JF - retired RRT

The mini-bar became useless to us when they took away the ability to exchange for coffee cards. We don't drink alcohol or bottled water or soda. We bring home the tiny bottles and offer them to friends.

Sounds like a steward went above and beyond.

Many think the daily gratuity goes to the steward and waiters...that is incorrect. It is split out to laundry workers, cooks, dishwashers and probably many others. If you DIY your tips, you are cutting into the $$ that other unseen workers share. There's also a rumor (not completely substantiated) that when you zero your gratuities at Guest Services, it's viewed as you are/were unhappy with the provided services.

Newark is a looong way from the port.

The SD gratuity used to be included in the price and we gave a nice tip (if the waiter did a good job). The forced gratuity is less than the tip we usually left. So, the waiters are the ones who are losing on this new pricing.

I agree with @PacnGoNow you need to get a TA or a CVP involved ASAP.

It's up to you. On your own or with a PVP...pay full price On your own - keep total control of your booking with no middleman TA - usually get a lower price and OBC

Did a Panama Canal cruise on Pacific Princess (back in the day) over Xmas and NYE. There were maybe 20 kids (which is a lot for that ship). There wasn't a dedicated Kids space on the Pacific, but the staff used a little used "card" room and kept the kids busy with crafts and organized activities. We hardly noticed they were on the ship except when they went on a walk about.

My thought exactly. @Newbiejawn were those excursions booked through Princess or a third party? I've never heard of price increases being passed on to booked excursion cruisers. Once booked, the price is locked in.

IIRC there used to be a loyalty reward...Princess took it back. ☹️

Kind of disingenuous...ocean water that goes through reverse osmosis is basically tap water. 😅

@PescadoAmarillo Google "portable medication refrigerator"...lots of options.

Already lost us.

Lots of threads about this...but see above.

Just did a quick Google and used "HME for CPAP". There were a LOT of links. Amazon has them. The top of the Google search has a whole row of companies that sell them. Take a look. May or may not work for you. DH uses CPAP and stopped using the humidifier years ago (too wet). He tried a HME and didn't like that either. When I first started working with CPAPs (I was there practically at the beginning)...humidifiers were not part of the equation. The success rate was less than 30%. A lot of people are like you...dryness more than you can tolerate. Cool humidifiers were an add-on after a number of years and the success rate went up to maybe 50%. Then heated humidifiers came out and BOOM. Success rate is now in the 70-90% range. A HME won't cost much and could be worth at least a trial run.

Not really. A HME is the size of a toilet paper tube.

I found it from your blog. Great lunch or dinner...when you can get the waiters to offer the condiments that go with it. Some waiters don't seem to know about that.

See if you can find a Heat Moisture Exchanger (HME). It goes between the CPAP and you. Catches the moisture from your exhalation and you breathe it back in on inhalation. Inexpensive and worth a try.

See my post #43.

Tap water in the hotel. Also, I'm pretty sure all modern CPAPs/APAPs have internal converters (check the label or manufacturer booklet). Back in the old days 😉, my patients had to change the fuse in the machine when they traveled. Now, the manufacturers all make "international" machines and ship them all over the world. Saves them from having increased costs for 2, 3, or 4 different types of electricity.

Correct. Even the tap water at home is OK. The problem with tap water is the minerals in the water. If you need to use tap water, check for mineral build-up in the humidifier when you go back to distilled...if there's some build-up, just do a vinegar:water soak of 4:1 and you should be good to go.

Multiple stewards have done that for DH...just ask.

We went to AK in Sept. and would never do that again. It was cold, rainy, windy, overcast. We saw 2 eagles, tons of DEAD salmon and a couple of seals. Bigly disappointed.

I'm jealous. Love those long cruises and love the itinerary (we did it once on Princess). We board for HI the day you get off. Have a great cruise!

Too many sea days is not a thing for me.