mcrcruiser

In todays world & at ages 83 ,we want to be a comfortable as we can with out standing out like a saw thumb . I wear nice slacks a nice shirt & a sweater .no jackets as they no longer fit LOL & ties don't have the latest designs & mot buying those pricy ones that will be out of style in a year .Further got to consider the luggage weight these days or pay through the nose at the airport

Go with the flow is my motto

The only thing that is still holding up so far is housing prices yet we are now seeing cracks in lowering prices in some areas of the country .forget new start up housing with mortgage money now over 6% . This &the other factors above have adverse effects on how cruises are selling now & in the future . We can only hope for the best & that HAL survives this CCL high debt mess

Or CCL may have to moth ball some of their ships . Being the stock market is struggling with a deepening world wide recession that in addition to inflation is making the wealth factor for many people disappear . Thus ,cruising is part of the wealth factor This is why when we book any cruise we add in protection against Cruise line going BK

San Diego cruise port & the World Cruise Center in San Pedro are as far as we want to travel from our home here in coastal north County San Diego .We did our flying years back .The only one cruise that we might consider in rthe future with a one way air is a 3rd Panama Canal cruise I gave HAL some great options from San Diego . Here are some : .continue with Hawaii ,Mexican Riviera & Coastal California cruises .Add a round trip SD to south America .Add a partial Panama Canal cruise with Mexican port stops like Lapaz, & Alcapulco .Add a round trip SD to Alaska

In truth the problem for cruising today is not as much the cabin cost but much higher airfare s ,hotels & meals outside of the ship ro get to a cruise port .There are those people who can & would drive to the port & that can work for several states ;but ,if a person is in the mud west ,Canada or europe ,the cost of taking any cruise can be very expensive today & what about costs tomorrow when inflation is worse . Even those who can drive to a ship with gas prices rising again ,it has to impact the cruise business like other luxuries

Wow Costa to California .Who wants to sail costa ?

We are doing a B3B this December . What can we expect to pay for a bag of laundry ? We are 3 Star Mariners so are there any discounts for 3 Star Mariners ? TIA for your replies

We get Casino offers from Celebrity & they are really juicy deals .now I need to focus on getting HAL casino offers on our Dec B2B cruises .This can be achieved by making friends with the Casino host or hostess .We can bring a lot of business into the casino .I personally onlp play craps & Texas holdem .Those slots are real bandits ;but ,every so often the bandits pay off .got to know when yo play the bandits

Thanks for your reply We thought that so we have booked Camaletto ,Tamarind & Pinnacle for dinners during the 2 cruises .however ,we never miss the last night of the cruise in the MDR 😁

I bought & sold CCL stock to get my OBCs from HAL on our cruises . I bought the stock at $6.90 sold it for $7.51 per share .when a stock has these types of valuations ,it tells me that there are many underlying difficulties with their financials ,especially when the stock once sold for much higher prices pre pandemic .Now we are just now triple shorting the S&P 500 until we see signs of abated inflation & the FED easing off it;'s increasing interest rate money policies

Because of the very high debt 7 cost to service that debt ,we now include insurance against a vendor going bankrupt . We buy this type of insurance on Squaremouth.com .It is not that much more to insure our thousands of cruise dollars . Unfortunately there have been cruise line bankrupt in the past . I remember one that when the creditors took over the cruise line the passengers had to vacate all the ships the same day .If U am correct ot was the Renissance cruise line . Both Azamara & Princess bought some of these 30 to 35000 ton vessels

What happens with the daily dinner menus when you book a 7 night to the Mexican Riviera & a B2B 5 night Mexican Riviera with some different ports involved ?

Hank I agree with your post . imo , some thing will have to give about thus industry & some of the cruise lines .We love HAL & just hope HAL survives . We came to find out recently that Princess has many new hires who are not well trained & additionally their Ocean Ready Technology has driven me & many others away . Just too involved to put in pre boarding info with their new Ocean Ready app . So far we were able to do pre boarding with HAL ,the old fashion way on line to get both our bag tags & boarding passes .Because princess imo is making it so difficult for us older folks ,it will hurst their bookings long term .further as inflation accelerates it will compound the problems of profit & loss .There is no definite time line to tame inflation even though the FED is increasing rates at accelerated levels .This inflation is stubborn . We now have Gas prices exceeding $ 7 per gallon into close to $8 here in Calif , when we go food shopping weekly or bi monthly ,we see prices still increasing .All this is not good for the future of luxuries like cruises & then when a person has to add higher air fares & hotel & meal costs to reach a cruise pier some thing has to give & imo it will be slowing down of cruise bookings except for the higher end cruise lines that carter the deep pocketed people

