jsn55

Good point about contacting the airline directly. My assumption was that would be the first step, and Chase would be the second step if the original airline couldn't get them to the cruise on time.

I liked this, but can I LOVE it???

**The one I have has fewer "organization" features and more of what I like -- just a lot of open packing space.** I doubt if I've ever used any of the built-in features of any bag, far easier to customize the thing. As long as it has a couple of zipped outside pox, I can make it work perfectly all by myself. I've used a completely unstructured (except for outside zipped pox) weightless Rick Steves backpack for about a hundred years. I just hook it on to my roller bag with a small nylon dog collar. It's some kind of indestructible fabric, and it still looks good. If it's packed correctly, it forms its own structure. Other than good advice here, personal bags can usually only be evaluated after you've used them on several trips. Like finding shoes you can wear all day, it gets expensive.

Chase would be of great help if you booked the tix through their travel desk. I've had such good CS from my Sapphire Reserve over the years, I think I would contact them for help with tix I booked direct. Chase owns their travel portal now. May not be able to extricate me from the mess, but it's possible. Perhaps rent a car and drive to another airport ... who knows? But it's always worth a try. BTW, I always laugh at belligerent replies that imply the OP is an idiot. There are other ways to communicate, you know.

Exactly once we flew in the day of the cruise. We had plenty of time, the driver was right there, but I was a nervous wreck. Our 'boarding photo' is proof of that! I would hope that I have enough knowledge and connections to extricate us from a meltdown like the ones that are now happening too often. But this post is enough to urge me to fly in TWO days early in the future.

As you await responses here, use a mass booking website and choose airport shuttle as one of your search criteria. I usually read reviews on a hotel I'd like to book to determine all the details, like whether you really can walk to the restaurants and whether there really is a coffeemaker in the rooms. Reviews will often mention restaurants that they've dined at as well.

On Princess, any smart phone will do, it all runs on their proprietary system. I had no issues with my dopey Tracfone doing lots of stuff, but doing 'cruise stuff' like making dining plans, was hit or miss.

The big issues with ignoring the whole medallion mess until a month out are sold-out ShoreXs and inability to book a special dinner at the time you want. But I believe you can do that on the phone ... maybe. And for the record, lots of pax have no issues with the medallion system and think it's great. For some of us, it's just too frustrating. There are two camps when it comes to technology. For example, I was asking something on another thread about my phone not operating outside the US ... someone responded that I could rent a phone that would work in Europe. Sure thing, but it would take me most of the cruise to learn how to use the rented phone. Kinda exemplifies the difference between those of us who get it and those of us who don't That's the basic difference with using medallion ... some of us take forever to figure out how to do things. Others just jump right in and start paddling. The paddlers can't seem to comprehend the problem.

Thanks for this; but I am unwilling to waste hours of my trip trying to figure out how to use the phone. Perhaps I'll post on the Roll Call to see if anyone is bringing a teenager with them on the cruise. I could just hire that teen to set it all up and tell me how to use it. I'm a whiz on a computer, but don't do well learning a system that has 3 or 4 different ways to do every single thing. Every time you think you've learned something, the phone insists that you do it a different way. I am aware that my ability to enhance travel experiences and be efficient without a phone will come to an abrupt end one of these days.

What makes you think it could be a problem? Might have to dig around in the Bahamas bureaucracy to be sure of the answer.

Thanks for this, now I'm comfortable that I've learned as much as I can learn and should be able to make it all work. Have to admit that I'm motivated by trying to impress my nephew with my travel skills, he's never been to Europe. As for my phone, it's a $50 Tracfone, $125 a year for talk/text/data. Been a customer for years. I just can't seem to get excited about paying ten times that much for a phone like everybody else. Until I travel, of course. Might have to bite the bullet one of these days. Or maybe look for a carrier that is cheap so I could use that phone for travel ... I do like the idea of GPS access and probably a dozen other tasks that I don't even know about.

Outrageous!

Hi, we'll be transferring from Trieste to Piazzale Roma in Venice. How did you arrange for the private water taxi? I haven't done any Uber/Lyft stuff, I really don't use my phone for much and it won't work outside the US anyway. Having a private water taxi sounds great.

Well sure, what fun is there in reading complaints and moaning in a forum? I get enough of that at home.

Same shoes you'd wear anywhere ... you won't need any wellies. Supportive, comfortable, well broken-in, able to stand up to some moisture. Of course, if you're going out to hit the trails on serious hikes, that's a whole different story. You will LOVE the British Isles from a ship! I hope you're on a small one so can visit really interesting places.

I cannot imagine wearing white sneakers with a nice dress and looking anything but ridiculous! If you want to wear white sneakers, then put on a pair of white pants and look perfectly cute.

Wow, what a story!

Good Lord, it's no wonder that I'm careful about who "I get to know" while travelling. Imagine spending even half an hour with a person who writes a rant like this ... suitable perhaps for the personal scrapbook, not public consumption. Why would anyone like this ever set foot out of their house???

This is a great solution. Much easier for a DR manager to sweetly tell the lingerers that there's a nice place just for them.

Thanks for the great tip for the train - I'll check it out. More thanks for the math of R/T shuttle. There's also the time factor ... I want Mike to see as much of Roma as possible.

AKA revenue management, enhanced profitability, solid bottom line ... all means the same tho.

Well, theoretically, there's enough time. But you need to lay out the details of each activity, include the transportation and assurance that you'll be back on board in time. The only way to do that is to deal with the specifics of each activity that you choose. Then pad that schedule a little to cover any glitches.

As long as there's room for this kind of activity, no problem. The problem is that the Lido is a buffet where people have snacks and meals. Taking up a dozen tables all day for socializing is just plain wrong. There are or should be other areas of the ship for the socializing, so the rest of the pax can have a decent meal when they wish.

This is not something I would have ever thought of as a criteria, but I can see from the Prima posts that it's an important one. While we like cruising in cool weather, Iceland in early May would see me getting my walkies in the corridors rather than my preferred outside deck. THAT would get old fast! So I'm grateful to CC members for adding yet another gem to my 'cruise research file'.