Curtzilla

I do this also. I also get the 'other' mattress placed on the bed I'm sleeping on, very comfortable. I use the other (which is just a covered box spring) as a place to put my backpack, shoes etc so that frees up the seat.

Are the street/highway signs bilingual or Francais-only?

It cannot be used pre-cruise to pre-pay grats, if that's what you're getting at. Better to just let it net out on the final bill.

For some reason my auto-grats are always $100 every 7-day cruise on every ship. More on longer itineraries, less on the shorter cruises. Sometimes individuals get something extra. I'm happy to pay it to show my appreciation. I'm not sure why some get upset at all the nickel-and-diming. You don't actually have to pay what corporate says.

Tipout is usually for front personnel that normally don't receive tips such as busboys, host/hostess, bouncers, etc. The waitstaff and sometimes bartenders pay a percentage of their sales to the tipout pool, which is then split amongst the tipout recipients.

My guess is that they will give whatever the supplement percentage is as extra points. Whereas a 16 night cruise would get a solo passenger 32 cruise points before (when paying double occupancy) they would now get 24 points if paying the 150% rate. Just a guess, but it would make sense, and actually be fair.

Is there a side of the train that has the better view(s)? Like taking the White Pass train from Skagway, the left side is better. Something like that.

You must pair up. If there's an odd number of riders, one will ride with the guide.

The Colombian Peso is a floating currency (not pegged), it's today about 3,930 pesos per dollar. I would use USD wherever possible, and if pesos are required, try to use a credit card. Also, "Mil" in Spanish means thousand, not million. A "5 Mil" note is 5,000 pesos.

I travel mostly solo and use a ghost companion whenever I need to get around this.

What liquor or beer they serve must have been purchased by Princess from a Texas distributor. The intent is to collect Texas liquor tax (Texas has high sin taxes). The cruise lines buy a limited selection from the Texas distributor, and serve only that while under Texas territory. Once under way and outside the territorial limit, they can serve what ever they like and open the shops (avoiding Texas Sales tax) and casino (no casinos in Texas). Texas also has a law prohibiting 2-for-1 or similar setups for public service.

Which is probably why Princess holds that class back from upgrade bidding for awhile. They're hoping to still sell it full price.

The cruise ships know exactly where the 12-mile limit is at. They can open the casinos and shops at the same time as full bar service.

Looks like it depends on the port. In Galveston now Green Lane will save you anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour of extra line wait. That's AFTER the hour-plus line to get through security and into the building. It's up to the individual of course to decide if the ten bucks is worth it. For me, ten dollars of long line wait insurance for a cruise I've spent 1,000+ on passes the worth it test. YMMV.

I read where the biggest incentive for casinos implementing the 39-space wheel is targeted at the even-money bettors (Red/Black, Odd/Even, 1-18/19-36). Old odds (on a 38 space wheel) was 18/38 or .4737 whereas the new odds are 18/39 or .4615. That might seem a small change on an individual bet, but it adds up in volume for the casino.

Exit 17 on the Southbound side of I-45

for future reference I always stay somewhere around Webster/Clear Lake/Seabrook near NASA. There's a wide variety of hotels and restaurants at all price ranges and it's only a 30 minute drive to the Galveston port area. I-45 between Dallas and Houston cannot be trusted at all, especially south of Corsicana.. Large lengths of it are old and frequently under construction, and there are long stretches with 2 lanes and no exits where an accident can mean an hour's delay or longer. It is nothing at all like the I-35 corridor.

RCCL is offering this from St Maarten, I am wondering if anyone has been on this excursion yet. If so, can you give a review?

As I suspected, it was just a glitch, it's now been moved back to my original cabin. I don't know what caused it, but it sounded way too good to be true, so I didn't put much faith in it. There is a significant price drop however so I will be taking advantage of that.

Are Upgrade Fairy blessings ever revoked? As in sometime later they return you to the originally booked cabin? The reason I asked is I received an absolutely ridiculous upgrade a few days ago, so much so that I won't post it (maybe later). I'm Elite and get the Military and Shareholder OBCs' and do sometimes bid on upgrades, but I didn't this time. There's also been a massive price drop on my original cabin (Ruby Inside Aloha deck forward) for this Alaska cruise next May, so maybe that factored in. I'm happy with the Inside cabin, but losing this upgrade would be an incredible disappointment. I hope it stays.

Attempting "world travel" out of DFW using anyone but AA is problematic from the start. Going to Europe, AA has many non-stops to the major cities, and codeshare with British Airways (through Heathrow) just about anywhere else you would want to go. My recent nonstop from Rome to DFW (on a 777) was just about the best mega-flight I've ever had.

Yes, small packs of gummi bears, beef jerky, or trail mix to put in the backpack on excursions.

Typically sea fog results from colder air over warmer water. it's mostly a winter phenomenon following a cold front passage. Usually not a problem in the warm season.

Has anyone added the Plus AFTER embarkation? If so, did they charge your card directly or post to the onboard account? I have over $350 OBC that I want to offset the cost of the Plus (about $420 for this cruise) against.

That's a short stay at Johnson Space Center, won't be able to experience all of it.