Hlitner

Have only seen Apple products on Celebrity where they actually have an Apple-based store with technical support. The prices on Celebrity are about the same as you would pay in the States and we have never seen any bargains. Some Europeans tell us that it is a good deal (for them) because there are no taxes (or VAT) charged for Apple products purchased on Celebrity. Hank

Am in my mid 70s, cruise on a very regular basis (with many different lines) and have never heard of such a thing. We have never needed any kind of doctors or medical letter and that would include long cruises, expedition cruises, etc. Hank

One reason (out of many) that we like the GeoBlue Trekker is the high coverage amounts for both medical and evac.

We recently were in the YC and yes, our bottle of sparkling stuff was waiting in our suite. Our Butler asked us what bottle (we only got one) we wanted for our bar but the options were very limited. I asked for Scotch....but told no. Asked for Cognac and told no. Was told I could choose between some brand of Vodka, Gin or Jack Daniels. None of that was of interest and I told our Butler no biggie since we generally prefer to get our drinks in the lounge. But he was pretty insistent, pointing out that we could do what most folks do and just take the unopened bottle home. So now, I have an unopened bottle of Jack in my bar where it will likely remain unopened since we tend to drink other brands. As Morpheus says, they have a few rows of the theater (enter at the top right) reserved for the YC and, on our cruise, there were always plenty of seats. Our Butler insisted on taking us the first night, but after that we simply went on our own. I should add that we were very pleased (as usual) with everything and everyone in the YC. The YC Director (Hugh) gets very high marks for helping us with an issue. As always, the YC staff goes above and beyond 🙂 Hank

Perhaps some are not aware of the current US Department of State's Travel warning when it comes to Acapulco: "U.S. government employees may not travel to other areas of the state of Guerrero, including to tourist areas in Acapulco, Zihuatanejo, and Ixtapa." The Canadian Government has a warning which says: to AVOID NON-ESSENTIAL TRAVEL TO all Guerrero, except the cities of Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo and Taxco Folks who want to know more can certainly go the State Department's web site. And for those who do not know, Acapulco is the major city in the State of Guerrero. Hank

I hope that one of the professional mariners comment on this thread. But, unless I have this wrong, SOLAS requires that Life Jackets be placed in easily accessible places and their position should be clearly marked On most of our cruises (over about fifty years) there were always Life Jackets in the cabin and additional Lifejackets in lockers on the boat deck (which were clearly marked). I imagine the Life Jackets on the Seashore are in clearly marked places, but we never noticed any of these places and they were never pointed out to us when we check-in at our muster station (which was simply an indoor lounge). Those of us who have cruised for a few years would have noticed many changes in how muster drills have been handled. At one time folks were to either put on or carry their life jackets from their cabin to the muster stations (which were usually outdoors near one's assigned life boat). At those drills you would get to see and listen to the staff assigned to your specific life boat. As ships have eliminated the wide promenade deck (generally used as a boat deck) changes were made. Most lines moved away from having passengers put on their life jackets and go to their muster stations because there were too many injuries from folks tripping over straps allowed to drag on the floor. In many cases, muster stations were moved to indoor public rooms (one can imagine how well this would work if part of the ship were to fill with smoke). It was common for staff to demonstrate how to put on a life jacket and passengers were often than asked to put on their jackets so they could learn the procedure and how to fasten the straps. But now we generally get an in cabin video. Like many folks, we play this video while we are unpacking and seldom pay much attention. The system can ascertain that every cabin plays the video, but there is no way to know how many actually watch. Even when we had to go to real muster stations, be quiet, and listen to instructions there were some folks who ignored the speakers. Now, with only cabin videos we would assume even more folks completely ignore the instructions In a real emergency we are completely at the mercy of crew, many of whom are relatively new and inexperienced. When I think of the modern history of real emergencies, I can recall the Oceanos where the ship's Captain abandoned his ship (a contract entertainer actually was the real hero who went to the bridge and handled some of the evacuation procedures) or the Costa Concordia where the Captain "accidently" fell into his lifeboat as thousands were left on the ship! Not a great track record of how to handle emergencies. We would all like to think that the crew on any ship is well trained and will do the right thing, but that is an unknown thing until there is a real emergency. Hank

The person to whom we referred had an awful lot of SB days and apparently cruised in one of the most expensive suites. I do not know how it all worked, but suffice it to say that she always had her place at the Retreat.

