alfaeric

I missed the fact that these cabins are actually the ends of the port or starboard sides and not the actual aft facing cabins. Sorry about that.

You might be thinking of the Voyager of the seas- where there is a significant superstructure behind all of the cabins- also on the Freedom class ships. But not on Vision- I think they call it "obstructed" is that when you look vertically down, you see other cabins and then the club. And they do note when there's something when you look down as obstructed on other ships. We love the aft JS's on Vision class ships, especially the corners (which isn't being asked about).

Uh, when we sailed in May of 2022, it was $30. Maybe you are thinking while sailing was still recovering before that?

Here's the thing- if a person from a major economy is working on a ship, it's because they could not find a better job on land. I worked with a guy who's son was a jazz sax player, who really struggled to get by- but chose to work in New York. It's a really hard gig to survive on. Working on the ship may pay a little less, but it also provides some benefits that you don't have to pay for, especially NYC prices. It's not perfect, and it's not easy to live on a ship- but compared to the struggle living in metro NY, it can be a whole lot better. And the more you work on a ship, the better it gets- as it's the first contract that is the lowest one. I saw one person who's second contract was about double the first given what they demonstrated and then the added things they were able to do. Entertainers are not a tipped position, and there should not be a trend to start it to be- as it will result in some really odd performances. If you want to tip them, that's awesome. But there isn't shame at all for not.

Gaining the points is totally different, sure, but the reward levels are now bridged across systems. Which is why I said partially. It does change the value equation when going from Royal up to Celebrity or up. We barely considered moving to Celebrity with our P status, as it didn't add much considering the extra cost of the cruise. Now, we will think harder about it. Again, IMHO, the idea of Royal being more the 4-7k passenger ships and Celebrity being more the 2-5k passengers (not totally, just more) makes sense to me. The "small" ship we all keep hearing about is far closer to a 3-5k replacement for Voyager and Freedom than the 2-2.5k of the Vision or Radiance.

Partially it is, as it should help move passengers up the market if they want to. Especially if you are in a largely static level like D+ or Pinnacle- it's not much of a loss to miss the points compared to keeping the benefits. To me, it's not totally unreasonable that the leaders would like to use Celebrity for more of the "smaller" ships (as 4k isn't exactly small, but relative to all of the Oasis ships...). The hard part is the overall value (cost to what you get) between Celebrity/ Silverseas and RCI.

Except we are not in a subway stop or on a street corner, this is a ship where the performer has real income via the ship. And given the ship has a fixed schedule where the performers are performing, it's also much unlike busking, where your income is also based on how long you play. Not sure how you can relate the two of those situation. If you want to tip, that's great, but it's should not be expected or asked for. I would walk out of a bar if the performer asked for tips. And tell them why. Bad taste to beg when you are getting paid. Worse when you are the musical director for the big show on the ship (and they do come out and do performances). Funny, too, we actually go out of our way to meet and get to know the performer- they seem to like that quite a lot. At least the ones we've met and got to know. At the end of the cruise, then we tip if we feel that it's needed.

Deleted because I think I’m not accurate.

That is not true. You still have to emuster.

It’s true, though. Not much to worry about doing b2b cruises. The only tip I will suggest is to enjoy the brief time of a very empty ship. There is a small gap between the time you do your turnaround, however it works, and new people getting on the ship.

It will likely be dealt with by mid June for the op.

Your wait staff will figure it out quickly when you tell them no bread and a side of veggies instead of starch. Always broccoli available and almost always asparagus. Substitute all you want.

Fwiw, we found that an annual medical focused policy is pretty cheap, all things considered. Just a few hundred bucks for a year, and the evac coverage is really high. if you only travel once, taking the risk *might* work, but multiple times a year? Especially the older you get and the injuries change. The expensive part of travel insurance is any reason cancellation. And for that, I would suggest to look into your CCs, as some have really good coverage included on the card.

Why not? Are they taking it off the ship all of a sudden? It’s never totally full.

This has always worked for us except for the comedy show.

Other than the people who live there and will be impacted by this for a long time. Which is appropriate since they are the ones most impacted.

Just saw the news that there will be a controlled demolition to take apart and "remove" the rest of the bridge from the Dali. Maybe tomorrow, as they project floating the Dali Friday. Once that is done, then they can get a lot of gear in there to finish the clean up. Keeps looking that they are very much on schedule to open the channel fully back up at the end of the month.

True, but it’s only 20 min away. And it closes at 5pm when the normal departure time is closer to 8pm. So the only real risk is if some rocket parts are being trucker over the causeway at the same time you are coming back.

We did it on our own a few years ago. Pre-purchased the tickets and use ride share. Saved us some decent money- and we could stay closer to it closing. Let alone you could get there faster not waiting for all of the other passengers to fill the bus.

In terms of the supplied stuff, yes- you get body wash, shampoo, and conditioner in a JS. The actual brands of the products are not the same as GS's and up. But we find them to be fine.

Seems to me that the lack of TV selections is a way to make sure people don't hole up in their cabin when they can leave and encounter the ship and ports. I had thought in the past that when a cabin gets sick, they offer free movies for a day....

Maybe not for the sink, but there's one in the shower. At least for the last bunch of cruises we have been on.

FWIW, I just looked up estimates of the height out of water (TIL this is also referenced as air draft) of the ships vs. the bridges. Vision class ~170 ft Radiance Class ~172 ft The bridges are 185 ft, but I'm sure that varies a lot with tide. Voyager class >200ft There's not enough room to add another deck, so the decks would have to move up and lose one off the top. It would be creative to add that many cabins in the same space. And, for once, I would actually worry about it feeling crowded. Which is hard to fathom on a small ship

We will just to have to agree to disagree. The 2200 ship Vision barely fits into Baltimore as it is, I don't really know if Radiance will or not. But adding 10-20% more cabins isn't exactly trivial. Moreso as cabins have gotten slightly larger over time. AND when you have more cabins, the commonly used spaces also need to be bigger, such as the theater, dining room, and WJ. Making the foot print bigger means taller, wider, longer. Longer didn't add many for Enchantment- but it would if it had more decks (like Voyager to Freedom). Wider could, but I'm not sure how much wider a small ship can get without problems. And wider also means a ton more interior cabins- which lowers the value of them. Unless the ship is wide enough to have a central parkish area. But either longer and wider will change how the ship can use a dock. Taller, on the other hand.... It's not that I don't want it to happen- I really would love to see a 3000 person ship fit into Baltimore. I just can't see the modern design do it- one with a bunch of balcony decks (far more than the 2 Vision ships have).

Thanks. Makes more sense now. And the long explanation was very helpful.