ATG

1 minute ago, Ocean Boy said:

Thanks.  It is a beautiful ship... Except it is Odyssey. 😉😄

OB - have you seen the lady pushing a lavender stroller?  I just noticed it was a dog not a child!  Odyssey has a much different layout than Oasis class.  Finally today I feel like I know where things are.  We thought the English dinner was very good, but last night’s Mexican didn’t rate high.

I’m proud of myself for doing North Star.  I have a moderate fear of heights, but it didn’t bother me.

 The crew are extremely friendly.  I enjoy the captain’s comments when I can understand them.

11 hours ago, Ozark_Kid said:

Has anyone else noticed the house gas bill going up?  We are getting charged at least 40% more for gas than last year. 

Our son has a condo in Maryland. His gas bill is usually around $80.  Last month it was $160!

On odyssey in Aruba , the Dutch king is touring and his ship is right beside us.  They are following us to curaçao.  Several small boats guarding it, cars and vans lined up to take them to their destination.

22 minutes ago, Ret MP said:

Thalidomide is totally safe and peer reviewed (or whatever they called in back in the day) as a great medication, too.  I think I know some folks that would argue that.  

Thalidomide was not approved by the FDA for use by pregnant women.  An FDA employee named Francis Oldham Kelley fought against it and it was not approved.  Some doctors prescribed it anyway (it was available for other uses).  This is one of the cases the FDA uses with new employees to stress doing what is right, not what is easy.

Thalidomide is currently used to treat leprosy.

2 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Looks like Odessey will be the only ship at Labadee on Jan 30. I'm quite happy about that. 

That’s good news.  We’re on this cruise also.  I got a beach bungalow for Labadee to celebrate my birthday.  If you are near stop by and say hello.  (It’s my 69th birthday, so look for a couple of old fogies).  They were lots cheaper than the cabanas and I need the shade.  We’ve never had one before but the YouTube looks neat.

Anne & Dave

We were on Oasis one year in late January with a large group.  Due to dietary restrictions they shut down solarium bistro all week, only allowing their group in.  Since that’s one of our favorite places for breakfast and lunch we were not pleased.

On 12/28/2022 at 3:55 PM, cruisingator2 said:

Eight nights on the Solstice in a Celebrity suite was $600.00 less than seven nights in a GS on the Symphony taken four weeks apart. In addition to Luminae and Michael’s Club the CS on X also included gratuities, Starlink, $600.00 OBC and the (PDP) Premium Drink Package included in the price. When we price out both, Celebrity is always very close or better than RCI price wise. 

We sailed Reflection in a Celebrity suite and really loved it.  The bedroom was separated by a door which made it much nicer when one of us got up early.  The living room had a sectional sofa that was actually comfortable.  I did think that storage was somewhat lacking.

We stayed in one on Adventure this fall and really liked it.  There were only 2 of us, but having 2 bathrooms was still nice.  If these are the same, be aware that they are small bathrooms, not usual suite bathrooms.  There’s no tub.

We got full suite benefits on Adventure.  Including tendering.  The suite concierge was great and a big help with a problem.  I didn’t notice any excessive motion compared to the rest of the ship.  The first 2 days were rough everywhere.  We thought the location was very good.  Just one floor down to Solarium and Windjammer.  Lots more room than a JS.

Many years ago I tried an electric clock on a cruise.  The time was always a little off.  It was explained here that since they generate the electricity it isn’t always ‘even”.  There was a very technical explanation, but that’s the gist of it.  I bought a cheap battery operated one, but now use my phone.

31 minutes ago, as3369 said:

We sailed on Adventure last month to New England.  I found it to be a little boring and probably will avoid any Explorer class ship in the future.   We are Diamond members and the Diamond lounge was disappointing - service and quality of food not so good.

 

Couple of bright spots - the Bartenders in Schooners were amazing and the Casino staff were extremely friendly.

We felt the same.  After Oasis, Adventure seemed lacking.  We’ve decided that we’ll sail on newer ships unless the itinerary is exceptional.

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

Where did the cruise start?  Obviously at another US port, or there wouldn't be a PVSA fine.  But, CBP clears the "ship" and passengers for a partial "day" clearance, with the assumption that the same passengers would be on the arrival and departure manifests.  Therefore, they don't need to go to through customs and immigration.   However, passengers, once they set foot on a foreign flag cruise ship, and the ship leaves the 12 mile limit, have "left the US" and if leaving the vessel, will need to clear Customs and Immigration when leaving the vessel.

