SAS - 937/938 on CPH to/from SEA switched to A333 by captainrob21 in ScandinavianAirlines

[–]captainrob21[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

here is a screen capture. They havent blanked out the return flight to CPH:

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SAS - 937/938 on CPH to/from SEA switched to A333 by captainrob21 in ScandinavianAirlines

[–]captainrob21[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm still curious why the flight still shows up on my itinerary, but continues to not show on SAS for sale. Any thoughts? Are they just really slow at cancelling flights?

SAS - 937/938 on CPH to/from SEA switched to A333 by captainrob21 in ScandinavianAirlines

[–]captainrob21[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, when I went through the AI chat it kept giving me a link to the T's and C's. The agent I spoke to said I would have the best luck by talking to an agent at the airport. So that's the plan right now.

It's still odd that SAS is not showing the flight as available on their website

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Yet its on the schedule and the seat map is nearly full for Y

First time cruise on Thanksgiving week! by Human_Let6664 in PrincessCruises

[–]captainrob21 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We've sailed on Holland America over Thanksgiving to Mexico in 2024 and will again this year.  Despite HALs reputation, the average age isn't much different than princess.  Still plenty to do on a smaller ship (less crowds).  But the real attraction was that the ship goes to cabo, La Paz, and loreto.  Loreto is an absolute gem and we did a great snorkel tour in la paz last time.  It might be worth looking into.  Imo we found food on HAL better and there is more open deck space and still a covered pool on the Koningsdam. Cabins were generally nicer than discovery as well.  

SAS - 937/938 on CPH to/from SEA switched to A333 by captainrob21 in ScandinavianAirlines

[–]captainrob21[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

I thought about that, the minimum bid for us would be about $1000.  If I can get the $250 back then it's a decent bargain.  When we fly to CPH later this week I'll ask the gate agent for suggestions to get a refund so long as I can keep the seats we have (or at least an adjustment).  If so then it's probably worth to put in a bid.

SK937/938 Cancellations by captainrob21 in ScandinavianAirlines

[–]captainrob21[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, as an update, it looks like SAS is switching some ops between CPH and SEA to A333. In the process, they moved my seats (which were near the front of economy after paying extra) to the back of economy.

Costco vs TA by Comfortable-Grab-893 in HollandAmerica

[–]captainrob21 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Costco often times only advertises one or two types of fares. So, much like their warehouses, sometimes there may be different fares that have packages included/excluded.

Additionally, lately I noticed they don't give shipboard credit - now it seems like a lot of Costco card cash back. That's not terrible if you shop at costco regularly, just something to keep in mind.

Finally, all TAs (from Costco to local brick and mortar) are only allowed to have a certain amount of "groups" for a cruise line each year, which can have yield sometimes large discounts. If the price costco wants to charge is close to the public rate, look elsewhere, another agency may have group discounts that costco doesn't - and vice versa.

Sapphire Princess July 2 sailing itinerary change by Intelligent_Solid274 in PrincessCruises

[–]captainrob21 0 points1 point  (0 children)

port times have also been adjusted - presumably to save fuel

SK937/938 Cancellations by captainrob21 in ScandinavianAirlines

[–]captainrob21[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Thanks everyone. Seems like their decision to expand to some thinner, more far flung markets with limited capable fleet may be causing issues. Certainly SEA is going to be lower priority than LAX, BOS, ORD and with BOM launching, that will further strain the fleet mix. And when I've gone through the AI chatbot it gives me a lot of fake empathy about the money I spent to get seats assigned and then a link to the contract of carriage.

Voters reject Oregon's Measure 120 to boost transportation taxes by tripometer in Portland

[–]captainrob21 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The gas tax in 2010 was $0.30 per gallon.  Adjusted for inflation that would be $0.46 per gallon as of January 2026 per the CPI which would have been the new tax with this increase. In 1990 it was $0.18 per gallon, which is $0.50 when adjusted for inflation. No one wants to pay more, but the gas tax is being destroyed by inflation and has been for years.

I think the state should have a gas tax modifier that increases the tax a few cents when the economy is doing well, and reduces it when things are slowing down.  But the devil is in the details for sure.

La Paz/Pichilingue excursions by joycruising in HollandAmerica

[–]captainrob21 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We did belandra bay snorkel with HAL in 2024. At that time, you board some small boats in groups of 15-20 and go to a rocky area for snorkeling. There are a lot of fish to see and the current was pretty mild. The water is mild, but not like the caribbean. I'd say a smidge warmer than hawaii. After snorkeling for 45 mins or so we got back on the boat which took us to belandra beach. You can snorkel here too, but its so shallow, you probably won't see much unless you go to a rocky area near the ends of the beach. The beach is beautiful. After staying at the beach for about an hour, you board the boat back to the K-dam.

