"The most lavish suites afloat" - really?

[travel-to-go]

Well, at the risk of hurting someone's feelings or maligning their taste.. I was going to say I hope those pictures were from 1963. Wow! Talk about tacky! But now that I know that there are people on here who actually LIKE that.. Well, I won't say it! <G>

 

BTW, I abhor the color orange! Guess where I went to college... The University of Tennessee AKA BIG ORANGE COUNTRY! And guess who I work for (at least for another 2 or 3 weeks <G>) Cingular Wireless- whose colors are ORANGE!

 

Karie, who guesses that it's a good thing we don't all have the same taste- "Well, officer, it was the guy in the classic black trench coat with wide lapels- Just like those twenty guys over there!"

 

Of course you're unique!.... Just like everybody else!

[Kindlychap]

http://www.cunard.co.uk/qe2_experience/

 

Take a look at the Q1 on the Queen Elizabeth 2. Far nicer in my mind than the QM2 Q1 suites, as you are not at all overlooked and have a forward view.

 

Those Norwegian suites are foul, in my view.

[Guest DBP80203]

Karie -

 

I had often wondered who your employer was, as you used terminology unique to the telecom biz - i.e. 'surplus'. I will say an extra prayer for your continued survival at Cingular.

 

David

 

in Denver - who started with AT&T Long Lines (1977) and am still hanging on...

[patwell]

QE2's suite is nice in a dated sort of way...understated and all that but lacking some of the dramatic flair of the QM2's suite. Thank goodness no one at Cunard ever discovered that abominable orange or electric blue carpet on the other examples!! My vote stays with QM2...not that I ever expect to experience that particular suite. Cheers, Penny

[Kindlychap]

One thing about big suites is that they involve a lot of walking. Also it is too easy to lose things.

 

Not possible in the average Deck 5 statecupboard.......

 

(Joke not original, but was at least obtained on QE2!)

[patwell]

If I could afford to stay in the big suite I could afford to lose things! And I'd have plenty of walking shoes to choose from, so bring it on! Cheers, Penny

[travel-to-go]

Karie -

 

I had often wondered who your employer was, as you used terminology unique to the telecom biz - i.e. 'surplus'. I will say an extra prayer for your continued survival at Cingular.

 

David

 

in Denver - who started with AT&T Long Lines (1977) and am still hanging on...

 

Thank you, David- You have two years on me. I started at SNET (one of the only two companies not subject to Judge Green's Consent Decree, and the oldest phone company in the nation- founded in 1878) in 1979. So I have 27 years with the company. Who knows, Perhaps I have spoken with you on occasion! I have had to make the occasional LL change Or Now the Toll or the #4's or what-have-you.l (Just did a manual reversal of a Lerg change on a Saturday a few weeks back with y'all- 500 MSRNs (Mobile Station Roaming Numbers- Call Delivery temporary LDNs) going to a 24 line Trunk Group in Albany! Oops! Wrong trunk group!)

Maria, on the Labor Day cruise also (we met on the 3 Jan Panama cruise) is a retired engineer from NYTEL. I ran into several other Telco types (including Verizon folks) on our Jan cruise!

 

Well, I am top craft, so I am more than a little nervous about what will happen. The contract and severance packages aren't what they used to be. There are enough people who desparately want to save me that if worst comes to worst, I can probably get a pretty decent management job- I'll lose money, of course, And no more OT, plus the benefits aren't as good as union benefits, but it's better than flipping burgers!

 

BTW, They announced 120 AT&T employees here to be surplused today on the landline side- SNET/SBC/AT&T (and we are buying Bell South)

And AT&T is going great guns towards all (or mostly) VOIP!

 

Hope we will see you on one of these cruises.

 

BTW, One of my Cunard Cruises, we met a gent with AT&T LL He was in charge of the ship laying undersea cable in the Carib. (Talk about your LONG LINES) I believe he works 6 months on, three months off- And there is an opening for a revenue assurance person doing the roaming and billing and such for the Caribbean properties and Cruiseships! Darn! It's based in Redmond. And I am definitely not the accounting type, though I have done some roaming stuff.

 

Karie,

who keeps working 12 hours days. Glad they don't need me or I wouldn't have time to breathe! <G> (and BTW, I am NOT giving up my cruise no matter what!) Besides, I have to test our roaming relationsships in Nova Scotia! <G>

[etoile]

BTW, I abhor the color orange! Guess where I went to college... The University of Tennessee AKA BIG ORANGE COUNTRY! And guess who I work for (at least for another 2 or 3 weeks <G>) Cingular Wireless- whose colors are ORANGE!

May I suggest you avoid easyCruise? ;)

[mike14c]

I just returned from a crossing and stayed in the Windsor Suite, a duplex next door to the Balmoral or Sandrighma (can't remember which name).

 

They are lavish indeed. The main difference between the Grand duplex and the duplex aprtments is that the two grand duplexes run along the side of the ship, which gives them windows along the side. I have crossed in both the Windsor and Buckingham suites. They are lovely living spaces, very tastefully done. Large enough for a proper cocktail party. The one trade off for all the space ane height and light is that the balcony is not at all private; you really are a part of the poolside activity. On a crossing not at all a problem; on a warm weather cruise it might.

 

The service in these suites is comparable to the very best hotels.

 

Can't compare to other accomodations on other ships -- haven't been on them.

[Guest DBP80203]

Karie -

 

I went into management 10 years ago (just as the company shifted to cash balance) and I must admit, it's been a mixed blessing ever since. Know all about the LERG - as I had the dubious honor of de-tolling the Amarillo switch, and neglected to re-route the trunk groups (training was non-existant). Calls started dropping at the rate of 10,000 per hour. OOOPS! Rumor has it that with the expiration of the FCC RULE 272 (you can get married but cannot consumate for one year after the marriage date), then legacy AT&T will be folded into the non-cash balance pension plan that SBC still has. So by all means, get yourself promoted if you can, especially if there is any truth to the latest VRIP rumors (23K per year of service plus two years salary), which sounds entirely too good to be true (although it pretty well matches the VRIP package my boss took back in '98). We could travel in style. Everything old is new again, as I'm in middle of the effort to move all traffic (starting with Private Line) off the SBC network and onto the old legacy AT&T network - just like it used to be. And we'll get to do this again next year with the BS merger. Qwest needs to just offer themselves up to us for the cost of their debt. As for Verizon...

 

David

 

in Denver, who has also felt the rush of wind from that ax way too many times...

[pb82]

Windsor is next to Balmoral. I'm not sure which I envy more: the ready cash to afford duplexes or (being somewhat reclusive myself) having that many acquaintances aboard to warrant throwing a proper cocktail party. On second thought, I'll take the cash; with enough of that, acquaintanes will find me. You're right about the duplexes' balconies, they should at least have awnings.