Updated RCCL Back-to-Back Cruises Procedures

RCCL Back-to-Back Cruises Procedures

An anonymous commenter asked about how Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL)'s back-to-back cruises work. To my surprise, I didn't post anything on this after I did it in November 2011. This post will tell what happened, why as I understand it and what you can expect if you do back-to-back cruises with Royal Caribbean.

Before I did my back-to-back Royal Caribbean in November 2011, I had a number of questions which I didn't have the best of luck getting answered. However, these questions were answered at a special event Royal Caribbean held 1 day before the Serenade of the Seas returned to San Juan, Puerto Rico for the conclusion of my first cruise. This event was only for those of us who were doing back-to-back cruises. We received a special invitation to the event. I remember being surprised by how many people were doing it. There must've been at least 40 plus folks at the event. To me, it makes sense to do back-to-back cruises as long as both itineraries are reasonably good. While I loved RCCL's Alaska cruise on Radiance of the Seas, I wouldn't care to do that back-to-back as it does the same exact ports except in reverse order.

At the event, the ship's staff explained some very important items. First, we would have to get new Seapasses for the 2nd cruise. This is because our SeaPasses were only good for the first cruise. Also, RCCL closes the SeaPass account and a new one is opened for the second cruise. We were told that we would have to go to the International Customer Relations desk the morning we arrive in San Juan to get our new SeaPasses and presumably the list of charges for the first cruise. Second, we would also receive 2 pieces of paper. One was for customs and, the other was to enable us to skip the lines to get back on board the boat. Customs was going to be different because, you don't actually leave and, you don't have to declare anything at this point. Later, when I went through customs, they were thrown off by the paper I was told to show them. Apparently, the guy didn't deal much with that sort of thing. At this point, you can go back on board the boat if you wish. The second piece of paper came in handy if you decided to do some kind of tour between cruises like I did.

One other plus of those doing back-to-back cruises was you got priority booking for at least some of the services available on board such as spa services for the 2nd cruise. You did have to pack your bag BUT, if you weren't changing cabins, it wouldn't leave the cabin. You might want to put the luggage sticker for the 2nd cruise on it.

Overall, my cruise changeover went fine. I got to do a great tour of El Morro Fort and due to the 2nd piece of paper explaining I was returning for my 2nd cruise, I passed easily through the lines to get back on board the Serenade of the Seas. This piece of paper has to be turned back into Customer Service. Later, I met my travel friend Harvey and welcomed him to my boat. After sailing on Serenade of the Seas for a week, it felt like it was my boat. I'd learned my way around it and knew some of the staff on board by first name. It was really nice. I look forward to the same experience during my November cruises with RCCL. Stay tuned.

An Update

On November 3, 2012, I did back-to-back cruises on Royal Caribbean's Splendour of the Seas. Procedures during the changeover were different from when I sailed on Serenade of the Seas. There wasn't any meeting where some of the ship's staff explained what would happen when we arrived back in Venice, Italy. I didn't have to pack my stuff in my suitcase at the end of the 1st cruise. Also, we didn't have to go to the International Customer Relations desk to get our new SeaPass. The new SeaPass was delivered to my cabin 1 day before the 1st cruise ended. Customs was different though that could be because I had to deal with Italian customs vice U.S. customs. Like before, I was able to skip in-processing for the 2nd cruise. In April 2013, I'll be doing back-to-back cruises for the 3rd time with Royal Caribbean. I'll be sailing out of and into U.S. ports so maybe the procedures will be like they were for Serenade of the Seas. Stay tuned for another update in May 2013 on this.

2nd Update

This is the update I promised for the April/May 2013 cruises.

I sailed on Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas from April 23rd to May 10th. I left out of San Juan, Puerto Rico and would arrive in Baltimore, Maryland. Apparently, sailing out of San Juan caused some kind of problem with customs to where it took longer when the ship pulled in from what was my first cruise. I heard that customs would've gone more smoothly had we sailed out of and into Baltimore. Unlike with Serenade and Splendour of the Seas, I didn't get off the ship to do any sightseeing. The cruise ship terminal was too far from any of the sights including Fort McHenry which the ship sailed by on its way in. It was well I decided to stay with the ship in another way in that things were a real mess when we pulled into Baltimore. The Grandeur of the Seas was re-positioning to Baltimore and, they made a big hoopla about it. Baltimore's 1 fire fighting boat greeted the ship with sprays of its water cannon which was pretty cool. I heard the state's Governor was there to greet the ship too.

Concerning back-to-back procedures, my new seapass was delivered to my room the night before. As I decided to stay with the ship, I was told I'd go with a special group of us that would be escorted off the ship to customs, process through customs and then re-board the ship. This was different from Serenade of the Seas as I didn't process through customs at all that time. Due to the special stuff going on because of the re-positioning, things were very chaotic with people getting off and on the ship. That was another reason I decided to stay with the ship vice do something at Baltimore's Inner Harbor (lots of nice shops there and some neat things to see). The group I was with was supposed to be escorted off the ship at 9:30 a.m. and that got changed twice with us finally walking off the ship at 11:30. We processed customs around Noon. I think it would be easier doing back-to-back on Grandeur now as you won't have all the hoopla.

