maluhia87

7 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

Not the same terminal.

 

Hopefully, you didn't land in terminal 5 and have to go to one of the others.  It is a cluster$% in that terminal. 

Super hot at the fair, I was probably on the verge of heat exhaustion. Here are the foods...

Turkey leg

Dole Whip

Beer samples 

Cheese on a stick 

Cherry Limeade Blonde beer

Not pictured gyro tray with tzatziki and a bucket of cookies. 

Made watermelon jalapeño margaritas in the room

Fastest way to make friends in a hotel... walk past with a grilled porterhouse 

Not the fair yet, just a trip to Wisconsin for fried cheese curds. 

We headed north for the Minnesota State Fair tomorrow, so food-on-a-stick photos forthcoming. Only supposed to be 99°F tomorrow and we have sunscreen so should be an interesting day. Labor day will be spent driving home. 

6 hours ago, erby2283 said:

Cross posting since not much traffic on the ports of call board.

 

Haven't sailed Carnival since 2015 and have only been to the Mediterranean once but that was on RC.  Can someone explain how the distribution of tender tickets works on Carnival since FTTF (which I usually buy) is not available for Mediterranean sailings?  On Royal, you had to go down to get in line about 2 hours prior to port arrival time and get your tender ticket. Wasn't sure if it was similar on Carnival? Have heard stories about taking hours to get off the ship in Santorini and really don't want to purchase a ship excursion unless I have to.  5 total ships in port in Santorini - about 8k passengers. Thanks in advance. 

We had an excursion to get off the ship in Santorini, which made that part easier, so I cannot answer that question. Our problem was 4 ships in port trying to get cable cars back down to the ship.  We stood in line for over 1.5 hours, mostly in the sun.  

I highly recommend getting a mesh clothespin bag, very small for packing.  I got some on Amazon, and they hold two full-size shampoo/conditioner and a fash wash. 

1 hour ago, Funsince1983 said:

We're planning on getting there around 8-8:30 for an 11am flight. My sister said you never know how long it'll take to get through security here - could be 5 minutes, could be an hour. They have a separate security line for flights directly to the US and we're the only flight departing around our time so hopefully should be quick. I'm also hoping the issue is just that I'm checking two bags. My mom bought too much crap and had to buy another bag so we needed to check that extra bag we didn't come with, we also put wine in her suitcase she did come with so I checked a bag, so we could check her two. Then I got a message that it was a full flight and I could check my carry on for free so I did that too - hoping the two checked bags is the issue. 

Just remember EU airports may not let you check in or check luggage until 2 hours prior to your flight time.  

12 hours ago, #55worktoplay said:

 

I think maybe people are getting tired of Caribbean. 

This is where we are with our vacation planning.  Unless it is some place new or an AI in Mexico, we are pausing on Caribbean cruises. 

25 minutes ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

What happened? I sailed on the Star on my first Alaskan cruise back in 2005. I’m sure it’s been overhauled since then. 😂

Sounds like food quality is an issue, lack of employees, and poor customer service. 

I'm eyeing a Norway/Iceland cruise in 2025, but it is hard to commit after seeing the issues with NCL Star.  

59 minutes ago, Hogladyrider said:

 

Thank you, now I just have to keep watching web sites to see when they actually are accepting reservations for 2025, as of now they are not via website, but maybe if I called...hmmmm

General rule with hotels is just under one year out for new reservations. 

If possible, I always book fully refundable (not charged until the stay occurs) rates directly through the hotel website.  This way, I can watch rates and reduce my costs if a better rate is available.  

Our Regal location is not one of the cinemas we frequent.  Our Tuesday $5 options are Alamo or ACX. Marcus used to have $5 Tuesdays and free popcorn, but they raised the prices and eliminated the popcorn offer.  

10 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

Yep. I’ve seen everything except blue beetle and strays which I plan to see this week. Oppenheimer was good. I have it 4th out of 25. But I didn’t think it needed to be three hours. I could’ve cut some stuff out. It dragged a little. Where with MI 7, three hours flew by.

 

 

The first 45 minutes were a struggle on Oppenheimer.  I thought MI7 was a more entertaining movie, and I'm excited to see how they are going to finish out the series.   

We are planning Blue Beetle as our $4 movie this Sunday.  I wish the $4 day was on Saturday this year, but I will take it any day. 

2 hours ago, Rulers Mom said:

Once on a cruise several years ago my husband’s employer wrote a bunch of bad checks, including a large “bonus” one to us.  It bounced while we were at sea, and caused every check we wrote to bounce, including to our credit cards.  That cut off purchases with our sign & sail account for a few days until we could get in touch with our banks/cards back home and sort it out.  

 

Not easy to do when you are on a ship.  We had to cancel everything we hadn’t pre-paid, and held our breath the rest of the trip when we made a purchase.  It sucked, and it was embarrassing.  Some of the payments weren’t even due, and the card companies cut us off anyway.  

I've had a cc stolen and didn't find out until our first port stop. Luckily I could contact the CC without incurring additional charges, and we had enough other zero transaction fee cards for the trip.  

Classes start tomorrow, and the unhealthy treats are around for the first week.  Tomorrow there are donuts/muffins, Tuesday - bagels, Wednesday - pancakes.  I wouldn't be surprised to see ice cream treats since we will be in triple digits most of the week.  

40 minutes ago, Hogladyrider said:

This way we would train from Vancouver back to Seattle upon return from our B2B cruise and rent a car and drive back to Yuma.

 

Also, reserve the one-way rental as soon as you are able.  I've found that several rental agencies will not allow one-way rentals as it gets closer to the travel dates due to vehicle shortages.  

51 minutes ago, wemjam said:

If I remember the last time I did it, we also didn't get seat assignments right away though even though the air was added when we booked the cruise months out.... we had to wait until closer to sailing.

 

This depends on the airline you book.  We currently have Fly2Fun reservations for our Australia trip with Delta.  I can see the reservations on the Delta app and picked seats.  

We went to Texas de Brazil last night, and got to go back where they cook the meats. For some reason neither of us expected them to be using lump charcoal. 

40 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

So, is there a limit to how many bottles?  Can DH bring two bottles of wine and I bring a bottle of liquor at embarkation in Rome?  Just curious because we will have two days at sea and I would like wine at dinner both nights and cocktails in the room.  TIA!

No limits. Pretty sure I brought four bottles of wine and a bottle of liquor in my bag since we had two sea days first.  

We bought wine at every port last year when we sailed.  

28 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

 I went out for some lunch at Pho Dai Loi II on Buford Highway for some pho. Maybe not the greatest thing to eat when it's 95 degrees out, but good. 

 

 

There is no wrong time to eat pho.  One of my favorites (I prefer rare beef pho), and have no qualms about eating it during the middle of summer, it is usually hot/humid here during the summer.  

18 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

All I can speak on is American and Alaska. As of last year with Alaska you could get in with any first class ticket and with American you could get in with a first class international ticket. The Alaska lounge in Seattle is very nice. No clue on United though. 

 

I think we are saying the same thing.  She wasn't going to be bumping to first class (Polaris on United), just up to premium plus (like old school first class seats, not lay flat), which wouldn't get lounge access.  

2 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

 You’ll probably get access to their lounge with free food and drinks if you get to the airport early….and I would get to the airport early.

 

Most airlines have taken away lounge access unless you book their highest tier, which would be Polaris for United, or have the right credit card.