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Hmmm. No smokers, no wine drinkers - who's left?:cool:

<raising hand> Me. :)

I would never cruise on a line that includes alcohol in the cruise fare as I don't want to pay for someone else's booze. :(

I guess I don't follow this logic. I don't use MUTS on Princess ships; does that mean I'm paying for someone else's use of it? What about if I bring my own shampoo? Am I paying for everybody else's cruiseline-provided shampoo? Of course. We all pay for the stuff included in the cruise fare that we don't use.

I'd rather look at the ship, the itinerary, and the cost, then decide if there's value in the price for ME. I don't care what value others may or may not be getting.

Possibly but the fares are so much higher! I'd rather pay lower fares and enjoy longer cruises! For one week on Disney or Azamara, you can cruise for much longer on Princess (at a minimum 10 to 14 days) in most cases.

Agreed, but your wording ("the most lenient cruise line") didn't refer to the cost of the cruise.

And Disney has good last-minute deals, while Azamara can be pretty reasonably priced on certain itineraries.

Also keep in mind that Princess still is the most lenient cruise line with regard to alcohol and wine policies!

No, they're not. Disney allows you to bring any amount of wine, liquor, or beer, as long as you can carry it on. So does Azamara.

The promenade deck wrapped around when I was on the Magic. I know because I walked a lot of laps. ;) It is closed in on the ends (that is, no windows or view), so it's a little different from HAL's promenade decks, but you can walk around. Or was that changed in the recent "reimagining"?

I have done only the EBTA on Disney, and it was fabulous.

I was in a cabin similar to the OP's (deck 6), and the room steward was much better than any I've had on HAL. Food was great, movie theater and movies wonderful, you get the idea.

I won't take a 3-day or 4-day cruise on Disney, but for a longer, special itinerary (TA, PC), I'm in.

Whether bottles or cans, we just put them in a rollaboard and roll them on ourselves. Then we have some extra bag room on the way home for the stuff we buy. We also bring travel mugs so we can drink our soda out and about.

I grew up in Connecticut, went to school in Boston, lived most of my life in New York and retired to Tennessee so I have gone through life figuring out:

 

Hoagie/hero/sub/grinder

 

frappe/milk shake/malted/sundae

 

pop/soda

 

etc.

Don't forget "awful awful" for "shake." :) (As in, it's awful, awful hard to get this shake through the straw.)

I like L.L.Bean's Perfect Fit Pants in either the straight leg or boot cut. They are much better as far as keeping their shape than the Lands' End Sport Knit Pants.

A few colors are $5 off right now, and they always have free shipping.

You neglect to factor that as the 60 year olds become 65 years old, the 55 year olds turn 60 and the 50 year olds turn 55. There is a constant stream of all of us aging. When the current 70 plus year olds stop cruising and/or die off, the supply of seniors does not end. It is an ongoing process of all of us aging a day at a time.

 

For those hale, strong, young 'uns among us, don't forget we were once you and if you are very fortunate you may once upon a time become us and you can be HAL's greys that comprise a large number of their loyal Mariners. Don't brush aside so thoughtlessly........ you will someday be us. While we are HAL's present, you are their future.

 

Here's a reality check: Your young age is not frozen in time. ;)

Aging is a reality, yes. But someone who is 40 today will not have the same expectations of a cruise line at 80 as today's 80-year-old does. Cultural changes, generational changes, etc., have shaped today's Gen Xers (generally agreed to have been born from the early 1960s to the early 1980s) into different people than the Baby Boomers before them and the Millennials after them. Some changes aren't evident now because today's 40-year-old hasn't lived the next 40 years yet.

And, yes, that's a generalization (I know you don't like them), but generalizations serve a useful purpose. In general. ;)

Yes, there is a difference. The mariner pins count all the spending - so those in suites accumulate faster. Plus on board spending, shore excursions whatever. And they get some perks for it :)

 

Sorry if the post offended. But the copper, silver, etc. pins represent real days sailed. It doesn't matter if you are in a verandah, inside cabin or a suite.

 

It is just true days sailed.

 

So, for some they are meaningful as they represent the real number of days you have cruised. ;) Hoping this makes sense?

 

but since those pins are now gone, it seems the discussion is now moot.

Er, I know the difference in how one earns the pins. And your post didn't offend me. I just thought it was telling that you specified that your DH wears the actual days sailed pin . . . the implication (to me) was that he isn't so uncouth as to wear the cruise credit days pin.

My cruise credit days are meaningful to me, too. I hope that those who value the pins so much (not just you, those who've said so on this thread) aren't dismissing the value the cruise credit day pins have to some of us. That would be just a smidge ironic.

Wearing a pin symbolizing the number of days you have sailed is a very quiet statement and yes, some are proud of it. so be it. These are not the mariner pins - these are the pins representing the real days you have sailed to be clear.

