fac429

You're right, they haven't announced anything yet. But in the latest earnings call Jason Liberty referred to things they've learned from Icon being used in the upcoming "modernization" of Allure. That seems to indicate that some aspects of the original amplification plans have changed, at least a little bit. Hoping you're right that one of those changes is ditching the Bionic Bar. Seems to be a pretty universally ignored space.

Those would be good, and I would personally like to see them add the Mason Jar and either the Bamboo Room or the similar tropical theme bar they're adding to Utopia.

Got it, I somehow misread that you were doing the TA from Barcelona (which is the 26th). We'll be doing the same(ish?) cruise as you, but in July of 2025, so I'm very eager to hear the details about the amplification.

Yes, if we ever do one I think it would probably be something like this.

Are you doing a B2B? I'm seeing the transatlantic as sailing on the 26th...

This is probably why I won't be able to do one of these. I'm very intrigued by the idea, and love being on the ocean. Her, not so much. She thought the 2 1/2 sea days during our Alaska week were too much time at sea, and only agreed to the Western Med cruise we just booked because there's only 1 sea day. She likes trivia, but not much else about sea days.

Thanks everyone!

Seems like quite a few people get very excited about the transpacific and transatlantic cruises. And while I definitely enjoy being on a ship, the longest cruise I've been on was a week and its hard for me to picture ship life for days at a time without any port stops. So I'm just curious- what do people like about these cruises? Do they get boring? What's the vibe like on that type of cruise? Thanks!

One rumor I heard, though it doesn't make a lot of sense, is that Anthem will eventually be in LA. It's scheduled for the summer 2025 Alaska season so it would have to be after that (barring some major itinerary/ship changes to that Alaska season). I personally don't put a lot of stock in this theory but it did come third hand from a guy who likes to mention how tall he is while standing in showers so maybe there's something to it. Ovation is the other rumor that's been floated around here, but I put even less faith in that particular theory now that Ovation's 2025 TP's have now been canceled.

It so happens that I am.

Don't know what jurisdiction you're in, but in a lot of places this would be considered giving legal advice without a license. Might want to delete this one.

It's definitely confusing, and I'm not sure that the information in the article is correct. Another article I was reading said that cruise lines already collect the VAT for "on-island" purchases (like drinks) but that this would be a tax for shore excursions purchased in advance. But that also doesn't sound right as shown by your own invoice showing that they collected the VAT on that as well. I'm not sure if anyone- including the Bahamas, based on their own quotes in the article- actually know what will be taxed that wasn't taxed already...

The article clarifies that 1) the private islands have been exempt from VAT up to now and 2) the Bahamas has not seen any records of what is being purchased on these islands and so they don't really know what will/won't be taxed. But it sounds as though they're going to tax all the same stuff that would be taxed at, say, a beach club in Nassau (so food, drinks, chairs, excursions, day beds, etc.). Sounds like the issue isn't so much that they're adding the tax- we all know the cruise lines are going to pass those costs along to us anyway- it's that they're springing this on the cruise lines with little notice which means that the cruise lines have already sold these things months in advance without the tax priced in. It doesn't sound like they're considering an exemption for items already purchased for upcoming cruises, which will be the biggest sticking point I'm sure.

Are we talking about tribute bands or cover bands? When I hear "cover band" I think of a band that plays songs by lots of different bands, whereas a tribute band (generally) is playing the music of one band (and often tries to look & sound like that band). On Ovation this past summer there was a cover band in the Music Hall most nights (which was very good!), but the only tribute band was in the main theater (Beatles tribute).

I think the key to Ensenada is knowing where to go. I'm not saying it's a world class port. But we've gone ziplining and ATV riding a few miles south of the dock at Las Canadas Campamento and had a great time. I've heard the wine country nearby is pretty cool. And if you don't feel like venturing too far away the Dona Engracia tequila shop/museum is pretty cool (and cheap!). So you don't have to just walk down the main drag and be hassled by street vendors while making your way to the insanity at Papas & Beer.

Yes, we absolutely are!

Anthem currently scheduled for Alaska in summer of 2025. Is the idea that Anthem would come to LA after that? Navigator until then?

Good idea!

I don't believe there is another speculation thread, which is why I created one. As noted above, people are talking about it primarily in unrelated threads so it seemed like that conversation needed a home.

I don't disagree with you, and yet there's been over a dozen posts just today in two different threads about deployment talking about it anyway. My point, and my reason for creating THIS thread, was that if people feel the need to speculate about what's going to happen months from now they should do it here, in Island Lady's thread, their local tavern, Al Jazeera, random street corners, and plenty of other places outside of the threads that are supposed to be about deployment.

That would be another lovely place for people to talk about it. Instead of the deployment threads.

No, hence the question marks in the title. But people are speculating about it in two different deployment threads, so I'm trying to get people to talk about it here instead of in those threads. I doubt it will work.

Don't care about this at all, but clearly a lot of people do. Hoping you'll talk about it here instead of in the deployment threads for two different years.

And even if THIS changed they still wouldn't let you bring weed on the ship. They want you to buy the drink package! (Though if it ever truly became legal I look forward to buying the "UDP," or "Unlimited Dank Package.) I wasn't questioning that it was illegal on the ship- or wondering the reason. I just thought it was amusing that it was the one place I wasn't allowed to do it out of all the places we visited (and come from).

We sailed to Alaska this past summer. I'm from California, where it's legal. Boarded our ship in Washington where it is also legal. Stopped in ports in Alaska and Canada, legal in both cases. The one place I was NOT allowed to have anything was on the ship. Was kind of funny, but I played along. I figure if I can't go a week without gummies then maybe it's time to think about whether I should really be doing them.