zerbot

:confused: I think you have answered your own question:D You extra money is buying you the Suite experience and all that comes with it including the dining. If you want to try this dining and the perks that come with it you pay the extra cost and book a suite. If the cost is too high for your budget you go economy just like on a plane. Pretty plain and simple. Again you get what you pay for.

I don't think people are getting what I'm saying. Say that cruise line A and cruise line B have comparable suites and restaurants, and the only difference is that cruise line B has suite exclusive restaurant(s), then why would I pay extra for cruise line B? Since cruise line B isn't realizing any income from non-suite passengers in that restaurant(s), then the suite passengers have to be footing the bill for the whole thing. Their non-suite cabins will be less desirable given the restricted choices for dining, and in order to realize equivalent income, prices for suites will have to be increased, not only to entirely cover the expense of the exclusive restaurant(s), but also to cover the lower income realized from less desirable non-suite cabins.

Now, I know that there are more differences between cruise lines that muddy the waters, so you can think of it as the same cruise line, just option A is they don't make it exclusive, and option B is they do make it exclusive. With option B, the suites have to go up in price relative to option A. My question is, what is it that makes option B (non-suite passengers can't dine in the restaurant) that makes it worth the increased price? Why would I pay a higher price for a suite on a cruise line just because it had exclusive restaurants? Why wouldn't I pay a lower price for a suite to a cruise line that had comparable restaurants that they didn't make exclusive?

I find myself wondering if HAL quotes higher fare prices to passengers who have removed the HSC in the past. :D

Many of the Suite Restaurants like Specialty Restaurants have totally different menus. Most often the food quality is much higher with better cuts of meat and higher quality ingredients than what is offered in the Main Dining Room and often times more extensive. Because the Chef can make it "made to order" for a smaller group of people

I get that. They're like Pinnacle or Le Cirque. But what is the perk in making them suite only? What is my extra dollar buying me by making them suite only, instead of open with a surcharge like Pinnacle or Le Cirque?

I would love to sail in a suite. Probably could swing it from time to time. It's just that when looking at "bang for the buck", I'm having a hard time viewing "restaurant only available to suite passengers" as something worth paying for as a perk. Getting a discount off the surcharge or even getting it for free compared to non-suite, now that's a perk. Free laundry, that's a perk. Neptune Lounge concierge...mmm, could be a perk. Basically, you don't have to run all the way to the main desk/wherever for something? Minor perk, I suppose. All of these things are available to non-suite passengers, they just have to pay for them or go farther, or wait in a line. I can easily see where the value is there.

But a restaurant whose "perk" is that it excludes many other passengers even if they want to pay for it? What exactly am I paying for here, that makes the suite worth more than, say, a comparable suite on another cruise line that has an equally good restaurant that isn't exclusive?

I dunno. The cruise we are going on, all the Vista and up cabins are sold out, but there are still OV and inside cabins available.

I'm not at all sure I see the point to "suite only" restaurants. What is a suite passenger getting with such a restaurant that they wouldn't be getting if the restaurant were open to everybody? The only thing I can think of that doesn't boil down to "don't have to eat with the riff-raff" is perhaps less competition for dining slots, but that could always be adjusted by changing the size of the restaurant, having more than one of them, or making dining there free for suite passengers, but have a surcharge for everyone else.

Seems like there's less of a reason for a non-suite passenger to want to sail on Celebrity though. Unless they cut prices. As for comparisons with first class on airplanes or trains, I haven't flown in years, but when I did, you could buy most of the first class amenities even if you weren't in first class. Not to mention that on a plane or train, you're there for a matter of hours or a day or so, not the several days or weeks you'd be on a cruise ship. You largely stay in your seat for the trip, which is not at all like being on a cruise ship.

I believe the Cuban population doesn't have the freedom to CHOOSE what they want to do with the medical dilemmas. (ie. if the gov. decides it's best to give the HIV positive mother an abortion, it would do so WITHOUT THE FUTURE MOTHER'S AGREEMENT.

Gotta love that "I believe". Surely that makes it true.

Many cruise lines will have the sanitizer stations and crew at the dining venues, but will not make it mandatory to use it, as many cruisers know that it is virtually ineffective against noro. The only real way that hand sanitizers will help with noro is if you wipe your hands on a paper towel after "scrubbing" with the sanitizer, to remove the virus that has been loosened by the emollients in the sanitizer, much as soap does.

