Z'Loth

412 days

Since I'm a early boarder, I'll enjoy a pool burger.

Per the State Department: Routine: 6-9 weeks Expedited: 3-5 weeks When my cruise got cancelled in early August, I used it as an opportunity to renew my passport card and book: Date mailed (August 10th) until date received (August 11th) at processing center in Irving, TX - 1 Day Notification of receipt (August 15th) - 4 Days Receipt of passport book (September 22nd) - 38 Days (5 weeks and 3 days) Receipt of passport card (September 24th) - 40 Days (5 weeks and 5 days) I also ensured that my Global Entry was up-to-date.

I just save myself the trouble and book the cruise through the travel agent associated with a major automotive club. I also insist that the travel agent purchase the travel insurance at the time of booking through their non-cruiseline associated provider. It's much easier to increase the coverage the closer you are to the cruise.

Mailed From Richardson – August 10th Received in Irving, TX – August 11th Acknowledgment Of Receipt – August 15th (4 days) Passport Book Received – September 22nd (38 days) Passport Card Received – September 24th (40 days) Total Time: 6 weeks and 3 days

As far as I can determine from the Texas Department of Public Safety, the "Proof Of United States Citizenship or Lawful Presence" and "Proof of Identity" must be original documents or certified copies, and a US Passport Book or Card satisfies both requirements. There is also a batch of alternative documents including birth certificate, naturalization papers, and so on. The "Proof of Residency" and "Vehicle Registration and Proof of Insurance" do not have the same requirement, therefore a PDF printout is OK. When I applied for my Texas Driver's License in early 2019, I had PDFs of my insurance statement with my Texas address which was acceptable proof of my residency. I'm not able to see that same list of documents as a download on the state of New York's site, just a online questionnaire based upon if you want a standard, RealID, or Enhanced IDs.

This is the long-delayed and often-postponed RealID requirement. The good part is that if you don't have a RealID-compliant drivers license, a US Passport Book or a US Passport Card works as a good substitute. (Note that US Passport Cards are NOT valid for international air travel, only domestic). Note that you can use your US Passport when applying for a RealID Drivers License. No, TSA Pre-Check isn't included as part of RealID.

I sent my passport book & card for non-expedited renewal on August 10th via priority mail, it was received on August 11th (per tracking, since Irving, TX is very close to where I live), and put into the system on August 15th. I just received both yesterday (September 24th) in the mail. You don't need to put in your passport information until much closer to your cruise departure date. Having said that, I would never cruise without a passport. In case of a medical evacuation back to the United States, the flight would require a passport.

I've often used the MDR to try out dishes that I ordinarily would not order in real life just to drive them a try. The MDR staff have gone out of their way to ensure that if what I ordered didn't come out as expected, they were quick to bring out a substitute.

Passport book arrived on Thursday September 22nd, passport card arrived on Saturday, September 24th. Applying some calculations: Date mailed (August 10th) until date received (August 11th) - 1 Day Notification of receipt (August 15th) - 4 Days Receipt of passport (September 22nd) - 38 Days (5 weeks and 3 days) Receipt of passport card (September 24th) - 40 Days (5 weeks and 5 days) The Trusted Traveler Program info has been updated for the Global Entry. I have also scanned the passport book and passport card and stored the digital image as a backup.

Two reasons: It's a great way to sample vacation destinations for possible future extended stays. It's a good way to be disconnected from the world for a week or so.

You can use the passport trip as a teaser, then the actual cruise announcement would be a good Christmas surprise, probably with a Cruise Ship ornament.

Good luck. May the odds be ever in your favor.

I'm hoping to take an Alaska cruise again in the future, and I would recommend anyone depart from Vancouver over Seattle. Otherwise, the ship makes a quick stop at Victoria to satisfy the foreign port requirement of the cruise. The nice part of YVR is that it is one of the "foreign" airports that has you passing through US Customs prior to boarding the flight, effectively making it a domestic flight. The bad part is if you have a departure from gate E90-E96 which has you making a trek to a small satellite terminal.

I support a competing online meeting product, but the basic underlying principles of online meetings are the same. The biggest bandwidth consumers are computer audio (VoIP) followed by webcam video, and someplace along the line is desktop sharing depending on the resolution shared. Remember that bandwidth on a cruise ship is very limited and shared among multiple passengers, and has high latency. The IT probably has it set up so that only key websites (including the cruise lines and airline websites) and the associated IP ranges and ports are allowed. Ports 80 (http) and port 443 (https) are certainly allowed, but not if the domain name (and associated subdomains) and/or IP ranges are blocked.

