twangster

Lyft is costing me $90

Uber rates to Galveston

Almost there...

It's been sold out and off the website for a bit now, but I'm surprised too in case of no shows. Unless bidding low is a factor. Maybe they are holding onto some high bids just in case.

Looks like my minimum bids weren't successful

Another reason to put Utopia on the short FL is to maximize PDCC. Freedom class was great in terms of numbers carried to PDCC, but to maximize PDCC they need to put Oasis and Icon class there as much as possible. The greater numbers brought to PDCC by Oasis class have meant higher prices. With only two berths how do you maximize the number of guests going to PDCC? Put mega ships at the pier as much as possible. A 3/4 rotation for Utopia can garner higher rates for the new ship fever while generating higher revenue for PDCC by increasing the number of visitors. From that perspective it makes sense to pull Voyager class and even Freedom class out of PDCC whenever possible. That's not say they'll never go to PDCC but I suspect PDCC will see more mega ships going forward.

Made it to the airport. A local Pinnacle who I call my land genie took me to the airport. I paid him in BlockCoin. I had an extra Wonder block so I used it as currency to pay for my ride. 🤣 Speaking of blocks, I'm trading another extra block for a Radiance block that I arranged in the roll call. That means I'm flying both ways with a crystal block. There has been reports of some people having extra screening as a result of the blocks. Apparently some x-ray machines can't identify what it is. I left mine easy to access in my carry-on should the need arise but I went through TSA Pre without any issues. I had forgotten about it actually.

On the other hand Bayley has made statements before that never come to fruition. He loves to play this game. I'll believe it when the deployment team announces her itineraries.

TGIF - Thank Goodness It's Fly Day One day to go... Later evening flight, still have to finish packing.

Royal by policy has eliminated "downlining" but it would be great to learn how this works out for you. It never hurts to ask.

One could argue there is more for teens on Odyssey but it really depends on the person. If the numerous videos that go into deep detail and cover everything can't answer your questions I'm not sure if anything I can offer would do any better.

Splendor is coming to Florida! Well sort of. Marella Discovery will be home ported from Port Canaveral soon for TUI. It doesn't look like we (US citizens) can book her, she's being offered with packages from the UK that bundle airfare to MLB airport near the port. Nonetheless Splendor a.k.a Marella Discovery will be back in the US and operating from PCN the day after we disembark from Radiance in LA.

My understanding is that the port and Uber have agreed on terms and conditions so that Uber can now service the port. I'll be shopping both on Friday morning from my hotel. I'll let you know 🙂

What category of cabin? Keep in mind "balcony" is not a category. 1D, 2D, 3D... etc. are example of balcony categories. Are you comparing the exact same category or the same type of cabin?

Enrichment talks onboard:

Starting to feel real. It's a 15 night cruise... I wonder how many bought the DX? 🙂 $1,593 each. In fairness it was $62 not long ago, so only $1,100 per person.

If I recall both old and new locks use the power of gravity to do the heavy lifting while the new locks have additioanl resevoirs that are there to reduce water waste. Being larger lock chambers the new locks hold more water so there is more water to move potentially depending on the ship and how low it is riding. However being new and modern their plumbing and ability to move water may be more efficeint. The new locks have to acheive the same lift and drop to reach the lake in the middle compared to the old locks. Gatun Lake and Culebra cut, the waterways that are used to cross Panama are the same and used by all ships large or small. The only difference are the locks at each end. The old locks have an extra small "lake" in between two sets of locks on the Pacific side while the new locks have all 3 sets of locks togther. This may make them slightly more efficeint in terms of timing but ships are staggered and have to all fall in line to cross the lake in the middle so timing and speeds are carefully controlled. There aren't many places where ships going the same drection could pass each other. So I'm not sure if the new locks make for a faster overall transit. I'll try to remeber to ask.

Pictures shall be coming! (if Starlink internet lets me). Last time I had some cell coverage in places along the canal, especially near the ends where there is population. I think cell coverage was light in the middle, but at any rate I will be taking pictures!

Larger ships can't take the old locks. The new locks were added so that larger ships could use the canal. It isn't a lock problem really, it's the depth of water in between the locks on the Atlantic and Pacific - the waterways in the middle. When the lake levels fall they implement draft restrictions so deep ships don't run aground. Personally I prefer the old locks. Watching the mules in operation and being eye level with them is the best part. The new locks are new but lack the charm of the old locks.

That worked out well for Southwest.

Key West can only accomondate up to medium sized ships. For Royal that means Vision and Radiance class only. Voyager class and above can't visit KW. They tried a Voyager class once and determined it was too tight so they haven't taken one back since. There are some limited Vision class visits from Tampa. Grandeur and Enchantment for example on select dates but not the dates you are looking for. Try Celebrity.

Buy now and if it drops cancel and re-purchase. OBC used to make purchases in CP will be refunded immediately and available for re-use.

Once Pinnacle you don't need to manually enter DP340. No idea why, but D+ have to enter it every. single. time. This may be one of the biggest unpublished Pinnacle perks. I can't tell you how many times I have entered DP340 before that.

New to me: 18+ , sorry kids.

Labadee has a pickleball court now.