In September 2013, I'll get to do back-to-back cruises for the 4th time when I sail on Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas. I will be getting off the boat between cruises as I plan to do a hop on hop off tour of Miami. So, I'll post yet another update on how things go procedure wise from that cruise. Stay tuned.

Plumix Fountain Pen Review

The Pilot Pen Company has an affordable fountain pen called Plumix. Recently, I decided to try the pen out to see if it's any good. I'm old fashioned I guess in that I like fountain pens even though they're expensive and can be messy to work with. The Plumix pen is pretty affordable as it'll cost you under $10 at Target stores that sell them. Unlike Pilot's disposable Varsity fountain pen, the Plumix is refillable and takes Pilot/Namiki cartridges. Pilot states that there are only 2 colors of ink available - blue and black. This is wrong. You can also use Pilot/Namiki green, red and purple ink cartridges in the pen. I tested the pen with one of the purple cartridges and, it wrote fine. However, the red, purple, green and black only come in 6 cartridge boxes whereas the blue cartridges also come in 12 cartridge boxes. The 12 cartridge box is cheaper per cartridge than the 6. The Pen Boutique store (http://www.penboutique.com) in Columbia, Maryland sells the 12 cartridge box for $4.60 while a 6 cartridge box will cost you $3.30.

Writing wise, I found the Plumix didn't write as well as the Varsity. It seems to scratch the paper whereas the Varsity seems to glide across it. Like the Varsity, the ink does bleed through the paper you write on. This can be a problem if you try to write on both sides of a sheet of paper. At times, the pen would poke through the paper where I'd written on the other side with it. The pen uses a standard medium stainless steel (I believe that's what it's made of) nib.

The pen comes in single pen and 3 pen packs. It has 3 colors - a translucent purple, translucent blue and translucent black. This can be handy as it enables you to see if you have a cartridge in the pen. I don't know if you can use a refillable ink cartridge with the pen.

Overall, it's a decent cheap fountain pen though I'd recommend the disposable Varsity as it seems to write better. It does have the advantage over the Varsity in that it's refillable and, you can better see just how much ink you have left in the cartridge. Varsity has a window where you can see this somewhat but, I don't think it's as good as being able to look directly at the cartridge. Another problem you may encounter with the Plumix is being able to buy one. Fountain pens aren't easy to find if they can be found at all. Pilot does sell the pen on its website http://www.pilotpen.us/ which can be the easiest way to buy the Plumix or Varsity. Happy writing all.

Update on Royal Caribbean Baltimore Cruises

I found out some people were unaware that Royal Caribbean does offer cruises out of Baltimore, Maryland. Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas is home-ported in Baltimore. It sails year round out of Baltimore to different destinations. In the fall, they offer cruises to Northeastern United States. During the winter, they offer cruises to the Bahamas and the Caribbean. In the summer, the ship sails repeatedly to Bermuda or Bermuda and Boston. While I imagine Bermuda is nice (I've never been there), I don't understand why Royal Caribbean sails there so much during the summer. I'd like to do one of their cruises down to the Bahamas as I've never been there. I know I'd have a number of days at sea (3 days) but, it would work in this case. As it is, Enchantment of the Seas stops sailing to the Bahamas after the beginning of April. Also, Royal Caribbean's prices aren't cheap for Bermuda. For their 25 May 2012 cruise, as of this post, you're looking at $1,400 per person for a balcony cabin on a 6 day Bermuda only cruise. To me, that isn't cheap. In my opinion, the biggest advantage to the Baltimore cruises is convenience if you live in Maryland, Washington D.C., Virginia or Pennsylvania. You can drive to the Baltimore cruise ship terminal, park your car there for $15 a day and board the Enchantment of the Seas. Compare that to driving your car to the long term parking lot at whatever airport you fly out of or using an airport shuttle, flying to whatever destination (airfares aren't cheap) and have Royal Caribbean shuttle you to the cruise ship terminal where you'll board your ship.

Update: I will get to see what it's like to sail out of Baltimore with Royal Caribbean in 2013. I won't get to see how smoothly the in-processing goes as I'll do that out of San Juan, Puerto Rico (it's the re-positioning cruise where Grandeur of the Seas will take over for Enchantment of the Seas). I've heard it goes pretty quick. I found out that GO airport shuttle (http://www.theairportshuttle.com/) will drop off and pick up people at the Baltimore cruise ship terminal. I plan to try their service when I get back from my 2nd cruise (Bermuda). Price wise, for 1 person, you'd save money using them vice parking your car at the terminal (I think they quoted me a fare of $35 1 way). For 2 or more people, it would be more affordable to drive your car and park it at the terminal. Also, how far the shuttle has to take you would be another factor on whether to use the shuttle or drive. Concerning Bermuda, the Bermuda cruise should be interesting because Royal Caribbean ships overnight there. I've never seen them do that any where else. In the case of my Bermuda cruise, we'll stay in port 2 nights before departing. It should be interesting to see what that's like. Lastly, I hope to post some pics on here around then as I think there will be some seriously awesome views of Fort McHenry from the water. We'll see. Stay tuned.

