Itried4498

We will be on the Explorer next month. In the app, it keeps mentioning Cruise Director Clo. Not sure if that's a generic placeholder or there will be a change soon :).

Some of these responses amuse me. No travel insurance will cover risky/ negligent behavior. Two people riding on a single scooter would almost certainly be deemed negligent, regardless of how careful these girls were (or weren’t) driving. Heck, iI’d expect that most insurers would deny the claim even if one person was riding the scooter, provided they were not wearing appropriate protection (helmet, etc.) Most policies will only reimburse and do not pre-approve any treatment. Reimbursement is limited to reasonable cost of care in the location. insurance is not a magic pill. As I mentioned earlier, it is illegals in Mexico to hold you “hostage” for payment. If you’re in a touristy area, it won’t be much of a problem to get the American Embassy involved. And since the hospital knows it will be difficult to collect once you leave, it will negotiate for pennies on the dollar. That’s what locals pay anyway. OR… you could purchase travel insurance, pay the hospital $20k… and find out that they will reimburse only $2k - which is R&C for the area. IMO, purchase travel medical only when traveling for extended periods of time (unless you’re high risk), avoid risky activity and self-insure (that is, save the money you’d spend toward insurance and pay out of pocket when necessary). Kinda reminds me of my mom. When my parents had their house built 31 years ago, they added a home warranty. They’ve paid over $10K for the home warranty through the years… had they put this money in a savings or invested it, they’d have $12-15k. I’ve been telling them for years they’re being ripped. Recently, their furnace died and the home warranty paid them $800. My mom’s declaring victory LOL.

I’ve been on a handful of cruises immediately following dry dock. None boarded early. Turns out, the crew isn’t that eager :). Not saying it never happens…

I doubt there will be an update. The story was picked up by a local TV station. A few industry blogs seized it as an opportunity to remind people of the importance of travel insurance (which they conveniently link to and conveniently receive a handsome commish from). It's not on social media, etc. where you would normally get updates.

We have no idea what events lead to this accident (e.g. were they responsible -- partially impaired, driving eccentrically, etc. -- or driving very cautiously and simply victims of an unfortunate accident). But we do know that they most likely on the same scooter together. Two people sharing an e-scooter anywhere -- but especially a place like Mexico where streets and sidewalks are just not suitable -- is negligent. I'm stunned by the number of responses from people who insist travel medical would cover this. Every few weeks I read about how some European tourist riding solo on an e-scooter here in West Hollywood got into an accident... and their supplemental travel insurance refused to cover it due to risk. But I guess two people sharing a scooter in Mexico is okay because US-based insurers aren't hungry for proits hahah. Guess that's why the news outlets that generally covered this story are blogs that link toward commission-based curise insurance... ever wonder why most travel blogs/ fourms are sponsored by cruise insurance companies? There's an old episode of The Simpsons in which a character Bill Gates declares "I didn't get rich by writing a bunch of checks." Like I mentioned before, medical is cheap in Mexico. Mexican hospitals cannot legally hold you "hostage" for unpaid debts. Get the American Embassy involved and you'll be free to go almost immediately. Since it's difficult for them to collect payment once you've left, they'll almost surely let you go for a partly sum that's a fraction of what they ask for. Hospitals haggle, like anywhere in Mexico. And it'll be cheaper than any insurance you could buy -- without the hassle of paying and seeing reimbursement. And hassle it'll be, since most of these policies only cover what's medically necessary. And what's medically necessary there... isn't the same as medically necessary here. This couple didn't need travel insurance - they needed to know their rights.

I didn’t assert it was the only time rooms were assigned, I asserted that by the check-in window, a room was likely assigned (even if not visible).

I doubt it’s a coincidence. Assigning the rooms at the check-in window (even if the room assignment isn’t visible) makes a lot of sense — few cruises are sold within the last few weeks before sailing. FWIW, last year we booked a Guarantee less than two weeks before the sailing (weekend sailing on the Navigator). We checked in immediately and while I didn’t about about the “trick,” the SetSail pass had the correct deck number and muster station. The Guarantee eventually displayed the room number a few days before the sailing. So, the room was immediately assigned. Also worth nothing that we purchased an Interior Guarantee, and for that sailing all interior rooms showed as sold out. The assigned room was an ocean view. Maybe if somebody upgraded from an interior to an ocean we would’ve been downgraded?

Thank you. I did such and the four digits after the hyphen on the SetSail Pass do indeed match one of the six rooms that showed available for the past few months. So, my hunch appears to be correct - RCL assigned the Guarantees at the 45-day mark.

I wish I could check-in right now, but this cruise requires a passport and we're still awaiting two to arrive (it's been over three months, so hopefully we'll get them any day). I will update this thread when we do! I did notice that the number of rooms dropped significantly in each category, so I'm pretty comfortable with the thought that the system "assigned" these rooms at the 45-day mark.

