Smitheroo

One reason I stick with an inside cabin is because it reminds me of the old days. But today's inside cabins have a private bathroom and that is luxury lol. Now if there some with bunk beds I'd be really happy!

On my recent trip on the Joy I took a chance and went with my medicare supplement foreign country insurance. 5 days on the ship and only 2 of them on land (Cabos and Encinada) I have some chronic health issues but well controlled. Well, I was walking in Todos Santos with Margarita in hand and didnt notice there was a slightly raised edge on the sidewalk which my foot caught on. Somehow I saved myself from face planting (lost some of my Margarita) and afterwards realized I could easily have broken my ankle or foot. You never know. Its humbling to find travel insurance companies who wont insurance travelers over 50 yrs old (World Nomads, there might be others)

"Tips" originally meant "to insure proper (?) service" so those that tip as they order drinks have the original idea. I see it more as a "thank you for doing the job you do because there would be no cruises without you" type of thing. In the future despite what my travel partner thinks I will be tipping for drinks delivered to me away from the bar. In the past I wasnt a drinker, took it up in my old age so this is all new to me. (tippings with drinks)

I've read that you shouldnt get your travel insurance through the same company you booked your travel through. I'm Medicare so medical coverage is what I need (I have some through my supplement but not enough) I heard Geoblue (I think that's the name) is good for that

I guess you had to be part of the back and forth discussion. What you are understanding is "hearsay". I tried to be concise so didnt post every single word that was written/spoken. It was frustrating for sure but not worrisome. I'm not stupid and despite having at least a dozen credit cards, and losing some of them regularly, nothing bad has ever happened. I monitor them regularly which is why I freaked out about BOA/Mastercard/NCL Although I believe it can happen, I havent had a problem with Chase, Wells Fargo, Barclay, citi, Capital One and a few other store cards.

I believe it! Apparently BOA is notorious for doing this. My son in law told me that he got declined every time he shopped at a certain grocery store. Finally he called them and told them not to place any more fraud alerts on his account, especially for that particular grocery store. They listened, he hasnt had a problem since. And it looks like my confusion has been fixed also. No more declined charges. Despite the opinion of some on this forumj I dont expect to have any more problems from them.

This is why I always tip my room steward at the end I dont know what they are given out of the prepaid gratuities.

I never do. I didnt this time either. I wasnt able to cut and paste the email to show how it really looked- graphics and all- so it does look kind of strange. I am sure it was 100% legitimate. Now, if my credit card hadnt been declined on the BOA end then I'd wonder. But I already knew it had and they were informing me of the same, just like any other business where I've had a declined credit card situation. Everything seems to be okay now so this should no longer be an issue.

I could be wrong but I'm almost certain there was no zippered casing. The reason I say that is because I noticed it was a "pillowtop" type bed. (twin bed in an inside cabin on the Joy) I dont think I would be aware of that had it been encased in a cover

I wanted to tip the crew who took orders and delivered drinks away from the bar, i.e. if I was sitting in the Atrium and a bar crewperson passed by with a tray and asked if I wanted another drink, which he/she would then deliver to me where I was seated. That seems like extra service to me but my travel partner insisted that we already tipped. If I was alone I would tip in this scenario.

Would you have any reason to believe the following is not a legitimate email? v Declined Credit Card Notification for CruiseFirst Coupon NCL Norwegian Cruise Line <donotreply@ncl.com> Mar 9, 2023, 12:00 PM (7 days ago) to me Client Name: SMITH CHRISTINE M Declined Credit Card #: *3108 Amount: USD 150.00 Dear Valued Guest, Thank you for contacting Norwegian Cruise Line to purchase your CruiseFirst Certificate. However, we regret to inform you that the Credit Card you used for your purchase has been declined. Please contact us at 877-416-9722 with a new credit card number for payment. THIS COUPON WILL NOT BE ACTIVATED UNTIL IT IS PAID FOR. Sincerely, Norwegian Cruise Line Please do not reply to this email.

Maybe because I got an email from NCL telling me that my attempt to purchase a CruiseFirst certificate had been declined? The same way other places contact you when your credit card was declined for payment. If you want the purchase to go through you are expected to call and provide another method likof payment. That's how NCL got into the discussion. I'm not sure I appreciate your sarcasm. A simple "NCL wouldnt have anything to do with dealing with fraud on your BOA credit card account" would have been sufficient. And thanks to all who "liked" this response to my post.

I know not to do that.

I dont think so. I have had all the things you mentioned in the post, like pay pal accounts, merchandise I never purchased, McAfee security subscription expiring and I ignore them also. I forget why I had to contact NCL, its all a jumble in my head now. It was probably because I got an email from NCL telling me my purchase of a CruiseFIrst certificate had been declined and to call them with another method of payment. And the purchase had indeed been declined. I also thought they might be interested to know that BOA/Mastercard was screwing up a credit card associated with them (NCL) As I was being assured that there were no fraud alerts on my new BOA account (thru the NCL Mastercard) charges were still being declined and I was still receiving letters from BOA, threatening to close my account if I didnt respond in 25 days. And when an account is closed, you lose your points. I sure dont want to get into NCL about that.