Israel Trip Update

All looked good to go for my May trip to Israel and Jordan until the beginning of this week. That's why I found out I need a visa to get into Jordan. Like Egypt, Jordan makes it really easy to get a tourist visa. You arrive at the Amman Airport, pay $20 (I believe) and, you get your single entry visa. However, that's where Globus mucked things up. Israel and Jordan were involved what I believe was the 6 Day War where Jordan lost the West Bank. Jordan apparently maintains that the West Bank still belongs to them. There is a crossing from Israel to Jordan called the Allenby/King Hussein Bridge. As far as I was able to learn, at all other entry points into Jordan, you can buy a visa to enter Jordan. The exception is the Allenby/King Hussein Bridge because of the West Bank issue. As luck would have it, that is the entry point that Globus uses for my Jordan tour extension. :-( Why they have to enter Jordan there, I don't know. But, I do know I was very miffed when I found out. However, I am glad I found out NOW vice going to Israel, doing the tour, leaving to go to Jordan and finding out I couldn't get a visa to enter the country. Then, Jordan's visa rules made things more complicated. You can get an on-line visa with Jordan HOWEVER, you can't get that until you're within 30 days of your trip to Jordan. Sorry, I'm not going to wait till 30 days or less to get my visa. I want it now in my hands so I know there isn't going to be a problem getting in when I leave in May. This tour costs too much (over $6,000!) to take any chances on last minute screw ups. The alternative is to get a 6 month multiple entry visa which costs $97! OUCH!!!!! Keep in mind, that doesn't include the cost of using a visa service to get the thing unless I want to travel to Washington D.C. and visit the Jordanian embassy myself (not thrilled with that idea). So, I'm looking into cancelling my May trip to Israel and Jordan. As luck would have it, I'd discussed future travel plans for next year around the same months and, my friend Harvey and I had agreed that he would do his Russia tour (no thanks) and, I would do my Bermuda and Boston (no thanks on Harvey's part) Royal Caribbean cruise. We'll just move these up a year. This has the added advantage for me in that I'll go Emerald with Royal Caribbean's frequent cruiser program (Crown & Anchor Society) and, I'll go Diamond in November with the back-to-back Greek Islands cruises. Also, I'd like to visit my Dad after the May cruise. I vowed I would try to make it home more often after the unexpected death of my step-mom Kay. I still haven't forgotten that. We'll see what works out. Stay tuned.

Latest Maryland Weather

We had a high of at least 62F yesterday. It's hard to believe it's winter here but, that's typical Maryland weather. It can be light jacket weather one week and the next, you'll be wearing your parka and digging your car out from the snow. I think someone said that if you don't like the weather here wait and, it'll change. For me, I like the warmer temps as it saves me money right now. I don't have to run the heat as much in my apartment. I don't know about other folks but, I like to give Baltimore Gas & Electric as little of my money as possible. Also, the warmer temps make it nicer for riding my motorbike. I'm determined to ride it year round as long as it's safe to ride it on the roads i.e. no ice or snow. As soon as I get enough free time, I plan to make my way over to Heyser Cycle and get the latest heated hand grip kit put on the bike. That should help a bunch with the cold weather. One drawback of my Yamaha TMAX is that the handlebars are very exposed to the wind. That means, your hands can get very cold very quick during the winter. The heated hand grips help alleviate this problem. Cheers all.

Little Caesar's

I haven't eaten any pizza in a while so today, I decided to try out Little Caesar's already made large pizza deal. I'd seen their advertisements lauding how you can get a hot fresh large pizza with either cheese, sausage or peppperoni for $5. You don't have to order in advance. You can walk right in and, they have them in a warmer already to go. From 4 to 8 p.m., for $3 more you can get a 3 meat pizza (bacon, sausage and pepperoni) or a deluxe supreme (green peppers, onions, sausage, pepperoni and mushrooms). As I like a pizza with lots of stuff on it, I decided to try out the supreme. I arrived before the Little Caesar's at 3431 Ft. Meade Rd in Laurel, Maryland started making its pre-prepared pizzas. However, they said they'd give me the $8 deal and, the pizza would be ready in less than 10 minutes. I said "cool!" I found the pizza decent. It isn't the greatest I've ever had but, the price was really good and, I liked the short wait (which wouldn't have happened if I'd arrived after 4 p.m.). The large pizza is supposedly 14 inches across and is big enough to supply 8 slices of pizza. If you want some decent pizza with no wait, you might want to take Little Caesar's up on the $5 large pizza deal. Bon Appetit.

