Wennfred

1 hour ago, wazzu_coug said:

At a minimum do the white pass railroad. It’s a must do- prioritize it over every other activity on your trip.

There were some issues with Canada and the White Pass Railroad, so they shut it down for a while.

Will do the train ride next year.

5 hours ago, tallnthensome said:

I'm in Seattle now as well for the Spirit cruise tomorrow. 

Will see you at the Terminal tomorrow morning some time.

2 minutes ago, tallnthensome said:

I'm in Seattle now as well for the Spirit cruise tomorrow. 

Will see you at the Terminal tomorrow morning some time.

Some people will uber and some Hotels have their own shuttle that will pick you up and take you there, I will be renting a car so I can drive up to Buccee's and then return the car in Cape Canaveral.

I had already cancelled an excursion there for this coming week but now I don't think we will even Tender out there.  I will be there this coming Saturday, will keep you guys posted.

Fred

I book GTY all the time, once I scored a Mini Suite from a CAT 1A, anyways to answer your questions, a few weeks until cruise day or not even until you get to the cruise terminal.  Usually when I dont see anything until cruise day its a great upgrade.

I don't book cruises for cabins, so wherever I end up its fine with me, I can sleep on the basketball court and even when I score a free balcony, I might go out there once.

Fred

I'm a Solo cruiser most of the time and I just go to the Matre'D and ask to be seated at a singles table or a table with people 10 or 12 seats. Enjoy the company with others while in the MDR.

Fred

For those heading into Alaska like me, Skagway had its 3rd Rockslide in 1 week, so some cruise lines might be skipping this port of call. Keep an eye out for an updated email on this port.

Check Don's Family Vacations Video on Youtube as he just posted about this.

Fred

DrSea, made it to Seattle with those 3 large checked luggages, still have to make it back to San Diego next week, finger’s crossed.

I agree, I’m having to sail on Princess instead out of San Diego on Diamond this Sept and in January to Hawaii & back.

Also Royal is lacking the Oasis class ships on the Left Coast.

Fred

1 minute ago, BlerkOne said:

I may try just to play with, but TN seems more than a few miles from SD. 

My friend lives there so I had an address. There's a Starlink availability map somewhere that shows areas not far from you that they ship too, what's crazy is that it could be just across the road.

I will see if I can make a Vlog specific to that Art Studio onboard Spirit, will post the link here and show you guys my sucky art  LOL.

Fred

Just now, BlerkOne said:

I have excellent cable internet (usually), but a backup wouldn't be bad. Right now I'm hoping T-Mobile Home 5g expands to where I need it. Only $50/month, too.

I finally cut ties with Cox Cable, had them for many years as they were the only option, going to Starlink saved me $150 a month at the same speeds. 5G has lots of issues as it doesn't like to bend, you pretty much have to be line of site to get a stronger signal.  Download the Covered App so you can see you Cell Towers in your area so you can point your antenna in that direction when that time comes.

1 minute ago, BlerkOne said:

I keep looking at it from time to time, but availability in parts of Louisiana and Texas were lacking last I checked, and availability date just keeps getting pushed out.

You can have it in a week, just use someone a few miles over from your location that you know and have it shipped there.  San Diego was one of the last places they shipped too as they started in the northern states and canada, I had mine shipped to Johnson City TN, arrived in a week, I took a drive to pick it up.

4 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Yes, they are putting lots of space junk in low orbit. He is doing good work in Ukraine which makes me think some are working on a plan to disrupt.

 

https://downdetector.com/status/starlink/

 

 

Here's a great view of the sky, Starlink Coverage.

Starlink Coverage Tracker

6 minutes ago, DrSea said:

~25 cruises. I have had broken luggage, such as the wheel or the plastic lining inside the suitcase. Things get crushed and tossed around. Liquid containers like sun block explode. 

 

I have had lost luggage with flying. It was a huge suitcase, and we lost hundreds of dollars worth of clothing. And I didn't have travel insurance (I was a kid at that time so cut me some slack). 

