Homosassa

She has already stated in posts that were deleted that her altruistic motive for starting this thread was to make sure that all passengers know a cruise ship will leave passengers behind f late returning from a ship sponsored excursion. There is absolutely no thought of trying to receive compensation.

Thanks to the poster that found the original thread. I had looked for it, but couldn't pull it up. The HAL Ticket Contract covers in full the limitations and liability for the cruise line and its contractors (including excursion operators). The TC also states that for ship organized excursions, one is guaranteed to be returned to the ship. It doesn't say that the ship will wait if the excursion is late, just that they will get you back to the ship. And they certainly followed through in a first class manner from the details in the original thread. I have attached the listing from the Marriott website for the hotel that the passengers were lodged in (Marriot by Jaco, according to a post). Not exactly a fleabag establishment. And I noted that while at the hotel, clean and dry clothes were provided to the passengers while their were cleaned and dried. So not only did they have fresh clean clothes to wear, they also received another set (from the resort's gift shop?). They were flown first class to Panama City (not economy, not business, FIRST class). True, they had to drive cross country from Panama City to Colon, but I am willing to bet it was along the excursion route used for partial transit excursions. It looks like stops were made along the way (the IMAX Panama Canal movie is part of a tour stop). As far as being given prorated cruise compensation for the days missed as suggested by some, I am willing to bet the money spent to return the passengers to the ship exceeded any daily fare paid by a passenger. https://www.marriott.com/search/hotelQuickView.mi?propertyId=SJOLS&brandCode=MC&marshaCode=SJOLS

Be careful. The use of the birth certificate is to show proof of citizenship and is subject to acceptance by the US Immigration people. Unless your short form includes the name of at least one parent, it may not be acceptable to cruise. I know that the short form (box top) that Maryland issued for my daughter was not acceptable except to show a birth had occurred and was registered. It was not acceptable for obtaining a Social Security number or registration for school.

Celebrity is not "Freestyle" where you need to plan, book and pay months before setting foot on the ship. Instead, they use a unique idea where one can decide what one might like to do once on board ship and make the choices on your preference for that day.

How old are your nieces and nephew? I vaguely remember signs at the different venues that children below a certain age needed to be accompanied by an adult to use the facility. That could explain why their passes were on your card.

Very OLD news. And kudos to HAL for doing everything possible to get the passengers back to the ship. Imagine the difficulties and expenses if you had to do this on your own. (By the way, having been at the Park where this excursion went for zip lining, it is the rule that the zip lines shut down in heavy rain and absolutely in a lightning situation. And except for the trail up to the zip line top which, while unpaved, is well maintained, the walkways in the park are paved. The walkway to the gondola that takes one up most of way to the zip line, is also paved.)

Having been a resident of Howard County, MD (a county between the two cities for those who don't know) for over thirty years before we retired to Florida, I disagree strongly. When we first moved to Laurel in Anne Arundel, my husband worked in Baltimore, I went south to Silver Spring. We would explore both cities. W quickly became more oriented to Baltimore because of the different ethnic neighborhoods (with their restaurants), the varied historical sites, the different museums (yes, the Smithsonian is good), the Inner Harbor , the list could go on. When my daughter decided on a college and later a wedding venue, Baltimore won out over DC for both. When we go to visit her and her husband (still in Howard), we end up in Baltimore 99.9% of the time vs DC.

There are two (three?) tender sites that are widely separated by cruise line. Inside those areas, there are lines for each ship. Depending on the passenger load for each ship (I.e.; you are cruising with 5,000 of your best friends vs 1,500). line length will vary for each cruise line and ship. In any case, try to be on line an hour before the last scheduled tender.

Check the additional notes at the bottom of the tour description. From the way that excursion is worded and the additional notes, your excursion starts when you arrive at the Park (transportation on your own) and you pay for food and drink.

You are not on NCL. Make sure you read the terms and conditions for the drink packages that specifically state one drink per transaction. MSC is known for following its written terms and conditions. Currently, MSC is working to control the booze cruise passengers that have been attracted to MSC because of the line's well controlled fare pricing and unlimited drink packages. I would expect all T&C for the drink packages to be enforced.