I'm afraid that's not true. From the CDC, alcohol based hand sanitizers (non-alcohol or those with too low a level of alcohol are pretty much useless) must be left on until it has dried over the entire hand.

Hand sanitizer is less effective than washing with soap and water with respect to norovirus, but it is better than nothing. Thumbs up on challenging those who don't wash after using the restroom. I'll be outfitting my family with travel packets of tissues to use to touch things like bathroom door handles, elevator buttons, etc.

If you are in the tech field, and you travel on business regularly, you probably have a cheat sheet on how to dress for all the places you do business. For example, there are certain places where one should never where a short sleeved dress shirt. There are other places where long sleeves in summer show that you don't belong. I, for one, miss the good old days of standard dress codes. It made things so much easier.

I suspect making it harder is actually the point. A large part of "dress codes" is making it so the "riff-raff" couldn't pass themselves off as "quality people". Tuxes, suits and ties, etc., all that stuff cost a lot of money, which served to enforce class stratification. With modern manufacturing, you can buy a complete tux ensemble for less than $100 these days. Of course, it won't be terribly good quality, but it will pass the dress codes. Same with a suit.

Designer labels did a stand in for the expense of the materials that made up a tux or suit and tie for awhile, but with cheap knockoffs, the value of the "dress code" is devalued once again. Nowadays you can either pay someone to tell you what the "way to dress" of the moment is or you invest a lot of time in keeping up with it yourself. There are places that will sell you a complete prepackaged set of clothing to "blend in" to various situations. Of course, you're expected to both "blend in" and "stand out" (but not in certain ways, of course). Confused yet? Just spend a lot of money with your personal fashion consultant, and then be prepared to spend it again when what you just bought isn't fashionable anymore.

Or, you can just throw all that out the door, and enjoy people watching those who choose the carousel ride of modern fashion. :p

Given the ship disasters where pretty boy captains who got high marks from passengers for their social skills failed in their duties to keep passengers safe, I'd much prefer a non-social crew that I rarely see that doesn't do things like sail too close to a reef, or abandoning the ship with passengers still on board. Sure, a captain can do both, but if you have this universal expectation that captains (and sailing crew) be entertainers, then personnel quality where it counts is going to suffer. If you rank captains by their sailing skill, and a cruise line will only hire those who are skilled at gladhanding the passengers, then they're obviously passing by some who are more skilled at sailing than those they do eventually hire.

I feel uneasy when I read accounts here of ship captains "braving" the ice in Alaska for the entertainment of passengers when other captains more prudent chose not to. Sure, almost always nothing happens, but that "almost" is what sunk the Costa Concordia.

Ironically, it was the ship's entertainers who coordinated the rescue from the Oceanos off of South Africa, and the ship's magician who was the last to be rescued after the captain left the ship by bullying his way to the front of the line of passengers waiting to be lifted off by helicopter, and seizing the harness that was intended for an elderly passenger next in line.

My Brother and I do not eat shell fish of any kind. Unfortunately for us its tastless even with butter. So no lobster for us.

More for us! :D

The problem with dress code conversations is that there are no clear, generally understood definitions of terms. One person's "nice" is often someone else's "tacky", and "dressy" can be read as "sleazy".

 

I have seen women wearing what they call "capris" referred to by others as "yoga pants".

 

I do not particularly care what is worn by women I do not know -- but I do not think overly tight, probably spandex, things which show every crease and bulge meet any reasonable definition of "formal".

 

Because there are so many takes on what "formal" means, perhaps it is better if a courteous maitre d' at the door can be relied upon to decide.

Capri simply refers to the length (from mid-calf to just over knee length). Yoga pants are stretchy form fitting pants that are comfortable for doing yoga in, and sometimes come in capri length. It appears that some manufacturers are referring to capri length yoga pants as "capri leggings".

There are plenty of women's formal clothes that are "overly tight, probably spandex, things which show every crease and bulge". Generally that sort of thing is considered just fine for women with "perfect bodies". The complaints come out when a woman who is not "perfect" wants to wear the same thing.

Out here in the Pacific Northwest, the geoduck (pronounced gooey-duck) was a clam that we used to go out and find as kids (although you do have to dig for them) for clam chowder. One good nice-sized one will make a whole pot, but back then, they were largely considered trash, something only us po' locals would eat. Nowadays, they are a delicacy, especially in Asia (something to do with the long siphon having um... 'phallic' connotations), the price is way up, and harvesting is a lot more tightly controlled.

