markeb

Easiest, but what if this was considered a low risk maneuver and one of the staff captains miscalculated the route? Then you remove the master (again, his responsibility) but leave the staff captain who actually screwed up. Or you remove the entire command structure, and have to replace 2-3 master rated officers. Overnight. Removing the captain without knowing what happened is PR. It'll probably happen, but it's still PR.

What are your plans in Manhattan? It's a pretty big place. Most people, myself included, don't explore much of it. Hidden gems depend on what you're doing. You can, for instance, eat at some of the best restaurants in North America, priced accordingly. Great pizza, great steaks, and a variety of other food. Several world class museums. Views from either Top of the Rock or the Empire State Building. Kind of depends on you interests. I've not gone on the search for great speakeasies that still exist. A lot of the better hotels have great bars. Some things that seem cliche are also good. I'm debating on starting a food finds thread just for fun, but... Amazing restaurant (Michelin 3-star) that you might actually get reservations to: Le Bernardin. 51st Avenue between 6th and 7th Avenue. Amazing French inspired seafood. Lunch more affordable than dinner (surprise). The hidden gem is the lounge where you can order off of the prix fix menu or a lounge menu and have amazing cocktails and wines. Dress code... Wine Bar: Aldo Sohm Wine Bar. Aldo Sohm is the Sommelier at Le Bernardin. He has a more casual wine bar directly adjacent to Le Bernardin. Somewhat limited menu for food, but great menu for wine. Casual Pizza: John's of Bleeker Street. In the Village, not far from the shops of SOHO and Washington Square. I'm still a fan of John's of Time Square for convenience (they used to be related; there was a divorce in the 0's apparently) but the Bleeker Street location is better. Smaller, you may be waiting outside, mid afternoon lunch is probably better. Totally casual. Ramen: A recent find. Michelin Bib Gourmand and well worth it (and also not far from your hotel. Tonchin. Not overly expensive (more so with the full bar, or course), a bit messy (like most Ramen places) but delicious. Hot food on what could be a cold day. Casual. Steak. Also not far from your hotel. Keens. Very old school NY steakhouse. Also has a cool bar. Best use of a sunny afternoon: The High Line. Look it up if you haven't. There's a northern entrance not far from Penn Station. Which now also has a very nice food hall and H&H makes some great bagels/bagel sandwiches. The southern exit is in the Meatpacking District and a short walk to Chelsea Market. No good recommendations for coffee near your hotel. Sorry... Have fun!

The "speculation" is why? Which is the only real question. Unless the photos are exaggerating distance (which they can), the Edge was within the restricted space. Incident/accident investigation transitioned from assigning blame to assessing cause probably 20 years ago. Assessing cause may result in assigning responsibility (and yes, the master is responsible for everything on his watch), but its true purpose is understanding what happened and what can be done to prevent it in the future. That's the more important consideration here. Not attaching blame. It's highly unlikely there was a single failure, and corrective action for future cruises will need to address all those failures. I do tend to fall into a military mindset where the Commander is responsible for everything that does and does not happen in his or her command. Not sure how that applies in this corporate 'command' structure. Right or wrong, I sense a captain being promoted to corporate duties. But first you need to know exactly what failed, when, and why. Otherwise you're firing the coach because the GM signed the wrong players. Looks good on Sports Center but rarely fixes the problem.

Never been there. A lot of good places to visit in Manhattan. It's a pity the Waldorf is still closed. A couple of really cool bars there before the closure. Manhattan is still a great cocktail town!

Speculation. That's why there are investigations.

You never know about weather. In 2015, we were walking around Manhattan in short sleeve polos, with not jackets, on Christmas Day. In 2009, we were watching 23 inches of snow fall... Had to Google the address. I think I get it, but I won't tell... 😃

Back to the OP's question: I will suggest there is no real answer to your question. Dress is different. Sometimes we would perceive it as dressier, but they might not. South of the Alps, a flowy sundress with either flats or heels can be as casual as shorts to us. The UK has centuries of tailoring and textiles and depending somewhat on age a sport coat and trousers is casual, not dressy. Jeans were historically (and I think still?) outrageously expensive in Europe, so wool and cotton trousers are still worn a lot instead of jeans for men (although jeans are certainly common!). And frequently in what would be considered outrageous or even gaudy colors in the US. You may perceive them as dressier, but they're actually their versions of jeans. Dress in France or Italy or Spain will be different from Germany, the Netherlands, or the Czech Republic. Etc. Cruise ships are an artificial environment for dress. Don't sweat it.

But historically common on the Continent. Not so much in the UK... When we were stationed in Bavaria in the 90's, we'd see the same guy on Volksmarches, sometimes more than once a month. Probably in his early 60's, skin was permanently burned, no shirt, and a Speedo. Hiking the countryside...

