Ret MP

If I'm in the mood to really get the engines running, I'll start off with "Boiler MakerS". I hate them but I like how they get me going.

Good choice. For me, Kraken Rum with Dr. Pepper and Cream Soda. I'm 71 years old and never liked Rum until last May when I tried Kraken Rum for the first time. Fell in love with it.

I should have added, "And it's really none of my business anyway"! And Correct an error I typed. The date of my Independence cruise was Oct/Nov last year.

I agree with your premise. No doubt. But, I am confused about one thing. On the Independence in May 2022, I put my nose where it didn't belong but the bartender actually opened up the discussion in the Playmakers Bar. I asked him if he got the entire 18% that I was actually paying for, (I didn't have an alcoholic drink package and I wasn't Star Class), or any of the 18%, or just a small percentage of the 18%. His answer was, "If you purchase a drink from me and you don't have a drink package or aren't Star Class, I get the entire 18%, otherwise, it goes into the ship's bucket". Bottom line: Who knows what is really going on? I'm still not sure!

LOL

On my last none Star Class cruise, Independence, Oct-Nov, Canaveral, we had a 12:00 "ARRIVAL TIME'. We arrived at about 10:00. Being a rule follower, I didn't get into the line we sat on the benches and waited. At about 10:45 the line was down to about 10 or 12 people going into the terminal, I think that right at about 10:30, there may have been 50 or 60 in line. So, at about 10:45 I went up to the guy that seemed to be the supervisor of the "ARRIVAL TIME" line and asked if he was still sticking to the "ARRIVAL TIMES". He said no, everyone that wants to enter, can. The rest is history. The bottom line: It depends!

Meeeeeeee tooooooo! But, I must say that I think my days of cruising may be in jeopardy if they don't get their prices and services under control. I like value for my $. Raising prices and at the same time reducing services just isn't my idea of a good value. Unfortunately, a lot of everything in life is going the same way, But, cruising is a luxury, not a nessicity that I can't do without. I hate that thought, believe me!

I don't know what came first, the chicken or the egg. But, it seems that RCCL and I can't believe I'm saying this, seems to follow a lot. Who started the once-a-day cabin service? I don't know but I don't think it was RCCL.

First, besides the 18% gratuity tacked on to the beverage tab and not including restaurants, there are no "Mandatory" tips. What I like to do at the places that do add on the 18% I like to make sure, if I get good service, they get at least 20% with a minimum of $2.00 (yes, a $2.00 dollar bill, if I can get them) tip from me. But, like already said, do what your conscience allows.

I knew I was going to kick myself for not knowing the right away. Thanks!

Sorry, CFAR? I'm sure it's easy but I just don't get it right now.

Oh, okay. Thanks again. And thanks to @firefly333

Good info. And you answered my other question, suites are not included or offered in group rates. However, is there a magic number to constitute a "group" for friends, relatives, whatever?

Can a group include A1 or A2, for example? In other words, suites?

What constitutes a group? I'm thinking if a "group" of us here in this CC thread, for example, say that we want to book a cruise and we all agree on the same ship, itinerary, and embarkation location, ...... can we be considered a "group" and get "group" discounts if we have that magical number or whatever it is?

It is my belief that RCCL, et al, hold back vacancies, including suites to present the perception of fullness and then can lure in folks that would otherwise procrastinate and get a much higher price. It is always a marketing ploy/agenda to get people to buy NOW, to hell with tomorrow. That's one reason why I try to book far out, as soon as things open-up or as far from the final payment date as economically possible, for me, like months and months far out.

I find it very funny when they say: And the whole thing is nothing but a big "Disappointment". Mostly one restriction after another. It's a good thing I'm not dependent on Coffee or even like it that much.

WHAT!!!!

That makes me wonder why the stewards SEEM to be getting more and more aloof, less caring, and providing less service even with just once-a-day service. Could it be they are now being used elsewhere part-time? OR, maybe people aren't tipping as much as they used to with twice-a-day service and they (the stewards) are losing interest in their "customers/passengers/recipients of service". Why exceed expectations if they aren't receiving what they used to get? This is all rhetorical, of course, I know you don't know.

I wouldn't think RCCL would refuse to unfold (or whatever you want to call it) a sofa bed if a passenger requests it nightly. If they refused, it would be leaving themselves open to a lawsuit if someone got hurt (strained back or whatever). And for those that say that RCCL, et al, have protected themselves in their "cruise contract", they haven't. My wife's lawyer, in Ft. Lauderdale specializes in suing the cruise lines for injuries (that's not why she has him, though). The advertise all around Port Everglades on the bus benches (Barnett & Learner, they've expanded so there are probably more names now). We have only used the sofa bed on one cruise and it was a suite so we had no issue and we did tell the steward to leave it out.

I have no way to verify this for sure but my guess is that Van Fleet was chosen to be the company's "Chief Meteorologist, not advertised for like this one is. They may have advertised and he got the job but I can't verify that. If they didn't, they are now doing it the right way and not hiring a Celebrity probably at a much more industry-standard rate of compensation. JMHO

What a motivator, eh!

A good pizza crust is the best part of the pizza LOL

Even though I get a kick out of the "Washy Washy" guy/gal, I chuckle to myself as a basically useless activity and just whitewash. The second you are done washing your hands in the trough, the process starts all over again. Everything you touch after that or even particles in the air are returning you to your pre-washy-washy status. What do surgeons do immediately following scrubbing up? They put sterile latex or whatever glovesd on, sometimes multiple pairs, on over their freshly sanitized hands! Am I suggesting that we need not wash our hands? NO, not at all. But, I believe there is a degree of a false sense of security. Washy Washy is better than no Washsy Washy at all, no doubt! But, I believe that is for your own protection until you start touching everything else. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people, between the Washy Washy trough and the first food items or plate location, wipe their faces, itch or pick their noses, make a package check, wipe their kid's runny noses, or reach in their pockets for something that hasn't been sanitized, well, forever. Do we go to the Washy Washy trough after we've eaten our first entrenching tool full of food to return to the food troughs? That's after we've moved the chairs around, use the condiment bottles, and salt and pepper shakers, and had our hands all over the tabletop that may or may not have been sanitized (I mean actually sanitized) after the last people were there. How many people have you seen that can't wait for a dining room attendant to come and clean off the tabletop and just move everything to one side or the other, touching everything that was used by who knows who? My answer to all of this, is small bottles of hand sanitizer used often after just about every touch of something foreign to your own body. To be transparent, I don't follow my own advice, I just don't care, Other than COVID 3 times (very mild, cold-type symptoms/after 3 jabs) I don't get sick, so far. I believe we are all, well, not me and a few others, becoming germaphobes. Maybe we should do this on embarkation: https://foodbabe.com/misting-booths-disinfecting-humans-is-this-where-we-are-headed-please-beware/