Baggy178

Gotta love a good buffet. Garlic hummus and a healthy salad for me.

We will do.

Yes. We intend to use our $250 OBC as our gratuity as we feel the amount being demanded by Celebrity to be excessive.

File this under things you shouldn't ask when you've had a few sharpeners... So let me get this straight - folks are posting pictures of their footwear for approval ?

That's exactly what Mrs Baggy said when I retired 20 years ago and gave all my Oxford brogues and Chelsea boots to a charity shop. That's one weekly cleaning chore she doesn't miss.😉

We're on the Silhouette transatlantic cruise coming into Fort Lauderdale so you might have a delayed embarkation while they unload Mrs Baggy's empty bottles.😅 Congrats on the anniversary and a big shout out to your hubby,the old charmer. We husbands get a bad rap sometimes even when it's TOTALLY not our fault but we're all romantics in one way or another. Have a great cruise. ( Love the photos. Hubby has his same game face on every time. Dude looks comfortable in his own skin. Respect.)

In the unlikely event of us eating anywhere on board other than the buffet I would expect a pair of jeans and a t-shirt to be a perfectly adequate dress code - anyone expecting anything else on board or ashore wouldn't receive our business. Whatever anyone wears on their feet is entirely up to them. It's 2023 for goodness sake not a Busby Berkeley musical.

Travelodge are slowly refurbishing their estate - most of the ones I've ever stayed at in London or nearby have been fine. I still use PI ( they're great in Dubai ! ) but I do use more cheaper alternatives as well these days. PI these days are at the tipping point where they're charging mid-range prices for a budget chain and it's much easier to find better and cheaper alternatives than it used to be.

For someone who rarely arises before midday 9am is the middle of the night for me. Only on cruises am I up that earlier to avail of all the free stuff. Another one here also who can eat perfectly healthily on board - a huge buffet salad is normally our go-to lunch.

Sorry to hear about your experience.I have a vegetarian brother so know how difficult it can be when we eat out. If that's the MDR lunch menu it looks okay to this regular eater. I'll have the jumbo shrimp and the mussels and chorizo pasta. Sounds delicious.

" and difficult to get it back to UandS search " ???? Your search engine is automatically based on your location each time you use it.

Consider also Travelodge which is PI's main competitor. Good locations, similar price range. I used to be a big PI fan but less so now. They are no longer a budget range and in many cases are now more expensive than other hotels locally. Rooms are often stuffy with poor ventilation - some have windows that don't open. I have also lost count of the number of times I've woken up very hot during the night to find the A/C has turned itself off and it's happened in too many different locations across the country to make it bad luck. There is also no difference in the thick duvet in summer or winter - and in summer I've often sweltered. Choose location very carefully - if the price is cheap there's usually a reason. Some PIs are in soulless industrial parks or in parts of the City that are deserted after dark with few amenities nearby. Check out the usual aggregators or even Google Maps to find what else is in the area you're looking at. If you get a good rate at PI at County Hall take it as the location is second to none. And as I wrote at the top consider Travelodge UK.

Excellent choice. And for around the pool may I suggest this ? https://www.amazon.co.uk/TwoZero-Mankini-Moustache-ManThong-Swimming/dp/B08D9VR894/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?crid=2160M5HGD9GC0&keywords=mankini+for+men+funny&qid=1696848111&sprefix=mankini%2Caps%2C225&sr=8-4

After rice, Mac and cheese and fried chicken I'm struggling to think of anything else uniquely Caribbean. If you want exotic cuisine the buffet is always a good place to start. I usually find a good curry and some decent stir fry. And Yorkshire Pudding. Lovely jubbly.

I know. That's why we didn't buy in Miami. Wrong coast.😉

Oh my word. Back of the net pal ! 👍

And big portions. From about the mid-80s onwards I learned never to order an appetizer as well as an entree. Once I started travelling there with a family I never ordered any food in a restaurant for me - I just finished off what they couldn't eat. Saved me thousands. It was my apprenticeship in the Ninja Travelling Club™ 😀

Owned a place in Florida for 20 years. Lived and worked in LA for a while. Visited most years for half a century. Don't get me wrong. I like Americans a lot. A great country. But you are keen on the bling ...😉

Er yes, registered in Liberia. To avoid US labour laws. Every cruise line does it.

I prefer to pay the gratuities I think fit which Celebrity provides me the opportunity to do. It amazes me how many people who are business zealots throw reason and prudence out of the cabin window when they board a cruise ship. Pay their staff a decent wage and stop all this mystery about you give us your money for staff tips but we're not obliged to tell you who gets what ? They having a laugh at your expense.

Well as its an American-owned company why not the minimum wage in the US ? They're registered outside the country to escape those labour laws so why should passengers pay for their money-grubbing ?

😅 Glad you enjoy my attempts to lighten the mood. And here goes with an explanation of what I think are the cultural difference between the US and UK which explain our differing views on levels of service. It includes generalisations and stereotyping but a kernel of truth in there too. Brits by their nature that has evolved over the past century or so are easy-going about service. We tend to be self-deprecating and suspicious of those with hifalutin' notions. Call it a stiff upper lip or stoicism in the face of adversity but we're reluctant to cause a fuss. If someone announced they planned on " fine dining " that evening Brits would probably chuckle inwardly and raise an eyebrow. The reverse side of the coin is our differing views on gratuities. We happen to think they're for good service not just someone doing their job although we acknowledge that in the service industries in the States gratuities are intended to form part of a person's salary. But paying gartuities in advance for service which might be crap seems barmy. Americans on the other - and this is my subjective view - want instant gratification and will pay heavily for it and will sometimes pay for things which we might think are quite mad. Like a better table in a restaurant; a specially-designated VIP area in a club which is basically a red velvet rope that cordons you off from the riff-raff that comes at a heavy price. Not unlike an exclusive area on a ship to avoid the riff raff. Why spend 11 days with no escape from them on a ship if you want to be alone ? But this feeds into the Kardashianization of culture - everyone wants Crystal champagne for their Insta photo but as a prosecco price. Every meal has to be Michelin-starred even when a thousand other passengers are being fed at the same time. So no, it doesn't really bother me if I get rump instead of sirloin steak. Or that the menus aren't the same as 10 years ago. Who cares ? All I want to know is what I'm getting on my cruise and the menus I see seem perfectly fine. No turndown service or chocolate on the pillow ? No bother. Or that the cabin attendant forgets to empty the trash ? really ? In the grand scheme of things they're frivolous things. The idea that as ships become ever more massive and carrying thousands more pasengers the same standards can apply as before is fanciful. We're paying $950pp for our TA cruise in a couple of weeks. For a balcony cabin. All the food we can eat. Free entertainment. Three port visits. At that price it would be churlish to crib about minor things like mashed potatoes.😇

Remove the pre-paid gratuities before you cruise and immediately on boarding tell the Customer Service desk you will be adding gratuities on completion of your bill at the level you see fit and not what the cruise company things it can get away without paying its staff a proper wage. If they start to argue hold your hand up and say any more nonsense and I will remove all gratuities completely.It works. Never ever let the tail wag the dog.

I enjoy sirloin, rump, rib-eye, t-bone steaks however they come. I also enjoy posters harrumphing about 'Fings ain't wot they used to be. To this untrained eye who eats out three times a week the menus look perfectly fine.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strip_steak