Honolulu Blue

It's a good value for some, but not for me. I don't drink any of those drinks on any cruise and I don't do fitness classes on a cruise either.

Tell him I said hi and ask him when they're going to schedule some 80s themed cruises. 😁

They do have Technotronic, who would have been worth a visit had I planned to go to this. As usual for performers from the 80s and 90s, I preferred their second hit "Get Up!" to their first, bigger song. They'd be a decent choice for The 90s Cruise, if they're still looking for performers. Thanks for the notes on them and Mr. Cafferty. I enjoyed him on TEC last year. For @NinS and random others of interest, here are my notes on my visit to The Sands back in 2021. I reviewed them just now, and it brought back a lot of memories.

When I first saw the original quote, I was thinking about magazines somewhat spicier than the Enquirer - ones where reading the articles was optional and mostly not the primary purpose. Yes, I'm actually 12. 🙃

This may be true if there's no one else waiting, but this did not match my last tender boat experience. I was in Belize on the Magic. I was Platinum and we were asked to wait in our designated meeting area until a tender was available for us. When it was, we were told to follow the line out to the boat.

When you can get a tender depends on a lot of factors. Here's the general order: People with shore excursions bought through Carnival High status cruisers (Platinum & Diamond) Everyone else The good news is that eventually the lines for tenders go down to a point where you can just go down and board one (and wait). The bad news is that it can be 2 hours or more to get to that point.

I've been on one cruise that went through the Panama Canal, two that did partial transits, made two visits to Cartagena, and three visits to Costa Rica by cruise ship. I have never been advised that I needed a yellow fever certificate on any of them, don't have one, never brought it, and was never asked for it. I'm a U.S. citizen, and perhaps the requirements for different countries vary.

I'll take a bit of time to take a look at the 2024 edition of The 80s In the Sand event. It's now rebranded as The Sands, as apparently some people had problems with identifying too strongly with the 80s. The next edition will be its 7th and it will be November 4-9 at a resort in Cancun. It's pricey, especially for those going solo. I attended in 2021 (yes, in the middle of the pandemic) and was disappointed by the experience. To make an extremely long story short, I enjoyed the compactness of my music themed cruises much more. One thing that didn't disappoint was the room, which I still rate as the best I've ever stayed in. I've tracked their lineups through the years, and they've been very, very good. The initial lineup they announced for next year is not exception. I'll go through the highlights: The Fixx - one of my favorite bands. I gave up on them in the late 80s for some reason that I can't recall. But in the early and mid 80s, they were 🔥 Billy Ocean - he was supposed to be on the UDC earlier this year but had to back out. I'm happy that he's performing again; I still wish I could spend time with him. The English Beat - they're on next year's 80s Cruise. John Cafferty - they were on last year's 80s Cruise. Mary Jane Girls - they were strongly linked to Rick James. Also strongly linked to Rick James is his Stone City Band. They'll be on the UDC 2025. Strangelove - Depeche Mode tribute band that was on TEC 2022. I should've gone to see them that year, but didn't. I won't mind getting a second chance at this. Electric Duke - David Bowie tribute. We'll get our own China Girl fan tribute on R&R next year. The Reflexx - The Sands' house band. They did a special gig at our official hotel that I stayed at just before this year's 80s Cruise. I didn't attend. I'm sure they were good. Sunset Blvd - another popular choice by The Sands. They were chosen in a band competition by TEC. They did a couple of concerts on this year's cruise. I didn't see either one. "Downtown" Julie Brown, Alan Hunter, Mark Goodman - former VJs that were on this year's TEC and will also be on next year's edition Overall I think they're off to a good start. I'm sure they'll add more acts as time goes on. Perhaps they'll get me to a point where I'll more strongly regret not giving them a second chance. But I can't imagine it happening.

To me $11 sounds low for an additional entree by about half. IIRC, I was charged about $20 for a room service item from one of the specialty dining rooms.

The enrichment programs you will find depend on where you're going, who you're sailing with, how much you're willing to pay, and what you're willing to put up with. Basic cruises on mainstream lines in the Caribbean mostly offer "lectures" on the upcoming ports and their excursions and/or shopping opportunities. Enrichment value is limited, but you didn't pay a lot for the cruise (I hope). The longer the sailing, at least on mainstream lines, the more enrichment lectures there will be beyond the basic port talk(s).

Most do in the USA too, though it depends on where and how much is being stored It also depends on when. Three years ago, most low-risk savings accounts were yielding nothing or almost nothing. Since then, we've had a broad, worldwide inflationary spike and interest rates have followed in most places.

I've used the general mailing address that's available from various websites and Internet searches

If you don't get any acceptable response from your most current email, I advocate sending a snail mail letter to Johnny in Santa Clarita. See if he wants to get involved in this. You might be surprised by the answer. I've been surprised by the responses when I've done this. Good luck, whatever you choose to do.

