Wehwalt

There's space for at least five to dock at Manhattan at the same time, but I don't know if they have the facilities for four of them to turn around (customs, baggage, check-in, etc).

You're still going to be limited by the clearance under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge (US 50) which I find to be 186 feet. That's going to rule out the newest ships.

Also 895. I used to drive quite often from DC area to NYC area in the wee hours and it was routine to have one tube of the tunnels closed. Look, we can discuss all we want about people calling. Many people are not as adept with communication as we are and hearing there is a problem they are going to call the cruise line. That's just the way it is. I don't think any less of them for doing it. Possibly Royal can head off some of it by being proactive with communications.

One of the big attractions of Baltimore is that they have a nice big surface parking lot right by the cruise terminal. It's easy. I cruised out of there three times before I moved too far south, and each time I'm out and on I 95 in no time.

As you way, we knew it would happen. Also I have no doubt that onboard the Vision, people are seeking information where they can. It's human nature. People will ask until they have the information they desire. I don't fault them.

Yeah, I considered the airport but really you'll get to Baltimore quicker with a direct bus than with a bus to a plane (or a train) to a bus. There are large numbers of buses in the NY/NJ area. I think the limiting factor would be the number of properly-licensed drivers.

I think more likely they'd just run the shuttle buses from Bayonne to Baltimore. Amtrak's already busy this time of year so you'd probably be asking hundreds of people to stand and control their baggage. Then cancel sailings until the dry dock and afterwards run the ship out of Florida for a few months until the channel's clear and Baltimore's OK with cruise ships coming back. Be even better if you can alter the Vision's schedule. Cancel the last two ports, re-enter the country at Fort Lauderdale, get all the people who are using the cruise line's air off there and anyone else who wants to. Assume everyone will get at least a partial refund. Sure, this is an expensive solution but there are no cheap solutions and someone's insurance is paying.

I would tend to agree. The line is increasingly getting out of the business of telling people what they should wear in order to eat in their accustomed places, and I don't think the sky will fall on account of it.

If the ship has docked and they don't announce clearance but let tours off, the ship is still cleared and I don't see anything wrong with disembarking then even if not on a tour. I've never heard anyone say you can't. But from what I've seen usually tour departures are at least 15-30 minutes after the ship is expected to be cleared.

Thanks for the info. Do you know who the cruise staff are who are giving the activities such as the trivia games? It's always good to know if we will have friends aboard. That is, if we aren't going to wave at them leaving as we embark 🙂

Sure. But there's a waiver of class action in the cruise contract, and the Supreme Court upheld waivers of class action. AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 563 U.S. 333 (2011). Also, this isn't a claim for death, injury or illness so there is an arbitration clause that would send the claim to individual arbitration. The Supreme Court ruled regarding forum selection clauses (i.e., you have to sue HAL in Seattle) in cruise contracts that they had a valid purpose, and from what I can see the Washington State courts have not tried to differ. In Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc. v. Shute, 499 U.S. 585 (1991) Justice Blackmun for a 7-2 majority of the Supreme Court wrote that "In this context, it would be entirely unreasonable for us to assume that respondents -- or any other cruise passenger -- would negotiate with petitioner the terms of a forum-selection clause in an ordinary commercial cruise ticket. Common sense dictates that a ticket of this kind will be a form contract the terms of which are not subject to negotiation, and that an individual purchasing the ticket will not have bargaining parity with the cruise line." So you'd probably have to take such a claim to arbitration that means no class action.

Thanks for the daily program. Looking forward to hearing your impression of the activities you attend. We're in the on-deck circle!

Could be you are right. But I suspect a court will interpret "any reason" to mean, "any reason". The rest of it does not restrict the discretion of the cruise line. They would not be doing this unless they were comfortable that it is within their power. And if they find it is not, no doubt there will be a change to the terms and conditions. I agree it would be difficult to maintain a court action. It might, for one thing, be difficult to prove damages. It would be interesting to see such an action attempted.