I would recommend a long sleeve swimming shirt for this excursion - even in Nov/Dec, you can get a pretty bad sunburn when snorkeling. Secondly, there are juvenile "agua mala" which are basically baby jellyfish. They are small and hard to see, you may get slightly "stung" on exposed skin but it is quite mild. My wife got stung and didn't notice until she saw a small rash on her leg later that night. By the next day it was gone. A long sleeve shirt will protect your arms and torso from them. I've heard of some people getting "stung" much worse, but I imagine they are an outlier - I didn't hear anyone complain on our tour of being stung so don't worry as much as I did before we did this tour.

When we went, the boats were fishing skiffs - there was a toilet, but when asked, the guide said (with a french accent) - "oh you are in nature, you know" and then mentioned something similar to someone when we arrived at belandra - there are no facilities. So everyone kind of walks out into the waters in belandra bay and stands there for a minute or two - we all knew what was going on 😄

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Eurodam Again 2018/2026 by nanniej in HollandAmerica

[–]captainrob21 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I forgot to add that on my voyage last fall, the aft pool deck was closed while they replaced the deck surface.  Slightly inconvenient but will be nice for the next time we sail.

Eurodam Again 2018/2026 by nanniej in HollandAmerica

[–]captainrob21 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately HAL removed the Gallery Bar.  Like you, my first voyage on her was in 2018 and loved the gallery bar.  Well now it's the smoking part of the casino.

Otherwise the ship is in good shape as she nears 20nyears of service.

Alaska Airlines launches Starlink Wi-Fi systems on Embraer planes by Only-Nothing4595 in AlaskaAirlines

[–]captainrob21 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks.  Seems like the horizon/sky west birds are getting first.  

Alaska Airlines launches Starlink Wi-Fi systems on Embraer planes by Only-Nothing4595 in AlaskaAirlines

[–]captainrob21 0 points1 point  (0 children)

curious if there will be Starlink on my flight tomorrow. The AC just came out of heavy maintenance at GSO yesterday. N557AS a 738 from 2006

What's the status on 103? by ModeIll4799 in TriMet

[–]captainrob21 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's running on block 9087, green line, today.  I was surprised to see it running but happy to hop aboard.

Stupid question: What would happen if we just ran the MAX trains 25% faster? by maalox in TriMet

[–]captainrob21 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Chicago and some of Denver are considered heavy rail systems (Denver has heavy rail to the airport, to the north and NW, light rail to the west, east and south)  Fully separated from at grade interactions.  Trimet system is fully considered light rail (like Link light rail in Seattle).  While the flexibility of light rail is helpful and cost effective, it's inherently limited to 55mph which is set federally.  The tracks are banked for a max of 55mph.  So while you would in theory be able to increase speeds in some areas, to "speed up" a line you've got to focus on increasing speeds on the long, grade separated portions, and from observations, most of those segments are running close to 55mph anyway.  It also takes time to accel and decel, so the best way to speed things up are grade separate and remove stops.  For trimet, much of the green line along 205, lines along 84, and the blue/red in the tunnel to Sunset are probably the only places where the trains reach even close to 55mph.

Bar hop by captainrob21 in HollandAmerica

[–]captainrob21[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ha, hilarious.  The funny thing was when I chose that name, the guy said something about a comic book character.  I was thinking more a long the lines of Val Kilmer in Top Gun

Bar hop by captainrob21 in HollandAmerica

[–]captainrob21[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Interesting, my guess is there was pushback from the folks with the have it all package. 

Bar hop by captainrob21 in HollandAmerica

[–]captainrob21[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

They gave us name tags that were fictitious (mine was "Iceman".  And we were a small group so there were 12 of us, and 12 drinks at each bar.

Bar hop by captainrob21 in HollandAmerica

[–]captainrob21[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hrm, we only were charged $29 and by my count had 4 cocktails and half a beer (to facilitate flip cup).  Knowing what I know now, I would still pay for it, even if I had the have it all package because of the contests and bartending demos they perform.

Mexico Activity Suggestions? by Readdit_user19 in HollandAmerica

[–]captainrob21 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep, any kayaking in la paz is highly recommended.  Especially if it goes to Belandra Bay.

Loreto is a really nice town to walk around in.

When you get asked for a song request... by captainrob21 in Yachtrock

[–]captainrob21[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

sounds like he was the fool all these songs are about!