Oakman58

Depending on the type of lifeboat, the ones on the NCL Epic have a capacity of 293 and 267 passengers. I can’t imagine how crammed that would be. I was surprised to see that emergency rations are stored on the lifeboats. No bathrooms on lifeboats, all the more reason to pack a couple pair of adult diapers for the cruise.😆

I’ve been an NCL regular and the one thing I hated about their muster was the fact that the station was usually inside the ship and not necessarily on the same deck as the lifeboats. I always wondered but never asked those who checked you in which lifeboat station they would take us to, just to see if they knew. I also wonder if they have any special instructions for those confined to a wheelchair on how to get to the lifeboats. Personally if I were in a wheelchair I would never take a cruise, instead my vacations would be land-based AI resorts. On my recent Carnival cruise on the Glory our muster station was outside on the deck by the lifeboats but without life jackets. I much prefer that type of muster. Although not always possible, I much prefer to cruise on ships with a passenger capacity of less than 2500. I hate to think what an abandon ship nightmare it would be on something like an RCI Oasis Class ship with over 7000 passengers and crew.

Which makes “buy low, sell high” so difficult for many to do. If your prognosticators are correct then Carnival stock has about a 50% chance of increasing in value. In the mean time you get $100 onboard credit for a 7 day cruise and with the stock under $10 a share that’s better than a 10% return on your money. On a 14 day cruise or longer you get $250 onboard credit. After your cruise you can always sell the stock if you’re still concerned about bankruptcy. ONLY INVEST MONEY YOU CAN AFFORD TO LOSE.

Either messed up or just didn’t want to pay the increased per passenger fee the National Park Service charges. In 2019 the park service increased the fee from $5 per passenger to $8.28 per passenger.

You would have to ask Royal Caribbean why. For some reason they failed to finalize their 10 year agreement with the National Park Service

Now you will have the perfect reason to take a second Alaskan cruise, so you can see the fantastic Glacier Bay National Park. Of course it will have to be with a different cruise line since Celebrity and Royal Caribbean won't be visiting Glacier Bay for many years to come.

Having retired from working in the transportation industry for 35 years I will give this advice to anyone who is involved in an accident no matter how trivial or major, always, always, claim you are injured.

Bummer on no coffee maker. I wonder if you asked the cabin steward if he would have one available.

In the Fall and Winter I have this once a week over Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuits. I usually add a bit more pepper when heating up the gravy.

Tender operations on the Liberty of the Seas in Belize.

I don't think I've seen a real sale in years with NCL.

With the Diamond Princess back in U.S. waters I'm feeling more confident that she will start cruising in November and my Jan 6h Hawaiian cruise will happen.

I will say, the Latitudes Party has been a joke for quite a few years.

I don’t care about ports of call, I just love the Alaskan scenery. I wish there was a cruise that departed out of Seattle and visited Glacier Bay National Park, Hubbard Glacier, the Endicott Arm, Twin Sawyer Glaciers and College Fjord. I would book a cruise like that in a heartbeat.

The Diamond Princess had the misfortune to be the first cruise ship affected by the Corona Virus (Covid 19). She was quarantined in Yokohama in Feb 2020 for a month with 3700 passengers and crew onboard. Since this was a new virus, medical authorities didn't handle the outbreak very well. When they finally allowed passengers to disembark 700 people had been infected. For some reason the number that died from the virus can't be confirmed and depending on what you read the number ranges from 9 to 14. There is an HBO special titled, The Last Cruise, and documents the Covid 19 outbreak on the Diamond. I will be cruising on the Diamond on Jan 6th for 16 days to Hawaii.

My wife and I know all about high fiber and hydration. I have no idea who did the study and what folks were studied, but I know if she ingests popcorn, poppy seeds, or sesame seeds, etc. she will get a major flare up regardless of how much water and fiber in her diet. A high fiber diet and water is all fine and dandy but it won’t stop a flareup in my wife’s system. We are both in our 70’s and have been married for 48 years so I’m speaking from our personal experience. The last thing my wife wants is a flareup on our 16 day Hawaiian cruise. Thanks to iamaqt2 for the email address. I will be writing princess today.

Diverticulosis is relatively common in older folks and my wife is one of those folks. I’ve been looking at the website and the App and I can’t find anywhere that I can inform Princess of her condition. She can’t eat food that contains seeds or nuts of any type, poppy, sesame, tomato, peanuts, almonds, etc. This is not an allergy. Any direction on how to notify Princess would be appreciated.

I completely agree. On our cruise last month we saw 3 of the 4 comedians that had shows. All three were not funny in the least. One was actually fired a week after our cruise for using racial slurs in his routine. The comedians were the only disappointment on that cruise.

IMO, a cruise that visits both Hubbard and Glacier Bay National Park is ideal. I would choose Princess for the cruise because they have better onboard entertainment.

There is a reason Glacier Bay is a National Park, it offers views of a number of glaciers. When you go to Hubbard, the largest tidewater glacier in North America, that is the only glacier you will see and that’s with weather permitting. You spend all day (8 to 9 hours) in Glacier Bay, Hubbard is a much shorter visit. The scenery is much better in Glacier Bay. Wildlife viewing is usually better in Glacier Bay. Park Rangers board the ship and narrate the cruise in Glacier Bay. In my opinion Glacier Bay wins hands down. An ideal Alaskan cruise would visit both.

My wife never buys any type of jewelry onboard any ship. She prefers the jewelry stores in ports where she can haggle over the price. She's made a few great deals over the years.

That $500 OBC under the Best Price is a great deal then.

I was looking at 7 day Alaskan cruises for June with a balcony cabin and this screen popped up. I'm sure that $500.00 onboard credit is really supposed to be $50.00. LOL!! Someone needs to proof read what they put up on their website.

A long story about something funny that happen on our Glory cruise this past September. We went to see one of the comedians in the Punchliner Comedy Club (Ebony Lounge) on the sixth night of our cruise. The comedian, Rob, was making his debut appearance with Carnival that night. His credentials were impressive with appearances on The Tonight Show, Comedy Central, Last Comic Standing, etc., so we had high hopes for a funny show. Wow, were we disappointed. His routine wasn’t funny in the least and no one else in the lounge was laughing at his jokes and stories, except every now and then someone’s baby in the back of the lounge would giggle. You could tell it was frustrating him. About 20 minutes into his routine he finally decided that since this was his first time on a Carnival ship he was being pranked by the other comedians onboard and the audience had been told not to laugh at his jokes and stories. He then departed from his routine and began talking to passengers in the front row. Lo and behold, two of those front row people were either drunk or not right in the head because their answers to him were absolutely bizarre. One lady told him her daughter was a dog, specifically a Chihuahua. A goofy front row audience along with a baby giggling just reinforced his idea that he was being pranked. It was at this point his show became somewhat entertaining. The best part came near the end of his show when he saw bathrobe guy grab his walker and shuffle out of the lounge. When Rob saw that guy he actually fell over laughing and said, “an old guy in a bathrobe with a walker just walked out of my show, this is the best prank ever.” Sorry Rob, not a prank, the bathrobe guy went everywhere on the ship with his walker dressed in his bathrobe. Here’s a picture of bathrobe guy that I took in the lounge that night. BTW, Carnival fired Rob a week later because of his language.

Glacier Bay is definitely a must see for a first time. You never know if there will be a second time. Along with the glaciers and mountains in Glacier Bay National Park there is also wildlife to see. The scenery all that day in GBNP is spectacular. And of course Margerie Glacier.