yj_eugene

Oh, I did not realize Bermuda shorts are considered formal attire in Bermuda or anywhere else for that matter.

 

Well here goes a good thread to the toilet. Gonna turn this one into another "it's my vacation and I can wear what I want" thread.

Hopefully not. My question was legitimate: a dress kilt doesn't technically fulfill the formal requirements for Royal, but is considered acceptable. Shouldn't that then be true of all dress outfits from other countries? I'm sure a bisht and thawb, changshan or dhoti that also don't qualify would be welcome as well, so why not Bermuda shorts?

Still waiting to see itineraries for Maasdam "down-under".

And I the Oosterdam in Tampa. The longer they dawdle, the more I am considering booking a different line. 'You snooze you lose' applies to cruise lines as well as passengers.

I love seeing gentlemen from other countries wearing kilts and other attire that we regularly do not see here in the US.

If kilts are allowed, how about Bermuda shorts? If not, why is dress wear from one country OK but not another?

I have friends who use computers 100% of the time for business ... and do not want to do technology when not working.

Sounds like one of the anti-formal night arguments, just change "use computers" and "do technology" to "dress up" :)

We need a paper compass with the port authority information clearly printed. Also restaurant times as well

And one more thing: bar hours! They used to be in the Compass years ago, but then they removed them and say to either check your stateroom TV (only ever seen it there once) or a sign near guest services (again, only seen one once). I refuse to go on a scavenger hunt to find an open bar, so over the years they've lost revenue from me they could've easily had if they'd only print the bar hours again.

If you figure that there are about (currently) 38k cabins spread over 25 ships and something like 1500 sailings in a year across the fleet -- figuring in that the average cruise length is probably a week with some shorter ones interspersed. By those numbers there would be 57m reservations per year!

1500 sailings * (38k cabins / 25 ships) = 2.28m reservations per year. With 10m reservation numbers, that takes 10m/2.28m or about 4.4 years to cycle through them. If each reservation uses 2.5 numbers each time, per the TA info in an earlier post, then still each number takes 4.4/2.5 = 1.76 years to recycle. Even allowing for reservations that span multiple years, stockpiled NCC's, holds that expire, numbers that might not be issued (0000666 :eek:) etc, I'd guess that numbers rarely if ever would be reused within a year.

The fishing fleet at Cabo San Lucas all heading out together early one morning, and a school of dolphins right behind them looking for an easy meal :)

For each new ship we're on and each new port we visit, a refrigerator magnet and a couple of postcards. The magnets end up on our fridge or upright freezer holding the cards we got. However, at each new port we also get an extra card, write on it what we did there that day and our impressions of the area, then try to find a place to buy a stamp and mail the card to ourselves. It often takes weeks or even months for the card to finally arrive, and when it does it brings back memories of the trip, plus we now have a postmarked stamp as an additional souvenir (and occasionaly an interesting story of the adventure trying to find a stamp at some of these ports :)).

So it appears that the cruise industry has signaled that prices will start to increase ... It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

I doubt it'll work in the long run. The cruise industry is only one part of the vacation industry, and if another part of that industry sees this as an opportunity to entice some customers to forgo a cruise for a different type of vacation, I'm sure they will have their own discounts to do so. DW and I are taking advantage of some already, going on one less cruise than usual both this year and next and replacing them with land-based vacations. We don't have to be floating to be having fun.

You may have to arm-wrestle me for the big-screen remote control -- I need to watch the Cavaliers in the NBA finals.

None of the playoff nights overlap, so you can both watch your Cavs and cheer on Tampa Bay on to the Cup (no self-respecting Clevelander would root for a Chicago team of course :) !

⚡ Go Bolts! ⚡

If you are concerned about blisters on your feet, you would do much better taking moleskins with you.

Agreed. I always take two kinds with me: regular moleskin for normal use, and for days when I know I'll be out walking an extra long time, Dr. Scholl's Molefoam Padding. Excellent protection against blisters.

There was never an issue of having them in the hall ways there is always enough room

Those in wheelchairs and scooters may have a different opinion.

The entire crew just seemed stretched thin and cranky

Our last cruise was on the NCL Sun, and there was a thread on the NCL board about Royal vs NCL. To quote my own post:

"The crew on the Sun were smiling and laughing often, something I haven't seen on Royal in a long time. We noticed that there seemed to always be more crew around than we're used to seeing on Royal now, so our perception is that the Sun's crew hasn't been reduced to the point where they were overworked and unhappy like they are now on Royal."

Royal needs to take notice of these comments. It sure seems many of us have obviously taken notice of their staff cuts and the destructive effect its had on service and morale.

