prmssk

Even a week in the morgue would have resulted in some decomposition. Usually anytime someone wants an open casket, they need to hold the funeral within a few days, not a week. And I'm sure what the funeral home said has a bit of subjectivity to it. Even when you are talking about experts in a field, disagreements are very common.

That depends to what extent the allegations are actually true. We are only hearing the widow's side of the story. The widow won't know what actually went on behind the scenes. And she may not be accurately and completely remembering or relaying the conversations she had with Celebrity crew.

If you have fixed dining (early or late), for dinner you will sit with the same people. You can ask for a table of two for dinner. If that is what you would like, I suggest stopping in there once you board as there usually are staff there answering questions and making reservations for those with anytime dining. Lunch is anytime dining for everyone so the chances of sitting with the same people are slim to none unless you walk in with those people on any given day. We don't usually end up needing to share a table at lunch because not as many people eat lunch in the main dining room. I think the majority of people are looking for something quicker like the buffet.

A thread you started calling out influencers specifically for this. Hence my question to you specifically about why you are calling out influencers when you are far more likely to encounter rude passengers on ships who are not influencers.

Kind of odd to be debating it with someone making generalizations about MSC based on an experience 5 years ago. I was mostly responding to your comparison with the cuts other cruise lines are making because MSC is not structured the same and thus is not facing the exact same challenges others are. To be clear, I'm not doubting your previous experience with MSC and I understand why you might avoid them. I'm questioning your rationale for why you are so sure it couldn't have improved.

So why call out influencers specifically? That isn’t an issue specific to influencers nor is it something you see in influencers/content creators/YouTubers generally.

What I don't understand about this thread is the fact that of all the rude people I have encountered on cruises, none of them have been influencers, content creators, YouTubers, etc. You are far more likely to deal with the average rude passenger (who likely has a 9-5 job) than you are to deal with the few influencers who are rude and obnoxious. I don't see why it should matter to anyone else how they earn their money (assuming they are doing so legally) or what hours they work. All that said, I completely support those complaining about people who interfere with others' vacations but I think you are targeting the wrong group of people if you are focusing just on "influencers".

Of course they can and do. But once that internet reaches the ship from the satellite, it has to pass through cables, routers, and various other IT equipment beyond my basic understanding before it gets to the end user. If you want the same experience as a brand new ship with the newest router and infrastructure technology when on an older ship, you have to actually upgrade that equipment on the ship. I'm not disputing that throttling is happening. I'm just saying that older ships have additional challenges in addition to any intentional throttling X is doing. That is the reason I don't think it is fair to compare an old ship to a new one. Whether we think the cruise line should take the time and money to invest in upgrading the infrastructure on older ships is a different issue. I have my doubts Carnival will be investing much in upgrading their infrastructure on older ships.

Is it complete? I know the original goal was by the end of quarter 1 2023 but then the rollout schedule I saw went well into 2023, with one ship in 2024. I can't find that schedule I remember seeing though. I haven't been following which ships might be left. And older Carnival ships absolutely have technical limitations. The Carnival cruise I took last September had internet that only worked some of the time when it did, there was very little you could access. When it did work download speeds were under 1 with upload speeds almost 0. In my opinion a fair comparison would be the Beyond or the Apex to the Celebration. (And speeds I have seen for the Beyond and the Apex are all over the map with some amazingly fast and others much slower.) I wouldn't be surprised if Celebrity is throttling speeds but I think there also are technical limitations yet on older ships.

MSC is not publicly traded and is backed by a huge, very successful shipping company. They are also aggressively looking to get a larger share of the North American market. I don't think they are in quite the same situation as the other cruise lines. I have not yet sailed MSC but have two upcoming cruises booked with them so I can't give you a first-hand information yet but there is a noticeable and significant upward trend in the reviews over the last few years. Additionally, I've read quite a few reviews from people who tried MSC 3-5 years ago and sailed on them again recently who note the improvements.

I didn't think it was allowed either. And he hasn't come back so it appears he didn't actually intend to engage in a conversation with cruisers which makes it look even more like just an ad.

Insurance likely played a role in deciding whether or not to remove the body at San Juan and fly home vs. spending another six days on the ship. Assuming it is true, it is a sad story though. But I do want to point out that all the information we have comes from a complaint filed by the widow. There hasn't been any discovery and Celebrity hasn't responded yet (at least that I have seen). My gut says that if it truly was as horrible as the article I read makes it out to be, Celebrity would have settled before a complaint was ever filed. I suspect there is more nuance than we are hearing.

Your expectations of both ships can be the same and maybe should be the same. I get your point there. But it is not the same cost and time when it comes to retrofitting an old ship vs. putting good internet to start with on a new ship. And we are still in the rollout process so there hasn't been a lot of time yet since RCG started putting Starlink on their ships.

I agree some throttling is likely happening. Reports of the same are coming from Royal Caribbean including the first ship they tested it on. But that thread includes at least one report with great speeds on the Beyond. And I've seen other reports with great speeds on that ship. So I'm not sure exactly what is happening on the Beyond.

