Orsino
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Cambridge, MA
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We started cruising 20 years ago. But not only was the food better on cruises back then, but my personal food journey was in a very different place too. 20 years ago restaurant dining for me was pizzeria uno’s or a Applebees type place. If we were celebrating something we might go to legal seafood. At home we would have something like spaghetti with jarred sauce. Today we cook more intricate meals and eat at fancier restaurants. So not only have cruise food gone downhill but our everyday expectations have gone up. I remember being blown away by the MDR food on our first cruise. Specialty dining was not something we needed at all. Also back then speciality dining was a modest upcharge. Now specialty dining is the same cost as eating at a land restaurant. I remember thinking that the rise of specialty dining was going to kill MDR food. On some lines (Holland America) the MDR food was so good there was no reason to go to specialty dining. Solution? Make MDR worse. Now we cruise for the cruise. We endure the food and save our money for fine dining on land.
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I’m mostly on a ‘do what you want’ point of view on non-cash tips. There is, after all, the possibility that a non-cash gift has extra value due to rarity or difficulty on obtaining on a cruise ship. However, the notion that a *gift card* is better than cash is easily dismissed. Cash is clearly better than a gift card. The gift card can only be spent at the location it is tied to. Give cash and they can spend it at Jollibee if they want to and more importantly, elsewhere if they don’t.
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Well, I’m just booking my first Viking cruise so this is all very helpful for me.
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Judge dismisses lawsuit brought against RCCL
Orsino replied to jamon's topic in Royal Caribbean International
Uh yeah. Exactly. You know I’m here agreeing with you, right? -
Judge dismisses lawsuit brought against RCCL
Orsino replied to jamon's topic in Royal Caribbean International
'losing parties having to pay winning party's legal fees' would be a change to the entire legal system. Furthermore, I believe one can ask for legal fees in certain circumstances currently. -
Judge dismisses lawsuit brought against RCCL
Orsino replied to jamon's topic in Royal Caribbean International
Well that’s something that would impact the entire legal system. In a world of unintended consequences, I don’t think it is wise to point to one case as proof that the entire legal system should change. -
Judge dismisses lawsuit brought against RCCL
Orsino replied to jamon's topic in Royal Caribbean International
His point is that the design is a question of fact and therefore needs to be decided by a jury. He isn’t making an opinion on what that decision should be, only that the decision should be made by a jury, not the judge. -
I don’t think this is a reasonable price expectation.
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The core of the problem was routing from Rome to Crete via Finland to avoid a hotel night. I look at that and I agree that air2sea is useless in that respect. We often see people on this board talking about booking air2sea for the assurance that RCL will take care of things if things go wrong. Routing so that one spends a day in the airport to save RCL costs is not what I would want for me either. This post is a very good “buyer beware.” I would contact RCL and see if they would refund part of the cost of the airfare, specifically the amount that the Finland flight would have cost. I doubt you would get anywhere, but that would seem “fair” to me.
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What is best depends on what your goals are. My non-expert opinion is that bamboo is for more pressure on the muscles. Hot stone is more relaxation (less pressure, more heat). Salt scrub is to target the skin (exfoliation).
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I was in London for one of these two day strikes. It cancelled my train trip up to Edinburgh, but luckily I was able to switch to another train. The strike for that line was reduced service rather than no service. Still an inconvenience, but at least I was able to get where I needed to go. I think it is kind of smart. Disrupt, but don’t annoy so much that the population turns against the unions. (I felt kind of bad riding the train on a strike day, but I was a tourist with an itinerary set months ago) The US and europe are different in so many ways, strikes happening in different ways should not be surprising.
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New Suite Deposits Effective June 1, 2023
Orsino replied to Ourusualbeach's topic in Royal Caribbean International
Can anyone clarify for me how “non-refundable” is implemented? On the last cruise I was on I was told that of my deposit, if I cancelled before final payment I would lose 100 and the rest would become FCC. Is that no longer the case? Or has that not been the case and I misunderstood? -
I did a little sleuthing and I *think* you are on Southern Railways. the Southern Railways website posts the following: ” Regrettably, due to strike action by ASLEF, the train drivers union, there will be NO Southern, Gatwick Express, Thameslink or Great Northern services running on : Friday 12 May Wednesday 31 May Saturday 3 June ” unfortunately it looks like your train is cancelled.
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I’m not a UK train expert, but I am an American with UK train tickets on 12 May. From what I have read, most train lines have cancelled completely, with a few train lines running reduced service. Our train was cancelled, but we were able to switch to a train that is still scheduled to run (I stalked their website). In the USA all passenger trains are Amtrak. In the UK there are several different train companies so you have to look up your specific one. I don’t know enough to know what line you are on. You are most certainly not on the same line as me ( I’m going north of london). so search the train company website and ignore “national rail”.