Also don't forget about the new emission control areas. Unless the ship is a gas turbine or has scrubbers installed, the trips up and down the river would have to be done using expensive low-sulfer fuel. There aren't many of them right now, so perhaps it's those that are more profitable being elsewhere, and once more of the fleet has scrubbers installed RCCL will be back.

There are a couple of RCI / NCL comparison threads here with some RCI regulars saying they really liked NCL and others saying they didn't really like it as much. But give NCL a try and see if you like it.

We're RCI regulars who were on the NCL Sun last month, and fishagan's comments are spot on. A few things I'll add:

1) The cast shows in the Sun's theater are a bit more "grown-up" (for lack of a better term) than Royal's. One even had a notice in the daily about it might not being for young children. Personally we liked that the shows weren't stripped of all their adultness.

2) There were a lot more activities, and a wider variety of them, each day on the Sun than we've almost ever seen on a Royal ship. There were always what seemed to be several things going on to choose from at any given time, even on port days.

3) The crew on the Sun were smiling and laughing often, something I haven't seen on Royal in a long time. We noticed that there seemed to always be more crew around than we're used to seeing on Royal now, so our perception is that the Sun's crew hasn't been reduced to the point where they were overworked and unhappy like they are now on Royal.

While for various reasons Royal will be still be our primary line, and we find distasteful that NCL has recently made changes and increases that guests past final payment have no choice in avoiding, we probably would still book another trip on NCL if it was the best choice going where we want to go.

Not sure why that would be required since the Passport Card is accepted for land crossings between Canada and the US.

The passport card is for entering the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda by land or sea. That is its only stated purpose. Whether it can be used to enter or leave another country is up to that country. While it's unlikely Canada or any other nearby country would deny access using it, they technically could, so I make sure to have my passport book with me when traveling to any other country, and from the sound of it the cruise lines want to make sure of that too.

Rangers won last night and are advancing. First question out of DH mouth this morning was if the games would be at the sports bars. We'll be on the Indy this Sunday.

Not likely, but you never know what's been negotiated between the networks, so I'd check with the sports bar each night just in case.

⚡ Go Bolts! ⚡

It's a combination, and if one factor is overwhelmingly favorable we'll give a bit on some of the others. In order:

1. Date - April/May and December/January are the best times DW and I can both get away from our jobs.

2. Length - Because of those jobs, all travel must fit into our available vacation days

3. Departure Port - Much prefer driving to a port here in Florida. Fly only if required.

4. Line - RCL 1st, HAL 2nd, NCL 3rd, then everyone else.

5. Ship - Prefer Radiance/Vision class size ships, and usually avoid the Mall of the Seas types

6. Price - Still want a good deal, but being DINKS give us a bit of flexibility

7. Itinerary - We'd love all sea days plus one new port, but the where isn't as important as where not: work.

Considering how expensive cabins are likely to be on it: mink :)

I never fully understood why-- such a great view. But if it was underutilized, I don't blame them for finding a new use.

They almost never open the bar in a VCL until 4pm or so, and I think that's the problem. It's a chicken and egg thing: they don't open the bar earlier because nobody's there, and nobody's there because they don't open the bar. I know DW and I have often went to the Schooner or some other lounge in the morning or afternoon because it was open, when we would have much rather gone to the VCL, but we sure as heck aren't going to waste half our time there schlepping drinks back and forth from another bar.

what if some unexpected international travel should happen?

Which is why I would renew as well. None of the ports you are scheduled to visit may require six months, but you never know what might happen that could change where you go. It is really no different than the endless "should I have a passport or not debate". 99.9% of the time it does not matter, but if yours is the 0.1% that it does, how much will you regret not having done what you easily could have to avoid the hassle?

Dress to the 9's every night if you wish

Please don't encourage this. That would ruin the ambiance of casual night by some not dressing to the guidelines:

- Casual: Sport shirts and slacks for men, sundresses or pants for women

The atmosphere of the evening and the enjoyment of my meal would be ruined by these people not being dressed appropriately.

I do like to dress up ... I think formal night is part of the cruising tradition, and I'll miss it on my upcoming cruise.

Question: what's stopping you from dressing up, 24/7 if you wish? There's no rule that says you can't. I'd say perhaps what you're really missing is other people dressing up, and if that's the case, then you may be correct that NCL isn't the right line for you.

How many would you want of the same ship?

Not all couples have exactly the same amount of points. In our case DW has 8 more points than I. When we hit our last milestones, she reached it on one cruise, and I on the next. Alas, the LA on my cruise refused to give me a block.

Many like to keep them as souveniers but they are still proof of citizenship even after they expire so you should keep them in a safe place.

Exactly. I lost my passport once, but was able to get a replacement quickly by sending in an expired one I still had as the proof of citizenship and identity along with my application. Now I keep a couple of expired ones in our safe deposit box just for this purpose.