 

First off, your comparison to flying between Bayonne and Boston, you would have flown on a US carrier (as required by law), and if you had booked a cruise between Bayonne and Boston, that would have been on a US flag vessel (as also required by law), so no requirement for Customs or Immigration.  What most folks don't understand is the international nature when sailing on a foreign flag cruise ship, and that the ship is not part of the US.  Because the cruise included a foreign port, a foreign flag ship could do it, but you still leave the US when you board.

Thank you chengkp75, I knew you would be able to explain it.  I appreciate all your knowledge you have shared over the years.

 We are writing a response asking for mercy (or at least a reduction).  If it fails, I’ll just cancel a refundable cruise and give the money to the government!

3 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

CBP cares nothing about who the passenger was that caused the violation, the fine is levied against the cruise line.  It is only the ticket contract that allows the cruise line to pass the fine to you.  So, this will have nothing to do with the PVSA.  However, when your son left the cruise, did he clear Customs and Immigration at that time?  This could be a fine for illegally entering the country, if he did not.  You need to call CBP to find out what the fine is in regards to, and whether they were notified by RCI that a passenger was leaving the ship at that port.

I guess my confusion is that we hadn’t been anywhere except the ship, Boston was the first stop.  Why would you need to clear customs?  If you flew from Bayonne to Boston there would be no customs.  Why is it necessary when you are on a cruise? And everyone who went ashore didn’t go through customs.  It just doesn’t make sense to me.

I have a question/problem I hope someone has some knowledge about.

We were on the Adventure sailing to Canada & New England last month.  In Boston my son got a call and his partner’s mother died suddenly.  He left the cruise and returned home.  We paid $873 fine for violating the Jone’s Act.  Today he got a notice from CBP that he owes a fine of $5,000!  
 

I haven’t heard about this fine before.  Any chance you can argue or bargain them down?

Just now, smokeybandit said:

I never understood why people would pay all that money for a cruise only to want to not enjoy the whole cruise

In our case it was a personal emergency (a death).  Definitely, not intentional.

On 10/23/2022 at 6:42 PM, chengkp75 said:

They left at a US port other than the embarkation port.  That is why they were fined.  The OP wants to disembark in Mexico, so the PVSA (not the Jones Act, despite what the cruise line states) is not applicable.

Question for anyone.  When my son left the cruise early in Boston, RC charged us $873 for violating the Jones Act.  I was surprised at the amount, but was expecting a fine.  Today he got a notice from Customs and Border Patrol that he owed a $5,000 fine!!!  Is this right? Normal?  Can we request a reduction?  RC didn’t mention this and I’ve never heard about it before.  HELP!

We had a family member leave a cruise early last week due to personal issues (a friend’s death).  This was in violation of the Jones Act.  The fine was $873.  Ouch!

On 10/6/2022 at 12:11 PM, Island Dog said:

Thank you, ATG. I appreciate it! 😁

We have not had any soot issues this week.  Hope you have a great time.

We had an aft balcony on Mariner (deck 8) last May and had no problems.  We have another one next week on adventure, I’ll let you know.

We stayed at the Country Inn for our May cruise on Mariner.  Hotel was nice, but it was one of the worst included breakfasts I have ever eaten.  We agreed next time we’d drive down to McDonald’s.

We did the beach club last January at $79 each.  Lunch was quite good, loungers were nice and I loved the flag to indicate you wanted bar service.  But, I’m basically cheap (even though we typically book suites) and didn’t think it was worth it.  I could have used the money for a lunch onboard another day and still have some leftover.  It was nice to try, but I doubt we’ll repeat.

I got an email about this a few minutes ago.  But, when I look at the website it still shows the old info.

We’re on the January 28 Odyssey and the only things listed for Labadee are Barefoot Beach cabanas.  Nothing about the zip line or water park.  I’m not planning any of these, but I’m surprised they aren’t listed.

17 hours ago, Tee & Chilli said:

I was on Oasis a few years ago not knowing the sailing was booked with a large group in January.

 

Going forward I’ll stay far far away. 

We had the same experience.  One of our favorite restaurants is solarium bistro.  It was closed to us all week.

This seems to talk about the vaccine, does it delete the need for testing also?

We had a notification of possible fraud the night before we boarded in Port Canaveral.  We had driven from SC that day.  The card had been used at a Dominos in Pennsylvania.  The fraud person I talked to asked if we had stopped in Pennsylvania on our way from SC to Florida.  Obviously, geography wasn’t his best subject in school.

Luckily, we had another card.