zaos

Thank you all. I'll be on the Magic, so sounds like Twinnings all the way. I'll bring my Harney Earl Grey for cabin use :) and suffer through it at the MDR until I work up the nerve to bring that in too.

In the picture, the Earl Grey looks different than the usual US purple I've had - might try it if available just to see. Perhaps the picture was from a sailing outside the US.

Edit: Actually, I'll probably find an alternate since Harney begs for boiling water. Darn.

Thanks Shmoo. Guess tea isn't the heaviest thing to pack.

Any idea what teas will be available onboard, either included or additional? Their wine list doesn't inspire confidence.

Trying to determine if this will be another thing to pack - your help will be much appreciated.

Did you happen to run across either of these bartenders?

Unfortunately not. I just got wines by the bottle the rest of the trip - the cotes du rhone was nicely spicy yet balanced and a great deal at 40% off. Works out to be $20.40 + 15%.

I find they may serve white or even dessert wine overchilled, but nothing that can't be fixed by cooling down my palms. :D

I just got off the CB several days back.

Generally, the comments above about the ship's condition is accurate. It's not a brand new ship - and you'll find the odd worn item here and there. Some of the deck chairs up top are older, and look it.

Service vary depending on who you get - In the MDR for example, our early dining waiters were great, but the anytime waiter we got wasn't. A fellow diner asked the helper if we could get some service around here - main waiter was slow and didn't even come around to ask if the food was okay.

Crew wise, our main waiters commented that they rotate around different ships, and his favourite was the Sun Princess. No idea why.

Food was pretty good. Dessert are delectable and might be the singular reason why we'll be back. 50th anniversary heart shaped chocolate dessert is to die for - guess we'll make sure to cruise again this year to get that again!

They never really seem to have both sides of Horizon court and Cafe Caribe open at the same time - odd.

Beds were good and nicely firm for me - Balcony portside midship on Caribe deck. Crack in a "queen" bed is unfortunate. Steward's a nice fellow.

Shows were definitely disappointing - my partner commented that it seemed like the ship was on a budget - with one comedian Miguel Washington and one magician. Can You Dance With Me - on the last day - was oddly short, at just 30 mins. And of course, the welcome show. Had no idea why they couldn't make the shows longer since it looks like the performers were already onboard.

Skywalkers lounge had good music, but was pretty dead and sadly not really worth visiting. Plus, the drinks were terrible and the bartender only allowed us to get the same drink - not same or lower priced drink - for the 1 for 1 happy hour. That was the first and last mixed drink we had on the cruise. We found that there was lots of older people on the ship, and by 10p, the entire ship felt pretty quiet, particularly on the last day. We never had any problem finding seats for anything, and I'm not the type to show up 30 mins prior.

Some guy was going around the sanctuary Jacuzzi trying to invite women to his balcony - which he thought he got for a good price of ~600 bucks for single occupancy.

I am a little surprised that thus feature is still yet to be rolled out. Seems a little basic to me. I'd think something like an app to locate yourself on board and get walking directions to your destination like a cruise ship GPS with nav would be under development.

For the rest of us, could you please explain what all your abbreviations mean. Except of "BS" which I understand.

 

DON

Sorry.

Ded - Deductible - The amount above which the insurer would start paying. For example, premium drinks package on X where drinks below ~$13 are included, but a $20 drink would cost you $7. For insurance purposes, think of yourself as the insurer, the drink package cost as the premium, and the cruiseline as the insured. ;)

Co-Pay: It's like the upcharge you pay at specialty restaurants, where each visit costs $25, but lets you eat as much as you want and fill your takeout containers at the end of it. :D

HDHP - High Deductible Health Plan. Usually a couple grand, min 1-2k to qualify as a HDHP.

HSA - Health Savings Account, to be used with HDHP

Out of pocket max - Maximum you have to pay "out of pocket" for otherwise uncovered medical costs in a year. Beyond this limit, the insured will not pay; the insurer will pay.

"Cadillac" plan - High premium plan that (you would think) has generous coverage, low copay, low out of pocket max.

Employer Self Insurance - Many large companies actually don't buy insurance; they hire insurance companies to manage claims, use their doctor/provider networks, manage paperwork, etc. These companies have a pot of money for such claims which is drawn from to pay claims. (They may buy reinsurance to manage their risk, but that's off topic)

Arbitrage - Taking advantage of price differences for your benefit. Textbook says it's riskless, but in practice, it may be low risk. An example might be picking up free food/bottle of water onboard to take with you on a shore excursion, where it is would be an additional cost. :)

Actually, it uses the ship's intranet via WiFi and does not go to the internet, so no charges for satellite usage - which is the expensive part.

Yes, that was my question. Princess @ Sea is my backup plan; hopefully CB doesn't have AP Isolation enabled, so we can communicate using the ship's intranet.

Airplane mode will be on but with wifi enabled.

Thanks all for reading.

We would not dream of leaving the USA (and we were out of the country about 7 months this year) without having a very good Medical Policy (and trip evacuation) that would cover at least $100,000 (we prefer $250,000 minimum) of medical costs plus evacuation cost. As to Trip Cancellation, we could care less. It is a known amount (the cost of the trip) which can afford or we would not have booked the trip. But potential medical liability is unlimited and can become a financial game changer that can impact the remainder of your life.

Thanks Hank for your post - it is great general travel advice!

