Live from Millennium Panama Canal East-to-West April 21 - May 6, 2023

[Fly and Sail]

16 minutes ago, dockhl said:

Lots of selling!

 

I got friendly with a few of the shop associates and was told in casual conversation that the retail numbers are really weak on this cruise despite it being almost completely sold out.

 

Keep in mind it's a 15-day sailing that is already quite pricey, and these shops primarily try to poach the (refundable) OBC. We only have 5 days left on this ship so they need to push now to make some money. And all these outlets compete with each other ... and the casino!

[DaKahuna]

54 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said:

 

That would have been too easy. And I wanted to see if this wine was good for anything. Two Icebuckets in the cabin served as mixing containers. Never. Again.

 

On another note, the food at BLU was exceptionally good today.

 

1. Duck Breast Salad (I'd say about half a duck was used for that, (should be called Duck with a small side of greens)

2. Prime Rib

3. Crepe Suzette with a side of Vanilla Ice Cream

4. Chocolate Fondant

 

A very positive surprise after yesterday's lamb had an off flavor like a soap bar.

I have not even thought about ordering off the Blu menu but the but the deck breast salad sounds delicious. 

[DaKahuna]

47 minutes ago, dockhl said:

Lots of selling!

you think?  This was the insert

 

 

 

[DaKahuna]

35 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said:

 

I got friendly with a few of the shop associates and was told in casual conversation that the retail numbers are really weak on this cruise despite it being almost completely sold out.

 

Keep in mind it's a 15-day sailing that is already quite pricey, and these shops primarily try to poach the (refundable) OBC. We only have 5 days left on this ship so they need to push now to make some money. And all these outlets compete with each other ... and the casino!

 

 

That is great to know.  We’ve spent most of our OBC in the Casino or Speciality dining.  In fact we plan to do Sushi on 5 tomorrow for lunch.

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

Yikes.... John... I have some catching up.    Just found you Live Post.... I know what I'll be reading today.   I wish they had an AudioBook Version, i'd take it on my walk today.   LOL

[Fly and Sail]

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 

That is great to know.  We’ve spent most of our OBC in the Casino or Speciality dining.  In fact we plan to do Sushi on 5 tomorrow for lunch.

 

 

I’m considering that as well. I have to tune down my excessive i take of food this week and have already cut out the breakfast.

 

Hope you did well at the casino. A gentleman won $8000+ at crabs tonight and the cage once again ran out of money. As for myself I managed to get 2500 BCC points which I usually target per sailing and broke completely even, $1 is leftover.
 

Actually the lady at the cage was nervous because she messed up my payout voucher last night (because ytd they also had no money to pay me in larger bills) and gave me one $100 too many. Of course I corrected that right away and gave it back. I’m sure a cruise ship employee would probably face some problems contrary to a land based U.S. employee in Vegas etc.

[Jim_Iain]

On 4/21/2023 at 3:40 PM, DaKahuna said:

I am happy to report that the dining menu’s have been updated and the menu for all nights of the cruise, at least for Luminae, is up showing up in the app. 

Curious if you menu's are matching up.   On Apex they have had a couple mismatches.   One day wrong desert menu.

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, Fly and Sail said:

I’m considering that as well. I have to tune down my excessive i take of food this week and have already cut out the breakfast.

 

Hope you did well at the casino. A gentleman won $8000+ at crabs tonight and the cage once again ran out of money. As for myself I managed to get 2500 BCC points which I usually target per sailing and broke completely even, $1 is leftover.
 

Actually the lady at the cage was nervous because she messed up my payout voucher last night (because ytd they also had no money to pay me in larger bills) and gave me one $100 too many. Of course I corrected that right away and gave it back. I’m sure a cruise ship employee would probably face some problems contrary to a land based U.S. employee in Vegas etc.

 

That was very nice of you.

 

I'm surprised that they would make such a mistake.  

 

Believe me I'm not a gambler but have been pretty luck with their money.   I take out $300 on slots an play and if I get down to $275 I cash out.   I was hitting it good on one slot and ended up $3,000 so cashed out with a bunch of my left over $275 tickets all combined on a single Cash Ticket.     I think it was about $4,200.   She ran the money through the counter,  counted it out in stacks of $1,000 and then called over a Supervisor on Walki Talki who hand counted it before saying ok for me to pick it up. 

[Moochi]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

That was very nice of you.

 

I'm surprised that they would make such a mistake.  

 

Believe me I'm not a gambler but have been pretty luck with their money.   I take out $300 on slots a play and if I get down to $275 I cash out.   I was hitting it good on one slot and ended up $3,000 so cashed out with a bunch of my left over $275 tickets all combined on a single Cash Ticket.     I think it was about $4,200.   She ran the money through the counter,  counted it out in stacks of $1,000 and then called over a Supervisor on Walki Talki who hand counted it before saying ok for me to pick it up. 

Because they don’t practice Kong Fu.

 

 

[mahdnc]

Good morning, DaKahuna.

 

So there is no ship's clock change tonight according today's issue of Celebrity Today, correct?  The schedule that was issued on embarkation day (below) shows the clock moving forward tonight as if Puerto Vallarta's time is different than Puerto Quetzal which it isn't. 

 

My guess is that the time change on the evening of May 4th is incorrect as well since it will be unneeded.

 

Edited May 1, 2023 by mahdnc

[cruisestitch]

Yes the last two time changes on that schedule were errors.   I asked at guest services a few days ago and they contacted the navigation officer who confirmed that there will not be changes before and after Puerto Vallarta.