Lecturers are more common on longer cruises. HAL and Cunard have long had active lecture programs which are very common on their longer cruises and voyages with many sea days. Many of the luxury lines (i.e. Seabourn, Silverseas, Regent, etc) have lecturers on many of their cruises (especially those with a few sea days). We have also had some lecturers on a few of our longer Celebrity cruises (which had a few sea days). One common thread is that lectures work well on sea days and are not a common thing on port days. I would be remiss without mentioning the best lecturer we have ever heard during more than 45 years of extensive cruising. He was Dr. Alan Wright, a retired Astronomer from down under who, at one time, was the Director of the largest Radio Telescope in the Southern Hemisphere. Dr Wright lectured on a Oosterdam trans pacific cruise where we had many sea days. I think he did 9 or 10 lectures. Within a few lectures the word got around and the main theater was packed. After his last lecture he got a long standing ovation (we had never seen this with other lecturers). He later became a regular lecturer on the Viking Orion. Hank

I will share an amusing recent tale about Schengen rules. Back in March-April we took a TA cruise from Miami to Monte Carlo. There were a few stops along the way (in and out of Schengen countries) but our Passports were never stamped. Upon arrival at Monte Carlo, we simply walked off the ship onto the pier where we were met by our car/driver. The Monoco authorities never met us, looked at our Passports, or entered any kind of entry stamp. We spent a few weeks in Europe (including two domestic flights within the Schengen zone) without any issues. As we were flying back to the USA we went from Prague to Munich and than on to the USA. When we arrived at Munich (on a domestic commuter flight from Prague) we had to go through a German authority Passport check. The German official got angry because we did not have any Schengen country entry stamp in our Passports. There ensued somewhat of a "discussion" between two German officials as they decided what to do. They ask us for documentation of our previous travel and we did have our cruise info, boarding passes, etc. After about 10 minutes of heated discussion (the two officers did not agree on anything) we were finally waved through the check-point (without an entry stamp) and later boarded our flight to the USA with no more problems. It will be very interesting to see how and if the 90 day rule is going to be enforced. Will folks be fined on the spot? Will they be tossed in the clink (unlikely)? Will they sit around while officials decide what to do? Will they be denied future entry to any Schengen country? Will they only be denied entry to the country where they were caught (ie. Germany)? Who knows. In the past we have done many TA cruises, and, in most cases, our Passports never received an entry stamp. Ironically, the big exception was the UK (not a Schengen country) where their officials were insistent on face-to-face interviews, and they always did stamp our Passports. There are 26 Schengen countries, and they are still 26 separate countries trying to use common regulations. But the reality is that certain countries are much more efficient than others. And so the comedy will likely continue. Hank

I will give a quick overview right here :). You have 3 basic options. 1. Taxi 2. Uber/Lfyt and 3. Some kind of shared shuttle transportation. Uber/Lyft will take you from your pick-up place of choice to wherever you want to go and do it for as little as 1/2 the price of a taxi. To use Uber or Lyft (similar but competing companies) you need a Smartphone...their App, and you must set-up an account. It only takes a minute to set-up accounts with Uber and Lyft. If you want to use a taxi you simply walk outside of the terminal and head to the nearby taxi queue. For Uber/Lyft you must generally go to a designated place (there are signs in the airport) for pick-up. But when you use the App you can interact with the driver and establish an exact pickup spot. As to shared shuttles, there are several companies that have an online presence and you can find them by simply Googling MIA Airport Shuttles. The shuttles are always less expensive than a taxi, but not much cheaper than Uber/Lyft if you are two or more persons. Shuttles can also mean having to stop at multiple hotels before you finally are dropped at your own hotel. As you might have guessed, my own choice is to use Uber/Lyft. In fact, we recently did this when we needed to go from the Port of Miami to FLL. The cost of that Lyft ride was about $28 and with tip it cost us $35. I believe a taxi would have been at least $50. Recently, the Miami taxi system abandoned their "fixed price" system for certain routes and now do everything based on the meter. This is a lot more expensive, and that meter can really cost you if you get stuck in a traffic jam (pretty common in South Florida). Uber/Lyft give you a set price (it shows on the App before you make a commitment). I have a personal bias against South Florida taxis because we have had two very negative experiences when taxis tried to rip us off by taking the wrong (and must longer) routes. Since I have lived in south Florida I generally know the routes (and one can also pull up the best routes on any smartphone. I assume that most taxis are honest, but I prefer the lower cost and fixed pricing of Uber or Lyft. Hank

