berkeleykel

Buying stock of a company particularly affected by a crisis while that crisis is still on-going and even in an upswing...does not seem like a wise decision to me unless you have the money to blow and feel like gambling.  Buying stock in a company because you like it much more than the average person is also not wise in my view (insert diversified portfolio lecture here).  
Just don’t want financial novices to see this thread and think this is normal investing behaviour or want to jump on the bandwagon to feel like part of the crowd. 

Buying stock of a company particularly affected by a crisis while that crisis is still on-going and even in an upswing...does not seem like a wise decision to me unless you have the money to blow and feel like gambling.  Buying stock in a company because you like it much more than the average person is also not wise in my view (insert diversified portfolio lecture here).  
Just don’t want financial novices to see this thread and think this is normal investing behaviour or want to jump on the bandwagon to feel like part of the crowd. 

Buying stock of a company particularly affected by a crisis while that crisis is still on-going and even in an upswing...does not seem like a wise decision to me unless you have the money to blow and feel like gambling.  Buying stock in a company because you like it much more than the average person is also not wise in my view (insert diversified portfolio lecture here).  
Just don’t want financial novices to see this thread and think this is normal investing behaviour or want to jump on the bandwagon to feel like part of the crowd. 

Shameless display of wealth...

 

Italy just took a drastic step of total lockdown because its hospitals are overwhelmed with cases.  Not sure you can blame that on a fear mongering media. If anything maybe it proves the media right in being hyper focused on this.  I don’t think the issue in Italy will by any means stay confined to Italy.
But best of luck on your cruise. I have a vacation planned in a couple of weeks to France/Germany and my fingers are also crossed that it can go forward. 

I’m attempting to upload a video. This was at 1 am.  I’m usually fairly chill with noise but I thought this was beyond the pale. 
FullSizeRender.mov

I’m attempting to upload a video. This was at 1 am.  I’m usually fairly chill with noise but I thought this was beyond the pale. 
FullSizeRender.mov

I think the Junior suites on Rhapsody have a pretty good size advantage over the balcony cabins.  The downside is that I believe that most if not all JSs (and full suites) are on located on deck 8, which is immediately below the pool deck/windjammer.  We had a lot of dance party noise come through late at night on deck 8 forward.  Aft rooms would be more quiet as those are under the spa. 

I’m on the same itinerary different date and was able to rebook from Sky to Star class last week with minimal price difference. The resident discount alone was $1000. 

I’m on the same itinerary different date and was able to rebook from Sky to Star class last week with minimal price difference. The resident discount alone was $1000. 

The only negative I can think of with the ATS......is noise from the shows will interrupt a sleep cycle that starts at 7pm
 
With the loft suite....you can
1. Ask for a cot so they can sleep upstairs so you could relax downstairs till you want to go to sleep
2. Use suit cases to block stairs if there is concern

Wow....this is always such a difficult decision.  First off...there is no bad decision here.  It is a big WIN either way.
For a first time Star Class passenger, I would probably go with the ATS.  The long walk truly sucks but I am with Speednoodles here.  I think I would be a nervous wreck with a toddler and those stairs. I am scared for MYSELF on those stairs.  I think you will find the separate bedroom a big ++.
I “started out” with the ATS and I loved every one.  Being on 17 is a big advantage but there’s nothing wrong with the ATS !....especially the ones on deck 8.

4 year old ... suite with a long flight of stairs ... no child gate ... that'd probably sway me to the Aqua Suite, lol

We have two girls, age 11 & 13.  We are sailing in an ATS on Oasis in a month mainly because the kids want the second bedroom and because D11 loves the balcony so she is really excited for the wraparound.  We did the Star Loft last year with them.  You most definitely lose out on privacy with the loft.
If I could pick between the two, I would choose the Star Loft every time.  The pros of the loft far outweigh the cons for me.  When we travel with our girls, we don't have much privacy anyway, second bedroom or not, and so I would much rather be up on Deck 17.
I'll have a much more solid opinion in about a month but I doubt it will change much from where I am at right now.

I may be wrong but I thought I read that if you book on the Australian site the price already factors in gratuity.

Dinner last night is a bit of a long story. I had been in contact with Jorge, the suite concierge, before the cruise about setting up a couple of surprises for Mimi's birthday. We ordered her some chocolate covered strawberries, and because we were planning on eating in the MDR the whole cruise, he was going to have the wait staff sing her happy birthday on night 1 which was her actual birthday. When we stopped in the suite lounge on night one, Jorge waited until MIL went to look at the food and came over to me to say he had confirmed her surprise song in the MDR. He looked so excited - like my son when we talk about Christmas! Well...it didn't happen. Somewhere there was a breakdown in communication. It really wasn't a big deal as she wasn't expecting it, and she was having a wonderful time. I mentioned it to him brfore we left the ship on day 3, and I emphasized that we were fine that it didn't happen, we just wanted him to be aware that somewhere the wires got crossed. He was so upset and said it was unacceptable (my DH'S favorite saying at the office when someone doesn't meet their commitments) and that he would fix the issue. Again, not a big deal. He called last night saying how embarrassed he was and offered us all complimentary dinner at Chops. We're in! He stopped by during the meal with a bottle of champagne, and then our head waiter stopped by with one of the gifts and gear cakes and had the waiters at Chops sing to my MIL. We thought all of this was above and beyond, and we went to bed with very happy tummies. ?

