Honolulu Blue

Random, mostly related comments: Carnival started sailing first, so it's entirely likely that some staff that were a-hoping and a-waiting for their Princess to come through went for the whale tail and were retained by them Carnival's ships have more passengers per crew member than Princess (I think; I'm open to correction on this) Carnival has already mentioned crew shortages due to slow US visa processing; they've also mentioned that this factor has been abating in the past few weeks Carnival has had some venues close and operating hours shortened - some temporary, some permanent

Not all ships have dedicated USB outlets. Some ships have only one usable AC outlet. I understand the need for many, if not most, to try to expand the number of outlets that are usable for them.

Most, if not all, of the proctors I've had had noticeable accents and English as their second language. I got through the tests smoothly because there was no need for them to go off script with me. I don't know of a way to ensure a U.S. based proctor, so for you that might be reason enough to consider other testing options.

I'll add my experience. In December, the shows in Regal's main theater weren't close to being full - and there was only one show per performer per evening. Of course, there were fewer than 1000 passengers on that cruise, so that explains a lot. I was on the Majestic in April and didn't attend any of the shows in their main theater. None of them interested me enough to want to attend. They were back to two shows a day for those who attended. I never heard about how well attended any of the shows were.

I was tipped off to a very interesting concert that's scheduled for next month near Chicago - not too far from my house. It features Stephen Pearcy (lead singer for RATT, one of my favorite groups), Quiet Riot, and Autograph. Autograph will be on The 80s Cruise next year, so I guess this will be a preview. QR lost its lead singer a while back, but I'm sure what's left will be good enough for me. Anyway, I decided to pull the trigger and buy a ticket. It should be a good time. 👍

@whogo: Thank you for the list. Please allow me to comment further on a few of your items: Yes, we were all younger in the 90s. Some of us, it could be argued, were too young to appreciate cruises back then. And some of us here were born in the 90s or even later. I think the ability to purchase extra cost items is an advantage. Options are a good thing, IMHO. Ditto the availability of specialty restaurants (extra cost or not) on the vast majority of cruise ships these days. Some people like big ships for varied reasons - one of them is that they have more things to do that require minimal or no staff I hadn't thought about entertainment back then. Was there really more CD staff? Were there really more crew-hosted activities? Color me skeptical. I did a couple of theme cruises earlier this year that had some big names - especially back in the 90s or earlier. Modesty forces me not to name them. 😁 P.S. @bonsai3s: Also thank you for your list. I didn't have anything to react to here, but your perspective is certainly appreciated.

Allow me to quickly explain myself, then get out of here. I'm a latecomer to Princess, having only taken my first cruise with them in December. I didn't know they never served a subset of soft drinks out of those dispensers. The Regal and Majestic, they could have been designed to hide them in crew only areas, yet they did not. And I had always considered juices soft drinks. A scan of the Internet shows that there are different opinions on the matter.

I've heard reports here of two Princess cruisers being offered Paxlovid in the past three months. So the answer is... maybe? With a HUGE dose of YMMV?

In my cabin? I think most people would rather see MDR food pictures than me in a life jacket. Trust me on this. 😛

I haven't cruised on Carnival since the restart, but just prior to the shutdown, they did have horse races on their longer Journeys cruises. I agree it was a lot of fun. The races I saw weren't held on the pool deck; instead they were held in either the main theater or the aft theater. There was a fair amount of betting by the passengers at $2 a ticket. My only RCCL cruise was a few months ago. It was a charter, so there was no entertainment that was not related to the theme. I don't know if regular Royal cruises have them. I haven't heard about them from others.

