rkacruiser

Based on some of the decisions that have been made by some of these executives in the past, no, I don't. What I alluded to in part of the post that you have quoted is the probable duplication of functions by many executives with the same "title/responsibility". The cruise line companies need belt tightening without harming the guest experience. Why couldn't the Senior Vice-President for "this, that, and the other" for, let's say, P&O also do the same job for P&O Australia?

Celebrity has a more sophisticated "vibe" aboard than Princess. Princess' main theater entertainment, I enjoyed more than Celebrity. Food? A tie. Depending upon the ship's Executive Chef, Princess cuisine can be better than Celebrity's. Like pasta? Princess' pasta entrees are often very good. Specialty restaurants? Tuscan Grille and Murano on Celebrity are excellent. Alfredo's, Sabatini's, and Crown Grille on Princess can also be excellent. For a standard balcony stateroom, Celebrity's S class ships have the edge over a comparable Princess stateroom. Crew/service? I prefer Princess.

If it is a Caribbean port that I have not visited, a general island tour is what I am likely to book. If it is a port that I have visited before, just wandering around with a stop at a nice looking establishment for some refreshments is what I prefer. During one cruise not so long ago, the purpose of my port visits was to determine which port served the best Rum Punch. I drank a Rum Punch at every port I visited. The winner was Castries, St. Lucia at an establishment in their port complex shopping area.

Given the financial conditions of the cruise lines, are all of these separate offices needed? Along with each company having their own Executive Vice-Presidents (at al) of "this, that, and the other".

That is definitely not good news for anyone who cares about a quality dining experience. Regardless of the price, Rudi's has been consistently excellent in cuisine and service whether it as on a Pinnacle Class ship or as a pop-up. I wonder what Seattle "genius" made this decision? And, did the individual ever experience and compare a pop-up with the stand alone facility?

Bon Voyage! Good wishes for a safe and pleasant cruise!

That is correct. I like the idea of pre-ordering some of the amenities of YC. What is being requested is what I remember being asked to do on embarkation day. One less thing to do on that busy day. If, the new process works.

Your DH's photos are excellent! I am enjoying them. During my Canada/New England/repositioning cruise a few years ago, we visited Sept-Iles, Baie-Comeau, and Gaspe. I enjoyed all three off the beaten path ports and found the history of Baie-Comeau interesting. I recall the tour I took allowed us to visit a re-created version of part of the industrial town. The photo of your boat tour to view Perce Rock and around Bonaventure Island with all of the birds brought back good memories. But, cold ones! Your photo shows people on the boat bundled up in their hooded windbreakers. One of those folks could have been me and I was still cold! Great tour, though!

I stand corrected. Thank you. It is a surprising lubricant.

Oh, great! At one point in my life, my Mother served me an industrial solvent to drink? 😀

Welcome to Cruise Critic! An interesting question and certainly none of us know the answer to that. I am unsure that even those who operate CC know a definitive answer to your question. My perception is that it is a nice mix of demographics: young, not so young, but young at heart. And, maybe wrong, but every once in a while I think a student still in middle or high school posts who wants to cruise.

It's apt to be cool, but, having a balcony would add to my enjoyment to such a cruise. If the air temperature was chilly, a sweater, windbreaker, cap/hat would be what I would wear. Still too cool? Get a deck blanket and curl up in that.

Congratulations! I think you have made a wise choice; that's a great cruise and Auckland and New Zealand are a wonderfully pleasant and friendly places to visit. On what ship? Pack as one would do for a 10-14 day cruise; plan to either do laundry or use the ship's laundry services. What type of cabin have you booked? I have never had any "tight quarters" feel to an outside cabin. If there is a veranda, that makes the cabin experience even better.

I can recommend the Marriott after being a guest there several times. The Edgewater would have been my next choice if I could not have booked the Marriott.

I agree, but, don't expect success.

In Miami, I arrived at the White Tent around 11:30 A. M. I don't recall when I actually was aboard; there was some chaos that day for both non-YC and YC guests and had to wait at the YC tent longer than anticipated as well as in the YC Lounge within the terminal. Missed YC Restaurant lunch when I did reach my suite, but, plenty of time for a nice lunch at the YC Grill.

No, that is not what I meant. I meant the dismantling of the Corporation by eliminating some of the brands. Carnival Cruise Lines was the origin of the Corporation. If need be, perhaps, a return to "square one" is going to be required. My opinion: there are some brands that could be "lost", if possible, to help save the Corporation. What is maddening to me, as a shareholder, the information for the financial results of the individual operating companies is not public information. The least profitable, the brands that consistently loose money: time to cut them loose.

Maybe not quite accurate, but the message is the same: When you do it for the least of these, you do it for me.

Taxi is what I recommend.

I would suggest the 2:10 Acela would be a less stressful choice and a train that would could easily make. Stay on the ship until you have to disembark after enjoying a more leisurely morning with a good breakfast.

There are guidebooks that have excellent maps that show hotels and the hotels' position in relation to the cities' attractions. A national auto organization publishes informative tourbooks that may prove helpful to you.

In our current societal situations, why am I not surprised at this type of thing happening? It's "me, me, me"; I will do as I darn well please. You can't tell me what to do. I do believe that this is a minority of our fellow citizens. But, that minority makes life so much more difficult for those of us who learned, long ago, following instructions makes life so much more pleasant. Those folks at their Muster Station would likely be the ones in an airplane accident, if they survived, trying to bring their carry-on down the evacuation slide.

Thanks for reminding me of this. He also has a good background in finance as well, I recall. I have much difficulty thinking that this will happen, at least to CCL. When one considers the impact this would have on the Arison family, I believe that whatever needs to be done to preserve the company short of Chapter 11 reorganizations will be done.

An excellent question!

I am going to disagree with you concerning the lack of leadership on a lifeboat and, if I am wrong, I would appreciate being corrected by those who have experience. When I have attended Muster Drills on HAL ships (and I assume on Princess ships), there has always been a crew member who wears a cap that says "Lifeboat Commander" on it. I believe that this person will be aboard my lifeboat and will be the person in charge of that boat. These individuals "day jobs" are varied: during one cruise, my Lifeboat Commander was my Wine Steward. It is my understanding that these people are volunteers who receive special training for their lifeboat job.