Admitting this doesn't look good, I would expect at least two investigations. If there is damage to the environment, one of those investigations will probably assign "blame". And lead to the assessment of any monetary damages. That's kind of too late here... The important investigation is a root cause investigation to understand what happened. Were procedures in place to prevent this? Were the procedures followed? Were the procedures inadequate? Etc. And none of us have a clue on any of that. For instance, were they following charts that didn't adequately identify no-go areas (probably not a maritime term)? Did they identify the area but the navigation staff missed them? Was there a pilot on board? Ultimately out of that you figure out the root cause for the incident and identify ways to prevent it. By Celebrity and other ships. Speculation at this point isn't really value added. Apparently the immediate corrective action is to "don't go there" for now...

Don't know that I'd heard of the hotel either, but agree it's a good location. Midtown East has always had a nice feel to me. MTA has a weekly cap (something at least reasonably new) using their OMNY tap and go system. Most contactless credit cards and Apple Pay/Google Pay work fine, and you're capped at $34 for a 7 day period. That really makes most passes redundant for visitors. And from that location, as stated, you'll walk more than ride. You didn't say how long you're in the city, but I'd generally expect to take the subway to the Financial District, SOHO or the Village. Also if you decide to go to the Met. You'll walk to most Midtown sites.

Is it a large portion of their customer base? I don't know. I'm not an iOS app developer so I don't know if they chose to use an API that was native to iOS 17 and not present in iOS 16 or lower. I don't know if they did that for convenience or cost or both. Or did they just not do the version testing to validate the software. Again, the actual developers probably don't know anyone with an iPhone that won't run iOS 17. (And their statement of work clearly didn't require compatibility below iOS 17.) I did a random look at a number of other apps, including banking and credit card apps, and many of them support iOS as low as 13 (surprisingly). So it certainly seems likely Celebrity could support earlier versions of iOS if they chose to. What I am confident of is they actually KNOW how many users of their apps are running an iOS version lower than 17 and how many have an iPhone that won't support iOS 17. At least at the RCG level, since they're probably using the same app developer for RCI as Celebrity. And if that data said it was really a large portion of their customers, they'd have made the app downward compatible. The RCI population may raise the iPhone and iOS versions. Or they are truly criminally stupid. And you don't need the latest iPhone. Just newer than 8.

The App Store still say 17 or higher.

Didn't say I'd buy one. Certainly not at that price...

Seriously? That's the going rate, and typically more, for cocktails in most hotels, resorts, and metropolitan areas. Including Seattle and Bellevue. $20-25 isn't unusual in Manhattan. It's all a matter of your frame of reference, but living near DC, Philadelphia, and NYC and traveling to other metropolitan area, $17 isn't going to cause me to blink. I'm not having three of them, but it's not out of the ordinary. I think a Bud Light is $17 at Nationals Park (MLB)!

To piggy back off princeton123211's post, if you're wanting to stay in "Baltimore" with things to do, there aren't shuttles. If you want a shuttle, you'll need to check around the airport area, but may need to Uber to the actual port. There will be much more to do in the harbor area. Today that's mostly Harbor East to Fell's Point. Along with the hotels they mentioned, a slightly off the beaten track location is the Hotel Monaco. It was the old B&O Headquarters and is a Kimpton property now under IHG. Nice, slightly quirky rooms. Really nice onsite restaurant and bar. If you're arriving in town late and just want to crash, there are some full service hotels around the BWI/Elkridge area that will have restaurants. Again, you may be on your own to get to the cruise port. The O'Donnell location mentioned above is one of the most polarizing hotels on the East Coast. People from outside the DMV area seem to love it. No one (maybe an exaggeration, but not much) who lives anywhere in the DMV or have ever traveled to that part of Baltimore would stay there. I met relatives there years ago. Would never go back. I understand the bus stop and travel plaza aren't there anymore, but that's my memory, and it's not a good one. There's a perfectly good Marriott and Westin (and others) near the airport.

How are you traveling to Southampton? The County Hall area mentioned above would be very convenient if you're taking the train. Along with the Premier Inn, there's a Marriott (probably beyond your desired limit), and the Park Plaza. You'll probably need to join their loyalty group (Radisson, now apparently) for the best rates, but the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge is a very nice hotel, just across Westminster Bridge from the houses of Parliament, and very close to HOHO and Thames River cruise stops. It looks to be available right at your limit, with breakfast and a flexible rate. That would be another option I'd seriously consider. There are a couple of other locations in that area; I've only stayed at the Westminster Bridge location. https://www.radissonhotels.com/en-us/hotels/park-plaza-westminster-bridge-london The simplest non-walking tour is probably one of the Hop On buses. Use it for an overview, not for transportation. I know they stop along the Embankment, and again you may be able to combine a ticket with a river cruise to the Tower or all the way to Greenwich. We'll see if one of our London residents has a better idea for a non-walking tour. They probably exist, but they may be pricey (to say the least). London, to me, is a Tube and walk place.

You can probably get a USB battery charger for the Sony batteries if you want to. I have an a6500 and the batteries are notorious for running down, so I travel with several batteries. But if you don't have that issue, you'll just have to rotate plugs. And carry two adapters if you need to charge everything at the same time. One tip in the UK: The outlets are switched. At the outlet. There will be a little switch on the outlet and you have to flip that switch to get power. It "may" be on when you first plug in, but that's not the desired position. We're doing 3 days in Denali and two days in Seward pre-cruise to take the train. Spending our debarkation day in Vancouver.

