Incognito1

I'm seeing a lot of cruises departing or ending in New York at huge discounts off the brochure price.  If you want less crowded on the ship, that might be the way to go.  Ex: 10 days in June for $399pp (inside) or 14 days in August on a balcony reduced again to $891.  Guessing those ones are not close to full.

The Caribbean cruises are not "discounted" nearly so heavily.

8 hours ago, BamaVol said:

 I like that the cheapskates have to request removal at GS.  I hope they at least get a withering look.

We generally prefer to tip people individually so remove the auto-gratuity.  Guest services has never asked about it nor shot us a dirty look.  Careful not to paint all people who do things differently from you with the same 'cheapskate' brush.

Thanks.  Princess is running a similar promotion and it's 3rd & 4th pax free regardless of age.  Decided to book there instead.

No, not going to fudge it.  Was just wondering if I actually booked it, would it charge the 13 year old as an adult.  Guessing so.  Too bad - she doesn't take up a lot of space, but I'm not really wanting to spend a full adult price for her.

On 3/22/2024 at 7:39 PM, TheArtfulPenguin said:

I didn't know they had photography events.  I also do photography as a hobby and feel you could always learn more.  What kind of events? 

 

p.s. my photography: HTTP://instagram.com/theartfulpenguin 

Your photography is beautiful!  You might not get as much out of it as we did :-).  They had a few small-sized hands-on events limited to 25 people and taught by one of the portrait photographers (not the annoying dressed liked an idiot ones at the docks).  He was young, but knew his craft.  One was in the studio all about lighting and another was about motion - for that one we took pics around the ship (few of which turned out well. lol)

When I'm looking at booking and put in 2 adults, 2 kids under 12, it's substantially less expensive than considering a 13 year old as an adult.  Anyone know if they actually care about the "kids" ages or if it's just a marketing thing?  Have you booked with the KSF promotion and brought teens?

9 hours ago, WisCruiser2 said:

Do you need more than a foot and a half on either side of the bed?

Yes.

If we're in interior, twins pushed against opposite walls - leaves more room for walking around.

We were on one where the enrichment talks were from a retired Canadian Mountie.  Really interesting!

Next best thing was photography events.  Although we're pretty decent photographers, we did learn some things and took some great photos.

We did one awhile back out of San Francisco.  Never again.  Not enough people had signed up for it, so Princess ran a "local special" discounted for Bay Area folks.  Ended up super crowded and full of rude, pushy people determined to get their money's worth by clearing out anything good at the buffet, hogging spaces, and just generally being nasty and entitled.  YMMV.

What worked better for us was to put the super strong magnet hooks on the ceiling and then hang swimsuits/gym clothes near the air vent.  Dried much faster.

Has anyone ever had GOOD experiences with EZAir?  After reading some of the horror stories like this one, I can't imagine ever using them.  We generally fly with changeable tickets on our preferred airline.  Might cost a little more, but not worth the potential headaches to save a few $.

Use the Brave browser -- then you don't get the popups at all.

We noticed that on our last cruise, every single offer in the International Cafe was either meatless or pork-based.  Every one.  No chicken, no beef, no turkey.  I'm guessing pork prices must've been down, but it was disappointing for what has traditionally been our favorite spot to have only pork -- and only cake or mousse for dessert.

Make sure you fill out your questionnaire (and return it within 72 hours) and ask for more non-pork offerings.

5 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

80% of the US population lives in cities. I don't consider the cities on your list to be large, nor for the list to be current. Cities like New York and Los Angeles are large.

It's from 2023.  But your point is well taken.  I'd assume that NYC is now in the top 10 (no source, just an assumption.)

1 hour ago, ReneeFLL said:

It’s nice to be without rug rats, so sorry, I meant little ones sometimes. Having a cruise line that doesn’t involve misbehaving kids has nothing to do with their values. 🙄

The two are separate issues.  That's why a period between the sentences, and why the second sentence begins with ALSO.