Medical travel insurance is generally extremely limited in terms of both payouts and the scope of what is covered. You'd have to pay a hefty sum for a plan to paid the medical bills in full for such accident (the article mentions that the hospital won't do anything beyond stabilize them since they lack medical insurance... even with travel insurance, it would cover nothing more). And the reality is that medical in Mexico is cheap -- they could negotiate the bill to less than what insurance would've cost them. They're young but obviously the smartest thing to have done would've been not to rent the scooter to begin with. If you think people drive aggressively in Florida (and they do), you haven't see aggressive until you've been to Mexico/ Latin America.

We booked a guarantee for our upcoming cruise. I've been checking on available rooms in our category since we made the arrangements about 3 months ago. Every week, there's about 6 rooms available -- the number has sometimes dropped as the promotion clock ends, but it has went back to the same six room assignments. This was true when I checked on Sunday. We became eligible to check-in on Monday. At that time, the category we booked began showing as sold out. It still shows as sold out. While possible, it's unlikely RCL sold all six remaining rooms in a day. I suspect that this is when the system assigned the remaining rooms to those who booked guarantees, although our room assignment hasn't displayed as of yet.

My favorite show, too, but it really depends on the interest of the participants. It seems interest in the game has waned through the years - plenty of near-empty theaters despite capacity sailings. Due to lack of participants, we've seen "newlyweds" that were in their 60s or 70s, "experienced" couples that were in their late 20s, etc. On our last cruise, a highly religious couple in their early 30s participated and refused to answer most questions. Lame.

And?

This topic comes up frequently. Here's the definitive answer: if you desire or require access to iMessage, you will need to purchase a WiFi plan. I've taken a lot of cruises and iMessage only occassionally allows me to send and receive iMessages (connecting to the free WiFi without a paid WiFi plan). On some cruises I've never been able to use the feature. Most other users' experiences mimic mine. Only a small faction have reported being able to regularly use iMessage without a paid WiFi plan -- and if they have a secret, we don't know it, and it's best not to share it anyway since Carnival would close the loophole.

It's in the leisure markets, which is the relevant piece to this market. Business and wealthy travelers are always going to travel up front between Los Angeles and New York, even if in less frequency. But the drop in demand to Florida, etc. is concerning. Spirit acknowledged it did not know if things would turn around, although it would operate as if they would.

Great post! But I will point out that earlier in summer, during their 2Q earnings calls, both Frontier and Spirit Airlines -- the nation's two largest leisure-orientated airlines -- reported that YOY ticket revenues had declined due to softening demand. As I mentioned earlier, demand is thawing throughout the whole travel industry. Price increases since 2019 are incredible -- hotel rates in certain segments within Hawaii, Las Vegas, Florida, etc. have literally doubled. It's hard to believe that this is sustainable over the long term. I'm in the camp that it was largely pent up demand, and now that Americans have went through their savings, prices will begin to stabilize -- and probably decline. Cruise execs who droll over the inflated price of a Walt Disney World vacation as the baseline will price themselves out of the market.

For a whopping two months (or one, depending on when the data settles). It won’t last. Since that announcement, fears of recession have eased, leading to soaring prices at the pump and surging rents in most markets (after previously stabilizing, and even decreasing). The key piece of information that just came out is that of consumer debt and savings rates.

It’s not just airfare. It’s been reported throughout industry journals that demand for airfare, hotel, etc. is softening. It’s not just the fall, either - early bookings for next summer are significantly lower than years’ past. Hotels are heavily discounting fall and winter travel. Not only are early summer bookings being offered at a small discount, but with far less restrictions. Since the pandemic, the lowest hotel rates in leisure markets have generally required some sort of cancellation fee. Status quo, most everything’s completely refundable. Again… post-pandemic, Americans had historically high savings. Right now, we’re approaching lows, with consumer debt (non-mortgage/ student loans) at an all time high. Travel is a luxury. One report said the majority of Americans cut back on spending in the past year so that they could contribute to travel. And now they’re broke. At the very least, we’ve probably seen the ceiling for pricing. The cruise lines can dream, but people can’t spend money they don’t have. Not to mention, if some people are squeezed out of the travel market, and land prices fall, will all these new cruisers continue to cruise? BTW, I’ve seen some steep discounts though travel agencies for Princess’ cruises during the fall/ winter. One Holiday itinerary we’re looking at is now over $1500 less (vs direct) for a family of four + includes a $200 additional OBC. So I wouldn’t be surprised if the cruise lines are already seeing demand weakening.

Carnival definitely offered bundled fares earlier this year. The promotion was open to everyone and was on their front page for a time. These were NOT the lowest fares, which the system defaults to. You had to scroll through the various fares to see them. Chrome doesn’t do that but Edge and Firefox does. And regarding NCL… they have free at see and non free at sea fares. The latter are not available on every cruise, generally show up later, but are far cheaper.