Good point and perhaps that is why we have not done a ship review in years. Do not get me wrong, when we go aboard a new (to us) ship, DW and I will generally spend a couple of hours walking all the public decks just to see what there is to see. We recently did this on the MSC Seashore (although we never went into the kids/teens area) during our first few hours on the ship. On the other hand, I have seen the morgue on one ship and also visited the crew area on that same ship. Not sure I want to visit the morgue or brigg on every ship :). It is no different when we fly Business Class on a large aircraft. No reason for us to spend time visiting economy or trying out their bathrooms. Perhaps if I worked for the Points Guy and was reviewing a new A350 I would roam the aircraft, but that is not my thing. Consider that on MSC we can go out to the regular pool deck, sit in a lounger packed together like sardines, and say we have done our duty. or... We can just go to the YC's pool deck, grab some nice loungers with thick cushions and think...."glad to be in the YC."

Ahh. We used to post that we are "equal opportunity cruisers" having experienced 16 different cruise lines. DW and I love travel and cruising but have always enjoyed the variety we experience via different lines, ships, places, etc. I was recently having some fun with a frequent CC poster who seems to be wedded to Oceania. I pointed out that while "O" might be very satisfying, he will never be able to go ashore on Antarctica if he only cruises/travels on "O." My point is that when you limit yourself to a single cruise line, hotel chain, airline, etc. you are limiting your travel options. And by the way, we are on the verge of booking a cruise on the new Explora Journeys. Why? Because we have some faith in the management team, like the itinerary, and are curious to try another cruise line :). Perhaps they will be better than SB or Silverseas, or perhaps they will an awful product. But the spirit of adventure lives on in this old man :). Hank

Even HAL charges me for a cappuccino (although we get a 50% discount) unless we have a drink package. My reason for posting about MSC was the thread (not started by me which I thought was misleading). As to this new MSC thing about charging for some shows (on a few ships) it is not something I like just like I do not like that HAL has add ons in the MDR, Pinnacle, etc. The topic about "luxury" is near and dear to my heart. To the best of my knowledge there is no other mass market line that does LESS for their suite passengers than HAL! The trend towards "ship within a ship" and special Suite perks has swept the entire cruise industry. What has HAL done? Yes, they have the Neptune Lounge which does not even include unlimited adult beverages. They have some special dining for the big suites which anyone can buy-in via Club Orange. So now, we have MSC trying to charge for some specialized shows (keep in mind those ships still have the usual free Production Shows). I do not like this latest idea and a show would have to be very special before we would consider paying extra. One thing DW and I love about MSCs Yacht Club is that inside that enclave nobody asks to see a cruise card or even talks about paying for anything. You just get what you want. If you do want to order something truly expensive like Remy XO or JW Blue, they will warn you that you must pay (it exceeds the $15 per drink allowance). There is a menu of the very expensive booze items for those who have an interest. But even the most upscale lines like Seabourn, Regent, etc. have expensive wines and booze items that is above the all-inclusive items. You mention NCL's Haven Suites and that is a common topic among many folks in the YC. We have overheard plenty of discussion of the Yacht Club vs Haven Suites and which is better. And now folks are adding the Retreat cabins on Celebrity to that discussion. I have not heard anyone talk about HAL's Neptune/Pinnacle Suites as part of that conversation because HAL is not even a player in that world. As to being a cheering section, no doubt I support any line that has given us reason to cheer just like we will trash any line we think deserving of negative comments. I believe that is what CC is all about...talking about the positive and the negative. We have expressed similar feelings about All-Inclusive's, Airlines, and hotels on appropriate forums. The nice thing about doing this online is that if folks want to tune it out, they can ignore any poster or post. Hank

No question we would enjoy being on SB more than HAL. But like many cruisers, we make compromises for itineraries. Hank

