dockman

Just like a condo HOA has a lot of rules that some don't like and challenge...the problem is usually that some people seem to always find a way to abuse even the most basic things and condo boards have learned that they pretty much just have to enforce all the rules strictly or soon it turns into a giant mess/argument/ lawsuit or worse. A ship hallway is after all a "common area" and as such there have to be rules/regulations.

go to the city dump in juneau....loads of eagles there

Just like airlines that are overbooked if you offer confirmed passengers enough incentives then somebody will give up their seat/room and likely be quite happy about it. A full refund and a future free cruise will likely get a lot of takers. Maybe they should have a box where confirmed passengers would check that yes they will consider an "offer" to give up their room. Sign me up.

i try for an obstructed ocean view as low price. There are several that have practically no obstruction...most on emerald deck 8....e416 for example. Go to https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/ships/Diamond-Princess to see the views and see if available. Good luck.

An old myth that another player doing dumb things impacts the table...oh he took the card that he should not that would have busted the dealer....just a myth but people persist in trying to call out dumb play by other players...everyone gets to do whatever they want as for hits, stays, splits.doubles....it becomes quickly obvious at most tables who plays basic strategy and who plays hunches...basic strategy is math...hunches are "lucky or unlucky" guesses....casinos love nothing more than "hunch" players who over time willl lose consistently more than those who understand and play basic strategy https://travelzork.com/truth-players-decisions-blackjack/

Agree but also wonder how many people would take the time to check a posting history? There are many ways that the smart scammers can use to post and repost all sorts of stuff all over the internet every second of every day. I think CC is wise with their ban. I remember being on a cruise years ago when some agent was trying to hand out flyers/cards on a cruise to passengersin the LIDO...what's next...here's my card if you need to buy new siding or life insurance?

But what if that single user recruits his family and friends to post glowing reports to make it sound like they are the best thing going or if they recruit same to vote for them in a poll? A slippery slope that CC is wise to nip in the bud.

If cruise agents or most any other biz were allowed to post their "ads" on here to promote themselves it would not go well....and simple posts like i used this or that agency and they were great can and would be manipulated to appear to come from clients but are really just more "ads" promoting a paticular agent or agency.

ok we get it...you don't like the lido...fine eat somewhere else but for those who do like to eat in the lido it is nice if you can find a place to sit down and enjoy your meal and people blocking tables to play cards during peak hours could also show a little courtesy and use the lido for dining....my solution is to go to lido during off hours...early or late and i can always find a table....

Just what they DON"T need to do is decrease number of lido tables. The entire discussion is about peope using the sometimes scare lido tables for other than eating.

Crystal had a deal with microsoft years ago that offered free computer classes....as i recall every single class was standing room only as people wanted to learn and had many questions. I suspect that a similar series of lectures and classes would also be a big hit today on most all ships. Hard to imagine that it would be all that difficult to find a couple of qualified computer guru types to provide such a popular service in exchange for a free cruise. I also remember a few lectures/classes on topics like estate planning, wills, etc that were also standing room only . These were done by retired cpas, lawyers etc in exchange for a free cruise as I remember meeting a few of the "teachers" who said they loved doing it. Seems that there are many people who are interested in learning and could be a great opportunity for a cruise line to provide a different type of "entertainment" for very little cost.

Convert one of the shops to a game room?....How many shops do they need selling the same overpriced crap? Of course that will never happen as people having fun in a game room does not make the bean counters happy,,,,i suspect if they could they would do away with all promenade decks, gyms, libraries, etc and turn the entire ship into one great big "extra revenue" source. Sadly as with so many other things in life it is seems to be more and more about the bottom line and less and less about happy clients. While I understand it I don't have to support it and very rarely ever buy anything in the shops and doubt i ever will. For example the amount of space dedicated to the art galleries continues to grow and grow which would certainly indicate that it is very profitable...and yes i do understand that shopping seems to be a major part of the cruise life for many many people...why i don't know as i would think that getting away from endless shopping might be part of a great change for a vacation but obviously it is not. And yes i also understand in theory at least without the shop revenues that the price of the cruise might go up a bit.

Some day believe it or not all of us get old and part of getting older is your reflexs, hearing and response time slows down as well as your ability to recover from injury. Yes there are old folks wandering aimlessly but i am pretty sure that a collision between a young runner and an old person is much more likely to injure the old folks than the young runners. So just maybe common sense and courtesy would suggest that younger more active people would use the jogging tracks and the gyms where you don't have to deal with all of us old foks.

So how hard would it be for ALL the ships to standarize and eliminate ALL the confusion by posting signs as well as in the daily newsletters with RULES. 1. Signs should say clearly walk counterclockwise or clockwise...who cares if everyone does the same but with a hodgepodge of nationalities etc just standardize it which would benefit everyone. . 2. NO JOGGING on Prom decks. PERIOD. Noise is one issue. Lots of older foks out for a leisurely stroll looking at scenery and runners coming fast from either direction around narrow corners or from behind and one misstep and whack down you go. Not good. 3. One memo from headquarters to all the ships in the fleet, put up the signs and DONE. It would be nice if there was some enforcement but we all know that is unlikely. 4. Of course if you had flashing neon signs some brain dead "but i am special idiots" would still refuse to follow the rules but hopefully most would.

