Kay S

Some centuries ago in the deep dark distant past, it was considered a clever gesture to tip the room service person with a brand new $2 bill. They were a novelty once. I don't know if it's a holdover from that, but I hear that a two dollar tip is still appropriate. (Inflation evidently does not apply to tips.) 😝

If you miss out on the embarkation Elite lounge, you won't be missing much.

That was nice. I haven't been back for over a year, so I don't know how they are doing it now.

Yes and yes. I have "matured" on to Oceania (where I pay the nickels and dimes up front.)

You can ask to change. If speed is the first consideration, I would opt for the buffet.

BT Barnum had a name for people who believe every word of hyperbolic marketing hype.

COVID dealt a near-fatal blow to our country club. The dining facilities were closed for two years, and as they come back, they are hybrids of what once was. The golf course lived through it all, fortunately. The dress code has relaxed and during the hot summer (we are not far from Palm Springs) shorts are allowed. Shirts still need collars, though. We will be on Oceania in the late fall, so I would be surprised to see many shorts (on men or women.) I will wear what I always have to dine at the club, and I'll even revert to the pre-COVID standards. 🙂 My husband will do the same.

Really? What do they do with the money they receive right now from existing customers? "Whoa, we can't use this money to build a new ship. It comes from an existing customer!" 🙀

"Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee OM KBE FRS RDI FRSA DFBCS FREng (born 8 June 1955), also known as TimBL, is an English computer scientist best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web, the HTML markup language, the URL system, and HTTP." Oh look! A Boomer invented the technology! Here, dumb me, I thought it was invented by four college freshman just last Christmas. 😝 😝 😝

Please do get a table for two so you don't bother the others at your table. Perhaps you don't care if they are inconvenienced but I'll bet you would be annoyed if the tables (so to speak) were turned. You will also find yourself rushed to eat since they will clear the dining room before the late seating.

At least for the time being...

On the DMW scheme we showed up at our reserved time and then stood in a queue until a table opened up.

Well, I'm not dead yet and other cruise lines are happy to take my money.😝

Being myself old and stuffy, that's precisely why I'm moving on. 😁 (Did you think we would miss your point without the Bold/Italics font?)

Well, that would be the deal breaker for me. 😄 River cruises and ocean cruises are vastly different.

A folding/collapsible scooter is the best way to go. If it can be folded into something smaller, it will be able to go on the shuttle just fine.

Yep. We have jumped ship for the past year. HAL (which is only slightly less nickel and dimey) and Oceania. (Pay those nickels and dimes up front.) Princess is leaving me with their mega ships and desperate appeals to the masses.

Well, they do go into the club's restaurant, which isn't strictly speaking "upscale" but they do have tablecloths and real silverware. 🙂 It's true the definition "country club casual" is pretty NorthAmerican-centric, though. Taking it literally, I would say the people in the shorts I see at the country club would be following the literal letter of the law on Oceania. 🤣

I guess they thought it would work better than "Not the Worst Cuisine at Sea." Any marketing slogan is hype, and I think most people realize that. Judging from some of the glowing remarks about various dishes here on CC (the Dover Sole comes to mind) I think at least some people find "a degree of backing it up" in the claim.

Since they call themselves "The POSH Travel Blog" (caps theirs), I'm taking this with that proverbial grain of salt.

I live across the street from the country club. With temps above 100 F these days, I see many men with shorts heading onto the golf course. An attraction for us has been the relaxed dress codes on O.

Oh! Now I see it. Still not paying for that.

Sandwiches, pastries, cakes, cookies, scones, and all the assorted condiments. I don't remember any candy. Oh, and several kinds of tea (in bags.)

I don't see the asparagus. Many nickels, many dimes, Princess.

I bought one of the little clips that I attach to my purse strap. Works fine.