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The original picture they showed was a very old ship. But more recently they showed Grand Classica [it even said so before they photoshopped it!] and most recently a more heavily photoshopped version of what is clearly [IMHO] the Classica hull with new larger windows on many cabins and a new superstructure [which they did mention in their materials]. The only problem is that BPCL swears to Marianne that they aren't selling. And since they are now taking reservations all the way out to December 31, 2020 it would seem that that is correct!

Thanks to the good British folks on the Azamara forum, I have learned the ultimate (for me) mixed drink recipe: Silent Pool gin with FeverTree Elderflower tonic (1:3, no ice if ingredients already cold, no garnish). The first-world problem: easy to make at home, impossible to get onboard or in restaurants.

Moved to the River Cruising forum where Crystal River posts belong. If you want to ask this question about your upcoming Crystal Ocean cruise, please post it again there referring to that cruise.

Is this a 'Yogi-ism'? E.g. 'Nobody goes there – it's too crowded'

One final thank you to all the G&T mavens [sorry, that's probably not the right word in British English ] who steered me to the ultimate G&T recipe. I now keep a bottle of Silent Pool and a supply of FeverTree Elderflower in my fridge. I make a G&T with a 1:3 ratio of the above, no ice and no garnish = heaven! In theory, the lack of ice means I could sip it slowly as it won't dilute. In practice, the lack of ice makes it even easier to knock it back! But of course one can't always find either Silent Pool or FT Elderflower, so I was very pleased to find that FT has published this handy chart of dozens of gins with their appropriate FT tonic:

Your CC icon says you lie: that's a nice looking vacation drink!

Not denying that, but every time I look at Oceania or Viking the itineraries are just so boring. So I'm basically only comparing Azamara and Windstar (the even older Seabourn triplets!) because that's where the interesting itineraries are.

Why do you think this? Azamara has never been a luxury cruise line, and there has never been any speculation that it would become one – especially so since RCI bought Silversea. Azamara is a premium line and seems to be doing very well, absorbing a 50% increase in capacity and moving forward incrementally to distinguish themselves from Celebrity (e.g. eliminating the casinos). Azamara's nearest competitor (Oceania) is doing very well with these same old ships, and has concluded that you can't afford to build a new ship in this segment with fewer than 1,200 passengers. The purchase of Pursuit shows that RCL intends to keep Azamara, but not to change it dramatically. My hope is that Azamara will be able to buy the remaining R-ship from CCL soon and expand their destination-oriented itineraries to all parts of the world every year.

Toward the end of my six months' student stay in France [not immersion, we had our own campus and some of us -- cough, cough – stayed on campus pretty much and spoke English pretty much outside class] I was accorded the ultimate honor while hitchhiking of being asked if I was Québécois. Evidently my French was fluent enough to pass as a native speaker, but my accent was unclassifiable – eh voila! mais non...

Actually the worst thing is if your accent gets a little better, then they start to reply in French! Luckily DW and I each have half a brain, so she asks the questions and I interpret the answers...

There is also a possibility (which occurred to me after reading all the facts in the consumer advocate write-up), that OP's social media campaign may earn them membership in an exclusive group: those with a lifetime ban on all RCI ships.

The 'en' is a nasal vowel, one of the most difficult things for English speakers to master.

Be careful. Most credit card insurance is secondary, which means that your hope car insurance is primary – and any claims may raise your rates. American Express offers primary insurance for $15-20 per rental [not per day].

If they could guarantee that I would sit next to Suzanne Pleshette [back in the day for both her and me], I would put up with any bus tour! But with my luck I would be next to Norman Fell

Nobody has mentioned how TSA regulations limit what you can put in a carry-on. For that reason alone we will always want to check at least one bag, and so why not go for one each?