sloopsailor

Unfortunately for you, life goes on and things change. What you are complaining about is probably the same thing people who smoke complained about when smoking bans were first implemented, both on land on on sea. Best to accept that you are now the minority and adjust, just like the few smokers remaining have had to adjust to limited places they could smoke. For years those of us who would have preferred the Any Time Dining dining model had to endure being seated at the same table, at the same time, with the same people on almost all cruise lines. Somehow we survived. Now, it's your turn to endure a system you aren't in favor of. And you too will survive - if you let yourself.

No-shows don't matter. The next person in line will take the table the no-show would have gotten. Exactly the way it works in nearly every restaurant on land - a system that has worked for generations, and that you have benefitted from.

According to Chengkp75, who used to work on cruise ships, some are indeed actual salt water straight from the ocean as explained in his post last April: (https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2844408-pool-water-on-celebrity/#comment-63001801) "Salt water pools: The chlorine generating systems for land salt water pools are not accepted as being precise enough for use on cruise ships. If a ship with salt water pools is going to be at sea for more than a couple of days, they will simply pump filtered sea water into the pool continuously, and the overflow flows back to sea. The problem is that when the ship is within 12 miles of shore, it must switch to "recirculation", which stops taking in sea water, and merely recirculates the pool water, just like a land pool. In this mode, the pool must maintain a residual chlorine content, and this is done during the recirculation by real time chlorine meters, and metering pumps that add chlorine and acid as required, based on the bather load. When switching from "flow through" to "recirculation", the pool must be shut down until the residual chlorine level is reached, which is why the ships don't do it unless they have a couple of days of operation in flow through, as the passengers complain when the pool is shut down, and it also uses a lot of chlorine to re-establish the required level. Fresh water pools: These are operated in "recirculation" mode, just as the salt water pools are, when the ship is within 12 miles of shore. Many sea water pools still exist, and even newer ships use them, as it saves energy from making tons of fresh water that needs to be dumped weekly. Further, it is not the salt that you smell in sea water, it is dimethyl sulphide produced by bacteria as they digest dead phytoplankton. The chlorine kills the bacteria, but the dimethyl sulphide remains."

Mark me up as someone who gets bored with the same dining room, same table, same time, same table mates, and same waiters, especially when that table is in a poor location, the table mates are not that personable, or the waiters are not that attentive. I much prefer variety, and will mix up the dining rooms, dining times and table locations. That way, every dinner is a new experience, rather than a repeat of all the ones before it.

Good. Going "commando" would hugely upset the formal night purists.

It turns out it must be a browser issue. When I tried pulling up a roll call with Microsoft Edge, everything worked. When I try with Google Chrome, my preferred browser, clicking on Find Your Roll Call pulls up the Forum Jump box with ROLL CALLS filled in. When I hit the GO button, it brings me back to the same ROLL CALLS box. I'll just switch browsers when I need to access a new roll call. Thanks to everyone who offered advice. MICROSOFT EDGE browser result: GOOGLE CHROME browser results:

Thanks, but I can log on just fine and move around from forum to forum without being logged off, so it must not be a cookie issue. It's only the Roll Call forums that are problematic. Also, I can search my Followed Content and open up a roll call I had already marked to follow. But I can't get into another roll call for the first time.

Either I am doing something wrong or the roll calls forums for Princess are broken. I can't get into them no matter what I try. Can someone explain to my confused mind what the correct steps are? Thanks.

Any plastic water bottle that has a broken seal will be discarded because the liquid inside may have been replaced. Sealed bottles, however, are not a problem.

Different ship. Ruby is a smaller ship so has a different itinerary. The next Hawaii cruise out of San Francisco on Nov 27 is on Royal, which has the overnight in Honolulu. Royal will be doing the rest of the Hawaii season out of San Francisco after that.

The point is, that they happen much more often on Carnival than on Princess, no matter the time of day or the length of the cruise. I can't remember a single report of a fight on a Princess cruise, but have seen dozens of cell phone videos of fights on different Carnival cruises. Just a different type of passengers on Carnival.

Cruise lines have indeed cancelled cruises because of Ian. There are at least three cruises on Carnival, MSC and Royal Caribbean that were due to start the day of the hurricane. The cruises that were ending have been extended for one or two days, which took away days from the next cruise. Instead of trying to make itinerary adjustments for thousands of passenger bookings, with all the cost adjustments and related partial refunds, those three cruise lines chose to cancel them in their entirety.

The same respected CC members I referred to in post #20 have verified that a portion of the up charge is allocated for gratuities to those servers for the higher service level they perform. I choose to believe them rather than in random conspiracy theories.

Yes, I actually do think so. Otherwise, we would have heard that it doesn't by now. We haven't.

All tips must be turned in immediately. They are recorded and at the end of the cruise the purser will reconcile passenger accounts. If a passenger has removed the pre-paid tips, the tip amount goes into the pool. If pre-paid tips remain in place, the full tip amount is returned to the crew member. This can only be done after the cruise because some passengers will wait until the last day to remove the pre-paid tips and the reconciliation must wait until after that last day. If a crew member tries to hide the tip, they risk being terminated. This has all been described by two well respected CC members who have been, or still are, pursers on cruise ships.

According to Princess website, on Royal Princess the Retreat Pool area turns into the Chill Lounge at night. I'm curious as to what that area is like in the evening. I have found no photos of this area in the evening, and very little information as well. Any first hand descriptions would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Does cigarette smoke from the casino drift into Club 6?

Looking at the deck plans on that other website, I notice that the "Altitude Restaurant" is next to a group of Signature Penthouse Suites on deck 17. Then when reading the Princess information about the ship, it appears that the Altitude will be for Signature Class suite passengers only: Then, there is that "Inclusive Restaurant" space on deck 7. When matched with other information from Princess, this appears it might be for Reserve Class cabanas and mini-suites only:

Yep. I thought that was quite a lot. We rarely use them. My wife calls them Skin Soup Stockpots.

I see a Wake View Club at the rear of deck 8 and a Beach Club at the front of deck 16, both in prime locations with views of the ocean. I wonder if these will be for everyone, or with an upcharge. And eleven hot tubs! Is that a record for a cruise ship?

For those of you who have had their cabin "upgraded" without being asked, when did this happen? Close to the cruise date, or weeks or even months prior? Thanks!

That sounds more like the contestants, not the regular passengers. 😁

So what? Like you described in your previous port, it's "easy peasy". Passengers will be directed appropriately when they arrive. This happens all over the world more often than people realize. Even in the San Francisco example I gave, when two or more ships are in port at the same time, people will be directed to the appropriate location to drop their luggage, check in, and board. This has happened to us on two cruises. For instance, - in Amsterdam the ship was changed to a location away from the city center due to a problem with the usual docking area. After checking in we were transferred to the container port where we boarded. No big deal! People are making a mountain out of this molehill.

The details are on the booking summary page. Just click on the "From" port and the details will open. I've displayed examples below.

That seems to align with the 2024 itineraries. None currently show yet and it's near the end of September. I'm hoping to see them soon.