I received an email from NCL in response to the one I sent them describing the problems I was having with my new NCL Mastercard. They advised me to contact Mastercard as they were unable to help with that. They also wrote that the email I received about my Welcome Back Award was sent to me in error as that program has been discontinued. After I sent the email to NCL I received another letter from BOA again informing me about the fraud alerts and if I didnt contact them within 25 days my account will be closed (and I'm guessing there go the points I have earned). Yet the people at BOA assure me there are no remaining fraud alerts and many of the purchases I have made on the new card have been delivered to me. Then this morning I received an email "CruiseDocs" informing me that they had noticed I had multiple accounts so they merged them all into one so that all my cruise history would be in one location. I checked my account and the only cruise there is the one I just took and also, surprise, surprise, my Welcome Back Award for $100, along with the two CruiseFirst certificates I have purchased. Unless they consider the CruiseFirst certficate as "Cruise History".

I have but I'm going to go through it again

Yes, the Passenger List. I still have mine from 1966, not sure when they stopped publishing. You know, the privacy thing.

I guess our cabin with a porthole was a little bit above an inside cabin. There were only 3 of us in it and quite roomy but no bathroom. Yeah, it was fun but I do like "freestyle" eating when you want to in a choice of dining rooms. I wouldnt mind bunk beds now

My mother was born in Scotland and emigrated to the US in 1947. We did make a trip back in 1958 by plane. (KLM) She realized that traveling by ship was not going to be an option much longer so in 1966 she decided we would go on vacation to Scotland and England by ship both ways. I dont remember much about the planning but it was exciting when the luggage tags arrived in the mail. (Now, along with the passenger list, a collector's item) I have no idea what the fares cost. I have to admit that as a teenager all the eating got to be boring. A few times I never showed up for a meal. There were many kids on board and lots of fraternizing with the crew lol. The Queen Mary is now docked in Long Beach California. I visited her and that was when I decided I needed to take my mother's ashes over on the QM2. The Sylvania was sold and then later scrapped.

I sailed for the first time as a 16 yr old in 1966 with my mother on the Sylvania (Cunard) going East. We shared a cabin in tourist class with a woman we didnt know. (she was a lot of fun. she forgot her underwear). I was horrified (teenager) with the idea we had to sleep with someone we didnt know and also we were just tourist class, I thought we could at least be "cabin" class even if First Class was not possible. , the bathroom was down the hall, your room steward came around each morning with a wake up knock on your door. Bunk beds and the room had a porthole which actually opened. You signed up for meal "sittings", early or late. You sat at the same table with the same people for the entire voyage. Every meal seemed to have a fish course. No buffet. The crew was mostly young British men and wore stiff white jackets with red trim and black pants. Guest Services was called the Purser. Elevators had an operator. Shiny brass everywhere. Back then visitors were allowed on board to see their friends and family off for a small donation. When it was time for the ship to sail one of the crew came around the decks banging on a drum and calling out "All ashore who's going ashore". Safety drills were held on the decks under the life boats. Afternoon tea (which is really a light meal) was delivered to guests sitting in deck chairs. Midnight buffets. We docked in Liverpool. It was the 60's. Quite a thrill for a 16 yr old at that time. On the way home we sailed on the original Queen Mary. Started with the boat train from London. Our cabin on the C deck was about a quarter of the size of our cabin going over and we shared with a woman who was often on her knees praying. I have nothing against praying if that is your thing but there is no reason why you have to get down on your knees in a tiny cabin. In those days the larger ships were making the trip in 4 days. I preferred the smaller ship which took 8 days to make the crossing. The docks in New York were in midtown Manhattan., although some were at the lower end of Manhattan. After that trip I became a ship "groupie" watching the NY TImes for the ship schedules and going onboard before they sailed. In 2013 I took my mother's ashes over to England to be buried with my father. She would have been thrilled to know she was on the QM2. Like the OP said, so many things are different now but so many things still the same, even across ship lines All make wonderful memories

And the schools in Maine have the third week in April off for Spring break, starting with "Patriot's Day" about 4/17-ish

Cunard (Brittania class) charges a corkage fee unless you consume the wine in your stateroom. However, they also dont allow you to choose a drink over the upper limit and only pay the difference (if you have the drink package) If the drink you want is over the allowable limit you pay the entire cost plus service charge of the drink. This may have changed, I sailed in 2013 which I realize is 10 yrs ago. I can understand the first, but not the second. I like how NCL does it- you just pay the difference in the two drinks

the waiter asked us before every single meal if anyone at the table had any food allergies

I just got off the Joy a few weeks ago. We ate in the main dining rooms every night except for the 1 specialty dinner in our package. Taste and Savory were no problem, at the most the wait was about 10 minutes. However one night we wanted to try out the Manhattan and were told that it would be a 30 minute wait. So we went back to one of the others. A lot of people eat in the buffet, at least that was the case when I was there. The ship was quite full.

Thanks everyone! Some good advice here.