I love credit cards so much! v2.0 (see first page for add'l details)

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All this cruise talk just reminded me........I have been thinking about transferring my RCCL cruise booking to Chase so I can use my UR's towards it. I had booked direct with RCCL 2 weeks ago. Has anyone done this transfer for a cruise? Is it easy to do? Do you still retain control of the booking on the RCCL website?

Trying to mentally prepare myself to wipe out my UR balance.

I did this with NCL and it was super easy. You have 60 days with RCCL to transfer and you must not have paid in full. On NCL i was still able to make on board bookings via their website and plan excursions. I’ve always booked though a travel agent so didn’t notice any difference.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/direct-booking-transfer
 
This probably won't surprise anybody here in the least...but I am a STRONG ADVOCATE for creating your own spreadsheet. :teacher: I just think if you put the effort into creating it, you will understand it better and be more likely to use it. (But the one you shared is decent, lol!)

This is a good point. In my case, I teach Excel certification (MOS) courses so I spend a lot of time in Excel and Google Sheets. I'd prefer to not re-invent a wheel that's done pretty well, but I did modify it to meet my needs. And I keep a folder of screenshots and application-related details, so I don't have a need for that on my spreadsheet.

And on the other end of the spectrum, a lot of people are fairly intimidated by spreadsheets and may not have the time/inclination to learn how to do some of the fancy calculations that make spreadsheets useful. A nice template gives them "low floor" for tracking their details without the steep learning curve. The teacher in me wants them to build it themselves, but some users just won't.
 


Plastiq...so I developed a plan for Plastiq / AA / CIP

AA Citi Business- pay my mortgages with Plastiq, no problem. Alternate AA biz cards with my husband, check every 3rd month to avoid the 2.5% fee, then, hopefully, pick up 2 more AA biz cards and plastiq again.
CIP (ideally CIP2) - pay kids tuition with it and make...way too many UR each year especially with the 3X. I just checked and my kids school uses Smart Tuition (2.5% fee).

Does anyone use Smart Tuition with Plastiq?

No support for Citi cards? I want to make sure i'm not missing anything on reddit.
 
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We were on the Coral Princess in 2018. We did DCL Alaska in 2015 (Tracy Arm). Our cruise experiences before Princess were all on DCL, so DCL is the only point of comparison for us. Some very brief pros/cons -
  • Entertainment on Princess wasn't great. We actually snuck out of a show - was so bad. However, the Princess employee in charge of Trivia and entertainment for adults was probably the funniest person I've ever met. He added lots of fun to our trip for sure.
  • The onboard naturalist was fabulous! DCL's was good, but we felt Princess won here.
  • We much preferred the dining choices on Princess. The buffet was always open, and we loved the aesthetic. (I don't like how DCL switches from buffet to table seating at night and limits hours)
  • The pull out sofa on Princess was horrible - I mean really horrible. I believe they were getting ready to change them out.
  • We missed the adult only spaces on DCL. The lounges on Princess were very nice, but we missed having an adult only pool. I believe they had something similar on Princess (a Sanctuary space) but you had to pay a fee for it.
  • We enjoyed Tracy Arm, but if I had to choose just one, Glacier Bay wins!
Having said that, if I only had one shot at Alaska, I wouldn't do a cruise (I think I'm in the minority on this one). I would travel via land and do some day boat trips like Kenai Fjords in Seward. I'd also fly or take the ferry into Gustavus and do a day boat trip through Glacier Bay. And Denali was one of the most beautiful places I've been. So much to see and do there. We're going back this summer.

I've hesitated to chime in since it's been years since we were on Princess, but we liked them and have been wanting to get back. We did both the Caribbean and Crown Princess ships. I pretty much agree with your assessment, so it's good to hear not much as changed :) (well, at least the positives haven't changed...) On the ships we did the Sanctuary was an extra charge but there was an adult pool near the spa area you could access. We always thought Princess ships were good for relaxing, most everything was low key and after 9 at night there's not much going on but music (dance party, instruments in lounges, late shows) unlike DCL where there's usually a game show or entertainer out until 10. The daytime entertainment was good and enough for us to return. I've heard really good things about the naturalists for Alaska and why I always wanted to do Princess for Alaska but timing just didn't work out. Our cruises were in the Caribbean and thought they worked for what we were looking for. The ships were in good condition and the staff very pleasant. Definitely different than DCL but I would say it was worse than, just a different experience. I like them both.
 
