Honolulu Blue

I'm not @JLMcruise and I don't intend to speak for him, but I rarely have lunch on cruises - maybe once or twice a week. I start with a hearty breakfast like the cereal commercials from back in the day promised and that's usually good enough to last me until 5 or 6 - which is when I eat dinner.

In one of his posts today, Brand Ambassador John Heald mentioned a policy from Carnival that recently changed in regards to what the crew can accept from its appreciative passengers. Here it is: I do want to address something that many of you asked me yesterday and that concerns gifts for the crew. First of all there is a new guideline for this and it is to please only bring something that is factory sealed and still in the packet or box. Individual candy or cookies etc won’t be able to be taken by the crew I am afraid. This is for their safety. I can tell you also that the crew love to remember you so if you want to bring them something like a baseball cap, a key ring or something that will remind them of you and the kindness you showed them then that would be marvelous. (emphasis mine) This doesn't affect me directly, since these aren't the type of gifts that I give to crew members on vacations. But I know some of you are affected by this to a greater or lesser degree. Discuss. Be nice please. 🙂

I haven't. It's been informative to read about others' experiences. Thank you for asking about this. I thought there was a chance during the pandemic that, with hard ship capacity limits and the need for quarantine cabins, there would be a lot of involuntary bumping. But the cruise lines generally canceled all their old sailings and made up new ones, eliminating the need to bump anyone. Me too! 👍

Thanks for sharing this. You have the answer to your last question, but the question whether they SHOULD do what you've described remains open. I say no, but there's a lot of company on the other side. My reply to your bolded statement is, "Oh, really?" I think it's something to ask Josh, Jason, and Harry the next time I see them - are they willing to admit that their booking algorithms have a booking quota for solos on certain sailings at certain times? I find it distasteful but wouldn't be surprised if it really were true - all cruise lines have dirty little secrets about the way they operate their business that I try not to think about too much. As someone who has cruised exclusively solo (so far), it's always been "me". I've been fortunate so far in that I haven't personally seen some of the worst policies. Perhaps my screening process protects me from this.

I can't say that I have. I've only heard scattered reports. The 80s cruises that Princess has held have gotten more reviews - mostly positive. Perhaps their efforts there will translate to a positive experience for you. I'd love to hear about it. Please report back!

It looks like Princess has released a new link with notes explaining the current and future benefits of their Plus and Premier packages at https://www.princess.com/cruise-deals-promotions/plus-premier-cruise-packages/ . There's a lot of information there, but I'm going to just focus on the new reserved seating benefit for Premier package holders. My comments on that: It looks like it's going to start with sailings starting on February 20, along with some other benefits The reserved seating is for production shows only. I was kind of wondering about that, so there's the answer. From the site in the hype section: From the FAQ section: It seems that this is fairly straightforward and not as onerous as it could have been. I think a certain vlogger who likes Princess and front row seats will approve of this. I'm all right with it, though I can't imagine ever getting any of these packages. All right. I'll get out of the way now. I'm sure the rest of you are much more interested in the other benefits of these packages and their FAQs.

I did a California Coastal cruise on Princess last April. We embarked in LA and visited San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and San Diego. We also stopped in Ensenada for a few hours. The taxes and port fees on that cruise were $220 - a little high but not extraordinarily so, IMHO. I don't know why they would have tripled in the past year.

I found a YouTube video discussing this cruise. More rave reviews:

Yeah, I don't think you'll be able to see the transfer options until you actually book. Keep in mind that it takes about 1 1/2 hours to get from the port to IAH - add to it if there's heavy traffic and/or construction. I don't think Princess formally guarantees an on-time arrival to the airport. Let's assume you're scheduled to arrive at 7 (which happens to be the return time for my cruise). Assuming there's no fog (a hazard in Galveston, depending on the time of year) and not too many delays otherwise, you should be at IAH between 10 and 11. It's a little risky, but it would be a risk that I would accept. Others may feel differently. I wouldn't schedule a flight out of IAH before noon with a 7 AM scheduled arrival.

I did, and increasingly it's looking like they changed the rate since I booked a few weeks ago. I hope I haven't confused the OP too much.

Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm sorry about what happened to you in your cabin.

Very interesting. When I was looking for the transfers, I noticed that my price for a transfer to HOU - not IAH - was the price you're showing here. Maybe they raised the prices after I booked?

Here's how I got to the option of booking my shuttles: Fire up the computer and go to "My Account" Click on the green "Manage This Booking" button Click on the blue "Travel" button on top On the bottom of the screen you'll see a "Transfers" section. On the left is for Pre-Cruise, on the right is for Post-Cruise Click on the appropriate drop down button for the shuttles you want. There should be an option for IAH and HOU. Make sure you choose the right one(s). If you choose to get a shuttle, be sure to go back up and look at the "Provide Independent Air Section". Click on the "Select" button and fill in the information for your flight(s). I didn't see any pickup schedule.

Here's a YouTube video I found about a horse race on the Ruby Princess several years ago. The action was similar to what I've seen on Carnival Journeys cruises, but this guy spoke and moved a lot faster than what I've seen on Carnival:

I'm in a similar position - coming into IAH the morning of a cruise on the Ruby in April. I booked a transfer on Princess because the other options were either far more expensive, take up too much time, or both. It was $29 for me each way. I trust Princess to make this work. 🙏 So any comments you get are likely to help both of us.

Noted. That may be why I haven't seen it - I've never booked a hotel in Europe and don't have any immediate plans to do so.

