Joebucks

I always get a chuckle out of this: Plane and taxi: $500 Port taxes, fees, gratuities, included drinks: $500 (on an original bill of $2500) Gambling: $2500 I can't believe they are just giving this away!

I was shocked myself. In the past, I had every once in a while seen it at a steakhouse. On top of the Steakhouse, Alchemy and I think Pig and Anchor had it. Not hidden either. On the shelf for all to see.

Would you also agree to being charged double for your drinks, specialty dining, and excursions? The fare alone doesn't drive the revenue that they want. They are hoping people purchase extras too. Something tells me a solo cruiser also isn't going to spend as much.

I ordered Blantons, which is known to be expensive. Even then, it was "only" $15.

We did pretty much exactly this a few weeks ago. From the Miami port to a hotel in Lauderdale. Cost was about $65. Was about a 50 minute trip due to traffic.

Of course no one WANTS to be bumped. This is all a pretty typical practice of any travel service; plane, hotel, etc. If you're going to statistically have 20 people not show up every time, wouldn't it make sense to book maybe 15-20 more people? For the every off chance you have too many people, you throw some money at a person or two. You still win in the end, because you got a lot more revenue than you would have had.

A couple of dozen old-timers on a forum complaining about "what used to be" doesn't dictate the market as much as this place thinks. Let's be honest. No matter what you think has been "cutback" about cruising, it has been opened up as a viable vacation to more and more people. Mega ships have tons to do. The average person isn't having their vacation ruined because lobster isn't unlimited or their danish isn't delivered to their room each morning. AIs continue to have a value proposition. Some people do both. Some will only do one. There is no such thing as grass greener on the other side. There is ALWAYS someone complaining about something. I recently went to Cancun, a destination well-known for AIs. I didn't even consider staying at one. They are severely overrated, in my opinion. People equate included with money savings, and that is not always the case. You would find me at the (incredible) taco stands for a $5 meal while others flock to mediocre pizza and pasta for their hotel they paid double or more at.

The same way we handle the rest of the leeches of society. We don't. We defend them with "you don't know their situation," and let it get worse.

Solo cruisers are not a protected class...

I cruised out of Miami last month. I always bring a small haircutting scissor, the ones that come with a hair clipper set. It was also confiscated.

The past two Januarys, I had similar experiences. Both 7 day cruises. Both booked an interior. Both were offered a $2xx.00 charge to upgrade to a balcony. To my knowledge the upgrade was offered closer to the booking than it was to the sail date.

In most cases, there is no "surcharge". The price of the room is for 2 people. You will not get a discount for having 1. If a line actually charges more for 1 than 2, then it's a surcharge. I know everyone thinks they know better than the cruise line. If this truly was this big cash cow, they would change their policies. Most lines are not as desperate for cruisers as you think.

Old fashioned from Alchemy. Was also pleasantly surprised by the Sazerac at the Latitudes.

The wagyu is indeed gone. Do yourself a favor though if you're going to spend all of that money. Get the far superior Ribeye and be happy. The wagyu was boring anyway.

I always get a chuckle at arguments of how inconvenient it is to have a device on your where you can communicate, have your fun times, and always have a camera on you. How awful. Here come the different strokes!

I think there's an important difference between product declining and no longer being a value. People absolutely hate change. They will remember all of the negative things, but ignore the positives. It's a tough sell that any brand has consistently improved or even maintained all levels of their product. To constantly look for greener grass because of a "baseline of what used to be" is a recipe for a bad time.

If you're considering that you're generally paying for the 2 people, then it is pretty close.

Where do you get that hotel people spend more? If you're counting the hotel revenue, then of course. However, cruisers also eat and restaurants, rent cars, shop, use taxis, go on excursions, pay taxes, etc etc. The case against cruise ships is largely because space is limited and those with say, want to preserve the experience. They don't want a lot of the riff raff "ruining" the destination.

The experienced cruisers here will often snub their noses at these. I agree with you. I love Cozumel. The port is fun. The beaches are nice. There are plenty of options to have a good time. It's a shame that going to a beautiful, fun, island like this maybe 10 times in your life is that excruciating.

This is not a good idea. With that said, the overreaction and calls for punishment are unwarranted. Chances are, you were dangled or placed in a spot as a kid that would have messed you up in you were dropped. I know we're all super-educated on the matter because of the Royal incident. What is it about cruising related incidents that supersede everything else in severity? Relax.

I just did a regular balcony again after a good upgrade offer. Once again, I barely used it. It would have to be a real good price.

I was referring more to authorities.

Some of you are cute in your outrage. Perplexed that your letter didn't receive a personal apology from the CEO, followed by a policy reversal. Change can happen absolutely based on feedback. However, it's around trends. If it significantly affects their bottom line, they will rethink (probably making different cuts). Stop getting so worked up that your individual feedback didn't change the world. Generally, large companies have extensive experience in change management. The majority of changes affect a smaller portion of customers, with a disproportionately larger cost. They know there's going to be backlash. They aren't stupid. They're betting that most either don't care or get over it. The people you are talking to, who you think are going to change the world, are trained to repeat the corporate speak.

I think it goes both ways. If it was this massive safety issue with untrained crew, I would have expected there would be more public calls for e-muster to end.

I still don't buy that the traditional method is far and away better. As with any competing options, there are always pros and cons. On one end, we apparently give the crew this rare opportunity to find and herd cattle. What kind of secret techniques are the crew learning by practicing opening a room? On the other end, people get to actually hear where they go, where their lifejackets are, what features they have, and the opportunity to ask any questions. I try to seriously picture different emergency scenarios. There are infinite possibilities. The first part we do know is it wouldn't be pretty. No scenario would genuinely prepare thousands of people. However, I'm putting my money on informed passengers knowing where to go and what to do. For example, could you imagine 6,000 passengers onboard, and most didn't get to hear where their life jackets are? At that moment, I couldn't imagine the hide-and-seek crew champions being the most important thing. When the passengers vastly outnumber the crew, the numbers prove how to limit the chaos. There are plenty of avenues to still train the crew. Is the fear that passengers would show up to their assigned muster and the crew would have no idea what to do? There are literally crew members controlling crowds all week. I wouldn't be opposed to them beefing up the current process in some form. I wouldn't say it's perfect. There really needs to be some sort of mandatory video incorporated somewhere. Carnival recently said NCL is only going back to the old method because it requires more crew. Carnival also claims that the Coast Guard has given positive feedback around the new process. That doesn't mean these statements are law, but they certainly are interesting.