ilikeanswers

11 hours ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

Because heaven forbid some other 15 year old girl reads about it and figures out that she DOESN'T want her life to be changed in a horrible way and adjusts her behavior accordingly.

I'm more worried about the message young men will get from this thread. That how a girl behaves dictates how she should be treated. That unless she was dragged kicking and screaming (thank you Hollywood stereotypes) the crime against her wasn't that serious because she basically aided and abetted the crime. That if their friends did something like this they're actions weren't bad because the victim was responsible by being drunk.

If you think these are not the messages young men are picking up you are just as much not living in the real world. I have volunteered with a high school program that tries to encourage respect for women and because they spend time online reading Facebook and Reddit comments insisting a woman gives up her right to safety if she is drunk I have to be the one to explain why drunkenness is no excuse for rape and that consent can only be achieved if a woman has clearly articulated with a sound mind what she wants.

Insisting that girls have to modify their behaviour only reinforces for boys the things they read online and gives them warped views about culpability in rape. Putting the onus on people to not become victims isn't going to disincentivize someone who wants to commit a criminal act if anything it probably makes it more attractive knowing that society will care more about the actions of the victim than their own.

When I go into my account and look at my activity streams and go into any of the content options I find the information stops at one year ago. I know that I have posted and started threads over a year ago but they no longer appear in my activity streams. Before I could see them and now I can not even when I change the date option to any time. Is there any way now to be able to see my activity from over a year ago?

1 hour ago, Cruzaholic41 said:

 

Totally disagree. I’d be happy to observe a moment of silence for tragedies that occurred in other countries. I’m a native Cuban and I will never forget what happened 18 years ago in the USA. 

 

Besides, several hundred foreigners died in 9/11. It effected the entire world. 

It is a nice sentiment but if we had to hold a moment of silence for every tragedy that had happened in the world we would never speak again😳. (though I suspect some people would enjoy a silent cruise 🤣). Realistically a cruise line has to pick which tragic events to commerate and they will go for the one that matters most to their customer base. 

7 hours ago, calliopecruiser said:

It's probably the only pool I do go in, because I like to bob around in the movement of the water - a regular pool on  land doesn't have that 🙂

 

The first cruise I did the rocking of the ship made the pool water slosh from side to side in huge waves and people loved it 🤗. It was amusing seeing them being dragged from one end of the pool to the other. It was definitely a ship pool only experience. 

36 minutes ago, calliopecruiser said:

Sure, he might not have lost his money if he hadn't been drunk and taken instead taken a taxi back........but then again, he might have still been pick-pocketed; lots of people are.   And he might have  been drunk and yet not lost his money; lots of people are.

 

Too many possibilities, and no causal link between anything the victim did and what happened to her. 

Exactly, getting drunk doesn't equal getting raped. Lots of people get drunk and don't get raped. The only variable is a person making a conscious decision to commit a crime. 

There is an insane assumption that if we all behaved "appropriately" crime would just disappear. As if criminals wouldn't find another way to commit a crime. This is why the focus on the victim's behaviour is so inappropriate as it takes away the responsibility for the crime from the criminal onto the victim and that results in lenient sentencing. Any time you give a criminal a "but the victim..." you lessen the severity of the crime and send the message that the victim's behaviour outweighs in importance to the perpetrators. And after four pages of arguing over the victims behaviour that message has well and truly set in. 

If you want to send the message crime is inexcusable how about using some of the biting social commentary on the perpetrators instead of the victim for a change? Because rape is still widely considered not to be a serious crime and the constant victim blaming by the media and the public only solidifies that assumption. It does not make society a safer place if anything it emboldens people to commit crimes. 

I would assume only cruises who depart from the United States would mark the day. I would be surprised if any non United States cruises acknowledged the day, unless someone has experience to the contrary to report?

This happens with every article to do with rape. The overwhelming focus is always what the victim did wrong and the perpetrators are mentioned as doing wrong but the victim was or behaved in a way that didn't make them a perfect victim. There always seems to be an excuse for rape and then people are surprised when a rapist gets a lenient sentence after society has spent the whole time criticising the victim. Any young man reading this thread would get the impression that the victim's behaviour is far more important the perpetrators.