It's not thoroughbreds doing laps on promenade deck or the pool, though I'm sure that would be quite hilarious to see. 😆 The setup varies by ship and CD, but here are the basics as I remember them... the race is held onstage either in the main theater or the aft lounge. Six "horses" (actually wood cutouts on sticks that are painted and numbered) are available to be bet on. Sometimes you can "buy" the horse, and you'd get to name it and get the pool from all the purchased horses if yours finishes first. For example, if each horse was purchased for $200 each (you might think this is outrageous, but bidding can get up there - way higher than two bennies sometimes), you'd get the whole $1200 pool, which is separate from the regular betting pool. I'll get into that in a bit. The last three races I saw didn't have horse purchasing available, so it might have been retired. More often, the host (usually the CD) picks someone to name each horse. Then the bets are made by offering tickets to the audience for $2 each (cash - your sail & sign card is no good here). Let's say the betting breaks down like this: Horse #1 - $100 Horse #2 - $200 Horse #3 - $300 Horse #4 - $400 Horse #5 - $500 Horse #6 - $600 The total pool would be $2100. If #1 wins, each $2 ticket would pay out $42. If #6 wins, each $2 ticket would pay out $7. The payout per ticket is announced just before each race. AFAIK, this is straight parimutuel betting with no takeout by the house, which makes it the best bet on the ship. The betting and payout calculation process takes a while and is quite labor-intensive and it's done by the entertainment staff. And then the race begins! Each horse is moved either by the person that "owns" the horse, or the person that named the horse (I did this once), or most often by members of the entertainment staff. How do they move? I'm glad you asked. Three six-sided dice are rolled in some contraption. If the numbers come out 1, 2, and 3 (for example), each of those horses would move one space. If instead the roll came out 4, 5, and 5, then the #5 horse would move two spaces and the #4 horse would move one space. What about something like 6, 6, 6? You guessed it - the #6 would move three spaces. The rolls keep coming until one horse crosses the finish line, which is (I'm guessing) between 12 and 25 spaces from the start. After that, the bets are paid out and there's usually one more race that starts the whole process all over again. One CD who ran an exceptionally tight ship was able to get three races in, but don't expect that. It's a lot more fun than I make it sound, and it's something I'm looking forward to most on my next Journeys cruise. Sorry for the length and detail.

Think of your cruise ship cabin like a hotel room. I've never seen a hotel charge me less for a room as a solo traveler than it would for two people occupying the same cabin. Seen from that perspective it makes sense, though it's no less annoying and unfriendly. 🤬 I have to say that I've never seen this, and I've booked quite a few cruises on several different cruise lines - almost all online. You'd think cruise lines would be happy to offer to sell me (or you) a cabin for full price, assuming there are any cabins available.

Since not too much else is going in, let me take a few minutes to discuss an interesting series of cruises offered by a charter company called Latin Cruise Events. The first one is called The Old School Cruise and it has (among others) Lisa Lisa, The SOS Band, Zapp, The Ohio Players***, Dazz Band, Heatwave**, The Original Mary Jane Girls, and Club Nouveau. It will sail May 5-8, 2023. The second one is called The Super Legends Cruise and it has (among others) Los Lonely Boys, Stevie B, Expose*, The Manhattans, and Rose Royce*. It will sail September 15-18, 2023. The third one is called The Old School Cruise 2024 and it has (among others) Zapp, Kool & the Gang*, Rose Royce*, and Midnight Star. Other acts are TBA. This one will sail May 3-6, 2024. * Played on the UDC last year ** Scheduled to play on the UDC this year *** Originally scheduled to play on the UDC last year These are all sailing on Royal's Navigator of the Seas out of Los Angeles (same as The 80s Cruise for this year) and they're all 3 days long - quite a burst of music. And the timing is well away from the prime music charter season. Alas, the prices are quite high for me - especially with the single tax. And La La Land is quite a distance for me to travel for just three days. But this mix of dance/R&B/Latin music might intrigue some of you.

On the December '21 sailing of the Regal, we had a different Bon Jovi tribute band (Slippery When Wet) and a Hall and Oates tribute band. I thought both were great, especially the latter. We didn't have full crowds because the ship was only less than 30% occupied. On my upcoming sailing on the Ruby, we'll have the same Journey and Bon Jovi tributes that others here have mentioned. In addition, we'll have Red Corvette, a tribute band for Prince. My expectations are high for that one, since I'm a fan of the purple one. 😀

I forgot about cabin location/type. There's a big difference between an interior guarantee and a "deluxe" verandah (OP, I very much doubt you got a suite for what you were charged unless you're a known gambler).

Thanks for sharing, Jen. I hadn't heard any reviews of the October cruise. I'm glad you had a good time.

@SwimCarrie: It seems your question has been answered, and I don't have anything to add besides have fun on your 80s themed cruise! I've been on one and will be going on another in a couple of months.

My initial review is "not bad". But what does it include? Port taxes and fees? "Mandatory" gratuities? Drink package? Bundle of extras? Internet access? Specialty dining? Airfare? Shuttle to/from the port? Are you a gambler? And what cruise lineis this? The more that's included, the more impressed I'll be.

L.A. Guns was announced as the latest addition to The 80s Cruise. I prefer to keep my weapons away from the west coast. 😛 Also, TEC 2024 will be running February 29-March 7 from Port Canaveral on Mariner OTS. It's going to some nice ports - Aruba and Curacao. No prebooking available yet; that starts next week.