DCThunder

I haven't Crossed the Line on a Princess ship (or on a USN vessel) but did become a 2X Shellback on HAL, including last month crossing the Equator on the Amazon River. On HAL, only the crew members had to undergo the initiation ceremony, although I did "kiss the fish" after the ceremony was over and King Neptune and his Mermaid Consort had returned to his watery realms.

My brother and sister-in-law are doing a Nat Geo/Lindblad "cruise" from Sitka in May. That's complete with the wet landings from RIBs and the long hikes in the rain forest. The trip ends in Juneau and he's then flying to Fairbanks for a weeklong land tour, including some hiking on Denali. He's a big birder so will be lugging his big spotting scope along. I'm going to be very interested in hearing how this trip goes when he gets back.

Thanks. I stand corrected.

Aren't they named Jackie and Shadow? I've watched those videos on YouTube. It's especially interesting to watch them in their nest completely covered in snow when the winter storms hit Big Bear. I didn't know that the eggs are infertile this year. That's a shame. I did see that ravens had killed their hatchlings last year. Nature is not kind. 😒

So can I assume, based on the photos in post #118, that a white dinner jacket would not be out of place on an Alaska cruise in late June? It's after Decoration Day, after all.

Since today is both Valentines Day and Ash Wednesday, this is appropriate:

Couple of tips: Find the Roll Call for the cruise you'll be going on and try to "meet" some of the other passengers on the cruise. You may find some suggestions for excursions as well (see next point) Check out such websites as Viator, Shore Excursions Group, and Tours by Locals and see what type of "non-ship" excursions they are offering that you might like to book. Often these are less expensive and in smaller groups than the typical Princess excursions. And they'll get you back to the ship on time, don't believe the hype that you'll be left behind. Remember that any on-board credit you may have can be used to offset charges for your coffee, cocktails, or wine, so it's not all coming out of you pocket. Have a positive attitude!

I was on Island Princess when this was being rolled out last November. The future cruise guys were selling this package hard on the ship and I overheard a lot of the sales pitch. In fact I was chatting with the head guy after he went off duty and he was saying that they'd been assigned a quota of packages to sell, which they were well on the way to meeting. 🤷‍♂️ They were pushing the benefits of the 7 day hotel stay to allow for a 7 night stay in European hotels before or after a Med cruise, for instance. They had a list of the hotels and claimed that they were all 4 star minimum hotels. (I never saw the list, however). There's also an option to pay the balance over time or in installments. If hotel nights aren't a priority for someone, I'd think this wasn't a good deal, just for a cruise. But it's legit, albeit not for everyone.

Well, it's not like Jamaica has suddenly become a crime hot spot in the past 10 years.

I certainly take your point.

Actually, that's not entirely true, at least according to the US IRS. However, since most crew aren't US citizens, they may not be paying US taxes. Tip income is taxable and must be reported | Internal Revenue Service (irs.gov)

I was just reading a news story about an American woman who was killed in a drug deal gone bad in Tulum, Mexico. She wasn't on a cruise, and I'm sure no one on a HAL cruise would be looking for illicit drugs in Mexico or Jamaica, but all it takes is being in the wrong place at the wrong time for bad s**t to happen.

What is the current "cause" that HAL is doing the "walkathons" for? Is it still Ukraine relief as it was last spring (March 2023) or have they moved on to another one?

What sort of entertainment has been presented on the World Stage? Boarding Zaandam on Saturday for the Amazon cruise and am interested in what will/may be available there on our cruise.

And you get OBC on the next cruise for using them. Depends on the length of the cruise as to how much OBC you receive.

It's even worse if you're doing 14 day B2Bs. You can sort of tell the cruise directors jokes for them.

Does HappyinVan seriously think that the only compensation for hotel department employees on a ship comes from the auto gratuity? That's the impression I'm getting from his posts and especially #144.

Isn't LGA the airport code for LaGuardia in New York? Sounds like they're gonna take you all the way home by bus. I hope you can hold your breath!

Ok, bro. Whatever you say...

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot! I have no clue what point you are trying to make.

You are absolutely correct. Compensation for crew is already calculated into the fare charged by a cruise line. So is the depreciation on the ship, the insurance, the fuel, the wholesale cost of the liquor, wine, food, electronic charts, and the pension for the captain and officers. The staff are being paid an agreed to amount for their labor. This is no different from any other employee of any business. Thinking that staff compensation isn't something passengers pay for is crazy.

I've only been to Princess Cay once and was not impressed with the facilities. This was within 6 months of the restart so perhaps that colored the experience.

1. No 2. Normal channels are fine 3. Not really 4. The TA should be able to get you in the same cabin for both cruises. Is it truly a B2B with two booking numbers, or a 14 day (or 28 day) cruise with a return to the home port, but only 1 booking number?

I saw a YouTube video the other day about portable routers. These could be hooked up to a single WiFi signal at a hotel or on a cruise ship and would allow multiple people or devices to be connected through that router. It seemed to make sense for times when two or more people were together in a cabin, but it wouldn't do much for walking around the ship or connecting in the buffet or a lounge, unless you carried the router around with you and set it up where you were. I found a thread from 2021 on the HAL boards about using these portable routers. The issue then was bandwidth and latency due to satellite internet limitations. With StarLink becoming widespread, I'd think that problem might be going away.

The one I had wasn't too bad. Certainly not a Crown Grill level steak (no smoked salt to sprinkle on 😒) but it wasn't a Golden Corral/Sizzler level steak either.