SargassoPirate

I always figured that cruise lines crank up the volume past 10 to cover up otherwise mediocre performers and musicians. It's hard to discern quality when everything is overamplified to simple noise.

COVID, nirovirus, Spanish flu, Russian flu, and all sorts of little beasties are everywhere. One needs to take responsibility for your own health. Wear a mask if you want. Wash your hands after touching any common use surface - such as a handrail or salt shaker. People cough for many reasons other than COVID. For example, a common blood pressure medication has among its side effects increased mucus production and a dry cough.

As long as people fill the overly amplified venues, there is no incentive for change.

"They make me buy a new outfit, and they let you in with a house dress. I don't get it."

Looks it's a hit so far. 🤣

I try to eat light in the late afternoon and evening, so I don't eat dinners in the MDR. I do, however, tip the drink servers a little extra with each drink. I find that even when they rotate venues around the ship, as soon as we make eye contact they hustle right over with my usual scotch on the rocks with just a splash of water. The tipping culture in the US is out of control. Why should I tip at a bodega when I grab my own groceries and carry them out? What's next? A prompt for a tip at the ATM?

Take a look at Princess Cruise Line's Emerald of the Seas cruise in 2025 out of Southampton in late September.

I've encountered similar issues on Princess where there are four elevators in a row and sometimes the arrival chime and/or light doesn't work. I split the difference and stand a bit back so that I can see all four doors. If another passenger comes along, I'll often say "You cover those two and I'll watch these two". I can still hustle along pretty well, but I can still miss elevator if Murphy's Law kicks in and I'm standing by elevator #1 one and #4 arrives with no chime and a fast door close. I can usually find a workaround for life's little annoyances.

I just booked the segment from Fort L to Sydney. After some time in Australia, I booked the Cunard Queen Anne from Sydney to LA for return to the US. No long international flights. With family in Australia, we always try to cruise at least one direction and when we fly we stop in Hawaii for a few days just to break up the arduous flight. We try to take a leisurely approach to travel and cruising at 18 knots is about as leisurely as one can get.

I use the credit card affiliated with my big box wholesale warehouse. I get a 3% rebate on travel-related purchases from the card. I book all of my cruises through their travel department and then pay with the affiliated credit card which, again, gives me the 3% rebate on the cost of the cruise. And to sweeten the pot, the big box wholesale warehouse returns whatever the cruise line travel agent commission to me at the end of the cruise. On a world cruise that bonus was close to $3,900 which is in the form of a "cash card" for purchases at the big box. And then those purchases count toward my end of the year spending rebate cash card. It's a win, win, win. Or triple dipping. AND, I totally beat the system by paying off the credit card every month and not paying any interest on a balance. You gotta take time to figure out what works for you based on your travel style.

Laura, I object to any post or discussion that promotes division - such as content directed toward a person or group based on race or "color". What does color have to do with cruising? Aren't we all just cruisers? What's next? Cruises for Jews? sargassopirate.

After reading the posts here, I'm looking forward to a voyage on the Queen Anne because in my view - how bad can it be? I booked the Queen Anne as a way to get back to the US after a land-based tour in Australia, so to me it's transportation. After more than 50 cruises on different lines - Cunard, HAL, Princess, NCL, RCI, Viking, Celebrity - I can safely say that every ship is different with a mix of good and not so good. Cruising is leisurely way to travel. I unpack once and my room moves from place to place. If I can find something to eat when I'm hungry, a quiet place to read, and a wee dram in the evening with some not-too-loud music, it's all good. And even a bad day at sea is better than a good day at the office.

AND, don't forget that Princess ships have guest laundromats. They come in handy on an extended voyage. Yes, I have free laundry services through their loyalty benefits, but I much prefer to do my own and have it done right.

