United Now Charging $25 For 2nd Suitcase

I got to the airport in Norfolk yesterday and found, to my surprise, that United had instituted a rule just two days before (5/5/08 - happy Cinco de Mayo, jerks) that passengers are only allowed 1 free bag per flight. The second bag would cost $25.

I can understand that airlines need to make changes to compensate for the price of gasoline right now, but they should add that $25 to the cost of the ticket and play fair. Artificially deflating their ticket prices so travelers will buy United flights online, then slapping them with a $25 luggage fee at the airport is a con.

I found another con at the skycap counter. The skycap told me of the baggage rule change, but then said, "Well, we can figure something out. I mean, you take care of me, I'll take care of you, alright?" He repeated that twice so I would get the idea. If I gave him a big tip, he'd find a way to get the bag on the plane for free.

That's code for "we will probably lose your bag, man." But, to my surprise, they didn't. I gave him a big tip and he listed my second bag as a car seat, and it got on the plane alright. So that's one way to get around the system. Still cost me more than I expected. That guy is probably making a mound of money with that scam. Are you listening United Airlines?

The second way to scam it, as he told me, was to bring your bag through TSA security and gate check it. They wouldn't charge you the $25 at the gate.

What kind of system is this?

Of course, my bag was full of liquids and I didn't want to go through it right there on the curb (nor did I have anywhere else to put it), so he magically made it a car seat (abra-ca-dabra) and it was gone.

Posted 5/9/2008 | What To Pack | Leave a Comment

Two Delsey 26 Inch Suitcases

I'm going back to my ship tomorrow after a 2 week break. I'll be going back for almost 3 months this time, so I'm considering carefully what to pack.

My luggage finally fell to pieces on this last trip, so it was time to pick out new suitcases. I've tried a lot of configurations of luggage in the past few years of travel - one large suitcase only, one large suitcase + one small, one small + one medium, one medium and more carry-ons... There's problems with every configuration (usually: you have to carry them). Large suitcases (29" inch or larger) always end up weighing in at or over 50 lbs, and you always have to worry about overage charges from the airline. Small bags never carry enough.

This time I've decided to try two medium size bags - two Delsey 26" suitcases. Not too big to be over 50 lbs, but have enough room combined to bring enough stuff for 3 months. They have a system to hold a tux or suit in place, which is helpful for the gig ("system" is probably too serious a word - "hook and strap" might be better).

I owned one of these Delsey bags before and it was a good suitcase - light, sturdy and cheap. Eventually the handle stopped extending, which was very frustrating, but overall it was a good buy.

Posted 5/9/2008 | What To Pack | Leave a Comment

Bring a Water Bottle

I already wrote a long packing list of things that you should bring on your cruise job, but I have a few new things to add.

Water is a very popular commodity on cruise ships, interestingly. I knew an officer once that made a profit off buying pallets of bottled water in port and selling them to crew at sea. I don't think this was legal, and it was talked about in hush tones by the crew as if he were selling drugs. Ships are weird places like that.

It's not that there isn't water to drink on cruise ships, there's plenty of water. There's two problems:

• You won't want to drink the water that comes out of the faucet in your room because its not really drinking water. It's heavily treated and tastes of chlorine.


• You had to go to the crew mess or passenger buffet to get drinking water. The buffet is waaay up 10 decks away...you have to get your uniform and name tag on...and people are partying in the mess and you don't want to go there in your pajamas either... And anyway, while the drinking water is better, its still not "good." It still tastes treated.
  

Basically, you just want a bottle of water in your room.

Therefore I suggest you bring a Nalgene bottle, or some other kind of water bottle. I never had one the first time I was on ships, and I used my camelbak instead. But that was stupid - hard to fill at the crew mess, and awkward to drink from. Camelbaks are great in port, especially in super dry destinations (Africa, Southern Europe, Mexico). You can also buy bootlegged water from shady officers, but you'll save money in the long run if you just bring a Nalgene.

Now, this is just my own preference, but have you see these little silicon "Easy Sipper" things that go with Nalgene bottles? My girlfriend has one and its awesome. I realize that sounds stupid, as its not that hard to drink from a bottle. What kind of infant-man needs something called an "Easy Sipper?" I get it, but seriously, it's 2 bucks and its cool. You can drink while walking, driving - or I guess in my case, standing still.

Posted 5/6/2008 | What To Pack | Leave a Comment

An Index of All Jazz Fake Books

A British website has compiled a searchable index of over 70 different fakebooks, including all of Frank Mantooths books, Hal Leonards books, the new real books and the original real books.  It also includes some fakebooks I'd never heard of - anybody heard of "Satanic Changes?" 

This could be useful if you're looking to buy a new fakebook online and what to know if you're favorite songs are included.  It doesn't tell you what page the song is on, which might be even more useful. 

I notice it doesn't include the book Proship tries to hawk on its website, which is not a surprise. 

Posted 5/4/2008 | What To Pack | Leave a Comment

Cruise Ship Locator Websites

Do you know someone working on a cruise ship? Want to see where they are? It's possible to look up the location of any ship in the world through the Sailwx website. All you have to know is the name of the ship, and it'll give you a map of exactly where it is. It's really pretty cool!

You can also look up cruise ship locations through Google Earth, if you have that installed on your computer.

Do you want to see where your friend is? I mean, actually see what the ship sees? Several cruise ship websites have set up direct webcam feeds from their ships "bow cams" (the cameras on the bridge). A directory of cruise ship webcams can be found at Krooz-Cams.com.

Posted 5/2/2008 | General Info | Leave a Comment