DrD

I'm sure they do their P&L on a more macro level, like per ship. They keep careful track of the supply orders no doubt so no need to track individual passenger's consumption.

I keep hearing the same Argument over and over, Adjust... Be Adaptable...Be Flexible......Etc..

How about The Word.. NO :mad:

 

After a Certain Time Period The US Goverment ,Should Mandate thru the FTC or any other Agency... that Customers that had their Cruise Canceled because of Charters.. receive Proper compensation ....Period!!.....The Only thing to decide is When that date would come into effect.. and what would be considered proper comp...This should be in effect for All Cruise Company's sailing into or out of US ports..

 

Mike

I'd much rather see a fine for improper and grotesque use of capital letters. When and why did that become a thing anyway? I know it was done in the 1700's, but why now? It seems very "fringe."

Honestly that's more than 9 months away, if it was short notice I'd see your point but March 2019??

And how have prices suddenly skyrocketed, are they just now figuring out that is spring break?

I know it's frustrating but they do have the right to do that and if they give your your deposit back and 9 months notice I'd say you shouldn't be mad at them. Disappointed yes, mad at fate perhaps, but not at RCCL.

I am. Because there are a lot of stupid people in this world.

 

No reasonable person would fly a drone on a moving ship.

 

Combine an unlimited Deluxe Drink Package with a drone?

 

You keep saying things shouldn't happen. But things that shouldn't happen occur every day.

Ok fair point, especially if it was spring break cruise.

If that happened the drone would probably be lost quickly, especially with a drunk pilot!

I wonder if there are any laws around piloting a drone when intoxicated. Hmmm....

I'd like to know also.

Sorry that's not an answer but at least a bump. Hang in there.

"cruise" comes from the same root as "cross" and means to zig-zag across the ocean, usually in search of enemies, like a patrol. In the days of sail a cruise was a great assignment since any enemy ships taken (prizes) were sold and the crew got to divvy up the money. There's a great scene in Patrick O'Briens wonderful Jack Aubrey series (on which the movie Master and Commander is based) in which Aubrey is thrilled that he's been given a cruise by the admiral.

verb (used without object), cruised, cruis·ing.

• to sail about on a pleasure trip.
  
• to sail about, as a warship patrolling a body of water.
  
• to travel about without a particular purpose or destination
  

1645–55; < Dutch kruisen to cross, cruise, derivative of kruis cross

So with this in mind, I'd say that an ocean liner is a ship with the primary purpose of transporting passengers from one place to another, while a cruise ship is meant to just cruise around and come back to the same place. Of course there's no structural or design difference between the 2 as far as I know, maybe a liner would be faster or more fuel efficient?

Boat's are part of a ship's equipment and don't have their own name. Ship's boats were often used to attempt to board or otherwise attack an enemy. The first crude submarines were ships' boats, carried on a larger ship and launched close to the target. For some reason the tradition of calling them boats stuck.

A cruise ship is definitely not a boat and many of us cringe to hear them called that.

Why only ladies?

My secret is that I don't weigh myself.

Maybe that's why you only asked the ladies.

But seriously, I agree with everyone that says exercise. I never use the elevator on a cruise except on the last day when I self-disembark with all our luggage. With that I never feel like my pants have shrunk on the last day. Always take the stairs. And shore excursions. We have a few 8-10 hour excursions on our upcoming so I will be getting lots of exercise. I also try to run once or twice mainly so I don't fall too far off my yearly miles goal.

And yes much is water weight due to all the sodium and it will go away quickly.

All this may sound hard, but to me it's easier than denying myself and food or drink!!

One of the many reasons I carry everything on. I just hate having to wait to get settled. And honestly, if I am able to retrieve the bag at baggage claim and handle getting it to the port, there is no reason I can't get it on board the ship, no matter the size. I get checking it if you WANT to, but there is no way I ever want to, so it all goes with me.

Isn’t there an issue getting bigger bags through security X-ray? If not I may try your method, we have no problems carrying everything off at end of trip.

At 20 knots you would have to do a lot more than move forward to keep up with the ship. :evilsmile:

 

JC

No doubt. That’s why I don’t think anyone is really talking about flying one off a moving ship.

LOL

 

I'm familiar with technology. So it's not possible that a gust of wind at sea won't affect a drone? Is it not possible to steer a drone incorrectly into a wall? How does a drone use GPS to return home on a moving ship?

 

I love how people have absolute faith in technology.

Of course you can steer a drone into a wall, that is not "losing control." However many modern drones have obstacle avoidance and would not be able to be steerable into a wall.

Gusts of wind do not affect drones due to the GPS stabilization, up to the capacity of the drone to compensate, which for mine is about 30 mph. It's quite remarkable how stable it is even high up where winds gusts can be fierce. That's why drone footage is so smooth, if they were affected by wind gusts it'd look a lot different.

No one is talking about using a drone on a moving ship as this is not practical. Since drones are stabilized by GPS, one would have to constantly move forward to keep up with ship. The neutral position would result in a drone stationary to GPS satellites and thus ship would move out from under.

In your hypothetical, a drone that lost signal or battery would go to the start point, which would be miles awy from current position of ship. Lost drone but not harm to people.

But really I did not think you were imaging someone using a drain from a moving ship, I've never heard of this. Only drones from shore buzzing a ship.

I'd suggest looking at some of the Cruise Compass from your intended ship, available online. These will show you what activities are available.

I'd lay odds that someone that thinks they are an 'expert', is going to fly one over the pool area, lose control, and injure someone.

I guess you're not familiar with how modern drones fly. You cannot lose control. Even cheap drones automatically return to home when signal is lost or battery runs low. They are gyro- and GPS-stabilized.

