Bgwest

It's been two years since we've sailed in a full suite. Just booked an S3 on the Regal. With all of the cutbacks, I'm wondering if the following still an included perk: Complimentary Lotus Spa® Thermal Suite access on select ships*

You may want to consider the cost before allowing yourself to get too excited about cabana selection.

When we were there on January 27 sailing past the new terminal, there were automatic dredgers in place dredging out the area in front of the terminal.

Y'all are great!! Thanks a bunch. 😃

Thank you @dog!

Anyone know which pier Princess is using for the Regal in Galveston?

Well said. And from a regional perspective. Something most of do not have.

Also, I failed to ask earliler, can you point us to the publication dates of these documents. Try as I may I just cannot determine the age of this information as I read through it. It may very well just be a case of my old tired eyes failing me. If that is the case, I apologize for my visual shortcomings.

I clearly let my typing fingers get ahead of my brain and erred in my earlier question. For clarity, I've edited that question. Has anyone else noticed that suddenly everyone has become an expert in US accounting standards and how they relate to cruise lines operating both in and out of US waters? SMH

Well done, Sir. Nevertheless, none of this alters the basic premise that cruise lines have concocted a scheme (some would call it a scam) whereby they are (some would call it cleverly) moving what is their responsibility to pay their own employees a living wage over to their customers under the guise of "crew appreciation". Good grief, just pay your people a decent wage (like I do with my employees) and fold the remainder of your obligation into the basic cruise fare. Enough with the smoke and mirrors.

And employment contracts. Paragraph by paragraph. Posting said contract to this board in its entirety would certainly lend a great deal of credibility to otherwise dubious posts.

Has anyone else noticed that suddenly everyone has become an expert in US cruising tax law? SMH

Just off the Seascape (YC). Based on all of the wifi related posts, I fully expected to have to upgrade to the Streaming package once on board. To my surprise and delight, the standard package that is included with YC was perfectly fine for our needs. Granted, we never streamed movies or did video conference calls so maybe we didn't put as much of a demand on the system as others. Nevertheless, we were able to watch videos that were embedded within email and FB messages. We were able to listen to all manner of music and related material. As this was our first sailing on Seascape, this may or may not represent the fleetwide YC wifi experience. This is just a single data point to consider.

You are just plain wrong. Just as many threads devolve into arguments about dress suggestions!!! 😃 (Just kidding. You are of correct of course but I didn't want our old friend dress suggestions to feel slighted!)

Not chogs, but damned inconsiderate.

Bravo! What a well thought out analysis. This post should be required reading for everyone. On both sides of the tipping chasm.

What a beautifully succinct summary of the entire tipping nightmare that we Americans have had such a hand in creating. The cruise lines have figured out a way to shift part of their payment obligation to their employees in a way that spawns "Tipping Shame" from those so inclined to participate in this sham toward those who choose not to participate. If one thinks about it, it's really a pretty ingenious scam they've come up with.

Hmmmm, but he was occupying said chair, wasn’t he? Did he leave his chair for extended periods of time? Seems to me that as long as he continually occupied said chair, this doesn’t meet the definition of a chair hog.

I would. Anyone else? Show of hands.😃

This 👆

Absolutely agree!! We Americans have created a monster that is fully and completely out of control.

If it were me, rather than asking for advice from well meaning strangers, I would contact an agency who is able to give you fully accurate information regarding your specific needs. Our go-to has always been Steve at tripinsurancestore.com We've bought from Steve for many, many years. He has never disappointed. Good luck.

In an RC mini you will normally (subject to the quirks of a given port) board after full suites, elites and platinums but before general boarding. Handicapped will be woven into the mix and generally moved out of the boarding areas before all others of any category begin boarding. I've seen RC minis being called for boarding with the platinum group. As with most things cruising related, YMMV.

Exactly. A couple of things make the $15 charge palatable to us. Firstly, there are a couple of items we really enjoy that are available only via Ocean Now. Also, the burgers for example, while available at the Salty Dog Grill, are freshly made when ordered via Ocean Now as opposed to those at the Salty Dog that are pre-cooked “hockey pucks”. But principally, when we are lazing around on the ship somewhere, it’s worth a one time $15 charge (regardless of the cruise length) to stay where we are and after a few clicks have our meal/snacks delivered to us.