I agree - but I am looking to arbitrage the the fixed risk premium with better information. It's like people who usually carry HSAs but switch to an expensive "Cadillac" plan when they can plan ahead of time their major surgery or medical expenses (pregnancy, or other more major surgery).

Not too concerned about health costs since:

1. Vanishingly tiny likelihood of major incapacitating health issues that would preclude boarding a regularly scheduled flight.
   
2. I carry a HDHP, so I deal with myself for minor issues not meeting the low 1.5k ded, and the plan actually covers 100% instead of some lesser percentage out of network up to the OOP max outside the US.
   
3. In this instance, I'm on a Caribbean cruise. Can't imagine they would balk at covering an evac to Florida.
   
4. Other places I go to tend to have much cheaper health costs than the US. For example, developed East Asia. Many parts of Europe.
   
5. Insurance Hurdles - my employer self insures, so there's the option of bypassing the administrator, and contacting HR to sort out the BS
   

Now if I'm going to be skydiving, bungee jumping, snowboarding, skiing, river rafting, all on the same trip, you'd be damn right I'll get something supplementary to cover the increased risk.

But this is a cruise. The biggest healthcare risk is probably the triple cheeseburger with loaded fries on the side. :D

Edit: BTW, I don't think AMEX is offering that 9.95 travel med policy anymore to new signups.

Does princess at sea through wifi work?

Regardless of what you tip (and what it shows about you), if porters are threatening and damaging bags because of lack of tips, they aren't doing the job they are being paid to do in a proper manner. They should be fired.

If they are damaging bags on purpose, I'd say criminal and civil charges are in order.

No such thing as a setting for "near misses."

 

Chips are set to payout the big jackpot over X number of spins. It's not based on machine life. The number could be more than once in a machine lifetime - all depends on the X and how much the game is played.

 

Of course, since a RNG is just that - random - it is mathematically possible it wouldn't but that is not the goal of the casino. If it goes that long and not hit the big payout the game will have funded it so it in the presumed financials to pay it.

I'd wager that there's no near miss, and the code for determining what ends up on the wheels if you lost might be different from the code that determines if you won or lost.

I owned an IGT Triple Triple Diamond slot machine and purchased the "RNG" that the Nevada Gaming Commission placed on the mother board, at delivery time to the original leasing Casino. The RNG (random number generator) is a pre-programmed chip (brain) placed and then safety sealed to the board (no tamper seal) to prevent removal. The odds in Nevada are of course set by the Casino Slot Manager and the Gaming Commission by state law guidelines. Typically a small percent to the house only.

 

At sea, how could a low paid, long hour working and un-policed (per se') person be given control to make such a potentially lethal public relations decision, in this entertainment/cruise industry?

 

Its just not going to happen!

 

Please Google the numerical science behind the "RNG", computer slot operations and plain old luck.

 

 

 

.

What a waste of money. A PRNG is perfectly good enough for such things as slots.

It's perfectly easy to have a odds setting where you could set it the payout percentage from 1-10, from high to low.

I'd tip the porters as much as skycaps, since they do similar work.

In other words, couple bucks per bag. $20 is just overdoing it.

Maybe is is just harder to make it look good?

Quite honestly, I really don't care, as long as it's delicious.

guide book thats very accurate

 

 

 

 

Better then carrying a "baggie" or day box of unknown pills.

 

Best to have the original bottle. They have a quick reference guide book thats very accurate in identifying pills.

 

Chances of having a problem are slim but you just may be trying to catch that flight when they start looking alot closer then usual.

There are ways around everything. Example: Cruisers with rum runners might attest to that.

I expect Europe and any non US country customs to be more strict than the US regarding meds.

Most dining rooms will prepare foods that you ask for. On the regal princess we loved their gazpacho and asked them to save some for the next night, they couldn't do that but made us a fresh batch which was even better

 

As for which ship and which line I work for for obvious reasons I prefer not to make that public I do sail princess when I'm not working taking,a busmans holiday. ��

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Thanks, this is going to be great then. I'll think of one or two items to ask for, hopefully not too much trouble.

I imagine if I ask for curry or something more bulk, the leftovers goes to some lucky crewmembers? :)

Probably, really OT, but the eggs would be something like this, but browner and crispier. Really high heat required - I estimate oil around 450 F / 230 C required.

Talk to the head waiter and he can have something custom-prepared for you for the next day.

 

We were talking to our bartender in Crooners and she said that they prepare food for most of the ethnicities onboard. Lots of rice dishes for the Filipinos, curry for the Indians, etc. She said that they are fed very well.

Thank you and all that have taken the time to respond.

I know KFC and such fast food are regarded as premium eateries in South Asia, so it's not surprising that the crew will try to get it any chance they can. Also, as another poster mentioned, it's boring to eat the same thing every day!

Might just ask for curry and other foodstuffs. Maybe fried egg, South East Asian style (think kinda like deep fried, crispy outside, but still with flowing yolk).

I just came across this link, where they talked about crew menus having Filipino cuisine.

https://www.yahoo.com/food/the-bizarre-world-of-cruise-ship-kitchens-102969118169.html

Did anyone ever have a peek at these, or better yet, have a picture to share?

Must be at least decent/good with all the crew onboard, probably better than most stateside. Wonder how feasible it would be to order off that? :)

Are there any policies that doesn't cover health related costs, or have a low (3k? 5k?) max benefit? Health costs are already covered by our health insurance policies.

IMO, coverage for trip costs only should be quite cheap since it's for relatively low amounts, eg. under 10k.