We had the same thought when on the ship. I posted this somewhere else on CC (a couple of weeks ago) and it got little reaction). I assume that they technically meet the SOLAS requirements and assume they have the appropriate number of required life jackets stored at the lounges used as mustering stations. But passengers never got to see, hold, or try on their life jackets. For us, it was a very strange feeling, and I did not like knowing we had no life jackets sitting somewhere in our suite Muster drills have become very lax on nearly all the cruise lines. In the old days we had to go to the outdoor boat stations, learn how to put on and secure our life jackets, etc. Now, we get an in-cabin video (which we assume most folks completely ignore) and must then check-in (which takes 5 seconds) at the appropriate muster lounge. Very scary. This is going to cause big problems when some ship has a real muster emergency. And then we will have the usual finger pointing. Hank

Interesting thread. We have a 42 day cruise (including more than a month in Japan) booked on HAL for March-April 2023. We would have preferred SB, but they have nothing in Japan. The reality is that the mass market lines (primarily Princess and HAL) routinely (except for the COVID shut down) have interesting Japan itineraries. I guess the "suits" in Seatfe just do not think there is a market for leionger interesting Japan itineraries for their SB brand. Hank

I will repost something similar to what we said last year about the Retreat. When we were on the Ovation (July-Aug 2021) we had a lot of extra On Board Credit. On one hot sea day, we decided to use some of the OBC to try the Retreat even though we really enjoy socializing on the pool deck. So we booked the Retreat and headed up to that area after we had finished breakfast. It was quite hot, the ceiling fans were working, the staff was very attentive, and the actual retreat area was quite nice. We sat in our little area, did our normal reading, and tried to ignore the fact that it was too darn hot! At lunch time we asked for our bottle of Bollinger and ordered our lunch (not much better than what we would have had in the Collonnade. By 2pm we got tired of being hot, missed the usual excellent staff at the pool deck, and finally left our Retreat habitat to move down to the pool deck where the air flow was much better, the service always good, and we could chat with some of our friends. At the pool we saw another couple, who we knew had a Retreat cabana booked for the entire cruise. We had routinely seen this same couple at the regular pool deck and we did have a chat about the Retreat. While they did like the Retreat (and had enough status to get theirs for no extra charge) they told us they spent more time on the pool deck than at their lonely cabana. Suffice it to say when we returned to the Ovation (last March for 27 days) we never even ventured anywhere near the Retreat. Perhaps it is a nice thing for folks that prefer to be alone, isolated from much of the ship, etc. etc. but to us it represented wasted space. Seabourn is a true luxury line with excellent service/facilities throughout the ship. While I can see the need for a Retreat-like area on some mass market lines we just do not see it as necessary on a ship where service and options are terrific no matter where one's location. Hank

We could have used that life jacket on a recent MSC Seashore cruise. Their current protocols do not include passengers even seeing a lifejacket. There are none in the cabin and none visible when you get checked-in at the muster station. All the lifejackets are stored (somewhere) to only be given out in the case of a real emergency. Hank

As a long time poster on CC I would suggest that this is the kind of question where you should carefully read the rules of the country (Singapore). Some Asian countries such as Singapore and Japan have very strict rules (which they enforce) when it comes to bringing in drugs (prescription and some over-the-counter). Not only should you read the current government requirements, but you should check them, again, within a few weeks of your trip. Here is the link: HSA | Bringing personal medications into Singapore By the way, Singapore is a very interesting city to visit for a few days. Lots of good hotels and eating venues and their zoo (especially at night) is world class. Hank

I believe a few cruise lines (RCI and Carnival quickly come to mind) have been experimenting with Robotic Bar Tenders. While this is still in the novelty stage, we imagine this might become more common in the future. I would assume as Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes more common and sophisticated we will see a lot more robotics on ships. Our local supermarket uses a robot, that constantly roams the store, to spot spills or objects on the floor and alert staff. On ships we can imagine something similar as well as having robots doing vacuuming of the public areas and floor cleaning. I cannot help but wonder how long it will be until we see robot waiters and wine stewards in the MDR :). Hank