No children is a negative for me.  Also, we're conscious of where our money is spent - not going to Virgin.

On 2/12/2024 at 6:54 PM, BlerkOne said:

If they rated the US it would get an F-.

Port cities on the list of the most violent cities in the US:

Baltimore (#2), New Orleans (#7), Miami (#12), Charleston (#14), Norfolk (#43)

Outside of some large cities, the US is pretty safe.

Just now, BlerkOne said:

So much speculation, bias, and hearsay, so few facts. 

The linked UK Mail article does have quite a few facts in it.  Definitely made it sound like there were some shenanigans going on with the story.

On 2/9/2024 at 1:27 PM, Iamthesea said:

Did anyone notice that there is also a GoFMe set up for them?

Always a tip off.

Unfortunately, I have to actually sign up all four passengers to get the answer and I'd rather not do that until we're sure to go.  $749 for 4 people sounds like a "too good to be true" situation.  Can someone who has done this cruise give me an approximation of the taxes/fees that are additional to the fare?

On 1/22/2024 at 10:44 AM, KKB said:

Invergordon--did a Loch Ness/Highlands/Invernesss Tour via invergordon-bustours FANTASTIC

Completely fell in love w/ this area

So did we.  Just gorgeous and the people were so wonderful.  I recommend getting off the ship early; there's a bus tour company right outside the gate that's less than half the ship's price ($50, maybe?).  We were there before 9 and were the last passengers to get on.  Wish I could remember the name of it, but the guide was Lorraine.  Super smart, personable, native to the area and loves it.  Her narration was a highlight of the trip.  Did a few small stops, Loch Ness and a castle at the end.  The ship's bus was near us for much of the trip.  We beat it back to the port, so no worries there.  There's not a lot to see in the port town.

In Edinburgh, book your castle tickets IN ADVANCE at https://www.edinburghcastle.scot/. They limit how many people at a time and if you don't have a prepaid ticket, you may wait in a very long queue. We wanted to walk and see things, but even though we are relatively fit, it was definitely a hike.  If you have any sort of mobility issues at all, best to take the ship's tour.

On 1/12/2024 at 9:42 AM, cr8tiv1 said:

Arts and crafts used to have good crafts.  Mostly origami paper folding.  

Completely forgot about this. Origami for 10 year olds is NOT an appropriate cruise activity.   I write this up every single time, but it's cheap so it's not going to change.  They used to have really interesting stuff like painted ceramics, purse-making, bead crafts, scrapbooking, paracord bracelets, etc.  Now it's just crappy origami or "cross-stitching a card" from a crewmember who got stuck with it and doesn't know what they're doing.

Plus, in my experience, they never have enough time scheduled so they just leave you with the stuff and head off to their next thing.

My own experience is that the art auction is not what it appears to be.  They're selling reproductions of overpriced art, and during the bidding the auctioneer kept jumping the bid up with, "...and in the back, thank you" -- except I was in the very back and nobody was bidding it up.  Granted, some of the art is lovely, but you see the very same "originals" on different ships.  If sitting through an hour is worth a glass of cheap champagne, go for it.

The shopping show - "$100 same as cash" when it requires a $600 purchase is NOT the same as cash.  It's a coupon.  I've noticed that the freebies they hand out have gotten worse and worse, although there is usually one or two that are nice pieces of jewelry.

The spa giveaway - The last one was absolutely the worst.  Yes, they draw for "prizes."  On our last cruise, the winner of the $100 certificate told me that when she tried to redeem it for a $99 service, she was told that it had to be at least $100 (next level was $139) and that it didn't include the tip or extra charges.

The destination talks on Princess have mostly been talking up their unsold excursions when they have them.  OTOH, RCCL had an enrichment speaker on our Iceland/Scotland cruise who packed the theater every time because he was so interesting, knew his stuff, and was completely honest about the tours, even those not through RCCL

On 1/5/2024 at 9:37 PM, n6uqqq said:

You can sell the stock once you have the credit if you want. They won't recheck.

Unethical.