Honolulu Blue

Right. They're not on vacation until Wednesday afternoon. Until then, AFAIK, it's business as usual down in St. Louis. But I looked at the SJC site and I think I might be able to resolve the confusion. Look carefully: Note that SJC #1 has changed to Key West on day 3. SJC #2 has changed to Puerto Plata on day 4.

I have seen cruises canceled due to hurricane damage or approaching hurricanes. It doesn't happen very often, as cruise lines don't like to give back $$$ if they don't have to.

They could do any of those things and several others besides. The one thing you can be sure of is that they will keep you and the ship out of danger as best they can. The one thing you can do is keep updated. Monitoring posts here will help, as will contacting U.S. government sites, private weather sites, and Royal Caribbean itself. I'm pretty sure Royal will get in touch with you if your cruise is affected, assuming you're not already onboard - and if you happen to be onboard, they'll definitely find ways to keep you updated. Good luck. 🙏

My demographic experiences on Celebrity, worth about what you paid for it: On my three "regular" cruises of 7, 7, and 5 days, I noticed a fairly diverse lot - couples of all ages, some kids, other random cruisers. I would put the average age around 50. On my three music themed charter cruises, the skew was a lot older. I'd put the average age of all of them around 65. Part of it was they didn't allow anyone under 21 onboard. BTW, all three cruises had a fun-loving crowd - much more than you'd expect from a bunch of cruisers of that average age.

I'll go through the other comments later, but let me record my experiences and opinions... I've been on cruises in June and September. The ships were fine. I'm sure I spent the vast majority of my time onboard. The temps in port were tolerable, at least where I went. It helped to get out early for excursions and/or self-exploration and get back before the worst of the heat arrived. I tend to shy away from the Caribbean in the summer and early fall, but the heat is only a minor part of it. The Western Caribbean ports in October will generally have highs in the mid-80s to the low 90s with heat indexes roughly 5-10 degrees higher. It sounds like a typical Atlanta summer day (at least it was like that when I visited there in July some years ago), so if you can handle that, you can handle the Caribbean. The question is whether you would want to. That I can't answer for you. Oh, I had a land visit to Sint Maarten about 8 years ago and one to Cancun about 3 years ago. The temps in Cancun were all right, but I stayed inside most of the time (my choice). I noticed it being hotter in Sint Maarten, but I was out and about more then. Enjoy your cruise or whatever travel plans you decide to make.

John Heald is no longer a cruise director (though he sometimes acts like one) and is now Carnival's Brand Ambassador. He answers questions from the commoners on his FB page and passes along information from corporate HQ as appropriate. I've sailed with about a dozen Carnival cruise directors through the years. They've all been good in their own ways. Most have been perky, many were all around the ship and easy to interact with, and some have been fun and/or energetic. There are limits to what they can do these days because cruising has changed and cruisers have changed. The cruise directors on the lines other than Carnival I have found to be lower profile, but that's generally all right with me. As for the Washy Washy guy, his scions live on at Royal, where I'm constantly accosted (to a greater or lesser degree) when I go up to the trough.

The 90s Cruise announced today two of their theme nights for their inaugural cruise in January. Since I don't think I did a note for the first one, let's cover them all together: All That 90s Party (general 90s theme) Smells Like Teen Spirit (grunge) Hip Hop House Party (hip hop and dance) They're all vague enough that I could find some matching items in my closet if I chose to. Assuming they won't have a theme for the final day (as TEC does not), there's only one theme night left. And it's going to be a formal night, unless they think grunge wear or hip hop apparel are formal. I do not, so we'll see. BTW, the one theme night TEC has announced for its cruise IS the formal theme - the Fat Tuesday Prom. My official rection is meh.

I disagree, but we'll see. As a CCL shareholder, the token dividend would do me little good, and the quarterly reports and increasing cruise prices tell me all I need to know about how healthy the Corporation is.

I HAVE gotten state discounts before, but not on Celebrity. Nothing so far with age discounts.

My view is that it won't come in the next 3 years or more. They still have a bunch of debt and the shareholders would generally rather they paid most of that off instead of receiving dividends.

I'm glad you're enjoying the Emerald and that the WiFi is good. I'll be cruising on her in 5 1/2 weeks and have prepaid for the Net. And thanks for the show list. A couple of them sound intriguing. I hope they last until I board. Thanks again and I hope you enjoy the rest of your cruise. Keep us updated!

Thanks!

Did they say which stop they were going to in the DR? I know of at least three - two in the north serving the Puerto Plata area and La Romana in the south.

I've seen some YouTube videos by current/former cruise ship crew (I know, I know...) and this is what I take from them when they discuss this subject: Some crew are requested to go on a new ship because the cruise line wants experienced staff on their newest ships. These staff are allowed to accept or decline. Some crew want to go on the newest ship for whatever reason; the more senior they are, the more likely they'll get what they want.

On my last "regular" cruise on the Millie in November 2022, I had a good experience with some of the entertainment. We had the show Boogie Wonderland and guest singer Kristina Wells singing the diva hits of the 1970s. I guess I like at least some of the music from the 70s. 🙂 I, like you and some of the other posters here, most enjoy the music from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. In order to scratch that itch more thoroughly than on regular cruises, I often take music themed cruises with music from those decades. In fact, I'll have music from the 70s, 80s, and 90s on three separate cruises within six weeks of each other early next year. This has been an interesting discussion. Following. I'll go back to lurk mode now.

Thank you for your kind words. I'm glad to be of assistance. Extra brownie points are always good - especially on Judgment Day. 👼😈

In Jazz Cruises' latest newsletter, I noticed a couple of items of interest that may be of interest to some of you. First, Jazz Cruises and their office will be closed July 4-14 this year. Their sites will be up, and they promise to answer their e-mails during this time - if slowly. Second, the Botti at Sea main headliners were announced for each day of that cruise in February. Since I'm not too busy and I could use the brownie points with you guys, here's a listing of them: Night 1 - Chris Botti & his band Night 2 - David Foster & Katharine McPhee Night 3 - Kool & the Gang Night 4 - esperanza spalding Night 5 - Diana Krall Night 6 - Super Bowl Sunday Night 7 - Kamasi Washington I find lists like this incredibly helpful in planning out my days and nights onboard my chosen music cruises. This is the first time I've heard of a performer list by night being announced this far out, though I have heard some hints about the main performer on one of our nights on one of my cruises.

The Magic had a library as of November. I don't think it's been modified significantly as of this date, but you never know.

Thanks for the notes. That reminds me that I need to order the Kindle version of Mr. McDonald's book so I can actually read it sometime soon. I've been busy with other things, so I've let it go by the wayside. I'm sure he's lived an interesting life.

I wonder too. Please keep us posted. 🙏

I have a question about what I highlighted above. First the question... did you mean the January 2025 cruise instead of 2026? I see they're only selling '25 currently on their site. It would be quite unusual for a cruise like this to sell bookings nearly 2 years in advance.

Thanks for sharing your experience and the link. It sounds like they're a lively, interesting bunch. The music they like is a decade or two older than my preference, but that's all right. The most interesting thing that I saw as I went surfing on their site is the fact that they do passenger matching for those who are traveling solo and want to save $$$. They even have a guarantee - if they can't match you up, you'll get the cabin without the single tax. Nice if you can get it. 🙂

My room service experiences have steadily gotten worse as the ships have filled after the restart. On the Regal in December '21, I ordered several times with all but one delivery within 12 minutes. That ship had under 1000 passengers. On the Majestic in April '22, my deliveries were done in 20 to 30 minutes. On the Ruby, my first delivery was 45 minutes, and the second I cancelled after 90 minutes. 😯 On other cruise lines, I expect and mostly receive RS to the cabin in 30 minutes or so. Anything beyond 45 minutes starts to irritate me. I try not to take it out on the delivery person; it's not their fault. 👹

I know the group that has all those charters, four straight weeks of them on the same ship. They're all full charters.

I've done one cruise on HAL about 5 years ago on one of their oldest ships (which they no longer own). It was all right, but for some reason I don't remember a lot of details about it. I'm sure others here will have more constructive comments on them. I've done three Princess cruises in the past three years, have another scheduled in 6 weeks, and two more in late 2025. I'll go through your questions for my experiences on Princess. Keep in mind that this is only one person's experience. The food in the buffet and room service were of good quality and there was usually a good selection. I've never tried the MDR on Princess, so I'll defer to others for details on that. The entertainment on the 80s themed Princess cruises was great! I'm a child of the 80s and I thought they did a really good job of theming with background, trivia, entertainment, etc. Alas, there are no cruises on the current schedule with that theme. I hold out hope, but it's fading. ☹️ The entertainment on the other Princess cruise I was on seemed to be aimed at people who are older than I am. I think your parents will like it more than you or me, but YMMV. As for other activities, they have most of the standard stuff that other cruise lines feature. Here's a newsletter from my non-themed cruise that seems representative, but YMMV. All in all, Princess is a perfectly fine cruise line that should serve you well. Enjoy your cruise!