Toofarfromthesea

What a profoundly ridiculous remark. No one is expecting to become a millionaire or build wealth on airline miles. But I bet virtually every millionaire got there with the judicious use of credit.

Credit cards are a great tool for people who are financially responsible. They are also really the only prudent way to pay for something substantial in the future, as you are protected against bankruptcy of the carrier. People found that out the hard way back when airlines were going belly up. And done properly you get a lot more than the mocking "0.02465%" nonsense. There are other good ones, but I happen to use CSR, which on top of the 5% repeat customer discount I get on my favorite cruiseline, and the 8-10% discount/OBC I get from whichever TA I use, gives me an additional 4.5% in points and booking portal - as well as a whole host of other valuable benefits. That translates into free domestic first class flights to get to the cruiseport, for me. Or free Business Class to Europe. Just for doing all my normal spending activities on the card. Now if someone is not financially responsible then by all means they should follow the Dave Ramsay advice and eschew credit cards. But for those who are financially responsible, using a credit card is a complete no-brainer, IMO. To do otherwise is just throwing away money - a lot of money. Then it just comes down to which one fits you best.

Those local companies that you are wary of are some of the most high-quality reliable excursion companies you will find at any port anywhere. Their ability to do 'vise-free' tours depends on it. Don't listen to any propaganda to the contrary from any cruise line.

Tolls get triple points and are eligible for the 300 travel credit. A credit for about $30 bucks showed up on our statement which momentarily confused us until we matched to to a toll road charge.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/90-of-plastic-polluting-our-oceans-comes-from-just-10-rivers/ Just saying. But by all means attack a tiny part of the problem, e.g., plastic straws, to make yourself feel better. If 'global warming' is really the moral equivalent of war we would be bombing the (dirty) coal burning plants in India and China. In just this year alone Chine is slated to bring more coal burning generating plants on-line than all the coal burning plants in Europe. How Dare They!!!

Paying for a cruise with the Sapphire preferred is like getting an additional 3-4.5% discount (depending on whether you spend your points in the Chase portal) on top of whatever deal you might have gotten from your TA.

Use one of the large Russian tour companies. They are uber-reliable, generally get rave reviews, and the visa is included.

No. Not only are drinks in the Yacht Club included, but drinks throughout the whole ship. Everything except the tippy top shelf, but you get even those by upgrading to the Premium Plus package (about 17 pp pd) and drink expensive champaign, high end single malt and blended scotches, etc. to your heart's content. I drink wine and have a fairly dull palate so personally I am content with the included package.

We got a debit card for travel from our bank, Wells Fargo. No FTFs and the connection to our accounts is protected, since the card can only access the amount we put on it. IOW, someone stealing the card and fraudulently using it could not clean out our account because that card cannot access our account. The most they could get is the amount we had already placed on it. We basically only use this card to get foreign currency at ATMs. For other purchases we use our regular credit card and, given the choice, have the charge made in the local currency and let the card, which also has no FTF, do the exchange rate to dollars.

Perhaps the bartender was just playing the OP for an additional cash tip.

I use a site that lets TAs quote on my cruise and so far I have booked with a different TA every time, so from the TA's perspective it is a 'single cruise'. No one is giving me anything because of repeat business. Nevertheless I have gotten great deals with significant perks - even on MSC which some people say their TA won't deal with.

I'm not paying my money for their bad website or bad service, I pay it for a wonderful cruise - and they deliver, IMO.

However, while you cannot stack the internal MSC discounts, you CAN stack them with outside discounts and perks provided by your TA.

You may not get one. I haven't, with 2 MSC cruises so far and another booked for next Nov.

By all means criticize and correct the newby Brit for not knowing what we experienced folks in the States call different parts of the Carib, while offering them nothing constructive or of value.