wcook

One thing about the modern behemoths is that in smooth to slightly choppy seas, they are ridiculously stable. You can’t even tell you are on a ship. Which is either a good or bad thing depending upon your point of view.

Alright… I know I’m mr “cruising is better now than ever” but this is a pet peeve of mine. Modern cruise ship design hates promenade decks. They’ve been reduced to the bare minimum to allow access to lifeboats. More than offset by all the improvements to ship design, but still a bummer.

If one person uses their package to get a bottle of wine discount and that wine is then shared with people not entitled to the discount, MSC’s financials will be devastated. Not to mention if god forbid an evil cruisers gets a free cocktail with their package and it somehow ends up in the hands of a diner without a package.

Bonus vid: Even if you think toad’s cruising is better, you gotta admit the commercials were better back then. Take it away Cathy Lee:

A bunch of great videos on the Cruise Nostalgia YouTube channel. Here’s a promotion for Princess, hosted by Murray Slaughter himself. Gotta love the classics, like the parade of baked Alaska. And long banned activities like skeet shooting. And kite flying - was that really a thing? Seems like a very bad idea. Enjoy:

My opinion: Cruising is still awesome.

To be fair, May is dry “for Alaska.” It’s still a rainforest. Pack accordingly. But, yeah, May is a wonderful time for Alaska.

Im curious, is it possible that your tastes have improved rather than the food declining? When my wife and I were in college, there was an Italian restaurant in town that was popular for date nights. They served amazing food. We went back during our 10th reunion. Same family running the place, same food. But our frame of reference had changed. Instead of comparing it to the college cafeteria, we were comparing it to a world of fabulous restaurants. And the local Olive Garden wantabee no longer held up. Or maybe the cruise food and service really have gone downhill. Who knows. And for the record, I enjoy Matlock and Olive Garden, no offense intended.

Correct.

I’ve been participating in travel forums since the Usenet days. There have always been people saying how everything is going downhill. If that were true, travel would be down in the Mariana Trench. Things change. People don’t like change. They rush to their keyboard and ***** about it. Nothing wrong with that. Those posts are cathartic to the poster and usually fun to read. But they miss all the little things that change for the better. For some of you, the negative changes outweigh the good. You may move on to other experiences. Or just stay home and watch Matlock reruns. Enjoy. But the cruising industry as a whole has been growing by leaps and bounds. There’s a reason for that. And that reason isn’t “cruising sucks.” I absolutely believe that the cruise product today is better than it ever has been. I have no desire to go back to paper tickets, cash tip envelopes, set dining times in the one onboard restaurant and napkin folding as entertainment. And I will never, ever return to muster drills wearing a life preserver in the hot sun 🙂

Time doesn’t matter. Only days. If you sail on Saturday, any test on Thursday, Friday or Saturday counts as “two days.”

You wanna argue Oceana is a more pleasant experience than mainstream lines - at least for your tastes - cool. But to state as a fact that once you pay for the stuff that’s included on Oceana mainstream lines are “almost always” the same price or higher than Oceana? Nope.

I’m convince that’s MSC’s official design philosophy. “Borrow” from RCI and throw in just enough MSC sparkle so it’s not obvious. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

BwaHahahahahaha. No.

Almost always? Nope. In my experience, it’s close to never. My last cruise was a standard one week western med cruise out of Barcelona. Inside cabin, solo supplement, with internet and drink package for $730. I could have added speciality restaurant package for <$100. R/T flight out of Boston was $500. Cheapest week I can find on Oceania anywhere, anytime is 4238€. That doesn’t include flights. Granted it’s a balcony room, but I’m sure I can find the equivalent on a mainstream line for a fraction of that price.

I am prone to sea sickness. Every cruise I’ve been on has had at least one day where I would have felt sick if not for medication. With medication, I feel nothing and really enjoy the motion. Meclizine works great for me, but you can test others out to see what works best for you and your family. It terms of “slam into the walls as you walk down the corridors “ rough seas - pretty rare. But I hate to say it, you never know.

Nah. Cruising is awesome.

Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen washer and drier specifically listed on the prohibited list. Guess it falls under heating elements.

Which are we tracking here : 108 days until flight; 106 until I get in the boat.

As with many things, my advice to you is to start drinking heavily! Side note: someone above mentioned Bonine (Meclizine). I swear by this drug. Note that it can be bought cheap off Amazon.

Flatbush is one of our most articulate and informative posters. But - speaking only for myself - when I price things out I find it much cheaper to book on a mass market line with extras compared to an ultra lux line where everything is included. I encourage everyone interested in such cruises to price things out for themselves.

Even on the cheaper lines, you can have that all-included experience by paying in advance.

I blame Tom Brady

Not trying to be argumentative here - genuinely curious. Why would I need to be medvaced home from Greece or Alaska?

I took my mom on a cruise once. She would have been devastated if my father got sick and she had to choose between cancelling (and my losing money) and leaving my dad while he was sick. So I bought insurance that specifically included that coverage. Other that that, I’ve never bought insurance unless it was required. Because the loss I’m insuring just isn’t that big a deal. In general, you get insurance to cover devastating losses.