canderson

This was one of my favorites from a recent session with my cruise planner:

Beats Buttercup.

Popped up? Used to have name and cruise departure date printed on the face. Did that change?

Craziest one we ever had ( mid 4 figures ) was back summer/fall of 2021, getting ready for the the 'restart'. Repriced twice after final, and the difference was paid in OBC.

Yes. Just booked two online for specific times.

If they were inclined to go that route, I think they'd more likely do it with Silversea.

You mean those medallions that display your first and last name everywhere you go? I prefer a card that goes into a pocket.

Oh -- OK, I see now. We're on the same cruise! I see what you mean about your 'last port' being Lisbon now. I believe the rule is that goods must leave Spain within 90 days of VAT refund claims, which leaves you a way to deal with your Barcelona purchases before boarding the ship. The office that handles this is the Barcelona tourist information office located in the central square, Plaça de Catalunya (very near one of our favorite pre-cruise hotels there). They handle VAT refunds for tourists. Show them your passport, Express Pass for the cruise, and be sure to get as many of your receipts stamped for VAT refunds as possible. All the big stores do this, as do many of the smaller stores along La Rambla and the touristy neighborhoods. The good news is that Spain quit requiring a minimum purchase to claim VAT back in 2018, making it easier to qualify.

How are you getting from Barcelona to Lisbon?

We did wander aboard with an unusual bottle of Pimiento (an Allspice concoction) one time in the Caribbean. This version was, unusually, creamy and green, and I guess security thought it looked more like some kind of avocado skin lotion than it did a liqueur. Told us just to take it with us.

Sound like we're working with slightly different versions of the app, or perhaps it's me on Android and you on Apple? Seems to be a missing step: For the current Android app: Open up app to your cruise. There will be 3 icons across the top. Rightmost is the 'Person' icon. Click that. Under the name of your cruise, click "Select a different cruise > " Scroll down to "Don't see your cruise?" and click on "Let's add it now" Toward the bottom, you can now select "Browse our ships > " As @jelayne says, you can now select the ship/date of interest.

I know of no way to directly transfer OBC from one folio to another, but ... Pre-cruise, if you have linked your three reservations online, you can use your OBC to purchase anything for another person in your party that they might like... shore excursions, spa treatments, specialty dining, etc. While aboard, it's a matter of providing your card for any expenses you would like to pick up (e.g., shorex, specialty dining, wine at dinner, etc.)

There's also this outfit which seems to do it on a fee basis (3~6% of the refund amount), but we have not used their services: https://www.planetpayment.com/refund-locations?country=pt

Yes, that's also possible. I just did a web scan of where the kiosks are available, and don't see the one I mentioned in the list, but it may not be comprehensive. You can check on google maps or wherever to see if any of these addresses will be near where you'll be shopping/staying: Lisbon Airport Unicâmbio – Figueira Square Praça da Figueira nº 4 1100-240 Lisboa Unicâmbio – Portas De Sto. Antão R. Portas Sto Antão, 54/56 1050-268 Lisboa Novacâmbios – Amoreiras Shopping Center Store 1, 030 Novacâmbios – Colombo Shopping Center Stores 0, 510 Unicâmbio – Balcão Praça Central Alamedas das Comunidades Portuguesas 1700-111 Lisboa Unicâmbio – Colombo Shopping Center Stores 003 / 004 1500-392 Lisboa Unicâmbio – Vasco Da Gama Shopping Center Space Q6, Floor 0 1990-094 Lisboa Unicâmbio – Odivelas Strada Outlet Strada Shopping & Fashion Outlet, Loja 2134 Estrada da Paiã, Casal do Troca 2675-626 Odivelas Unichange – Races Of The East Gare do Oriente Gare Comercial, Store G-219 1998-011 Lisboa

Just turn them in at security. Yes, last night of the cruise, just as if you'd purchased from onboard "duty free".

So tell us - what was up there? 😁

Never did like it that loud. Hearing still good to about 12KHz R and 10KHz L in my 70s. Perhaps there's some correspondence there? Was a garage band part of your youth experience, or ???

Some of us just don't need constant audio stimulation to have a good time. Others feel as though if there's not sound, there's no 'vibe'. Others feel if there's no loud sound, there's no vibe. Any ship that wants to cater to a diverse demo had better be prepared for all of these, isolating them accordingly.

The only luck we've had with this pre-cruise in Lisbon was a kiosk or the service desk in the basement of El Corte Ingles. Be sure to bring your passport! You'll also need to be sure the shops you visit can prep the appropriate paperwork.

I think you're referring to a process called giclee. It's a legitimate way to create reproduction art -- providing it's use is properly disclosed to a potential customer, which seems to have been a problem. Being offered a Disney feature sericel with Walt's DNA in the pigment during my first encounter with these folks was how it became my last.

Sounds like your resorts have armed guards ... keeping you in! Ours don't. We've done plenty of touring around while using a resort as base camp.

Someone who, when speaking about getting the interior decorating gig for Celebrity, seemed to be proud of the fact that she'd never set foot aboard a cruise ship -- which is exactly how you get the kind of situation found in this photo. And that's but one example of MANY documented ergonomic failures of that sad bit of X history. Especially as regards staterooms, it takes a clever designer who really understand the space and storage needs of a passenger to get it right. There's a footprint to work within, and from there, it's a matter of using it in the best way possible. On various ocean-going and river ships over many years, we've seen it done brilliantly and poorly. Many of the Hoppen features tended toward the latter end of the spectrum.

I'll toss our family hat into the no-IV ring as well, even though none of us has set foot into one. How can we tell that an IV wouldn't be something we'd enjoy? Because we have the option of our own pretend IV at any time. Space isn't an issue in the staterooms we book. We can sit in front of our open (or closed) stateroom door with a terrific view to the world outside, or we can go out onto the veranda, park ourselves in real loungers, and enjoy it that way. Unless the weather is inclement, we almost always prefer the latter, and especially on our annual 'chill out' TA cruises, tend to spend quite a lot of time there. Two of the most flexible suites in the X fleet in this regard are the Sunset Suites and Penthouses of the M class. There, you have sun or shade as you like due to the varying overhangs. Informed by how we typically use the resources our non-IV staterooms, this provides good information for making future stateroom decisions.

Does she mention her time working for (shudder) Park West before joining RCG? Seems to have disappeared from her LinkedIn page.

The RHS would be a total hoot aboard, but even that runs 90 minutes as do most of the 'shorter' stage productions these days.