Interesting. Now there's a distinction in the meaningfulness of the actual days sailed pins and the cruise credit days pins.

Wonder why? If the pins are about HAL culture or whatever, aren't both types of pins equally important?:confused:

Who gives free internet and at what level?

On my second cruise with Azamara, I was entitled to 85 free Internet minutes as an Adventurer in Le Club Voyage, their loyalty program. The next higher number of minutes is 150, after earning 4 credits.

Program info: http://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/club-azamara/le-club-voyage/membership-benefits

Of all the changes that is the one that caught my eye also. I loved the chocolate souffle. (I've always considered vanilla as someone's idea of a joke!)

Hey, now, remember that vanilla is a more popular flavor than chocolate (well, at least in ice cream). I just had the vanilla souffle a couple of weeks ago on the Eurodam, and it was delicious.

The soap thing is weird to me given the emphasis on washing one's hands frequently so as to avoid getting sick.

When we got to our Neptune Suite last month, there was an already used bar of soap waiting for us in the shower :eek: and a new one on the counter. When I asked for a couple of bars, we got one. So the type of cabin appears to make no difference.

I assume they just missed the soap while getting the cabin ready, but let's hope it's not a sign of things to come.

This is one thing HAL could improve on - although there is food available somewhere all day, in the Lido or room service, or the Explorations Cafe if you buy a coffee. But I really love the Cafe Promenade on RCI ships, where there is so much available 24/7, very tasty pastries and sandwiches etc.

I agree that HAL doesn't have a broad enough selection of food available in the times that the Lido is closed--and the hours in the Lido are very short compared to Princess. Princess also has the International Cafe on many ships, which is open 24/7, and during most of those hours one can get practically a full meal or just a little snack.

You can buy snack food (Pringles, candy) in the shop if it's open. It's not cheap, but if you're jonesing for something, it can come in handy.

One is more likely to see baggy jeans today than any videos on MTV. ;)

I teach at a two-year college. Most of the female students dress as if they are headed to a club (or a street corner to look for business) and the male students dress for the basketball court or other exercise. It's beyond appalling.

One of my rules for days on which they give presentations is that they can't wear shirts with writing, graphics, or logos. You'd be amazed how many can't manage to scrounge a decent polo shirt (with sleeves!) out of their closets.

Update: we were approved to use the FCD, so we're booked, don't have to pay until final, and have our OBC. Yay! :)

Next time, I'll keep a little closer track of the date.

My 4 year FCCs say "sail by" & the current 2 year ones say "book by". :)

Mine is a 2-year one and says "sail by date." I am well within the window if it said "book by date."

Thanks for the information, everyone. I hope to hear from the TA today.

I was ready to book my next cruise using a Future Cruise Deposit today. Took the paper out of the folder to discover that my sail-by date is one day (yes, one single day :o ) before the sail date of the cruise I want to book. My TA called in the reservation and says the Princess rep had to put in a request to a supervisor who has to contact another dept. to see if we'll be allowed to use the FCD or not.

Question: anyone used an FCD for a cruise after the sail-by date? If so, how many days past the date was it?

Don't worry--I'm still here and still anti-unnecessary apostrophe. ;)

We have enjoyed the tea service in our suite a few times. Just tell the Neptune Lounge concierge what day(s) and time you'd like the tray delivered and how many people will be at the tea.

They'll tell you that you have to be in the room when the delivery is made, but once we got tea we didn't order and they put it in the room while we were out.

You'll get pots of hot water, tea bags, sugar, lemon, maybe even honey, along with tasty pastries. It makes a nice mid-afternoon snack. :)

Many of these posts mention that crew are too scared for their jobs to steal stuff, and I agree, although I am sure a HAL crewmember somewhere at some time has stolen something.

But if they are THAT worried, then why do they leave cabin doors propped open when they can't keep an eye on the door/cabin to see if anyone enters? If the door's open and someone can get in to swipe something, the cabin steward would be the first one to get the blame, and certainly should get some of it for leaving the door open, whether or not he took the item.

I am not saying the door was propped open in this case (although it may have been at come point--we don't know).

And yes, I am aware that anyone could have walked in, although I also think that is a problem with a cruise security.

I agree. If a steward isn't in my room or in the hallway right outside my door, I would prefer my door be closed. Keeping it open with a door stop so he can walk a distance down the hall to retrieve something is not cool.

Or am I still missing the way to access the 125%?

I don't know about the UK website, but on the US website, click on "Special Offers" in the top navigation bar, wait for the page to open, and there's a link to "Savings for Singles."

My problem is that the 125% is not offered on the cruise I want, but the onboard booking consultant said it might come out later, so I'm waiting to see. If it doesn't, I'll cancel and just be out the $25 cancelation fee.