Panda, I did the 2024 WC on the Island Princess and having sailed on the Coral in the past, the only thing I missed was the full promenade, which I made up for by cutting through the aft elevator lobby. The ship never felt crowded at all, enhanced by so many people bailing due to the itinerary changes because of the trouble in the sand countries. We missed some ports I was really looking forward to, but we also stopped at some ports I never thought I'd visit - such as Mauritius and Cape Town. Regardless of the things beyond the control of the cruise line, I still checked a full circumnavigation off my bucket list. The ship was in excellent shape, the staff were wonderful, the food was excellent, and the entertainment was very good. A big plus was the absence of feral children running loose. Even a bad day at sea is better than a good day at the office.

It usually takes me about three days to get from "No" to "here's your tokens". I'm currently on the world cruise and after a day one No, on day three the tokens appeared on the desk in my cabin. I just let the room steward know when I need some more, although recently because of problems with the token vending machines, the laundromats are free. To turn No to here's your tokens, I start with guest services, then escalate to the floor supervisor through the room steward, and then the hotel director. It's worked so far.

No separate suite lounge, but Elite, Platinums, and Suite guests have a dedicatedly "lounge" event from 4:30 to 6:30 in the Explorers Lounge on deck 6. They setup a small buffet with some excellent nibbles and often have a piano player. Suites also have an exclusive breakfast in Sabatini's each morning.

I dropped by the slots in the backroom area twice yesterday - a sea day - once in the afternoon and again in the evening. Each time there were maybe three to four people at the slots actively playing and smoking. They each had a ash tray, but there were no other ash trays visible. And, there was nobody just sitting around smoking and not playing. So much better than other Princess ships where smoke from the Casino drifts into the Piazza and Crooners and the staff refuse to close the doors to prevent it. We enjoy Crooners, but not when it may as well be a smoking venue.

The casino is adjacent to the Explorer's Lounge where the P&E event is held every night. I've never caught even a whiff of smoke when walking by the casino and that's at least twice each evening. Here's a pic to show how open the casino is to the deck 6 corridor.

I walked through the casino and could not find any slots or anywhere else designated for smoking. There are some slots back in one corner, but I didn't see any signs. There was a faint odor of old cigarette smoke in that area. I didn't see any ash trays either, so I don't know how they handle smokers there. Maybe I'll check it out some afternoon or evening and see what I can observe. Here's a pic of that corner area with slots.

Since I was up early this morning, I went on a quest to investigate the casino smoking issue. Here's what the Patter said on the first day of the WC.

The Island Princess casino is pretty much open to the deck 6 corridor and I have never smelled any smoke migrating from the casino and as open as it is, I would smell it. Churchill's on deck 7 just off the atrium is a popular smoking spot and usually busy. The only other place smoking is allowed is an outside area on deck 15 on the starboard side. Seems like the Patter had some information about the smoking venues, but being a non-smoker I don't recall the language. I'll see if I can get a photo to post.

I'm on the Island now. I've cruised on the Coral twice, so the Island felt very familiar on boarding day. I do miss the Vista lounge and the full wraparound promenade - and whoever thought replacing the Vista with cabins was a good idea should be busted back to designing bus benches for a living. That being said, I never have trouble finding a quiet spot to read - something that's disappearing on the larger ships as somebody thinks we need to be blasted with music everywhere. The Plaza is a nice area to relax and listen to some acoustic guitar or strings in the evening and able to actually converse with fellow passengers. The casino is smoke free and this smoke does not migrate from the casino to other areas. The Melanoma Deck is plagued by chair hogs with no enforcement, but I prefer to remain cancer free and leather-skin free, so I avoid that area in favor of the solarium pool. The ship is in good shape and looks better than some younger ships I've been on. The crew is constantly doing maintenance and cleaning. The food in the MDR is second to none, so much so in fact that I sometimes eat all three meals there rather that compete with the walking dead, zombie apocalypse crowd in the Horizon Court. In a nutshell, it's a wonderful ship and I would rather sail on the Island or the Coral in favor of the newer ships. JMHO

Can you provide the section of SOLAS that mentions kettles? Seems odd that if they are such a fire hazard that they are provided in the UK and OZ market. I suspect it's an revenue hazard and not a fire hazard in the other markets.

Once you've seen it in action, that's enough. I do enjoy watching the staff set it up, but skip the actual event. I wonder if people ever look at those photos again?

or not gender neutral. 😁