ParrotRob

1 hour ago, coevan said:

 

 

How is stealing pens saving money?

Steal 50,000 pens, sell for ten cents each on eBay, Bingo, free cruise!

6 hours ago, RandomUser123 said:

I agree with getting rid of canned sodas and going to a fountain system. That would save them a lot of money right there. 

No, it definitely would not.  If it would, they'd already be doing it.

15 hours ago, GradUT said:

I agree with this 100%.  Thousands of people sail closed-loop itineraries every week with a BC and photo ID with absolutely NO problem.   

 

(And FWIW, my spouse was in charge of the Passport Section of an American Consulate for 2 years in a city visited by multiple cruise lines.   Not once did he have to process an emergency passport for someone on a cruise ship who had to return to the US.  It just doesn’t happen very often at all.)  

Nothing ever happens.  Until it does.

16 hours ago, shadowmeboy said:

 

Did you see the video I included from the Seattle one in my first post?

Just watched it, thanks, fun!

5 hours ago, fastpitchdad said:

 

What tent cities in Seattle would you drive through going from SeaTac to Redmond or Bellevue? You would go 405 to Bellevue or 405 to 520 to Redmond and not go anywhere near Seattle. And there aren't any non-Seattle tent cities on that route either. Where I live we do sometimes support sanctioned and managed tent cities on Chruch property but you would never see those on that route either.

If you take I-5 directly to 520, right along I-5.  I guess they're hard to see when your head is in the sand.

1 hour ago, daisymay1960 said:

 Fountain drinks are  much cheaper to produce , they just use large containers of syrup and water  after all. There is a huge mark up in the finished product and thats not counting the extra packaging  costs  and cost of storing all the  cans

Yet they're still not using a fountain system.  Do you think that just maybe, it just MIGHT be possible that a corporation that runs dozens of massive ships serving millions of sodas a year just MIGHT know a little more about how to do it cost-effectively than you do?

6 hours ago, Fairfield Nana said:

Ditto, also thinking of renting for 5-6 hours as it looks like an easy pickup/drop off and the route looks even easier--not possible to get lost. Still checking for points of interest to drive and look around without driving too far. Maybe some folks on this links can tip us to some nice target spots to drive to? Definitely plan to take up on the tip to visit the Gov's Mansion and the State Museum! Also plan to take the 2.5  hour Juneau Bon Apetit Food Tour  around lunch time, to sample a half dozen of the local food & drink establishments.

It's really not possible to drive too far.  The roads run out after a short drive.  I think you can maybe get about 30 miles north of town on the Glacier Highway and about 5 miles south on the Thane Road.

1 hour ago, coevan said:

I could be corrected, need the Chief to jump in, but I believe the engines are electric. The fuel is for the generators.

The MOTORS (they're not engines) in the azipods are electric.  The engines indeed run on fuel and generate the electric power used by the motors, along with the HVAC and all other electrical systems in the ship.  It's the same sort of diesel-electric system used on modern trains for many years now.  The engines are no longer attached by shaft to the propellers but are now just power plants.

3 minutes ago, Gma&Gpa said:

I know the email address uses two letters at the beginning, but not sure if it's PR or PD or something else.   Can someone clarify for me please?

Thank you

 

 

Pride's ship code is PR.

4 hours ago, shadowmeboy said:

 

Did you see the video I included from the Seattle one in my first post?

No the video doesn't play out right on this tablet, but I'll check it out on a laptop in a bit!

2 hours ago, Sauer-kraut said:

Yikes! $25 for a cheap lunchbox? 

How can you tell it's "cheap" from the web page?  I got a "cheap" soft-sided six pack cooler on a cruise in 2005 that I'm still taking my lunch to work in 14 years later.

59 minutes ago, jcearth said:

For bartenders, I would eliminate the cans of soda and go to a fountain system.

I find it extremely difficult to believe that as big as Carnival is, and as much soda as they sell and pour, that if a fountain system were cheaper they would not already be using it.

15 minutes ago, bury me at sea said:

 

It seems it is always profit now but thank goodness the Morgans, Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, Fords, Carnegies, etc. could see a larger picture, and still manage to generate mass profits.

That's called philanthropy.  Common in the mega-rich.  I don't think you can put Carnival's shareholders, even the major ones, in the same boat with Morgans, Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, Fords or Carnegies.  Pun entirely intended.

1 hour ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

 

 

This is why I said I'm not encouraging anyone to break any rules or laws. I was referring more to the treatment some people on here are dishing out to anyone who might do it. Attacking a person's character, accusing them of being bad role models to their children, saying they could be the cause of "decimation of a crop." If some cereal in a baggie is against the law, so be it, but this isn't the crime of the century.

 

No, it's not, but at the same time I see the counterpoint too... it's not just about cereal, it's indicative of a larger disregard for policy in general - which seems to be a recurring theme.

3 minutes ago, bury me at sea said:

 

I fully comprehend that.

It doesn't seem like it sometimes when I hear people say "XXX company should cut it's dividends or executive salaries to benefit ME!" - as if we're in business to make money for you.  Yes, there is such a thing as taking too much profit, thus weakening the product and reducing profit, but the art of business is finding the equilibrium that maximizes profit.  It would be nice if you could simultaneously maximize profit AND guest experience, but if you can only maximize one, it will always be profit in a public, for-profit business.

