evandbob

I was walking by the Bolt entrance on a port day and was asked by staff if I wanted to try it.....no line, no wait, I was their only customer. I think it was Punta Cana.

There's a thread on a different media group about a current sailing that received a letter stating there were too many Diamond/Plats on board so they were suspending certain perks like priority boarding, past guest party, diamond captains lunch/brunch, etc. Too much of a good thing became commonplace??

If there is congestion on the 5th deck aft due to picture taking, etc., a little detour through the 4th deck can bypass the crowds. So if you're in the aft dining room on deck 3 and want to get to the casino or forward theater, go up to deck 4, walk through the club, exit thru the right hand aisle and when you get to the stairs/elevator, go up one deck to the rear casino entrance on deck 5. Works in reverse as well, of course.

The Mardi Gras had a large separate area set aside for smoke free gambling.

$3750 on a quarter machine maybe 18or 20 years ago. Had several $2500 hits throughout my sailing days. I would average at least 1 taxable win per year over 15 years. On a recent million dollar slot promo on Mardi Gras, the slot limit was raised, in some cases to $38 or $40, and we saw numerous jackpots over $10,000 every night. Carnival had staged teams standing throughout the casino to handle the high volume of IRS reportables. Unfortunately we were not that lucky.

Casino bookings are generally controlled by the casino club, so direct communication with them, preferably on the phone, is the best way to get info. Online imaginary bookings will not show all the cabins set aside for special casino bookings. These have been removed from general listings.

It might be underwhelming if you sail the Mardi Gras and Celebration and then go back to the Conquest class. I prefer the new ships and have basically stopped sailing anything older than the Magic class, YMMV.

I prefer Grenada, Barbados, St Kitts St Lucia and Antigua or Sint Maarten from SJ.

It's pretty hard to cash a $2 bill in a foreign port, some places it's impossible. But staff will still smile and give profuse thanks when they receive any gift, it's part of their training and expected reaction. Prepaid tips, extra cash if warranted and 10's on post cruise surveys next to their name are the best way IMO, to show appreciation. No candy, bible, comb, etc.

Hearing reports of "cartel violence in Mexico" and avoiding ports on the ship's itinerary is like hearing about mass shootings in the USA and avoiding embarkation ports and not cruising because of those incidents. IMO, senseless. Use situational awareness in any port city - in Mexico, in the USA and worldwide !!

Let robots remove personal items from unoccupied chairs - see my reply under the current thread about robots on a cruise.

Put robots poolside and have them time how long empty chairs stay unoccupied with personal belongings on them. When the time limit is reached, the robot can remove the articles and place them in "storage". If someone is angry about their towel or book being moved, they can argue with the robot.

Plastic takes a gazillion years to decompose in water, so it'd be an environmental hazard, right? Glad someone remembered Seinfeld's whale.

Appreciate your comments !!

Thanks !!

Yes, we've even seen pics of luggage floating between the ship and the pier. Something that happens to someone else, haha.

Yes, thx...... just figured it'd never happen to me, haha. of course when I walked it on myself maybe 55 + times, yeah it never got lost then......!

i had walked my Delsey on board probably 55 times already, but old age , cardiac issues, bad back and hips now "gang up" on me and make the incline embarkation unbearable while toting even such a small and light weight bag. When I need a wheelchair to get up the ramps, I'll probably be sailing Holland. So, despite your claim, there is indeed a need for me to check my luggage. My original question was: Anyway have any experience with lost luggage post pandemic? Thx!

{I went back 5 pages of threads, and didn't see a related posting.} We drove to Ft Lauderdale seaport from Ft Myers last Saturday, March 25, to sail the Apex. At the designated luggage drop off area outside pier 26, I removed our 2 bags, gave the licensed porter a $5 tip, and saw them loaded on a trolley. Apex was the only ship serviced from this drop off site. After muster and lunch, my wife's bag delivered to our balcony cabin, but my 21" Delsey did not arrive. Wasn't there pre dinner, so around 7:30PM we notified guest services, who accompanied me to the 2nd deck luggage holding area, but we could not find my bag. I went to MDR dinner in my shorts and tee that I had been wearing on the drive to the port. The next day I filled out and filed a preliminary report, the a second lost property detail account 24 hrs. later. Guest services gave me two white tee shirts and a disposable toothbrush and razor. I went to dinner that night in the same sox, briefs and shorts I wore when driving to the port, but with a new clean white tee. Still no sign of my lost bag. For some reason, guest services kept asking me about what airline and airport we used to travel to the port, even though both missing property reports indicated that we drove. On Tuesday evening, at our 1st port of San Juan, we were finally able to go shopping and get some replacement attire. Marshall's had briefs, tees, polos, shorts, and sox, as well as a bathing suit, but no long 42" dress pants. It took some searching, but we finally found one pair which cost as much as all our Marshall purchases put together. I continued to get follow up reports from guest services, They did a full ship search again as well as had the port embarking station searched, but no bag. I was not given any OBC or ship credit to use for buying attire in the ship's stores, nor any "goodwill" gestures like a comped specialty dining meal, but I did receive a ticket to have 1 clothing item cleaned free of charge. (as "elite" I get 1 bag of free laundry anyway). GS continued to ask me about airlines and airport though. On the last day, I was given an 800 # to call after arriving home. That phone call led me to an on line claim form to be filled and filed. Hopefully I hear a response sometime tomorrow. We do have an annual travel insurance policy, and I'm guessing I'll get a final resolution from them, rather than Celebrity. We have experienced perhaps 65 cruises, approx. 15 on Celebrity, but this was the 1st time we had luggage missing. Anyone else have a similiar post pandemic issue? Is my report typical?

Your signature says Tampa, so however you feel at home on June evenings should be similar to what you'd feel on a cruise ship in the Caribbean, minus the sea breeze.

Seaweed has been enlarging its territory as the oceans warm for the last decade at least. We've already been to beaches in PDC, DR, St Marteen, St Thomas, etc. where the water was inundated with the scratchy stuff, and made it miserable to enter. Sometimes only 1 side of an isle is affected, while tides and wind have pushed the stuff to aggregate, while another beach down the road a piece is unaffected. However, this "blob" seems to be hyped up - if it hits Florida or Cancun, there goes the tourists dollar!

We pack the night before we travel, and to each their own. No Mama Bear in this household.

If it was "a breeze" for you, great. However, we're all different, and my experience with an E/B TA was horrible. We skipped 5 hours ahead in 6 days, and I was on breakfast time and the ship was almost finished serving lunch! I can handle the W/B gaining an hour on sea days better. And if I'm flying, I can sleep on a red eye and not feel weird at my destination. Just my experience.....viva le difference.....

The OP only mentions the one rule he got caught on, so IMO, it's jealousy or poor me that he got caught and they didn't. I taught my kids at a young age to respect our house rules, no matter what other kids do in their houses. Too bad for the OP that he/she hasn't learned that lesson yet. Unwarranted resentments can lead to unhappy days.

I've done a 21 day cruise, very enjoyable. I'm retired (old) , so I have the time to stay away. However, getting doctor's appts and meds delivered would be a hassle, if not impossible.