Still, why can't I leave my balcony door open at night?

[cruisemom42]

10 minutes ago, clo said:

We were on the sea when that Viking ship lost power.  It was really fun when I'd slide from the top of the bunk to the bottom.  I really felt that I was "at sea."  But most people who 'cruise' wouldn't like it.

 

 

I've been cruising since the early 1970s when not all ships had active stabilizers. I remember tables had edges that folded up to keep the dishes from sliding off (and I remember watching peas roll around on those tables quite often...!). Seems like the first night out of Fort Lauderdale or Miami the ship was always rocking and rolling pretty well, and the crew would put out seasick bags all along the railings in the hallway. 

[clo]

1 minute ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I've been cruising since the early 1970s when not all ships had active stabilizers. I remember tables had edges that folded up to keep the dishes from sliding off (and I remember watching peas roll around on those tables quite often...!). Seems like the first night out of Fort Lauderdale or Miami the ship was always rocking and rolling pretty well, and the crew would put out seasick bags all along the railings in the hallway. 

Let me give you another pic of how things were.  The chairs were chained to the floor!

 

[ilikeanswers]

necessity

1 hour ago, AmazedByCruising said:

 

Their research was certainly not "what do you want?" and a large percentage said "An ice rink!". 

They might have asked "would you think an ice rink on the ship would be cool", and many said "yes, why not".

I'm whining because they never asked "would you like to hear and smell the sea", to find that an even bigger percentage would say "yes, that would actually be nice". Certainly more than an ice rink.

 

To have 50+  cabins in one group, being responsible for each other's a/c reminds me of the hotels where 15 rooms shared one bath room. I'm willing to bet a lot that in 10 years new ships will have individual a/c that switches of when you open the door.

 

 

I think you are right to suggest that no one is asked what they want but I do think the main goal of cruise ships is to get people out of their rooms. If you are sitting in your room listening to the water smelling the air then you are not going to be spending as much money as some who will go to the ice rink, buy a snack or a drink maybe pass the merchadise shop and buy something or after all that physical activity they might decide to have a massage or book a spa the next day. People who leave their rooms are naturally going to spend more money because they are exposed to more temptations and advertising, if you stay all day in your rom the most you might spend on is room service.

 

19 minutes ago, AmazedByCruising said:

 

Exactly. Thank you. My next cruise will be on a more adventurous line than HAL or X.

 

Well I am glad you are finally looking at the alternative suggestions that the other commenters have posted. As you said you don't care about the destination or all the extracurricular activities so the alternative suggestions should work for you. I have to admit while we did it more out of necessity it was actually nice to have the balcony door open on Aranui. The sound of the water was very soothing especially at night lying in bed and it was certainly a new experience to add to the list. Plus I am not particualrly fond of the smell of cleaning liquids and disinfectants so it was also a nice luxury to be able to air room out of those smells after room service

Edited August 31, 2019 by ilikeanswers

[clo]

3 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

you are not going to be spending as much money as some who will go to the ice rink, buy a snack or a drink maybe pass the merchadise shop and buy something or after all that physical activity they might decide to have a massage or book a spa the next day.

We're going to be on Oceania in December where except for the spa, the rest of those things don't exist.  YAY.

[ilikeanswers]

19 minutes ago, clo said:

We're going to be on Oceania in December where except for the spa, the rest of those things don't exist.  YAY.

 

If one wants to reduce their impulse buying it probably is good to travel on a ship that has less temptations😜. On the other hand those extras to help to reduce the base fare. It is kind of ironic that a ship with less stuff will generally cost more per night than a ship with a built in amusement park ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

[clo]

24 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

a ship with a built in amusement park

Which for me would be a nightmare.  Ugh.

[SantaFeFan]

1 hour ago, AmazedByCruising said:

 

Exactly. Thank you. My next cruise will be on a more adventurous line than HAL or X.

 

I would hardly call HAL "more adventurous". They are the senior citizen center of cruise lines. 😁

 

Just kidding. We like their itineraries and their more subdued atmosphere. A bit classier than the majority of the main stream lines. None of the amusement park feeling that NCL, Carnival and RCI have. 

 

Celebrity (X) we used to like, but after several cruises with them we feel the changes they are making to their older ships are not what we like, so we are moving away from them. Their latest ship, the first of five Edge class ships, is disappointing. 

Edited August 31, 2019 by SantaFeFan

[getting older slowly]

I would what a lot of the posters do at home...

turn the heater on then open the windows so they can feel the breeze ???

 

So sit on the balcony or use the Lounge as a bed then close the door........

 

Cheers Don

 

106 posts about closing the door ?  It is a open and shut case..............lol

[DarrenM]

7 hours ago, gerif said:

Sometimes the room steward will say anything to keep the passengers happy in hopes of a bigger tip. 

I am sure they do but this was when we first entered the room and we were being shown hiw to use the infinity window.

 

It wasn't like we asked if we could leave the window open. He just told us what we could do.

 

It was as simple as that.

[DarrenM]

1 hour ago, SantaFeFan said:

 

I would hardly call HAL "more adventurous". They are the senior citizen center of cruise lines. 😁

 

Just kidding. We like their itineraries and their more subdued atmosphere. A bit classier than the majority of the main stream lines. None of the amusement park feeling that NCL, Carnival and RCI have. 