WOW! Am 5* Star on HAL, long time Elite on Princess, and recently finished our 3 rd cruise (actually 5 if you consider the back to backs) on MSC. I do not agree with your cousin, and I will tell you why. Yes, you can book MSC in an inexpensive cabin/experience with no amenities like drink packages. You can do the same on HAL. And yes, you can book MSC's Yacht Club (our way of cruising MSC) where you are in a private enclave (entry by electronic key), have a private restaurant, private lounge, unlimited drinks, unlimited Internet. etc. And you can also book various other "experiences" that include various things. Bottom line is that MSC's booking options are very varied and each cruiser can choose what best fits their own wants, desires, and budgets. Obviously, your wife's cousin decided to book one of the bare bones options and that is what they got! You get what you pay for :). As to the pizza, we love Princess pizza which we think is the best at sea. MSC actually offers two different pizza options, and they are different. The free pizza in the LIdo (breakfast - late at night) is quite good (far better than on HAL) but not as good as Princess pizza. But MSC also has a pizza/Italian restaurant where the pizza is a good or better than on Princess. That pizza does cost extra except for those of us in the Yacht Club where there is no extra charge if we order it via room service. Oh, and speaking of MSCs drink packages, they do not have any silly 15 drink limit. As part of our Yacht Club booking we get included drinks up to $15 per drink anywhere on the ship. That includes French champagne and plenty of top shelf booze. Your wife's cousin could have purchased such a drink package (just like they can purchase a drink package on most lines including HAL) They apparently decided not to purchase an "Experience" that included drinks nor did they buy a stand-along drink package. I guess they simply preferred to whine about no free wine :). As to the Main Show Room (with a different production show every night) there is no charge for anyone! On a few of the newest ships (I think it might be 3 out of over 20 ships) they also have a 2nd theater which does offer some shows that have an extra charge. We have not been on any of those ships, but have heard that the shows are quite spectacular (think...Cirque de Soleil). Compare that to HAL where they do not have any Production Shows. The fee for those new secondary shows are a new thing and only time will show whether that is a good move on MSC's part. I am not sold on the idea. On the other hand, we have been on HAL where they consider a BBC Documentary as a Main Show. This would never happen on MSC! On our recent MSC cruise we generally had our choice of 4 or 5 live music entertainment options plus the free Production shows (song, dance, acrobatics). One thing you will not see on MSC are comedy shows since that does not work on a true international cruise line where passengers speak many different languages. But I do like to compare MSC's Yacht Club (about 5% of the passengers are in that Experience) with the Neptune suites on HAL. The Yacht Club recently cost us about $385 per passenger day. That included a small suite (think Signature Suite on HAL), 24 hour butler service, an exclusive part of the ship limited to less than 250 passengers, an expansive private sun/pool deck with loungers that all had thick cushions, a private MDR (all open seating dining with no waits), a private large lounge (with beautiful bow view) with free drink service and a small snack buffet..21 hours a day, free unlimited Internet (2 devices per person), and even more benefits. And keep in mind all that was less than $400 a day. Have you looked at the price of a Neptune Suite and what is included? Go into the Yacht Club's Lounge at any time and there are lots of staff to bring your included drinks or even grab you some snacks from the buffet (if you are too lazy to get your own treats). That Lounge also has live entertainment every night from about 6:15 until after midnight. That is some (not all) of the good on MSC and while we have returned (multiple times). We think their Yacht Club is the best value (by far) in the entire cruise industry. Outside the Yacht Club (where your wife's cousin resided there are lots of negatives and I would not consider cruising outside of their Yacht Club. But others tell us it is an amazing bargain when compared to some other mass market lines such as RCI and Carnival. As to MSC they are a very interesting company primarily owned by one Italian family (Aponte). Their mariner routes go back to the 1600s and their container ship division is now the largest container ship company in the world. They have more than 20 cruise ships (most never get to North America) and continue to add about 2 new large ships per year. In addition, they are now starting a new luxury line (Explora Journeys) which has 6 ships either on order or optioned. Those ships will each have about 900 passengers. Unlike CCL (who owns HAL), RCI and NCLH, the MSC group is not in financial trouble with strangling debt. MSC's container division is very profitable which gives them the deep pockets (without deep debt) that is now weighing down all the other large cruise companies. It is still a relatively unknown cruise line in North America since they have only been operating 4 ships out of Florida ports But they seem destined to expand their North American footprint. Unlike the American-based lines (such as HAL), MSC does attract many Europeans. On our US departures about 1/2 of the passengers were from various European countries. Hank