What is a "must buy" daily price for the Ultimate Package? Right now, it's $50 for our sailing...

When it's less than you would spend a la carte.

Obviously that varies based on how much you drink. For some us $60 per day is great deal!

You could consider asking to board with the mobility challenged group. Not sure how that works but at age 90 it seems to me your parents should be allowed to board early with that group.

First ... I have to say I am NOT a parent. But reading this and so many other threads about drink packages for kids, I have to ask.

 

Do kids (9 - 12 - 16) really drink sodas? I mean like 2 or more a day? Maybe 1 or 2 a week ... I just can't imagine kids drinking soda.

 

There is ice tea, ice water, and lemonade, available all day/night that doesn't cost additional money.

Soda is garbage and kids shouldn't drink it, except, maybe, once or twice a month as a treat at a restaurant or as much as they want one week a year on a cruise or other vacation.

Kind of parallels dad's alcohol habits. Except maybe I have a bit more than 1 or 2 per month. But certainly not every day.

And that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Don't do it. Think about what the cruise lines #1 priority is. To make money. Not just a little money, but all the money you have. So, now that you know that, think about the reason behind why they push drink packages SO HARD? Is it because they want you to save money? Or is it because they think it will boost the bottom line? I think everyone knows which it is.

 

What many people fail to remember is: Most of your days are in ports. Not on the ship. Your drink package doesn't work off the ship (unless the port happens to be owned by the cruise line). These ports have stores that sell drinks. Drinks that you can bring back with you. The only thing the lines care about is alcohol.

 

Each of your kids would have to drink a minimum of 3 soft drinks, every single day, including embarkation day, just to break even. To really "save" money they'd have to drink at least 4. And that's just the soda package, it gets worse with the refreshment package.

Yes but the kids love the freestyle machines. They are very popular. My boys really look forward to it, they even plan what kind of soda they're gonna make. They enjoy trying different concoctions. They do get tired of it after just a few days but for me it's still worth it.

My attitude has always been why spend thousands on a vacation, then go cheap on board? To save $100 on a vacation that probably costs $5000 when all is said and done seems penny wise and pound foolish.

I'm paying $6000 just for flights on my next cruise, so I really don't mind splurging on the extras. It's not everyday, or every year, or every lifetime that I will get to cruise the med with my boys.

She's too old NOT to cruise in my opinion. At that age you never turn down an opportunity to do something you want to.

My boys don't drink soda, but they do on a cruise and I get them the package. It's kind of an activity for them, to go to the freestyle machine and get a weird concoction that they make up on the spot. They also enjoy getting a soda at dinner (yuck to me!) It's a treat as we never do that at home. So I always get them the soda package, it's not very much money if I remember and has really become part of the cruise tradition in my family.

I also get them internet. Anything else they want they can get but I deduct it from their savings when we return. (they are teenagers so have bank accounts, they are both on my app so very easy to take money out of their account and put into mine.)

It's amazing how little they want when they have to pay themselves!

So Compass says Coastal Kitchen is for Grand Suites and higher only at dinner, but I thought JS could go for dinner.

Check with Guest Services to see if they are offering a late departure option. Sometimes, for an additional fee, they offer the ability to eat lunch and stay on until the afternoon.

So otherwise do they track you down if you’re not off by a certain time?

Yes, they will be paging you and will send people to find you.

ok another question, thanks for being so helpful:

When we debark in Barcelona,do we get a separate line or do we have to go off with everyone ending their cruise? (we start in Rome) I'm asking because that can be a long line, and if we have to wait then I won't book any early tours. I'd rather walk right off later. nothing wrong with sleeping in.

 

I loved the JS!! The perks is not why I got the cabin but mainly due to the fact my father in law had to learn to walk again due to having an illness and he was in rehab, the cruise was just 3 weeks after he came out of rehab and after my surgery so we decided the standard balcony cabin would not have enough space for my elderly father in law to use his walker and get around, so we paid extra and got two JS adjoining just in case dad needed us but fortunately, he didn't even use the walker when he stepped foot from the gangplank onto the ship!! Ha!

 

Thanks for your comprehensive reply. Sounds like we're in for a treat.

HELLO,

 

I have a good friend going on the Oasis in a couple of months, I talked her into getting the JS as we loved it last month. I haven't used the Coastal Kitchen for dinner and she asked me if I could get hold of the new menu's for CK for her, does anybody have them? I tried googling them but cannot find the updated ones. Thank you.

I'm doing my first JS, what did you love about it? It doesn't seem like there's that many perks honestly.

Uhhhhhh, no. Not that you will return to read or reply :rolleyes:

 

Anything sprayed with pesticides or fertilizers is NOT organic. Anything with GMOs is NOT organic. Anytime growth hormones is used, its NOT organic. Im real surprised to find there is anything organic on a cruise ship.

Actually almost all food is GMO, modern corn and other crops, as well as domesticated animals, are completely different from their wild ancestors and have been heavily modified over millenia by selection.

My GMO wolf agrees.

Express departure was 6:15 - 7:30 am on the Harmony. First colors were called for 6:45 am. Last colors were 9:00 to 9:30 am. I just read that this obviously is still the same for the Symphony in Barcelona.

 

The Symphony is using two terminals in Barcelona. The forward cabins disembark at B and the aft ones at C. It´s a pretty efficent and quick process. Done that with 3 Oasis Class ships now (actually all three of them and will do with the Symphony in May).

 

steamboats

I'm wondering about this also, I'm guessing that in Barcelona those of us who boarded in Civitavecchia can just debark whenever?

My cruise planner does show one tour in Barcelona, it's a city highlights tour.