dockman

I agree. Why add an extra step hassle? Just do it. Of course x number of people may forget/give up/can't be bothered/ and the cruise line says thanks for the $$. Multiply a few bucks by a few million people a year and suddenly the bean counters are having a party.

Just be aware if they use same system as princess your check will show up from a third party company called paymode and looks like junk mail with nothing to indicate it is from princess. If you throw it away..as i did... then good luck getting another check sent as you likely will get a big runaround. It seems to me to be designed to get a lot of people with smaller amounts to just give up rather than go through all the calls etc it takes to ever get anyone to give you a straight answer. Mine was two refunds from Princess and of course they could have put the refunds back on the credit card i had used but instead shuffled it off to paymode and i am still waiting almost a year later for the second of two checks.

I like the Diamond and it's sister Sapphire better than many of the newer bigger ships as they remind me more of a ship and not a floating mall.

My bet is no egypt...abundance of caution etc. It is possible that a ship filled primarily with americans could attract some attention from terrorists at sea or more likely in port. Could happen anywhere but the closer to the mideast the higher the odds would seem logical. Lot of other perhaps less risk ports nearby could easily be substituted and my guess is that is what will happen.

so holland is now subbing out refunds to paymode bottom tech...same as princess. Princess owed me two refunds for two cruises. Paymode mails the check with no indication that it is anything but junk mail on envelope so i would bet that lots of them get tossed into trash. Then when you call princess they say oh sorry you have to contact paymode. Contacted paymode and they told me i had to contact princess. Call princess and ask for accounting and am told she cannot transfer me to accounting. Call back again and finally get a Princess rep who talked to accounting and then promised i would get new check from paymode again in six weeks. So why they can't put it back on the credit card i had used is a mystery unless someone is playing a cash flow game which is certainly what it appears to be. Not exactly great customer service. I would bet a lot of people just give up rather than go through a giant runaround over $50 or so. Still waiting for check....

Peace and quiet seems to be going the way of prom decks and libraries. Personally I enjoy sitting outside on a nice prom or other deck where the only sound I hear are the sounds of the sea. It can be very relaxing....from what I see most passengers would rather sit inside in a loud bar then just listen to the sea. Reminds me of people who go for nice hikes in the woods and never bother to just stop and listen to nature. The Japanese have what they call nature baths where you go out into the woods and sit on a bench and quietly let nature "wash" over you. I guess I am a bit weird as I even take a magnifying glass with me on nature hikes and stop to sit down on an old log or whatever and look at all the "small stuff" going on on the forest floor that 99% of people never see or even think about. It is amazing all the "stuff" going on around a rotting log. Todays world seems to leave little time or encouragement for simple things like that. Maybe if more people would slow down a bit and every now and then turn off all the music tvs phones endless chit chat and take a nice quiet pause the world would be a more pleasant healthy place for all.

that soap dispenser thing in shower sort of dribbles it out and is , at least to me, not nearly as good as having a nice bar of soap...takes very little space to throw few soap bars into your luggage...i did ask steward once if he could get me a bar of soap and was told not available...so now bring my own and problem solved.

not totally true....most of the older princess ships still have prom decks as well as small libraries....most of holland america older ships also still have prom decks and libraries.. but for sure both are a dying breed.

Increasingly hard to find a nice quiet place ....as said skywalkers can be good but they do have some religious bunch that is there talking loudly often....the back deck areas near the aft pools can sometimes have a few places with no piped in music... a lot of it depends on what time of day and if at sea or in port etc....i sometimes end up starting at skywalkers then move when it gets loud and then go in search of another spot....piped in music seems to be a thing while the idea of sitting and listening to the sea seems to be phasing out....

both virgin and ncl currently have solo rooms including bathroom of 100 square feet total...i can't imagine two people trying to be in even a regular stateroom bathroom at the same time especially when you look at the size of a lot of todays cruise passengers...anyway...it does seem a few cruise lines are at least attempting to create more solo room options so hopefully the trend may expand.

i think some used to rent tux with only one arm sleeve and one leg pants....the joke was it cost an arm and a leg to rent one....not very funny but i remember some guy telling the joke at dinner one night long long ago

also google it and you will find all sorts of info on when where etc

Maybe one of these years some cruise line will have a new ship done with a solo deck...take a chunk of the normal approx 180 square ft rooms designed for two three or four and cut them in half with bunk beds and sell to solo or even double super budget...about the same size as a crew room.....from what i can surmise the cruise lines that have expanded with more very small solo rooms seem to be doing fine selling to solos....there are a lot of solo travellers that likely would be ok with a tiny room at a bargain price rather than being charged double or so for a regular room. I remember long long ago having a room on an old royal carib ship that was about the size of a closet.... I would bet it has been considered and all sorts of models done as to how it would impact extra revenues expenses etc...one of these days one of them may give it a shot and i would bet this "niche" might actually work out...or not.

