Mike981

Not a huge deal like meds, but it was strange because my wife is meticulous with packing lists. After each trip she tweeks her lists if anything needs to change.

Still my wife forgot her hairbrush on one trip. Apparently one that is very specific for her hair needs and it did affect her ability to style her hair the way she was used to. She made it work.

Now as we just start are drive to the airport, I look at her and say "have your hairbrush?" ;p;p

On the flip side. A few years ago we booked a family cruise in August out of PC. The week leading up the weather was not good at all. There was a tropical storm working its way up towards Florida. As we were driving from Orlando to the port you couldn't miss the wall cloud moving in. As soon as we got on the ship it started to pour. The sky was a nasty green.

I tried very hard not to, but for several days before our trip I was becoming a negative Nelly. The weather just was not going to work and I (the person who booked the cruise) was going to be the one to blame. I was negatively affecting the rest of the family as well.

But then, 'poof'. We pulled out of port and it was fantastically clear. The storm kept moving north, we went south. It honestly was one of the calmest, most clear cruises I have ever been on. Locals on the islands made comments about how it was so clear, that they could see 'such and such' island and that almost never happens.

FYI: I was told that strong storms suck all the energy and dirt particles out of the atmosphere as they build and that was why it was such calm & clear cruise.

Robert, is that because the internet is via satelite?

If you decide to go the VPN route, here is a good article: https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2403388,00.asp

I'm thinking of signing up for one myself.

I get people thinking that most cruisers are upstanding citizens, maybe I'm just getting old. I've seen too many people over the years that were rich AND scammers. I might be a little sensitive about this, since my wife just had someone to try scam a few thousand from one of her cc.

But you are correct, it is a personal choice.

This might help: https://www.csoonline.com/article/3246984/wi-fi/why-you-should-never-ever-connect-to-public-wifi.html

Imagine, if an undesirable hacker was on a cruise they could do some real damage to hundreds. I've heard of people doing the same thing at hotels, when people used the free wifi.

My wife and I were talking last night about people who go on vacation (not just cruising) and get upset at the cruise line, resort, hotel...for something they had no control over.

For example, a few years ago I told a lady that my wife and I are going back to our favorite Sandals resort in Jamaica. This woman then explained that she would never go back to a Sandals because when she was there it rained everyday and they did nothing about it. Not a hurricane mind you, just a little nuisance afternoon tropical shower. It just ruined her expensive vacation.

I bring this up for a reason, to possibly help those who don't realize that things happen that no one has any control over. And it is how you deal with it that makes your trip. Actually that goes with any speed bumps that you encounter on your vacation, and there almost always is one or two.

Stayed here 1/18 with our family of four and agree, it is nice. We had a room on the first floor and it seemed a bit dated. But it was nice to have the suite amenities, and the view of the lagoon was nice.

If I remember correctly, there isn't any shopping/restaurants walking close. We did walk a bit to a restaurant my son found on his phone and they only had an expensive lunch buffet to offer. We passed and hailed an Uber to take us over to Chille's and that was surprisingly great.

After being educated by this thread, I have to say I stick by my original feeling that those who pay more should get more.

But I now understand the issue with renovations and the shrinking public areas.

I get it now.

If I had areas of the ship that I liked very much and they were renovated away, I would be upset. And then you add that the MDR became more crowded, and there was a noticeable reduction of staff in certain areas, that would make it even worse.

There are almost always be people with more money and people with less money. It should be more about how you treat others and how others treat you.

Amen

Another reason I plan so much on my trips, is to reduce stress. Depending on what direction you go, your stress level could go through the roof. Just a thought.

No matter what you decide, I wish you only the best.

Some good advice here. Unfortunately you are not going to like this, I am with Hiltner, life has taught me not to put my neck out in situations like this. To many times, way to many times, I have been taught a lesson.

If it were me, I would come up with what the excursions are, give the info and have everyone book separately.

I will add that I have experienced 'reverse snobbishness'. People trying to make themselves feel better by putting down those who have spent more on their vacation.

Some will have issue with it and many won't. My DW and I do not. We have yet to book a super special cabin, but they sure look nice.

We have been fortunate enough to have butlers for some of our resort trips. We love them. My wife has a daycare business out of our house and when we have a butler, it feels like we just checked into Adult Daycare.

