Tom-n-Cheryl

We boarded the Liberty yesterday for a quickie weekend sailing. I had booked using a casino promo offering (among other things) $1,000 in Free Play. We headed to the cage before dinner last night to get our $25 cash each (I hope they never bring back the BJ tournament!!) and pick up my $1,000 in promo chips. Since we were heading to dinner, I didn't want to lug around 40 $25 chips, and asked if I could get black promo chips. She didn't really directly reply to that, but started printing out receipts. We each signed for our $25, and then I signed for the $1,000 - and she proceeded to count out $1,000 in CASH. I've received promo chips plenty of times, but have never previously just been given cash - anyone else had such luck? Speaking of luck (not to jinx things... knock on wood, etc.. 😉 ) I have not yet needed to lay down those Benjamins, as we brought a purple chip onboard left over from our Celebration sailing in May - found it in my pocket after we got home! So, I sat down at the BJ table with that and "colored down" to greens. Fortunately, I was able to "buy it back" (it was the only purple chip in the tray) after about an hour - and building up to ~$1,500. As an aside, I must say there seems to be way more people playing at the $25 table who clearly don't understand the game of BJ - compared to 5-10+ years ago.... splitting 10's and standing on A-6, etc... If nothing else, it's amusing -- yes, that's the word I was looking for - not. The host onboard is on her game. She came by last night to offer dinner in the Steakhouse this evening. I thanked her, but declined as we had already booked all nights in there. She said "what about the spa"? Declined again, then she offered to send a bottle of wine to our cabin. I said SURE "how about a bottle of Freemark Abbey Bosche Cabernet Sauvignon?". We had already purchased one last night for this evening - so I knew it was a reach... Yep, she popped back on the scene within a few minutes basically saying it was a little too expensive. No worries, I said. And we settled on a Caymus Cabernet (I knew they didn't have the Special Selection version, as it was going to be our choice for night 3, but no dice). If I don't return tonight - I'll leave a WINNER.. yep... IF 🙂 Tom

We had 7 nights in the steakhouse, for two - thus seven @ $84. as well as an internet package... and a cabana rental at Mahogany Bay. Tom

I cancelled our November Pride cruise earlier this week. I had pre-paid for dining and excursions using the AARP cards. I just received 9 emails this morning, with a refund (new gift card) for each individual charge - so now I have a slew of $84 cards, right up to almost $400... money to burn ! Tom

I'm curious, when the merge occurred, was there a post from the mods to help explain the "situation" to people.. or was it like "let's just pull the lever and watch them squirm a bit"? LOL Tom

Good info - I'll be looking for that switch on the Rotterdam next year. I've never sailed HAL (as an adult), but imagine that there's NO WAY the announcements can be as annoying as they are on Carnival. I'm not aware of a similar option on Carnival - but at least wish they would not broadcast "inch of gold" or similar spiels over the PA when we're in a specialty restaurant. A "fine dining" experience should not include such, IMO. By chance, on HAL, are there similar venues which are free of sales talk or telling you about the events for the evening? Tom

Man ... what the HECK just happened. All of a sudden I'm part of a longstanding group of folks on this thread, LOL. We want our FREEDOM ... 😉 Tom

Yep - we purchased four $500 gift cards for them at $450/each.

My guess is that they're a good few years behind the curve on tech details like that. Tom

We did this very thing for our friends in Nova Scotia prior to our Celebration sailing in May. Tom

That sounds handy - I wonder if there's a similar Android solution. Up to now, I've just transferred all the info to a spreadsheet.

Yep - specialty dining all the way, we just factor that expense into the vacation budget. It allows us (generally) better food, service, and ambience - aka, no dancing waiters! Plus, I've saved a ton of money on my car insurance, errrrr..., "fine" wines (using the 50% discount on the first night and first elegant night - or whatever it's called this week). Tom

I agree that, especially on the Celebration and Mardi Gras, there are numerous quick food options that are superior to what I saw on MSC Seaside. Tom

Apples to apples (Carnival vs. MSC Yacht Club) is not possible - owing to the dedicated dining room which is offered to YC passengers. That dining experience is far superior to what we've experienced in the past on Carnival (MDR) - which helps to explain why we basically haven't enjoyed a dinner in the MDR on Carnival in easily 10 years (save one or two while on the hunt for prime rib)! Tom

Enjoy! 14 is our max to date (Reflection B2B last Thanksgiving). No matter how long the cruise, it always eventually ends... 😞 Tom

Thanks 🙂 It's actually a 4+3. I'm taking my office staff on the 4-nt sailing (~$380pp w/drinks and wifi), then we're staying on for the 3-nt. Tom

We've sailed MSC once (earlier this year). We were in the Yacht Club, and enjoyed everything about that part of the experience. The rest of the ship, not so much - but, we're giving it another try next April on the Seashore. Perhaps that sailing won't be like the Seaside - with a failing health inspection on embarkation day AND a large Expedia travel agent group which had (for them) all the specialty restaurants booked for every night - kind of like a ship takeover... 😞 Tom

Kids who don't yet have a fully developed frontal lobe - yet somehow they're not well represented in the stats. It's amazing many of us survived our childhood/adolescent years !! Tom

Dirty Laundry - Don Henley ...

... or ... foul play

Interesting article HERE. (Disney has the technology, but being the "happiest place on earth", perhaps they don't need it - unless you're being stalked by Mickey or something!) Tom

I didn't have the stats - mine was purely speculation at that point (saying they seem to be the industry leader). In a later post I asked if anyone had the stats. I did a quick search and found THIS (lots more out there). And, HERE'S another one. Tom

It may well be "an American thing"... dunno Anyone have the stats? Tom

Sad. And, equally sad, Carnival seems to be the industry leader. Perhaps it's just because Carnival has so many ships, so they're going to have this happen more often, but... Tom

Darn - sorry to hear that. I picked up a couple nice framed displays several years ago. Tom

Not a fan of Crown Bay - it just seems "removed" from much that I'm familiar with in St. Thomas. When we were there the last two times, I just stayed on the ship (Reflection and, can't remember!) Do they still have the butterfly place right at the Havensight pier? Tom