The left hand knoweth not what the right hand is up to...really very close to inexcusable to make that big a goof. Is anyone in charge to review major announcements prior to release or is it fire ready aim. Really really bush league for a major corporation.

Price?

Fortunately I have been drinking cruise ship tap water for decades and far as i know never a hint of a problem. I really wonder how many people could tell the difference between bottled water and tap water in blind taste test? Not me. There are many stories of blind taste tests for wines as well where most can't tell the difference between fancy expenisve wines and basic wines. Much of it is perceived "value" from fancy looking bottles and advertising. Not saying some can't tell the difference and hey if you can and if it is worth the price go for it. But I will guess if the fancy water in bottles were the ship's tap water that most could not tell the difference. Of course the bottled water may also be more convenient in easily carried throw away containers which is part of the attraction but is it worth the price? Not to me. Old joke. Hold a bottle of pricey Evian water up to a mirror and see what it says.

It could be a game changer for many. I suspect a pill might result in lot more people taking it rather than getting jabbed. I would happily take a pill or a jab or both if it prevents or reduces infections.

Several noro vax and pills are under development....fingers crossed that if/when they are proven safe and effective that people will use them and reduce the ship noro incidents dramatically Vaxart's Oral Vaccine: Vaxart's oral norovirus vaccine candidate has shown positive results in a Phase 2 trial, demonstrating a reduction in infection rates and viral shedding.

I always thought it might be a good biz model to have bikes for rent at some of the most popular ports around the world. I suspect that it might do very well for more active people who want to rent a bike and ride around a few hours rather than ride a bus or walk. i guess it must exist but I really don't recall seeing them set up right where u get off the ships. I do hope that if it does happen that the bikes will be traditional pedal bikes.

Seem to be lot of double the price then give you 50% off sales on most everything these days....not exactly creative marketing. I do see it on some cruises that the rack rates are absurd and i can't imagine anyone hardly ever actually paying that price....and for the few that do maybe not so happy if they meet someone in room next door that paid half or less for essentially the same.

That was a joke attempting to find some humor rationale as to why it should be such a big deal and take months to change a simple passenger contract term. It is obvious that nobody in power has "tasked" " that it be done. As evidenced by this thread it creates a lot of confusion when FAQ says one thing and passager contract says another. Clarity is generally a good thing. So pick one: either vaping in cabin is forbidden or it is not.

How long realistically does it take a lawyer to change the passage contract to say vaping is not allowed in staterooms? Less than one minute? Maybe the lawyers are billing by the hour so need to have a few meetings with ten other lawyers to discuss it for a few days to write a sentence that a first year law student could do in five minutes? Then of course the IT department would need to change it so it would be reflected on cruise contracts...again five minutes? Seems either they have some inept lawyers and IT execs or they do not care.

i eat by myself most all the time...i try and avoid lido during peak hours by going very early or late when there are lot of tables open. Even then i leave a book with a pair of glasses on table while i go get my food. Never had a problem with stolen but have returned to find a couple of people who have sat down at my table when there were many vacant tables they could have taken. Exactly the kind of people i have zero desire to meet or eat with so i pick up my book and move.

If you play perfect basic strategy blackjack which is not very hard to do if you can read a simple card and follow it you can reduce the house edge on black jack that pays 3/2 to 1/2 of one percent...if you do exact same perfect play on 6/5 blackjack the house edge goes from 1/2 of one percent to about 2 percent...sounds like not much but over time it is a massive amount of money to the casino. And yet people continue to play all the new 6/5 tables ...casinos love the undeducated. Next up is adding a triple zero to roulette which already offers horrible odds. If and when people say no thank you will it ever stop. Casinos will continue to try and convince you that it is all a big fun thing called "gaming" rather then what it really is which is gambling...and it works....for the casinos.

..u can get military obc and stockholder obc...