More big news from The 80s Cruise - the artist hosted events onboard have been announced! They start booking Tuesday, December 12 at noon EST. Here's the schedule: Friday, March 1st, 2024 (At Sea): 9:00AM – 10:15AM: Best Friends Animal Society Charity Breakfast with Stephen Pearcy ($100 per person) 3:00PM – 4:00PM: Wubba, Wubba, Wine Tasting with Downtown Julie Brown ($110 per person) 5:00PM – 6:00PM: Vodka Mixology with Farrington and Mann ($90 per person) Saturday, March 2nd, 2024 (At Sea): 11:00AM – 12:15PM: Headway Charity Brunch with Soft Cell ($100 per person) 3:00PM – 4:00PM: Wine Tasting with Sheena Easton ($110 per person) Monday, March 4th, 2024 (Curaçao): 2:00PM – 3:00PM: Sushi Making Class with Mark Goodman ($85 per person) 5:00PM – 6:00PM: Curaçao Drinks with Larry The Duck ($90 per person) Tuesday, March 5th, 2024 (At Sea): 4:00PM – 5:00PM: Cupcake Decorating Class with Lori Majewski ($60 per person) Wednesday, March 6th, 2024 (At Sea): 3:00PM – 4:00PM: Rum Tasting with Alan Hunter ($90 per person) 11:00AM – 12:30PM: Sip & Brunch with Midnight Star ($85 per person) 5:00PM – 6:00PM: Wang Wangs with Wang Chung ($90 per person) A few quickie notes: I note that there is a lack of events on the day we're in Aruba It looks like Sheena and Stephen will both be on the ship early in the cruise, which could mean they're getting off in Aruba. What in the world is a Wang Wang? Do I really want to know?? Sheena's hot enough and I like her enough to seriously tempt me to do this wine tasting with her. Those who did these tastings last year got souvenir glasses. Is that enough? The charity breakfast with Stephen is a must-do. I'll have to find time to book this. I wonder if I should use this occasion to wear my shirt of many bands again, or save it for the concert? Or do both?? More study required. I'll comment later on this with what I decided to do.

Knock on wood, I've never had anything stolen from me on a cruise ship on any cruise line (including Celebrity). I've LOST a few things, but those don't count. I find the usual big city precautions work well for me.

To bend this around a bit, I know Carnival the cruise line has Uplift to set up monthly payments... probably with monthly fees involved. The charter cruises I've been on (none on Princess yet) have offered interest-free payment plans which stretch from the purchase date to 1-3 months before the cruise. And one of my Chase cards has a standing offer for my biggest purchases to put any of them on payment plans... with fees and/or interest. I've never worried too much about making the final payment because either 1) I've booked within the final payment deadline and I know I have to pay in full in order to book, or 2) my cruises haven't been all that expensive. I have one cruise next year that has a hefty final payment that could cause some problems, but I'll worry about that when I get there. 😁

Stop the presses... Def Leppard has just announced a tour with Journey and Heart, Steve Miller Band, and Cheap Trick. It'll be just one of those last three in each location. All the stops are in stadiums, which aren't my preference. The closest stop, Detroit's Comerica Park, has Steve Miller Band. That's probably the best one for me of the three. GA ticket sales start next Friday, but some tickets will be on sale as soon as Tuesday. This is another one for the "maybe" pile. Stay tuned.

The only item of note from the McDonald LaBelle cruise newsletter I received yesterday is that they're now over 80% sold with only interiors and balconies left. On the drive into work I heard "Hold On Loosely" from 38 Special and "Night Fever" from the Bee Gees. I'm sure 38 Special will play the former on next year's 80 Cruise. Bee Gees Gold will probably take care of the latter on Rock & Romance a few weeks later.

Thanks for sharing that story. I remember a time when not everyone had credit cards and not every merchant took credit cards. The preferred methods of exchange have certainly changed over time. Maybe I'll see a time where most things are paid for with cryptocurrency?

I believe it. Cozumel is super busy as a port all the time. Perhaps another cruise line had to reserve dock space on short notice? Perhaps Princess was offered the option of tendering in its guests and they refused?

I'd say that door decorating is more popular among families with children than the general population. I've heard that it's even more popular on Disney than other mainstream lines, partly because there are so many children and their surrounding families on board.

A few quick notes, one group for some of you, and one mostly for me. Some of you may be mystified by the abbreviations I commonly use in my posts. Here are the most common ones: UDC - Ultimate Disco Cruise. I sailed on this in 2022 and 2023 and am booked for the 2025 sailing. TEC - The 80s Cruise. I sailed on this in 2022 and 2023 and am booked for the 2024 sailing. TNC - The 90s Cruise. A new cruise that was just announced last month. I'm on the inaugural sailing in 2025. ECP - Entertainment Cruise Productions. They produce TEC and TNC, among other themed cruises. R&R - 70s Rock and Romance (Cruise). I will be on this one along with special guest poster @George C in 2024 DTW - Detroit Metro Airport, the airport I depart from most of the time for my adventures. All right, the rest of this post is for me. These are the prices I found for the packages I mentioned in the last post Styx VIP - $279.50, row 12 center or row 6 left Foreigner Bronze - $264.50, row 10 Foreigner Silver - $549.50, row 3 Foreigner Gold - $1150, row 2 Foreigner Diamond - $1500, front row

This explains a lot. Thanks for sharing. I can't imagine the typical Viking cruiser would want to bother with decorating their cabin door. It's more of a mainstream cruise line or charter cruise, younger person/family group thing to do this. But to answer a question that was asked upthread, I have seen door decorations at resorts and regular hotel rooms. Not as many as on cruise ships, but that's partly because the people in hotels are more transient and less of a united group.

I doubt it's a mistake. It looks like they flipped the order of the ports around. They can do this. I'm sure they're sorry. I'm more curious about why they did it. Weather? Congestion in Cozumel or somewhere else?

You know, there's an area that used to be on most cruise ships that was designated as "quiet areas". They were filled with books (reading is very quiet if done right) and sometimes had computers and games. Unlike similar areas on land, these areas on ships are mostly unstaffed. But most people knew how to behave when inside one. Sadly, many are being converted to other uses on ships. P.S. I am more disturbed by some posts here that advocate attacking rudeness with EVEN MORE RUDENESS. 🤐