jsn55

You're right, I apologize.

Rarely have I seen a better way to waste your hard-earned money than these things.

"Guarantee" cabins are for people who don't care where they sleep. The cruiseline couldn't possibly know your cabin number until close to sail date. I'm sure you can read all about it on your cruiseline's website. Many of us wouldn't book a guarantee cabin under any circumstances. For those who don't care about the details, it may offer a good deal, or your assigned cabin could be dreadful.

In today's climate of 'bargain, discount, cheapest' travel mentality, these sleazeball scammers probably didn't need to do much other than keep shoring up the dreams of great adventure and deep discounts 'if you act fast'. I spent 7 years on a travel advocate forum; people today are so easily blinded by the 'cheapest' ... difficult to grasp the things travellers will do to buy a trip that checks all their boxes. Like they take temporary leave of their senses in the excitement of 'a big score' of a wonderful, perfect, cheap adventure. Something they can brag about at cocktail parties and family gatherings. For example, it was obvious last summer that 'Vantage Luxury Travel' was going down, but people still post occasionally wondering if 'their cruise' will sail next month or next year.

Me too, I avoid hot weather, so a Christmas cruise is very enticing. But I'm not very interested in walking through a Christmas Market every day. I mean, how many Nutcrackers do I really want to see? I'd like to find out more about the cruises themselves and what all that's offered.

Don't know if you're right or not, Sandra, but it sounds like a lot of fun. Just kidding. Seems to me that the result of finding someone attractive would be a nice long conversation over dinner together, or teaming up for a shore excursion. The quick sex thing isn't the only reason people want to get together. At least not the ones I'd find attractive.

I've travelled solo for years, but mostly for business, where I had a built-in social group, so to speak. My husband died recently after a long illness, and I'm looking at solo cruises and been thinking a lot about this subject. Decided to approach my next cruise by thinking up all the kinds of things I enjoy doing, visualizing doing them solo and be sure I'm psychically set up to enjoy being 'alone' for the entire trip. I am gregarious and confident, but it's certainly possible that I'll find nobody to spend time with. Days in port will be easy, of course ... but I'm a little concerned about the evenings. If I'm already mentally set up for enjoyment on my own, meeting compatible people will just be frosting on my cake. My next trip is a river cruise from Provence to Normandy with Avalon in April ... so we'll see how my theory works with a much smaller population than an ocean cruise.

This story takes stupid to a whole new level. I hope these poor, and I mean literally now poor, souls manage to put their lives back together after such a debacle. So very sad. I expect that travel insurance is non-existent for a situation like this, if they even bought any in the first place.

A question for more-experienced cruisers. Announcements are made in public areas, not in my cabin. Why don't they pause a few seconds after the 'bong' so we can open our doors and hear what they're saying? Announcements of special sales on watches don't interest me, but I definitely am interested in what the captain has to say. I miss the start of the announcements because I can't get to the door fast enough. They just start rattling on.

You're very smart to look at this before you need it. Every traveller should have emergency medical evacuation insurance. The relatively small amounts of money you would lose for a cancellation or interruption can't compare with a serious medical emergency. Evacuation to your home hospital and medical professionals can easily reach $100K. In 2015, my husband broke his hip our first night in Paris . The service I received from MedJet was excellent ... they took care of everything, including sending a nurse over to accompany him home and even arranging my ticket. I would have been lost without MedJet. As all insurance premiums increase rapidly as you age, 'self-insuring' might be feasible ... each trip needs to be evaluated carefully. My only other advice would be to get a credit card with built-in travel insurance ... and never buy insurance from your travel provider. Re-check your medical insurance before every trip outside the US so you know exactly what you have. Blue Shield paid 80% of all his medical bills.

Never read an ad on FB, much less click on it, In fact, don't use FB for anything at all.

Whenever I travel, I bring a multi-USB adapter, a multi American adapter and a 6' extension cord. Outside the US, two adapters from that country to American. IThey take up little room and it's a small price to pay for not being inconvenienced.

My take on internet 'at sea' is that sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, and sometimes it just shuffles along. I'd never count on it for more than emails, searches and reading things like Cruise Critic. "Working" on a cruise may be productive, may be impossible. Soon it will all be upgraded on all ships because it's a major point for lots of cruisers. But now, don't count on it.

