RedIguana

If it is up to $17 all is good. I thought it was at $15 a year ago. Granted I am going from memory and it may have been $17 last year but the Decoy cab was only $15.

Princess had Caymus at $28 per glass this year. Their premier package covered up to $20. Net $8 ($9.60 with grat). I have no problem polishing off 5-6 glasses between 5 pm and midnight. Had enough OBC they still mailed me back a check for over $300. I am assuming with the wines on the premium package being raised to $17 the premium limit is being raised to match that? Guess I find out in a few weeks.

If doing a pre cruise hotel stay you can probably print them at the hotel biz center if available. I like to put a luggage tag inside the suitcase as a backup.

I used miles on 2 flights this year, Orlando to Tri-cities area in SE WA state, one stop, best possible flight available. Then direct non-stop from Vancouver to Orlando, also best possible flight available.

Same. Only Radiance class I am missing is the actual Radiance. Easily my favorite Royal class for a relaxing cruise. Crowds and lines seem much smaller, and small enough the bartenders at the wine bar get to know you. Plus less crowds on shore (at least from off your ship). I'll look for one of the larger RCI ships when traveling with my early 20's daughter, although I think she enjoyed HAL's new Rotterdam over Harmony. Radiance class (and Celebrity's M and S classes) tend to have better itineraries than the larger ships in my opinion as they do more than the basic 7 nighters. But I also miss Sovereign and Majesty......

The first time I saw a "Friends of Bill W" meeting on a ship I was really confused. I knew I did not have any friends on that sailing, why would there be a meeting for me?

"Australia", where even the cute little cruise ships are trying to kill you. 🤪

Nope. You do you. There will be others decked out. If I am on a cruise with my early 20's daughter, I will be in a 3 piece suit every chic/formal/dress your best night, and possibly any specialty restaurant night. She loves to dress, so I accommodate her. I have found the easiest way to determine what to wear is to just ask whichever woman I am traveling with how they want me dressed (I cruise with wife, daughter, and mother...rarely at the same time).

Dear daughter, Your mom and I are going on a cruise. Would you please feed the cats while we are gone? Signed, Your loving father

That is always an option. I am a little too OCD to trust everything gets tagged correctly during the hectic boarding process. I use the plastic holders with the metal loops to hold my tags and also place an unfolded tag in the luggage itself. Just removes one more little thing to do when unloading the car and passengers and I know the room number and ship section are correct on the tag (Florida, drive to a lot of ports). Some of my trips that require flights I have used the hotel service to drop luggage (such as Pan Pacific in Vancouver), where they I believe they require the luggage to be already tagged.

Luminae is a completely different animal from the MDR. The major cuts and reductions were in the MDR. I am seeing 9 entrees every night on the app for a cruise 3 weeks away, if you trust the app this far out. 6 entrees plus the 3 that basically used to be the everyday classics (salmon, sirloin instead of NY strip steak, and grilled or roasted chicken). Prime rib is on night one, no other cuts better than sirloin any other night. 5 night cruise, so no lobster night either. Longer cruises might have better beef options. There is at least the classic chocolate cake offered each night for dessert, several nights Austrian chocaolate cake, and lava cake one night. So it appears they have added a few more choices each night, but may still be scraping Carnival level on quality. I will enjoy my cruise whether the food is typical Celebrity level or has dropped, but if Celebrity goes from the best food at sea for the premium mass market to the worst food at sea for premium mass market/ any market, I will simply drop them from consideration for future cruises unless the price point is low enough to justify a specialty dining package, or I really want that specific itinerary.

Typically the CC lunch is listed as from 12 noon to 1:30. I usually do the 11:30 slot, get on board before noon, grab welcome drink, drop bags, and then visit the muster station on the way to the lunch. If you have CC and a late boarding time, keep checking if you can get earlier, but show up early enough to make the lunch regardless. On a typical sailing where there has not been something weird happen to delay things (coast guard inspection, fog, weather, etc), by 11:30 there usually is no wait to board and check-in times are not adhered to.

