SargassoPirate

Island Princess 2024 WC basic no frills fare this morning, per person for a Luxury Inside Suite.

Should being the key word. People should wash their hands after using the restroom and before eating. Many don't and thus they spread disease. That's why we take precautions to keep ourselves safe and don't depend on others to do the right thing.

I agree, it is odd, but I don't have to sit on the bed or use the desk chair to watch TV and it folds right up and stores easily when not in use. At Port Everglades I picked one up at Publix. I usually spend a night or two in the departure city before the cruise, so it's easy to find one. So far the room stewards always seem appreciative when I tell them I'll be leaving the chair for the crew to use.

We/I have carried wipes for years. We used to get some sidelong glances when we'd get on a plane and wipe down the armrests, seatbelt buckles, and tray tables. In hotels/ships we would wipe down the light switches, the remote, and door handles. Since 2020 we are mainstream. But, we don't get sick and haven't for years.

Sounds like a bunch of experienced cruisers here. Ok, other than She Who Must Be Obeyed, the oddest thing I have taken on a cruise was a folding camp chair in a bag Since Princess pulled the barrel chairs out, if I have an opportunity to buy one near the port, I'll carry it on. More comfortable than sitting on the bed in my cheap Luxury Inside Suite. At the end of the cruise, I donate it to the crew.

I've always used the same one and that was as recent as this past January.

WD40 and Duct Tape: if it moves and shouldn't, duct tape. If it should move but doesn't, WD40.

She Who Must Be Obeyed can be odd, but I sometimes bring her along on cruises. 😜 Seriously though, I carry a small bag with my travel tool kit on every trip. Small Leatherman tool, small Swiss Army knife, small tube of Shoe Goo, small roll of duct tape, some blue painters tape wrapped around a short pencil, a small can of WD40, a couple of shoe laces, and an eyeglass repair kit. I think I've used just about everything in there at one time or another. While really odd, I always pack a thermal cup for carrying my morning coffee.

We are flying first class and just wondering if our friends flying coach can come up for free drinks and the better meal. 😜

We got stuck on the other side of the world in western Australia in March 2020 when Australia started closing their internal borders. Our Princess cruise back to the US was cancelled and airlines were shutting down. Long story short, with some creativity, we were able to get over to Sydney, get a hotel, and eventually got a flight back to the US and then some domestic flights to get home. We were out around $6,000 in unexpected expenses to get to Sydney after we were put off the Indian-Pacific train, hotel in Sydney, and flights home. Princess eventually refunded the cost of the cruise and gave us some OBC that we used with the restart. AIG reimbursed us for our other out-of-pocket expenses. We'll stick with AIG.

Or the "last" if you are not in a big toot to catch a flight.

We carry an annual travel policy with AIG that covers us for all travel over 150 miles from home - car trips, motorcycle trips, domestic flights etc. I figure that what I have saved over the years by not taking the cruise line insurance has more that paid for my broader coverage with AIG's annual policy. For any losses beyond the coverage (never happened so far) I figure I'm self insured and still ahead when compared to the cruise line insurance. That being said, however, for a very expensive world cruise, I took the Princess insurance since the potential loss if I had to cancel at the last minute for some unforeseen circumstances was more than I was comfortable with. Bottom line, figure what risk you are willing to accept, shop around, and put the pencil to it.

If you all want to dine together, check with the maitre d and see if they can push some of the two tops together. It may help if you dine later too. If you don't ask, it's an automatic no.

Some folks like to impress others alright. Ballcap on backwards, a wife-beater, and shorts in the MDR sure do make an impression. Seen it Just sayin'

Even when She Who Must Be Obeyed deigns to cruise, we never spend our days glued to our devices. In the olden days when we purchased a set number of minutes, the allowance was more than enough. The device has an off button and also airplane mode. Just sayin'.

You gotta put the pencil to it and see what works for you. Since we cruise for the itinerary amongst our favorite three or four lines, our warehouse club credit card pays off, plus it's three percent on all travel, not just cruises, so we use it for airfare and guided tours as well.

There's a long thread here about the recent world cruise on the Island with a host of information and photos of the ship (as well as the ports)

We've used some bright lime green handle wraps that secure with Velcro. Makes that black bag easy to spot. Also we quit using soft side luggage since the airline personnel seem to be predisposed to place bags zipper-side down on the conveyor belts. Makes no difference with the hard sides.

I like option to self porter when boarding if I choose to do so. As soon as the cabins are available I can be unpacked in about 30 minutes and enjoy the first day of the cruise instead of waiting or worrying about the luggage or when it will be delivered. On a particularly long cruise, I'll self porter one bag of essentials and check the bag with the extras. I may not get into the second bag for a few days when I want access to my full clothing menu. On the other end of the cruise, I place my bags in the corridor the last evening and try to be amongst the last off the ship. My bags are waiting in the terminal, the crowds have dissipated, and I can Uber to a hotel for the night and catch a morning flight the next day. Low key, low stress travel that comes with experience. Enjoy your cruise, Jeter.

Looking forward to your scanner report, Jeter. Thanks

Why should one expect Princess to enforce anything in the dining room when they don't enforce no saving loungers by chair hogs, no parking mobility devices in the fire exit corridors overnight, no saving seats in the theater, no hogging a HC table for cards and games, or much else?

That's good information. Thanks. Was it indeed the case that the scanners are smaller or is it just the port personnel telling passengers that it is? I ran into that at the port of Harwich several years ago. They confiscated my bag, but then when I got to the scanner it was clear that it would fit. From then on, I ask to see a supervisor. Signed, One Who Has Been Fooled Before

I just did a quick look at the pricing for that world cruise, and I didn't see any OBC offers. Again, just a quick look. OBC is not as important to me as the total cost of the cruise. To that end, once I have selected the cruise and the perfect cabin and have the booking secured with the cruise line I transfer the booking to my warehouse club TA. On the WC, once it's completed, I'll garner a $3200 "gift card" voucher from the warehouse club, plus when I charge the payments to the warehouse club affiliated credit card, I get three percent of the total cruise price back. Good luck with your booking and the WC.

It's all a bunch of theater. When cruising restarted, I took a test prior to the first cruise and the port people took a quick look at my results from CVS on my phone and waved me through. The next cruise was six or seven weeks later and I got another test, but this time at the port. Afterwards, I proceeded to the checkpoint and showed them my results on my phone. It was later after I was all checked in that I realized I had shown them the screenshot from my earlier cruise. They didn't notice the time or date, just that I had something to show. That second cruise was a B2B and a couple of days before turnaround I had to report for a COVID test. There was plastic sheeting on the floor and the workers were in moon suits. We've come a long way.