dwc13

Ugh. Sorry to hear things haven't gone the way you had anticipated/hoped on your cruise. Hopefully things will be much better the rest of your trip. BTW, are you sure you would even want free HAL internet? I mean, haven't you been 'punished' enough already with the port cancellations? 😁

HAL has food available onboard, but there are times I'm craving something and Lido is closed or that isn't even available on the ship. Double stuff golden Oreos. Cheetos. Pop Tarts. Cashews. Pistachio nuts. Sesame sticks. Even a Clif Bar. Dang, I'm getting hungry now.

I have yet to pay more than $600 while shopping at Walmart, so from a financial standpoint being on a cruise ship is often much worse. 😜

I hope you are well and have completely recovered from your Covid experience. We missed out on Milford Sound aboard Maasdam in 2019. After departing Eden, a passenger had a medical emergency during the night and the ship turned around and returned to Eden. Glad you were able to enjoy that stop -- and had great weather that day. Any plans for Tauranga? We hired a tour company who took us to/from Hobbiton. Very cool movie set -- and I'm not really a big fan of Lord of the Rings. Had some great fish & chips in town, too. Earlier that year, we had taken a road trip to several US national parks, including Yellowstone and saw countless thermal features while there. So we decided to pass on Rotorua. Very nice blog you have. Stay healthy and enjoy the rest of your cruise.

Hard to say if the end of the Diamond line will be inside or outside the cruise terminal. The number of Diamond passengers waiting to go through the boarding process at a given time is an unknown, so YMMV. Also note there were no posted signs directing passengers to the Diamond line. That being said, look at the Picture #1 in Post #10 above. Once we finally got back to that point, we found a MSC rep who was able to point us to where Diamond passengers should go (through a different door straight to security, which is inside the side entrance of that terminal). That helpful individual was standing close to the doors we ended up walking through to reach security so he was somewhat difficult to see. If you're Diamond, make sure you're in the correct security line so you don't get routed back to the regular one. My advice is to find the Yacht Club tent near the cruise terminal entrance and ask an MSC rep where the Diamond Line is for that boarding. If they claim ignorance or tell you there isn't a Diamond line, keep asking other MSC reps until you find one that can lead you/point you in the right direction.

@angela12345 Interblock has a request information form at the bottom of the webpage linked below. If you're interested, contact the company and ask whether their electronic craps games are available on cruise ships you're looking at booking. Automated Electronic Craps | Interblock Luxury Gaming (interblockgaming.com)

That small craps table is about 9'-10' at its widest part. Space-wise, it would probably be okay with 10 players, perhaps up to 12 even though there is chip rack space for up to 14 as you noted. If the table was packed, it would be interesting to watch the lone dealer try and keep track of bets tossed in after a roll. So there might be a lower limit to the number of players. Fortunately, there weren't more than 4 players during any session I played. Throwing the dice was different because of the angled end walls. The most common craps tables I have played at in land-based casinos have bonus bet spots for 14 (12' table) or 16 (14' table) players, with half on each side. Craps tables without bonus bets requiring individual spots (i.e., Fire, Hot Shooter, Repeater) can fit in more players as long as chip rack space is available.

ESPN/ESPN2 televised the 2021 ACL World Championships during the pandemic. For a while, it was one of the few live 'sports' being played. Even Dodgeball only made "The Ocho" (ESPN8).

Agree with your assessment. That is exactly what CCL is trying to accomplish in the short term, along with refinancing debt obligations coming due soon. The time-tested way to increase ticket sales is to lower the price to those who have previously cruised with CCL. If CCL ships don't sail at capacity, the company loses revenue from cabin fees. Perhaps more importantly, though, it misses out on potential on-ship revenue associated with every 'shortfall' passenger (specialty dining, ship marketed excursions, beverage packages, internet packages, casino revenue, spa revenue, etc.). We'll see what happens in Summer 2023.

