sparks1093

And as I understand it people bring extension cords and the like for two reasons- 1) there aren't enough outlets in the cabin for their needs or 2) they have a CPAP they need to plug in by the bed. To them it doesn't matter if the cord has a surge protector on it or not, they just need the outlets. There are some people who in their ignorance do bring surge protectors that are confiscated, but all they really needed was an unprotected extension cord. So this makes the number of people "clamoring" for the ability to use a surge protector to shrink even more.

And you think that they don't? According to the Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI), over 3300 housefires are caused each year by defective or improperly used surge protectors, power strips and other electrical cords.

Still, a lot of work for only a handful of people at best.

The water from the dispensers on lido is cleaner than what is in the bathroom cabin.

Learned something new today. I don't like ginger beer so never looked too closely at it and didn't realize it's like root beer in that it doesn't have alcohol.

It is an interesting premise- retooling an industry for the convenience of a few people that want to use a certain device for one week. 😉

I suspect that it will all come down to the knowledge of the security person screening it. If they recognize that the ginger beer you have is non-alcoholic they'll let it go. If they don't recognize it they will confiscate it. You might be able to point out that it doesn't contain alcohol but they aren't going to spend a lot of time on the issue- they have thousands of people to screen.

I can only speak for myself but I would mind paying more if I didn't have to. It isn't just cruise ships that are wired this way- it is all ships. So I'm going to guess that to pull off what you are suggesting it would require a retool of one segment (and a small segment at that) of an entire industry. And the ultimate question is- to what purpose? Does it save money? Is it more efficient? Is it safer? What is the benefit to the industry to do things the way that you propose? (I will say here that I know just enough about electricity to be dangerous, and you obviously know much more than I, but these are the thoughts one lay person has. And I will warn you that if your response gets overly technical my eyes are going to glaze over.)

For some, sure.

While you might get a better response on the Carnival forum I believe promo codes for this are limited to targeted cruisers. I did not get one for our last sailing, but our son did.

Just got back from Mardi Gras and while we haven't sailed Oasis we have sailed Anthem of the Seas and I thought that Mardi Gras was good competition for Anthem. Anthem had the bumper cars/roller skating, Mardi Gras Bolt and the ropes course. Anthem the Solarium, Mardi Gras Serenity (with a salad bar instead of a bistro). Anthem the Dog House, Mardi Gras Big Chicken and Street Eats and Guys and Blue Iguana. Anthem 270, Mardi Gras Center Stage. The only tip is go with the flow and have a great time- Carnival and Royal aren't as far apart in the product they offer as many think. Here's a link to my review. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3005559-mardi-gras-420-to-427/#comment-67313447

They had digital options on Mardi Gras but it costs the same as a print. I would second doing different poses for the regular photographers. If you got the digital only one person would have to buy them, then have them printed when you got home (just make sure you get a release to do that).

Possibly but you didn't allude to that in your post but I can now see where you're coming from.

So, not a myth but poorly understood and executed.

Actually he was investigated for his actions because every pilot is investigated for their actions when something goes wrong. And the computer models (and simulations) were correct- an immediate turn back toward the airport would have resulted in a landing on the ground (and even still the pilots in the simulators needed to practice the maneuver before they were successful). But as was pointed out (by Sully and others) no one had ever trained for dual engine loss at such a low altitude. I would think that since that fateful day this scenario is carried out in simulators regularly so pilots can be trained in this unlikely occurrence.

I would call it more of a mindset than a myth. Certainly not a mindset shared by all back in the day, but it was a prevailing one whenever disaster struck.

If you spend any time looking at most disasters they stem from a series of miscues that lead to the disaster happening or making it worse than it should have been. Usually the miscues are done by different people at different stages leading up to the disaster, but as pointed out the miscues in the case of the Concordia came from one individual- the Captain. This is the human element that most planners try to take into account but at the end of the day cannot be totally eliminated. With all of the redundancies built into modern aircraft it still took Captain Sullenberger to safely land a disabled jet on the water. Had he not been so skilled and competent all onboard would have been lost. As for calling the individual captain (I can't spell his name and don't want to take time looking it up), no- he was stripped of his ability to command a rowboat. In my view that puts him lower than a cabin steward or dishwasher (and putting him on the same level as them is an insult to them, since they still have their maritime credentials).

This has always been my understanding of the expression- that the Captain be the last person off after making sure everyone else has been evacuated and after doing everything he or she could to save the vessel.

I'm not sure one can tell from down on deck how long the line is (I couldn't, anyway), but certainly you can easily tell how many are on the course itself.

And it all comes down to the CD- he or she can decide to run Quest instead of the Adult game. (We did see some sort of Adult game on the schedule but there was something else going on at the time so we didn't go.)

Probably a good bet, but even if it is slow at one moment it could be very busy the next, while the teen is actually on the course. I'm not sure what "crowds" means to him but I never saw it too busy (but then there may have been people at the starting line that I couldn't see from down below waiting their turn).

They might seem understaffed but in reality there are only so many bodies that can move around back there efficiently. With the number of customers they are serving they most definitely have to hustle and I rarely waited more than 5 minutes at the bar for a drink last week, even when they were busy.

Very true. I used to have my email in my signature until a troll decided to respond there instead of on the board. Definitely not pleasant.

Another consideration in addition to the venue is what other activity gets axed so that Quest can take place? The Fun Squad was going all out all week as was the CD and the entertainment schedule was jam packed. From what we saw everything was well attended so choosing which one to eliminate raises its own set of problems.

If I recall correctly the cruise director chose not to have Quest last year when we were on Glory.