DCThunder

If the CCL stock is in hubby's name, you could just buy another 100 shares in your name and not worry about changing names. Alternatively, sell hubby's 100 shares and then buy 100 replacement shares.

Whether or not booked through a 3rd party site, I totally endorse the suggestion to avoid big American style chain hotels in Europe. I use the 3rd party sites to do some research on hotels and then go to the hotels website to actually book. I understand lissie's point about not getting a response from the hotel on a reasonable question, but that hasn't been my experience.

You didn't say what airline you're booked on, but I'd guess its United given you're connecting in Newark. I also fly from MYR a lot but tend to book American most frequently. If you want to avoid the Northeast airports, check out flying American from MYR>DFW>YVR on 7/1 leaving at 1:18 pm and arriving at 9:11 PDT. Also MYR>CLT>DFW>YVR.

All I know is that still water runs deep. 🐟

If you go by the strict definition given above of what an acronym is, you're right, DOD is just D O D and so an abbreviation. USAID is usually called "Use-Aide" however many also say US AID.

Or FIAT, aka Fix It Again, Tony.

When I boarded in Civi last year, my recollection was the scanner was the same size as at TSA checkpoints at US airports. A full-size suitcase would have a hard time fitting through.

In the gubbmint or military, acronymns MUST be capitalized. Hence: DOD --Department of Defense USAID--United States Agency for International Development FUBAR--F'd Up Beyond All Repair SNAFU--Situation Normal, All F'd Up. BTW, here's the scoop on why COVID-19 is named as it is. Hint, it's not what's posted above: 'Why Is It Called COVID-19?' (webmd.com)

My friends are in contact with the Loris and Rita and are deciding which room the want to book. Thanks very much for the recommendation!

Personally, I hope HAL never goes the "ship within a ship" route, especially on the Pinnacle class ships. I'm egalitarian enough that I can do without the artificial distinctions of a "privileged" class of passengers. HAL by its reputation as for "newlyweds and nearly deads" keeps the "party people" mostly at bay, so there's no need for a special retreat for the Eloi above us Morlocks. We do use the correct fork at dinner service, dontchaknow!

The good thing about RoboKiller is that the phone doesn't even ring when the app indicates it's a spam call. I get a notice of a spam call in my Recent Calls section, but otherwise its as if the call never happened. It allows calls from numbers in my contact list to go through as well as return calls where I've dialed a number first. I'm very pleased with the service.

On the Royal class ships of Princess (Enchanted, Regal, et. al) I've been on, they have often had a duo of string players (violin/cello) playing in the Piazza during the late afternoon. They mostly played the "hits" of classical music for those instruments, but they were quite good for cocktail hour music. They would sometimes also play outside the Crown Grill later in the evening. I believe they also played in the orchestra for the big production shows in the Princess Theater, so they earned their beds. 😎

I have an app called RoboKiller on my phone. It screens out all phishing and junk phone calls, but shows the number that was called from. It's amazing how many of them are from seemingly regular phone numbers.

Yes it is polymer. Still has Her Majesty's picture on it, though.

Or keep it until your next cruise. I found a twenty quid in my sock drawer the other day, which I'll be taking to England next month.

@lisiamcThank you very much for this recommendation. I will pass it along.to my friends.

@cruisemom42 Do you have any recommendations for a hotel in Civitavecchia for one night post cruise? Some cruise companions are planning a week in Rome post cruise and we're doing an excursion from Civitavecchia before I get back on the ship for a TA to FLL. They're thinking of staying in Civitavecchia for the night before heading back to Rome. This would be in early December, if that makes any difference.

Don't confuse people with "facts. Their minds are already made up. That's the current American Way, especially on the innerwebs. What are you, ANTI-SCIENCE????

The first time I saw these the cabin steward and I fixed the issue with two bandaids and cotton ball. For my next cruise, I'm bringing the blue painters tape. It's bad enough that I'll be on Norway cruise in July, so very short nights. I don't need a light coming on outside the bathroom too.

We need pics!

Maybe you need to get one of those Geri Halliwell (aka Ginger Spice) Union Jack mini-dresses.

OK. My HAL ship docked in San Antonio, so we had to take an excursion to Valparaiso. Some folks got off to go to Santiago and fly home, but others continued up the coast and back to Port Everglades.

If you get a chance, get out of Santiago and go to Valparaiso. It's on the coast and is a very interesting town full of wall murals (AKA "street art") and is some good food. It's about an hour from Santiago and well worth the effort to get over there for a day trip. In many ways it reminds me of San Francisco, the way San Francisco used to be before it became what it is now.

The fjords of southern Chile are not like those of Norway. No one lives in southern Chile except for some town, so there aren't the coastal houses or other signs of civilization you'd see in Norway. They are more like the Alaskan fjords in that wilderness forests come right down to the waterline on steep hillsides. Also many similarities to the Inside Passage up in Alaska. We cruised up a fjord to the Pio XI glacier, and it was very similar to going into Glacier Bay in Alaska. Coming out, we cruised through several narrow passages that were no more than 200 yards wide. But there are no signs that humans have ever been in these hillsides. One place we passed a shipwreck where the ship had run aground and sunk in the early 1960s and the wreck was just left in place to rust away. I wouldn't go so far as the previous poster to say that the Chilean fjords are "marketing hype", but they are different than what I've seen in Norway. I do not think you will be disappointed. IMHO, but this is "scenic cruising" at its best, but YMMV.

I spent 31 days on a HAL ship as a solo in March/April and had a GREAT time. I met and shared dinner tables with a lot of nice people and never felt excluded. Perhaps longer cruises build more camaraderie among the passengers, but we also had a very active Roll Call ahead of the trip and booked a lot of shore excursions together.