Pilot Varsity Fountain Pen Review

During one of my visits to Pen Boutique's Columbia, Maryland store, a salesperson there mentioned a disposable fountain pen. I couldn't imagine such a thing so it piqued my interest. It turned out the pen the salesperson was talking about is Pilot's Varsity fountain pen. Pilot's pen comes in 7 colors (black, blue, green, pink, red, purple and turquoise). It has a small window on the side of the pen where you can see how much ink the pen has left. The pen in my opinion is very reasonably priced. I paid $3.25 for one at Pen Boutique and, Pilot sells them for $3.45 on their website http://www.pilotpen.us/Default.aspx Nib wise, I believe it has a medium nib and, this is the only type of nib you can get the pen in. The thing that has most impressed me about this pen is how smoothly it writes. I've found that stainless steel nibs seem to scratch the paper when writing. Till I tried Pilot's pen, the only nibs I'd found that glided across the paper well were gold plated ones. The Varsity pen obviously isn't gold plated but, it does write really smoothly. In my opinion, Pilot's Varsity fountain pen is a really good cheap fountain pen that happens to be disposable. If you like writing with fountain pens, I think you'd be pleasantly surprised by this pen. Happy writing all.

Update September 18, 2016: Recently, I bought some more of these fine pens and, here is some more information on them. First, Pilot has changed the outward appearance of the pens giving them a sharper appearance with the Pilot and Varsity names. Also, the pens have a diamond motif on them vice the previous lines that ran length wise on the main part of the pen. The pens still write really well.

Price wise, Walmart is offering a really good deal on a 7 pen multi-color pack on their website. I was able to buy the pack for $13.05 which breaks out to less than $2 a pen, a big savings. Their normal price is $14.35 which is still way better than if you bought the pens one at a time. Also, Walmart will ship the pens to a Walmart store close to you for free if you can't place an order over $50 (which I believe qualifies you for free shipping). Also, Walmart participates in the MyPoints rewards program so, you'll earn MyPoints with your purchase as long you use the MyPoints link to the Walmart webpage. I forget how many points you'll earn per dollar spent.

If you want to buy the pens one at a time, you might want to buy them from Pen Boutique as they sell them at their Columbia, Maryland store for $3 each or $3.37 on their website.

Correction: I found out I had the price wrong for the pen at the Pen Boutique website. It's $3.37 per pen (as of the date of this post) vice the $3.33 I erroneously quoted when I first posted this update. My apologies. The error has been corrected.

Jake & Amos Products Review

One of my favorite products at the Laurel, Maryland Pennsylvania Dutch Market on Ft. Meade Road is the Jake & Amos line of products. They make preserves, salsas, pickled vegetables, mustards, sauces, fruits and pickles. I've tried a number of them and, I found them consistently excellent. They specialize in Amish style recipes and presumably their products are made by the Amish. Some of my favorites are their pickled asparagus which has a great taste and is always crunchy or their spiced dilly beans which are pickled French green beans. Other products I've taste tested are their hot pickled cauliflower (very good and not terribly hot), pickled okra (very good), pickled baby beets (very good and, I'm not a beet lover), pickled sweet Brussels sprouts (very good though I think unusual, I didn't even know you could pickle these), pickled sweet baby corn (very good) and corn salsa (very good). Also, I've tried their corn and black bean salsa which is very good though annoyingly, it only comes in 16 ounce jars. As I like the Jake & Amos products so much, I try to save money by buying them in the 32 ounce jars vice the 16 ounce jars. By my figuring, you can save 10 cents an ounce by buying a lot of their products in the bigger jars. Lastly, I know they do occasionally have sales on Jake & Amos products at the Laurel Pennsylvania Dutch Market (I'm keeping an eye out for the next one myself).

If you want more information on the Jake & Amos products, their website is: http://www.jakeandamos.com/Default.aspx. I highly doubt you'll be dissatisfied with any of their products. Bon Appetit!

The Hobbit Update

I haven't posted an update on here about The Hobbit movie in a long while so I thought I'd post a few comments about it. The movie is apparently progressing well. On December 24th, Peter Jackson released the 5th production video that shows them leaving for their first outside shoot outside Mata Mata where the Bag End set is located. Elijah Wood speaks on the video about his feelings about coming back to the set. It's been 11 years since he went to New Zealand to shoot the Lord of the Rings movies. Jackson himself remarks how unreal it was for him to see the set he never expected to see again. One interesting difference this time is that once shooting is finished on the Bag End set, all the buildings will remain so people can visit for many years to come. I for one would love to see this extraordinarily beautiful set and feel like I visited Hobbiton and Bag End.

Another noteworthy event concerning The Hobbit movie was the release of the first movie trailer on December 21st. The trailer was fascinating and enticing. We got to see a number of the actors playing their Dwarven characters including the one playing Thorin Oakenshield (looks awesome). At the end, we see a familiar creature whose meeting with Bilbo Baggins at an underground lake would have consequences that would change Middle Earth forever.

My only disappointment is that I'll have to wait almost an entire year (the first movie comes out December 13th, 2012) before I get to see the movie. This is one movie I will be very excited about. If you wish to see the production video and trailer I mentioned, you can find them at: http://www.wetanz.com/the-hobbit-movies-latest-updates/ Also, Facebook is a good place to follow the latest news on the movies. Peter Jackson has been awesome about posting updates there. Cheers.

Fisher Space Pen Review

This past Christmas, Pen Boutique offered a Fisher Space Pen and Maglight gift set for $15. If I remember correctly, they claimed that was 50% off. I thought that sounded like a good deal. Whats more, the pen supposedly could write in all kinds of temperatures and, you could write upside down with it. Supposedly, astronauts had used the pen because of that.

While I don't need to write upside down, I do have customers that could use a pen that would write on a piece of paper they were holding against a wall or door. Many times, the cheap Bic pens I carry with me stop writing. Also, the Bic pens I use don't seem to like the cold either. So, I decided to buy a couple of the Fisher Space Pens and see how well they work.

So far, I've been very pleased with the pens. For shits and grins, I did try writing something upside down and, the pen worked fine. Also, I took it outdoors and had customers try it. None of them had any problems. According to the products package advertising, the pen will write in temperatures from -30F to 250F. While I don't expect to encounter any conditions that bad. The pen does seem to work fine in the cold. One drawback I've seen to the pen is the refills are expensive. You can expect to pay $5 a piece for one though Fisher claims the refills will write 2 to 3 times longer than a normal pen. As I've just started using their pens, I have no idea if that claim is true.

My recommendation is that if you need a reliable pen that can handle the weather (supposedly you can write underwater with it too though to me that means I can write in the rain with it) and write any time you need it to, the Fisher Space Pen may be what you're looking for. I think it would definitely be worth a try. Cheers all.

Update February 2, 2014: I continue to use Fisher Space pens at my job. The pens continue to prove their worth. This past week, the temperature got down to 15F. My normal pens were acting up but, my Fisher Space pens kept right on trucking. The only problem I have with the pens is making sure I don't lose them. I've had it where I've accidentally left them with a customer. 

2012 Yamaha TMAX

I've been a big fan of Yamaha's TMAX maxi-scooter since I bought my 2009 TMAX. Each year, I search the internet to find out what changes they'll be making to the bike. For 2012, they made some considerable changes. For starters, it will get a slightly more powerful engine. The size will increase to 530cc vice the previous 499cc. To me, this change is a major disappointment. I was hoping for a TMAX that would have a 750cc engine. There were considerable rumors that such a bike was in the works. Sadly, those rumors proved false. The bike supposedly has a more comfortable seat (someone apparently noticed that the previous seat wasn't very comfortable especially after a long ride on the bike), a redesigned instrument panel, different lights and a different drive chain. Also, the bike has a more rugged look. From what I've seen on the internet, it looks like a nice motorbike but, all the improvements in my opinion aren't enough to get me to trade in my current TMAX. Still, I hope that Yamaha will come out with a more powerful TMAX. That would get me to want to trade in my current TMAX. We'll see what Yamaha ends up doing.

Baltimore Cruise Ship Terminal

I've been seriously looking at Royal Caribbean's cruises out of Baltimore. Royal Caribbean has a really nice cruise on their Enchantment of the Seas that sails to Bermuda and Boston. You get to stay in port overnight in both ports and, you have just 3 days at sea - 1 day to get to Bermuda, 1 day to get to Boston and 1 day getting back to Baltimore. Another plus for me travel wise is that I wouldn't have to fly any where to get to this cruise ship terminal. I live outside Baltimore but, it's a very easy drive to get to. So, I decided I'd ride my Yamaha TMAX down to the cruise ship terminal and find out how easy or hard it is to get to the terminal.

I hopped on the Baltimore Washington Parkway (I-295) heading to Baltimore. Then, when I reached Interstate 95 (I-95), I switched over to I-95 North heading to New York City. At this point, it was a very short drive before I had to take exit 55 (last exit before you have to pay the toll and go through the harbor tunnel). The exit sign said Fort McHenry and something else. The exit will put you on what I believe is East McComas Road. I drove along this not sure how far I'd have to drive though I knew the road would eventually end at Fort McHenry. After Fort McHenry, you hit water.

Before I got to the terminal, I could tell I was going the right way as I saw a Carnival cruise ship (Carnival Pride) in port. Baltimore has only 1 cruise ship terminal so I knew I was going the right way. I drove along and sure enough, I soon spotted the entrance to the terminal. The terminal isn't super big. I read on the internet that it's a converted warehouse. However, as far as I can tell, it should be able to do the job. I don't believe any of the cruise lines send any of their really big ships to Baltimore. The Enchantment of the Seas is a Vision class ship which is Royal Caribbean's 2nd smallest class of ship (only their Sovereign class is smaller).

The terminal has secure parking however, there is a $15 a day charge for it (source: http://www.cruise.maryland.gov). There are hotels that offer stay 1 night and, you can park and leave your car in their lot during your cruise. However, these might not be cheaper than the parking.