I was on QM2 on a short cruise and on formal night there was a gentleman in a tuxedo (white, IIRC) with a tail sticking out his backside.

What kind of tail? Fluffy or shorthair? Prehensile or waggy?

We eat lobster, shrimp, clams, oysters, scallops because we like them. Some folks wonder why people eat steaks. :D

Steak?!? From a cow?!?! That's... a mammal! You wouldn't eat a person would you, you cannibal! Why are you eating cow!?!? ;)

I was once a part of the wedding party at a wedding taking place in New York (Long Island, but not Hamptonish Long Island). A bunch of us who were in the wedding party had never been to New York and wanted to do the tourist thing. We asked what the expected dress was for the rehearsal dinner, and were told, "Totally casual, just come as you are!" "Great!" we replied, because that would give us time to do the Statue of Liberty since we wouldn't have to change.

We discovered that "casual" doesn't mean the same thing in New York as it does out west. We got there and found the men in suits and women wearing cocktail dresses, and here we were in our t-shirts and jeans. A few people looked at us with disdain, but most found the humor in the clash of cultures.

Capris (assuming not torn, stained, or worn through) would be completely acceptable at a nice restaurant out west. Maybe not in New York though.

Still cheaper than it was ten years ago. "Skyhigh" is relative to the depressed prices of the last several years.

Wait. Only Windows? No other operating systems?

I didn't know they offered lectures on computer operating systems! :eek: My computer nerd heart is all pitty-pat over that!

My cruise was 14 days in the Carribean. I had some minutes left at the end of the cruise, but I was very careful and watched my time closely while doing my review. I did as much as I could off line, then signed on so I could paste things into my emails, review, etc. You can use multiple devices on your account, but not at the same time. Only one device can be signed in at any given time. If you want to use two devices at the same time, you have to set up two accounts, which means paying twice.

Are you allowed to use a hotspot to share the connection to other devices? I can't find anything on the HAL site about whether that's allowed or not.

It was a silly comment to make that a retired homemaker would have a PACER account.

I wish people would learn not to put down homemakers, retired or not. I know two who have law degrees, and have known many others who are very sharp cookies who enjoyed running rings around those who assumed they had no interests outside the home. A PACER account would be right up their alley.

Reaching to the ridiculous, maybe?? :D This thread isn't about a PACER account :cool: and parsing how much it costs or doesn't.

Well, sheesh. Why did you post about PACER costs then?

I'm tempted to get a PACER account and see what's there, but I've no desire to end up with pictures or gruesome descriptions. I do think the one picture is very useful, given that there are some message boards out there where people are saying she made up the rape and beating because he wouldn't sleep with her, because "that's the kind of thing those nude cruise pax do". I do wonder if without that picture, we'd have people here minimizing the damage and claiming descriptions of "covered in blood" were just hype and speculation.

I happen to be aware of PACER but wonder if you know many retired homemakers who have PACER accounts? :D

 

By the way, PACER is not free.

PACER is free if you don't use more than $15 in a quarter. The charges will accumulate, but if you get to the end of the quarter, and have less than $15 on your account, they waive it. According to PACER, this makes it effectively free for most users. Using it to occasionally look up stuff like this case is unlikely to hit the $15 limit.

If you in fact have that type of information available to you then why not post it here rather than elude to something that you know nothing about? No emergency service, be it Police or Fire or security can or will respond to an event until notified. It does not matter if it had been going on for 10 minutes or an hour. What matters is the time from notification to arrival at the scene.

I don't have a PACER account, I'm just pointing out that the information is available, and news organizations would have a PACER account, so when they say, "According to court documents...", that's where they're getting it. I'm just pointing out that if you do have a PACER account (anybody can get one, and casual usage tends to be free) you too can have that information.

My question is when was Security Notified?

The other question is how long it took for them to respond.

 

Consistent reporting says nothing to me. All that is some number of people saying the same thing. Particularly when applies to cruise ship events, how many times have we heard the exaggerated or down right incorrect facts reported?

If you have a PACER account, you can pull the court documents from the criminal case.

Nothing makes a CruiseCritic newcomer feel more welcome than telling them that the most frequently discussed topics are off limits. Perhaps someone could deploy a script that answered every new post with, "I think that question has already been answered. Did you try searching?"

I had the unenviable experience of trying to search to answer the question "What time does the Lido open for lunch?" It was fun seeing how many posts contained the words "lido" "lunch" and "schedule" although not necessarily anywhere near each other.

I would not count on the search being able to constructively answer any question.