Kenito

In the hetero world, an upside-down pineapple indicates to 'those who know' that there are swingers present. Apparently very effective on cruise ships. They put decorations on their doors, wear an enamel pin on a collar, or clothes with pineapples... although that is easily confusing. Gay men, at some point, have used pink flamingos. But they are also easily confusing because it is not as commonly used. Heteros have also appropriated the flamingos. Is anyone here aware of a subtle, physical symbol of being gay and interested in hooking up... say on a cruise ship? I've Googled it and decided I needed help from 'those who know.'

We're not much for dancing so I can't really address that issue, but to be honest most folks didn't notice us. We just go about our cruise, acting super friendly, saying hello, opening doors, holding the elevator and I imagine you could hear the wife saying as they walked away... "oh those were two nice boys." And no, I don't consider myself a 'boy,' but I can imagine!

My partner and I will be making our first Atlantis cruise, October on the Mexican Riviera. I'm the older in the partnership and a little nervous, but giving it a whirl!

See you on the November 26th sailing?

We will be sailing on the Carnival Vista, 11/26/22, out of Galveston and going on the Hope Eco Tour in Jamaica, Snuba in Cozumel, and Taste of Caymans. Anyone else want to join us? Check us out in the Havana Cabana area... our Headquarters! Ken, Ed, Alex, and Harry

Don't know about anyone else, but there will be at least four of us on this cruise! See you in the Havana Cabana area for sure. 🚢 We will be on the Hope Eco Tour in Jamaica. Where you going in Cayman and Cozumel?

Bumping! I hope it won't be as lonely on the cruise as it is in this forum!

Yes... and they all hang out at cruise ports with a hangman's rope.

125 days until we set sail gentle people. Landing in Houston from San Diego, shuttle to Galveston, cute boutique hotel... ready to go! Still a bit unsettled about the Covid tests reported on time, but it will all come together. How are you handling it?

We will be behind you... ahem... on November 26. Hope it's wonderful!

We will be on the November 26th sailing. Carve your initials someplace we can find them!

lol... yes, thanks for correcting me. But I did say "perhaps." And if one invests so much of their net worth in CCL stock, or any volatile stock, that losing it causes a major heartburn then 'perhaps' one's investment strategy needs a review.

I am a long-term CCL stockholder. I should have sold enough to recoup my initial investment when it was in the high $70s and be trading for free, but did not. CCL is not the only stock I should have sold high... 🙃 but among the many gifts God issued to me at birth, a crystal ball was not among them. In my portfolio of real estate, retirement mutual funds, small roll-over IRA accounts where I trade, CCL is not the focus, but the good thing is that it has been mobil and I expect it to remain that way. Now may be the time for some quick buys and sells as it moves. Friday I moved just 10% of my other mutual funds into cash. Starting Monday I'm going to be watching CCL and taking buying opportunities. If it goes up to $12.50 from Friday's close, that's a 30% increase. $12.50 is not an unreasonable goal within the reasonable future. CDC could make a favorable announcement and 30% could be an easy goal to meet. I can put in a sell order and wait... 30% is not bad. Even with terrible losses in my CCL stock, the long arc has me still with a 36% increase, so I'm not in a sweat. I'm not saying this to prove myself a wizard, nothing like that at all... and I'm not, to be sure. But it is my perspective. My daddy said, "you never lose money making money." So buying is not a permanent decision. Buy and enjoy being a stockholder of something you really know, follow, and enjoy! Ride out the low points and take the long-term view. I think CCL is a good stock to practice this in... but I'm just an amateur.

You are doing a good job at dollar cost averaging.

Another question, I have booked and paid for another stateroom for other passengers, in their names of course. But since I am paying for the stateroom, may I claim the OBC? (I presume the OBC will be applied to their stateroom.)

Since CCL is at a low, perhaps the only way to go now is up!

