim card with local calls throughout Europe and I believe it also included US and Canada with 8 gigs of data.  This cost was 30 Euros.  Pretty cheap in my mind.  We will be going to UK in 2 weeks and although my company pays for my phone, some merchants cannot call a foreign number.  Found this out with trying to arrange a ride share.

I cannot say how what it is like now, but in the past we have received 3 Covid shots (2 in Mississippi and 1 in Texas).  We received flu shots last year in Florida before a cruise.  We made appointments and used a hotel address.   We did have to pay for the flu shot but we had insurance that they took and billed directly.  They never asked for id or proof of address.

I remember having cell reception on a recent TA while passing NFLD.  

On 7/24/2023 at 2:14 PM, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Get people to call you on Whatapp or messager , than you don’t have worry about a phone number 

Totally agree with using Whatsapp.  Works extremely well when travelling.

You will have the option of quantity when you reserve.

Landing in Galveston we had an unopened bottle of free wine from the ship.  Yes, we did not have an opportunity to drink it.  When disembarking we were asked by Customs after immigration and they asked if we had any liquor.  Being honest Canadians, we replied yes.  They then asked to see it (in our checked luggage) and told us we would be required to pay $6 or $8 duty.  Since it was free, I decided to surrender it.  It would have been faster to pay their extortion as the paper work for them to seize it took about 10 minutes.  We would most likely never bring booze off a ship in Galveston.

On a side note, we have Texas friends who do it all the time and do not declare their bounty.  This is our experience in Galveston. 

6 hours ago, cruisegirl1 said:

There are NO vouchers on  departure day.  Staff are afraid to say no.  (I guess that makes one lucky).  Surely we have all seen the way a passenger verbally attacks staff when the passenger is told no?  And in this case, "I am Diamond"..... is the fir phrase.  I'm sure staff are instructed to do whatever the passenger wants. 

 

Think about it.  On a 7 night cruise you get vouchers  the day you get on.  Let's use Saturday departure.  You get vouchers Sat, Sun, Mon, Tues, Wed , Thurs, Fri.   That is 7.   No vouchers for departure the following Saturday. 

M

5 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

This varies by ship and sailing. We got new vouchers on the morning of turnaround day of a B2B last year but many have reported not receiving them recently.

We used them on the Radiance back in April.  Maybe it is as @cruisegirl1 states that it is the luck of the draw.

5 hours ago, cruisegirl1 said:

If your wait staff gave your free drink, consider yourself lucky. There are no vouchers departure morning.    Drink vouchers cut off at 5 AM ( or is it 5:30) every morning including the morning of departure   Staff are afraid a passenger will get angry and give a bad survey if they don't provide a drink.  There are NO vouchers on departure morning so someone besides you is paying.  I hope it is not the waitstaff.  

 

 

As a shareholder I hope they are not giving away free drinks.

Yes.  We did it before.  We purchased a small suitcase to hold all our schnapps and glass wear we were planning to bring back home during our pre cruise trip in Germany.  When I was summoned to the naughty room I informed them to keep the entire suitcase.  They were baffled but it did happen.  Although we did try it again but they removed the contents out of our bag and brought the bag.  Wasn't really expecting the bag as we did not need anything in it.  So if you do declare it with someone, please report back as we are planning on doing this again in October.  Cheers

If you are or were military, there is a program that offers amazing deals for all sorts of vacations.  DW got our neighbours a tremendous deal for an El Cid in Cancun for a suite with their own hot tub and access to the other 3 or 4 properties for $1400 for the week all in.   

Sorry to the OP, to answer your question, there is usually liquor tasting near the shops.  So if you have forgotten what vodka tastes like, you can sample it there.

22 hours ago, Joseph2017China said:

Day one is sailing day. You get 5.   The day you get off at 8:00am you get no free drinks, but since nothing is open, it doesn't matter. (unless you wanted a coffee)

Au contraire, you will get another 5 free vouchers on departure day.  DW and I always go to the MDR for breakfast and get Bailey's in our coffee and multiple mimosas.  Wait staff have no issues running for drinks. 

Right now we are trying to confirm on our next B2B that you will get another 5 vouchers when you check into the next cruise.  I am assuming yes as it will be a new folio.  

As a share holder of Royal Caribbean stocks I would advise against this and pay the extra. 😁