MamaFej

That's how it was when we started sailing: simple, logical, flexible, customer friendly. No wonder they got rid of it. 😜

Just like it was the last time, and the time before that, and the time before that, and...

Extraordinarily helpful. thank you!!! Edited to add that this is a @Jim_Iain thread, and they welcome tangents. Jim and Iain are super nice folks, too.

Does anyone know if the Fre non-alcoholic wine is available by the glass? We are past final payment, have a beverage package, and I'd rather not have to pay by the bottle.

Huge thanks to everyone who has added information about alcohol free wines. I had never heard of alcohol free spirits. I very rarely drink at home, and haven't yet gotten the final word on whether or not I can have an occassional glass of wine with my newly diagnosed condition (the pros have differing opinions based on much more common semi-similar conditions). Anyway, we will be leaving for a 57 day trip with 45 days of cruising, and I generally enjoy a glass or two of wine on most cruising days. Knowing about alcohol free wines is helpful. Now to see if Princess has any (28 days are on Princess) and/or to see if I can find any in the Rocks area of Sydney before boarding that second cruise. Y'all are awesome!!

You can also type your credit card number into a blank email (no recipient, so you don't accidentally send it) or blank document, then copy it so you can paste it into you orders. Then you only need to remember your expiration date and security code.

I hadn't thought about this video in years, yet here we are again.

Precisely. I actually edited out reiterating that because it felt redundant and as if I were belaboring the point. I didn't want to beat people over the head. I'm among those who are disappointed to have paid for Celebrity quality and to be getting less.

I'm not sure its really about whether or not folks have or have not experienced quality cuisine. It's more about what they are willing to accept. Both of my younger adult kids were hoome Sunday. We ususally get Denny's pumpkin pecan pancakes together at least once each fall, and that's what we did. They were fantastic - for Denny's pumpkin pecan pancakes. They absolutely met our expectations and had that nostalgia factor. They were not Misty's Sunday Brunch quality they were Denny's quality, and that was perfectly fine. Misty's is a fantastic and pricy Sunday Brunch at a nice SoCal hotel. We pay for, expect, and get Misty's quality when we go there. We pay for, expect, and get Danny's quality when we go there. The prices of both have risen. the quality of each has stayed consistent. As I see it, the problem for some is paying for and expecting one level of quality and getting an entirely different one. Other people are clearly okay with paying for one level and getting another. That does not mean they have never experienced good quality, just that they are okay with paying for better than they get. I don't think we need to accuse them of never experiencing good quality.

Regarding coffee, I asked PapaFej, and he does not remember. Hopefully, someone else does.

Is it just me, or does this look like the love child of Frida Khalo and Charlie Chaplin?

This made me smile! I was a marching band geek in the 1980s (no trips) and chaperoned 9 marching and jazz band trips in the 2010s. We definitely made sure the hotel locked out porn access to the rooms. Of course, nearly all of the kids had smartphones, so...

It was available as of 2012.

And hot chocolate in cold weather! Such a lovely treat!

One thing I particularly appreciated on Viking (besides the best French Onion Soup I've ever had) was the "Gangway" button in the lift/elevator. They clearly program that button to get you to whichever deck on which the gangway is located at the moment. That seems like a very low cost, but rather helpful feature.

There was Dilmah tea in August of 2022. It had a plastic taste to me. We actually purchased some cheap tea at a grocery store in Poland for the rest of the cruise. I have had better tasting Dilmah tea in hotels, so maybe the tea onboard had just sat too long during the shutdown?

Nice! We were supposed to do it on the Royal Princess in 2016, but they took us to Nynashamn instead, requiring us to take a bus into the city and a train back. The claim was that it was too windy. The wind never appeared. I imagine that the larger ships take a different path than the smaller ones, as we were very close to land on both sides at times. I can't fathom larger ships getting between some of the islands. No matter the vessel, the archipelago is stunning!

FTR: I would not mind good mashed potatoes. Give me a nice, creamy redskin garlic mashed potato side, and I'll eat most of it. I ate one small bite of the lunch tray scoop earlier this year, and left the rest on my plate.

I highly recommend sailing through the archipelago into Stockholm on a small ship. You get amazingly close for hours, much like this.

Yes, onboard everythng is charged to your onboard account. Joan was referring to pre-purchasing your dining through your cruise planner, which can net discounts for the first night or for multi-meal packages.

Sparky!!!! I spent quite a bit of time with Sparky the Fire Dog while volunteering at FD Open Houses over the years. He even came to my classroom during Fire Safety Week, coincidentally, on the same day PapaFej came to talk to the students about fire safety. Sadly, PapaFej had to go back to the station about ten minutes before Sparky arrived. I had hoped the two of them could meet. 😉

I've been eyeing the Viking Longitudinal cruises between the Great Lakes and very South America. Those look amazing!

I agree. That's neither appropriate nor fair. I'd agree anyway, but I may be switching to non-alcoholic wine (if any) and I would like to have the option. Do you have any non-alcoholic wines you recommend on Celebrity? I've never tried any.

TRUE!!!! My great, great.........great grandfather was the first printer in the Americas. He had been recruited by Roger Williams to come to America to print the first book in America: A Key into the Language of America after having been arrested and imprisoned multiple times for printing plays and pamphlets the Church and Government didn't like in the 1630s and 40s. He became a Founding Father of Rhode Island, a colony established (in part) on the principle of freedom of religion. If freedom of speech and of the press had been. a thing early 17th century England, I wouldn't be here to cruise and post about cruising. 😁

Is anyone here RVing to get into a good position for next month's annular eclipse? Some folks on our total eclipse cruise Roll Call are RVing to get to a good spot. We will miss this eclipse... becasue we will be cruising.