I may be wrong but I thought I read that if you book on the Australian site the price already factors in gratuity.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/10/coronavirus-60-more-cases-on-cruise-ship-as-depression-sets-in
Infected total looks to have doubled to 130.

This is really good (as usual from you Twang) brings a whole new way to look at things.   Thank you!

We did not take our stroller with us on any of the ports so I'm not sure.  I think it would be port and excursion dependent. I did a Royal excursion in Kotor (Baroque Charm) where I don't see why you couldn't have had a stroller as we were on a large coach with plenty of space as long as is was small/collapsible.  Acropolis I would think would be a no-go as there are a ton of stairs.   You're best bet would probably be to check with the excursion desk once on board.  Honestly though, we GREATLY preferred our private excursions over the Royal group ones.  Tantrums, potty breaks, naps etc were much easier to handle when we had a guide and car to ourselves.  And if you had private tour you could easily take a stroller with you in the car and just use it whenever possible.  Highly recommend PK Travel for Athens and Blue Tours for Corfu.  Also had a good experience with Kefalonia Taxi Service in Argostoli (though for that one we just had a private driver but not a tour guide).
They have such a large variety of food in the Windjammer that I just can't imagine not finding at least something she would like there.  If you want to still do the MDR for your meals you could take her to the buffet to eat first and then bring stuff to keep her busy during your dinner.  My son got a lot of tablet time during our dinners.  And I'm sure the MDR staff would go out of their way to prepare something for her that she liked.
When is your cruise?  There may still be time for potty training.  Ours refused for months and then suddenly it just clicked with almost no accidents, so you never know!  I didn't do any of the family activities (we dropped him and ran!).

I took a water taxi from the airport to my hotel on the grand canal, and from my hotel to the port, but not from the port back to the airport (took a bus organized via Royal for that).  I booked my water taxis with Consorzio Motoscafi, which is generally considered one of the two staples of water taxi airport transfers (sorry can't remember the other one).  Per their website: "the Marco Polo Airport transportation routes can be extended so as to pass alongside the most famous Venice waterways, including Grand Canal, Rialto Bridge, Gallerie dell'Accademia, Chiesa della Salute and the Peggy Guggenheim Museum."  https://www.motoscafivenezia.it/en/transfers.php
I would contact them to see what they could arrange.  You will also get some lovely sights of Venice from the ship as you sail away, though I would still recommend taking the water taxi to see the sights along the Grand Canal. 
FYI my water taxi to the hotel cost 115 euro for 3 people and 4 bags.  The taxi was right on time in both directions.
I also thought the Royal bus transfer was very efficient in case you wanted to do the water taxi on the way in and the bus transfer on the way back, but you don't really see any sights from the bus.

I took a water taxi from the airport to my hotel on the grand canal, and from my hotel to the port, but not from the port back to the airport (took a bus organized via Royal for that).  I booked my water taxis with Consorzio Motoscafi, which is generally considered one of the two staples of water taxi airport transfers (sorry can't remember the other one).  Per their website: "the Marco Polo Airport transportation routes can be extended so as to pass alongside the most famous Venice waterways, including Grand Canal, Rialto Bridge, Gallerie dell'Accademia, Chiesa della Salute and the Peggy Guggenheim Museum."  https://www.motoscafivenezia.it/en/transfers.php
I would contact them to see what they could arrange.  You will also get some lovely sights of Venice from the ship as you sail away, though I would still recommend taking the water taxi to see the sights along the Grand Canal. 
FYI my water taxi to the hotel cost 115 euro for 3 people and 4 bags.  The taxi was right on time in both directions.
I also thought the Royal bus transfer was very efficient in case you wanted to do the water taxi on the way in and the bus transfer on the way back, but you don't really see any sights from the bus.

If I go to book a new reservation and select MTD the only option given to move forward with the booking is to prepay gratuities (at least on the UK version of the website).  Maybe that is what the friend's TA is referring to?  I don't know if the gratuities could still be removed later.

@berkeleykel Europe in October is great.  I did Vision last season and the weather was great.  Crowds are not as big in a lot of the cities, great time of the year to go.  Some days the weather in some ports hit 98f or 38c.  A great trip.  Allure would be a great trip in the Med as well.