AveSaloon

Be glad you have just A dog onboard. Today on the Silver Shadow, two men (I won't use gentlemen) walked into La Terrazza for lunch, each with a large poodle on a long leash. Sometimes I think the ADA was the worst law ever passed by Congress, right behind the income tax. Well intentioned, but fatally flawed.

Try again. There is no legal requirement for "termination benefits" as a matter of US Federal employment law, with the exception of COBRA for health insurance coverage. There may be specific state laws that come into play, but anything else is a matter of company policy, not federal law. Also, employees may have pension or 401K or IRA issues that are outside of any "benefits", and whether or not the employee is covered by any kind of labor/employment contract. Federal law is primarily aimed at wrongful terminations, such as for retaliation on a whistleblower or regarding union activity. Also, it concerns discriminatory firings, such as for race, religion and other "protected classes". I do know that Canadian employment law is significantly different than US, which may be what you are thinking of. And if you want to see laws that truly "protect" the worker, look to France.

I always thought....if vertically integrating ship building with ship and cruise operating was such a great idea, Micky Arison and Carnival would have done it years ago. But they didn't.

Maybe ER has returned as a consultant? 😃

Not worried at all about what any new ship will be like. Just hoping that I'll be around in 2028 to have the problem of whether or not I like the "New New Crystal". (Cue the joke about buying green bananas)

Just making the point, don't assume anything. And be happy when good happens.

Why do you say LATAM and Copa are your main options? Also, South America is a big continent, so asking about "West Coast to South America" really doesn't help much. Flights to Bogota would be quite different than to Buenos Aires.

And remember that "free air" may very well NOT include deviations, either on dates and/or airports. Or they may be at a significant up-charge in addition to deviation/AirPlus fees.

Are you saying that no one answered the phone at AC? I find that extremely difficult to believe, since their phone centers operate 24/7. And why were you even bothering with going through your TA? AC and UA were the people who would fix things.

Please stop the generalizations. Just as the initial approval process can vary from short to over a year, so with renewals. Many people wait months for their renewals, and to tell folks that it is "super fast" is a disservice. Further more, it isn't necessarily "painless". You need to list all the countries you have visited in the last five years, with details. In my case, that was over 50 countries, so not a "painless" process.

Nope. GE gets you the same pre-check. It does have a shorter line at IMMIGRATION, but the comment was about TSA, which does not do immigration procedures.

And which can still happen with Global Entry.

Likely the fare arbitrage with the code-shares.

https://www.delta.com/us/en/change-cancel/overview Just one click from the main Delta page.

It's almost seven and a half hours from SEA to KEF. It's three more into Stockholm.

Mar05Dinner.pdf Mar05Lunch.pdf Mar05Reflect.pdf Mar06Dinner.pdf Mar06Lunch.pdf Mar06Reflect.pdf

Mar03Dinner.pdf Mar03Reflect.pdf Mar04Dinner.pdf Mar04Lunch.pdf Mar04Reflect.pdf

Mar01dinner.pdf Mar01Reflect.pdf Mar02Dinner.pdf Mar02Reflect.pdf

A bit behind. Menus and Reflections. Comments to follow. Feb28dinner.pdf Feb28Reflect.pdf Feb29Lunch.pdf Feb29dinner.pdf Feb29Reflect.pdf

I'd wager that Fernando made her an offer she couldn't refuse.

Data point: Formal night on the Spirit. Gentleman in Atlantide sitting with jacket off, but with his Australian cowboy hat on.

Yes. There were prices, but apparently they weren't selling. So the CD announced - multiple times - that there would now be a silent auction for the art on the wall in the loft.

Nope. Just never had seen prices on the art, and most assuredly never had an auction for them. With minimum bids. You missed the part where I noted that there was a silent auction for the "art".

Well, at least sort of. Art instructor onboard posts some of her work in the "Artist's Loft". Passable stuff, bright colors in the style of Picasso (but not really). Then I notice that each has a little notice, giving the title of the work, the artist, and the PRICE. Suffice to say, they didn't seem to be selling. So the ship runs a silent auction, with minimum bids, to move the artwork. Can Park West be looming?

About the ship. As this is our first time aboard PG, we have no past experiences to compare with. This ship seems to be in fine shape for an older vessel. Appointments are clean and bright, befitting a tropical environment. After spending the first night in port in Benoa, it was a day in port before departing around 6pm. The ship ran a number of tours which we passed on as we had seen much of Bali already. Then it was off to sea, with a pleasant night sailing. Arrival at Komodo Island was the next day around noon. We had been at Komodo Island a number of years back on a Seabourn cruise. As normal, the weather was hot and humid. PG ran the tenders well, and we were at the pier. At which point, there were things to notice. Because Komodo is a national park, only shorex groups can proceed to view the dragons. It was quickly noticeable that there were a number of people who should not have participated in the excursion. I tend to fault the shorex team of PG (or as they call themselves, the “travel concierges”) for not accurately describing to guests what was involved in the excursion. Venturing in to see the dragons, you are on a 2.5 kilometer (1.55 mile) dirt path through the jungle. There are NO places to sit along the way, though the guides do make regular stops as you walk along. It was clear that there were guests who were struggling to do this trek, and many folks later said they had no idea what would be involved. Plus, there were people who had difficulty with the steps at the tender landing, to even get to the island. All told, three dragons were spotted – less than our last visit, but at least there were some for folks to see. After Komodo, it was a full sea day as we left Indonesia and set sail for Dili, Timor-Leste.