jacketwatch

If there is a next time I will try that. Navigating the Air China website is difficult to say the least. I hope if there is any reason to call them I can get through.

These days you can be on hold for inordinate amounts of time with airlines. We booked a flight early next year through the UA website with legs on Air China and Air Canada so seats for these cant be assigned through United. I was on hold twice with Air Canada each time literally nearly an hour but finally got through. Air China was another crazy hold time too. I was on hold three separate occasions for 40 minutes before I gave up. Then I thought to look at contact numbers per the Air China website and it showed several offices in the US. I called the one in Honolulu and spoke to a live person after 4 rings. This is promising I thought. Next thing you know BINGO! Got the seats. So if there is a clogged artery try going around it. Maybe I learned a trick or two during my 24 years of taking care of patients post coronary bypass surgery. ? BTW my emails to Air China unanswered for 4 days. ?

Now that I think of it if you have ff miles and can't get a flight to your destination of choice then try alternative routing like we just did for Dubai. Indian to Dubai is only 4 hrs. and there are many options you can choose. So you pay for that but still save a great deal overall. Last year I could not get saver awards from ORD-SYD for our cruise but could get them LAX-SYD. So we had to pay for ORD-LAX but thats not too much and to be safe we flew in a day early so as to not miss the flight so there was the cost of a hotel to consider but still the cost for two biz seats ORD-SYD then was 8k. We saved a great deal really. Think outside the box so to speak.

So far we have had good luck with United at least in terms of scheduling. I think and hope the NS to Beijing should be ok. Let’s keep our fingers crossed. As for onboard and gate service well that’s been just fair. This flight is their Polaris service but of course that doesn’t matter much if the personnel are so so. At least we get to use the separate Polaris lounge at ORD which is far superior to the United Club.

Well first of all getting saver award airfare with ff miles ORD-DXB is tough. The pickings were very slim. We decided to try ORD-DEL as my wife has two sisters there and its only 4 hrs. to Dubai. She can see her family and its a relatively short hop to DXB, about 3.5 hrs. Now we like to use saver awards which means basically that we can go for < half the miles for a standard award but there aren't many and you have to get them when you can. We had been looking for a about a week and decided to pounce on what they had for biz saver ticket especially when we saw the return date we wanted was the only one that week with saver awards available. . Its ORD-DEL on UA with a stop in Beijing, then PEK-DEL and DEL-ORD via Air Canada on the way back. We will have to book air DEL-DXB but its pretty reasonable. We took the flights 3/17 and by 3/18 they were gone! I don't know about other ff plans but with UA for a saver ticket you have to act fast. So now that we have that and the cruise out of Dubai for seven days just the excursions remain and of course hotel in Dubai. Its a long way off but the plans are made. Now the wait. ?

I just don't get it. Why are they doing that? What is the deal they have with Global ports Holdings of London?

So is the Edge an Oasis class ship? So often I have read reviews that make me wary but I just dont get it as you experiences have always been just fine. I suppose if I read reviews that were all praiseworthy I should worry. ☺️ Glad you had a great time!

We are looking f/w to this cruise. Weather wise should be low to mid 80's so really good. I have looked into excursions. Lots of romps in the desert on 4x4's. Surprise! ?

And now airfare! I know it’s too early to book but I’m looking at biz saver awards on UAL for as far out as they go now, the first two weeks of January and in a matter of hours poof! what was available is gone. Weird. All I can say is I’ll be vigilant and jump on it when and if it becomes available.

So sad for the passengers to not disembark and to get no concrete answers as the blame game goes on.

Whatever the cost if you have a drink package you can ask the bartender to give it a jolt. We have not noticed appreciable differences across the lines but for me it’s usually beer or Scotch neat. You can’t mess that up. ?

That’s terrible. Glad they were dumb enough to use govt. issued computers.

It’s RCI’s Jewel of the Seas. Its about 962 ft. long, 90 something tons, certainly not like the more modern ships but it’s the itinerary that’s appealng and I am sure the ship is nice enough. Im looking forward to experiencing a part of the world we hear a lot about but one I’ve never been to.

Its a long way out but we booked a 7 day cruise for Feb. 3 2020 out of Dubai. This has been a dream destination for some time and took advantage of RCI's sale of 60% off second passenger. The port stops are Abu Dhabi, Doha in Qatar, Bahrain and Sir Bani Yas. We have an amidships balcony in one of those bump out cabins. really looking forward to this cruise and we will certainly spend some time in Dubai too!

If the service haas been good as it almost always is we tip the cabin attendant and our wait staff a little more on top of the auto gratuity. As for the service charge for drinks we usually never add to that. IME the staff has never push for more on all our 16 cruises.

It’s been my understanding that crew know upon embarkation passengers who have kept on the auto tip. Anyone else know about this?

Very good, thank you.

We’ve done three CCL cruises. My conclusion is to go with the newer ships like the Vista but avoid the older ships and their booze cruises.

There are many but the best by a hair has to be our excursion to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. You can go under the altar to see the sites where Jesus was born and where his manger was. Experiences like this are no where else in the world.

Great! Is that an Oasis class ship?

I think cell phone service in Cuba is on the rise though very slow.

Hmm. So what would happen if someone was at a disco dancing, fell, broke something and claimed the fall was due to rough seas and the line should have closed the dance floor? I suppose there are all kinds of scenarios possible. I tend to be skeptical as people can be greedy. We have first hand knowledge of that. Our son was sued for more that 250K for an accident he was involved in. To make a long story short the plaintiff lost and had to pay 17k in medical expenses that were determined to be the result of fraudulent claims about her symptoms. And she deserved it too!

Cuba and the middle east are on my radar. RCI has some intriguing cruises out of Dubai I am considering with a planned stay there for several days too.

I agree too bad for the couple but as no one else made this same mistake apparently then I do wonder how they missed all the notices for the updated departure time. Live and learn I guess.

I just want to wish all the friendly folks here a most pleasant holiday season and best wished for 2019. Thank you for your friendship and cordiality!!