BecciBoo

There is no way they will ever get $90 out of us for that!

I'm spending mine like it's water. I'm on borrowed time and I can't take it with me. I only have enough time for approximately 20 more cruises....bad genes!

They are more than adequately compensated...or they would stay home with their families and work. I've had many of them tell me it's way more lucrative on the ships. Then again, I had one maintenance crew tell me he only made 50 cents a day...grain of salt!🙄

We do help them collectively.....every cruise they get assessed gratuity and more from our hand to theirs.

That's why I'm thinking they will eventually have t lower the pricing after the hype is over.

All the newer ships, even with Carnival are outrageous. Jubilee which just premiered had their insides at $3300+ for 2 peeps, I just priced them hoping they'd be better than RCCL, we haven't paid that pricing except on Celebrity in years. And our ICON sailing was only $2400. The general economy is the culprit...and I won't say more about that subject! Grrrrr.😡

I believe, based upon history, the pricing will eventually come down, after all if they could offer the first couple months bookings at the lower price last year, why not next year. I think it's a case of waiting to see what the market will bear in the coming months. We could not book ICON now, at almost triple what we paid last October 2022. Monitoring now to try to get our Grandson and friend an inside so they can go with us in September, just not seeing anything affordable for them. But hoping that by July after payment due, the prices may come down. Just a guessing game at this point.

But constantly arguing about an apples to oranges issue?. "Free" versus "at no additional charge" is the issue. Arguing semantics is futile. Along the same vein, I've bought pre-formed hamburger patties at our local Wally World and they tasted like ground cardboard so I am equally jaded with them. I now mostly make my own patties but I wish they could find a vender with really good ground beef!

The key for this diabetic is the mix...can't they come up with a no sugar one? 🥺 These days I stick with my two faves, lemon drops and Mojitos, but I bring my Allulose in a small container and ask them to use that instead of sugar or mix because they are simple to modify. It works but not as good as their versions.

I noticed Erika from America's vids, the one I posted, was published on You Tube on the Royal Caribbean channel so she had to have been under their auspices whilst Chris' was not. I think her posts were considered PR. That's my guess anyways. What difference does it really make anyway. Full disclosure.......wouldn't hurt a thing. I already knew this ship was going to blow everyone away. And...there will always be naysayers...that's life. For me, it'll be a very long wait with many You Tube vids between now and our Sept. booking...

Loved seeing the pilot depart from up close and personal...THANKS

We rarely eat out these days either...I always cook since we are pretty strict about Keto and eating meat. No processed food. We did eat burgers at Chili's the other day, first time in months and it just about broke us! LOL Taco Bell is the only place you can still eat cheap and we just wouldn't be interested in that any more. In fact, I can't wait until next cruise...what a treat! Alas, no Costco or Sam's for about 100 miles 😭 The cost of living in paradise!

I still hoped for a much broader usage like scenes from ports etc. Like the Las Vegas sphere which can create some awesome images. But I like it as just a moving artwork as well. Great snag Lloyd.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

They certainly don't call me that. We don't even require much and keep our cabin ship shape. We've had stewards remember us by name on other ships 3 or 4 years apart. They call me Ms. Rebecca and some of them are on a hug basis. I'm happy with it. Sour dispositions are not my fortay. I don't think my small requests are worth their angst...and certainly not worth yours.

Thx, I'll make note of it

Maybe, that was 3 yrs ago

I assure you we did. There was an agent there, we waited in line with several other couples. That was the nearest location we could get it. We live on the Arkansas/MO border and it was closer than Little Rock. We got the paper work then and the cards were mailed later. We had to use the papers/receipt for our Alaska flights as we entered Canada.

Me neither, but hubs has done it many times.

Why not....it's been soooooo entertaining!

OOPS!

When I make special requests, the crew don't seem bothered at all in fact I think they are happy to comply thinking they will get that "10" they are so keen on. They have always delivered with a smile and seem to go out of their way to please. Of course honey always catches more flies and a smile and "Could you please..." makes most requests bearable for them. Anyway, I've never had any bad reactions; more that they seem proud of themselves for achieving the request...and if they could not comply I never made a fuss. Politeness goes a long long way with crew. So out of all requests, I'd say 90% were answered satisfactorily. That's why my standard line is "You have not because you ask not". I've mentioned a couple of requests here before like the one for a discontinued "She Crab Soup". I was the only person in the dining room with that soup and had it for 3 nights straight! That represents what even the chef is happy to do to make a loyal customer. The Matr'd got an envelope that cruise. Our table servers got extra for hot rolls the entire cruise. And I like powdered sugar on my French Toast, server got tipped in the Windjammer for that one too. It took a while and they brought 2 different types before the linguistics problem was solved. They called it "Bakers sugar" LOL I have no guilt whatsoever for asking.............

I once asked a Sous Chef on our tour if it was lucrative to work ships, his answer: "If it wasn't I wouldn't be here away from family!" He said it was more than what he'd get at home in Australia. Of course, he was probably on the upper echelon of contract pay but then again, I once had a maintenance guy tell us he only got $50 a month regular pay. I didn't believe him for a second. I think he told us that expecting we'd reach into our pocket right there.

LOL In Arkansas, it's so rural you may be directed anywhere to get your Global Entry. We ended up going to an Office Depot in Springfield MO to get ours done! The government is SOOOOOOOO efficient! It was actually pretty painless, we shopped around for an hour or so and done. We have the cards to save a few bucks but in 2027 we'll go full book next time. We plan on doing London for a land tour then.