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Baron Barracuda

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Everything posted by Baron Barracuda

  1. We arrived at LA pier last November at 10am. Star didn't begin boarding until 11am. At that point there were probably 50 passengers queued up.
  2. Been sailing to the Caribbean more than 30 years and the ONLY port we felt totally unsafe was Ocho Rios. Last time we were there (and it's been a while) machine gun carrying soldiers and unhappy looking locals everywhere. Couple of excursions to plantations had recently been robbed at gunpoint.
  3. It's a long, hot walk around the bay. Much easier to take water taxi to pier at center of town.
  4. How do you know your missing bag even made it off the ship? You put it in the corridor the night before and assumed it would naturally find it's way to the exit hall. Perhaps it fell by the wayside aboard ship or some nefarious sole snatched it and took it back to their cabin to examine.
  5. Sometimes it pays to watch. On the deck 5 laundry on the Star last November the three washers worked fine as did dryer #3. Dryer #2 however didn't heat up leaving clothes damp and while the timer on dryer #1 read 50 minutes when started it would always turn off after just 10 minutes. Need to bring a book and keep pushing the button.
  6. Hopefully danger to Labadee isn't as great as many on here fear. But with US is sending in additional troops to safeguard embassy and evacuate non-essential staff why would Royal take the risk?
  7. In one of the poorest areas of the world Royal contributes greatly to the local economy. In addition to providing employment In the aftermath of of recent earthquake and hurricanes Royal regularly donated large quantities of relief supplies. By all accounts the company is highly regarded in the local community. Perhaps you might do some research before making uninformed sarcastic remarks.
  8. Not sure where you are in Iowa but doubt you're looking at a direct flight. Did you check Delta which flies non-stop to Eppley in Omaha from LGA?
  9. In recent years X eliminated several long time 14 day itineraries including Canada from Bayonne and our favorite, the Southern Caribbean from Miami. The longer itineraries were relaxing and always showed firm pricing.
  10. 4k escaped prisoners represents only 0.03% of Haiti's population. Now free why would they desire to remain in one of the poorest nations in the world? More likely looking for a boat. Those who stay are now facing Haitian army as well as national police. Kenya has offered 1k police and Haiti's Caribbean neighbors are willing to assist too. Feel much safer in Labadee than some of the other Caribbean ports we've been in, notably Jamaican and Mexican.
  11. Was there back when the boat protests were going on. Everything was peaceful. Small boats with folks looking for publicity holding up signs protesting Haitian politics. Kept off to side, no attempt to get in our way. No animosity towards cruise passengers.
  12. That's 3k prisoners escaping into a population of over 11 million. Not exactly an army.
  13. Been there many times, never felt unsafe. Given that Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world Royal's contribution to the local economy is a golden goose that locals need to protect at all cost. One violent incident and it's all over. Therefore expect locals will work to ensure a safe environment for cruise passengers by adding their own security measures and / or buying protection from local crime bosses.
  14. Read in a news piece a while back that VO is looking to double size of fleet, adding 10 new ships and VR is looking to add 16. Article said the first 4 VO are on order at a cost of around $1.3B. So total cost for all 26 VO & VR is likely $4B - $5B. That's a lot of new debt to add. Makes a $500MM IPO a drop in the bucket.
  15. Visa and Mastercard have no credit risk. Balances are carried on books of issuing banks. Visa collects interchange fee from payment processing. Their earnings are driven by $ volume charged,
  16. So refinancing only 5% of LTD reduces interest expense $60 million thereby increasing EPS $.20 annually. Lots of further upside ahead as they work to de-leverage the balance sheet.
  17. Back on Zenith and Century thanks to chef Roux dining in the MDR was so special we didn't need specialty restaurants.
  18. The Olympic (as well as the other Ocean Liner restaurants on M class) once provided an exquisite fine dining experience which could last three hours.
  19. Same with us on Star Nov/Dec sailing. Viking was very happy to assist. Very well attended by both cc members and ships officers.
  20. DW went ashore in SD with chef at 10am. Returned a couple of hours later. Believe dinner was around 5pm and lasted 4 hours. Only negative is it was held on last night of cruise so she had to rush back later to finish packing.
  21. I personally find this concerning. Recently completed my first post-covid VO cruise where I was extremely relieved to find standards had not slipped from pre-covid days. Can't say the same for most other lines. Reading through CC threads for the various CCL, RCL and NCLH brands I see endless complaints about cutbacks and cost cutting as they seek to satisfy the demands of shareholders (of which I am one). Back in the '90's I was a very happy, satisfied customer of Celebrity when they were privately owned. Ever since their sale to RCL which brought them under public ownership their brand has deteriorated in the interest of maximizing near term earnings. I wish for Viking to avoid a similar fate.
  22. Don't know your embarkation port or where you live but is it possible to return home retrieve US passport and try to join ship at next port?
  23. Government of the Bahamas plans to extend their value added tax (vat) to cruise line private islands effective 3/1/24 according to attached article in The Tribune. No idea of potential impact on Coco Cay but Royal will certainly look to pass tax on to passengers. Private cruise islands set for VAT reform hit | The Tribune (tribune242.com)
  24. Before you book auto train suggest you run the numbers. Friend just took it and said never again due to cost. Flying would have been much cheaper.
  25. Just returned from 33 nights Nov/Dec on a Viking sailing round trip from LA that covered both Hawaii and French Polynesia. Wonderful experience on a smaller (940 passenger) ship. Viking does this itinerary regularly and by Viking standards pricing can be very reasonable. Ignore brochure rates and watch for promo codes.
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