I have no connection to Casino Royale or RC, which is why I indicated it is possible RC does things differently in an earlier post. Let's just say I'm familiar with the gaming industry and aside from that I've been comped a few times over the years. 😉

Only a limited number and type of rooms are blocked for the casino for a specific ship/cruise. Not every room and perhaps not every room type. Once the casino allotment is fully booked for a room type (or if the room type wasn't part of the casino block), any comped request for that room type the casino is willing to support (for the particular cruise) is a one-off and goes through hotel operations to see if the desired room type is available -- same as would happen with a non-casino booking request for that room type. If the casino supports the booking outside of its allotment and the room type is still available to the general public when you try and book it, you get the room. The point is casino operations is still on the hook to hotel operations for its block of rooms for the cruise, even if those rooms are not completely sold out. A 'one-off' outside the casino operations block of rooms doesn't change this arrangement, but it does increase the amount of casino marketing funds that will be transferred to hotel operations revenue.

You can get extra cheese on a Big Mac? Damn, I've been missing out all these years, lol.

It's a charity event featuring celebrities playing pickleball and hosted by Colbert.

There were very few wearing masks during our cruise on Zaandam last month. At the end of the day, each individual has to take primary responsibility of his/her health. Do the best you can with what you have at your disposal, including information, and take appropriate action as warranted. It sounds like you have been doing just that on your cruise(s). Unfortunately, even that might not be good enough at some point. As I mentioned in a previous post, sometimes it's the luck of the draw. That person sitting next to you in MDR might be asymptomatic and you probably wouldn't have any way of knowing that was the case. Stay healthy and enjoy your cruise.

OP, sorry to hear about you and your husband. Hope both of your recover quickly and completely. We were on Zaandam last month for 10 days. I spent much of the time outside, doing laps on deck 3, playing pickleball/shuffleboard/basketball, and staying outside watching the world slowly pass by when I wasn't hanging out in the room. Thankfully, there were hardly any people on the deck with the sports courts, so plenty of room for the players. For me, being outside in the constantly circulating fresh air and sunshine was the best preventative measure. If I was roaming the corridors or at the casino, I always wore a mask. I didn't attend any shows or use the gym/pools/hot tubs. Thoroughly washed my hands too many times to count and always before eating. Zaandam has convenient hand washing stations in Lido and other locations. On port days, my wife and I made our own plans so we wouldn't be stuck in a crowded tour bus. Part of not contracting Covid (or the flu/other virus) is simply the luck of the draw. You can't always tell if the person seated next to/near you is ill and possibly contagious. It's not always possible -- or desirable -- to completely avoid others, especially when eating at Lido. Being fully vaxxed increases the likelihood symptoms won't be as severe if Covid is contracted, but it doesn't provide immunity nor does it prevent transmission. Absent continuous daily testing of everyone on the ship, I doubt anybody can say with a high degree of certainty how many actual Covid cases there are on a ship at a given time. Such daily testing isn't happening, so there are big gaps in the data. Some people are asymptomatic and thus don't test. Others might have symptoms but decline to test, disclose or seek medical assistance unless their situation is dire. Adding to the uncertainty, many Covid symptoms are also very common for many other non-Covid illnesses. At best the on-board medical staff could say they are aware of X cases of Covid as of a certain date/time -- if they decided to take that approach.

It's possible Royal Caribbean handles things differently, but I would be surprised. It's been my experience and understanding typically casino operations has a block of rooms reserved for which it is on the hook. By doing this, casino operations can ensure at least some high(er) level players will have a room available even if all other rooms are sold out. It's also how the casino host can make adjustments to the rate of rooms under its 'control', if warranted, as well as make offers on future cruises, without repeatedly engaging hotel operations (because doing so only impacts casino operations P&L, not hotel operations P&L). Yes, you are quoted and will pay prevailing rates (minus your comp, if applicable), whatever that is at the time the comped room is booked. The hotel isn't going to cut the casino a deal on a room it could have booked itself at prevailing rates had it not been blocked for casino use; completely fair, given the casino doesn't share its gaming revenue with hotel operations, other than (perhaps) leasing floor space. The comp is an accounting adjustment from casino marketing funds to hotel operations revenue. That amount, plus what you paid equals the prevailing room rate at the time of the booking.

