TexasRon

My original post was in response to someone saying that they use the same forecasts we all have available to us. They don’t. That is it. I am not arguing over who it should be—staff or outsourced—but there is someone doing specialized forecasting for them. Many organizations have staff meteorologists and many others have outsourced the work.

My point remains that they have someone more sophisticated than Weatherbug or AccuWeather apps giving them localized weather information for ports and areas of travel. It does not have to be in house; it could be farmed out to an organization that does custom work for folks that need that level of service. Yes, airlines have a different need. They still aren’t watching Channel 2 for their forecasts…

I googled two large organizations with lots of planes and both seem to have staff meteorologists. Small sample, but it does show that not everyone relies on weather reports available to all of us. While we all know the weather is unpredictable even with all the computers and forecasters out there (and makes good fodder for jokes about them, but even many of those misinterpret what a forecast prediction actually means), staff meteorologists can help companies of all types make decisions as weather issues develop. They may have hired a service to do the job instead of having meteorologists on staff but it would surprise me if they don’t have some source of weather information that is more sophisticated than the general reports all of us can find.

We were on in August 2022. They had three card and Ultimate Texas Hold’em from what I remember.

It has been a little off today…

Must have been Carnival folks who got on the wrong ship…

They do them in batches but not every year. They printed more than 100 million of them in 2022.

It seems to me that it was a bit more more than a “mistake” that this was released on the website. It was a breakdown of the checks and balances that a huge company like this should have to keep this kind of thing from happening. The package had to be developed, branded, priced and then activated to the website. A mistake in pricing may be easy, but it seems like doing all that takes some effort, not to mention a QC review. I don’t think I deserve any compensation but I do think anyone who canceled a package due to this should be able to get their original pricing back. Does it have deeper implications to the culture of the larger organization as a whole? That is at least a valid question.

Have a great time! I will enjoy following along!

Actually, I can stomp my feet and email whoever the heck I would like to and it really won’t impact my day for any more time than I waste here already! I like it here but I know most of the threads do little for me…I will take five minutes of that time and send an e-mail stomping my feet. Then I will go on about the day not ever expecting an answer or anything else.

It seems like a package Celebrity once offered that was a mistake somehow found its way to the Royal site. If that is what happened, it is an amazing display of incompetence. Makes one wonder… (not that I was not skeptical to start with…)

I had different things happened both times I looked at it. I am not surprised that others had different experiences booking it. How can you be sure of what happened when others have already reported varying experiences? Did Royal IT that so many complain about suddenly become competent?

Yesterday I booked this and was charged for each of us. Today I booked again (since only one name was selected yesterday) and it only charged once. I canceled the other booking. Yes, it may be a gamble but it isn't like I am counting on this particular set of amenities. If it works, good...if not, that is not a huge issue. We'll see what happens from here...

Clicked one, charged for two…now I don’t want to change it so I will let it ride. I am good, though, because we have a suite and some of the bennies are duplicates and I can live without the rest. If the charge is correct, it still works.

Mine charged for both of us. The price is still better than the cost of the internet package for two users and a small bottle of champagne. We will see how it goes…then we will cancel something!

We did two seven day cruises on Carnival. They were great! We have done three cruises of shorter lengths on Royal. They were great! There were differences but I found them both to be fine and a far cry from my six months as an embarked Marine on a Navy ship. That is a low bar as far as service, facilities, and comfort. I will steer away from weekend cruises on Royal and anything shorter than a week on Carnival.

I have prepaid the gratuities for our coming trip. Now that someone has mentioned it, I do feel a little cheated by the move to once a day service because I enjoyed the luxury of having it twice a day…and I could say no to any time that I wanted to pass on it. Not that I will do anything about the service change as far as auto tips go… I leave decent tips for wait staff and room steward whenever I feel they have done a great job. I don’t think about their salaries; I consider their level of service.

Looking forward to your report but why make a negative statement about someone’s opinion if you really intend no offense? I take all reviews with a grain of salt and glean what I can from them. No offense intended; I just don’t understand some of the posts people make. Not a big deal…I am sure people don’t understand all of mine!

I have seen it recommended for certain patients who are more at risk by a wide variety of medical doctors. Some of them have always addressed new treatments with initial skepticism until evidence is in on them.

Too many people have decided that they can just do whatever they please. It is something that seems to cut across all demographic lines.

…and yet you replied.

I live within an hour of Galveston. Though temperatures there are usually a little more moderate over the highs and lows of my area, both pretty much have a shot at one or two “bad” freezes a year (and many years with none). Those events last a day or two at most…the ship just happened to be in the area on one of those rare occasions when the freeze met their day in port and the water near it.

We had a Suite on Independence for a cruise last year. The Concierge Lounge was packed with people and the Concierge scrounged up a couple of empty seats for us and put them together at a table with a couple she introduced to us. It turned out okay…the man had worked with a friend of my wife’s parents. They had a good time taking about them.

Nothing will be much worse than my first embarkation via amphibious assault vehicle headed on to a Navy ship. Breathing diesel fumes for an hour while they finally made it to the ship. Only time that I ever ended up seasick. Anyway, I am sure a bad experience will come along. I will make the best of it.

That is why I used words like “sounds like it” and not absolutes. Since this is a fairly regular thing (as it is also is in Galveston), perhaps the notifications need to be more descriptive of the issues there are since most of us are most used to a relatively smooth process and don’t really know of how things like this impact them. Not that everyone would listen or that there is a great answer for being out of hotels by check out time and having to wait on the ship...