NutsAboutGolf

They phased out aluminum bottles last August and all ships had stock they had to exhaust. On some ships, like the Summit, they reserved the aluminum bottles for in-room AQ quests while all venues gave out plastic

If they got rid of single-use water bottles, regardless of material, there would be a big backlash from those who claim it's not a luxury experience. It should be noted, from time to time, there are reports water comes out other than crystal clear, here's one example

Ha ha. I want to copyright the "Pluto is a real planet and is triangular" society...ha ha Back on topic, I wonder if any other X-ships have ever violated resisted areas

In the US, we have 15K+ congressional bills currently, we try to regulate many things; it's just politics

If not radar or ship nav data, what evidence IS typically required to confirm a ship sails too close?

Maybe this is all a Canadian thing? We're not "in a mess" due to social media misinformation here in the US

So is the news coming from news outlets. Back to my original point, news outlets need to receive permission from social media posters to use their videos so sometimes new outlets are putting out biased info without any videos

What do you mean by "we're in a mess"? Some people believe the earth is flat which does not come from flat earth social media videos since they don't exist

Another way to ask this question is, what evidence is needed for a ship to SUCCESSFULLY VIOLATE this restricted space rule? Hawaii has radar and you'd imagine access to the ship's navigational data, this doesn't seem to count as evidence. Does Hawaii need to send a person with range-finding equipment and why didn't this seem to happen when the Edge was present?

Social Media is one of the best sources of video evidence and often it's obtained far quicker (sometimes live-streamed) than the major news outlets. However, you are correct that someone posted "I heard from my friend's sister..." it should be taken with a huge grain of salt

While I personally never thought there were too many in the first place, it's somewhat a moot point since X is adding CocoCay, has opened a lot more short sailings and will sail out PC later this year; these probably will change the whole dynamic I'm GenY, all but 7 of my 155 nights on X were after the restart. Overall, the average age has been fairly predictable as the longer the sailing the higher the average age, and the Euro sailings which often have only one or two sea days per sailing tend to be younger The current X offering isn't what the generation is looking for, very few want "relaxed luxury". Most want: Experiences, free fast wifi, to visit a different restaurant every night, a restaurant first come first serve waitlist vs making reservations weeks in advance and great food

I'm bringing attention to another ship possibly breaking the rules on the same day which has not yet been mentioned in this thread

Not everyone has "good judgment" when sober...Yet I do agree with your premise, it's all about odds so odds are, alcohol will make one's judgment worse, even if they already have terrible judgment

Interesting to say the least https://kauainownews.com/2024/05/15/dlnr-finalizing-investigation-into-cruise-ships-reported-close-to-na-pali-coast/

Except for one, all my opinions have been shared and questioned answers so thank you @chengkp75 My one question remains, depths, rocks, and reefs are "charted", why aren't restricted areas made "idiot-proof" to Captains by somehow being integrated into the ship's navigation? A captain should be ready to take action in an unexpected situation, while a hypothetical, what if some large nearby military/cargo/fishing ship loses power and is headed toward the cruise ship? The Captain would need to determine what heading is the best "escape route" as crashing into and getting stuck on a rock could be worse. This would also cover an emergency that if the Captain has a health emergency and can no longer Captain, his backup knows exactly what to do

I'm so tempted to create a "Preview" button and wear it around on my next sailing...ha ha

"Kids these days"...Half the time aren't even aware they're breaking the rules, they just do what they want without thinking and the trend will continue in this direction. I hate to put it like this, it just means I'm getting old... 😆

While most will continue to eat and generate sewage even if not on a cruise ship, all that is a drop in the bucket as the ship will burn Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO). Remember, on the aft of the E-Class, if the wind blows a certain way, your balcony furniture receives a nice layer of soot. If one gets into a cruise ship environmental debate, it's best just own that it is indeed dirty mainly due to that soot-producing HFO regardless of the current "Go Green" program

Yup! It's possible to do a partial charter, we were unknowingly on one this past September. The only difference we noticed was occasionally a venue's entrance was roped off with a sign saying "private event"

Thanks for sharing the article...The way I read it, they are NOT interested in the drink voucher program. X's elite happy hour is easy to market to make it look more attractive than it really is "Unlimited drinks on us from 5-7*** ***98% of drinks excluded, not valid on embarkation day "In some ways Marriott put Bonvoy in front of the brands," Liberty said, suggesting that stays at Marriott hotels had become all about earning points in the Bonvoy program and not the allures of the individual hotel brands and hotels. That's something Liberty suggested Royal Caribbean Group doesn't want to do.

While I could see X permanently banning non-suite zenith guests from the retreat, I'd guess if there are further downgrades they would only be for new cruisers while existing are grandfathered

We're splitting hairs at this point, yoga has many benefits which my post didn't intend to downplay and I occasionally join free yoga classes on cruises where the schedule aligns. The overall point is if you go to the doctor who states you need to lose 20+ lbs, you want to train for a marathon, etc, yoga alone will not get you there

IMO, besides yoga classes which aren't technically fitness classes in the sense they won't get you in shape, on a ship, a fitness class is a waste of time unless the scheduled class and/or having an instructor is the only way to motivate yourself. Otherwise, wake up whenever you want, put on workout gear, grab a coffee, go to the fitness center, do at least a half hour of weights and another half hour doing cardio

Instructors need to cater to student fitness levels. If one has a high level of fitness and most other students have a low level of fitness, it probably won't be a very challenging class for the one with a high fitness level. Or worst case, the instructors get lazy "Just do as many burpees as you can"

May depend on the day. Have only been there once which was on a Sunday last month