ilikeanswers

Checked his profile page, last post was 26/8. Lyle got the honour of his last post.

I think the whole issue with cruises is part of the issue of mass tourism in general. Even the article which focuses on pollution states the locals only saw it as a problem when the number of cruise ships visibly increased. With countries like India and China and their growing middle class you have even more people with means wanting to travel overseas so visitor numbers are only going to increase. Unfortunately people's holiday time isn't increasing so you end up with more day trippers than overnighters. At some point there will probably be no choice but to have daily visitor quotas.

I would say the main difference is airports and train stations serve the locals as functional transport. They are not built for tourists, tourism is an incidental benefit. Cruise ports would mainly serve tourists like hotels serve tourists and local authorities rarely pay for hotel builds.

What sad news. His contributions were wonderful. Especially during Covid I loved reading his stories of him and Maxie😔. RIP @GUT2407

That is odd. There should not be a paywall🤔. Maybe I linked it wrong? Second attempt though I suppose it is old news now 😂: Sydney couple stuck on luxury cruise ship as COVID cases reported

Interview with people on board: Sydney couple stuck on luxury cruise ship as COVID cases reported Sounds like they are in good spirits.

I don't know if I am "spoiled" but I do miss expedition cruises being expeditiony😝. Over time they have become more luxurified which obviously means the price goes up accordingly on top of which I don't real care for all those luxury trappings. I love the itineraries but I would be happy with a more simplified ship experience. Unfortunately that is the down side of change when you become the target market minority there will be less products that cater to what you want. And I think that might be the core difference when it comes to CC. Most people on this site are prolific cruises who have experienced many cruises over many years so they have a lot to compare with while the reality is most cruisers only cruise a few times in their whole lives so they don't see the changes the way CC cruisers do and are more accepting of the changes than those who remember how it use to be.

Last month I had a business call me asking why I still haven't cashed their cheque. I was so confused as I didn't even know I was getting this refund and obviously hadn't received this cheque which according to their records had been sent in January😯. I asked if they could just EFT the amount and they said "no we are only allowed to send cheques". Have to admit I didn't think cheques still existed😂.

I do the break up the journey as well though not in a five star hotel😄. It is the only way for me to feel rested when I reach destination. I can't afford business class either but one time I did get an upgrade with Etihad and found I still couldn't sleep in those lie flat beds as the whole environment wasn't really geared to restfulness so I prefer the breaking up of the flight journey anyway.

I have used many website but lately I have been using Google Flights to see all the options but book with the carrier. Only once have I found a third party website to be cheaper. Unfortunately fees of some sort (booking or payment fees) are popping up everywhere even direct with carriers so it is getting harder to avoid but still even with fees I find booking with the airline cheaper. If you have an idea of your dates you can set up alerts to let you know if the price drops.

First cruise was almost all booked out so we went for the balcony as it was the cheapest option left. Anyway it turned out to be a great option since it was a ship that allowed you to keep the balcony door open. Never forget the experience of sleeping with the sound of the sea surging past the ship.

The packaging is just to trick you 😂. You see it even with Woolies and Coles homebrands they always try to make them look like popular brands.

When I visited Monte Carlo I saw mostly workers than rich people. Maybe because we visited in the afternoon so we ended up coinciding with the rush hour home. It is fascinating how much Monaco empties by the evening😂. Just buses and buses of people returning to France, it became a bit of a ghost town after.

It's called the Carriageworks Market in Redfern. I don't go that often but when I do I head straight to the pie man stall. He makes some amazing and unique pies with a rotating list of flavours.

That would make sense but if CC is any indication it would seem most people see room cleaning as pampering and I'm part of a tiny minority so hopefully I am not causing to much hassle. To be fair I don't usually put the Do Not Disturb sign through the whole cruise I just don't want cleaning every day. Though perhaps in future I'll let them clean the day before the end so they don't have the extra 15 minutes on turn around day.

Got some shawarma spiced lamb pies, 14 hr wagyu roast pie and a massaman curry beef pie at the farmers market. The curry pie was lacklustre but the shawarma and wagyu yum😋

Fatu Hiva French Polynesia. One it is fascinating to see a society that lives in extremely isolated conditions and two it is one of the most gorgeous places I have visited. Certainly most spectacular place visited by cruise ship.

I would another side. I don't want to spend my holidays answering every tiny detailed question about my job😬. I don't care if you find my job interesting, I am not your cruise ship entertainment and if I wanted to talk about work I would have stayed home and worked😂.

I'd like to think I'm not that particularly messy that, it would make such a difference on turn around day😳. Though thanks for reminding of another concern. IMO when a cruise finishes all passenger data, should be deleted. With all these increasing data breaches you got to wonder why companies keep your ID data for so long even when you stopped utilising a company a decade ago🙄. But I am wondering if dust is so hazardous why have Do Not Disturb signs at all? Why not tell passengers it is mandatory to have your cabins cleaned due to fire hazard?

I figure I am doing them a favour one less room to clean🤷‍♀️. My mum always refuses to use the Do Not Disturb sign even though she too dislikes daily room cleaning but the way she sees it, it's included in the room price so she wants to use. I have said the Do Not Disturb sign is also included in the room price so why not give that some use🤪.

Emojis can help. Not perfect but sometimes it is a way to separate where you are trying to lighten the mood in your text.

I would actually agree with you on this. I've never liked having my rooms cleaned daily. Unlike you I have put up the Do Not Disturb signs just to stop the cleaning😂. I like to know the space I reserved is just for me and not open to anyone and everyone. I would much prefer it if room cleaning was done by request than on a daily schedule.

I understand they have less shifts but if you half the staff surely it would take longer to do that one shift🤔?

Most people cruising aren't regulars. It may feel like everyone is taking multiple cruises a year when on CC forums but for the average passengers what a CC cruiser does in a year will be the amount of cruises most people will take in their life😂. So they are less likely to notice the cut backs because they won't know how it was before. And maybe they are a little less jaded or critical because they don't have a routine yet, everything would still feel like a new cruise. I don't think any demographic is being phased out but regular cruisers were never the majority demographic, so the companies know what to cut that won't effect the bottom line and unfortunately the regular cruisers are people they can afford to lose.

If there are less cabin stewards doesn't that mean you have to work longer to get all the cabins cleaned in one day? Or do they reach the maximum hours of work and just leave the rest of the cabins not done?