SargassoPirate

Good thing they don't do that with the MDR meals! Can't imagine cooking one burger at a time with a line. I think I would seek out a supervisor.

We don't cruise to shop or gamble and SWMBO adds drink to that list. Nor do we cruise to be on a floating county fair with rides or a water park. We do enjoy being at sea, visiting different ports of call, reasonably tasty and well presented food, a smiling crew, a real promenade, and some reasonably amplified music in the evening with which I enjoy a wee dream or two. If we encounter something that is unsatisfactory, we let the crew know about it and if it is not corrected, we mention it on the post cruise survey. Of late our complaints have been oversimplified shows in the theater, the piazza being turned into a rock concert venue in the evening, and mobility devices parked in the fire exit corridors overnight. Given similar itineraries, Princess wins with us.

I'm one to find a workaround on things and I tried one that worked on a recent cruise on the Regal speed things up in the MDR. Very simple. SWMBO and I ordered our starter and main and requested they be delivered at the same time.

Or, don't worry about any of the above. Just show up at the port with your booking information and you'll be processed on board fairly quickly just like the olden days. I've done that on six cruise since the restart. Weigh this approach to how much time and angst you spend trying to get a wonky app to work.

For show repairs I carry a tube of some really good all purpose cement/glue, sort of like Shoe Goo but not as thick. On our most recent cruise one of my sneakers started to come apart. Half of the sole was flapping. Got back to the cabin and glued them back together, held them in place with some thick rubber bands that I always carry, and let them sit overnight. Good as new the next day and I still wear them. Reattached the soles on a pair of boat shoes several year ago and they're still holding. "Be Prepared"

I booked a Have It All cruise on HAL, so maybe I can.😉 Seriously though, the lights were on a simple switch before some genius who never cruises came up with the idea that we all needed a motion sensor on the light. The first time I encountered the motion sensor light, I reached up, gave the fixture a twist so that the housing dropped down, and unplugged the sensor itself. That disabled the light completely so I came up with the painters tape.

Why not just a light controlled by a switch? Off when you don't want it. On when you do. This whole motion sensor light changeover appears as if someone got to sit at the big table and had to justify their position with a new whiz bang project.

Generally I agree about passing judgement on a cruise line based on a single sailing, but after 7 days in the NCL prison ship called the Epic, we vowed to never waste our fixed income resources on NCL again. Worst cabin design we've ever seen, topped off by indifferent service from the crew. Princess, Cunard, Viking, HAL, and RCI work better for us.

Just what I need, another tote bag. 🤣

Thanks. And yes, it's Zaandam. I've already picked the perfect solo inside for the cruise and don't want an upgrade. The separate dining area would be a nice perk since I don't like the loud MDR dining experience, but I can usually find a workaround there.

Probably we have all read extremely negative reviews of a particular cruise that we were also on and had a totally different experience. It could be part of the learning curve on when and when not to book a cruise, expectations fueled by commercials and online ads, the level of someone's sense of entitlement, and a host of other possibilities. We slowly learned to avoid ships designed to be floating county fairs with rides, cruises when kids are likely to be out of school, ships without a full promenade, and lately Princess ships with an Atrium large enough to serve as a rock concert area. Give me a full promenade, someplace to get something to eat when I'm hungry, some entertainment that is not deafening, a wee dram or two in the evening, and I'm good.

I have a cruise booked on HAL with the Have It All Package on the Vandaam. I looked into Club Orange but can't see any utility to adding it. Am I missing anything? I don't need to be first on and first off the ship.

I can usually find a work around for most obstacles. Back when we first started cruising and WiFi minutes were very dear, we would compose the body of the email we needed to send as a document, then open wifi, open our email account and do a cut-and-paste of the document into the email draft and hit send. We could stretch whatever the basic plan or our minute allowance was to last the cruise - even when they slowed down the speed so you would burn up more minutes. Don't mess with someone from a long line of Scottish Hillbillies.

I agree that the perks with Royal Caribbean are better so far as alcohol consumption, but they also have more feral children than we encounter on Princess and Princess has guest laundromats. Princess wins

Mobility devices parked in the corridors (paths of exit travel) are a bigger fire hazard that door decorations. Even if a door decoration was somehow ignited, it is highly unlikely to cause a conflagration. Blocked exit paths, though, can cause a disaster. I report them when I find them.

Royal Caribbean rolled out a new level above Diamond Plus several year ago and dubbed it "Pinnacle". I've heard several folks call it "pinochle" .

We have achieved Elite on Princess and Diamond Plus on Royal Caribbean not in pursuit of a status level or perks (although the perks are nice) but by sailing for the itineraries and to be at sea. Early on in our cruising "careers", a fellow cruiser at our table who was at the top level summed it up nicely by saying "All the status levels show is that you've spent a lot of money".

Thanks reedprincess and EconDoc. I keep putting the pencil to it and just can't make it work for me. I only have a wee dram or two in the evening. I'll stick with my a la carte style of cruising for now.

Same here. Seems to be ok so far. I'll keep the old one installed until I'm onboard. Never hurts to have a backup.

If one is sailing in just a few days and the old app is working, is there any reason to upset the apple cart at this point?

Have you ever known of a discount if purchased on embarkation day?

The check is in the mail, I'm from the government and here to help you, and the new app will fix everything.

Doing what we want, when we want, and trying spend our kid's inheritance. Right now I'm enjoying my morning coffee in my favorite chair, reading a newspaper, and listening to the traffic backups that I'm not in. Like NSnJW, I take long motorcycle trips, although camping out with minimal gear is less appealing than when I first retired. I've restored several classic muscle cars since I retired, the profits from which have gone toward our Pirate Fund For Better Living. Every day this side of the grass is to be savored.

Correct. At Pirate Manor, we rejected Medicare when we hit the magic age and kept our Blue Cross/Shield coverage because of better coverage and international coverage. We've run into lots of retirees who think it's mandatory to sign up for Medicare and then ended up having to add supplemental coverage when they could've maintained their previous coverage. Just like with anything else in life, you gotta put the pencil to it.

Good point about health insurance, Hank. Medicare doesn't cover outside the US.