Honolulu Blue

I trust the crew-related site and Cruise Industry News. They say they got communications from NCL crew, who got memos from NCL. I don't expect NCL's PR staff to make an announcement about them cutting staff, cutting some salaries, and cutting some services. Even the Spin Doctors couldn't make this sound good. They WILL have to make announcements to their passengers about the reduction in services in due time. I can wait. 🍿

Blame the camera (mine) and the cameraman (me).

It was Carnival Corporation, of which Princess is a subsidiary that was responsible for some, but not all, of the fineable dirty deeds. From the Cruise Industry News article at Norwegian Cruise Line Trimming Stateroom Cleaning, Cutting Crew Roles - Cruise Industry News | Cruise News : Epic - January 8 Sky - January 13 Jewel - January 14 Sun and Breakaway - January 15 The Crew Center article at Norwegian Cruise Line to Reduce Stateroom Cleaning Services | Crew Center (crew-center.com) added (I'm quoting): The new company policy will be rolled out to the entire fleet in the following three-month period, expected to be completed with the Norwegian Pearl on March 31, 2023.

I'll start with the mining industry. Cruise ships don't, in general, rip open the ground and make life where they pass uninhabitable. Manufacturing in general was pretty horrible for the environment until they were forced to clean up their act.

Maybe with the increase in "mandatory" gratuities and the increase in the number of cabins covered, the old cabin stewards will break even or perhaps get more in overall wages despite the salary decrease. I'm sort of reaching here, but I don't have all the information, so I want to give NCL the benefit of the doubt on this. They are, of course, expecting some to leave or not renew their contracts. It's part of the corporate game.

Maybe, but this isn't a good look for NCL, IMHO. Bumping up the "mandatory" gratuities while cutting provided services. Oh, and cutting some salaries and laying others off in the process. From the Crew Center article at Norwegian Cruise Line to Reduce Stateroom Cleaning Services | Crew Center (crew-center.com) : What does this mean for crew members working in the Housekeeping department? In order to accommodate these changes the onboard position titles “Stateroom Steward” and “Junior Stateroom Steward” will no longer exist and will be adjusted in a singular position titled “Stateroom Attendant”. With this change the crew holding the position of Junior Stateroom Steward will see an increase in salary, however, this will scale down the salary for the current Stateroom Stewards. "The elimination of these positions will phase out over time, allowing Stateroom Stewards to complete their current contract. The Jr. Stateroom Stewards onboard will be promoted to Stateroom Attendants on dates according to the implementation dates of the new structure.” NCL said. Yeah, Carnival started all this. At first, they gave passengers the choice of morning or evening service - or both. It seems that as time went on there was increasing pressure put on the stewards and passengers to choose one or the other. After the restart, Carnival no longer offered twice daily service at all. AFAIK, passengers there still have the choice to choose either evening or morning service. I hope NCL does the same.

It did. Thank you for the answer. No further comment. 🤬

It looks like the particular cruise that @Hector123 and I referred to that's sailing in March hasn't sold out yet. But it's a little hard to tell, since it can't be booked online. I would put the link to it, but I don't want to make our Hosts angry or fall afoul of their rules. Let's just say it's very easy to search for on your favorite search engine.

Spike Davis, eh? (scribble, scribble) I'll make a note. Maybe he'll be on one of my upcoming cruises.

I confess that when I saw this post, I initially forgot about the 2020 App of the Year and went back to my childhood for the PBS show and its catchy theme song. Sorry. Distraction over. Carry on. 🤪

Here's the link to Carnival's press release - https://carnival-news.com/2022/12/28/carnival-cruise-line-names-emeril-lagasse-chief-culinary-officer/ Some random comments: It looks like Emeril has some actual duties for Carnival, unlike his C-suite compatriot Shaq Emeril's Bistro will also be on the Carnival Jubilee when it's finished next December He's invited to the New Year's shindig at Times Square I'm done. Celebrity chefs aren't my thing. But they might be yours. Discuss...