They'd probably rather not call you. Less trouble. Yes, I think more information is needed both as to the policy and prevalence, both here and at the Princess board, before any sort of judgment can be made about whether this sort of thing should be defended against, or if it's a super-rare thing that lightning likely won't ever strike us and we shouldn't worry about..

Just as a hasty glance, Paragraph 4, "Carrier may without liability for refund, payment, compensation or credit, except as provided herein, disembark or refuse to embark You, confine You in a stateroom, quarantine You, restrain You, change Your accommodations or disembark You at any time if, in the sole opinion of Carrier, the Captain or any doctor, You or any minor or other person in Your care during the Cruise, Cruisetour, and/or Land Trip(s), are unfit for any reason for the Cruise, Cruisetour, and/or Land Trip(s), or Your presence might be detrimental to Your health, comfort or safety or that of any other person, or in the judgment of the Captain is advisable for any reason." The key words being "Carrier may without liability for refund ... change your accommodations ... if ... in the judgment of the Captain is advisable for any reason." Obviously the major purpose of that section is health but it covers anything. Also Paragraph 8, "Except as otherwise provided, Carrier may, for any reason, without prior notice, cancel the cruise, Cruisetour, and/or Land Trip(s); deviate from the scheduled ports of call, route and timetable; call or omit to call at any port or place or cancel or modify any activity on or off the ship; comply with all governmental laws and orders given by governmental authorities; render assistance to preserve life and property; or change the date or time of sailing or arrival, change the port of embarkation or disembarkation, shorten the Cruise, Cruisetour and/or Land Trip(s), or substitute ships, aircraft or other transportation or lodging." Or lodging. Personally, I think they should not move people like that especially when they've taken extra money to let people choose their cabin, but they're probably within their rights. It's pretty lousy for the people involved though.

There's no good answer to the shore excursion question. If they sticker on exit then people crowd around the exit in anticipation and after that, especially if the buses are at a distance, it becomes an endurance test which those who don't need the seats at the front of the bus will win. That's assuming that they care enough to get the stickers.

Thanks for the blog. Would you consider posting the occasional daily program, especially from a sea day? We are on the sailing after you.

It's a Caribbean cruise. People will dress as they will.

That happened to me twice. Once, I went to a dentist in Gibraltar, but it came loose soon after I got home and my dentist had to redo it. The second time was in Cape Town on the 2018 GWV. Rather than give up my only free day after an awful safari, I toughed it out until I got home.

My recent experience with Princess shows it is no different there (Regal Princess, October 2024). It was different at one time. on both lines At one time few did it. Then it was talked about and many did it. Then they took it away.

No, we've had this on several cruises, such as a B2B we are taking on the Rotterdam next fall. HAL is sometimes willing to re-allocate a desired room from the Collector's Voyage to the individual sailings, or vice versa. They talk to "inventory".

When I went to Xi'an in 2016, I made very sure to get there as soon as they opened and I was able to view the army and take lots of pictures. Fifteen minutes later, the crowds of Chinese groups descended. They never let up.

Agreed. Guest 1's presence is what HAL wants, in the expectation she will gamble enough to justify giving her the free cruise. To accept the free cruise, but with Guest 1 not there, and telling what amounts to falsehoods to accomplish that, well, there's something ethically wrong with that, at the very least.

I'm just not convinced that the Lido personnel, who are probably busier when it is crowded, should be in the business of regulating occupancy of tables. I just don't see such conversations going well.

The last two times we have been in a Neptune, on the Noordam in July and the Zuiderdam in January, the Neptune Lounge attendant has exchanged the sparkling wine for sauvignon blanc, favored by DW. On the latter occasion the lounge attendant said he had to consult with the cellarmaster, but it went through without a hitch. And we did bring it to dinner in the Lido as we rarely use the dining room. Although the Lido will hold a bottle for you, we preferred to keep the bottle ourselves as they did not refrigerate it.