markeb

They've actually made a tremendous effort. You may not like it, but everything they're wearing or carrying has been thought out, down to the comb in their hair or back pocket. They didn't just come from shooting hoops, unless they're maybe 14. You can't shoot hoops dressed that way. Yeah, some try to get away with tanks/wife beaters, but not all of them. They've put far more thought into their dress than the people who grab the $20 khaki's from Kirkland in the size they wore 15 years ago, didn't try them on, and now either are flashing their ankle or walking off the hem as they try to close the fly or keep them from falling off. Along with a Kirkland polo and/or Hawaiian style shirt. But that's completely acceptable.

And I have sat in Broadway theaters in the heat of a Manhattan summer in July for an actual Tony Award winning performance, in shorts. With plenty of others dressed the same way. Had no impact on the ambiance. I was looking at the stage,

No. He will not feel out of place. He wouldn't feel out of place with a jacket either, but it is not necessary or expected.

Getting ready to order this. I keep hearing independent advisors (i.e., not paid by assets under management) mentioning this... The tagline is a guide to living rich instead of dying rich...

Hawaii: The 50th US state. Statehood was granted on August 21, 1959. The currency is the US Dollar. It is not a foreign country. There are no foreign transaction fees. This is not complicated. You also don't pay foreign transaction fees in the US Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico, which aren't even states. Exactly. The US State Department and Department of Defense consider Alaska and Hawaii "overseas" areas for entitlement to cost of living allowances, but they don't consider it a foreign country. Because it isn't.

Back to the OP coming from Toronto. If Amtrak is a reasonable option for you, it will put you right in the heart of Manhattan and a short cab ride to MCT. Greatly simplifies ground transportation. Definitely arrive a day early! For airports, there is a ground transportation cost associated with all of them. It's possible the least expensive airfare will NOT be the least expensive transportation option! If you fly into Newark, look at the transportation options and costs into Manhattan. A cab will likely be horribly expensive since you're crossing state lines. A car service or Uber/Lyft will likely be a better option, but check prices. If you save $50 on your flight and end up with $200 of ground transportation charges, you may not have saved much. As stated above, there are public transit options from Newark to Manhattan, if you can handle your luggage on a train. But don't jump on the cheapest airfare without looking at what it will cost to get to your destination once you land! This board at one time was full of people who did just that... Of course there's an intangible on a direct flight. There may be more of those into Newark since it's a Star Alliance hub.

Just out of curiosity, what was he playing?

I was just thinking it had been 17 years since we last sailed on HAL. Montreal to Boston on the Maasdam. On that cruise they had a couple of really nice small ensembles playing some really nice music. But we were in our 40's at the time. Way too young... The Music Walk concept is interesting. The description is not as interesting, as it still seems to be stuck in a different demographic than it sounds like they're trying to attract. Much like Celebrity. When they say Rolling Stones, I somehow see Angie and Wild Horses, not Sympathy for the Devil. If they told me they were doing Jagged Little Pill... I have no problem with those of you that do, but as a general rule I have little interest in sitting around a piano bar. I just see Nick the Lounge Singer (Bill Murray) on SNL. Every now and then for a half hour, maybe, but the beer isn't that good, and a good Manhattan is hard to find on Celebrity (again, been awhile for HAL). But we're 23 years into the 21st Century and not all the music of the last 23 years is crap... End music rant.

It would take too long, and (should) be deleted. People have taken exception to a DEI decision of a Belgian company producing a beer like substance in the US...

Click here: https://www.celebritycruises.com/guest-terms/ Select US and English and look for the ALLCAPS sections, which are the changes. My email had no acknowledgement link. I assume they use silence procedure; silence is agreement, cancellation is disagreement. There are no other options.

