EleventyBangBang

Just off Odyssey this morning and we saw The Book.  I concur with what others have stated, nothing really inappropriate per se but it's all song and dance and no real story.  Visually entertaining and I liked the music, but I suspect young kids would be bored. 

2 minutes ago, The Scurvy Pirate said:

I have frequently seen people openly using a "cheat sheet" on when to hit/stay, etc.  Do they really care about card counting?  The advantage has to be miniscule based upon the available hours of play on a normal cruise and that assumes "perfect" play.

The "cheat sheet" doesn't actually put the odds in your favor, it just makes it really close, but still ever so slightly in favor of the house.  So they don't mind that.

Counting cards can actually put the odds in the player's favor.  Although with multi-shoe decks, you're waiting so long to see a favorable period to bet in that it practically becomes a full-time job.  You become a "regular" there and they will definitely study you much more carefully.

We got carabiners on Grandeur.

I still remember my first cruise - I was first at the port so that I could be first in line to get into the NCL Vibe club.  Not really quite sure of the process, I handed my bag and case of water (because that was still a thing back then) to the porter, and in an ominous, gravelly voice, he said, "And do you have a present for the bag man?"  I interpreted his tone of voice to mean that something might, you know, "happen" to my bags if I did not give him 2$ a bag.

The one time we had it, it was basically on par with a cheap frozen pizza from the grocery store.  They would need to substantially improve the quality of it if they wanted to even consider charging extra for it.

2 hours ago, nelblu said:

You'll enjoy it.  We purchased the Key around Labor Day, and it was either $15.99 or $16.99 pp/pd.  At that price it was well worth it.

Oof... 41.99/day on our current sailing.  I can't fathom how it would be worth it at that price.

I reuse towels at home, but I shouldn't have to on a vacation I'm paying this much for.

Did an inside guarantee once on Anthem and got put right underneath the kids pool.  We thought this would be really bad but we actually never heard a thing.

If you enjoy being seated with strangers for dinner, Teppanyaki is an option.

Everything I've read says you can do jet skis at Coco Cay but I don't see it as an option in the cruise planner.  I'm finding lots of conflicting information as to whether or not I should see it on the cruise planner.  What's the deal on this?

Cruise is in November - maybe that's just too far out and they'll show up on the planner later?  Or is it really a "first come first served" type thing?  Or could they already be sold out?

I was the only player at the table on the Independence in Europe.  The dealers told me it just wasn't a very popular game in that part of the world among the locals, just an occasional Yank such as myself.

Like, always remove it as a general rule, or just would be willing to remove it if the situation truly warranted it?

Just this morning ours dropped from 82.99 to 72.99.  

Our last cruise was a 5 day on Grandeur, and it was the first time we ever went without a package.  It would have been more than the cruise itself!  The first bartender we talked to tried very hard to sell us  the package on the spot and looked like we kicked his puppy or something when we refused.  

We are watching for the prices to drop on our upcoming 8 day on Odyssey.  I really like having the package and not having to sign for every individual drink, but breaking even at 83$ a day for 8 days straight is going to be difficult for us.

Maybe they could come up with a "lower-tier" option in the 50-60/day range, maybe without the fresh juices and waters and all that, maybe cap the per-drink limit at like 9$ instead of 13$...  

With the exception of certain itineraries (Australia, and I think one or two specific Caribbean ports) everything is basically back to normal.  No masks, no shots, no worries.

Yes, we just did this.  We had put down a $500 non-refundable deposit on a May sailing (just short of final payment date) and it was looking like I wouldn't be able to get the time off work.  So they let us move it to another ship/sailing later this year for $100 fee per person.  So the net result is that we now have a $300 deposit instead of a $500 deposit on that sailing.

So, it seems like:

Sea class = less than Haven 

Star class = on par with Haven

Sky class = better than Haven 

Does that about sum it up?

Yep, wife and I just got the same. 

I'd wager somebody in Royal IT is gonna have some 'splainin to do.

I guess my fault for not reading, I just assumed that all deposits were refundable up to final payment date.  (That's how it was before COVID, right?)  But that apparently isn't the case now.  Never given it much thought before, but now it looks like, for the first time ever, I might not be able to get the time off work.  So what are our options here?  Lose the 500?  Change cruise date, and something about a 100$ penalty/fee?  We are before final payment date but it's coming up fast.

Anybody have any recent experiences with this to share?

I am curious though, in traditional balcony rooms they always say don't leave the door open for long periods of time because it messes with the AC or whatever.  Does that no longer apply in these rooms?

2 hours ago, LuCruise said:

Thanks for the reply.  So basically like a sunroom (and not really a "balcony")

I saw a video of it, basically it can be either.  It starts as a sunroom, but imagine the whole top half of the outside window can be lowered, and it would then look very much like a balcony.

Relevant part at about 3:05:

15 hours ago, Jingerwoppy said:

Prices are WAY too high!!

Wow, yeah.. .we just paid, I think, 105?  for 5-day inside parking in Galveston, with shuttle.  Seemed pretty secure - this big warehouse reserved just for your sailing, so they know darned well nobody should be coming in or out of that building until disembarkation day.  

Not directly related, but there is a company trying to build a bullet train between Dallas and Houston.  Still in the planning stages, but wow, that would be nice...

21 hours ago, AtSeaAlways said:

 

 

 

 

We were just there week before last.  At this particular corner, there were a couple of stowaway little birds that somebody was feeding.  I wonder if they are still there.

On Grandeur a couple weeks ago, there was a sign in the cabin basically saying Scan this QR code on your phone to get today's Compass in .PDF format, but if you really want a paper one, ask your room steward.

Our experience was that the app listed most, but not ALL of the activities.  The Compass was more complete in this regard.