njhorseman

It's rather simple. I don't want to encourage anyone to use a driver or service that is breaking the law and I don't want anyone to get ripped off .

If you want to ignore the fact that the designated procedures weren't followed when you negotiated the fare directly with the driver and the fact that you were charged more than you would have paid for a fare on the meter it was great. If you're OK with the fact your driver broke the law by negotiating the fare directly with you and that you paid more than you otherwise might have then sure...it was a "fair fare".

Please read the page you quoted carefully. Curb and the other E-Hail apps are not permitted to be used for trips originating at the airports. They are only permitted for trips to the airports: "The Port Authority does not currently allow taxis to be E-Hailed at the airport. However, you can be dropped off at the airport." FYI, taxi fares between JFK and Manhattan in either direction are already fixed rate and have been for a number of years: https://www.nyc.gov/site/tlc/passengers/taxi-fare.page "Trips between Manhattan and John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) in either direction: $52 Plus 50 cents MTA State Surcharge. Plus 30 cents Improvement Surcharge. $4.50 rush hour surcharge (4pm to 8pm weekdays, excluding legal holidays). Plus New York State Congestion Surcharge of $2.50 (Yellow Taxi) or $2.75 (Green Taxi and FHV) or 75 cents (any shared ride) for all trips that begin, end or pass through Manhattan south of 96th Street. Plus tips and any tolls. The on-screen rate message should read "Rate #2- JFK Airport." " The bottom line is that for airport trips to or from Manhattan the only change from standard fares when using Curb or another E-Hail app is for trips to LGA.

I don't know if this is correct or not. It really doesn't matter. The price was similar to what we were getting quoted from Uber and Lyft. I do know that some of the other yellow cabs were stenciled as $75 flat rate to the other airport. NYC was a mad house, and we got to our airport quickly and for no more than it would have cost to walk a block or two to catch an Uber/Lyft. Even under the NY City Taxi and Limousine Commission's E-hail pilot program that permits the use of a few apps such as Curb, based on your description the required procedures for use of the app still weren't followed because you're required to make a request through the app first, then decide whether to accept the fare quote through the app, not the passenger negotiating with the taxi driver on the street . I realize you don't care, but that's how it works and your driver didn't follow the law. I was born in Manhattan, I've been a resident of NY City and its suburbs my entire life and have taken innumerable taxi, limo and car service rides over more than 7 decades, so I'm pretty darn familiar with how the system works. I spend a lot of time answering Cruise Critic posters' transportation questions on the East Coast Departures Board and to do so accurately I try to keep up with the rules, regulations and the marketplace in general. And for bonus points I had an uncle who was a NY City taxi driver and educated me about his business from the time I was a young boy. 😁

A Toyota Highlander was a yellow cab? I can't say that I've ever seen that, but I guess they do exist. But...even if it was a yellow NY City taxi, the driver still broke the law by charging you a flat fare to LGA. Trips to LGA are supposed to be metered and the chance that a fare to LGA would be $75 is very slight. There would have to be a serious traffic jam to roll up a $75 fare. A typical fare would be in the $45 to $50 range.

That wasn't a cab driver. It was an unlicensed law breaker.

The reason it needed clarification was because it could otherwise appear to be the same problem the OP experienced, where they were billed for service charges they shouldn't have.

OK...thanks for clarifying that. Yes, this is obviously a total screw up by NCL and obviously you have the unenviable task of getting them to fix it after you've disembarked. I suggest you contact your credit card issuer ASAP and hopefully they will give you a temporary credit until NCL corrects the errors.

If you had those meals as part of the FAS package you would have prepaid the service charge and they would not be collecting the $37 .

Did you sign checks in the Haven Restaurant for those amounts or did they just appear on your final bill out of nowhere? Again, there is no charge for dining in the Haven restaurant so if the charges represented a 20% service charge 20% of $0 is still $0.

As I've said, there is no charge for Haven meals so obviously there are no prices on the menu. So 20% of what??? I can't imagine that anyone being presented with such a bill would actually sign it. Surely there were passengers on the sailing who had been Haven guests in the past and I can't imagine the issue not being raised by one of those passengers immediately upon the first presentation of a check to sign . That's why I find this very fishy.

Needless to say my use of the word "tripe" was intentional. 😁

Horseshoe Bay is one of the finest beaches you'll find anywhere . Lounge chairs and umbrellas are available for rent.

You're making too much sense, but the trolls who feast on these tipping threads won't care.

This sounds really fishy. Since a Haven guest is not charged for eating in the Haven restaurant there's never a check to sign and of course 20% of $0 is $ 0.

Right...they are following the recipes created by the corporate office...BUT...I've seen a change in the ship's executive chef mid cruise make a substantial difference, in either a positive or negative direction in the quality of the food's preparation, so you can't just point a finger at the recipes. I was not comparing Julia Child with a young chef trying to follow a cookbook. That isn't even remotely close to what I was saying. I was commenting on what I think was a ridiculous assertion that one needed to be a "native" to properly cook "ethnic" food. Only Italians can cook Italian food? Only the French can cook French food ? Utter tripe.

So using your standards Julia Child couldn't possibly have made acceptable French food ???

Everyone with GE has TSA PreCheck . The OP's question was whether he could use TSA PreCheck when he only had conditional approval for GE, not final approval.

🙄

Wouldn't the officer be concerned that the person in question won't actually board their flight and instead choose to stay in Canada illegally? If so is it possible that the individual would be taken to the airport in the custody of law enforcement to ensure they actually board their flight?

FYI, Oceania's world cruises are on Insignia, not Nautica. If someone is on the full Oceania ATW a full visa package is included, so it's unlikely the OP is on that cruise as they would likely know that all necessary visas can be obtained through the visa service contracted by Oceania. Even if they are only on a segment they can pay Oceania's visa service provider to get the proper visa.

Of course they can get one, but that doesn't mean they actually have gotten one.

Not everyone has a bank account: https://www.fdic.gov/analysis/household-survey/index.html#:~:text=An estimated 4.5 percent of,a bank or credit union. "An estimated 4.5 percent of U.S. households (approximately 5.9 million) were “unbanked” in 2021, meaning that no one in the household had a checking or savings account at a bank or credit union."

It's open seating. Arrive whenever you wish during dining hours. You can request an individual table or to share a table with others when you arrive at the dining room.

A matter of opinion of course, but we don't like the sea bass in Le Bistro one bit, but we do like the Dover sole. I agree...I often order it often.