mnocket

That's not what it says. If you think MSC actually keeps the booking fee for the no show PLUS charges the person who show up an ADDITIONAL 100% of the fare, you're welcome to your opinion. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

OK. I read it. It sounds pretty standard to me. I'm not sure what you think is different. No refund for no shows - one person from the original booking must remain on the booking. How is this different from Celebrity?

I'm not familiar with MSC's policy on no shows. Can you explain? Thanks.

I don't see why it would be a problem. Guests don't even have to board at the same time. The substitute can board without the other person being there. The ship will sail regardless of no shows. No one is going to hunt the substitute down and insist they leave the ship because the other person is a no show. It seems to me that whoever told you this would be a problem is just offering a hypothetical that isn't realistic. I wouldn't worry about it.

Well if you have a single that would like to join you on the cruise, I guess you could substitute that person for one of your grandparents. Then the other grandparent that is still on the booking could be a no show. The result is one person gets to use their cabin instead of it going totally to waste.

Call centers and Interactive Voice Response systems are proof there is a hell😈

Cruise lines will continue to raise prices and reduce services/quality until there is sufficient customer pushback. So far, there are enough customers willing to go along with these changes, so they are likely to continue. It's even begun to creep into the luxury market. I'm seeing some complaints on the Regent board about a decline in food quality. The industry is certainly suffering from long Covid, and I'm afraid the condition has become chronic.

The problem is that the avian flu outbreak in South Georgia is the result of birds migrating from South America. Scientists expect that the same thing is likely to happen to Antarctica.

IMHO it really depends on just how strong their concerns are. They will most certainly be in an environment where there is an increased risk of contracting Covid. If finding themselves in situations where they are forced to be in close proximity to others is going to freak them out, cruising is probably a bad idea. I was out for a short hike in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains 2 days ago. My wife and I were about 1 mile out on a trail through a meadow, hadn't seen another human since starting out, and here comes this solo woman heading back who is wearing a mask. Something tells me she would not be comfortable on a cruise ship!

If you're open to other cruise lines, you might take a look at Windstar. I recently completed their final 7-day circumnavigation of Iceland for the season (Sept 2-9). There were no midges at that time of year. We did a b2b that then continued on to Greenland, Nova Scotia & Montreal (no midges there either). On the first 3 nights of that segment we got to experience the Northern Lights. It's right on the cusp of the season, but there's always the chance that you might get to see them on the final circumnavigation cruise. Just something to consider.

This is a real concern for me as I've just recently booked a cruise that includes South Georgia for Jan 2025. Could this be the beginning of the end for exploration cruises to Antarctica?

Picture looks about right. 100% of lounges have towels to "reserve" them, but only about 10% actually have people in them.

It's not clear to me what difference an "auxiliary bar" makes when it comes to the GC law. Maybe you're referring to getting around something else?

My workaround is to order Malibu rum with pineapple juice (assuming they have real pineapple juice available).

OMG! Not Santa too??😮

We really enjoyed spending a few days at the Avenida Palace hotel. We will definitely stay there again next time we are in Barcelona.

Another holiday fantasy smashed to bits. I always thought gingerbread houses were made from gingerbread cookie dough. I don't want to peek behind the curtain. I want to believe it's all real🤩 I'll be on the Mariner this Xmas and the gingerbread houses just won't look the same to me☹️

I've found the Pina Colada and Margarita mixes to be terrible. For me, undrinkable. If they're going to use mixes, they should at least spend a bit more for decent ones.

I've found this attitude to be prevalent throughout CC. Every board has its cheerleaders whose knee-jerk reaction to most any complaint is to defend the cruise line. In cases like yours, they are quick to point out that, by the letter of the cruise contract, they are allowed to make almost any change they want to the itinerary. In my opinion, these people miss the distinction between what the cruise line can legally do per the contract, and what is the right thing to do for their customers. Whenever I reply that there is often a difference between what is legal and what is right, they seem unable to fathom the concept.

One wonders.... What exactly is the point of the expiration date on passports, if in practice the passport becomes unusable 6 months earlier?

WOW My first Regent cruise is next month. Maybe my expectations are set too high.

THIS was exactly my thought. It seemed very clear to me that the primary issue people were raising was a decrease in the quality of the food. All she spoke about was variety. Not the same thing.

Yes and no. Starlink satellites are low earth orbit not geosynchronous. That means the same satellites that cross over land continue on to cross over the oceans as well. Unlike geosynchronous, there are not more satellites positioned over land than over the oceans. That said, only the newer Starlink satellites that have laser communications are effective over the oceans. That's because when over the oceans, the satellites must bounce the signal, via laser, from satellite to satellite until a ground station can be reached. Because not all of the planned laser-capable satellites have been launched, there can be short periods when no appropriate satellite is overhead and there will be a blackout until the next satellite comes into view. There are already enough satellites available that these blackouts are not a major problem unless one is in the polar regions.

Unfortunately, just having Starlink does not guarantee fast internet. So much depends on how each cruise line/ship implements it. For example, has the onboard infrastructure been upgraded to deliver higher speeds? How does the cruise line choose to throttle individual users? How much Starlink bandwidth has the ship bought? Like most things, the devil is in the details. I'm boarding the Mariner in December and I hope RSSC has straightened out any issues with their Starlink implementation.

I've given up on trying to predict where the cruise line stocks are going. The reaction to earnings have been very muted. One thing that concerns me long-term is that we're in a period of high occupancy despite significant price increases and cost cutting. Other than high debt, which is a persistent issue, this should be the best of times for the cruise industry. What is going to happen when the tide turns, as it always does? If this is how the stocks behave when things are going great, do they have any resiliency to withstand a downturn?