Shak
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Posts posted by Shak
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Don‘t they have the pull-out cloth line in the shower? Had them on any cruise ship until now.
As the air vent is right above it, the swimwear dries pretty fast.
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The Harmony and other new ships no longer have retractable clotheslines in the shower.
I have some heavy spring clothespins with hooks that I can find any number of places throughout the cabin to hang clothing to dry.
Shak
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Can anyone give me a recommendation for a good starter set of packing cubes? I am a chronic over-packer and would like to give a set a trial on a trip to Las Vegas for a convention the end of this month. We are cruising again at Christmas so this is a good time to try them out before purchasing a set for each family member. There are soooo many to choose from. What basic sizes are best and which ones are hardly used.... Thanks for the help!
These packing aids will not help you from being and overpacker but they will help you be an organized packer. I use both cubes and folders. Since I have Eagle Creep products these are the sizes I use because every manufacture has different dimensions. I say that because after you fill the cubes and folders it is like putting together a jig saw puzzle filling you luggage.
For cubes I use mostly Eagle Creek regular cubes and half cubes for clothing. I do use quarter cubes for organizing electronics and other smaller items. In the cubes I roll all golf, t-shirts, socks, and pj's, In folders I pack pants and any shirts with collars. I use their small and medium folders I usually put pants in the medium.
I choose clothing that travel well without wrinkling and pick materials that will dry quickly without the need for ironing. When I get to the ship I folders and cubes away with the clothing in them. As I wear them I also hand wash things and place them back where they came from. At the end of the cruise I just repack my suitcases as I did to start. At home I just hang up most the clothing for the next cruise.
Packing this way is not rocket science but it does take some trial and error so start out small and build on your success.
This video may help but there are many others on youtube.
Shak
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I just had my interview yesterday.
DW and I filled out our applications on the same day. She got her Conditional Approval in 3 days, mine on the other hand took a few days shy of 4 weeks. I was beginning to think "I wonder what I have done?"
When you get your Conditional Approval there are a list of places to choose from and times if slots are open. DW was able to get a time near us in Cleveland but when I got my approval the closest place was PIttsburgh.
I went to my interview yesterday at Pittsburgh Airport. I was about 2 hours early so I was prepared to sit a while in need be but they weren't busy and I got interviewed within minutes. They only asked if I had been arrested in the past 10 years. He took my picture and fingerprinted me and I was back at my car within 45 minutes.
Shak
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Can you walk to the Pan American Pier (with luggage) from the Sheraton, or is a taxi necessary?
No that pier is across the bay from the Sheraton. The old pier near the Sheraton is now used for ships that have San Juan as a port of call.
Shak
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3 weeks ago we sailed with our daughter, son in law, and grandchildren out of San Juan and one must was we had to stay at a hotel with a beach. We ended up staying at the InterContiental Hotel for 2 nights and we had a great experience. The staff couldn't have been nicer and the grounds and beach were beautiful. When the 7 of us were ready to go to the cruise port all we did was tell the porter we need transportation for 7 and a cab/van was there within minutes.
While the kids played I went to Old San Juan via the public bus. It was $.75 each way. There is a bus stop just outside the hotel and the drop off point is at the bus terminal near the old port. The concierge at the hotel told me the number of the bus to look for.
One of the best things for me was going to Panaderia Espana. This place is a bakery/deli/restaurant/and wine store all wrapped up in one. It was outstanding too. I made the 15 minute walk from the InterContiental the first morning and brought back some pastries I thought everyone would like and they all did but the next morning the grandkids joined me so what other choices there were. I get up pretty early and it really must have been important for them to go to get up to join me. When I was there this place was always busy with mostly locals so that another clue to to the food. Never made it back for lunch but I will the next time.
http://www.laespana.net/english/menu.html
Shak
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If you buy pre-cruise, you have to buy for the entire cruise.
If you buy onboard, you can buy for a partial cruise. You can buy with as little as 4 days left in the cruise, but whenever you buy, it has to be for the rest of the cruise.