See https://www.msccruisesusa.com/manage-booking/before-you-go/travel-documents-visas .

Yes, I always take travel insurance for one big reason: emergency medical evacuation from a foreign country. Everything else is nice to have, and if the cruise line is fully refunding as a FCC, what's the problem?

My mother and I had a cruise booked for the end of next month, however, due to some recent heath issues, her physician has advised that she not cruise at this time. Besides kissing a sunset veranda goodbye and utilizing this as an opportunity to get my passport renewed. my mother received a refund on her cruise fare, however, I'm getting my refund as a Full Cruise Credit to be used "within one year". I'm still waiting for the credit to process (30 days per the travel agent), but I'm wondering if Celebrity's policies mean that I must book the cruise within one year or take the cruise within one year.

Status update.... the check cleared my financial institution on August 16th. In checking the passport status, "The U.S. Department of State has received your application for your passport book and card on 08/15/2022. We're now reviewing your application and supporting documents." Because of routine processing (I anticipate no need for my passport prior to 2023), it should take 11 weeks to process. That places it right around October 31st. As for my Global Entry card... it is valid until September 2025, which is one year later than I expected. My fingers are crossed that I can actually use the benefits as Covid put a monkey wrench into everyone's travel plans.

Then, I'm lucky then. Having lived in Sacramento for 41 years, I had seen many changes to the state. I've been wanting to move out for over a decade, and that opportunity came at the end of 2018. I ended up in the DFW area which has better career opportunities and travel opportunities. (Damn Covid!) I also purchased a home before the prices spiked, and was able to refinance at a low fixed rate. I'm very happy here, and have no desire to move back. Waitasec... didn't we have this conversation already?

After my 2018 Caribbean Cruise, I had jury duty, was laid off, but that turned into a job relocation from California to Texas and Covid which resulted in one-too-many 12+ hour workdays at work. I was ready for a 10 Night Caribbean Cruise that was booked as revenge for work having me work throughout my birthday week off due to a major upgrade. Alas, that blew up in my face when my mother had some medical issue, and can no longer take a cruise. I'm hoping to make it up next spring as a solo cruise.

Perhaps you should review this PDF from the Coast Guard about Surge Protective Devices Onboard Vessels. Specifically, the method of power delivery to a outlet on a marine vessel is different that the power delivery to an outlet of a home. Thus, while a surge protector works as expected in a home environment (if necessary, sacrificing itself for your electronic equipment to dump to ground), it can cause a fire on a ship.

In January 2005, my mother and I cruised on the Carnival Spirit to Acapulco which is part of the state of Guerrero. Now, if you look at the state department's Mexico International Travel Information and the corresponding Mexico Travel Advisory, you will see that the state of Guerrero is listed as one of five Mexico states which is listed as Level 4 (Red) - Do Not Travel due to crime and kidnapping. It even states "U.S. government employees may not travel to other areas of the state of Guerrero, including Acapulco, Zihuatanejo, and Ixtapa." I'm tempted to say that the port-of-call removal was in effect at least since 2017.

As I had to cancel my September cruise, I'm using this as an opportunity to renew my passport as it expires in a year's time. The nice part.... the passport acceptance facility is in Irving, Texas, which is in the DFW area, and I can confirm that the facility accepted it on August 11th. Since I'm utilizing normal processing, I should get a new passport book and card by October 26th.

If you read LifeHacker, you would read some anti-cruise articles such as 12 Reasons Why Cruises Are Terrible Vacations and Don’t Retire on a Cruise Ship, FFS. Here is my opinion... Cruising is essentially a good way to sample some destinations. You board what can be called a "floating hotel", unpack once, and that hotel takes you to each destination. Each cruise line is different and caters to a certain audience. You have Carnival which targets the value-minded cruisers. You have Disney which targets families. I tend to favor Celebrity which targets a more mature audience, thus fewer kids. Also, the length of the cruise makes a difference. I haven't taken any cruises shorter than seven days because of the reputation of shorter cruises being party and booze cruises. It doesn't help that, in the past, I had to fly quite a distance for anything more than a Mexican Riviera cruise, and even those destinations have been curtailed since I last cruised there in 2005. (Hint: Acapulco is off the destination list). At least DFW is a better departure airport than SMF.