[mahdnc]

37 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Yes the last two time changes on that schedule were errors.   I asked at guest services a few days ago and they contacted the navigation officer who confirmed that there will not be changes before and after Puerto Vallarta.

 

Thank you.  I presume that there will be one final time change and that it will be done on the evening of the Puerto Vallarta day.  We will see.

[cruisestitch]

Yes, I wasn’t clear earlier.  We don’t change time for PV.  We will change once more before LA.  
 

ship time now is 8:52

PV time now is 8:52

LA time now is 7:52

 

 

[DaKahuna]

9 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Yikes.... John... I have some catching up.    Just found you Live Post.... I know what I'll be reading today.   I wish they had an AudioBook Version, i'd take it on my walk today.   LOL

Jim, I have been following yours from the beginning and am finding it enjoyable as always. 
 

I like it when you post pictures of the food in Luminae as it sets my expectations a lot better than reading the menu descriptions.

 

[DaKahuna]

8 hours ago, Fly and Sail said:

I’m considering that as well. I have to tune down my excessive i take of food this week and have already cut out the breakfast.

 

Hope you did well at the casino. A gentleman won $8000+ at crabs tonight and the cage once again ran out of money. As for myself I managed to get 2500 BCC points which I usually target per sailing and broke completely even, $1 is leftover.
 

Actually the lady at the cage was nervous because she messed up my payout voucher last night (because ytd they also had no money to pay me in larger bills) and gave me one $100 too many. Of course I corrected that right away and gave it back. I’m sure a cruise ship employee would probably face some problems contrary to a land based U.S. employee in Vegas etc.

I am about even in the casino.  The DW is down a bit.  We’ve really not gambled a lot this week don’t think I even hit 100 points.

 

The casino running out of cash seems unusual but as more and more people gamble wiyh OBC, less and less cash is going in so that does make some sense.

 

Winning $8,000 at craps sounds like I need to learn to play that game.  

[DaKahuna]

7 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Curious if you menu's are matching up.   On Apex they have had a couple mismatches.   One day wrong desert menu.

Yes, our menu’s for Luminae have matched up every night so far.  
 

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, cruisestitch said:

Yes, I wasn’t clear earlier.  We don’t change time for PV.  We will change once more before LA.  
 

ship time now is 8:52

PV time now is 8:52

LA time now is 7:52

 

 

this is my understanding as well although Bill just said in his Presentation that Puerto Vallarta is on Central time, which would we would go back an hour. Guess we will know for sure when we get tonight’s Celebrity Today.

 

[mahdnc]

20 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

this is my understanding as well although Bill just said in his Presentation that Puerto Vallarta is on Central time, which would we would go back an hour. Guess we will know for sure when we get tonight’s Celebrity Today.

 

 

I found the answer.  Puerto Vallarta is on Central Standard Time and does not observe daylight savings time--anymore.  I am in Chicago and it is now 11:36 am CDT.  It is 10:36 am CST in Puerto Vallarta.  So, no change in the ship's clock for Puerto Vallarta.  Just as well.

 

https://www.vallartadaily.com/this-april-is-the-first-time-in-26-years-that-puerto-vallarta-wont-move-clocks-up-an-hour-for-summer-time/

 

Edited May 1, 2023 by mahdnc

[mahdnc]

I may have missed the answer to my earlier inquiry: can someone explain to me how this low limit (for a fee) gaming works in the ship's casino?

[DaKahuna]

2 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

I found the answer.  Puerto Vallarta is on Central Standard Time and does not observe daylight savings time--anymore.  I am in Chicago and it is now 11:36 am CDT.  It is 10:36 am CST in Puerto Vallarta.  So, no change in the ship's clock for Puerto Vallarta.  Just as well.

 

https://www.vallartadaily.com/this-april-is-the-first-time-in-26-years-that-puerto-vallarta-wont-move-clocks-up-an-hour-for-summer-time/

 

Thanks for checking into that.  It jives with what @cruisestitch said and all makes sense.

 

 

[DaKahuna]

No breakfast food porn today.  We both had the same breakfast we had a couple of days back. I am happy to report the grits are still nice and thick, as they should be.

 

[Sea Dog]

57 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

Winning $8,000 at craps sounds like I need to learn to play that game.  

It’s a great game once you get the hang off it. But, you can loose very fast. I just play pass or don’t pass with odds and and place bet on 6&8. Stay away from the proposition bets.

[DaKahuna]

8 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

It’s a great game once you get the hang off it. But, you can loose very fast. I just play pass or don’t pass with odds and and place bet on 6&8. Stay away from the proposition bets.

Odds are what have always thrown me off.  Never figured out how to calculate or play them. 

[mahdnc]

42 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

Thanks for checking into that.  It jives with what @cruisestitch said and all makes sense.

 

 

 

On behalf of the Ground Support Team, you are welcome.

[Sea Dog]

5 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

Odds are what have always thrown me off.  Never figured out how to calculate or play them. 

Here are the basic odds and how I play them on a place bet.

Place bets

6&8 7to6 always $6 increments 

5&9 3 to 5 always $5 increments 

4&10 2 to 1 always bet $20

 

I always put a place bet on the 6 & 8 because next to the 7, they have the second most combinations to rolling, 5 and a 1, 4 and a 2, 3 and a 3…etc.

Edited May 1, 2023 by Sea Dog