Joebucks

Subjective of course. Some people may not find the same value in paying $50-$100 for laundry, in favor of bringing a carry-on. I always wash my clothes at home with cold water, and a quick cycle as to preserve some of my favorite items that weren't exactly cheap. Those industrial machines are powerful and can fade them quickly. All this to prevent the half hour of my trip where I'm wheeling a luggage?

That was basically one of the most popular excursions in PV. We loaded up on so many snacks and souvenirs for $15.

Maybe we just got lucky. We saw whales from the ship while in Cabo.

In Puerto, we took a 20ish minute Uber for $2.80.

We did our own tour too, and was quite pleased with the result. Walked from the cruise ship, into the historic town, market, and down the Malecon. Stopped at the beach. Had to take a taxi back. Was a great time!

As opposed to other spots that want tourists?

There are pros and cons to every travel approach. If you land travel, you can definitely see more, and create your own pace. I definitely want to do this in Italy one day. I'd probably be happy just visiting restaurants and nature for a week. However, that is also lots of time and money spent traveling on often limited vacation time. Especially if going city to city. A nice advantage of cruising is your transportation to the next city happens while you sleep. That unadulterated 8 - 10 hours at a port are a bit underrated IMO. Not every person is able to spend weeks at cities across the world. Also, let's be real, most people see the majority of everything they want to see in that day. Cruising gives you a taste of many different cities. Some people find they didn't care for a city they thought they'd like, and vice-versa.

Only have been to Aruba Palm - beautiful. However, this is more of a hotel beach than a public beach. Eagle - very similar to Palm. On the same coast. More of a public beach. I would absolutely check it out Baby - another great public beach option. Superior for snorkeling.

As much as I hate lines and waiting, I know I often find myself in the lines just thinking how glad I am to be back, and all of the fun things I did / am about to do. Nothing brings down my vacation except for bummed weather / missed ports. Some people are just insufferable. Doesn't matter if they are on a cruise or not.

While you aren't wrong, most people would also be disgusted if they saw what happened at many restaurants.

Just as many gamblers always win, I'd also take some of their spending claims with a grain of salt. Carnival is unlikely to be throwing out free cruises to those spending $100 a week.

No one will ever say a peep about what is in your cup. However, if you carry around a bottle of liquor, someone may say something.

If they take US dollars (and they do) I wouldn't think twice of it. Between fees, time spent exchanging, and trying to figure out exact amounts needed, there is little advantage.

Welcome to the whole casino

Honestly, they are all very similar. I really enjoyed Barbados a lot. Between that, Martinique, Grenada, Dominica, and Guadeloupe, those ports are harder to find on cruise itineraries or even just travel in general. Just make sure you do go. You might like it so much, you do it again!

This can't be true. 5 people on cruise critic will tell me this is the wrong move, and they are cancelling!

I mean, I rarely trust food reviews. Especially when the word "food" is in the title. Usually followed by "quality went down" "food was inedible" etc

Any and all spend that can go on my CC, will. Zero transaction fees. Zero liability. Anything else would be silly. Then I bring cash to fill in the rest of the gaps.

The original post stated bookings are double at what they were. The economy judges the prices more than anecdotal observations.

Do you have any proof to back this up? Some hotels are charging 2-3x pre-pandemic, while executive lounges and in some cases, breakfast are gone. Yet they are selling out. Meanwhile, cruising has stayed exempt from these changes. The usual fomo of cutbacks isn't as powerful as this forum thinks it is. More people want to cruise without testing, vaccination, masks, etc than they want to pizza at 4 am or tablecloths.

During my cruise last January. we went to Mazatlan. Which is part of Sinaloa and in the category of the "do not travel" US travel advisory to Mexico. There were armed guards every few hundred feet on the walk into town. Which was certainly interesting. Interestingly enough, that wasn't even close to the spot we felt the most unsafe in. That honor went to downtown LA. That should also receive a do not travel.

There was one time I remember a salsa night. Not a regular thing.

What in the blue hell are you going on about? Cruise companies are still struggling to make a profit. Costs continue to soar. Yet they should all lower their prices for some victims who are entitled to a cheap cruise. It's not a good look for you to tell everyone to stop spreading covid, only to realize you have no idea how covid spreads.

As with anything, compare your options and select what is important to you. What is a ripoff to one person, can be the best investment ever for the next. For me, the price and covid panic are way too high

Would the Philippines really be on a short list of the most dangerous?