Daniel A

I wonder if when they had the skeet equipment there were fewer chair hogs??? 😄

On my first cruise, I was disappointed that they no longer had skeet shooting from the stern. It was replaced with an arcade video game of skeet.

DW & I used to go to a resort in south Florida. It was a fairly large place with several buildings. Our main entertainment was having our morning coffee on our balcony which overlooked the main pool at the resort. That pool remained locked until security opened the gate at 8AM each day. There would be a line of people waiting at the gate starting at about 7:30 or so. The people in line were loaded down with cheap beach towels purchased at local souvenir shops. When the gate opened it was like the start of the Kentucky Derby! We saw many people grabbing poolside tables, placing a couple of towels on some chairs at the table and then dragging over four loungers to the table and placing the remaining towels on the four loungers. Then they would leave the pool and return to their condos for breakfast or whatever. The pool area was once again empty in ten minutes. Those tables and loungers would remain empty until about 11 AM and then they'd be empty from about 12:30 to 1:30 for lunch. On checkout day, they wouldn't even take the towels home with them. I suppose they wouldn't fit in the luggage for the flight home. Year after year we saw this happen until we finally stopped going there and switched to watching chair hogs on cruise ships. 😄

That's probably why I never saw any numbers. DW & I tend to shy away from special receptions and M&G with the Captain.

I don't doubt your theory at all. Your post does bring up a side issue I've always wondered about. How do you get the numbers you cited? I've seen posts on many other threads where numbers and percentages are offered. I've been curious as to where the numbers originate. Are the numbers posted somewhere on the web? Again, I'm not questioning your numbers, I'd be interested in seeing the numbers for future cruises I may take or decide to book. Thank you.

I think the real answer to the question posed in the title is "yes'" unless and until the paying customers demand proactive crew responses to chair hogs. As long as the various cruise lines aren't getting a hoard of demands by the customer base, they will continue with a laissez faire approach to the issue. The cruise lines don't really want to intervene, so they put the onus back onto the passengers to enforce their rules by either taking direct action or reporting the chair hogs to crew members already present on the lido. I have two suggestions for mitigating what has always been the nagging problem: Everyone completing the all-important post cruise surveys should add complaints that the crew are neglecting to enforce the chair hog issue. When they ask in the survey what could be done to improve service, make a point of suggesting they take the chair hog issue seriously. They tend to pay more attention those post cruise surveys. A second suggestion would be to have a crew member assigned to issue a time stamped card to any passenger needing to vacate their lounger for a short time. The card could read something like "RESERVED UNTIL 1:15 PM." If one is looking for a chair, they could look at the reserved cards until they find one that is expired and either that crew member would be responsible to collect any belongings, or the passenger could remove the items themselves. Also, the rule should be only one card per passenger. That being said, I have no realistic expectation that either suggestion would ever happen. Once people are off the ship, they no longer have any interest in the issue until they are once again on board and have something to complain about that nothing is being done. 🤷‍♂️

Chair hogs have never presented a problem for me. If I see an empty lounger for a while and nobody using it - I'm next! When somebody comes back an hour later, they just pick up their stuff and move on. I've never seen an argument where a chair hog returned after a while. I do think going to lunch at the MDR or buffet and leaving your stuff on the chair is being a chair hog. You're either at the pool or in a restaurant. You can't be in both places at the same time.

It looks like Bermuda will permit cruise ship casino operations between the hours of 9PM and 5AM, but the individual ships must apply for and be granted a gaming license first. I don't know if Insignia has the license.

We've written each other on the Roll Call for the cruise. We'll see you onboard. It's not a very active rollcall but with the smaller passenger capacity that didn't surprise me.

I think I failed to mention that the Bronx is also a distant foreign port. 😄

You may be mixing apples and oranges. A "Closed Loop Cruise" is one where it embarks in one United States port and disembarks at the same US port. The PVSA only requires that the ship stop at any foreign port, so Bermuda would satisfy the PVSA for a Closed Loop Cruise. The other type of cruise that PVSA regulates is where the ship embarks at one United States port and disembarks at a different US port. PVSA requires that the ship must stop at a "distant foreign port" which is a defined term in the PVSA. US Department of Homeland Security publishes a list of what constitutes a "distant Foreign port" as opposed to a "foreign port." I have two examples: A closed loop cruise leaving from San Diego and stopping in Ensenada, Mexico and returning to San Diego would satisfy the PVSA. A cruise sailing from San Diego and terminating in Fort Lauderdale would need to stop at a distant foreign port. Central American countries do not qualify as distant foreign ports so on a Panama Canal full transit from San Diego to Fort Lauderdale, the ship will usually stop in Cartegena, Columbia as Columbia is a distant foreign port located on the South American Continent. Any ship flagged in the United States is exempt from the PVSA. I hope this explanation helped and wasn't too basic of a response to your question.