So lets talk about Smartphones (and dumb users). DW and I have 2 iPhones that are on a T-Mobile Senior plan, The cost is $60 a month (total cost for two lines) which includes unlimited text, phone, and data throughout North America. Our phones also work in over 200 countries with no additional fees for data (at slower speeds) and texting. Phone calls out of North America do cost us 25 cents/min. We can be reached nearly anywhere in the world. T-Mobile (owned by Deutche Telecom). That is not overly expensive for what we get. And that $60 a month is the total cost (including all taxes and fees). Overseas, if we want to upgrade to really fast data (i.e. LTE or 5G) it would cost us $5 a day or $50 a month. There are other plans (with other providers) that are even less expensive although we have not seen any other plan that gives us so much for so little. We live in Mexico part of the year, and our T-Mobile phones work fine on either of Mexico's two major networks (Telmex or Movistar). I think those phones have more than paid for themselves in terms of saving us hassles (and money) when traveling. Hank

There is a degree of defensiveness about the tech issue which I think misses the point. Folks that want to travel and also avoid much of the tech options (especially Smartphones) are free to do that and should not be criticized. However, they should also be aware that their decision will disadvantage them in several important aspects of travel (especially international travel). DW and I were dragged, kicking and screaming, into the Smartphone age because of our desire to Facetime with our young grandsons. Most grandparents will understand that "grandchildren" take precedence over most other things including our resistance to smartphones. DW was among the last user of old flip phones :). Once she realized she could Facetime with the "boys" a Smartphone became her friend. Consider a recent stay we had at a HIlton property. We were able to check-in on our phone, choose our room on our phone, and later use our phone for our room key. At the time we entered the hotel there was a long line at the Front Desk of folks checking-in (a large group had just arrived) and rather than waiting at least 15 min to get a key we simply went directly to our room. Checking-out was also easy on the phone and we could quickly review our final statement without any lines. We headed to the port on Lyft, which cost us about half the cost of a taxi and could only be done because we had a Smartphone. Recently when we disembarked the MSC Seashore in Miami, our Uber ride pulled up at our location. The cost to get to FLL in that nice private car was about $30 (about half the cost of a taxi) and the taxi queue was quite long (over 4000 souls had just disembarked the ship). A week earlier, when we decide to dine out at a decent Miami Beach restaurant, we were able to book a nice table via an APP (calling that restaurant proved near impossible). When we had a personal emergency and needed to change an airline flight, we were able to do this in less than a minute using the airline's app. The hold time, if one tried to call that airline was more than an hour (we know because we tried). The use of tech on ships has not quite reached the importance that it is with many aspects of land travel. But on some lines (we like to cite Princess) it is rapidly reaching that level of necessity. Even luxury lines (our own recent experience is with Seabourn) have made some steps difficult for folks without a Smartphone. Yes, there are usually workarounds, but they can be a pain (involve queues and waits). Just this morning we received an e-mail from Seabourn asking us to update some data on their "App." Another very helpful Smartphone option is using it as a GPS/map device. When I drive in Europe I no longer need to rent a GPS device since I can simply use my phone. I can also program that phone (in advance) with the places we want to drive/walk. The phone also gives me info about using various forms of public transit including guiding me directly to the proper metro/bus stop. Yes, it is still possible to carry a decent tour book and maps, but I will admit that having my iWatch tell me when to make a turn is a lot easier than stopping to fumble with maps. Bottom line is that tech is here to stay (like it or not) and even those who resist tech will eventually need to "join the club" because other non-tech options are simply disappearing. Cruise lines have actually been somewhat late in adopting tech (for passengers) but they are sure playing "catch up." Hank

We no longer cruise on RCI (that ship sailed once they decided to get into the Mega ship game). Thirty years ago it was our favorite line and DD was Diamond before age 14. It is possible we would try one of those mega ships when, and if, we took our grandsons on a cruise. As to MSC, I do understand their emphasis on amenities for teens and kids as their target group are families. But, for us, MSC is all about the Yacht Club. On our recent Seashore cruise, we only left the YC enclave to go to a few of the shows and one port day, when the ship was empty of passengers, we want to the Lido at lunch to grab some pizza. Otherwise, we spent all of our time inside the YC. In fact, we never even bothered to go look at the kids/teens facilities. We think that MSC does a fantastic job with the YC (which is the only reason we cruise on the line). Hank

We have a similar situation on our next HAL cruise. The credit towards excursions does cause us some grief and we are going to have a problem using that money. It is a very rare day when we book any HAL excursion, so we will need to take a long look at the options. Hank