Obviously based on knowledge about "food poisoning" that is as good as the knowledge about port fees and taxes. (Posted by a microbiologist/ US CDC trained first responder for suspected food born outbreaks/ numerous other professional duties that affected public health).

Look at the information provided for this excursion on the MSC site. It will tell you what is included on the MSC excursion.

OP missed this existing thread about the same issue:

Please note that MSC is aware of the down market demographics that its restart prices were attracting. As a result, changes gave been made where drink packages are not available on the shorter itineraries where the booze cruise crowd were causing on board problems and may not be available, at MSC's discretion. on longer itineraries. Also as MSC is able to once again have its international passenger composition on US embarkation port itineraries, there will be a cultural difference on child raising expectations and children will be better behaved. Hopefully, this will also mean that MSC will again have its practice of having free range children picked up by Security and returned to their parents' side,

Please read the cancellation policy from MSC's website concerning "no shows" or cancellation by one passenger in a double cabin. In her case, the single supplement did apply and MSC followed its written policy that passengers agree to when booking. MSC closed the loophole for those who tried to avoid the single supplement for those who boked a fictious cabin mate who then would cancel or be a "no show" on the day of embarkation. https://www.msccruisesusa.com/-/media/us/documents/Booking-Terms-and-Conditions-221115-FINAL.pdf

There is also the wonderful Belgian dish, eels in green sauce, that is available on the coast. In Rotterdam, you may be able to find the best Dutch beer from the country's oldest brewery, Brand Bier.

I have been to both Rotterdam and Amsterdam and enjoyed both. Quibbling over which city is better to visit is like arguing over Washington, DC vs Baltimore, MD. Both are great cities to explore and enjoy and easy to travel from one to the other.

That is is a lot of conditions to be met. Remember I saw this dish on Royal Caribbean which, if it met the same standards as other food prepared on my cruise, means it is a piece of gristly chicken coated in a greasy flavorless flour served with a cold waffle that has been sitting under a heat lamp and artificially maple flavored corn syrup. Yum!

Is Emeril really designing the menus for Carnival? Get ready for this: https://fb.watch/iE-GrVnj4R/

I saw Chicken N Waffles on a Royal Caribbean cruise a month ago. Royal Caribbean definitely has reached bottom and is interchangeable with Carnival. My cruise on the Constellation a year ago had me wondering if I had mistakenly booked a Carnival Cruise. Luckily, the Millennium Alaska cruise five months later was better.

Triple whammy for me - didn't change my name, daughter has my husband's last name, and we all know that a brunette woman couldn't possible give birth to a daughter with red hair 🙄 I have done a lot of educating for those officious staff that needed to be educate on living in the then twentieth century, now twenty first century, and bring them up to speed on legal US requirements for women as labeled property and genetics.

I do hope that port pier staff are aware that many women do not change their names upon marriage and that the staff don't use identical last names as a criteria for determining family relationships (can hold true for blended families and other circumstances as well).

Someone needs to do a lot more reading about cuisines of other countries and broaden their food experiences.. Snails and pig's feet are not restricted to the French and , frankly (no ethnic pun intended), France is not the first country I think of when it comes to those two food items.

While there are many foods that have their origins in a low cost meat being used because better cuts could not be afforded, I just laugh when I see them on a cruise ship dining room menu. Many cultures refer to them as "peasant food" and they have evolved to be a very tasty use for those cuts of meat that need to tenderize in some way to be edible. I eat many of them at home by choice, but I cruise to have food that I am too lazy to make at home. Snicker worthy items that appear on MDR menus on various cruise lines are the various shanks of various animals (yes, osso buco is a peasant food), short ribs, pork belly, grits (or polenta which is basically the same low cost carbohydrate), meat loaf, and fried chicken (especially wings). Do I enjoy pig's feet? Yes, very much so (pickled or simmered in a sauce). Do I want it in a cruise line dining room for dinner? No.

That explains your lack of knowledge on how port fees and taxes are assessed, charged and handled when a port is cancelled or changed. What a shock it will be when the same issue occurs on other cruise lines.