Joy Bunny

I've never seen a check. I have seen a refund on my account, however, EVERY TIME a port was missed.

Yes. It's stated in the passenger contract that port fees would be refunded if a port was missed.

I don't think people were "offended". I think they were puzzled why you would even think that they would show naked people on a family cruise line's poolside video screen.

So, exactly how often do those "unknown catastrophes" actually happen?

That chocolate cake does look pretty good!

If there ever was a need to have land-based first responders on board, they would be escorted by security who know where each room is. It is entirely illogical that first responders would be left to roam about an unfamiliar ship trying to find the patient!

Princess never called the last Pacific Princess "R Three" or the last Royal Princess "R Eight". Those were internal designations for corporate use, not for public and marketing use. As for TUI Cruises, all I can say is how romantic it must seem to sail on a ship named like an office building in an industrial park. 😁

Actually, it does make sense. Instead of mundane numbers, giving the floors names gives the sense of vacation vibe and adventure. To argue that numbers are more than enough, would you also argue that each ship in a cruise line's fleet be identified only by a number? How special would the name of a cruise ship be if instead of Grand Princess it was #6 Princess, or instead of Royal Princess, it was #9 Princess. Or how about instead of the MDRs being named Symphony, Allegro or Concerto, they were named #1, #2 or #3? That would be so boring and cold. The same with floors. Using names gives a sense of style and fun that mere numbers could never give.

Your photo of that rotary phone reminds me of watching some elementary school age kids trying to figure out how to use a rotary phone in a hands-on electronics museum in my area. They would push the white area inside the holes trying to get a touch tone. It was cute that they had so little experience with a device so different than the modern phone that rotating the dial never occurred to them.

Most ships have a large number of three or four occupant cabins. On the next ship we will be on, the Royal Princess, approximately 50% of all cabins can hold at least three people, and of those, probably 30% can hold four people. If most of these, as you assume, would have as many occupants at they can hold, Royal would sail with almost 5,500 passengers, not the 3,560 she is listed as at "full" capacity. I rather doubt that having that many people on board would be enjoyable.

OK, got it. Interesting that they change the time so early while still off the California coast. I guess it helps passengers get used to it before arriving at the first port.

I don't understand. The entire West Coast is on the same time zone and it is not changing until March 12th when Daylight Savings time arrives. Why would you lose an hour? Or are you referring to the difference to the time zone where you live??

Most people don't care about bathtubs so having one in those cabins are a waste space and cost since they more often sail with only two people in them. I also prefer a shower instead of a tub because it's easier to get in and out of, especially in rough seas.

In the past we have checked a 12 pack carton of soda with our large luggage at San Francisco port and all was delivered to our room, and will do the same next weekend. If they discard it as "prohibited", we have only lost a few dollars worth of soda - no big deal.

Of course they don't show movies like that!!! Why would you even wonder????