The fact that the media and by extension the public stigmatises the victim more than the perpetrators is a huge part of the problem as to why rape and sexual assault are not seen as serious crimes amongst young men. A survey done in American universities found 65% of males whose friends admitted to assault didn't feel the need to condemn their friends behaviour and an overwhelming 88% who witnessed their friends assaulting women or where told that there friends were planning on assaulting a woman didn't think it was worth risking their friendship to report these crimes. 

How many parents sit down with their sons and discuss what they would do if their friends suggested getting a girl drunk at a party. Would they have the self esteem to say no and stop them from their actions or would their fear of social ostracism make them go along with or ignore their friends actions completely, even defend them if the victim does come forward?

We spend so much time focused on why the victim was vulnerable we never talk about why perpetrators become criminals in the first place we never think about the messages boys are receiving that make them not think twice about sexually assaulting someone. If we want a chance at a safer society we need refocus on the perpetrators and stigmatise them more so the crimes themselves will be viewed with the seriousness and gravity that they deserve.

Everything is pretty much shut in Sydney during Christmas time. The odd kebab shop, MacDonald's and some Chinatown restaurants will probably be the only food outlets opened that you don't have to book in advanced. Otherwise I would start Googling Christmas Lunch or Dinner Sydney and see what packages come up. Though be warned they will be expensive. 

2 hours ago, clo said:

I've never heard of an "international credit card."  Even 30 years ago when my husband was traveling internationally regularly on business he just had his regular card.  Would that have been different in Australia back then?  Asking sincerely.

I don't know if this is what Mic was referring to but for me an international credit card is one that has no fees for foreign purchases and the exchange rate is nearly equal to market. 

Isn't it a bit silly to be arguing with sparks1093's about their life experiences? It is their lived experiences and they would probably be the experts of their own life. I personally think that entitles them to reflect on it how they wish. 

3 minutes ago, clo said:

Has the OP returned to comment?

No but they have reacted to some of the posts. I guess they are happy with the answers provided👍. 

A question to the people who have cruise loyalty programs are your freebies and perks personalised to what you want? Or is there just a standard set every cruise? 

7 hours ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

Small sample size?  Miniscule, compared to the universe of cruisers.  And heavily skewed by the natural self selection of people who come on cc.  Certainly nothing to warrant even the most tentative conclusion.  And the fatal weakness of hypotheticals is that people's answers give very little guide to what they ACTUALLY would do IF faced with the hypothesized situation.  

I did say hypotheticals are a thinking tool rather than a strategising tool though with something so trivial the answers probably do reflect reality😋. At the end of the day loyalty programs aren't exactly life or death. It is all just a bit of fun 😁. Though you are right there is probably a bias in CC members compared to the average cruising public.

I did watch an interview with man who worked as a market research analyst for a cruise line company and he said that most valuable thing about loyalty programs is the data you can collect on consumer behaviour. I guess it is just the reality of the world we live in. Nothing is really free and those perks have to be paid for somehow. 

35 minutes ago, clo said:

He said it's about 75% booked.

Well I am pleasantly surprised😮. It may not be an exact number but that fact you can got a percentage at all is more than I ever got. I guess it was wrong when I was told you can't get any stats on how many people booked a cruise👍. Thank you clo🤗.

15 hours ago, Brisbane41 said:

I think it is time these anti-vaccination groups on social media are categorised the same as these extremist terrorist groups or extreme political movements. This is not free speech. It is a targeted attack on established scientific fact. Thanks to social media now these loonie extremists have a platform to present their warped and twisted views and other gullible people believe them and as a result vaccination rates drop and diseases and illnesses on the brink of eradication find their way back. In my opinion all anti-vaccination movements should be banned from all forms of communication with the public and other people. There is no scientific, logic or any sensible fact to it.

 

The Royal Australian Navy saw to it that I was vaccinated against almost anything and everything that my childhood vaccinations did not give me. I am safely vaccinated. I feel comfortable when I travel by sea and air that I am not going to pick up anything nasty.

 

Apparently more people are dying per year of measles than from terrorist attacks yet this "elephant in the room" does not attract and attention from lawmakers to outlaw these anti-vaccination movements.

I heard a doctor say that anti vaxers only exist because they have not lived through the epidemics of the past and seen the consequences of the diseases. Perhaps an interesting idea would be drop them into some third world communities where vaccines aren't common so they can experience a world pre vaccine and see if they still think it is a good idea🤔.