The only problem with this ploy is you have to pay full price on the ship. Many times the drink packages are discounted before the cruise.
A few weeks ago on the Freedom they offered a card with 10 drinks. My son in law got it and I think he said it was $72. I never saw that offer but he said they were pushing it on returning from port. I did see him use the card though.
Shak
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If Cruise Critic has any clout I think it’s time to cash it in.
Shak
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The Diamond concierge nicely said tuff that our M&M Party was cancelled so for our cruise there will not be a M&M Party.
Shak
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We had over the 25 minimum for a Cruise Critic Party and we all got the confirmation email well before our cruise. I last checked about a month before the cruise and there were 38 I believe. After boarding I did not get the invitation to the M&M Party so I asked the Diamond concierge to see why. Later that evening on day 2 I got a message that there was no party scheduled because no one signed up. I told that was not true and said the IT at Royal is having issues with M&M and she told me she would check further. Today is day 4 so we’ll see if there is any developments. I’ll let you all know.
Shak
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Peter Greenberg published a photo of Delta's Baggage Threshold Card. What this card tells gate agents is the passenger capacity of each plane and the capacity for carry on luggage. No wonder they are asking for so many volunteers to gate check their bags.
https://petergreenberg.com/2018/04/27/look-deltas-baggage-threshold-card/
Shak
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Just out of curiosity, and only out of curiousity of course), anybody have any luck "smuggling" the extremely against policy and evil bottle of
Water (or two) in the luggage the you hand to the porters or your carry on?
I heard through the grape vine that RCI doesn't actively enforce you bringing a few bottles of water in your packed bags.
If you must keep the Omerta, I understand.
Thank you.
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Since RCI scans luggage they may want to take a look at those bottles If they do your luggage will be delayed. If you only have like you say a bottle or two I would put them in my carry on. That way they can inspect the bottles to see if they are sealed and if they want take them.
Shak
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Would you please post the link to get into the back door the old way?
Thank you!!!!
Shak
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The person that publishes the Royal Caribbean Blog posted a back door link to the old way to access My Cruises on twitter. It worked for me.
Shak
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Good idea! What do you think about a drop of glue?
Of course I could always go back to my cable ties...they never came off!
Glue would work too. I remember someone once said they used clear finger nail polish.
Remember if you are using the steel cables for your luggage tags for the cruise you need to be able to remove it easily once you get your luggage.
Shak
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We bought these, too. It came off at the airport or on the airplane on our trip home. Had it screwed pretty tight so I feel like someone had to take it off. I do like them, though.
I have luggage tags with the steel loops and I discovered that they can become loose or undone in route. I now put a piece of scotch tape around the screw.
Shak
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Thanks so much! This is exactly the kind of feedback I wanted. Will they measure it? Will they be sticklers with a ruler? I'm sure that my backpack could be adjusted and squished into a box of that dimention and fit under my seat (though I'm not sure where I'll put my legs!), I just wanted to make sure that they wouldn't "go looking for problems to cause."
From what you all say, it sounds like I will be fine. Glad to know the boarding pass on my phone will work too. That will be great.
I doubt that I will become a regular Spirit customer, but I'm glad to know that I can make it to my destination and back without incurring $100s of dollars in extra charges on my "free" ticket. $80 (round trip) for the one bag that we paid in advance to check still makes for a very cheap flight for two people.
There are no rulers at the gate what counts is if you bag fits in their sizers if asked. I have a small regional airport near me and I have taken luggage over there to see if it fits in the sizer for the airline I am flying. I can get in and out within 30 minutes so the parking is free. If you get to the gate early you could also put your bag in the sizer. I wouldn't do that if the gate agents are around.
I flew round trip to Orlando on two different planes. One had well padded seats like you see on most airlines but the other was a plastic seat with a thin padding. The seat didn't adjust either. I put the Bording Blue bag under the seat in front of me and didn't really notice any real difference for other airlines.
This trip cost me I think $120 round trip non stop both ways from Cleveland. I was only visiting family for a short trip.
Shak
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I flew Spirit a few months ago and it was an interesting experience. They have a very odd size 17" X 13" X 8". I did not have any luggage that was all that close but I was able to find a company that sells luggage to those exact measurements. http://boardingblue.org/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=265
At the gate baggage was eyeballed by the gate attendant but I didn't see any bags weighed or put in sizers. The lady in front of me tried to take a full sized carry on but was told that she would have to pay for that bag since she had not prepaid for her bag. That is an expensive deal too. I believe Spirit charges $100 for a bag at the gate.
Shak
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You can add your destinations to your favorite weather app.
Through Accuweather you can find the historical temperatures by the month if you cruise is far off.
Shak
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I used to like the fact that if I took a bottle of wine to the dining room they would hold it for me until finished. Maybe that is one reason they discontinued it. The corkage fee is not a big deal to me now. It is only a minor inconvenience to me to stop by the room on the way to dinner to pour a glass of wine.
As far as corkscrews go I like to have one with me. I pack the corkscrew in my checked luggage for a flight and put it in my carry on for the cruise. The reason I do that is I don't want to cause a delay going through security at the airport and at the cruise terminal I would rather them take the corkscrew at check in rather then taking the chance my luggage being delayed. So far my corkscrew with a pointed foil cutter has not had a second look at check in.
There are corkscrews without pointed foil cutters if that is a concern.
I am also a D+ and have yet to have a corkscrew left with the gift wines.
Shak
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Great. I get it. The person sitting directly in front of me paid $650.00 more for the seat (they booked direct). Identical Seat. The person behind me Paid $450.00 more for the seat. (they booked Expedia). The flight is cancelled. My cruise is in 3 days. I go to ticket counter and while in line, the airlines, hopefully, which it did in the past, contact me on the phone to rebook and/or I get to the counter and they already have a rebooking listed, or they will work the problem. I would have already called the travel agent, air2Sea. The way I see it, I have 3 different groups working the problem.
I'm not rich, and I have a budget. I know, I can pay full price, and I know the person with the most amount of money invested in the flight will get a faster service. However, I am still going to pay, for two people, $1100.00 less than the two people directly in front of me. I also know that plane, flies that same route daily and in a year, it is was only canceled once for mechanical issues, and a few time, late more than 2 hours. So the odds are in my favor, and I will take my $1100.00 in savings, and use it for pure enjoyment on my 2 week (16 day) vacation. If by chance, I am that .02% where the flight is canceled, I will loose a day of touring, but still have an additional 15 days to enjoy because I will just go with the flow.
So the choice presented are:
1. Pay the fullest price, and hope you get special treatment
2. Pay the rock bottom price and hope you get special treatment.
Both number 1 and 2 have a very high likelihood of making it, unless you have the very last minute flight and want to gamble.
Your rational makes sense to me!
Shak
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I have learned to use Internet Explorer for all my searches in Royal Caribbean and use Chrome for everything else. After I am done with my searches in IE I delete my cookies and everything goes back to normal the next time I visit Royal Caribbean. It does suck that I have to go through all these hoops to search RCI web site.
Shak
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I have been cruising for 24 years now and 2 times I missed a flight and both were due to medical emergencies at sea that caused the ship to get into port late. Both times I did not have cruise air but I remember to the day while returning from Hawaii in the middle of the Pacific this announcement "those with cruise air their connecting flights are being taken care of, everyone else will have to make their own arrangements."
Shak
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Here is what the Cleveland Clinic has to say on the subject.
Shak
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/2015/07/what-you-should-know-about-swelling-in-your-legs/
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The subway system in Boston is very easy to navigate.
Shak
Just off harmony - where does everyone hang swimsuits to dry???
in Royal Caribbean International
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I think saving $$$ on parts and installation was a consideration too!
Shak