You mean you don't like giving RC a free loan for several months while incurring an opportunity cost for that money at the same time? The Casino Marketing Department thanks you for your play and looks forward to seeing you again soon, lol. You probably already know this since you have been receiving cruise ship casino offers. An on-ship casino typically operates as a separately entity within the company. The casino is on the hook for a block of rooms whether or not the cabin is booked for a given cruise. Thus, it wants to maximize the number of cabins booked by gamblers and ideally optimize the mix with a higher percentage of big gamblers/on-board spenders. Once full payment is received, the likelihood of the passenger actually going through with the cruise increases significantly. Earlier receipt of final payment makes other bookings easier for casino operations, since it should have a very accurate room inventory at any given time. Knowing available room inventory also allows the casino to hold a room for a whale, something it won't do for a run-of-the-mill gambler.

Isn't $2B allegedly missing from FTX? Oops, too soon? 😜

Changing business environments affect companies lacking the resources and/or acumen to adapt. Happens in every industry, especially those that require ongoing capital investments in technology/R&D and/or processes. Fringe players with small market share are typically the first to exit, but even large companies can suffer the same fate -- Kokak being the poster child. The rapid development and exponential adoption of digital technology in photography wiped out Kodak in relatively short order. Sony, Canon, and Fujifilm are much larger and more diversified relative to Nikon. Sony makes CMOS sensors used in smartphones and tablets; it currently has the largest market share, ahead of Samsung. Who can forget their first Walkman or PlayStation? Earlier this year we bought a Sony 4K TV. In the past, ES audio equipment, headphones, boom box. I have owned Canon cameras, printers and scanners and used high speed copiers from the company. From Fuji, various medical equipment has been used in hospitals and, of course, film. If I had to speculate, I would say Nikon is the most vulnerable of the big 4. My wife has an early model Nikon DSLR and a few digital lenses, but that's it from the company. I just don't see where Nikon has the financial resources needed to successfully compete in the long run. Hope I'm wrong. Perhaps it can be like Nintendo, a company that very successfully competes against much larger Microsoft and Sony. But first Nikon will need to find its Mario and Zelda. But if I was a betting man, I wouldn't be too surprised if a third-party lens manufacturer exits the consumer market. Smartphones are ubiquitous and their camera technology continues to improve. It's only a matter of time before bigger/more capable sensors and lenses are in smartphones. DSLRs and mirrorless cameras and their lenses will never be able to compete on size or convenience. That's part of the reason Zeiss and Leica have collaborated with and licensed technology to smartphone manufacturers. The value of an IP portfolio is often worth more in the hands of a company that knows how to license the technology rather than solely sticking to manufacturing its own products. So, what are the likes of Samyang, Tamron, Sigma and others similarly situated going to do?

I played pickleball for the first time last month aboard Zaandam. Met some good people while playing.

I enjoyed our recent cruise aboard Zaandam more than one we took in 2019 aboard Maasdam. Have a great time on your cruise.

During an October 2022 cruise aboard MSC Seashore, no reservations required for the water slide. A signed waiver is required (parents sign on behalf of children). You'll be given a wristband after signing the waiver. No additional cost. There was no line mid-afternoon when the ship was docked at Ocean Cay. Save yourself a trip and locate the towel exchange window (on Seashore deck 18 if memory serves) and get a fresh towel before returning to the room.