I don't know if this is true but I was once told that the number of people who book on cruise ships and on airplanes are considered industry secrets. That to reveal those numbers to the public before date of departure would be a competitive disadvantage to those companies and if someone was revealed to be leaking that information they could be up for corporate espionage😳. 

It does sound over the top but then again the corporate world is hypersensitive so I wouldn't put it past them either😜. 

Some cities provide free city WiFi so you don't even have to find an eatery or cafe, though in my experience they tend to be a slower option. If you are worried about being hacked you can use a VPN but you may find some WiFi networks won't work with a VPN. Also if you plan on using VoIP services like WhatsApp some WiFi networks have put bans on those services so you may not be able to send messages or place a call with those sort of apps. Sometimes a little WiFi shopping may be required😜 but luckily in Europe you will have plenty of options. 

I like expedition cruising so by default they don't tend to have many amenities or extra facilities, though are often the only ship in port so they do end up being the biggest 😋. 

Am I proud to be on those ships? Yes because they are not cheap and I have to save and budget cutting out other tempting luxuries like a discounted cruise around the Pacific to get the money for the fare. So yeah I am pretty proud to have been disciplined enough to be able to enjoy something that is for me a once in a lifetime event🤗. 

6 hours ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

I've never understood questions that boil down to 'how would you react if something that is never going to happen, happens.'

Hypotheticals can be a good way to find out how much importance people place on something by presenting a situation in which said thing didn't exist. Hypotheticals are considered an extremely useful thinking tool to help you tackle issues and subjects in different ways. 

From this thread (though it is a small sample size) it would seem the cruise line gains from loyalty programs must be the data they collect vs the repeat customer as no one seems to saying that loyalty programs play a major role in deciding which cruise to take. 

3 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

The colouring didn’t make any difference to the taste, I hope they keep the short rib and caramelised onion flavour pie when the promo is over. 

The flavour sounds like a winner. Perhaps when the promo is over they'll keep the pie but ditch the look. 

28 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

Not, bad, but the blue from the rocket and yellow of the top stains the old fingers

I love a pie but spraying gold dust is a bit much. I think someone in the pie shop has Masterchef ambitions😜. 

58 minutes ago, HWH said:

Yes!! I'd go to Asia and Australia/New Zealand. Living on the east coast of the USA, I've got no problem with an 8-hour flight to Europe, but I'm not ashamed to admit that the thought of a super-long-haul flight makes me uncomfortable, not to mention the fact that, since I'm still working, it's hard to take a vacation long enough to justify spending 3 or 4 days of it in transit.

 I am with you on the time limits. It is the long transit that will probably not see me return to the Caribbean or Scandinavia till much later in life. When you have such limited vacation days everyday really counts at I would rather spend it at a destination then getting to it. 

I think you misunderstood. When I say it didn't make it through the Spam filters I mean your email security is stopping  you from receiving the emails at sll. So even if they send you never receive. I had this problem with an email account despite being told an email was sent it never turned up in my account. Not even in the spam folder so I asked them to send it to a different email, and it arrived in my Inbox. 

31 minutes ago, chipmaster said:

1/2 as long but 3x the price, who would do it, that was what doomed the concord also.

 

Price depends on volume but when you move to faster than speed of sound efficiency and fuel burn go crazy, so even in the booming middle class the number of people that would pay premium first class to travel econ style is limited.  Limited market means low probability, it would be like asking how mainstream can suite only cruise ship be?

To be fair there has been a lot of changes to the technology since concord but the question is more about how much of a factor is length of a flght in determning where you travel. I have had converstions with people who say the length of a flight is a factor that prevents them from visiting or returning to certain destinations and I know for myself the length of a flight can be a determining factor. If the price wasn't an issue I would seriously consider a faster option especially for certain destinations that are so far away.

There has been some chatter that supersonic jets may make a comeback so flights that might take 16hrs could end up being 3hrs. I was thinking if that were the case and the prices were reasonable it would change a lot of how I travel. Europe would be a lot closer and the Caribbean which at the moment for me is like a 30hr flight if you included all the time needed to change planes would be much more achievable.

Would you change your regular cruising route if you could have shorter flights?