We have booked 6 new cruises .It is not a dislike for Princess ships or product but , when we trued to get help by calling Princess & even to the point when cancelling the cruise 92 days in advance ,Princess was trying to hit us with a cancellation fee , I handles that one by telling them they can meet us in a Calif small claims court . This was so crazy that I warn my friends to stay away & book with any other cruise lines Some people on these threads love to flame people when it does not meet with their thought process ,. Most things that I forgot they will wish they knew about travel including how to book hotels for free & eat in Europe capital cities for free & it is all legitimate . just having the knowledge ;which i would never share with my naysayers here Yes I could write a book on actual hands on international travel ; But ,i don\';t need to do it for the money .I enjoy travel so much that I share really great information on how to get the best for far less cost

We get lots of free perks with Celebrity /Royal Caribbean cruise lines through their Blue Chip Dept. which is the casino action . We are elite Plus level with Celebrity & Diamond with Royal .The levels don't get us the casino perks but I bring lots of action into the casino with Gun Craps rolls & Fun Slot Pulls . I am sure the same works for Holland America casino action .just make sure that your cruise casino host or hostess knows your play levels . Make sure you use your sail & sign card at all times in the casino I need to concentrate with HAL on my next 2 B2B cruises this December even though we are 3 star mariners that means nothing .It is the amount & frequency of your casino action that counts must like in Las Vegas or Atlantic city or other gaming cities . when I go to Las Vegas we get a suite free meals & a free car to use .all you need to know is what are the daily gaming amounts . I play craps only because it is the best odds game still in casinos Occasionally I will play Hold Em on a cruise ship .Not sure if they consider that play toward the casino freebe benefit plan

Here is the problem .How do you get into the building to see the cruise line personnel . Every cruise terminal that we have been to required a boarding pass & pass port in hand to enter past the independent security company outside the cruise terminal . No boarding pass & no pass port = no entry has been our experience in 87 past cruises

Thanks for your best wishes .Yes no one at Princess that we talked with had any clue , I think that is a sad commentary about Princess management abilities in training personnel

Thanks for your good wishes imo with inflation raging les c& less people will be able to afford this type of vacation .My logical question for Princess management why did you introduce such a hard method to do pre boarding & then have no one qualified to explain it to your customers .just doesn't make any sense to me .All I can wish for is a relaxing time we have left in life

We have $934 in FCC which had ti be used on a cruise in 2022 or loose it ,Well we booked a cruise into a handicap balcony cabin .when I tried for over 6 hours to get help on how to down load "Ocean Ready " on to my I Phone there was No help . what I came to understand is that Princess hired a lot og new & untrained in this matter people .Thwen I cam across some one at their corporate headquarters who directed me to the online unfo where I could down load my passports emergency contacts ie .BUT ,when I came to the last step of placing our pictures on their wen=b site I gave up Summation ,I am 83 & many cruisers are older generation who have the time & money to cruise . however ,this technology is way over our heads & with no knowledgeable people y Princess do they really expect the older generation ro want to sail with them vas the others with the on line pre boarding methods ;especially as inflation eats into the publics ability to spend these sums vs other necessities of living Bottom line We threw away the $934 of FCC & booked with Holland America using the standard on line pre boarding web site info . when any one arrives at any cruise terminal the security people will not let a person into the building unless they can present a boarding pass & pass port We have done 87 cruise pre pandemic & never had this many problems with any cruise line .Princess is now on my no cruise list of cruise lines

I saw the $300 deal for HAL on the travel benefit section of the deals . I used my Blue cash back card from AMX that gives us 3% cash back at the super markets .This where I found the deal .It is done for us

big problems at Princess for us seniors . Fr too difficult to put Ocean Ready on to our cell phones & Princess has mostly new hires with little or no experience .spent over 6 hours one day to try & get Ocean Ready on my Cell phone . There was no help ,so decided to take 2 HAL cruises because I could still put my pre boarding info the old fashion way on their web site , Done & ready for the Boarding Passes

I looked at the beverage packages & deemed it not worth our while to buy any of them . We have 2 cruises B2B ,one a 7 night & the other a 5 night , We will bring 2 bottles of Shiraz & 2 bottles of Sauvignon Blanc ,all are Charles Shaw from Trader Joe's . Those 4 bottles will last us for our 3 Special Restaurant reservations & a bit left for the MDR lobster night .We are not big drinkers Occasionally ,I like a diet soda with lunch & we will just pay as we go

Thanks for the tip . I just did the transaction with our TA on a cruise we already booked , The TA got my credit card with Chase credited & placed the $1000 on my American Express Blue Cash credit card . HAL did charge $25 to do this ,Still a $275 net credit is nothing to sneeze at .Helps defray cruise I did a one time $1025 .00 charge on HAL which included the $25 handling Fee 😁 .works for me

That is what I said in my post . The higher the cost to cruise the lower the number of potential people who could afford this luxury . Therefore , this deadly killer of inflation could sink the cruise lines who rely on the mass markets for survival & profitability