Mary loves to travel

him bragging on social media about having gotten around the rules implies he was quite clear on what the rules were, and chose to ignore them, hmmm?

We, too, prefer hotels. Similar to @cruisemom42, we don't really drink in the room, preferring a glass of wine while out to dinner. If breakfast is included, so much the better, else we find a way to do an easy breakfast in our room, then head out for the day. We like the ability to easily have problems resolved, including the ability to be moved to a different room if required (not very often, but still). I do hear those saying that one can get much more living space in an apartment, which is very true. If we were staying longer than a few days to a week in one place, then finding an apartment would make more sense, even for us. Sometimes the price is higher in a hotel; I counter that by booking early, then rebooking if the price drops.

when the kids had their wisdom teeth out, the oral surgeon said to have a warm can of coke ready for them to sip when they got home.

I think it's tricky to determine the market, but Princess needs to expand. For example, we have friends who really like Celebrity because of the special dining room, and Michael's Club. They normally book suites. On Princess, they book a mini at best, because, according to them, "you don't get anything extra for booking a suite on Princess". Fully booked suites pay for a lot of the services the rest of us use, similar to first class/business class bookings on airlines covering some of the cost for basic economy seats. Of course, they don't want to lose the folks who like the non-class conscious Princess system of old. But, do we spend enough that we don't need the high-flyers? Mary

We ate there 3 times on Sky last summer. Found the food to be quite good to excellent, service was excellent, ambience was great. Yes, we went early and were a few tables in, but in a quiet area. Each time, the server offered the "traditional" escargot; I took his advice and enjoyed them. Mary

I have an apple phone. I was quite pleased to see the Medallion app charging me 1/2 price as Platinum, I'd thought I'd have to get the rebate on the ship. That was just this morning; purchased for 3 upcoming cruises, one of which is a full year out. Best, Mary

Good to know! Thank you.

You make a good point about living in a medical well provisioned urban area. I do like PPO plans. I know that any Medigap plan doesn’t have to take you back after a pretty short time in any Advantage plan (1-2 years). I wonder if it’s the same with Advantage Plans - if you go HMO, can you in the future easily switch back to the PPO Advantage plan? And why are there so many crazy rules & “gotchas”? (Rhetorical)

Advantage Plans have become very popular, and I can understand their appeal. Your approach makes sense to me 🙂 Personally, I just don't care for HMOs, so went the Medigap route. Funny thing, I mainly stay within one very large medical group, but do like the freedom to go outside that group if I ever needed to. Best, Mary

I had about a year and a half between when my COBRA ran out & I became eligible for Medicare. That's when I came to understand just how very expensive health insurance is for older people. Thinking over my health status & options, I realized that what I really wanted to insure against was a large financial loss.... I could handle the payment for a small number of office visits and the random Rx. But, I wanted coverage in case something catastrophic or near catastrophic happened. I went with a plan with a similar large deductible, and a very restricted choice of doctors and hospitals. That was almost $800 per month, just for me. It was the lowest plan, is that Bronze? Thankfully, I never had to use it. Turning 65, and becoming eligible for Medicare, was a happy day 🙂 Mary

@XBGuy from the descriptions, I thought Share was something we'd enjoy quite a bit. Disappointed it disappeared before we got the chance. As far as Bistro Sur la Mer, on Sky this summer we were there 3 times. Really enjoyed the food and the experience. It was pretty full each night by 7 pm, too, so we weren't the only ones. Best, Mary

He judged the people who engage in the brawls that make it to Youtube, not every Carnival passenger. What he wrote, in reference to those brawls, was "The trailer trash jamborees do tend to be on the 5 day or less booze cruises" The insult was to those engaging in the brawls, not every Carnival cruiser.

Almost. We're paying for a variety of entertainment choices and activities. There's not enough pool space for everyone to swim on the same day, for example. Same with MUTS, shows, ping pong tables, sports courts. Even if you do none of the offered activities, you may well benefit from having many other occupied & not in the hallways 🙂

We’re doing an Iceland & Norway cruise in June. Reading about the potential for rough seas, I guess we’ll need to have a good supply of Bonine on hand 😀 Mary

I agree with considering catastrophic coverage only; then you are basically self-insured until you hit the large (huge) deductible. Saves quite a bit on monthly premium, but still covers you from financial ruin in the event of a very large medical bill. Just be sure to carefully read which doctors/hospitals are included in the plan you choose. It's a big expense, either way, but part of the cost of retiring before you are eligible for Medicare. As someone else mentioned, using the ACA website to get idea of costs & options available to you. Best, Mary

on our upcoming Jan 2024 Antarctica cruise, Princess has included transportation from the airport to the port at no extra charge. We plan to come into Santiago a few days early, then I'm thinking we should go to the airport and take the Princess transportation to the port. Has anyone else done this? Mary

all those changes in climate make packing very difficult. We did something similar this past Aug/September (Norway then the Med). We each checked a 24" bag, then carried on a roller bag and backpack. It was taking clothes for hot weather, and also hiking boots, rain jacket, fleece, etc that made it difficult. We did use almost everything we brought, so it worked out ok. The carryons had things we needed immediately, if our checked luggage should get lost (so, hiking boots, winter clothes + a few other things, originally, then switch it all around when flying for the next part of the trip). It was really a hassle; nothing got lost. But we would have been prepared if it did, so I guess worth it. I think luggage issues have pretty much died down from early summer. Mary

Thanks so much, @John Bull! I think we'll do as you recommend. our overall plan is to spend about a week in the Bath/Cotswolds/Stratford-upon-Avon area: a few days in Bath, then I'm thinking hire a car to take us up to S-u-Avon, making that our base to also explore the Cotswolds. I think trains from Stratford-upon-Avon back to either central London or LHR are pretty straightforward, I hope. 🙂

We plan to go to Bath after our cruise. How easy is it to take the train from Southampton to Bath? thanks, Mary

We’re doing the Princess 12 day British Isles in May. It has 3 Ireland stops, but maybe still not as in depth as you’re thinking?

Wow! Looks great!

My apologies. I must have confused you with someone else. I’ll see if I can get my post deleted. Mary

Oh, please. On our cruises in August and September this year, maybe 5% wore masks. This poster said they’d wear a mask to protect others. If the rest of the passengers were worried about themselves they’d be wearing masks in crowded areas themselves.