TexasRon

No. Not worth 50% more. I just have no need to go in the newest ships in any fleet, so bargain cruises on Royal can still be found and are our preference. Royal is not a huge step up from Carnival. It is a mass market cruise line. I like Royal better than Carnival but we have had great cruises on both.

I was on pre-Starlink. Deck 8 port side forward cabin (owner’s suite). I was able to work every day with no problems. I’ll keep cabin location in mind if I book on that ship again.

We met a guy on a cruise who was a truck driver. We were on a Southern Caribbean cruise out of San Juan. He never left the ship. He just enjoyed the ship being empty most days on a port-intensive trip. I think the number of ports was what drew him to that itinerary. We skip Nassau for the most part. It is a nice day with an emptier ship. Cruise your way. Even if someone here gives you a hard time! It is your $$$ and your vacation.

Quiet is relative…yes, most things will be discovered fairly quickly. Things an organization thinks are good are normally widely announced.

If Celebrity thought their valued customer was going to get enhanced service with this change they would tell the world. When a company does stuff in the dark, the intent is obvious…keep it quiet and hope less people notice. It is a rare instance where a “team” provides better service than a dedicated person. It is the way things are going as businesses cut costs but it doesn’t make it good. Think about the places who have gone to service by chat or email only… I am in a service industry. We provide a service to our customers. While it is not the same as being a butler, it is a job where we are there to keep people happy. I don’t look down on anyone; a butler is just doing a job. I appreciate them when we have one, don’t ask for anything too ridiculous, and tip them well beyond what most do from what people report (our experiences are at Sandals). The same goes for the Concierge when we have the Royal Suite on a smaller Royal ship. Celebrity is on our future but not sure at what level of service.

The blind loyalty teams at most lines amaze me. I am reading this thread because we are considering a Celebrity cruise at some point and these threads about cuts amuse me with the loyalists that go with each brand defending the indefensible—if you paid for it, you should get it. Even if you don’t need it or use it, it should be as advertised. There was a shortage of employees, we understood. Now they are cutting employees they told us would be part of the package. I’m mostly an outside with one cruise a year, but we will see what happens in the future.

There was a bit of kerfuffle involving involving one of the media companies in our area and an anchor regarding their “official” social media accounts. The end result is they had to use company-owned accounts and those were taken back by the company when the employee left. They can, and do, still share things on their own accounts but it is often not even their main personal account. The bottom line is that you can be judged on everything you post online. Seems like people would learn that more quickly than they have…just don’t post stuff that will get you in trouble.

Many weather events are unpredictable even by the best meteorologists. You are trying to predict every event and it just isn’t possible. Sure, they are easy to pick on…but all of the course work they do never leads to them being perfect. The best ones provide valid forecasts without hysteria. Everything is not the end of the world. What happened in Port Canaveral is a possibility in storms. How many times have you seen it happen? The need a Chief Meteorologist but I doubt that having one would have changed a thing.

https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/boat-accident/?fbclid=IwAR0PcVal_ixRmsthUoHxsY0f3pk62s4Ae_xZb1xzjJOWERJfNZW5dGWxiIo https://www.portmiamiwebcam.com/?fbclid=IwAR2Te9hx-c8bQNHByVhfrW1c1qhT_wmXooyBefEAK4_znWKI806DbRohqXs

Things add up. Little things matter. Too many little things or big things and people start thinking of other places to spend their money. Everyone has their own point of no return…or a pause for a while. I like half and half but I mostly drink my coffee black, cooled off with a couple of ice cubes (large cup), at home. The ice maker is noisy dropping ice in a metal cup and could wake my wife up if I am up early, so I will use the dairy product to cool the coffee. For my taste, half and half is exponentially better than 1%.

Grandeur is one of three Royal ships and two Carnival ships we have sailed on so far. It is easily our favorite because of the crew, the intimate size of the ship and the ease of getting around the ship. The crew was awesome and the whole cruise was wonderful. My wife was skeptical after I told her about the ship. Her skepticism was easily overcome by the experience. We will sail on her again if possible… Thank you for your report!!!

Our daughter did the TV thing and then moved to a corporate gig. She did work at 3 TV stations before making the switch. I don't think she'd go back...

Yes, Biker does. Biker also talks about himself in the third person on a regular basis. That does not keep Ron from wondering which type of thread revival is better. Ron considers resurrections and new birth threads on the same subject to be similar in some ways and different in others.

Chair Hogs MDR Dress Code Tipping Talk Three topics with lots of threads! There are always chairs available and I am not going to the pool, so the hogs make little difference to me but I can understand annoyance at them getting away with it by putting a towel on a chair and showing up six hours later.

Is a resurrection better than a zillion threads asking the same question or talking about tipping? Asking for a friend…