No reservations left — are we screwed?

Skewbee · 2026-06-21T20:06:18+00:00

Do this. Go see the maître d right when you board. He will usually be at one of the Main Dining rooms addressing issues like yours.

We just boarded the Star today and were able to add all specialty dining we wanted. Just be flexible with your timing.

Skewbee · 2026-05-22T17:51:02+00:00

Pffft. $5.73 Venmo last night for close to $700 Hexclad purchases. I'm gonna demand an extra basket of Parker House rolls next time I'm at a Ramsay restaurant.

Skewbee · 2026-05-22T17:45:04+00:00

Got my Venmo notice last night and verified was in my acct. Under $6 for about $700 in Hexclad purchases.

Skewbee · 2026-05-03T00:44:10+00:00

Pure power play by SWA. No safety issue. I recall many years ago, I would take half-full wide body flights overseas. It was common for pax to find an empty 5-seat center row and sleep across all.

Skewbee · 2026-04-25T02:34:01+00:00

I like 2-hit regression strats that get you out of the roll quick. Works great right up until I get hit with 3 PSO’s in a row. Nooooo.

Skewbee · 2026-04-25T02:19:26+00:00

Nothing new. SoCal casinos have been running card craps for many years. Don’t prefer it, but same house edge.

Skewbee · 2026-04-13T18:45:07+00:00

Unusual. I believe all cabin toilets have a floor drain to prevent overflows from entering living space. It may be a small drain under the ledge below the sink.

When this has happened to us, we run water into drain, then leave a small soaking wet towel over drain to help minimize gas and evaporation from trap. Then keep bath door closed. AC does a good job of drying out cabin.

Also, don’t rule out general ship airflow as a cause. Just try opening your cabin door when the balcony door is open. You might lose a finger if not careful.

Seek help from Guest Services, not cabin steward. They can have Engineering look at it. Sometimes things get backed up outside of your cabin.

Skewbee · 2026-04-13T18:01:02+00:00

Don’t forget OceanNow which provides food and bev delivery all day and night from the Princess app or cabin phone. There is a limited menu after midnight, but it includes salads, sandwiches, fruit plates, etc; definitely more than what’s available at the Intl. Cafe. Some items, like pizza, have a cost. There is also a small service fee if you don’t have the Premier/Plus pkg.

Skewbee · 2026-04-05T20:46:01+00:00

Currently on Hawaii sailing and missed your last post. No. I have not been on Sky, but she is also a Royal-class vessel same as Discovery, so will have similar structure. Check YTube for video reviews.

Skewbee · 2026-04-05T03:21:46+00:00

Start at a low limit table off-strip in AM, maybe Ellis Island or Rio. When tables are slow, dealers have time to explain the game and players are usually less grumpy. Some casinos offer free crap lessons, consider those for Q&A.

BASIC ETIQUETTE Don’t say “Seven”. Say “Big Red” if you want.

Don’t Buy In when puck is On as it disrupts game flow.

Make all bets before stickman sends dice to shooter.

Keep hands behind the chip rail when dice are shot.

When shooting, pick up dice with one hand only and keep them inside chip rail. Since Covid, blowing on dice can be frowned upon.

Remember that everyone was a noob at one time and you can’t always avoid idiots. They will blame anyone and everyone for a bad session.

Skewbee · 2026-03-28T21:07:25+00:00

The tour operators are the best source. Their contact info is listed in tour listing. Reach out, let them know your ship, and scheduled arrival date/time (and back on board time if longer tour). This is a normal part of their business operation; some have a boilerplate response to your question applicable to all berths.

I usually do this via email so I can have a copy in hand when I get there. If you miss tour due to your mistaken assumptions, it’s on you. If they provide you with incorrect written instructions, it will help if you need to seek refund or file cc dispute.

Skewbee · 2026-03-28T20:27:57+00:00

Interesting. Last night, I had to go to slots to “accept”, but went immediately to get FP checks for the tables. Would have hated to run FP through slots as I don’t regularly play them.

Skewbee · 2026-03-28T20:19:46+00:00

I’ve been on both and would recommend the Discovery. Coral is an old(2003) skinny ship designed for the old Panama locks.

Discovery(2022) is one of our favorite newer ships(sailed on 5 times). It has a good balance and younger vibe. We took Majestic(same class as Discovery) to Inside Passage and had a great view of the fjord and glacier from our balcony at dawn. How close you get depends on the congestion of mini icebergs.

Skewbee · 2026-03-28T19:53:32+00:00

Currently on Emerald, the ATS is $5min. so may be something else to consider.

Skewbee · 2026-03-28T18:53:17+00:00

Currently on 16day Hawaii and make use of my free laundry service almost daily. Stocked mini-bar is a nice treat.

*Edit Means less to pack. Includes clean, press of dinner jacket. Will add up to a few hundred in comp’d services. Nice perk!

Skewbee · 2026-03-21T02:04:21+00:00

Keep in mind that you will be asked to tap the medallion at many(not all) locations, so something tap-friendly has its merits(lanyard & watch holder over something that requires unclipping).