May 31st. Early season so hoping for the best on weather. What kind of tablets, phones, and cameras? If they use any of the standard connectors (Lightning, USB C, micro USB, etc.) they're really easy to charge off of a hub; you just need cables if you don't already have them. The charging hubs are all multi-voltage. I have a USB C battery charger that will charge 2 camera batteries for my Sony at the same time, and can also plug into the hub. That cuts down on space, and all I need to do is grab the right plug adapter for where I'm traveling. All of that can be found on Amazon and they're not that expensive. That's assuming you don't already have everything I'm talking about! Not an electrician or electrical engineer, but I'm not sure a US surge protector can safely be used on a UK circuit even if you step it down with a converter. And I don't think using the surge protector after stepping the current down is a great idea. As I say, I've never used one and have never had issues.

I've never used a surge protector in 30 years of travel to Europe, including the UK. What kind of electronics? Do they charge by USB? Can they charge by USB even if they have an adapter? What's the voltage of your adapter(s)? In almost all circumstances (US purchased Braun Oral B toothbrushes being one notorious exception) your charging adapter is 110V - 240V 50/60hz. If so, the most you'll need is a plug adapter, Type A/B (US) to Type G (UK). That's a different plug than the standard European continental Type C/F adapter. Honestly, I wouldn't take anything that actually required a voltage converter. If your devices will charge by USB, then take a USB charging hub and some cables.

Pretty sure Jim actually doesn't drink. From past posts Iain sounds like more of a white wine drinker. Long way of saying I doubt it, but will wait until Jim comes back and answers...

They'd be with the menus, but usually in a separate tab for wines. If you're not seeing anything, change to a current sailing.

Too many hotels to choose from. If I'm reading correctly, you're looking for one night? How many people and rooms? What's your budget? What time do you arrive in LGA? Are there things you want to do or see before the cruise? Are you simply looking for a place to eat, or a really nice meal? Most nicer hotels will be in Manhattan. Lower Manhattan can be more affordable than Midtown and there are ways to get to Brooklyn by ferry if you so desire. Midtown is generally more expensive, but there's more to do if you're arriving earlier in the day. There are hotels in Brooklyn as well, of course. If you're arriving late and just want a place to stay, those are good options. Beyond that, depends on budget and preferences.

Decoy is showing up for Summit next month in Luminae, at $17. Not that it represents some great buy or great wine, but it is available in the app. But it's a pretty pathetic by the glass list for Luminae! I'd probably pay the upcharge for the Kiona Merlot under protest, but there's no way on earth (or anywhere else) that I'd pay $2.40 more for Conundrum! Unfortunately, I've not found on my more recent sailings any real ability of the server to suggest a wine. It's more of a "do you want a cab or a merlot?" discussion, if they have a merlot available. With rare exceptions, they're just not that skilled at wine pairings. Admittedly, it's a 7-14 day menu so it would be harder to match on the fly, but I'd think they'd work up pairings ahead of time. And agree on Decoy... (Now if they had Duckhorn, it would be a different story.) I'll wish you luck on the research. A number of folks have talked about Regent and their all included model. It took some work, but I tracked down one of their wine lists (here on Cruise Critic, I believe) and while all (that I looked at anyway) their by the glass offerings were included, they were still pretty pedestrian wines. The French restaurant onboard did have an interesting selection of French wines that I'd probably try. I'm reluctantly accepting that the drink package is a better deal for cocktails, maybe rum, and some whiskies. So far the martinis are included, although I'm more of a whisky cocktail person. The wines are not great, and many aren't even that good. The best benefit to the package if you want a nice glass of wine with dinner is probably the bottle discount. That just makes it more difficult to have a different glass of wine with your courses or for my wife and I to have a different wine based on what we're ordering. The "other reds and whites" that were once a key feature of the Luminae wine list aren't in the app anymore. And if they're onboard the servers (I largely refuse to call them sommeliers) rarely offer them unless you really ask.

The last time we cruised in a sky suite, in November, we had large bottles of I believe Evian in the cabin that were replenished by the butler/cabin steward at no charge. Those were on the counter and not chilled (which we actually preferred). The mini-bar is not (officially) included in a sky suite or celebrity suite. Your butler/retreat host "may" offer to replenish it. If they don't, your best bet is probably to ask them to empty the fridge so you can put your own drinks in.

FYI, you can accomplish the same thing by saving your passes to your phone's wallet. Without internet, it's a static copy just like a paper copy. (As an aside, if you buy an event ticket through most ticket services (Ticketmaster, for instance), they will tell you screen shots and printouts of the ticket in your app aren't accepted. But the ticket in your phone's wallet is. The only event tickets I've had in hard copy for years are the ones I've bought directly at the box office (usually theater tickets in NYC) or specialty tickets (floor seats, pit for some shows, etc.) with restricted distribution to reduce resale and scalping. And since they're all thermal printed and fade out, they're not even good souvenirs anymore.)