Overall, I found the cruise ship terminal very easy to get to. I hope to take cruise out of the terminal in April 2013. If I get to go then, I'll do a blog entry on how good or bad the terminal itself is. Happy travels all!

Delta Airmiles

I have over 54,000 airmiles with Delta Airlines. I found out that Delta has a non-stop from New York JFK Airport to Venice, Italy. I figured that there wouldn't be a huge demand for flights to Venice the beginning of November. I figured wrong apparently. I spoke with a Delta rep to see if I could get a guaranteed upgrade to Venice. To my disappointment, I couldn't. All she could do was put a trailer on it stating I wanted one. No dice. If I can't get the upgrade, I'm going to fly with whoever is CHEAPEST and stay overnight in Venice before the cruise. After the lady said she couldn't guarantee me an upgrade, she tried to sell me Delta's charge card. I could earn 30,000 bonus airmiles with it the first year. If I can't get the upgrades I want, the airmiles are worthless to me. Why spend $95 a year for the charge card for worthless airmiles? This is why I cancelled my British Airways and American Airlines charge cards. The airlines are trying to push a product that they turn around and make impossible to use. If their frequent flier programs aren't worth using, the programs are a joke and definitely won't create any kind of customer loyalty. In my case, price will now be the key factor. I won't care what airline I fly on as long as it's the cheapest to get me where I need to go.

Broken Crown

While on my 2nd of back-to-back cruises with Royal Caribbean this past November, I bit into something that didn't agree with the crown I had put in a year ago. I don't know how I did it but, I managed to crack the thing. It didn't hurt thankfully. It would have been a royal mess trying to find a dentist in one of the Caribbean islands I was visiting as well as get all the work done in the time I had in each port.

So, I made an appointment with Dr. Mitchell Weiner. Dr. Weiner is a general dentist who specializes in various dental procedures like crowns. He was the one who carved the tooth to where it could accept having a crown put over it and then, he placed and sealed it on the tooth. This past September, I saw him again when I started suffering some pain with the tooth. Initially, it looked like I would need a very expensive root canal done. That's where they drill through the crown, remove all the infected root pulp, fill the empty space with some kind of sealant and seal the tooth. I was very hesistant about having this done and, I wanted to see if antibiotics could clear up the infection. Antibiotics would've been a lot cheaper. Also, I wanted to have one of the dentists take the crown off to make sure the tooth root was infected. I wasn't able to get the crown removed but, the antibiotics apparently worked though I did wonder about the tooth in way i.e. was the infection really gone or was I possibly going to have worse trouble down the line with the tooth.

Wednesday of last week, I got to see Dr. Weiner who looked in astonishment at what I'd done. He asked how did I crack the thing. I told him, I honestly don't know. I don't remember what I bit into that cracked the crown. He said I had 2 choices. They could attempt to remove the broken crown and have it repaired or I could get a totally new crown. Repairing the crown was the cheaper option as that would cost approximately $800. A new crown would be twice that i.e. $1,600. Serious ouch!!!!! I said I'd like to get it repaired. The next step was getting the thing off the tooth. That ended up being a serious job. I found out why Dr. Weiner didn't remove the crown before when I was looking at possibly having a root canal done. When they put a crown on your tooth, they don't intend for it to EVER come off.

First, Dr. Weiner attempted to pry the crown off with a pair of dental pliers that they normally use for removing teeth (shivers). That didn't work. Then, we tried using some SUPER sticky gook that I had to bit into so the suction from the gook would cause the crown to come off. That didn't work either. Dr. Weiner isn't a quitter and, he had one last trick up his dental sleeve. He has a device that a dental hammer of sorts. You attach it to the tooth then, he hits a rod real hard with his hand and, it whacks the tooth. Pieces of porcelain from the crown began to break off. After 3 or 4 whacks, Dr. Weiner removed the device and tried to take the broken crown off. It came off.

The broken crown was taken to where ever they had the crowns made and, it was subsequently repaired to where it looked as good as new. Then, I went back a 2nd time where the repaired crown was placed on the tooth root stump and sealed again. As far as I can tell, the repaired crown is working. I'm not experiencing any pain though I do think the teeth on the left side of my mouth had to move some of accomodate the repaired crown.

Next Wednesday, I'll see Dr. Weiner again for a quick check up on the crown. As far as I can tell, it's working fine and, he shouldn't have to do any thing with it. While I wasn't thrilled with cracking the thing and the subsequent cost ($879). However, I was pleased in one regard. As I mentioned previously, I'd wondered if I was making a mistake by not getting the root canal done. To my relief, when the damaged crown came off, Dr. Weiner was able to examine the root stump and, he said it was completely fine. To make sure it stayed that way, he put some medication on the stump before he put the repaired crown on. In that way, this whole fiasco has been worth it.

