Kay S

Hahahahaha! That was me. So this is the great sandal debate? 🤣

So has it been confirmed or not that this was a ship-sponsored excursion?

Thank goodness you keep stuff! Thanks!

The Music Walk originally included Lincoln Center. It wasn't just a "background music" lounge. The people who attended the performances (and it was always packed) were there to listen to the music, not chat. In fact, if anyone so much as whispered during a performance, he was met with dirty looks. With all the changes in the entertainment venues, I wonder if HAL will continue to promote the deck as the Music Walk.

I wondered if port-intensive cruises have more or fewer lectures?

How is the bridge on shorter cruises? No instructors? Social play? Only on seas days?

So what exactly is the great sandals debate? 😄

I'm confused about that, too. I don't know if OP will explain.

Well, my next cruise is European, so I will see. Any return of classical music would be welcome. I don't care what they call it.

Saw it once and walked out and I haven't been back.

Good news about the WiFi.

Everyone? 🙂

We have been gone from HAL for awhile but just booked a TA for next year. I was looking at the website and the entertainment pages where I saw a category called "Strings." I know Lincoln Center is gone (a huge bummer) but have they replaced it with some generic classical thing they are calling "Strings"?

I have loyalty benefits on three lines, and all of them have been cutting back on perks. As a marketing tool to attract new customers, these programs become useless when only the old-timers book a cruise. I am of the opinion that by cutting perks, the lines are actively trying to run off their older clientele.

I hadn't thought of it that way, but it makes logical sense.

Exactly. I may be in the minority about this, but the size of the bathroom is the last thing I worry about when choosing a cruise (or a ship.) I live in a 100 year old house with small bathrooms, and neither my husband nor I are especially large people, so I can make do with a small cruise bathroom where I won't be spending all my time anyway. Tastes vary.

Didn't we just have this conversation about Mexican food? 😄

I missed that before. Thanks! What a great link!

I will often order the vegetarian option in the dining room because it tends to be more "exotic" than the everyday same old same old. I'm a regular carnivore, but cruising is a time to experiment with food. Looking forward to the options on O. Anyone have pictures?

We always ask to share for these same reasons. It's also why we mourn the demise of fixed dining. Once we shared a table with a professional Santa Claus, and we learned all about the industry (yes, a whole industry.) We enjoy meeting new people and never lack for topics of conversation. We will be late in the queue for speciality dining, so I'm happy for the advice, Hank.

Gary Bembridge doesn't do hype like some of the other YouTubers. I've been following him for years, and many of his calls have proven true in my own personal experience.

And bless them for it!

Definitely looking forward to your newbie experiences since we'll be in the same boat (so to speak 🙂) in the fall.

Thanks for asking this. As a newbie on O, I was wondering.

Big names don't always draw like they are supposed to. (Curtis Stone?) Pepin had a long-running cooking show on American public television and was a student/colleague of Julia Child. His speciality was French cuisine (not surprisingly.)