MamaFej

Okay. thank you so much. Tone doesn't come across online, and I had read it as criticizing those who complain. I appreciate the clarification.

Please help me understand your point. I must be misinterpreting. I have not seen any posts by people expecting perfection. I have, however, seen many dozens of reports by people disappointed by the verifired cutbacks (coupled with verified new fees and price increases) that occured 6-7 months after your overall "ok" cruise. I can't imagine you are actually saying that people shouldn't complain about the way things are now (without any warning, nor recourse) becasue things were "ok" in June. What am I missing (besides caffeine)?

This you?

When we moved up a tier between cruises 1&2 on a B2B2B, they made us new sea pass cards and reset our internet minutes. We had gotten the points a few days into the second cruise. We had not realized that our points would be doubled for the first cruise, as we had booked it well before the 2x points for European cruises offer, and it left from Reykjavik, with just one port of call on the European continental plate. We were pleasantly suprised with the double points. We would have just missed a level jump by a few points had we only gotten the single points. We had expected to have to go ask for the new level on cruise #3. Anyway, we had used some of our 90 minutes, but they reset us with the entire 240 Stream minutes. I imagine that was simply easier than subtracting the minutes we had already used.

I don't know, but maybe they un-learned the manners they used to have. My mom (79) used to be a very polite person, and raised her kids to be polite. She now thinks it's perfectly acceptable to leave her shopping cart in the middle of an aisle, or in the middle of the parking lot. She will continue trying to have a conversation with a cashier after receiving her receipt and bag, takes out her cell phone and plays with it during performances (my kids stopped inviting her to theirs). If my brothers and I had even thought about engaging in the sort of behaviors she now thinks are okay when we were growing up, we'd have been grounded for weeks.

I hadn't considered that. I've only been on M Class ships since the restart. The OVC was plenty busy in the evenings.

We did a Viking Ocean cruise last year and did not find it at all pretentious. Food and service were wonderful. Their version of French Onion Soup was the best I've ever had. Little touches such as the heated bathroom floor were lovely. We are just plain folks, and I had been concerned about feeling "less than," but we never felt that way at all.

The meatloaf looks like canned dog food, so... maybe?

@drakes2, I hope you enjoy each and every cruise you choose to take, no matter what reasons you have for taking them.

We are booked on two of the one-way cruises between Honolulu and Sydney this year. In case the one-way nature is the issue for the OP, there is a South Pacific cruise that is not a one-way, but a round trip out of Sydney, visiting New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga, and Vanuatu on the 6th of April.

True service animals are amazingly well-trained and vital to those who need them. For my Special Ed project when working on my teaching crdential in grad school, I visited Canine Companions for Independence and learned a great deal about service dogs. I was amazed at what they can do. I appreciate you not encouraging abuse. If my mom weren't so darn lazy, she'd likely try to get a fradulent certification for her dog. I'm glad folks like you would stop her (I love both her and her dog, I don't love abuse).

The service of saving them the cost of hiring a caregiver for or boarding the dogs for their trip?

Not that I'd ever actually do it, but... One could follow such a cruiser to their cabin to ascertain the number. One could stay up late one night to call the room every 20 minutes from a different house phone and saying, "Stop bieng rude!" One could make an agreement with other cruisers who are also annoyed by the boor, and take shifts overnight. I wouldn't do it myself, but I would offer kudos to anyone who actually did do such things.

OT @mayleeman, my dad goes on a 9 day, 7 course golf trip with a big group mostly comprised of other retired cops like him. My younger brother (not retired, nor in LE) has gone for the last 6 years. Hubby (retired arson investigator) has gone most of those years: he goes when we are not traveling elsewhere. I'll tell them to keep an eye out for a Jayhawk next time. They always send me pictures of gators on the courses, and of the sun over the ocean in the morning, instead of in the evening (weird 😉). I want a Jayhawk picture this October.

They used to. That's how they became the first line I (and others) checked when looking for a cruise. We have a lot of X cruises currently booked, mostly due to Lift & Shift & Shift & Shift 2020 and 2021 stuff in Australia/SP and Asia. We will take those, but we have definitely discovered that the value of small ship cruising in the last 13 months, and X is definitely encouraging us to look at small ship cruise lines first.

$11.74 ($9.95 + 18%) except for continental breakfast or for those in suites.

It has been open for over a week for my late February and early March 2023 cruises. It definitely varies widely.

I'm glad you found something you like. Be aware that a Mini on Princess is considerably more spacious than a verandah on X. In the past, food has generally been better on X, but cutbacks are definitely being made. I hope you will enjoy your cruise!

The impression I have gotten, after having read the same concerns in many threads on CC and elsewhere is that people understand that X and other businesses need to recover from the financial setbacks exacerbated by the pandemic (which isn't over, by the way). They absolutely get that changes need to be made. People just wish that X would choose: either charge more for the same product we have come to expect, or institute cutbacks and additional charges (lessening the overall quality of the product for the fare prices we've come to expect). The problem, as I am interpreting it, is that X is raising prices at an alarming rate while simultaneously decreasing the value of the overall experience. Obviously, the "everything is awful" and the "everything is awesome" people don't agree, but this is how I am interpreting the overall consensus of those with concerns.

*so far

Mighty Trains, Mighty Ships, and Mighty Cruise Ships are Canadian-produced shows. In the US, they can be found on demand on Paramount Plus (under Smithsonian Channel). I think some episodes might also be available on YouTube. A word of caution, however: watching these shows can lead to booking expensive travel.

That show is addictive! There are so many journeys I want to do, based on what I've seen on it. We did The Glacier Express last May. It was phenomenal! Hubby workeed very hard to convince me to do Excellence Class. I didn't see the value; the scenery would be the same, no matter which car we were in. He was right, I was wrong. It was worth the difference in price. Just amazing! Enjoy your travels!

I facetiously said as much to my husband. The folks who can afford suites are not as affected by inflation as others. Many are very loyal to the brand. By making the experience unpalatable (or less palatable) for the non-suite dwellers, X can reconfigure the smaller cabins into fewer large ones, replace the MDR with smaller restaurants catering to each level of suite, charge a premium, yada yada yada... I said it facetiously, but maybe I was actually on to something? 😜😜😜

Which part? The part about a transcript of the conversation in the boardroom being emailed to me by a fly? Or the part about the fly being a figment of my imagination? Because one of those things is definitely true.

Joan, did you check awards availability? We booked Business Class LAX to LHR for $201 plus 100,000 points (half of which were a sign up bonus) each . We will still have to get to CPH from LHR, but that should be fairly inexpensive, and we are happy in main cabin for short (ish) flights. Please enjoy a glass of wine for me. Dry January and all...