yes same here with small refunds some time....but i am more curious over who controls port taxes and decides how much they should be...in usa is it the state local or feds or is it different in different ports? I remember alaska was all hot to add a $50 a person per port fee a few years back but got lot of blowback from cruise lines so it was not done...so was that each individual port or was it state of alaska? Just curious as it is indeed getting higher and often a signifcant part of the final price. I know there are lots of services required and also lots of unions involved etc but as we all know some ports provide great services and facilities while others are pathetic with poor facilities and ill trained staff...seems to be all over the map as to facilities and staffing and overall services.....or often seems that way to me but not knowing which port gets what % of the total fee not sure who is getting what? Maybe none of my business or concern but seems more and more common for lot of port fees to approach or exceed $40- $50 per person per day on 7 day cruises with port fees of $250 or so?

page after page concerning amout of tips paid or not paid and why or why not and on and on and on....for the record i never opt out of auto tips and always give a few extra $$ here and there to those who go the extra mile to take care of me... but rarely ever even a passing mention of how high port taxes have gotten in many ports around the world....and on many cruises it is more than the amount of the tips paid out...don't think you are allowed to opt out of port fees even if port gives lousy service they still get paid full amount with no options at all and often zero or very limited explanation of how the port fees are determined....do cruise lines keep any of the port fees or does the port get 100% of whatever is paid?

It is pretty obvious from reading various posts on social media that there are millions of people who have little to no clue as to spelling or grammar. I am no expert but I do think that reading is a primary way of learning both. I find it sad how many people seem to be on the verge of illiteracy and either don't know or don't care. Not to mention the absolute lack of basic financial and math skills. I have learned many things from reading various posts but sadly the thing I have learned the most is how absolutely uneducated millions upon millions of grown adults seem to be in basic fundamental skills like "reading writing and arithmetic" which were once the absolute cornerstone of schools. I was very fortunate to have had a few teachers who convinced me that reading can and does open an entire world of wonders if you take the time to discover what might be revealed in a good book. Of course I grew up prior to phones and google where if you wanted to know something you generally had to go to a library and look it up in a book.

Not true with me and I strongly suspect also not true with lots and lots of other people. Why do people who like kindles seem to want to disparage those who do not like to read on kindles? If you like kindles then by all means use them. If you prefer real books than there is absolutely nothing wrong with that either. As to being easier to carry around than paper books that certainly is true. But I have never had a problem in making room in my luggage for enough books to cover my cruise. I would rather have a good book then an extra pair of shoes or more clothes that i will likely never even wear or miss if i don't have. For those ships that still have some semblance of a library even if just a take one leave one paperback library thank you. How hard is it to provide a couple hundred square feet and a few shelves. I go to whatever version of library is available and there are always lots of other people taking a look at the books in my experience. I always bring paperbacks and always leave them behind for the next guests and obviously many others do the same as i generally can find some interesting books left behind and have enjoyed reading maby of them. To those who also bring and leave books, thank you.

Basically correct BUT: I do try and avoid cruises that have eliminated libraies and promenades so they do not get any revenue from me as I don't go.

As many have said...weather changes a lot. My last mid sept alaska was pretty bad with pouring rain in ketchikan and juneau to the point that very few got off the ship as was miserable....we had bad weather about 4 of 7 days to include absolute downpour all day when we docked back in vancouver and had all day to kill waiting for evening flight...no fun at all. I had been to all the ports many times so no big deal for me but i did feel sorry for first timers who basically missed several ports and much of the inside passage scenery as it was rainy foggy and just generally miserable out on the decks. One of few sunny days was glacier bay. Odds of less rain and bad weather are better in mid summer but mid summer can bring it's own challenges with too many ships/people in the ports. To be fair i have also had mid september weather that was near perfect, fewer crowds at end of season, lots of end of season sales of t shirts coats etc etc if that is of interest...lots of dead salmon and a few still alive clogging lots of streams and while interesting to see the smell can be pretty bad.

Can you leave the TV on with the main camera channel that would get dark at night but give light when sun comes up? Or is it too much light even at night?

The location to me is a major factor. I would rather have an inside room with a great location than an OV room where i have to walk down endless corridors to get to the steps/elevators.

Could it also be with an older demographic that HAL passengers may well spend more time in their rooms rather than public areas? I sure don't go out nearly as much as my younger days and as more of my favorite places to spend time like on a nice wide prom deck or a nice library disappear I likely do spend more time in my room. Big events with loads of people don't appeal to me these days. I have also gotten better and better at adjusting my times so not to hit the lido, dining rooms etc at peak hours. Save yourself a lot of aggravation by going early or late. Anyway...i generally do seem to feel less crowded on HAL than Princess and other lines and have my own strategies to better enjoy my cruise with minimal standing in line etc.

I miss it...used to love to pick one up in lido for breakfast and read the NYT recap...and remember that i was not alone as they were in high demand in the lido and passed around ....much more enjoyable for me than trying to stare at a tiny smartphone version. I suspect if they asked passengers do you prefer to receive the NYT recap or the constant barrage of printed ads to be thrown into the trash that the NYT would win by a landslide so the oh but the paper wasted seems somewhat lame. So to me just another tiny little cut to what used to be along with dozens of other "tiny" little cuts that overtime add up....but i will still cruise and work around it all and enjoy today's version of the cruise life.

If u can buy at $5 a share and do two cruises of 14 days u are back to even and still own the shares...not much of a gamble.