Mississippian

It's not optimal, but yes. But the ship isn't going to wait on you.

Are you required to "drop" a couple of grand? Is one allowed to get lucky? I always thought comps were based on theoretical. At blackjack a basic strategy player should only lose about one-half percent of action, but theoretical is between two and four percent. Frontloading the system seems like a good idea. Not sure how that would work on a 14-day cruise.

Oh for Pete's sake, it's worth a dime. I value the ability to have a seated lunch embarkation day at $20. The free bottle of wine is worth something. The extra Captain's Club points are worth something. The better cabin locations are worth something. Priority boarding (and debarking) and dining times are worth something. I've booked it for the first time and am looking forward to the daily canape tray, although I've read the negative comments, and am aware that I could just go to the buffet and make my own snacky-snack tray. I frequently see CC offered for very little extra money, and sometimes see it offered for LESS than a standard balcony. I think it's a good deal if cheap, not so much if a substantial surcharge.

In Paul Harvey fashion could you provide the Rest of the Story?

I upgraded on an October Silhouette trans-Atlantic and the cost was $9.50 extra per day, total. For Internet it was $13. I held off upgrading the Internet because I have serious doubts about how well it will work in the middle of the Atlantic.

I've done this with no problem, but my gut feeling is that a scribbled tag is more likely to get on the wrong ship then one that is properly printed in color.

That's why I like booking direct with the airline. I've never used a cruise line's air service.

I've had to wait a LOT on Princess, but the wait is usually pretty short and 20 minutes doesn't bother me in the least. Princess MDR staff doesn't put top priority on getting patrons a cocktail or glass of wine within a minute or two of sitting down, so when I had a wait I would find some place to have a glass of wine or champagne, and when my buzzer went off I would arrive at my table drink in hand. Slow drink service problem solved!

When Delta makes a substantial change to your flight they give you the opportunity to make changes, often at no charge. It takes about five minutes online, no need to talk to anyone. I get the Delta emails about flight changes, and often they are a 10-minute change. Far different than being told you are going to arrive four hours later than your original reservation.

This is why that have to pay substantially more than we Americans do for cruises. The government requires them to be more generous on refunds, so they make it up with increased fares.

I saw the prices on several Celebrity trans-Atlantics drop to below $500 for a few days about a month after final payment. This was without booze, wifi, or tips, and these inside cabins are now up to almost $900. Still a good deal, but $450 is better.

I was wrong on the roulette loss. It will average 10.56% loss to wash the chips. I don't know about the slot hold, but the awful video poker still returns about 94%. Craps is probably the best bet.

I agree, Celebrity is much higher on all their add-ons. On Princess you can get a bottle of Jim Beam bourbon delivered to your stateroom for about $18.00 for 375 ml, or $36 for 750 ml. On Celebrity the same bottle(s) would cost more than $100. Their specialty restaurants seem to be priced with the idea that they are serving you a $40 meal in the MDR, so for $29 or $39 extra they will serve you an $70-80 meal. I upgraded to the Premium drink package and found the upgrade price reasonable, $9.50 per day. The wifi upgrade was substantially more expensive, and I've resisted the impulse to upgrade. I like to be connected, but $13 per day extra on top of what I've already paid just seems pricey.

Do a search for "always included." One of the links will take you to a cruise search page that brings up all-inclusive prices.

If you re-read my post I gave the expected loss for one run-through of the money of eight to 12 percent. At blackjack or roulette the loss would be much less.

Or bring plastic. Straws are such a tiny part of plastic use that it makes zero sense to ban them before banning plastic bottles. Straws make up 1/250th of one percent of plastic found in the ocean. It is negligible beyond belief.

OBC can't be used in the casino?

A "bad" video poker paytable is usually better than playing a slot. Not sure given these dreadful tables. On my last Princess cruise I played on dime machines. It's fun to play for low stakes, even if the paytable is awful. I won't bet any real money on one of these machines.

More importantly, you can run it through the slots one time and cash out; expect a six to 10 percent loss. Or spend more time and run through it on blackjack or craps. With proper play, expect a one or two percent loss.

I never thought of this.

I really like this power expander and I don't think they would take it up. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ATZJ5YS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ADDENDUM: What I posted is technically a "surge protector," but I've never had any problem bringing one onboard.

I think this has happened to me. The way Celebrity does the accounting on their cruises is insane. I haven't called yet to see what is going on, but I intend to.

The Princess buffet isn't nearly as good as it was 20 years ago.

At $25 a hand it is likely to only take an hour or a little more to cycle through $500 in promotional ships. I would guess you need to give around $1,300 in action to lose the $500 in promotional chips. The expected loss at basic strategy would be less than $10, so it is a free $40.

I called today with questions about an existing cruise. Their recording apologized for my long wait, but it was fewer than five minutes.