I don't closely follow CCL or the cruise industry, so grain of salt here. Perhaps big grains, lol. Clearly something has to give, as the parent company's cost structure has increased in recent years, driven in large part by financing of bigger ships. No doubt the powers that be at CCL have demographics and research/data/projections about price elasticities of its customer base and have run various scenarios through financial models. Alas, the accuracy of underlying assumptions and projections used to support model inputs can only be determined at a later date and sometimes they're way off. Part of the challenge of introducing new services/concepts is often that requires down time (drydock) to implement. Installing wired and/or Wi-Fi connections, TVs and media servers to allow for in room video-on-demand/PPV is one such an example. Perhaps CCL can offer annual fee-paying customers the exclusive opportunity to book a specific room on a ship during the 1st few days after the cruise is announced. Might come in handy on ships/cruises that are extremely popular. Have a tier-based fee structure, for example $100 gets 2 opportunities, $200 gets 5 opportunities, etc. Once they're used, they're gone if the customer ends up canceling. Unused opportunities would expire after the end of the year. Just a thought. At this point the biggest challenge facing CCL right now is getting their regular customers back to pre-pandemic levels of cruising with the company. At a minimum, that requires having all of their ships fully staffed and back to sailing popular and familiar itineraries. Per the 2021 Annual Report, that was expected to happen in 2023, as long as there were no additional setbacks from things beyond CCL's control. The company was operating at 67% capacity in early January 2022. I don't know where CCL stands in that regard as of today, but it is probably higher. Updated information should be in the 2022 Annual Report when it becomes available 1Q23.

I still have occasional flashbacks from multiple discussions I had over the years with internal groups about cost allocations and their underlying assumptions & projections. I wanted to understand why our cost structure on certain products was (apparently) higher than the competition's. They were at a price point our standard product cost models weren't able to support. Long story short, things could look materially different by changing some of the underlying assumptions & projections and hence their corresponding allocated costs. The pandemic has certainly turned things upside down and then some. As things continue to rebound throughout the world and return more in line with recent pre-pandemic levels/trends, hopefully this will allow for more 'familiar' assumptions & projections to be used when allocating costs. CCL is saddled with large amounts of debt, so it needs to continuously find ways to raise revenues and cut/control costs to help ensure cash flow is sufficient to cover ongoing debt service obligations in a timely manner. Debt service expense skyrocketed during the pandemic years while revenues (understandably) dropped dramatically. Tough combination. If the company defaults on a debt obligation, its shareholders (including C-Suiters who might have large stock holdings/option grants) could face the prospect of being wiped out. CCL can only cut costs so far, so implementing new/higher charges is not entirely unexpected. Whether these new charges/cost reductions are successful for CCL (overall, not HAL specifically) and are kept in place over the long term remains to be seen.

In fairness, not everyone is able to relocate to another area even if financial means are not the primary obstacle. Remote working isn't an option for everyone. First responders, most health care workers, bus drivers, garbage collectors, etc., are among many who don't have that option. A person who has been with an employer for years and is relatively close to qualifying for a pension -- perhaps a school district or state/county/city government employee -- isn't likely to switch jobs and move at that point absent unusual circumstances. A licensed professional such as a doctor, attorney, plumber/electrician would have to qualify in order to practice in another state; if they have their own established practice, starting over on their own in another state would be a major undertaking. Perhaps there are elderly parents who need some assistance in the area. Many on CC are probably familiar with that scenario to some degree. On the other end of the spectrum, how about having 2 kids currently in high school with aspirations of attending the University of Florida? UF is among the top public universities in the country. And don't forget about the state income tax advantage Florida offers its residents. If you live in Florida, the threat from hurricane damage is very real, even if the probability of sustaining major loss is quite low. It's a part of life and you accept it and go about your business. Basically, you're hoping when a hurricane hits the state it loses strength fast and moves away quickly and/or lands elsewhere, far enough away from your area so that any damage/losses sustained are relatively minimal. Nobody wishes their neighbors ill-will when it comes to hurricane damage; rather, people are relieved and count their blessings when they are largely spared (Tampa-St. Petersburg). Unfortunately, sometimes that means others in the Sunshine State are not as lucky and bore the brunt (Fort Myers).