 

Celebrity (X) we used to like, but after several cruises with them we feel the changes they are making to their older ships are not what we like, so we are moving away from them. Their latest ship, the first of five Edge class ships, is disappointing. 

One person's disappointing is another person's stunning.

 

Edge was perfect in every way for me.

 

And I wish I could take eden with me in my next cruise.

 

Each to their own eh?

[MicCanberra]

sounds good.

[spookwife]

9 hours ago, AmazedByCruising said:

 

 

I'm one of the apparently tiny proportion of the guests who doesn't want the mall experience or the ice skating. To be honest, most ports I've been to I've been to before with much more time. I'm on a ship because it's a ship, at sea. When the ship rolls or pitches it's not because it is part of the theme park ride programmed in a computer, it is because there are actual waves. Guests like me don't like to close the curtains and feel they are in an average hotel room but like to hear and smell the sea at night. Then, $5 is peanuts.

 

 

 

 

 

the stop sailing mainstream lines.  you want the premium and luxury lines with smaller ships.  

or join the Navy.  

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, spookwife said:

the stop sailing mainstream lines.  you want the premium and luxury lines with smaller ships.  

or join the Navy.  

Of course, the drinks packages on Navy ships leave a lot to be desired.

[cruisemom42]

7 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

If one wants to reduce their impulse buying it probably is good to travel on a ship that has less temptations😜. On the other hand those extras to help to reduce the base fare. It is kind of ironic that a ship with less stuff will generally cost more per night than a ship with a built in amusement park ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

 

It's one of those odd realities of life. Just like private tours. I used to go back and forth with private tour operators in some countries because they ALWAYS want to throw in a "special shopping/factory stop" (or two!) as part of a tour. I realized after a few of these experiences that the reason private tours tend to be cheaper in some places (think Turkey, or Egypt) is that the guides get a kickback from these "shopping" stops. Often the store owner will pay them a set price even for stopping there, with additional commission if people actually buy. Thus they can keep the tour prices lower. (Like extras on cruise ships.)

 

So in a sense, I was making the tour MORE expensive for the operators by specifying that they not include any sort of shopping stop. In the end I learned to be up front and say that no tip would be offered if there were any of these stops made (in spite of my explicit instructions) and that a generous tip was forthcoming if our agreed schedule was followed without any such stops. It generally works.

Edited August 31, 2019 by cruisemom42

[spookwife]

29 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Of course, the drinks packages on Navy ships leave a lot to be desired.

According to Mr Spook, the AUS Navy’s ain’t bad.  

[c-boy]

12 hours ago, AmazedByCruising said:

To have 50+  cabins in one group, being responsible for each other's a/c reminds me of the hotels where 15 rooms shared one bath room. I'm willing to bet a lot that in 10 years new ships will have individual a/c that switches of when you open the door.

things might be going this way.... 

 

[Donray]

There is nothing the stops you from having your balcony door open.  There is nothing in any cruise contract that prohibits it.  

 

 

[donaldsc]

8 minutes ago, Donray said:

There is nothing the stops you from having your balcony door open.  There is nothing in any cruise contract that prohibits it.  

 

 

 

Except perhaps consideration for the people in your neighboring cabins.

 

DON

[davekathy]

1 hour ago, Donray said:

There is nothing the stops you from having your balcony door open.  There is nothing in any cruise contract that prohibits it.  

 

 

Who said it was prohibited or even in the cruise contract? CHENGP75 explained to you (post #17) why you shouldn't, not that is prohibited. Do what you gotta do and be inconsiderate of others in nearby staterooms. Do you leave your balcony door open to your stateroom? 

Edited August 31, 2019 by davekathy

[Underwatr]

5 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

Of course, the drinks packages on Navy ships leave a lot to be desired.

 

We had unlimited soda except for the patrol when the CO2 ran out.

[DarrenM]

1 hour ago, donaldsc said:

 

Except perhaps consideration for the people in your neighboring cabins.

 

DON

Well now it's been explained to me I certainly wont be leaving the door open on constellation.

[navybankerteacher]

14 minutes ago, Underwatr said:

 

We had unlimited soda except for the patrol when the CO2 ran out.

Our only unlimited beverage was that kool-aid kind of stuff -  the liquid concentrate was the best solvent for removing oxidation from our aluminum accommodation ladder - leaving it gleaming like polished silver (made me wonder what it did to the gut).

[Heidi13]

13 hours ago, clo said:

Which for me would be a nightmare.  Ugh.

So true, but it's not only the amusement park that doesn't appeal, it is also the hoards of screaming kids that are normall associated with mega ships.

[Heidi13]

6 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

Of course, the drinks packages on Navy ships leave a lot to be desired.

Depends which Navy, not all are dry ships. 😀

[navybankerteacher]

4 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

Depends which Navy, not all are dry ships. 😀

 

5 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

Depends which Navy, not all are dry ships. 😀

True - I enjoyed pretty good wine with dinner when acting liaison with the French, and the Brits always had a well stocked bar in the wardroom,.

 

The US Navy was OK until that early Prohibitionist,  Josephus Daniels, was made SecNav.