jsn55

So true! It took me a few years, but I now have plenty of travel clothing that needs little care and still is acceptable to this vain clotheshorse. If I can't wash it in the sink (or rarely, send it out) it has to stay home. There's just no future in looking like you slept in something.

From what I've read, and gathered from a couple of consumer advocate forums I'm involved with, a large percentage of 'stuff sold on FB' is shoddy, never arrives, causes your credit card to be charged triple what you thought Nobody at FB is riding herd on anything other than how much revenue they generate by selling advertising. Therefore, you're taking a big chance by giving an unknown entity your credit card information ... or worse, transferring your money directly to that same entity. There are hundreds of thousands of well-run, ethical sellers on the internet, and only a fool would buy something on FB that he could get from several other sources. FB makes it 'easy', they know their users ... that's their strength.

Easy for you to say, Cole, you have a working brain.

An 'influencer' is just that ... they can influence their 'followers' and steer them to the products that give them free goodies. Anyone who would follow an influencer's recommendations, purchase something on FaceBook, or plaster their personal information across the internet is a fool. Gathering information is one thing, but following the advice of a stranger is just dumb. By all means, 'follow' these people if you wish, but most of us just laugh at anyone who considers themselves an influencer.

Thanks, everyone. Cash tips it is for me from now on!

Exactly! These days, the fear of liability and the loudest protesters carry the day over common sense and the wishes of the people involved. But, if I had to go, being buried at sea would be a great way to do it.

A question about NCL Epic Med cruise October 16: We've always tipped certain crew members in cash, especially for drinks. I consider the prepaid gratuities just a cost of the cruise and want to be sure the crew members I interact with are tipped directly. We usually just add a tip to the check when a drink is delivered. Recent Princess cruise used the medallion (what a disaster) and there were no checks to sign. We had to hustle up some cash. Will I be able to tip on Epic by adding it to the check, or do I need to bring cash? Many thanks for the help.

You need a better travel advisor.

Don't let the size of Path Between the Seas daunt you. Reading the book first will enhance your cruise a thousand times.

You've made my day!! My nephew is travelling with me, and he's never been to Europe, so I was particularly upset about this info on NCL's website.

Yes, that's common knowledge and has been my experience. I'm interested in hearing from people who have completed this cruise recently. I'll go back to NCL website and have another look at the ominous box I saw. It's perhaps a warning about what MIGHT be the policy at certain ports.

Was just confirming some details on a ShoreX for Epic Med sailing October 16 out of Marseille. A little box says that for security reasons, you must be on board 2 hours before departure and can take up to two hours to get off the ship after docking. It seemed to refer to every day, not just first and last day as we're used to. Hopefully I'm just being an alarmist. Surely they're not stealing 4 hours out of each day in port???

Yup. Then send it out to the group and have them vote.

If it helps at all, we really were disappointed with our China trip in 2019. It was a very expensive Viking Yangtze cruise/tour with a completely incompetent tour leader. Fascinating to see a lot of places/things, the ship and hotels were fabulous. But we both came home full of sorrow for the Chinese people who live in such awful conditions and experience such horrible air pollution. Just so very depressing to see humans living like that. The internal flights were beyond awful, so much time wasted waiting. You might consider booking another destination ... things in China are probably worse now than they were in 2019. I really regret spending all that money only to come home wishing we hadn't taken the trip.

Thanks so much for posting these ... I just LOVE reading all this stuff!

I did our visa apps in 2019 for a Yangtze River Cruise/Tour. I don't remember any questions on employment or education that were as complex as those you're referring to. Hopefully you qualify to use a much more simple form. It was cumbersome but not that difficult. I found the worst aspect of the whole process to be sending my passport off to an unknown entity. THAT really bothered me.

OMG, did you "call someone a name"? I think if someone referred to me by a noun I was unfamiliar with, I'd look it up before being offended. But then, some people are looking for reasons to be offended I suppose. Luddite has been around a very long time to refer to someone who's behind the times. Perhaps it has a shaky origin??

Don't like wasting precious travel time shopping, plus I'm impossible to fit. I've been travelling for 40 years. I've never had any trouble rounding up clothing that I can wash and dry easily, without an iron needed.

Wow, your experience might make this die-hard 'I want my stuff with me' think twice. A nasty experience for sure. Just for the record, bag fees can be eliminated with an affinity credit card. An annual fee is much less painful than forking over extra money for every trip.

Just basic business economics ... of course there are huge price differences before and after the virus disaster. Not defending NCL but reminding everyone that cruiselines' revenue was eliminated with the virus; expenses continued. When the government finally backed off and let us get back to work, a huge percentage of cruisers used credits to book. No revenue was created, expenses rose quickly. Just visualize the cost of hiring and training crew, that's an obvious example; one among many. Management is doing the right thing ... no point in stumbling along without enough revenue to operate. That just leads to financial failure. The market will even itself out automatically over time. Only pragmatic management will ensure corporate survival.

Thank you, Panda. I don't have an i-phone ... know too many people who used to work for Steve Jobs, don't want anything to do with Apple! Now that I know what it looks like, I'm sure I can find something suitable for my little cheapy Motorola android.

You got me thinking, Panda, about the cross-body bag for your phone so you don't have to worry about dropping it. "crossbody phone case. I can keep a credit card or room key in it, or small bills for tips. Its great for cruising and taking pictures. I wasn't worried reaching my phone out to take phots, because if I dropped it, it would just fall around my neck." I love taking photos and travelled for years with a tiny Diamage zoom camera that fits in a shirt pocket ... on a lanyard around my neck. She finally died, and I've had fun with my phone the last couple of trips, so want to get used to just taking photos everywhere with it. Where did you get your phone case ... or can you post a photo of it so I can go looking? Many thanks.

This was the fun part of the app onboard. It seemed that room service drinks were not included in my package ... but I ordered whatever I wanted delivered to the room and there was no extra 'outside the package' charge. On my birthday, I ordered sparkling wine, chocolate cake and milk about 10pm, that was fun; they were amazingly quick. The power of a smile, a sincere thank you and a nice tip never fails to amaze me.

While I understand you travelling with a kettle (as I do), tea can be made with hot water from the tap. Quality probably not acceptable to a Brit tho!

I'm done with this thread too. Others may be more charitable.