More for my archives than anyone else's interest in the topic, let's explore the tribute acts: WANTED My favorite song from them - slim pickings, but today its "Wanted Dead Or Alive". Considering it's part of their name... I'd have to say it's a lock to be played. Will they play this? - "Blaze of Glory". The Bon Jovi tribute act I saw last year (Slippery When Wet) didn't play this one. It was a big hit in the 90s. It feels slightly more likely they'll play it than they won't... 60% chance. DSB My favorite song from them - "Who's Crying Now". Journey had a bunch of hits, and this one isn't their biggest - but it's close. 90% chance. Will they play this? - "Girl Can't Help It". Second-tier hit from a time when they were starting to fade from relevance. I'll peg this one at 20%. PAT BENATAR EXPERIENCE My favorite song from them - "Invincible". One of her biggest hits, but not quite as famous as some others. 70%. Will they play this? - "Hit Me With Your Best Shot". The real Pat Benatar has said she's not going to play this on tour any more. Will the tribute act follow? We'll see. I'll call it 50-50. DOUBLE VISION My favorite song from them - "Down On Love". Anything can happen, but the show is going to be too short for such an obscure song, IMHO. 1%. Will they play this? - "That Was Yesterday". Not their biggest hit, but a crowd pleaser. 40%. HOLLYWOOD U2 My favorite song from them - very slim pickings, but I'm going with "Party Girl". They're not gonna play it, no way, no how. 0%. Will they play this? - "Pride (In the Name of Love")". Their first hit, so I would assume it'll make it to the set list somehow. But maybe not? 75%. RED CORVETTE My favorite song from them - "Take Me With U". I think they'll prefer others. 10%. Will they play this? - "Delirious". The two other hits from 1999 are near locks to be played, but this is my favorite of the three. Let's peg it at 30%.

I don't think it's silly at all. I usually look for the life jacket, and sometimes I'll put one on.

In April on the Majestic, small glasses of juice were available at the buffet to grab and go. I thought they were well hidden and hard to find, but YMMV. No self-service drinks other than those. I long for the day that Princess frees us to self-dispense soft drinks again.

Kite flying was no worse an idea than skeet shooting, IMHO. Don't forget that Benjamin Franklin once flew a kite, intentionally, into a thunderstorm. He survived. 🙂 As for your original question, one of my favorite philosophers put it best - "The good old days weren't always good, and tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems."

I'd love this because I carry my own bags on/off now and occasionally block out my steward when they don't fit in with the rhythm of my day.

UPDATE: Princess has added the dates and bands to their main themed cruise page at https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/special-events/ . Here's the list: October 19, 2022, 4-Day West Coast Getaway with San Diego on Sapphire Princess® Featuring: WANTED (Bon Jovi Tribute), DSB (Journey Tribute), Leo Rossi (Knight’s of Rock), and Carlos Oscar (Comic) January 11, 2023, 4-Day Bahamas Private Island Getaway on Regal Princess® Featuring: WANTED (Bon Jovi Tribute), Pat Benatar Experience, Double Vision (Foreigner Tribute) and Carlos Oscar (Comic) February 16, 2023, 4-Day West Coast Getaway with San Diego on Discovery Princess® Featuring: DSB (Journey Tribute), WANTED (Bon Jovi Tribute), Hollywood U2, and John Joseph (Comic) April 9, 2023, 5-Day Caribbean Getaway with Cozumel on Ruby Princess® Featuring: DSB (Journey Tribute), WANTED (Bon Jovi Tribute), Red Corvette (Prince Tribute), and Ralph Harris (Comic) April 22, 2023, 4-Day West Coast Getaway with San Diego on Discovery Princess Featuring: DSB (Journey Tribute), WANTED (Bon Jovi Tribute), Pat Benatar Experience, and Carlos Oscar (Comic)

Comedy cruises: November 10, 2022, 4-Day West Coast Getaway with San Diego on Discovery Princess Featuring: Carlos Oscar, John Joseph, Adam Ferrara, and Improv At Sea December 17, 2022, 4-Day West Coast Getaway with San Diego on Discovery Princess Featuring: Carlos Oscar, Jeff Dye, Tom Cotter, and Improv At Sea February 25, 2023, 5-Day West Coast Getaway with San Diego on Royal Princess® Featuring: John Joseph, Steve Caouette, Troy Thirdgill, and Improv At Sea April 11, 2023, 5-Day West Coast Getaway with San Diego on Royal Princess Featuring: Troy Thirdgill, Tom Cotter, Carlos Oscar, and Improv At Sea

