Don’t Wait – Fees May Rise
The State Department is considering significantly raising the costs of passports. Services that used to be free, such as adding extra pages will now cost a whopping $82.
Costs will increase for both new passports and renewals by $35; new passports will cost $135 and renewals will cost $110.

Although these fees are just being considered; what do you think the chance is that they won’t increase?

You may submit your comments to the Bureau of Consular Affairs through March 11.

I just sent in my comments about this increase. Will you please send yours?

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3 ships in Cozumel

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Crown Princess in Cozumel

The Process
Forget about the streamers and confetti; this program is even better. Booked passengers will receive info about this innovative new program and their guests may book into the program starting at 120 days prior to the sailing date. Guests will, of course, need to provide security information to gain access to the ship. Passengers and guests participating in the program will receive priority boarding and the guests will be on board for about four hours. There is a cost of $39 associated with this opportunity, but that includes lunch with wine on board, a ship tour, and a photo. The best part is that the $39 may be applied to a future Princess cruise.

This is a wonderful program for those who might not understand why their friends and family get so excited about cruising. The program limits guests to 50, so reservations need to be made early.
Visits are available in certain US ports and on certain ships and will be rolled out starting in March.

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Another real benefit is the ability to book a one-way flight when you don’t have enough miles for a round-trip.

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We just happened to be there for the festivities and had moved to the area where Señor Frog’s is located. Not having acquired one strand of beads, we figured our chances might be better if we positioned ourselves closer to the start of the parade. Shortly after we took our strategic place, we noticed the burning palm fronds on Señor Frog’s. One of the passing floats had set off fireworks that ignited the palm fronds. Fortunately, nobody was hurt.

The floats lined the street, so it was quite difficult for the fire trucks to get into position. The strong wind didn’t help the situation at all, but eventually, the firemen contained the flames.
We noticed later when we ate that our restaurant also had the ubiquitous palm fronds on the front and hoped that the final fireworks were being set off over the water.

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Sometimes, but rarely, there are upgrades between cabin types and that is the case with a special that NCL is offering right now. In fact, it is possible to get upgraded from
an inside to an ocean view or oceanview to a balcony. Now that is what I call a real upgrade.

These upgrades are limited to certain sailings, but at last check were available on Alaska sailings. Don’t wait, this offer ends on January 31.

Sail Away.

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We have decided that the book review is worthy of a podcast, so stay tuned for that.

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I will disclose immediately that this book was sent to me gratis. I did not purchase it and am dutifully following the new guidelines by the FTC who thinks that receiving a complimentary copy of a book or a complimentary anything for that matter might influence my opinion of such free item. The FTC obviously doesn’t know the cynical, skeptical me.

The author of this book claims to have sailed on 990 ships. I immediately did the math as this claim piqued my interest just like the claim that Warren Beatty slept with 12,775 women. I don’t think that I know that many people, and I definitely know that I haven’t sailed 990 times. So the tactic that I used in reviewing this book was to use my knowledge of cruising – I have cruised about 30 times, but I have inspected more ships than that. I have also reviewed several ships, so have a good starting point for comparison. My review of this book relies on my experience with the ships that I have sailed compared to the author’s review of these same ships. Of course, I do know a bit about the cruise experience as a whole so can also contrast and compare our thoughts on that.

Come back next time for my comments on the new edition of this book.

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Please keep the residents of Haiti in mind. We will donate a percentage from your bookings with Cruise Bug Vacations to charities that Finally, a cruise line realizes that traveling solo is an option for many, and these solo travelers do not appreciate the supplement often accessed on them. The cozy, or should I say, small studio cabins on the NCL Epic offer 100 square feet of space. While inside cabins, they do have a window that looks into a hallway. These rooms are made for sleeping, so guests in the studio room have key card access to a special area, known as The Living Room, to meet and mingle with other guests and stretch out. That’s an advantage for meeting other passengers. This room has a 50-inch TV, Wi-Fi and a full bar.

Who spends much time in their cabin anyway?

Epic Studio Stateroom

Take note of the shower arrangement. From the illustrations, it appears that there is no visual barrier to separate that shower. It appears that if you are sharing that room with another and aren’t interested in being a voyeur/voyeuse, then you simply step out into the Living Room. It would be interesting to know if one bed could be removed for the solo traveler.

Overhead view of NCL Epic Studio Stateroom

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