Incognito1

90 days. oops. That's what I meant by hold; if you had to have it for 6 months first. Sorry for poor communication.

Tangentially on topic... We have three cruises in the next two months. The first one, Princess, we have far too much OBC to use up on a TA that we'll mostly be reading out by the pool. Some of it is refundable. The last one is a TA on Carnival, where we have just $300 OBC. Anyone ever move Princess refundable OBC to Carnival? Is that doable? Yeah, we could just wait for our Fall cruise, but there are a few things on the Venezia that I'd rather use OBC than cash for.

I'm guessing that if a lot of people started to do that, Princess would make the hold 6 months instead of 30 days.

If you don't see it, that's fine. I do realize you're in the UK, not the USA, and I think that makes a difference.

$1680 upgrade to Plus for next cruise. Take away grats ($406), Internet ($225) and it's a little over $1000 for drinks (not interested in the specialty dessert or fitness classes). We are close to teetotaling, but might enjoy the juice bar and definitely would make use of coffee. But not a thousand dollars' worth. Everyone has to do their own math - for those who drink a lot of alcohol, it probably makes sense.

If you choose to. You may choose to pre-pay gratuities, pay them onboard with your OBC (if you have some), or take them off completely and tip as you go, choosing where the money goes. There are several threads with pros and cons of each method here on CC, but in the end, you choose what works best for you.

An alternative choice is the Marriott Fairfield in Bremerton, or Hampton Suites there. Hampton is right on the water, about 50 yards from the ferry to Seattle. Nice hotels (we've stayed at both rather than deal with Seattle). You might check their prices.

It's that thing that staves off Central Bank Digital Currencies. (I am purposely staying away from politics, but you can do your own research.)

Deposits, withdrawals, wire transfers, gift cards, money orders, whatever I need. I prefer to use cash as often as possible and also do some business overseas that's best handled through direct bank transfers. I go to a small branch where I'm happy to wait for my favorite teller. She's bright, knows her stuff and knows us. There's a lot to be said for personal service.

We are scheduled for an 8:45am bus from Southampton to Liverpool. Ship is supposed to be offloading at 6:30am. We will have no luggage. What has been your experience as far as time efficiency for that port of entry? It's a 10 minute Uber ride to the bus station. Are we cutting it too close?

If you interact with that server once, then no. But I do give my bank teller and our favorite restaurant server a gift at Christmas. The comparison is not valid. Gifts are just that - gifts. They should be accepted graciously -- even if they're pajamas from your grandmother that are meant for an 8 year old when you're 22.

Cannot? On what are you basing that? The highest percentage of crew members are Filipino, and they definitely drink alcohol. Security forces are often Thai, which is largely Buddhist, so they wouldn't be consuming bourbon balls, but they're security anyway. Eastern Europeans, in my experience, have developed more than the average amount of enzymes required to metabolize alcohol and will drink most people under the table. Mexican crew members are often Catholic and drinking abounds. Alcohol is a big part of Chinese culture. Trying to figure out which crew members you're referring to. But you do you. I'm sure that both chocolate and bourbon balls will find willing recipients.

Chocolate is good, but generic. The bourbon balls are probably something they haven't tried before. I think that anything -- when it's IN ADDITION to $ -- is appreciated.

It's the thought that counts. I'm sure it earns them points with the crew member to whom they're gifted. Double bonus. It's not as if she's giving them INSTEAD of a tip; they're something personal and somebody will be happy to get them.

Bad behavior on the (likely drunk) husband's part, and he should've been removed, BUT it was a shove, hardly what most people think of when they hear an "assault." Methinks the magician is looking for some big payout from RCCL.

^ This ^. Get a good TA and when you see a sale, have him jump on it. As for the flu, that's horrible. The first thing we do after dropping bags in the bathroom (usually cleanest part of the cabin) is thoroughly wipe down the room with Lysol wipes. But do look on the bright side -- that's a lot of money that you can use to explore with road trips.

They're "crew socks."

I think you may be responding to the wrong person.

I don't consider a cruise vacation a "waste." It's an investment in my mental health.

I actually got a call from Princess security about this. Turns out it is from a recent cruise. Did not realize I had the article of clothing that I thought was newer than that. My bad. The cruise terminal looks really similar to the airport and the people in the background just happened to look very similar to where I was. Anyway, I appreciate their actually reaching out. She assured me that they have no access to the GE database, and would never breach someone's privacy like that. Whew.

Gift cards. They're supposed to turn in cash, but they don't have to turn in Visa gift cards. Last Filipino steward we had laughed and told us that his wife thanks us from the bottom of her heart.

One reason we're done cruising out of SF. Basic human courtesy lacking on our last cruise from there. As for two people who take a six person table in the buffet when there are no tables available, I just smile warmly and sit down.

I'm just done with chair hoggers. What's the supposed rule, 30 minutes? I think I will leave a note with the time on the hogged chairs I want, then move the hoggers' bags next time. The level of rudeness is just astounding.

No, it is the photo at the front of the TSA Global Entry line that THEY take. I don't even have a photo of me at that airport. I've written them to ask -- btw, passengerrelations@princesscruises.com and jpadgett@princess.com both got returned to sender. Appears that customerrelations@princesscruises.com went through. It's not just incompetence, though. It's a legal violation.

Not sure; I don't think so (and their website is down so I can't check), but it's not the photo from the card. It's the photo they take at the security line in the airport - and it's over a month old, not the "brief period" VibeGuy quoted. I will update if they actually respond to me.