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wcook

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Everything posted by wcook

  1. I take a number of long haul trips every year. Some random advice; feel free to take or ignore: 0) Have a great trip; enjoy! 1) Jet lag either happens, or it doesn’t. Just accept it. Fighting/worrying just makes it worse. Melatonin can’t hurt, and getting lots of natural sunlight always helps. 2) Reduce flight stress by getting to the airport extra early. Plan on having a nice sit down meal with your extra time. Carry on as little as possible. 3) Talk to your doctors about getting a few benzos (Valium, Xanax, etc.) for the flights. They make flying and sleeping on flights so much easier 4) People love to complain about flying, but long hauls can actually be enjoyable. You’ll get some food, modern in flight entertainment systems are fabulous. You can watch whatever movies you want or binge watch a tv series. 5) If your s.o. is going to be cranky, let them know it’s ok as long as (1) it ends when the flight ends (2) there’s an apology and some making up for it when the flight is over.
  2. The escudo is pegged to the Euro, which is why that is the most accepted foreign currency. But don’t count on shops accepting Euros or credit cards. Worth it - IMO - to get some escudos.
  3. Cholera is certainly scary, but it’s really unlikely to show up on a cruise ship. From an overall risk standpoint, I don’t think it adds much to the current risk profile of noro/Covid/flu. Not to mention the risks from driving to the port and what not.
  4. There are a number of crew members who have YouTube (and probably other social media) documenting their lives. I don’t recall much discussing of eating in the buffet, except from one (a royal Caribbean ice performer.) She and her friends have occasional “nights off” where they go into passenger dining areas. But they wear “civilian” clothes and aren’t readily recognizable as crew.
  5. It’s one thing to say officers need to be paid more because their jobs require specialized skills leading to a smaller pool of candidates. That’s very different from saying they are more “worthy”
  6. From the second day of cruise ships people have been complaining that the quality is going down. Either this is not an accurate representation of food quality, or we are all eating complete garbage.
  7. Seems to me that as long as NCL is willing to book the cruise, it doesn’t really matter what the travel agent thinks. But, yeah, the other posters have correctly explained the legalities.
  8. You will be told - in the daily program and on signs when exiting - what the “all aboard time” is. Usually a half hour before the ship is scheduled to leave.
  9. Honestly, any of the mainstream lines will give you a wonderful cruise with something for everybody. Pick whichever strikes your fancy and have a great time.
  10. Unless you are driving the boat 🙂
  11. 10 drinks in one session? Yes. Ten drinks spread over 24 hours? Not an issue (on vacation, 10 a day every day would be a problem.)
  12. No, I was mislead. I later studied more and realized my mistake, but initially I was mislead.
  13. I’m pretty sure NCL could throw passengers overboard in the middle of the ocean and some posters would find a way to defend it. I’ll only speak for myself here. When I read about the FREE At Sea package and that it included a FREE drinks package, I thought that meant I would get a drinks package and wouldn’t have to pay anything. Maybe I’m stupid, maybe I’m drunk, but I was mislead. The advertising mislead at least one person and I’m guessing a whole lot more.
  14. If I remember correctly, Miss Leading was my third grade teacher.
  15. One problem is you aren’t just hopping out of a cab and running up the gangplank. You have to go through the whole security and check-in process in the cruise terminal first. Which can take a while assuming the staff is even still there to check you in that late.
  16. Someday on a cruise critic forum: Poster 1: I’m currently on my honeymoon cruise and we’ve been told the only meals on board will be bread and water. Poster 2: You have no right to complain, didn’t you read your cruise contract. The line is only required to provide “meals;” they are free to serve whatever food they want. It’s your fault for not understanding the contract you signed.
  17. Has anybody considered that the simplest explanation is often true. And in this case would be: Antarctica doesn’t exist. It’s a lie started by the pro-globe conspiracy.
  18. Second, before we get into hard stuff like compensation for missed ports, we need a fairness in price advertising rule. Lines should be required to show fares with all taxes, port fees and “mandatory” tips/charges. I believe several European counties (the UK?) already require this.
  19. First, the political aspect. Self regulation is essentially no regulation. No way they produce anything with teeth. And if by some miracle the US was able to pass anything, it would be super industry friendly. If anything passenger friendly comes about, it’ll be via Europe.
  20. Think about it this way - hangovers are things you get when you sober up.
  21. This one is easy - don’t even think about it. While I’m sure it’s technically possible, the April heat, lack of shade and port isolation make it a no go. Note that cabs in Dubai are relatively cheap (as long as you make sure the meter is running) and hoho busses are expensive.
  22. It’s a race to see which actually gets implemented first, this or real id in the US.
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