I'm curious too! Sailing on the Vista in November... in a Havana Cabana! From Crazily dot com Case in point: Carnival Corporation — the parent of Carnival Cruise Line, Princess, Costa, and others — just released a quarterly update to investors. Within that update, the company says that as of now, 75% of its capacity has resumed passenger sailings. However, occupancy — the number of people occupying available cabins — is still relatively low. In the first quarter 2022, Carnival Corporation said its occupancy was 54%. For comparison, the average occupancy in 2019 (the year before the health crisis) was at 106.8% across all its ships. A figure above 100% means some cabins had more than two people, such as a family sailing with kids. “During the first quarter 2022, as a result of the Omicron variant we experienced an impact on bookings for near-term sailings including higher cancellations resulting from an increase in pre-travel positive test results, challenges in the availability of timely pre-travel test, and disruption that Omicron caused on society during this time,” said Carnival Corporation Chief Financial Officer David Bernstein. “All of this inhibited our ability to build on our cabin occupancy booked position for the first quarter 2022, during the first quarter, resulting in occupancy during the first quarter 2022 at 54%, being lower than the 58% occupancy we achieved in the fourth quarter 2021,” he added. At first glance, that sounds like Carnival’s business took a downturn. In reality, the company carried over 1 million passengers, marking a nearly 20% increase from the previous quarter. With more ships back sailing, the company was able to carry more passengers, despite the lower occupancy level. Occupancy Trends Improving Quickly… With More Spending The good news is that as Omicron subsides, the outlook is improving. Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald shared that in March so far, occupancy levels are closer to 70%. In addition, the company has also seen more than 40 sailings with occupancy of more than 100%. On top of that, Carnival says that recent weekly bookings have been at higher volumes than at any point since cruising restarted. Assuming that there are no more serious waves of Covid, it certainly seems that the days of ships sailing at sharply lower capacity may be near their end. If so, then the fortunes of companies like Carnival could see a dramatic turnaround. For instance, in the most recent quarter the cruise giant reported a loss of $1.9 billion. That’s in addition to a loss of $9.5 billion for 2021. However, as more passengers come back to sailing, they are opening their wallets wider. Carnival says that revenue per passenger cruise day was up 7.5% during the most recent quarter, driven by “exceptionally strong onboard and other revenue.” “As we get to full occupancy, and we carry more kids in the summer, you could see the per diems maybe will change a little bit,” Donald said. “But overall, the spending is significantly up and has continued to be so far.” In other words, if cruising can continue its comeback without more disruptions, then full ships with passengers spending more money points to better days ahead.

If paying CASH, then the AARP option is best. If using credit, then option 1. However... ...during Covid I booked far in advance, and for that reason I chose the zero interest monthly payments Carnival offers. (I don't want another credit card. Just my thing.) Also, since I am booking far in advance, I wouldn't want to pay for the AARP option in advance unless I was in a CASH position to do so. So, cash is the only effective way to benefit from the AARP card... for me. My reasoning is 'who's to beat zero interest?' (for longer than the Carnival card intro 6 months), and it is automatically charged to my AppleCard, 2% back, + other benefits, which may or may not be part of the OP's planning. So, I can get the 2% without adding another card. The 10% discount is excellent but isn't that only for Carnival excursions? We can usually save more than 10% doing our own thing... but we do book Carnival excursions when concerned about time, etc. As the old saw goes, "Why doesn't every American own an elephant? No one offered to sell them one for a dollar down and a dollar a month!"

For those questioning the Verifly requirements, I contacted them and received the following response. I think it may answer some, but probably not all situations. But they do respond via their website. "Please take note of the requirements: The dates from the drop-down menu for the test result are directly related with the vaccination status of the passenger. If your initial vaccine was Johnson & Johnson, and you were vaccinated within the last 60 days, users get a 3-day testing window. If you were vaccinated more than 60 days ago, and you have a booster, users get a 3-day window. Otherwise, you get a 2-day window. If your initial vaccine was something other than Johnson & Johnson, (Pfizer, Moderna, etc.) and you were vaccinated within the last 150 days, users get a 3-day testing window. If you have been vaccinated more than 150 days ago, and you have a booster, users get a 3-day window. Otherwise users will get a 2-day testing window. If a user who meets the 2 day testing window requirement tries to submit a 3 day test, they will receive the message that the test can only be submitted 48-72 hours before the cruise. For more information on VeriFLY, please check out our Help Centre. If you have any further queries, please let us know and we'll be happy to assist! Kind Regards, Daon Customer Support"

Not to ignore anyone's feelings on the subject, but I just have not experienced the negatives expressed. That doesn't mean everytime I tried to nod, smile, or say hello I got a response, but that happens in everyday life and I don't let it get under my skin. I say hello a lot and am generally friendly to all. Some people, some cultures, simply don't make eye-contact but I don't think they mean anything by it, gay or straight. Hooking up works well in our imagination, if one is inclined, but it rarely works on or off the ship. Rare are the occasions, only once in my experience w/ a pax and once with a crew member, due solely because of a unique cabin location. A once-in-a-lifetime circumstance I'll venture. I guess my point is it seems we put a lot of pressure on ourselves because we think we're expected to do something a certain way when in reality we should be ourselves, our most friendly selves! Not drinking is almost the fashion these days, but the only place that doesn't require additional staff attention is a bar if we want to meet... and I enjoy the camaraderie of meeting other gay men anywhere. I'm partnered, and we are pretty fussy about hooking (rarely if at all) up so it's really not an issue... just enjoy new associations. Cheers, y'all!

What information/suggestions does anyone have about any Rum? Where to buy, how'd you get there, etc. TIA

That's good information. Just FYI for others, I live in Mexico and have regularly purchased some medications in Mexico for many years. Others, it's cheaper to pay the co-pay. But if you are uninsured or not sure, check it out and make your own decision.