And oddly enough Le Havre is in Normandy... So back to the OP, Bayeaux and Caen are on the way to Arromanches and the area of the landing beaches. Arromanches is a lovely town even without the World War II history, and Bayeaux offers an opportunity to see the tapestry and the story of William the Conqueror and the Battle of Hastings. Rouen is the opposite direction, unfortunately, but has a beautiful cathedral, and was the site of Joan of Arc's demise. So there is a lot to do in Normandy with or without visiting the landing beaches, which are well worth a once in a lifetime visit. A visit to London will expand to fill your available time. One day, do a HOHO and don't get off. Then wander on your own. Two days, might still do the HOHO (it's not great for point to point transportation...), but I'd pick 2-3 things I really wanted to see, and go see them. London starts to open up at about 4-5 days if you've never been. A lot of well known public sites can be seen and visited (externally) at your leisure and assuming this is a summer cruise, you'll have well over 12 hours of daylight. But London is huge, so stop and have a pint and enjoy the city. And dream of your next visit (July...).

But it would apply to a US purchased cruise that does not include a US stop (Section 10(a) and the definitions).

If you scroll all the way to the bottom, paragraph 19, there are three "operators" of Celebrity Cruises. On in Miami, one in Cyprus, and one in England. I assume that's business registration; it's not ship's registry.

Fortunately, the UK terms are actually written in English... (I looked out of curiosity.)

Probably a better question here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/149-other-mediterranean-ports/

How about ACTUAL goals of a President/CEO: Increase gross margin (increase revenue and/or decrease operating costs) Control admin and selling costs Increase EBITDA Get Celebrity to a point that it can contribute to an increased stock price and maybe even a dividend for RCG Everything else listed is operations. COO, not CEO. And since most of them would decrease rather than increase the gross margin... Seriously, a change of leadership gives them a good opportunity to look at their segmentation and targeting again. If they want to be a premium line, then they have to offer a premium product (which includes food, beverages, etc.), but they're going to have to charge for it. And she has to attract 35-50 year old affluent professionals to replace cruisers who age out of the market and keep the higher yield cruisers in that new group. Maybe those folks don't care about lobster and pay for AI so Elite happy hour is meaningless. I don't know; I'm already older than that group. It's also possible those newly acquired customers actually like the Edge class and don't care about IVs. And don't be like other lines! Then there's no differentiation and you're competing on price! Anyway, back to a nice Yellow Spot. Not available on Celebrity...

Rick--there's a post somewhere in the thread of what looks to be an internally directed letter from her to staff with a planned retirement in either 2024 or 2025 if I remember correctly. So looks like both are true.

Sunk cost fallacy? It’s hard to stop once you’ve spent money. Not uncommon in the corporate world. There’s a basic principle that costs that are the same between alternatives shouldn’t be considered in financial decisions. You’ve already spent the money and spending more isn’t necessarily going to make it better. Kind of like one more hand in blackjack. Or maybe their projections see a massive turnaround. It’s hard to say and there may not be a logical reason.

Celebrity used to make it easy to find basic information on their ships, but that's much harder now. According to Google and Wikipedia, Celebrity announced the order to build the Edge (class) on December 4, 2014, construction began on November 21, 2016, and the keel was laid on June 21, 2017. To get a reasonable construction estimate, key features like the IV and Magic Carpet should have been locked in before the initial order in 2014, and they could easily have been envisioned 2-4 years earlier, so probably 2010 to 2012. Unless Eden required structural changes, it probably could have been finalized during construction, for a price, obviously. LLP became President and CEO of Celebrity in 2014. Not saying she's the greatest CEO in the history of CEOs. But she would almost certainly have inherited the design of Edge. We'll never know what kind of power she would have had to stop after one, or what changes were structurally possible. Did she have a role in the design while an SVP at Royal Caribbean? That was an operations position, BTW. Or did she simply inherited Fain's baby? For a $1B construction project, I'd assume the greenlight would go all the way to the board, through Fain at RCG (or RCCL at the time).

Interestingly, if you look at the corporate bios on RCG's web page, Harri Kulovaara, the executive vice president of Maritime & Newbuilding, is "responsible for leading the design and construction of several of the world’s most innovative cruise ships for the various brands within Royal Caribbean Group." "Kulovaara is also the creative force behind Celebrity Cruises’ three Edge Class ships and five Solstice Class ships, heralded for their stunning and stylish modern luxury design." LLP's bio includes "Along with accelerated financial performance, Celebrity also introduced the critically acclaimed Edge Series of ships in 2018, has achieved historic levels of guest satisfaction, and has won hundreds of top industry awards for innovation and service, all under her leadership." The EVP is credited with the design and build; the X President and CEO with the introduction of the ships. It's a subtle wording, and could be meaningless, but it is how the corporation words their roles... And RCG and the Board would have approved any investment as big as the Edge class. And that would have been Fain, not LLP.

