staceyglow

They don't get commissions, but they have sales targets.

My vax card's permanent home is in my passport holder. I haven't really needed it for anything else in over a year, and that way, I don't have to keep track of any countries that might require it.

I will certainly agree that Carnival has gone down in some areas, including what they charge me for a cruise. I am paying significantly less for most of my sailings than when I started with them over 15 years ago. Now, if their prices go up significantly, especially if other cruise lines' don't, I might rethink my decision to continue to sail with them. As it stands, Carnival is the best vacation bargain around. On a per-night basis, I can't even rent a crappy motel room for what I am paying Carnival for a nice cabin, not to mention good food, decent entertainment, and transportation to beautiful ports and beaches.

Served with a side of disgusting fries.

If she doesn't get back to you in time, I would go ahead and book it. Not worth losing the deal, and any PVP worth their salt would understand.

Definitely download the books before you get on the ship. In theory, you could do it on the ships, but there are a couple of extra steps involved and it is way easier to do it ahead of time.

Okay, but to me there is a huge distinction between "not to my liking" and "disgusting". "Disgusting" implies that no reasonable person would want to eat them. I don't care for bleu cheese. If you made me a salad that had bleu cheese crumbles on it, would you want me to call it "disgusting"?

Guest Services can help you.

Not necessarily. It could be that she has been pushing for the changes and has been shot down.

And I am sure that when some high-maintenance cruisers exclaim, "Well! This is the last time I will ever cruise this line again!!!" The cruise lines are like

I am a Carnival fan and I think they stink. By far the weakest entertainment that Carnival provides. And as far as "people still attend", every Playlist Production show I have attended in the past couple of years have been at the most half full. I would rather they put the comedians in the main theater. Their shows in the comedy club are often standing room only.

Possibly. But given the long lines people are always complaining about at Guys, I find it rather unlikely that those fries are getting much of a chance to thaw. 😁

I can't honestly imagine how any type of french fry could be considered disgusting unless it was completely under- or overcooked (which I doubt they would intentionally serve). Maybe not to one's liking, but not disgusting...

Some, but I am sure not all. Like groups of running teenagers, as I mentioned earlier.

I would. At the minimum he/she should be able to explain this promotion to you.

Only if their friend is Howard Hughes...🙂

The original complainer probably told the rest of her party, "Just bring your birth certificate. The lady at Carnival said that would work, and you don't want to risk losing your passport".

Exactly. Why would someone go through the hassle and expense to get a passport when they have no plans to travel outside the US, especially if you live hundreds of miles away from the border? If it was a permanent document, like a Social Security Card, maybe, but they have an expiration date, so it might never get used.

Here is my guess as to what happened: It's established that the woman who is out $8,500 is an experienced cruiser. She booked the cruise, and was aware (because she was notified by all the traditional methods) that a passport was required. She discovered late in the process that her passport was expired. She called Princess to see if there was any way of getting around the requirement. The CSR told her she didn't need a passport (quite possibly due to incorrect or incomplete information from the passenger), and the passenger ran with that, despite having all official information from Princess saying something else. It's either that or the passenger is flat out lying about customer service telling them they didn't need a passport. I have a family member who spent 25 years as a Taxpayer Service Rep for the IRS. She always recommended that taxpayers get their answer in writing from the TSR they spoke with. If you are audited, the IRS does not consider "the lady on the phone told me..." as a valid excuse for completing your tax return incorrectly. The same principle should apply to any important interaction you have with a company, especially when there is a lot of money at stake.

I have used them several times and never had any side effects. I have never needed them on a large ship cruise. I have taken a few of the small sailing ship cruises, however, and I needed the patch then.

I would consider signing something like that for my own kids, but I would NEVER take responsibility for the drinking of anyone else's underage kids.

It's also quite possible that Carnival may have on board whatever equipment a commercial bakery uses to make their pastries uniform.

Flight Aware also has an app that is very useful if you are trying to look up flights in the airport

Read those annual policies carefully - most of them are for medical incidents only, and most of those that are more comprehensive (trip delay, trip interruption, etc.) have much lower limits for both medical and other claims than a per-trip policy. I researched this extensively several weeks ago, and we decided to do an annual plan for medical that had great coverage and was only $250 for both of us (we are in our 60s). I then bought a separate per-trip plan for our upcoming two-week cruise that covered everything else for less than $85. Based on our planned trips this year, we probably won't save a ton of money over buying an annual comprehensive policy (which were $650 -$800), but it is much, much more coverage. On many types of claims it is 10 times what the comprehensive policy covered.

Others have already given some great tips, but here is a few more : - make your "personal item" a backpack. Just keep in mind that it will have to fit in under the seat in front of you. A well - designed one can hold a surprising amount of stuff. - if you must bring a purse, make it a very small one and put it inside the backpack. Only put true essentials in it - wallet, cell phone, glasses, lip balm. I even use a smaller, flatter "travel wallet" that I only has a credit card, a debit card, my driver's license, and a small amount of cash. I don't even keep my keys in it. DH has a set, so we are all good. - shoes can make or break your luggage situation. For warm weather cruises, I wear athletic shoes onto the ship, and pack flip flops, dressy sandals, and some topsiders. I stuff the topsiders with socks and underwear to save space. -bring clothes (especially underwear) that you can wash in your sink and that air dries quickly. Stores that specialize in camping and backpacking are great places to get them. Backpackers are experts in packing light. - if you are bringing any bulky clothes (sweater, jacket) wear them onto the plane. - keep in mind that no one will care if you wear the same two outfits to the MDR every night. The vast majority won't even notice. -one other hack - and you didn't hear this from me 😉 - as far as liquids are concerned TSA is only looking for one quart bag per piece of luggage, not per person. I put one in my carry on and one in my backpack. I have never been stopped.