Maybe he bought a slightly modified used DeLorean recently. 🤪

Orders can be canceled or modified up to 2 days prior to your sail date Orders that are canceled up to 2 days prior to your sail date will be refunded back to the credit card originally used for purchase. Option to cancel is available during the first 24 hour period after embarkation. Any special requests need to be approved by the onboard Beverage Operations Manager. From https://www.celebritycruises.com/guest-terms/global-purchase-terms-and-conditions/en/

Black sneakers, black topsiders, and black dress shoes for me. On colder climate cruises (alaska, norway, etc) substitute black leather waterproof hiking boots for the topsiders.

In late May there was quite a bit of snow and ice. Actually caught some very light snow flurries on the outside platform near/over the summit. Boring for some, but quite neat for a native Floridian who only sees ice and precipitation in the frozen form in his freezer and drinks. Had enough OBC on that trip Princess mailed me a check back for $300. And I did a pretty good number on their Caymus Cabernet at $8 a glass with the premier package

Sorry if my comment came out wrong. I should have put a smiley emoji at the end to signify it was meant in a lightheaded way.

Us steerage class folks often do not have enough OBC to fully cover some purchases, and often rely on a mix of OBC and credit card, or just the card.

End of May 2023 my wife and I took the train up (Fraser), and then the bus up to Carcross, Caribou Crossing, and a stop at Emerald Lake. Then the bus back down. Lunch at Caribou Crossing was barbecue chicken (I think vegetarian option was available) doughnuts, corn, bread, baked potato, and a few other things. It was quite edible for buffet style excursion food, doughnuts were Canadian style (I think) and fresh fried and still warm. They have sled dogs and the option to get pulled by the dogs on training cars (extra$). They also have rescue puppies you can play with. Pretty neat little museum there also (was included for us, as was lunch). We had a wonderful guide and driver, stopped quite a bit for photo ops. Scenery on the way back was worth it, as a little different view in some areas, and we even saw a bear from the bus. We may have even enjoyed the extended bus trip more than the train, which is unusual for me to compliment a large bus type excursion. You will need a passport if doing this though, as you do cross into Canada. I assume passport cards would also be acceptable, but I would verify this and not rely on my assumption. This was a Princess excursion, but from what I have seen the other cruise lines have the same excursion using the same companies.

The actual time for the refund to appear may also depend more on the issuing bank vs Celebrity. At least that is what I have been lead to believe. My credit union cards tend to be pretty quick, as in days, not weeks.

From what I have seen on these boards everyone but me books suites 😈

The lower tier on Princess is equal to the Premium on Celebrity. The tiers on HAL are more inline with Celebrity, but only a $5 a day difference, and at $60 for the upper tier is way below Celebrity's usual pricing. The AI/Have it all pricing is much more attractive on Princess and HAL, although it is not as inexpensive as it used to be.

From my limited experience on this earth, I have learned that whenever management use the word "team", the lowest member of that "team" just had their workload doubled, with little to no effect on the other members of "the team".

From https://www.celebritycruises.com/guest-terms/global-purchase-terms-and-conditions/en/ . For refundable shore excursions: Shore Excursions can be cancelled or modified up to 48 hours prior to scheduled tour departure for a full refund. Also: For cruises starting 1/1/2024, Shore Excursions can be modified or cancelled up to 48 hours prior to tour port arrival without penalty. Tours involving flights, trains, special events, overnight stays, hotel stays, and Private Journeys must be cancelled 30 days prior to sailing to avoid cancellation penalties. Other restrictions may apply. I pulled this from my Dec 2023 sailing The difference appears to be the 48 hours changes from tour start time to port arrival for that tour

I have never really noticed too much of a smell from outdoor pools, and the only time I would notice it with our home pool growing up was when shocking it. I'm not sure I have ever not noticed at least some smell from indoor pools, whether onboard or at a hotel. I believe most commercial pools are required to maintain a free chlorine residual, which with any quantifiable ammonia component requires adding enough chlorine past the break point that all ammonia is converted to di and tri chloramines before free chlorine is available again. There is just not enough fresh air flow to allow that smell to dissipate.