Don't know when but a good guess on why is the duty free vendor got a better deal (or an offer they couldn't refuse) to expand their display of Richemont brands (e.g. Cartier, and now Montblanc). The shops on Beyond apparently already heavily feature Richemont, including IWC, Panerai, Cartier, and Montblanc. Tiffany is now owned by LVMH (who does own Bulgari), Richemont's main competitor. Not in the business, but if you spend anytime around jewelry, and especially watches, display case space is the name of the game...

Do you want to see a bunch of things, or do you want to experience a bit of New Orleans? Excursions are going to be a windshield tour. You'll see things, but that's not New Orleans. Neither is Bourbon Street. Or Pat O'Briens! These are great suggestions! Lunch at Commander's is incredible. Check the dress code; I think lunch is business casual. If you don't go to the Sazerac Bar, go to the Carousel Bar at the Hotel Monteleone. Right around the corner from Hotel Monteleone is the Redfish Grill, a casual dining alternative (still pricey) from the Brennan family. Wonderful seafood. Poke your head onto Rue Bourbon (or Calle de Bourbon since the French Quarter is really the Spanish Quarter) from Canal, and immediately turn right away from the insanity and stroll the shops and galleries on Royal. Head for Jackson Square. Check out the Saint Louis Cathedral. See if Preservation Hall is open and hear some real jazz. Wonder along the river bank. You can and will eat your way through New Orleans. Some of the country's best restaurants (FYI, Michelin doesn't rate New Orleans restaurants. But there are MANY that would be 2-3 stars if they did...) are in town. And a muffuletta at Central Grocery is kitschy, but it's the southern equivalent of Katz in New York. Pretty cool place. The St Charles streetcar is a great way to see the Garden District. If memory serves, you can catch it a block or so from Commander's Palace... If it were me, and that's not fair because I've lived there and I can't imagine spending 12 hours in New Orleans, I'd get late lunch reservations at Commander's Palace. Leave the ship and head into the French Quarter towards Jackson Square. Explore the area. Grab some pralines from one of the stores along the way. You may need a quick return to the ship to change for lunch. If so, grab your beignets with all the rest of the tourists at Cafe du Monde (you'll have powdered sugar everywhere...). Uber/Lyft to Commander's and enjoy an amazing classic lunch. You can walk around the Garden District, and one of the cemeteries is across the street. Take the streetcar back. Have a drink at the Monteleone, and consider dinner at Redfish Grill. Forget your drink package and dinner on the ship... If you're not exhausted, that should leave time for more exploring. And you were never on a bus! Edited: Submitted too fast! Agree about the WWII museum. It's amazing, but big. If you go, you'll have to adjust your day around its hours and try to budget your time accordingly.

All the other brand presidents have a CEO title. The 8-K filing today only announced LLP's position change and salary information with nothing on Laura Hodges Bethge move to Celebrity. I'll hold off until May 1st to see what they actually file with the SEC as far as titles are concerned. I wouldn't read anything into the press release unless a real change is confirmed with an SEC filing. Since Celebrity isn't a publicly traded company in its own right, we'll probably never know how healthy or unhealthy it is financially. But the CEO of RCG and the brand presidents answer to the board of directors, who answer to stockholders, and RCG hasn't paid a dividend in three years and RCG's own 10-K for 2022 shows a three year downward trend in stock prices. Horrible compared to the S&P and parallel to the Dow Jones Travel and Leisure, but lower. Stockholders and the board are going to be looking to raise revenue and cut expenses to pay investors. Or sell. (Always the alternative exit strategy...) Record bookings of high margin cabins (Retreat) may help in the long run. Complaints about cutbacks in the face of record high margin bookings may not even get on the agenda of the board...

Isn't that a shared service across RCG? If so, why would a change at X have any impact?

Or at the dock. Or on the bus. Stuff happens. Seas are too rough to snorkel. Seaweed washing up all over the beach. Lots of reasons.