seaoma

For people that aren't listening to the music anyway.

Chatting with friends is not what I have a problem with. I do talk with the people I'm sitting with. It's the people that are laughing at the funniest thing they have ever heard in their life, over and over, all the while never once acknowledging the band is even there. They aren't there for the music so why not sit as far away from the live music as possible and still receive bar service? It's very easy on most of the HAL ships I have been on.

Yes, just happened to us in March on the NA. There are some new types of passengers onboard nowadays.

Now more than ever. I'm not really sure what the problem is here. I was lamenting the loud people in a bar with quiet music. You like to dance but no one said anything about not being able to dance. @3rdGenCunarder and I were just wondering why people want live music when they have no intention of listening to it. In that instance canned music should be fine - they aren't listening to it.

All groups can co-exist if the loud group, that is really more interested in socializing, doesn't take over the other group that is enjoying quiet conversation that doesn't permeate the room or the group that likes to dance.

In theory, this would be perfect. The reality is that, oftentimes, the giant group of loud people want to sit close to the music too.

I agree @3rdGenCunarder. I often wonder what the musicians think about playing in a lounge like the size of the Ocean Bar and having people talk while doing so. My husband and I were recently on the NA and there is lots of seating that is not in the small space where the musicians are performing, yet there was 2 tables of about 8-10 people that were just having a grand old time together. Why wouldn't those people sit there and have their party without disturbing the people that were there to hear the music. I know musicians are used to it, but I just wonder what they think of performing in this type of situation.

Post 66 is referring to this quote and shouldn't be attributed to @anniegb

It's not the same, but it is still enjoyable and since it's the only way I can experience the moon, I will take it and be happy. My advice to those who desire to travel anywhere, regardless of your wealth, time, health, etc., do what you are able, however you are able, and enjoy it to it's full potential and don't let anyone tell you your experience isn't good enough. My apologies, @anniegb, I didn't mean to take @Hlitner quote from your post.

We did it too and we were staying on that deck for 14 days! There might be something wrong with people like us. 🙃

Yes, you said that much better than I did in my post.

I was successful on my last cruise in March using gift cards to buy OBC, which we purchased in the amount to cover our Gratuities.

So for longer cruises, the only benefit to a FCD is the OBC that you would receive?

What's the rule for using FCD for deposits? I tried to book a 35 day cruise with one FCD for my husband and one for me. They still required an additional $400 in cash for the deposit.

That's my husband's drink of choice (minus the ice, so neat), so I can reassure you that they will usually charge that as 2 drinks.

It is counted as 2. Your package is for a stated number of drinks. The only price they care about is the maximum price, either $11 or $15 for the Signature or Elite packages. If my drink costs $8 and my husband's costs $11, I don't get any more drinks than he does. If you have a drink package, look at it this way. You don't have to worry about going to Happy Hour, at a specified time of day in a specified bar. We look at it as a bonus. You aren't packed into a busy bar with a slammed wait staff. You can have a drink at your leisure anywhere you happen to be and at any time of the day or night.

We do that on occasion too, but bottom line, it is a bit of a pain having to keep track. Also, sometimes the crew don't want to handle both cards for the two drinks and we've had to really insist they do so. One time we did go over when the husband was a little loopy, it was late at night, and I had gone to the restroom. He ordered a drink for both of us on his card and boom, a charge the next morning. They would not spread it over our 2 cards even though I had plenty of "drink" space on mine. This was before they implemented the - just pay the cost overage, too. My husband has taken to keeping track in Notes on his phone. I will say, just to clear up some of the noise that may appear in this thread, we've never gone over because we drink 15 alcoholic drinks. It's been a combination of non-alcoholic drinks and beverage alcohol drinks. We don't have 15 cocktails/beer/wine a day ever.

We haven't either, unless my husband gets lazy and uses one card for both of our drinks. He's usually guilty of doing it in the morning for our coffees. Even then, it's just his card that becomes the problem.

If you have a package, there is no difference if the drink is offered for 75 cents or if it's $11. You aren't going to be allowed to get extra drinks because you bought 15 drinks at 75 cents each. If Happy Hour is buy one drink and get the second one free, you aren't going to be able to get more than 15 drinks. Now if you are going to drink more than 15 alcoholic drinks in a day, then you may want to buy a beverage card and use it to pay for those cheap drinks. Does that answer your question?

Yes, there is a limit. For the Signature package, it is 15 drinks per day, including any non-alcoholic drinks. For the Elite package, it's 15 drinks per day, but unlimited non-alcoholic drinks. Personally, if I have the drink package, I'm not going over the limit anyway, so I prefer to avoid the Happy Hours.

3. When had a similar situation to you back in 1999 at the Sails in the Desert at the Ayers Rock Resort in Australia. We had arrived after dark with our children. I entered the bathroom and my husband ran out to pick up some food for us. He took the key and immediately plunged us into darkness. We couldn't run after him or find the spare key because we'd only been in the room for a minute and couldn't be sure what was in our way. We, of course, lost our A/C in a stuffy room. The three of us just stayed where we were until he returned. Last time that happened. My solution was to take an old card and glue a magnet to the back of it. Use this while you are in the room. When you leave, remove the card and stick it to the wall just above the card slot reader. The steward will not remove this card and it's easily accessible when you are either entering or exiting the room. Because there is a slight delay when exiting the room, you have time to complete the maneuver before the lights go out.

The first time I ever had a pineapple and ham pizza was while we were living in Australia. But, Wikipedia said that it started in Ontario by a Greek-born Canadian. 🙃

Absolutely, I don't want it either. And, knock on wood, I've never gotten it, but then I take very good precautions just like I do for the other infectious disease that is currently circulating.

I think the point is that norovirus is more prevalent in places other than cruise ships. I think cruises have just 1% of the cases. You are much more likely to get it from health care settings, like long term care and hospitals, and restaurants and catered events. Another huge spreading event, if you think about it, is school and childcare centers. Cruising gets a bad rap because they are required to report it when it hits a certain threshold. Can it spread quickly on a cruise ship, yes. Is it on every cruise ship, no. Years ago we were on a cruise that had a newsworthy outbreak. The TV station met our ship as we were disembarking in FLL. All of our tablemates got it and we found out the cabins on either side of us did too. We did not get it despite eating dinner with our table mates and even spending several nights drinking with them in the bars.

Here's the information from the CLIA. You will have to do you own math. https://cruising.org/en/about-the-industry/policy-priorities/health/nororvirus-on-cruise-ships