 

Just bc it didn't happen last time doesn't mean that it won't happen the next time. 

 

Happy cruising. 

Believe me it can happen, I'm just stating my luggage stats LOL... I fly out tomorrow morning to Seattle so I hope you didn't Jinxed the hell out of me  LOL 

No Lost, Broken, Missing Luggage is going to mess up my trips, just get to where you need to go, buy new stuff and submit a claim later.

Have a good day.

Fred

2 minutes ago, DrSea said:

Also, if your luggage gets pulled aside and you have to get retrieve it from the naughty line, then at the very least that is 30 min of your life that you lose bc you had to go to the location, stand in line, open it up to show them the item in question, and then walk back to your room. If you do it on the first night, which would make the most sense since you need your cloths, then there can be a long wait. 

 

To me, since I am able to physically carry it for now since I am in my early 30s, I will do so. It just cuts down on a lot of trouble for me. It's inconvenient holding onto the luggauge at first, but it's a bigger headache when you get concerned if someone stole your luggage, lost your luggage, damage your luggage, or have to go retrieve it from the naughty line. For me personally, it's a decision i made long ago when I was a kid and had my luggage pulled aside for something stupid. I carried my luggage since and haven't looked back. 

 

To ea their own. Everyone enjoys their vacations differently. But it's nice to have options. 

35 Cruises to date, never had any issues with lost luggage and I fly cross country, I'm 58 and can carry on my own luggage as they only weigh 48 Lbs each.  If and when I hit my 50th cruise, I will post here with any lost luggage issues.

Fred

4 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

While it sounds good, Starlink has outages, incomplete coverage, and I think throughput could be an issue once stressed.

I have Starlink, no issues here with outages and there are videos online of RV'ers and Boaters out in the middle of the ocean, its already up and running. If you follow SpaceX, Elon is launching Starlink satellites weekly with currently over 2500 satellites to deal with this incomplete coverage you speak about. Version 2 satellites which are much larger will be going up within the next 2 to 3 weeks

Fred

Spirit used to sail out of San Diego so I Sailed on her 4x and will be on Spirit once again this coming Wednesday, the ship is the right size with the right number of passengers, nice decor and very easy to navigate around the ship.

They are the only ones that now have an Art class where you get to oil paint on a canvas, also theres another class where you can color on Tiles.  I've only seen this on youtube but will try it out, I heard its first come first serve so you have to be there before it opens to sign up.

Fred

They always have a 10am - 10:30am but they always open the doors at 11:30am to board the ship, and that's if the ship arrives by 6:40am. Panorama 3x since the restart.

Fred

Its always been Same day service with me, I put it out on the bed in the morning and returned back by 5pm.

Could be a trust issue or people don't want to tip the porters 1 freakin dollar per bag, I will not start my cruise with a sprain back, use the porters and spend the extra dollar per bag, probably will save your back or some injury, remember most of the Elevators are busy and I can't stand having to jump over people's luggage over on Lido.

Fred

Freedom of the Seas (Royal) is beta testing Starlink which will be a game changer, a few videos on that already.

Water and Unsweetened Iced Tea, just bring your packets of Stevia, the main dining room does not offer stevia, there are 1 or 2 stations in the buffet area on Carnival that does carry the green stevia packets. Royal does not carry Stevia, but they do offer the ones that causes cancers like sweet and low and equal, light pink, blue and yellow packets.

Note that the Sugar Free Cakes and Desserts are not Diabetic friendly as they are made with wheat flour and Sucralose (Splenda) and Splenda does spike blood sugars in some folks.

You can draft up and print out a Keto Custard Dessert and hand it over to the Matre'D, they will be happy to accommodate you so that you can have desert with everyone else.

Also note that if you are suffering from some type of Neuropathy, nerve damage in the hands and feet then stay far away from anything that has Aspartame especially diet sodas.

Fred

Majority of my cruises are inside cabins so no need for a balcony in Cabo, I can save and get on more ships that way.

Fred