British Airways and Avios Points

Next November, I'll be taking back-to-back cruises with Royal Caribbean for the 2nd time. I decided to see just which airport I was likely to fly out of: Baltimore Washington International or Washington Dulles. I found out for flights ultimately ending in Venice, Italy which where the 2 cruises will start from, Dulles would be at least $300 cheaper. Another attraction of flying out of Dulles was that I could use the 200,000 plus airmiles now called Avios points. British Airways made a big thing about the change over to the new points. I would find out they didn't change anything when it came to trying to use them.

I figured I should have a good shot at either getting a free Business Class ticket or paying cash and getting a guaranteed upgrade to Business Class since I was going to book the flights 10 months out. Why is Business Class so important to me? Because I know I can get some sleep in those seats. I can't sleep for crap in Economy seats. To my surprise, I couldn't get a free seat on the dates I needed to fly out and, I couldn't get a guaranteed upgrade with cash. This reminded me of the fiasco I had when I tried to get a free seat to Copenhagen and back from Oslo in connection with a Globus tour I was planning to take of Scandanavia (Denmark, Sweden and Norway). I couldn't get a free seat then and, that wasn't the last time I had this problem. I was so pissed off by the experience I cancelled my British Airways Visa charge card. I told the lady at the charge card center there wasn't any point in having the card and paying the yearly charge if I couldn't use the airmiles when I wanted. Keep in mind too that even if you managed to get free seats, British Airways made you pay a stiff fee of supposed taxes. When I did to fly Business Class to Paris in advance of the Globus La France tour I took, I had to pay British Airways over $700 for my supposedly free ticket. British Airways claimed this was a deal. In my opinion, no it wasn't considering what I had to do just to earn the airmiles. By the way, concerning the Paris tickets, I got lucky to get those as it turned out after I booked the ticket British Airways changed their flights making it impossible for me to get back. Luckily for me, I didn't find out till I finished the tour and arrived at Charles de Gaulle ready to leave only to find out I wasn't. Thanks to a great and understanding British Airways ticket rep, I did make it home. However, if I had found out about the change, I might not have been able to use my airmiles AGAIN. grrrrrrr

This latest fiasco over trying to use the new Avios points has guaranteed I won't be flying British Airways when I travel to Venice. Also, to add further fury, I found out that in the new great Avios system British Airways came out, they devalued their airmiles AGAIN. According to Tim Winship at Frequentflier Blog (http://blog.frequentflier.com) on November 17, 2011, the new Avios points will be yet another devaluation i.e. it'll cost even more points/airmiles for many U.S. travellers who want to use them on British Airways. I haven't forgotten when British Airways devalued my airmiles back in 2006. Their reason then was they wanted to get all their U.S. members on par with other members in other countries. Apparently, British Airways wanted to value us as little as they did their other members worldwide. Now, they've put the screws to its U.S. Executive Club members again.

Because of this latest devaluation, I know what I'll be doing. Once I can travel again (sometime in April 2013), I'll book whatever flights I can where I can get a free ticket with British Airways just so I can use up my Avios points. Once I do that, I won't be flying British Airways again. They've stuck it to me too many times. I would advise other U.S. travellers to do the same. Happy travels all.

Travel Update

I promised to post updates on my back-to-back cruises with Royal Caribbean but, I didn't. I want to use my expensive Royal Caribbean WiFi minutes trying to post something. I am back from the cruises. The 2 cruises were a lot of fun. I got to see St. John (USVI), St. Kitts, Aruba, Curacao, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maarten and the French side St. Martin and St. Croix. Travel highlights include a really fun tour called Taste of Barbados where I got to visit a Bajan rum distillery then, the group travelled to a nearby plantation mansion where we were shown how to make 2 drinks: corn & oil and a Bajan rum punch. Our teacher let us enjoy a LOT of free samples. I know I was half sloshed by the time I returned to the Serenade of the Seas.

Another tour I enjoyed was a walking tour of Christiansted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The guide was Heavenly Petersen. The lady did a fantastic job. I learned some interesting things about the island and about one of the founding fathers of the United States i.e. Alexander Hamilton. He lived in St. Croix for 8 years but, he never talked about it apparently when telling of his early life. From what Heavenly told us, our group could understand why (his mother was a convicted adulteress for starters).

The ship Serenade of the Seas was great. It has a first rate crew and lots to do on-board. I got to try the automatically adjusting pool tables. They really worked. The ship moved a lot at times but, the balls on the pool tables didn't. The food was very good and overflowing in abundance. My 2 cabin stewards kept the 2 cabins I stayed in immaculate. I would definitely recommend this ship. I was sad when it was time to leave. I could have happily done another 2 cruises on her.

Overall, I had a really nice time. I can't wait to do back-to-back cruises with Royal Caribbean. That'll be next November when I sail with them out of Venice en-route to the Greek Islands. We'll see if they look as good in real life as they do in the pictures. Happy travels all.