They unpack our bags and hang up our clothes (this was hard for my wife to go along with). They reserve beach/pool chairs wherever we wish. They will have a bar setup by the chairs, with our favorite beverages. They will come over at lunch time and surprise us with very good food. They also make dinner reservations for us and then come and personally walk us to our special table at the restaurant (the same with excursions). Oh I forgot! This is very cool, you are also given a cell phone so if your butler isn't around when you want something, you just give them a call and you wish is their command.

You get the idea. The hardest part with this level of service? Crashing back to earth when you leave.

Thank you kindly.

LOL, but she wants the extra too. :)

LOL.... Its still cheaper in the long run. Doubles will cost you around $12-13 with tip included....Cheers is $56/day. Do the math. Carnival does offer $3 for an extra shot....but that does count as a another drink if your on Cheers.

 

If you drink 10 doubles....your looking at an alchol bill of $130/day....No thank you!!

I wasn't telling anyone to order doubles, I was 'trying' to make the point that 15 drinks sounds like a lot, but might not cover all of your needs for the trip. Sorry if it wasn't clear.

Oh and we asked for an extra shot a couple of times and were told no.

It really does come down to a numbers game. I'll also add if you are a big drinker (or can play one on vacation) the drink package might not be for you. Especially if you like to hang out anywhere close to the Lido bars, or bars close to it. The glasses are small and so was the alcohol amount. We felt the sports bar on our last trip on Splendor was the best pour. Maybe we just hit a weird week, but they mostly seemed to stick to one ounce, seldom one and a quarter per drink. Every drink they used a shot glass, so we could watch.

Also, most people don't realize that when you have a drink at home (or a bar near home that has a good pour), it is more than one ounce per drink. Usually closer to two ounces or more. My point being, if you have a couple of drinks at home that is four ounces. On the ship it might take you four drinks to get the same amount of alcohol. I know 15 drinks sounds like a lot, but it can be deceiving.

I'm sure one or two folks over the years we shared a table with might have found me not to be their ideal table mate. I do try hard to play nice, it's just some people lose that privilege. It would be funny to somehow be able to go back on past table mates and see what they thought of you.

Good to hear the ship isn't that cold. We were on Carnival a month ago and it was very cold. To the point people were carrying blankets around to cover up.

That is one possibility, but having spent a lot of time on the Celebrity site lately, and seeing how poorly programmed and problematic it is, my husband and I (who both work in IT) thought it may have been something they couldn't figure out how to do properly... or that they eliminated that function to simplify the site for the web programmers/maintainers. This seems to be a theme with so many travel sites (we've seen it with timeshare exchange sites as well). They make "pretty" websites, but they don't seem to want to hire enough experienced IT folks (or outsource to a good firm, if necessary) to create and maintain a robust and smoothly working site.

Agree. Also having web experience AND restaurant experience, I look at it like a small restaurant that expands because of popularity. But they only double the inefficiencies they had before that they could work around and it is to expensive to 'fix' the real issue.

*Sigh*, bummer. Unfortunately, unfortunate things happen. And, when you travel with others it effects all travelers.

As Bo1953 said, the next trip will be much better.

To the original question "Why Chair Hog Bullies Proliferate?" Because they can. I don't feel other guests should take it upon themselves to be the the chair police, for many reasons. It should be the cruise line employees (for all rule enforcement really).

If they started seriously enforcing it, it would drop dramatically. Remove items from the pool area and then let them try to sort it out at the end of the cruise in a dark hallway with "you're so vain" playing in the background.

POST REPLY

SEARCH THREAD

THREAD TOOLS

I understand that Dr. Diane Buffalin will be speaking on the February 4th cruising of the Celebrity Eclipse.

 

I have heard many good things about her. I'm told that she is has a compelling presentation filled with a wealth of information and humor. I am looking forward to hearing her. I hope to meet you there!

*shakes head*

That's the kind of service that deserves a better than average tip.

:D

LOL, they did quite well. For some reason, no one realized that the other people tipped. So he got four nice tips. We figured it out at dinner the first night and had a good laugh.

Hey clj7181, nice job! You guys seem to travel a lot like my wife and I.

My wife and I are former Wisconsinites (Madison), currently in Minnesota and absolutely understand the shock of returning home. We have had many January trips when there was a 100º degree swing, usually a Jamaica trip.

Your review of the Equinox is why we are booked for 1/19. Thank you again.