Honolulu Blue

I've read newspapers at the dinner table before, back when newspapers were a thing. I probably did some reading of them while eating, though I won't swear to it. If I did, it was when no one else was dining with me at the table. Newspapers take up a huge amount of space. I read other things all the time at the family dinner table. We weren't big on dinnertime conversation back in the day.

I think if you ask the grizzled veterans who tend to inhabit boards like this, many would .say yes. Certainly there are more cruisers in proportion to population these days, and more new cruisers who don't know all the "hidden" rules of cruising.

I got the same notice. I looked around and didn't see any press releases or announcements/spin from John Heald. They usually give us more notice for price increases. I'm sure the news will leak out soon enough.

A few updates: From the UDC: I think we're getting hints at who they plan to put in the main theater shows. I agree with the Spinners and Shalamar. I like the Bros, but I think they're a stretch to headline. Maybe during a matinee? I got monthly payment notices for my four current music charters. Ouch! I feel like I'm making TWO car payments these days. Oh well, three of them will drop off in February as they're almost paid off. The bad news is that I'm probably going to replace some of them... Styx, Foreigner, and John Waite will be going out on tour starting in 2024. They're opening relatively nearby in Grand Rapids. I wonder why they're opening up in my middle of nowhere state, but I kind of answered my own question - since they're in the middle of nowhere, it won't matter much if they make lots of mistakes. I saw Foreigner's former lead singer Lou Gramm earlier this year on The 80s Cruise. There's a picture of him earlier in this thread, so I won't repeat that. I will also see the current foreigner on the Rock and Romance Cruise in a few months. I saw Styx three months ago in a different town in this nowhere state. Let's see if I can squeeze in a picture of those guys... John Waite I've never seen live in concert. I like him well enough. Not mentioned is my favorite song from him - "Tears". The GR stop is on a Tuesday, which might be a little difficult. It's a 7 PM start. There are several other stops of interest if I'm willing to stay overnight. I'm thinking. Tickets go on sale in a week or so. We'll see what happens. Stay tuned. According to an article at CNBC, the Southwest pilots are close to reaching an agreement with the airline. This has been a cloud hanging over my head for the past two years as I have a CC with SW and have A LOT of points with them, which I've been using on A LOT of flights - both past and future. Let's hope both parties get this done.

Not only was there a rock band on my last Princess cruise on the Ruby in April, there were THREE. And they all played in the main theater. And they were all tribute bands. Did I mention this was an 80s themed cruise? 😃

I'm not sure either. I've done a bunch of Carnival cruises, including one two weeks ago, and I've never seen a gratuity envelope in the cabin.

You make a good point directly above which I hadn't thought of. My initial thought was that Princess has made several statements that they really want everyone to buy a package, so they're going to continue to pack value into it - even though they sometimes add value by taking it away from others.

I suspect one reason is that leaving earlier allows them to sail more slowly to their next destination, resulting in less consumption of fuel, which costs them less $$$.

The band Lit, who will be performing "My Worst Enemy" and other songs on The 90s Cruise, is already on Sixthman's Rock Boat. That ship will sail in late January '24 and into February. I found out about this because they've released their tentative performance schedule already. I'm jealous; I wish I could get my cruises to do that. Lit will be performing three times on this 5-day cruise - once in the main theater and twice by the pool.

Promo video for the new and improved UDC:

Another quick post. First of all, this is Lou Gramm on TEC 2023: Second, this is UDC's new logo - all gold, sparkly, and shiny. Note the new wording: Third, the UDC has updated their site to look like other StarVista Live cruise sites and like the old UDC site in the past. I didn't see any performer additions or deletions.

I've been very happy with my four cruises on the Summit so far. The only other Celebrity ship I've sailed on is the Millennium, which is a near twin that I liked almost as much. These ships both received revitalizations about 5 years ago where much of the common areas and cabins were torn down and rebuilt to modern styling. The revitalized ships generally get good reviews from Celebrity cruisers (including me). The Infinity, in the same class but not revitalized, hasn't been evaluated as well. I don't know if the Equinox has been revitalized. Royal stopped that program because of the pandemic and hasn't announced a restart to it.

Random questions, random answers: I'll defer to others on luggage tags as I don't use them I mostly find the common areas comfortable in either long or short sleeved shirts, but then again, I'm comfortable in most reasonable indoor temps. If you run cold, you're probably better off packing more long-sleeved shirts/blouses, and if you're a lady, you can bring a shawl or something similar. Sweaters is probably overkill unless you happen to be sailing in the Alaska region. I've seen many door decorations, but never the majority on any cruise. Feel free to decorate or not. A few cruise lines, not necessarily Princess, have limitations on what you can put on your cabin door. Dig through the FAQs just in case. Enjoy your cruise!