Tooth Infection

Last week, I noticed a slight pain in the upper left part of my jaw. I wondered if one of my upper wisdom teeth were moving. I still have both of my upper wisdom teeth. When I was in the Air Force, I saw a dentist about my wisdom teeth. She decided to remove all 4. However, she had such a hard time with my 2 lower teeth that she left the 2 upper ones in. After 3 days of slight pain, I decided it was time to call Batz & Weiner to see someone and find out what the problem was. Yesterday, I ended up seeing Dr. Weiner who did my crown last year. He told me it wasn't my wisdom teeth. I have pulpitis which is an infection of the pulp inside the tooth. Ironically, it was the same tooth he gave me a crown for. He subsequently prescribed me antibiotics to treat the infection and referred me to the practice's root canal specialist. I'll get to see that person tomorrow. I know the tooth's nerve is still very much alive because when I drink anything cold, I can feel it in the tooth. So, the specialist should be able to save the tooth and, I hope re-use the crown they made last year. We'll see. Stay tuned.

Luggage Tags

Today, I requested my luggage tags from Royal Caribbean for my 2 upcoming cruises. The tags enable the ship's personnel to efficiently deliver my bag to the right cabin. They show my ship's name, the date I'm sailing, what area of the ship my cabin is in and the cabin number. Also, they have some kind of color code though I don't know what each color means. For me, they're another step closer to my next cruise adventure. I don't order the tags till I'm starting to get close to my sailing date. However, I don't wait till the last minute on this as it takes Royal Caribbean up to 7 business days to deliver the tags. I am curious to see the tags for my 2nd cruise as I want to see if they're any different since my bag won't leave the ship after the 1st cruise. This will be the first time I'll have ever taken back-to-back cruises. Stay tuned for more travel updates. In approximately 40 days, I'll leave for a 2 week adventure where I'll visit 9 islands in 14 days. It should be something.

Uros Indians

One of the most interesting groups I got to learn about while touring Peru with Globus this January was the Uros Indians. The indians history goes back centuries. They were living at Lake Titicaca when the legendary Incas rose to power. The Incas conquered the area and, they demanded the Uros pay either tribute or in labor. The only tribute the Uros could give the Incas was salt which they refused. The Uros refused to work for the Incas so the Incas kicked them off the land. For centuries, the Uros would live on the lake on house boats. Then, at a time where the water was low on the lake, apparently some reeds grew through some lake soil. When the waters rose again, the soil with the reeds floated. These pieces of floating land would form the basis for the Uros man made floating islands which over 1,000 of them live on today as you can see in these pictures. The first pictures shows how the Uros build their islands. They constantly replenish the reeds on the islands so their islands don't fall apart. The second picture shows the colorful dress of Uros women. Men typically wear colorful hats as seen in the first picture. The last picture shows a uniquely Uros way of raising guinea pigs which are raised for food. In this case, the Uros built a small island within their main island for their guinea pigs to live. Presumably, the guinea pigs can't swim so the water makes a very effective gate to keep their guinea pigs in one place.

Summer Fresh Tuscan Bean Salad Review

Occasionally, I'll get an itch to try a product I haven't tried before. Such was the case with Summer Fresh's Tuscan Bean Salad. The Arundel Mills Costco had a 2 pound plastic tub of Summer Fresh's Tuscan Bean Salad for sale for $6 or $7 (not sure on the exact price). I decided to try it. The salad turned out to pretty good. It has barley, navy beans, chickpeas (also known as garbanzos), pieces of green pepper, red pepper, green onions and canola oil. A 1/2 cup serving contains 140 calories and will provide 5 grams of dietary fiber (20% of the recommended daily intake of dietary fiber). The salad is also high in Vitamin C.

I found the salad tasty. All the ingredients meshed well. Also, the canola oil wasn't overbearing. You didn't get an oily taste with the salad. Based on the dietary information, the salad seems to be a good healthy one. Less than half the calories in a 1/2 cup serving are fat. Also, in my opinion, the salad isn't overly expensive. In regards to where to get it, the only place I know of that sells it is Costco though I'd be willing to bet there are others. If you like bean type salads, this one might be one you might want to try.

Update February 23, 2014: Within the past week, I checked the Costco stores in Elkridge,  Arundel Mills, Beltsville and Wheaton, Maryland for this product. To my disappointment, none of them are carrying it for some reason. I hope it's because they see it as a seasonal item vice permanently dropping it. I plan to check for it again when it gets closer to summer. Stay tuned.

Update February 26, 2014: Add Costco's Glen Burnie, Maryland store to the list of stores NOT carrying Summer Fresh's Tuscan Bean salad. :-( Today, I checked that one while I was out that way and, they didn't have it.

Update April 27, 2014: Thanks to a Eric Coffman, a reader of my blog and commenter, I found out Costco is carrying this salad again. I was able to buy 2 tubs of it at the Arundel Mills Costco for $7.79 each. The product still comes in 2 pound tubs.

Update September 13, 2015: The price of $7.79 for a 2 pound tub of the salad is still good. I bought a tub from the Arundel Mills Costco on September 9, 2015 and, that was the price for it.