NutsAboutGolf

If it's a banned item with a plug, there's a 99% chance it'll get confiscated if you try to carry it on

X doesn't care about backlash, they had no problem with cutbacks until "cookiegate". They bought back some but not all of their cutbacks. We can't deny X has somewhat been "royalized". There is no longer an X CEO at the moment, the CEO title was stripped once LLP left, as Laura is only the President of X. The parent company RCG is run by a former CFO who says during earning calls they're surprised by how they can increase pricing and there isn't a decrease in bookings. Royal Caribbean cruise line had a poll asking if would you pay for pizza. Two very bold statements. This is why it wouldn't surprise me if they mirrored MSC for only NEW cruisers, existing CC members are grandfathered

Corporate ignored my question of WHY it was throttled down. Seemingly, people just assume X can't reach sustained speeds above 5mpbs for some reason. Once Starlink went live on X, many ships were sailing full or very close to full and we have to remember the ship itself plus its crew also use the wifi. Many were getting 10x the speeds when it first deployed. As I stated before, we were on the Carnival Celebration in December 2022 which was their biggest ship at the time with about 2500 more total people than the X beyond and was hitting 40-60mbps

I said "probably inevitable" so was speculating; I believe it will eventually mirror MSCs loyalty program, don't cruise for a 2 or 3 years, lose status. Right now the casino status resets annually although the status has been extended due to COVID

It's probably inevitable that CC will eventually expire if requirements aren't met for NEW cruisers. Yet those who already have status will be grandfathered

I'm just pointing out that when starlink first deployed on X, people's SUBSTAINED speeds were well above 5mbps. When I was on the Carnival Celebration, I often hit 60mbps, always above 40mbps. IDK why people assume X's version of Starlink cannot reach sustained speeds beyond 5mbps. An one on one video call take a lot less bandwidth than an MS Teams call when you can have 100 participating, someone sharing their screen, multiple people talking and multiple people typing in the chat. MS Teams says 4mbps is required and I can usually connect but there are all sorts of issues with using it

We just got off the Summit two days ago, the buffet grill was indeed open for lunch and dinner but I have no idea if this is fleetwide

It goes both ways, technically, X is "UP TO" 5mbps...

For anyone receiving free room service, sounds like it was either a mistake or the staff being nice, regardless, free room service is the exception, not the rule

X seemed to have no problems with bandwidth before they throttled it down and other cruise lines with starlink also do not have problems. We were on the Carnival's newest ship at the time, the Celebration in Dec 2022, during football sunday in the BBQ/sports bar area many were streaming their games that weren't on the TV on their phones / ipads

The Summit cruise terminal used facial recognition so seemed to go pretty fast although we were I'd guess around the 50th people off the ship At the airport, we didn't realize the skytrain and shuttle routes only covered a small span of gates until we got there and looked at the map

We just got off of the Summit out of Miami yesterday, we didn't notice anything bad about the cruise terminal but absolutely agree that Miami airport isn't a pleasant experience. The in-airport train is running again and they have a shuttle but it's the only airport I've ever seen congestion at every checkpoint including 100+ people in clear. Miami is the home hub for American Airlines yet Atlanta is a much busier airport and the home hub for Delta yet somehow is less congested. There is the option to fly out of FLL and we will strongly consider doing so the next time we have a Miami cruise

While this will ultimately be a very good thing, it's a ways away and probably won't be cheap as they charge for check-in bags. Right now they charge $10/bag but this will most likely increase once the train is operational in Cocoa Beach. You can Uber from the Orlando airport to the port with a tip for about $65 all in if you avoid the increased dynamic/surge pricing while on the train you'd have to buy a ticket for each individual and possibly pay for checked bags

Cocoa Beach is nice yet I'm just pointing out, could one make repeated visits to the Kennedy Space Center even if it's just annually (rhetorical)? It's a bit of a pain to get to the port, shared shuttles are a complete wildcard to how long you may need to wait and private shuttles are expensive. You can uber yet there are data points of folks getting drivers who were upset they needed to drive so far. You also should book in advance to ensure you don't get high dynamic/surge pricing

Just a datapoint, of our 10+ X sailings since the restart, only twice including this past Thursday was the room not ready but they came in and said you can stay if you want. I'm not recommending people be hermits in their rooms but if one needed to take a quick shower for whatever reason, I'd doubt the stateroom attendant would kick you out

Celebrity/X replied on Twitter/X, they've repeatedly ignored my question of why the speed was throttled down but did confirmed the speed for premium is throttled down to 5mbps which we all knew

I feel the same. Once the food is cooked, room service requires only a food runner and buser while the MDR requires the M'D, Asst M'D, waiter/Asst waiter making multiple table visits, buser who may need to change table cloths which would need to be laundered, etc. X could encourage those to dine in as it could make the MDR a little less congested

They probably want MORE kids so parents will pay for the expensive goodies at CoCo Cay

I would imagine these prices are just an estimate but it does drive home the data point the faster the more expensive

I'm curious how it works with Starlink, it def had problems in the past

Delta was the most on-time airline at 84%. I say this right now from an airport lounge waiting for our United flight to stop being delayed. Every 20 minutes, "further delay" (lol)

“I bet it LOOKS like I’m really on a cruise ships balcony with a tropical drink in my hand, doesn’t it? These filters are getting so realistic”

Just adding another datapoint. The roughest seas I've experienced were the Med, followed by the Pacific, both the US coast and cruising from Vancouver to Hawaii

As you said earlier, you won't book the Connie out of Tampa because of its old age. I love the Tampa area, specifically St Pete Beach, and think the West Coast of Florida has some of the best beaches. However, most major metros have a Zoo, Aquarium, and dining; if given a choice, I'm not sure many tourists would prefer Busch Gardens over Universal/Disney. Currently, the Connie is sailing out of Tampa through early 2026

It's entirely possible that with the addition of sailing out of Port Carnaval, X stops sailing out of Tampa