Mike981

"Before you post, please search this forum for your question. If you need assistance on how to search, please click HERE."

I understand the whole idea is to keep generating more content, but I feel this would help make it a more enjoyable experience for all and help people understand how to use the search function. I understand search has it's limits, but it sure has helped me a lot over the years.

In our family experience, the biggest issue was the worry before the cruise. Once our son and daughter were put in their respective groups, it was absolutely fine. They would share stories at dinner and often continued with their new friends outside of the club.

Not sure if this LINK will help.

I have toyed with the idea of bidding for a 'better' room, but I like picking the exact room too much. On our next cruise we have an inside booked and I would be tempted to bid on another room, but I really like our location, so no I'll just stay where we are.

Thank you @leaveitallbehind.

I wonder what other industries use this business model? If it is as simple as a travel agency blocking X amount of rooms and then if they are not being able to sell them, then just give them back without any cost, it seems like a strange relationship.

Granted I am assuming that there is no cost to the agency.

The way DW and I drink on vacation, not getting one would be absolute ignorance. And I like some of the fancy water and coffee as well. Trust me, they are not making any money on us compared to most.

Years ago our family of four got back to the ship and stood on our balcony watching folks that were very close to being left behind. I could not believe the number of people still walking down the pier slowly and apparently not a worry in the world. I kept saying it over and over, then my wife said "you know there is another ship down the pier. I guess I missed it on our way back to our ship and from our room you couldn't see it. If memory serves the pier was L shaped.

One of our first cruises our flight (same day) to the ship was severely delayed and the only reason they held the ship was because most of the people on the flight were taking the same cruise. That was not fun and the last time we flew in the same day.

That is great news, thank you for sharing!

I do like the idea, since there is little help for the passengers and they are basically at the mercy of the cruise lines. But my question is, who is the judge and jury on who did the passengers wrong?

Spent a lot of time there this past January on Reflection and enjoyed it very much.

From the reports I have read online I don't see myself ever booking with FBC. It would be hard if it was a long flight and they had great prices, but...

I will add that if you go with the hot water bottle, make sure it doesn't smell. I got one over twenty years ago and it still smells like rubber/plastic.

I do hope you find a good solution and have a great trip.

3 minutes ago, Irish clare said:

I am on this cruise and am happy they are taking this step ….mind you there will be people complaining regardless 

100% agree.

By the way, I hope to be able to swing over to your lovely part of the world next year. My daughter is getting married in Iceland and my wife and I are hoping to make it over to Ireland.

37 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

I would not be surprised if evening entertainment events started coming with a charge.

I would be surprised if some are not doing this already with an 'elevated' experience.

When lines started with specialty dining, I was against paying more because the MDR food was good and sometimes very good. I remember a person here on CC said, "just wait, the MDR food will go down and people will then be willing to spend money for the 'good' food."

14 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

It was indeed a beautiful day.     With all the rain this year I'm blown away that everything is in bloom.     The double Kumamoto trees are in full bloom in our front yard.    I was half expecting to have missed them this year. 

 

I took my full walk today and really enjoyed it.   It is nice getting back my regular routines again.

 

There's no place like home ---

 

Funny you just put those shoes on here Jim. I just finished a six part documentary called The Power of Film, if you like movies I think you will enjoy it. It breaks down the formulas used to create the movies and helped me understand some of the classics better.

I found it on MAX/HBO, my wife said it was a little to much like going to college and I explained that the host is a professor at UCLA (I believe) and that would make sense. They ended the documentary talking about The Wizard of Oz, and it really is an easy watch.

14 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

except for some reason a yellow spot was showing up on his groin

Ummmm, I just let my cartoon bubbles float away and leave it at that. 😉

Glad you two made it home safe, now Iain can make you that dinner you were looking forward to.

Take care friends and thanks again for such a fun trip review, although, I feel your reviews are more of being let into you and Iain's life. And it is very special.

34 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

Years ago (not happening anymore) we got a little gift of some sort in our cabin every single night.  

That would be nice. We used to get something like that at one of the all inclusive's we went to.

I don't care how long a trip you two take, it never seems long enough. I don't feel I am alone in saying that it is a sad day when you wrap up your trip.

Thank you again for sharing your world with us Jim.

5 hours ago, gordylad said:

Jim Do the sleep buds help with tinnitus? I have tinnitus/pulsatile tinnitus so would take any recommendations?

 

Cheers

I also suffer from the same issue. Years ago I spoke to my audiologist about getting help with tinnitus and she said at that time they were having issues with the tinnitus increasing it's natural level as the devices tried to mask it. It sure is no fun.

I might have cracked the code, here is a decent article ranking websites for music. They reference Audio Jungle and I 'believe' that is the one I used.

18 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I'm going a bit off topic myself - 

 

Many of you that have a problem sleeping due to noise, snoring or just a busy head know that I have used Bose Sleep Buds.   About 2 years ago they dropped to product and discontinued production.

 

I personally love the device -   They use a process of noise masking vs noise cancellation of many products.

 

 

Bose sold the technology to a group of employees and they started to design a totally new replacement --  using the same footprint of the Bose Sleepbud.

 

The new Company OZLO Sleepbuds are finally here.  

https://ozlosleep.com/

 

About a year ago I signed up for Crowd Funding to bring the product to market.  Iain' been telling my for months I was scammed...    They are finally released to funders and pre-orders.    I just got a notification mine were delivered to my home -   Will give a review when I get home.

 

These look identical to the Bose Product but unlike Bose as a Stand Alone bud these can play anything - music, books etc in addition to sounds.

 

 

 

l just shared this with my wife and she is VERY excited to hear your review.

10 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

The part that takes me the longest in producing a movie is to find some music that works.   The big restriction is that YouTube and others do a copyright check to make sure the music isn't copyrighted.    CapCut has a huge library but so much of it is geared to the 18-25 age group or kinda wonky.

I am sorry Jim I can not remember the name of a website I used for music for my voice over business, unfortunately that has been put on the back burner because Covid didn't play nice with my voice and lungs. Lungs are back, voice is still off and not consistent. It was four years ago this past March that my wife and I both got it, while we were enjoying a staycation.

I will keep trying to find the website for you, I felt the price was good for their offerings and they had a lot to offer. I believe they have the usual buy for one month or buy for a year for less.

20 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

Most of the time when I'm in New Orleans it's about eating and drinking with a little history mixed in here and there.

Thank you so much princeton, this is exactly what we are looking for with some music mixed in.

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I think it is back on our list for tuesday.    Today I am finally going to get to snorkel ..... I hope.   I had to stop at Walmart to buy some Petroleum Jelly.    With a mustache the only way to avoid water leak is to make a seal of Petroleum Jelly  .... Ugh... sounds disgusting.

Hmmm, handle bar mustache?

Your photo's look they were taken on a movie set, fantastic.

Thank you very much for your fun and educational review.

Oh you are going to love it, my wife and I had a great trip. It is a great ship.