XLVIII

Wasn't able to access FlightEase yesterday morning, but was able to bring it up in the afternoon. Haven't been able to access it at all today. Frustrating because yesterday Delta changed our flights and I'm not able to get to them. 😒

I believe Discovery Princess also has the Salty Dog Gastropub?

We’re in Canada, but use a US based travel agent. Usually get back 8 - 10% of the fare in OBC.

Maybe the price is so high because the demand is so high. Looks like this is the only suite left on this cruise?

Million dollar bonuses are a drop in the bucket compared to the Billions of dollars in debt. It would take 1000 years of million dollar cutbacks to make up even a billion of the debt. I’d rather have a competent CEO getting the bonus vs a cut rate CEO driving the company into the ground. 27 million people will take a cruise this year - you’re probably paying less than a dollar per cruise for that compensation.

During the shutdown, Carnival Corp was spending $650 million A MONTH just to keep everything running. They have undertaken massive debt just to stay viable as a corporation. HAL’s number one job right now is to stay afloat as a company. I’m sure they are quite aware of what the cutbacks effects have been, and would have preferred to avoid them as well.

Make sure you have luggage tags ahead of time. Last year we couldn’t get our tags online from Celebrity - told to just get them from a porter at the pier. Waited an extra 45 minutes in that line alone. Ugh.

This sums it up PERFECTLY. Thank you.

Meanwhile, over on the Carnival board, a bunch of nine year olds are having this conversation: -We just got back from a week on the Vista and the place was PACKED with Grandparents! -Right? Us too! Everywhere we went there were seniors - in the buffet, at the pool, the IMAX - one got if front of me at the soda machine! -They were even getting in line for ice cream and the SkyRide! -Doesn’t Carnival provide the a Bingo Hall or something?

You’re right, it’s not going to be enough. There will be more cutbacks and price increases to come. The good news is that their financial update last week was very good. Record bookings at record prices. Stock price up almost $10 in a week. I think of all three main cruise companies, RCL is best positioned to avoid bankruptcy.

You’re going to pay for it whether it’s a Daily Service Charge or just in higher fares. All the cruise lines have billions of dollars in debt due to the pandemic. The money has to come from somewhere.

Those 2 lines do seem to contradict each other.

Almost all US based airlines have eliminated change fees. Airlines in the rest of the world have started to re-implement them. Both Air Canada and WestJet here in Canada have brought back change fees.

As per the Celebrity FAQ page: Flights by Celebrity Itinerary Changes Can I change my flights? Changes to your itinerary can be made however these changes are subject to any applicable airline penalties and fees.

Yes, Flights by Celebrity pass on all airline change fees.

The same could be said about “just book a B2B2B” to get the good sanctuary spots.

What about people who book after that? Not fair to them.

When do you open up booking? Do those that book early get a better shot? Not fair. Do you wait til the day of the cruise? What about those on their way to the pier without internet? On the ship? What about those without wifi? It’s still going to be unfair, just to a different group.

Sorry, but this doesn’t sound simple at all. Where do you do this? When? You’re going to have to spend a great deal of time educating passengers on how this works. Someone will be unhappy because they had dinner reservations during bidding. Like everything else on the ship, just raise the price to real market value. You want a better room, drink package or dinner, you pay more. Change some signs, the notice in the patter and one line in the website. Simple. Capitalism 101.

Thank you

Up the price - pay off some debt!

We’ve never had an issue with kids on Celebtity - hardly ever see them. Drunk adults are another story!

I agree that you should always protect yourself with travel insurance. I don’t think I’ve ever seen medical insurance that doesn’t have a ‘pre-existing condition’ clause though.

Cruise Critic is full of different opinions. Just because you don’t agree with them doesn’t make them wrong or insensitive. P.S. I’m truly sorry about your Bruins. Was hoping to see them go far this year. 😟