I'm thinking of how I handle the 'quick oil change' places. I have a really good mechanic, but every other oil change, I just do a quick run through JiffyLube or whatever. Every time they tell me what's 'wrong' and want to replace something, I thank them profusely and tell them that I'll alert my mechanic. Works wonders.

I agree, but I find the ongoing whining and self-justification annoying. Just take responsibility for yourself, pre-think your actions. If you want better service at the bar, give the bartender a cash tip. If you make appointments for outrageously priced services on a cruiseship, decide beforehand how you will handle a gratuity. Don't expect the world to change to cater to your inability to stand up for your beliefs or actions.

`EXACTLY! Figure out what works for YOU! You have your priorities straight.

The whole tipping thing on a cruiseship amuses me no end. When prepaid gratuities appeared, I could see what the cruiselines were doing and made my choice. You have a choice when you cruise. I consider all the fees and service charges from the cruiseline as part of the cost of my cruise. I don't much care how they structure the total price of my cruise. If I think the total cost of the cruise is worth it, I'll book the cruise. I tip people who give me service in cash. Always have, always will. If you believe the crewmembers get their share of the 20% you're charged as their tip, there is absolutely no reason to 'feel pressured' to tip more. They are preying on pax who want to be 'liked'. Why would you want a spa technician to like you? It's all just baloney. You can chose to IGNORE anything whatsoever to do with tipping over what you've already been charged. As long as pax continue to fall for this 'pressure', the service providers will continue to provide the pressure. As my MIL would say, "Don't be a patsy, these people are just trying to pry money out of your pocket". Even if they DO like you better, why would you care? They're being tipped by the cruiseline, or they're being tipped by the pax.

I love(d) the production shows on many past cruises. Saw one on Royal Princess over Christmas and the volume was so ear-splitting that I just left and never bothered again. On NCL Epic last month, we were out every day, so never needed any evening entertainment ... the peace and quiet of my cabin was wonderful. I'm not sure why 'everything' is so loud now ... just to be sure we know we're having fun???

On a recent Epic cruise, I just called when I wanted ice in the late afternoon/evening. If you place your ice bucket in the refrigerator, at least half the ice will still be there into the evening. But with all my little snackies stashed in the refrigerator, I never had room for the ice bucket.

I'll never understand people on CC who feel the need to pick apart the posts of others. Really, guys, this is a forum for expression on the subject of cruising. It exists because we learn from each other and we ENJOY IT. In all its wonderful parts. There is no need to critique the posts of others. We don't need you to do that. If a post doesn't resonate with you, move on.

I'm an experienced cruiser, but I wouldn't even take a post-dry-dock TA cruise if they gave me one. As your first TA, it could be a disaster. You cruise TAs to emerge on the other side relaxed and happy. After the dry dock, you have no idea what will be finished, what will be left undone, what will be completed during your cruise. The chances of infrastructure issues are far greater after a major refurb. With no ports, you have to be self-sufficient with books and your devices. Can't count on the internet to be more than adequate. The weather could be magnificent or horrible, or any combination thereof. I'd not book this TA as your first ... unless you're like me. I'd be happy to read a book all day, take a nice long walk through the ship from top to bottom, inside or out, and enjoy a nice meal. Maybe just go crazy and see a show one night.

Well, you know, it's tough to decide ... if you want to go UP, do you press the DOWN button to bring the elevator DOWN to take you UP? This stuff is confusing to many. Especially to those of us with a drinks package.

In my wildest dreams I cannot imagine what I would possibly do with a butler!! At 630am, I do not want anyone in my cabin, much less pouring my coffee for me. The various priority perks are great tho.

I think people get confused ... a CD on a small ship is a person who you see around all the time, s/he's always putting things together, s/he's easy to find if you have a question or concern; I've become buddies with several of them over the years and enjoyed their company immensely; they're fascinating human beings. On a big ship, they fill more of an executive role, mostly behind the scenes or on a stage somewhere making something happen. Therefore, you may not realize how much they contribute to your experience. Frequent cruisers have seen them all ... those who are always yelling shrilly about some nonsense or the other, those who quietly circulate greeting people and making them feel welcome and supporting their staffers, those you never see at all. There's no question that they are an important part of any cruise.

This is about what I figured. If someone is smoking on a balcony, would they be standing right at the rail doing so? Well, I guess if they're so braindead that they smoke on a balcony, anything is possible. Like texting while driving, throwing cigarette butts off your balcony ranks right up there for stupid.