I'm sorry about this. I don't have any answers except maybe ask the nice lady in the picture above to help complete your booking? 🙂 She looks helpful and intelligent. 😁

First of all, thank you for the review! It's very well written, the pictures are nice, and it's good to hear from someone who's relatively young. As for port stop times in the Caribbean, I notice they've gone from a general average of 8-10 hours to 7-9 hours. Part of the reason is fuel costs. Another small part might be docking fees. And another small part might be keeping the shops and casinos open as long as possible. I too wish for longer stops, and occasionally some itineraries have longer stops (even overnights!) in some ports. Good luck finding them. (snip) I can understand starting with an ATV and driving it around to all your stops, but not having a tour guide driving you to where you're going seems odd to me. Anyway, I'm glad you mostly enjoyed your cruise and wish you the best in your future travels.

Hi guys. Are you ready for a non-scientific poll that doesn't have anything to do with the usual hot button topics? Of course you are! In case you can't read the poll, the question is was the best comedian you've seen on a cruise ship on a Carnival cruise, not on a Carnival cruise, or have you never seen a comedian on a cruise? I'll tell you my story - early in my cruising career, I saw three comedians on the same Carnival cruise. Since their real names don't matter, call them Moe, Larry, and Curly. Moe and Larry I saw as part of a doubleheader show - 15 minutes for each. Curly I saw separately; his show was 30 minutes long. I graded all three of them "meh" - better than sitting around twiddling my thumbs, but not worth standing in line for, IMHO. Last year I saw a comedian named Carlos Oscar on a Princess ship. I thought he was pretty good and thus he's the best comedian I've ever seen. I should note that there's some room for improvement at the top. Anyway, I've spent too long on my story. Yours is much more interesting. Let's hear it! Thanks!!

Thanks. Oh well, I tried.🤪

Sales on the Ruby out of Galveston and various ships out of Ft. Lauderdale are still showing for me. There seems to be a lesser deal that's available for all North American residents, not just the ones in the frozen North. I'm sorry and I don't know what to say besides if you can find it again, put a hold on it and let your TA/PVP/future self deal with it later.

I haven't booked anything on Celebrity in the past few months and I'm not actively looking to book. When and if I find the urge to book, I'll likely find a deal or two or I'll go elsewhere. Celebrity is a good cruise line, IMHO, but they're not the only good one.

I have a better idea than you do. It's probably her: Her name is Brittany. She's friendly. I saw her around the ship at least once in addition to hosting a couple of the evening shows when I was on the Millennium last month. Tell her I said hi. Then again, she might have been replaced with someone else in the intervening weeks. In which case I have no idea who your CD is. P.S. Thanks for the trip report so far!

On the Millie last month, the shows were at 7 and 9. Dinner seatings were at 6 and 8:30. I'm not sure why they're not standardized. Entertainment department discretion?

46 days. I had one cruise in 2020 pre-pandemic, then a 20-month break, then two last year, and four this year. I have four planned for next year; I might sneak in another one.

I found that the offer I mentioned in my previous post is also available with certain sailings from Port Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale). Different ships, different itineraries, somewhat higher pricing, but still no single tax. Here's my more detailed post on it:

UPDATE: In continued research on this fare, I found that it's also available from certain sailings from Fort Lauderdale on the Regal, Sky, and Caribbean. I was on the Regal a year ago; it's a nice ship. The cruise fares are a bit higher, as are the port fees, but there's still no single tax. Here's a screen shot of one of the better sailings I could find in an obstructed OV in April on the Caribbean Princess: Here's how to quickly find them in your search on princess.com: Go to "Plan a Cruise" Go to "Find Cruises" Change "Date & Length" to 6-8 days Change "Start/End Port" to Ft. Lauderdale (you can add Galveston if you want the look at the offers from my previous post at the same time) Change Guests to 1 (if appropriate) You can also change the Stateroom type to whatever you prefer (e.g. balcony) Click on the "View Results" button Profit! You'll have to sift through the available dates on each sailing as not all sailings have this offer attached. Remember, January-April 2023, from certain Midwest and Northeastern states (and Canada).

I'm glad you found my post helpful. I forgot to mention that Canadian residents can also take advantage of this deal. Airfare is an issue for anyone because none of the states near Texas are eligible.

I found a really nice rate on a group of Western Caribbean cruises on the Ruby Princess in January through April. $490 for 7 days including the cabin and port fees. NO SINGLE TAX! I posted the details in a thread on the Princess board, which is reproduced here:

I found an interesting offer of my own and posted a thread on it. I'm sure it's not casino related: