3rdGenCunarder

Hmm, this is the first time Zaandam will be in Miami, coming from a Panama Canal cruise. But she will have been in San Diego and Fort Lauderdale in January before Miami, so I don't think the return-to-US inspections would be needed.

Yes, haunt United's website. They are sloppy about letting people know about changes. Maybe they're better working with a cruise line. But don't trust them to keep you informed. Even for people not on a Max, it's good to keep checking. Airlines may have to do some shuffling if the Max planes don't come back online when they're needed.

I just looked again at @dobiemom's boarding pass and see that group A has a boarding time of 1:00. I just got my assignment, and it's group C 1:40, which means B is 1:20 and A is 1:00. Have they really starting boarding this late with a 4:00 departure? Or is it still the usual random assignment of times nobody looks at? I know this may not be the final time/group. They say not to print anything before 7 days out. New question--has anyone boarded a HAL cruise in Miami? For some unknown reason, maybe crowding at FLL, Zaandam has had a few cruises moved to Miami. I had planned to show up around 11:30 as I usually do in FLL. Most people are through check-in and in the waiting area, so I can check in quickly and go upstairs to wait with the priority group. Last time it was perfect--I stepped off the escalator just as the other priority passengers were walking onto the gangway.

There was a lot of confusion with cell phones and time change on my Norway cruise this fall. Our first sea day out of Southampton was the end of summer time in UK and Europe. BUT we were moving to an earlier time zone, so the ship did not move clocks back, since we'd only have to change them forward again when we got to Norway. (As Bullwinkle used to say, I am soooo confused!) Some people's phones reset automatically, some didn't. Some watches reset, some didn't. One woman at our table said her watch reset but her phone didn't.

If there's a photo you really want to share or move, email it to yourself. Or use cloud storage that both devices can access.

Yes, I've seen this. It almost looks photoshopped, it's so ridiculous. When I was there 15 years ago, our ship was the only one, much smaller than that thing, and we did not dock on top of this lovely part of the town. I remember how charming it was to stroll around there on our way to the sardine museum.

There is something almost decadent about lying on a heated lounger and watching snow-covered mountains go by. (Thank you, @RuthC for that tip!)

Your boarding pass looks like mine. I thought the orange border might be like the orange stripe on the key card, for quick recognition. Wow, priority has its own door in FLL. Unfortunately, my cruise has been moved to Miami, where the staff will not be as familiar with HAL's way of doing things.

One day in Rekjavik led to two weeks in Iceland, so you never know what port you'll fall in love with.

I don't know if I'm unusual in this aspect, but one of the things I like about a variety of ports on a cruise is finding places I want to return to for more than just a day. I wonder how many people do come back for longer (and more expenditures) after a sample visit.

I think your first and third paragraphs explain why Bar Harbor is limiting cruise ships. I have seen the sidewalks overflowing with people and have heard grumblings that hotels are losing business because land-based travelers don't want to deal with the cruise crowds. Over the years, I haven't seen changes in the port area businesses. They even still have an independent bookstore, one of my markers of a town that has kept its character. I wonder if they're afraid they won't be able to fight the pressure from the influx of thousands of people and lose that character. You can't get it back once Diamonds/emeralds/tanzanite International and Del Sol take root.

Now, there's a way to convince him to reduce his screen time. Keep logging him off!

Rules here forbid telling us who your agency is, but is it large enough for you to escalate above her supervisor? Did you check your credit card to see if HAL or the agency issued a refund? Did check the website to see if your cabins are still available? Will anyone at HAL hold them for you until Monday when you can try again to get satisfaction from the agency? There are some travel agents on this board. I hope one will chime in here to give you some advice on next steps.

I just got the 15 day reminder email. All sorts of advice, like keep meds in your carryon, be sure you're at the airport 2 hours before your flight (domestic). One item I hadn't noticed before was to have the same credit card I used to set up my account. I've never had my card checked since they put check-in on the website. I did check-in so long ago that I had to go into the account to see which card I had given them. I have to say, I like the new design. The "gate keepers" can't miss that orange border, and the 4-star logo is larger than it used to me.

I book direct and I still have to keep an eye on United. I don't think I've ever flown to the US northwest and not had a flight change. And usually, they don't tell me--I stumble on the change when checking something else. It happened last year on a flight to Ohio and just recently on a flight from Miami. Okay, I get that schedules change. But passengers need to be notified!

I rarely take full-day tours, partly because the lunch tends to take too long, wasting precious time for sightseeing. Plus, that leaves me half a day (or all day if I don't do a tour) to walk around on my own. I recently read an article about taking a "photo safari." Just grab your camera and go for a walk. Like this is some new idea? I've been doing that my whole life! I have kept track. I keep way too much paper from cruises. I finally reached the point where I knew I had to purge excess stuff. While I was at it, I made up a spreadsheet. I'm well over a year, but don't think I will make it to two. My goal has been a year on Cunard, which I will reach this summer. I've only got about 6 months on HAL, so I'm not going to make it to a year there.

I just checked mine for a cruise in two weeks. I have a bar code, but still no boarding time/group. Or do they leave that "to be assigned" since priority does not have to wait for assigned times? And is there any priority order within the ever-expanding priority groups? The boarding pass design has changed since my last HAL cruise a year ago. Can't miss that orange border!

Well, somebody has to be last. And it was 5 minutes before all aboard, so you weren't late. HAL captains love to leave early and have a little extra time to get to the next port.

It's a long time since I've been to Key West. Sad that the port area has become generified. I will see it in a few weeks. I hope the foodie tour I'm taking will go to local-owned businesses. One town in Alaska that has held onto control is Sitka. They have kept out the "carbon copy businesses," as @TRLD so aptly put it, but I wonder how long that will last. Since they enlarged the cruise piers, the building no longer has a nice locally-made market, but a larger more generic souvenir store.

Thanks. I had promo meals and my WC meals on my last cruise. I went to the purser's desk to make my bookings, but I'm still not sure if I got everything I was supposed to. I think I was supposed to have two verandah lunches but I forgot to book the second one. Sometimes all those promo bits and pieces are hard to keep track of!

I love museum shops! They often have things that I won't see anywhere else. I would probably buy more books if they weren't heavy and my shelves weren't already full.

When you think about someone on a land vacation, there's hotel cost and three meals a day on top of tours, souvenirs and such. Yes, that's a lot more than the average cruise spends. If I'm going to eat or buy something, I look for a local business, not a port chain store or chain restaurant. Partly for the fun and partly to do my bit to support locals. But I know I'm not putting nearly as much money into the economy as a land visitor is.

With any luck, we might see him jump overboard!

Cunard just send me an email reminding me of my WC perks. One is the complimentary meal at the pop-up or lunch at Verandah. I forgot about that and have already booked a Verandah lunch for my July cruise. They're only offering it on the first two sea days, so I didn't want to miss it. When I booked this, there was no way to say that it would be my WC "freebie" (I use quotes because it isn't free--I've paid for it little by little over many cruises 😉). So when I'm onboard, can I ask to have the cost credited to my account or back to my credit card? HAL will do this for Mariner discounts, but I don't remember if Cunard will.

Can you order something from the pop-up in PG, or just in QG?