2 hours ago, bury me at sea said:

I would stop cutting crew and services and instead cut shareholder returns.

 

 

Well, seeing as how it's we, the shareholders, that make those decisions...

Some people seem to have a hard time comprehending that businesses exist to make money for the owners...

19 minutes ago, CRocks said:

 

I think you're still mistaken about the safe operation. Whatever card you use to lock it, is the only card that will unlock it. As it should be. Once open, you can use another card to lock it + it then becomes the only card which will unlock it. Most newer ships have gone to a 4 digit code. Whatever code you use to lock it, is the only code that will unlock it. Once unlocked, any other 4 digit code can be used to repeat the process.

What he said.  And it has to be the exact same PHYSICAL card.  A "duplicate" will not work, even if your wife's cabin key "is the same" or her Chase Visa card "is the same account".  Every card is unique.

5 hours ago, chuckles60 said:

Looking to rent a car and do some exploring myself instead of cruise excursion ...where can i rent on and what is the must see while there

Avis.  It's a very short walk from the pier.  The Avis site will tell you it's in the Westmark Hotel, but it's moved a half a block east to Spring Street, and is about a half mile from the cruise ships.

I paid $200 for a full day in an SUV (Toyota RAV 4).  The road to Carcross/Emerald Lake/Whitehorse is paved the entire way.  The road to Dyea is paved part way, and gravel part way.  The only potential hazard really is on the gravel part of the Dyea road if you follow too closely to the LARGE tour buses, as they tend to kick up a little gravel.  For this reason, the Avis office will check your windshield when you get back and allegedly will bill you if it's cracked.  I would check it very carefully for cracks or stars.  They do a much more thorough check of the car in remote areas like this than they do in the large airport rental operations in big cities where anything goes.

And like the previous poster said,  we did see black bears right on the side of the road near Fraser, British Columbia.

1 hour ago, shadowmeboy said:

In Skagway, the National Park has the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park. This park helps explain the Gold Rush, choices the miners had getting to the Gold Fields, and the history of the area. Over 20 buildings in Skagway are a part of the park. Make sure to check it out if you are in Skagway. 

 

 

I second that.  In addition to Skagway, make sure you check out the visitor's center in Seattle (in Pioneer Square).  The museum there is fantastic!

19 hours ago, Peckishpixie said:

So you think you, who visit here, no more than all the people who actually live here Rob? More than the hundreds of people who work in homeless services? More than the Seattle police force? I cant believe you just keep coming back to this. Our crime rate is much lower than other cities our size. Seattle is safe for tourists. Please feel free not to visit our lovely city. You can leave your classism and fear mongering at home thanks.

Yes, I damn sure DO think I know more about the TOURIST PERCEPTION OF SEATTLE than you local yokels with your rose-colored glasses that are blind to how horrible your city looks to outsiders.  You just go on telling yourselves that it's not bad, it's not a problem.  Perception is reality, and the face that your "lovely" city puts forward is frightening and intimidating to people coming to Seattle from the real world, no matter how much sugar-coating and cheerleading you do.

When one can't use a public restroom in Seattle Center because it's someone's HOME, then yeah, that's a problem.

Unfortunately, I can't NOT visit - I have to drive right past your "lovely" tent cities to get from SeaTac to Redmond or Bellevue.

15 hours ago, bobbyandali said:

Interesting comments, everyone, thank you. 

As a society, I guess we really suck 😃

In general, yes.  This particular section of society, perhaps a little worse.

14 hours ago, Steve551 said:

Let's see, I'm gonna hit the horse one more time....

"What do you call the new Hub app?" I call it the Hub  App.

"What about the ability to have pizza delivered anywhere on the ship?"  I call it a way for Carnival to make money...it ain't free.

"New ports being built?"  Investment in future business...where do you think the money comes from?  That's right, cutbacks LOL

"New ships?"  if they weren't making money with them they wouldn't build them would they?

"New menus?" The old ones were wearing out. They only change once every 10-years or so.

"Table clothes are not hygienic anyway. Lots of people have to handle those before they land on the table." You mean they aren't as hygienic as the napkins (that you wipe your mouth with), or the dishes, or or the silverware, or those jars of butter, or the buffet line, or all of the surfaces of the ship?

 

"It's called change."  Of course it's change. All cutbacks are changes...

 

Just finished a cruise with Princess (Carnival's sister cruise line). Tablecloths every night; no one asked me if I wanted morning or evening cabin service, I got both...including little candies on my pillow; they even gave me a plastic pen; butter wasn't in a jar to be shared with everyone, it was cut into little pats; they still had the individual cereals; the list goes on.

 

Now you're going to say, "Just cruise with Princess if it's so good"...you were going to say that weren't you? I knew it!

Candies on the pillow, boxed cereal, butter pats AND a plastic pen?!  A PLASTIC PEN?!  Sign me up for Princess right away.  That plastic pen alone is worth the cost.

Just now, sanmarcosman said:

We're not going to waste a few hours in the local PD in Cabo because we put some raisin bran in a baggie and spoil our day there. That's how we look at these matters, too. 

Bingo.  The rules are the rules and the law is the law.  When the Mexican authorities question you, they're not going to care that YOU "don't see a problem with it".

1 hour ago, coevan said:

I agree $10 sounded fishy

Of course it is.  That's not even one drink at the Alchemy Bar.