sparks1093

I may be mistaken but ships sail over the tunnels of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Aircraft carriers make that transit frequently.

I am going to speculate that the powers that be will prioritize opening the waterway as soon as possible. That will take some time to be sure, but cruising isn't the only thing affected by a shut down of that harbor and I don't think it will be shut down as long as many of us are imagining.

Sounds like case of bad navigation on the part of the bridge crew of the cargo ship (just a preliminary thought and the investigation should shed more light on the cause). I couldn't believe my eyes when I read and watched the news about it this morning. Pray for everyone, indeed.

Thanks for your input. Fortunately we've never experienced any problems with "passenger courtesy". In fact whenever there has been any type of issue they have always exceeded our expectations. Of course, we kept our expectations reasonable.

A wait is a wait, whether one is standing in line or not. Even if you reserve through the app you can't let yourself get tied up with doing something else because you don't know exactly when you will be called.

We sailed on RCI's Anthem of the Seas and it certainly had its bells and whistles. We've stayed in two Carnival suites and the perks are modest at best. Free laundry bag service. Priority embark/debark. Dedicated guest services line. Two things going for them were price and the extra room that comes with a suite. Excel class appears to be CCL's answer to the mega ships of RCI. We'll be on Mardi Gras in 25 days and we are eager to compare the experience we had on Anthem. Overall we found the two cruise line's to be very similar to each other in what is important to us, taking into account that Anthem was the newest ship we had sailed on up until that point. I am not a roller coaster guy but I am looking forward to riding a roller coaster on a ship, if only for the bragging rights.

Even an old hotel offers its own charm and elegance, as long as it is maintained properly. Most cruise lines maintain their ships well and while décor may be outdated it won't be "worn".

Thanks, I knew that, most people define "rule" differently and overlook the "general" part. It isn't the end of the world if someone renews their passport when they don't have to, but they should know that they don't have to when they choose to do it.

Actually after giving it some thought I did have a server say no on our last sailing. I stopped at the small coffee shop on lido one morning to grab a specialty coffee to take to DW for a wake up call. I ordered two since I might as well have one as well. Even though they weren't the spiked coffee the server would only give me one since I only had my own S&S card. I could have waited 5 minutes for the second one but I didn't, I just took the one that she made and took it to DW. (And FWIW I still left an additional tip.)

It is not a general rule, it is simply a recommendation (it may be a subtle distinction, but calling something a "rule" when it is not one gives it more importance than it really has). There are a handful of countries throughout the world that actually require one to have 6 months validity remaining at the end of one's trip (so if you were visiting said country for a month your passport would need 7 months validity remaining at the beginning of your trip). There are some cruise lines (fortunately Carnival is not one of them) that do require 6 months remaining at the end of the trip (usually the luxury lines). Not sure why Bermuda is listed because even someone visiting by air only needs a passport that is valid for the duration of their trip. AFAIK Cuba and Martinique are the only islands in the Caribbean that have such a requirement and most cruise lines will not call on those islands on a closed loop cruise.

They can say no. But they don't. Which means they have management's tacit approval of the practice.

I don't see where it makes any distinction. We get concentrate included with the cruise, so including that in a paid program seems to be a bit ingenuous.

Nights sailed is easy to understand and account for, total dollars spent is harder (I mean, all of the money we spend goes on my card, does that mean DW gets no credit?). I can see them increasing the number of nights needed to move up to the higher level tiers, especially since we are on the cusp and would have to wait longer 🤣.

I know you didn't, I was just saying what effect that would have on me if I found out that was why they were doing something underhanded. And after giving it some more thought, what employee is going to potentially hazard their job because they get a couple extra bucks from someone? If they are bending the rules then they are likely being allowed to.

The supply chain also has something to do with it. I noticed a decline in food quality at the grocery store when COVID started and that decline is still there. Even name brand foods don't have the same quality level that they had before. But even given that I still haven't noticed a decline (maybe I would notice if I cruised more often than once per year).

That isn't why I tip and if a bar tender said that an extra tip would make him bend the rules in my favor he wouldn't receive an extra tip from me (and yes, I realize that most people would tip extra).

We've sailed on NCL, Royal and CCL and have found the food quality to be very similar across the three lines. If I had to rate them I probably would put CCL last, but it isn't by a wide margin at all and when I consider what I'm paying to cruise CCL it takes a leap forward. Whenever we book we do look at the other lines and they are always substantially more than CCL (sometimes by thousands) and given that price differential one would expect their food to be miles ahead, and it isn't. I think Guy's is a good burger, but only because I'm not paying for it and I probably wouldn't pay any extra for it if they started charging for it. I've read a lot of good things about Shaq's and look forward to trying it soon.

We've sailed several times since re-start and I've not seen the decline in food quality that others have seen. On our last couple of sailings the quality seemed to be a bit better. Looking forward to giving the new Emeril's menus a try in 29 days.

I was just getting ready to post this. You get the drink under Cheers, but you still need to pay for the cup and it is the cup that sends the price north of $20, not the drink. So if you order a $12 drink and the total is $23, you'll be charged $11 for the cup. (Same holds true for the "shots" they sell in the MDR, you have to pay for the souvenir shot glass but not the contents.)

Even when I've asked for a drink with a more expensive liquor they haven't adjusted the price from what was on the menu.

30.

Listed as included in Bottomless Bubbles but not Cheers.

I found our last invoice and yep, $5 plus 18% is $5.90. It was then that I found out fresh squeezed juice is no longer included in Cheers.

Juice from concentrate is available at no charge at meals. Fresh squeezed is around $6 IIRC.

Just thought of this...don't rely on a smart watch either.