I took my first Holland America cruise last year. I was surprised to learn that HAL does not have self-service laundry. You can either do your laundry while in port 😝 or you could either pay by the bag or get a laundry package. On a 35-day cruise, the package worked out very nicely for us. You can send your laundry out on Princess, but it gets very pricey. I've also seen complaints from elite CC members that the complimentary laundry can take days to come back.

I understood that. That was why I qualified the statement and used the word 'usually.' My point was that a crew member should not expect a tip at the beginning of the cruise. I tend to disagree with @Sthrngary about giving a portion of the tip on the first day. Would you tip a waiter or a waitress in a restaurant before they took your order? That said, I will admit that I will give a generous tip to a bartender upfront as that has produced very good results for me in the past.

Last month on Emerald Princess, we had to go from deck to deck to find a free washer. Once we found one, the token machine was out of tokens (this happened about four times in different laundry rooms) when the token machine was out, you had to go all the way to the Passenger Services Desk to purchase tokens. By the time you returned, someone else was using the machine. Lesson learned: pre purchase however many tokens you will need so when you find a free machine, you can use it right away.

The butlers should go above and beyond regardless of any upfront tips. That's their job. They usually get their tips at the end of the cruise anyway.

Would magnets stick to the walls on Insignia or just the ceiling?

That's what I was assuming as well. Cartegena and the ABC islands work but it seemed to me that Aruba is a long way to go for a cruise leaving from NY to Miami. It's like when years ago NCL was cruising the Hawaiian Islands and needed to go to Fanning Island to qualify for the PVSA closed loop sailings.

Last year, we arranged for a cab to pick us up 6 AM at the Holiday Inn at Palm Beach airport just to take us to the airline terminal there. It never showed up. We had an 8AM flight to San Diego and at 6:45, we were able to hitch a ride from a construction worker leaving the hotel. Cabs aren't always reliable either. 💁‍♂️

We have used this: Amazon.com: MAX Houser 6 Tier Shelf Hanging Closet Organizer, Closet Hanging Shelf with 2 Sturdy Hooks for Storage, Foldable (Grey) : Home & Kitchen We attach the hooks to two very strong magnetic hooks stuck to the ceiling. It will fold up and fit inside your luggage.

DW & I will be taking our first "O" cruise later this year. We will be going to Bermuda in a Penthouse on Insignia. I have two questions: First, are the walls and ceiling metal so we can use magnets? (We have a portable shelving unit that suspends from two magnets attached to the ceiling.) Second, does anybody know if the Insignia will be able to (and will) open the casino while docked in Hamilton? I thought I read that Bermuda permits cruise ship casinos to operate during certain hours while staying overnight in port. TIA

DW is always afraid of a last-minute traffic incident which would delay our arrival at the terminal. On our last cruise, the hotel shuttle broke down and they needed to get a replacement shuttle from another hotel in another nearby city. We did get there (eventually....) but DW was so stressed that it ruined the whole embarkation day experience. If this had happened with the last shuttle from the hotel, we might have missed the cruise, so we arrive early and are content to wait around a bit. Happy wife, happy cruise! 😁

Do you know how your cruise was able to embark in New York and disembark in Miami without violating the Passenger Vessel Services Act? Did you stop at a "Distant Foreign Port" designated by the PVSA? Thanks.

Regarding tipping - I always seek out the people I want to tip on the second to last day. My thinking is that they are EXTREMELY busy on disembarkation morning, they can be difficult to locate, and they don't really have the time to hang around waiting for any gratuities that may be coming their way. I know many others do the tipping on the last morning, but I'm one less cabin they need to worry about. It's nice because the crew member has the luxury of spending a little time with you when you give the tip that day. It makes for a nice, relaxed visit. Plus, I'm also extremely busy on disembarkation morning as well.

CORRECTION: I'm not sure that it matters much, but the September sailing was on Breakaway, not Getaway. Sorry if I caused any confusion with bad information. 🥺

@Barney Gallagher -- @rbxlady has a good idea if you are looking to arrive at the port and be on board swiftly. That will minimize the time you would spend in the Haven VIP waiting area in the terminal. Often, when you arrive in the Haven lounge in the terminal, the concierge and/or assistant concierge will greet you and make any dinner or show reservations you would like to have. My preference would be to plan on an extra half hour so I have time to take advantage of this perk prior to boarding the ship. There will almost certainly be a line of other passengers standing in front of the concierge desk upon arrival in the Haven proper. It all depends on your personal preferences.