80s cruises: October 19, 2022, 4-Day West Coast Getaway with San Diego on Sapphire Princess® Featuring: WANTED (Bon Jovi Tribute), DSB (Journey Tribute), Leo Rossi (Knight’s of Rock), and Carlos Oscar (Comic) January 11, 2023, 4-Day Bahamas Private Island Getaway on Regal Princess® Featuring: WANTED (Bon Jovi Tribute), Pat Benatar Experience, Double Vision (Foreigner Tribute) and Carlos Oscar (Comic) February 16, 2023, 4-Day West Coast Getaway with San Diego on Discovery Princess® Featuring: DSB (Journey Tribute), WANTED (Bon Jovi Tribute), Hollywood U2, and John Joseph (Comic) April 9, 2023, 5-Day Caribbean Getaway with Cozumel on Ruby Princess® Featuring: DSB (Journey Tribute), WANTED (Bon Jovi Tribute), Red Corvette (Prince Tribute), and Ralph Harris (Comic) April 22, 2023, 4-Day West Coast Getaway with San Diego on Discovery Princess Featuring: DSB (Journey Tribute), WANTED (Bon Jovi Tribute), Pat Benatar Experience, and Carlos Oscar (Comic)

Princess has linked the 80s and comedy themed cruises to their themed cruise page at https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/special-events/ . The interesting thing is they have the comedians and tribute bands already listed. Please allow me to summarize: Wanted (Bon Jovi tribute) will be on all the 80s sailings DSB (Journey tribute) will be on all the 80s sailings except the one in January on the Regal Princess Carlos Oscar will be the comedian on the 80s sailings in October, January, and April Mr. Oscar will be one of the comedians on the comedy sailings, except for the one in February on the Royal Princess Other acts will pay tribute to Pat Benatar, Foreigner, U2, and Prince Improv At Sea (whomever they are) will be on all the comedy sailings I'll match up the sailings and entertainment in a later post.

I was onboard the Regal Princess in December. I mostly enjoyed myself. There were some little annoyances, but I felt they were overwhelmed by the positives. This happened to be a themed cruise that sailed less than 30% full, so definitely YMMV. But that's true of any single review you read of any ship or any cruise line. I tend to "weigh" reviews by reading a lot of them. If 48 people think a ship is the bee's knees, then maybe the two that are critical are the outliers. Also, if 20 people complain about the same thing that happens to be important to me, then that holds a lot of weight. Three people whining about things I don't care about have very little weight. All the ships and cruise lines you mentioned have their fans - lots of them. There are reasons for this. But whatever ship you eventually decide to choose, I'm reasonably sure will give you a good time. Have fun on your next cruise.

Not really the same, but kind of - earlier this year I had a side-to-side with one cruise disembarking in Miami and the next cruise embarking in Port Canaveral. I had two days between cruises, which made things much easier. I ended up taking a rideshare to MIA, flew to Orlando, rideshare to my near-the-airport hotel, rideshare to PC. It ended up working out, but not without drama, which I'll spare you from. Two questions - do you live in or near Tampa or Miami? What are your estimated arrival and departure times? My only advice at this time is to take a look at nonstop flights going from TPA to MIA/FLL. Maybe some airline is running a loss leader flight that's convenient. Other than that, good luck. 🙏

J&J is only one shot, so the first shot is the same as the last shot. You can wait until 9/2 to get it.

If you get the J&J vaccine by then, you'll be good to go. Be sure to bring the card or whatever proof is provided.

Breaking news... Our Governor has finally come down with the disease of the decade. Mild symptoms.

The Diamond Princess has scratched a bunch of cruises, including the one for November 8. They cited staffing issues. 😟😟 This hits especially hard because it's one of the 5-day cruises, and my opinion is spending an extra day immersed in the 80s is a good thing.