In the Always Something There To Remind Me department, on the way home from work, I heard "December" from Collective Soul, "You're the Inspiration" from Chicago, and "Cold As Ice" from Foreigner. Collective Soul will be on The 90s Cruise in 2025 and they're almost sure to play this song - which would make me happy, since it's my favorite from them. 😍 I get two upcoming chances to hear "You're the Inspiration" live. Jason Scheff, current lead singer for Generation Radio and former member of Chicago, will be on next year's Rock and Romance Cruise in March. And I will be seeing Chicago on land a couple of months later. I think the odds that either will play this one is close to 50-50; Chicago has had a lot of hit songs through the years. I'm sure it will be well received if they do play it. Foreigner is another double. I saw their former lead singer Lou Gramm on The 80s Cruise earlier this year. He played this one. And I also expect Foreigner to play it when I see them on R&R. And yes, the current temperature outside is as cold as ice. 😱

Thanks for your interest. If your friends can help satisfy our curiosity, that would be very helpful. BTW, I think Carnival handles self-disembarks well (at least from what I've seen), it's just that they have quite a few more than other lines for whatever reason(s).

I find them of similar value for my needs and wants. Here's some of my thinking on it; maybe it will be of help to you or someone else: Princess medallions are nice (if a bit creepy), but the app attached to it is... quirky. Carnival's app isn't as ambitious, but what it does it does well, IMHO. Princess serves a serviceable burger, but Guy's and its fries are still better Princess has had 80s themed cruises in the past. I've been on two of them; they're done quite well and I thoroughly enjoyed them. No sign they're going to repeat these any time soon, sadly. ☹️Carnival has spots of 80s themes in their trivia, background music, shows, even a dedicated day on their longest cruises. Princess has better food in their buffet, but they sometimes do silly things that make me enjoy the experience less than I should Carnival has a more fun environment Princess has more older passengers, though less than you might think on its 80s-themed cruises Princess has more experienced cruisers and travelers More kids on Carnival

The one I got earlier for this promotion had a sailing deadline of 12/31/2024, so I assume that's the true limitation on this sale. I only got three of this e-mail announcement. Carnival clearly doesn't like me as much as they like some of you. ☹️

On UDC's FB page, they made a post asking for everyone's favorite performers on their past cruises. They featured four photos and who they picked was very interesting - The Jacksons, KC and the Sunshine Band, Kool and the Gang, and Taylor Dayne. I saw the first three in '22 and the last three in '23 on this cruise. None are listed as performers for this cruise, yet. Is this perhaps a subtle hint of who's to be announced??

I think there's a good side to the Carnival crowd in that they haven't picked up the bad habits of (some) veteran cruisers and they won't regale you with stories of the good-old-days that weren't always that good. It's worth suffering through their missteps, IMHO. One thing Carnival has for sure is a higher percentage of people who use self-disembark than any other cruise line I've been on. This is despite the fact that CCL is the line I've had my longest average voyages.

Thanks for sharing these details. I thought that ship in the background looked big. With a near duplicate itinerary, I'm surprised I didn't see you more often. I'm not a zipliner or a beach bummer, but thanks for the recommendations. I hope they'll help others. I'm not a particular Disney fan and I've never been on one of their cruises. Disney is only in the title because they also have a ship called the Magic.

I'm sorry NCL didn't have enough of the activities you expected on their cruise. I have no idea if this is typical of their offerings. I suspect not, but I'm not a Norwegian expert. I know that Carnival has lots to do onboard. Here's a newsletter from a typical sea day on my recent cruise: Days in port had fewer activities, but that's to be expected. I hope you find what you're looking for on future cruises.

Thanks for sharing your opinions. Bluegrass is something I admit that I don't think much about or have been exposed to very much. Maybe someone will try again with a full charter someday. It would seem to make plenty of people happy if someone could pull it off.

Thanks for the reply. I'm the opposite - I like 80s music more than disco, though obviously I like some of the disco performers from my past cruises. The 2025 list, other than Lisa Lisa, seems to lean heavily towards classic disco. I wonder which way they will lean with their future announcements. Like you said, there are fewer and fewer original performers from the disco era that are still around. Let's see if that fact forces their hand. Since you mentioned Expose, here's a picture of them in concert on last year's UDC for the fun of it. 🙂

Here are some very quick notes. First, Internet rumors are pointing to a name and logo change for the UDC - now called the Ultimate Disco Cruise and Beyond. Take THAT, Lisa Lisa haters! And second, I recently received my 80s Cruise brochure in the mail. Most of the stuff in it was things I already knew, though the breakdown of the themes by night was nice. Also, there's a list of renamed venues onboard. I find it amusing that the Schooner Bar on every other Mariner cruise was Goonies Bar in '22 and Isaac's in '23, and will be Raiders of the Lost Bar next year. But to me, the most interesting tidbit was the last paragraph on the last page. It revealed that the 2025 edition of TEC will set sail in March '25. No ship or itinerary listed, but they promised details on those soon. What's so interesting about this announcement? First, they're not going to sail in February like this upcoming cruise. And second, they're going to have to get a different ship unless they want to sail out of Galveston - Mariner is moving there starting in May 2024.

Random photos of some of the Cruise Directors I've seen on Carnival. Apologies for any duplicates. Carnival Magic, Mike D'Auria, November 2023 Noelle "NoNo" Jones, January 2020, Carnival Breeze (standing): T.J. Partida, Carnival Freedom, November 2019 (on right, in the suit) Mike Pack, Carnival Horizon, January 2019 (on right):