Bank of America Alaska 40,000 Miles + $100 Statement Credit Offer: (Apparently a new best offer)
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/bank-of-america-alaska-40000-miles-100-statement-credit/

40,000 Miles + $100 statement credit after purchases of $2,000. Annual Fee of $75 not waived the first year. You also get some sort of companion fare that you pay $121 for to use (don't mind me...I just don't understand airlines other than Southwest!)

https://secure.bankofamerica.com/apply-credit-cards/public/consumer/#/welcome/

Anybody who understands anything about Alaska Air please chime in - also anybody who understands BoA too. I have banned BoA from my household after their previous shenanigans towards reputably churners such as myself...:lmao:
 


Plastiq...so I developed a plan for Plastiq / AA / CIP

AA Citi Business- pay my mortgages with Plastiq, no problem. Alternate AA biz cards with my husband, check every 3rd month to avoid the 2.5% fee, then, hopefully, pick up 2 more AA biz cards and plastiq again.
CIP (ideally CIP2) - pay kids tuition with it and make...way too many UR each year especially with the 3X. I just checked and my kids school uses Smart Tuition (2.5% fee).

Does anyone use Smart Tuition with Plastiq?

No support for Citi cards? I want to make sure i'm not missing anything on reddit.
No support for Citi cards...although can you imagine if they did...soooo many self support points!!
 
I guess my wording isn’t crystal clear. Advil and Aleve are both anti inflammatory, don’t take both. Norco or Vicodin contains Tylenol, which is not an anti inflammatory.

ETA I will clarify my original post

Ah ok. That's what my understanding is, too. I guess when I read your post it sounded like the opposite and I didn't want anyone to get confused. Also I have found that, for me anyway, Advil works so much better than Tylenol.
 
We had snow yesterday, with driving rain, and 45 mph winds. Just glorious! We were up on the north shore over the weekend and it was gorgeous! Warm enough we ate two meals outside by the lake. Yesterday they had 10 inches of snow. Uncle mother nature, uncle!
Yeah I wore shorts to work on Monday. Today I had my winter coat and gloves on! It's so dumb. I'm glad we didn't get any snow though. It did rain here all day yesterday, but it wasn't too cold.
 
Interesting article about proposed financial reform that if ever enacted could have initially minor (and potentially long term major) affects on the churning game we love:

https://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2019/05/09/bernie-sanders-and-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-have-proposed-to-end-credit-cards-as-we-know-them/

I think this is a pretty well written article presenting some facts showing how this may not achieve the desired result (regardless of how we may feel about the intentions of the proposal) - we probably should avoid having a political discussion here though but I figure people might appreciate the read :)
 
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We were on the Coral Princess in 2018. We did DCL Alaska in 2015 (Tracy Arm). Our cruise experiences before Princess were all on DCL, so DCL is the only point of comparison for us. Some very brief pros/cons -
  • Entertainment on Princess wasn't great. We actually snuck out of a show - was so bad. However, the Princess employee in charge of Trivia and entertainment for adults was probably the funniest person I've ever met. He added lots of fun to our trip for sure.
  • The onboard naturalist was fabulous! DCL's was good, but we felt Princess won here.
  • We much preferred the dining choices on Princess. The buffet was always open, and we loved the aesthetic. (I don't like how DCL switches from buffet to table seating at night and limits hours)
  • The pull out sofa on Princess was horrible - I mean really horrible. I believe they were getting ready to change them out.
  • We missed the adult only spaces on DCL. The lounges on Princess were very nice, but we missed having an adult only pool. I believe they had something similar on Princess (a Sanctuary space) but you had to pay a fee for it.
  • We enjoyed Tracy Arm, but if I had to choose just one, Glacier Bay wins!
Having said that, if I only had one shot at Alaska, I wouldn't do a cruise (I think I'm in the minority on this one). I would travel via land and do some day boat trips like Kenai Fjords in Seward. I'd also fly or take the ferry into Gustavus and do a day boat trip through Glacier Bay. And Denali was one of the most beautiful places I've been. So much to see and do there. We're going back this summer.


