NavArch64

Beautiful morning at the berth ...

We have used Icelandair many times for one way services to/from Europe in conjunction with trans-Atlantic cruises. We have flown from/to Boston Logan, New York JFK, Philadelphia, Baltimore BWI and Washington Dulles; and to/from London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Paris CDG, Amsterdam Schiphol, Copenhagen, and Zurich. Although you do have to connect at Reykjavik Keflavic, we have never missed a flight, baggage has never been lost, the fares have been reasonable, and the onboard services very professional. We have flown B767, B757, and recently B737MAX aircraft with Icelandair.

Regarding the SODC, whether you liked the music and choreography or not, the incredible talent, commitment and physical conditioning of the 3 young men and 3 young women were deserving of a standing ovation IMHO. After seeing Humanity and Musicality a number of times on different HAL ships, I actually have liked the shows more each time that I have seen them. I am still warming up to In Tandem. Having said this, I would rather go back to the "old" HAL main stage shows, but I understand the current cost constraints for HAL.

One more thing ... no more Mariners Lunch on final sea day ... DW had to go beg for tiles.

Hard working crew ... Ship in pretty good condition ... LCS artists excellent ... SODC fabulous ... BOL piano players not so great IMHO.

On board Oosterdam for Vancouver to Seattle 1 night .... ate in MDR and attended LCS performance.

The QM2 sails at about 28 knots on her crossings but the Rotterdam will probably sail at 20 knots on hers. The QM2 can sail through many of the moderate lows but the Rotterdam will have to try and avoid them. Both of course must avoid the intense lows. The Rotterdam crossing in April could be risky in this regard. I hope to be aboard ... should be fun. Jan and Gus might need their sea legs.

Just flew to/from Dublin within last 3 weeks ... need lots of patience at all airports in Europe. Baggage is a disaster ... luck of the draw. Flight delays pretty routine. Good luck to all.

Yes ... As stated above. We even christened the Koningsdam on V.3 with the priest onboard using water from the spring at Mary's house just outside Ephesus. What could be better.

Suggestion .... instead of asking for lower fare which Princess does not want to do .... and your TA is caught in the middle ... instead, ask to go from Princess Standard to Princess Plus at the current price or go from Princess Plus to Princess Premium at the current price for your existing S/R and Cat ... then perhaps everyone can be happy.

Elite on Princess ... Diamond on RCCL .... earlier respondents are accurate ... depends on your needs and desires. Both very good at what they do.

Just some arithmetic ... LGA Terminal B has 40 gates, 20 in each of two "piers". If each gate serves one flight every 90 minutes with an average of 180 passengers per flight, that is 180 x 40 / 1.5 = 4,800 per hour. So, Airline Check-in and then TSA have to sequentially clear almost 5,000 passengers per hour at a busy time in Terminal B. Crazy.

Air Canada is in Terminal B ... I was there on April 7 and 10. Beautiful new facility .... but lots of walking ... long distance to gates. Long lines at TSA ... it was a Sunday departure for us. Roadways still under reconstruction ... lots of congestion. I would definitely take a taxi ... should be about $40 ... worth it for your sanity. If Princess bus went to Terminal D first, then Terminal C next, then to Terminal B last ... each time waiting for people to slowly get off, then luggage pulled from below and identified ... I would go nuts. But, I am Type A ex-New Yorker with limited patience.

LGA can be incredibly busy ... TSA can take over an hour in some situations.

The possible sale of Seabourn to the Saudi investment arm would be the first brand to go. What brand would be next?

In the pre-pandemic fiscal year 2018 (ending 11/30/18), Carnival Corporation reported earnings before interest and tax of $3.4 B. If the corporation were able to return to that level of profitability in the near future - very difficult to achieve - but the interest rate on the $35 B in debt rose to an average of 10% - the corporation would still be unable to service the $3.5 B interest on the debt.

It seems as if the App was just "updated" a day or so ago, and this VAX Card upload functionality just appeared.

As of Feb 28, 2022, the Carnival Corporation had a total of $8.057 B in current assets and $10.920 B in current liabilities for a ratio of CA/CL= 0.738. It could take a long time to restore this ratio to a more reasonable level of 1.0 or greater.

As of Feb 28, 2022, the Carnival Corporation had $2.741 B in short term borrowings, $2.272 B in current portion of long term debt, and $29.887 B in long term debt. This is a total of $34.900 B of debt for Carnival Corporation. Total shareholders equity (book value) on Feb 28, 2022 was $10.311 B. This gives a debt/equity ratio of 3.385. Very highly leveraged particularly at a time when interest rates are rising. It could take a long time to restore the debt/equity ratio to a more reasonable level.