Traditional business travel hasn’t recovered since the pandemic and airlines have made it clear that they are relying on premium leisure. Gone are the days of the business traveler sitting up front, subsidizing the cost of those in the back. The market drives prices. Companies can only raise prices to the extent that consumers are willing to pay the price increases. And as I mentioned, the travel industry as a whole is starting to see softening demand. WSJ pointed out recently that cheap, close to home attractions are seeing demand spike. It’s not a coincidence.

It’s not limited to Disney. The whole travel industry is seeing softening demand. Airlines keep running sales — last week, American and United had fares from Los Angeles to Chicago for OW$75 (and $68 from Orange County), Miami for $69-$89, Boston $89, etc. Solid availability though January, except around Thanksgiving / Christmas-New Year’s. Consumer debt (non-mortgage/ student loans) is rising at a starting pace and data shows people have raided their personal and retirement savings. As I’ve written on here before, there’s just no way that airfares, hotels and car rentals are going to stay at the levels they’re at for the long term. The reason they got to the point where they are is because people stayed at home during the pandemic, enabling savings to reach historic highs. But that money’s been spent, and people are relying on credit cards to maintain their lifestyles. The primary reason cruise fares swelled to begin with is because they offered a lower cost alternative to a land vacation. But cruise execs are eyeballing prices at the most exclusive destinations and see $$$, even though most people would prefer those vacations over a cruise. There’s a very good chance that come 2024, we’ll see mass cancellations and lots of good deals, as the industry prices itself into a trap.

I don’t necessarily agree with that, Across the industry, we’ve seen prices continue to swell — for everything from the base cruise price to inclusions — despite cruise fares hitting historic highs. Obviously it’s not limited to the cruise industry — a client I maintain as a side hustle owns many apartment complexes and is shuttering many amenities even after rents have nearly doubled in 5 years. The thinking is with most communities having a waiting list to get in, why should I bother to spend on anything extra. Cruise liners would make everything a la carte if they could. For a few months early in the year, Carnival did bundle the drink package with its fares. The fares didn’t default to the package, so you had to look for it, but it was a good deal if you plan on getting the package anyway. On many week long cruises, it was $200-500 more for two drink packages + two soda package for a family of four sharing a cabin (Later the offer was restricted to two adults). NCL’s “free” drink packages would add $1600-2000 in “gratuities.”

Prices will continue to rise as long as people are willing to pay them. Carnival is definitely not pricing itself out of the market. Have you see the prices of land vacations/? Demand is huge — more people are traveling, taking more vacations than ever before. There was a pretty good article in Journal recently - 75% of 18+ Gen z traveled within the last year; over half traveled at least three times and the overall average was 29 days total. If you roll the clock back 20 years, those numbers were closer to 0 amongst Millenials. Similar trend with the Boomers. The article mentioned that nearly 4-in-5 households claimed they cut back on expenses to keep traveling. Demand to/ from Florida has softened, so maybe the market is beginning the peak.

Not sure why we bumped an old thread but… There’s nothing wrong with the Miracle or Radiance. The lion’s share of cruises in Europe and Asia are on older ships — Port Canaveral, Miami/Fort Lauderdale and now Galveston get the lion’s share of sailings on the newest — so unless you’re seeking out the new ships…. Some people are simply unsatisfied knowing that there’s newer and better ships out there. If you’re one of those book elsewhere. Los Angeles doesn’t command the same fares as Florida for obvious reasons, so historically we get older ships. We now have the Panorama, Princess’ newest ships and two of NCL’s newest ships sailing here part year, so things are looking up.

Yeah,. because people don't watch the same movies & tv shows again, go to the same live theater shows again, etc. When the Nutcracker and Christmas Carol play during the Holidays, it's always first timers. You're really grasping for straws here. Again, you're grasping for straws. The chairs were placed intentionally so that the space is flexible. Celestial Strings, for example, extends the stage into that portion of the auditorium. Most of the seating arrangement is traditional. And as I mentioned, Showgirls -- the ONLY production show on a 7-day RCL cruise -- is the absolute worst production show I've ever seen. Cruise production shows generally leave a lot to be desired and from everything I've read, the shows on RCL are comparable to Carnival, sans a few full production available on the Oasis Class ships. That certainly doesn't give RCL an *overall* edge. Only a few RCL ships have premium entertainment. But the premium entertainment applies to only a handful of shows; the overall entertainment program is very similar to Carnival. Odds are, if you're traveling RCL, you're going to get standard entertainment comparable to Carnival. Yet some members like yourself want to pretend these few shows represent the entire brand, which is simply not true. Carnival's overall entertainment program leaves a lot to be desired but so does RCL's. I'd give the edge to Carnival on most itineraries. Both cruise lines, BTW, garner premiums for their newest and biggest ships. That trend has been true for decades. If every ship were an Oasis, Excel, etc. there would be no premium. Supply and demand - those who are willing to pay more for the biggest and newest will seek those ships out.