You are like me. We had an Alaska cruise booked but after doing some researching we are doing a 11 day 10 night land trip
instead next month.....complete with Kenai Fjords Denali and Glacier Bay.:)

I have to admit though several times I have almost canceled the trip and went back to rescheduling the cruise. Something about being
waited on hand and foot appeals to me. lol

Thanks for your input on Princess and i will look for an itinerary for next year.
 
Interesting article about proposed financial reform that could have initially minor (and potentially long term major) affects on the churning game we love:

https://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2019/05/09/bernie-sanders-and-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-have-proposed-to-end-credit-cards-as-we-know-them/

I think this is a pretty well written article presenting some facts showing how this may not achieve the desired (regardless of how we may feel about the intentions of the proposal) - we probably should avoid having a political discussion here though but I figure people might appreciate the read :)

This will never happen.
 
Chase offer for Hilton Garden Inn/Hampton Inn. Mine was 5% on the CSR:
Stay at Hampton by Hilton™ or Hilton Garden Inn® and earn 5% back when you spend between $200 and $400, with a $20.00 back maximum. Offer only valid at brands listed above. Offer expires 5/31/2019. Payment for your completed stay must be made by 5/31/2019. Offer valid one time only.
 
Is there a reason why you keep typing Barclays as Barkley’s?

Funny ... and good catch! I read thru all that and never even noticed

Attn Cruisers!! Anyone sailed with Princess? How did you like it? ...

We've sailed on Princess several times in the Caribbean, and enjoy Princess as compared to other lines we've sailed (DCL, Carnival, and Cunard). Of course DCL and Cunard are not comparing apples to apples.

But I wanted to point out that friends of ours have 100 shares of Carnival stock, which gives them a discount or room credit (?), above and beyond whatever deals you can get. Works for any line Carnival owns, including Princess. Thought this might be appropriate for this group.

Edit: Here it is $250 onboard credit: https://www.cruisecompete.com/shareholderbenefits.php
 
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Ah ok. That's what my understanding is, too. I guess when I read your post it sounded like the opposite and I didn't want anyone to get confused. Also I have found that, for me anyway, Advil works so much better than Tylenol.
My problem is Advil and the like cause ringing in my ears. The more I take the louder it gets. So I stick to Tylenol for mild pain, even though I agree it doesn’t work as well, and only use Advil sparingly.
 
Are you sure about this? I'm not a medical professional, but I've been the exact opposite - that both Aleve and Advil are anti-inflammatories). I just want to make sure about this...
Cyndi Lou is correct that you can take Advil or Aleve when taking Vicodin or Hydrocodone. Those pain meds contain Tylenol, therefore you don not take additional Tylenol with those meds. Best to check with MD whether or not they like their patient’s taking NSAIDS postoperative. Also, talk with MD about any precautions regarding blood clots and air travel.
Best thing is ice and elevation at the end of the day.
I agree that the wheel chair is a much better idea that the ECV. WE rented one for an evening for my DH after ankle surgery. He hated being so low and the crowds were so unforgiving to ECV’s!
 
Transportation with the ECV can be hard/limiting. We always do an Epcot/MK resort split. We walk/scoot to DHS and Epcot and walk/scoot from CR or monorail from other MK resorts. AK and DS is special. When leaving the resort, we make sure to leave ample time so we're not running late. An issue can be if you're at a resort that shares busses since it can fill before it gets to the second stop. If we stay at BC, we head over to YC to get picked up for AK/DS since we have a better chance of getting a spot on the bus. When heading back to the resort, we've been using the accessible Minnie Van. I call about an hour before we want to get back and then we leisurely leave AK.
We stayed at Fort Wilderness. Their internal buses are awful anyway IMO. Add in the ECV, well it ensured I’ll never stay at Ft Wild again.
 
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