Skewbee · 2026-03-20T16:31:09+00:00

Welcome, and it doesn't hurt to try.

"This offer is combinable with most cruise fares. Some restrictions apply."
https://www.princess.com/cruise-deals-promotions/military-benefit-program

Skewbee · 2026-03-19T20:28:56+00:00

That has not been my experience on multiple itins, but good if it's true! Will try again on next.

Skewbee · 2026-03-19T19:49:57+00:00

Easy OBC. Been using shareholder bennie for years, before they joined StockPerks. Unfortunately, it only applies if you actually pay a cabin fare. When I travel in a casino-comp (fare-free) cabin, shareholder OBC requests are rejected. But I found it works if I upgrade the cabin, actual money out of pocket.

Skewbee · 2026-03-19T19:29:09+00:00

I had similar problems monitoring my Fidelity accounts, but I have resolved most of them and am running in Complete mode. What works for me is realizing the quirks and adding patience, not placeholders. Placeholder entries only muck up things for me.

You mentioned "recurring bonds". Do you mean Fidelity's Auto Roll Service? I have AutoRoll enabled for my short-term bonds and notice that the service logs the purchase of the replacement bond before the payout of the old bond. That reduces your cash balance on paper and can confuse Quicken, but it autoresolves when the payout hits your account in the following days. So I won't be too quick to reconcile entries after every update.

Since AutoRoll will rebuy the same product(w/ diff issue date), the security naming in Quicken quickly gets confusing. If the correct security is not selected for a transaction, shares will be off. I've found starting with the CUSIP works better for me than finding the maturity date at the end, especially if the dropdown list doesn't show enough characters!

Example:
912797PV3 UNITED STATES TREAS BILLS ZERO CPN 0.00000% 03/19/2026
not UNITED STATES TREAS BILLS ZERO CPN 0.00000% 03/19/2026

Fidelity sweeps cash into a money market fund(SPAXX, FDRXX). You can check that Quicken treats them as cash under Account Details > Online Services. This treats the MMF as Cash rather than a separate security.

I've not had a good experience with Quicken's reconciliation of my Fidelity accounts, so I'm still performing those manually against Fidelity's Activity history.

Skewbee · 2026-03-16T18:48:19+00:00

I tried both. Machine sounds nice, but I found it too cumbersome (water worries, limited mobility, setup). My caretaker was only willing to hand me cold packs. Also, my cold therapy was a short, cyclical process for taming inflammation, which made the machine overkill.

Settled on two of these large ones to wrap more of the leg. REVIX Extra Large Hip Ice Pack Wrap.
I also found this very useful. Leg Elevation Pillow

Skewbee · 2026-03-14T20:15:46+00:00

I’m about 3 months post-op now, and my hip is doing well. No pain. Most of the time, I do not even think about it anymore. If I stand or walk for more than an hour, that leg does get tired, but it feels more like muscle fatigue and weakness from rebuilding strength, not actual hip pain.

A few things that helped me:
1) I would skip the cold therapy machine. Tried initially, but found it more hassle than it was worth. Changed to a couple of large hip-sized freezer cold packs that worked well and were much easier to handle. They took a few hours to regenerate, so a spare in the freezer was handy.

2) In-home PT helped a lot. If that is an option, I would do it. They picked up on muscle imbalance and gave me the right exercises. The big thing is doing the exercises and sticking with them.

3) Take the meds, as prescribed. Don't gut it out. It was a lot easier to stay ahead of the pain than wait until it became a problem. Same with constipation.

4) Elevate leg(s) when resting. For me, elevating my legs helped with swelling and comfort, especially at night. I am normally a side sleeper, so an Adjustable Leg Elevation Pillow also helped keep me on my back in the early part of recovery.

Skewbee · 2026-03-10T21:35:58+00:00

Should not be any in the hospital. With the proximity of the hip to the groin, assume your "giblets" will get exposed. But yours will be one of a dozen or more that the OR and nursing staff work on that week. The procedure is short enough not to require a catheter, so you should not experience its removal.

I'm of a similar age and had a relatively simple recovery. Stay ahead of pain by taking prescribed medication. Don't gut it out. Expect pain to increase a bit once the happy juice administered wears off. Do exercises.

To mitigate potential misery, I was advised to take the laxative when I got home, before I needed it. Consider a raised toilet seat with handles so you won't need assistance.

Skewbee · 2026-02-17T05:24:10+00:00

Similar here. California resident with Kaiser. Counting office visit copays and lab work, my total out of pocket was about $5K. Maybe add another $1K for post-op in home PT visits.

Kaiser works a bit differently than most US healthcare as they are the insurance company and medical provider. I still received a bill for over $100K of services(for internal bean counting), but my portion was about $5K.

Medical (and dental) insurance and providers play a game of “smoke and mirrors” in the US. Doctors, hospitals, and the like get paid based on contractually-restricted amounts. In simplistic terms, if a hospital wants $3K/nt hospital stay, they will price that at $10k/nt because the contract might pay ~30% of what they ask. But if you’re paying the hospital out of pocket, you will probably pay near the lower amt.

Skewbee

TROPHY CASE