The infrastructure on a ship is also going to affect internet speeds and consistency across the whole ship. Just getting Starlink to the ship doesn't mean the ship's network can adequately distribute it to all the passengers that want internet. I don't think it's necessarily apples to apples to compare one of Carnival's newest ships (the Celebration) to a ship like the Solstice that was originally built with older technology and built during a time when most people didn't carry a connected device everywhere they went. Demand for internet on cruises has exploded between the time the Solstice was built and the Celebration was built, not to mention advances in technology. That said, we had a better experience than he is describing on RC's Freedom of the Seas a couple months ago with download speeds around 15 and higher (which to me is more than sufficient). We'll be on the Celebrity Eclipse soon and am interested to see how the speeds are on that ship, especially as we cross the Pacific.

The $10 limit for the Classic package only applies to alcohol drinks. Any non-alcohol drink not covered in the classic package is full price.

Time will tell, maybe. Right now it's just the wife's allegations in a complaint she filed.

So he had to have passed away in the first day or two of the cruise. I'm a little surprised they gave her a choice. I would think it would be preferable for the cruise line to release the body to Puerto Rico (a US territory). I also can't imagine going on with 6 more days of the cruise if my husband had just passed away. I would think she would be able to fly home faster from Puerto Rico even with dealing with getting her husband's body cleared.

We did this trip from Progreso in September on the Carnival Ecstasy. It was actually the sole reason we booked this cruise. It was absolutely worth it. It's about 2.5 hour bus ride each way which is long but the buses were comfortable. We had about 1.5 hours at the site which is plenty of time to see it. I have a personal blog where I document all our trips. In case you are interested in reading more about our day, here is a link to that day: https://rebecca-travel-log.blogspot.com/2022/09/carnival-ecstasy-cruise-september-6.html FYI - This excursion is sometimes also available from Cozumel. We were originally going to book the excursion on a different ship that stopped at Cozumel. But it is an even longer day with less time at the site if you go from Cozumel because you have to add the time it takes to ferry from the island to the main land.

Whether to fold or cut all depends on whether you would like your luggage to actually make it to your cabin. The tag will likely tear off if it is only 1 sheet thick (hence the suggestion to fold). We do not have fancy holders. A single piece of packaging tape down the length gives it a little extra sturdiness. Then we whole punch the ends and attach with zip ties. We have a good track record with this method.

My husband and his mom went to Le Petit Chef on the Constellation this past November. He said the food was average and the meal was really long. The video he showed me of the animation looked cute but from our perspective it was not worth the high cost. But as you can see from the comments, whether it is worth it to any one individual is going to vary greatly.

That is such a horrible exchange, I can't help but laugh! Maybe before they started contacting people about canceling their cruise, they could have actually trained their reps on what to say....maybe that is asking for too much though.

Last year, it was around mid-November they started releasing itineraries for late spring/summer 2024. I know Alaska was mid-November and Caribbean was mid-December. I can't recall where Europe fell in that release of cruises.

While both lines are decent lines and offer a comparable overall experience, we didn't have great experiences on Princess last year (on the Caribbean Princess and the Emerald Princess). Our most recent Celebrity experiences have been on the Constellation. We have also previously sailed the Summit and the Eclipse. The lunch buffets on both Princess ships had very little variety compared to what we saw on the Constellation last year and on both Princess ships, they struggled to find me flavorful food that met my dairy allergy both in the MDR and in the buffet. Additionally, rooms feel smaller on Princess and you don't get a couch or any comfortable seating in your room unless you book a Mini-suite or higher. Instead they prioritize huge walk-in closets that I know some love but in my opinion take up way too much of an already too small room. We also were shocked at the condition of the Caribbean Princess. She was in dry dock in the spring about a month before our cruise so we expected her to be in decent shape. Unfortunately, maintenance issues were all over the ship (sewage smell, AC that didn't work in large parts of the ship, toilets and sinks out of service in every public bathroom, loose tiles in the pool, etc.). Although in the fall, reports of these issues quieted down in the groups I am in, I'm starting to see some of these same reports again now. This is one ship I personally wouldn't recommend. Related to smoking, Princess does allow smoking in the casino (as well as the enclosed cigar lounge and a location or two up on deck). Because of the casino being open, smoke often did make its way into Crooners and other venues around the atrium. One other thing we didn't enjoy about the Caribbean or Emerald Princess is that popular venues (like the cafe, Good Spirits, Crooners, etc.) were not large enough so the ship always felt very crowded. There are still quiet places but it was a bit harder to find them on those two ships. We still had great cruises on Princess last year and there were plenty of good things about the cruises (great service, enjoyed the coffee shops, the aft pool, Skywalker's, etc.). We didn't let any of the issues we experienced get in the way of enjoying our cruises but it has made us hesitant to book Princess again. That said, personally, I think staying loyal to one brand means missing out on opportunities on other lines. We book the ships and itineraries we want across quite a few different lines based on what we are looking to get out of any particular vacation.

YouTubers like these are trying to make money. They are running a business and the goal of most businesses is to make money. As long as headlines like this get people to watch their videos, they will keep doing it. I don't see how this is any different than the marketing decisions made by companies around the world every day. To me, it says more about our population than it does about any one YouTuber.