Ogilthorpe

That reads like a story one would expect to see in the Onion

35 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I don't fly Delta much but I can tell you that if it were American, the answer is "yes".  I am able to access my AA reservation that I made through A2S for my August Symphony cruise.  I have been able to change my seats and ask to be put on the standby list for First Class upgrade.  I have no way of knowing for sure, but I would assume that Delta's policy is similar.

We flew Delta through Air2Sea for our last cruise and the reservation was in the Delta system with all features enabled right after booking. I can't confirm the upgrade features though as we had booked first class.

25 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Man, I hate stairs and you guys almost have me talked into a CLS over an OS (neither of which I can probably afford after the roof and the vet bill, but dreaming is good! lol)

I feel the same way about stairs. BUT ... with that said deck 17 has a cache that is hard to dismiss! We will have to see on an upcoming Star Class loft on the Anthem  ... if I wind up on sofa after the Casino closes ... the stairs were not the best idea!

37 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

It can be either 

Or BOTH!!

2 hours ago, Andrew72681 said:

If there’s a way to annoy, teenage boys will find it. 

One more reason to select dates/itineraries without teenage boys

28 minutes ago, mworkman said:

We were on a ship where the Suite concierge wouldn't let people leave with drinks in there hand, this was several years ago, by that i mean within the last 2-3 years range.  This was the one and only time I've seen that happen.  No explanation was given as to why you couldn't leave either.  It could have been that persons first time as a concierge, it didn't bother us but several guest weren't happy.

And I have seen it to the other extreme as well. I saw a patron having his insulated soda cup being filled at the suite lounge bar with a tall Gin and Tonic to go!

All of this talk of glasses made me think of a event on the Adventure in 2015. It was a Sunday in the fall which meant football on a sea day. The venues were packed with boisterous fans having  great time. It was also the Captain's welcome reception night. Coinciding with the game crowds was the well practiced setup of hundreds upon hundreds of full champagne glasses for the impending reception as the late games wound down In a moment of celebration one fan danced unaware into the tables of Champagne. The tumbling dominoes of sparkling wine were impressive to witness! Perhaps even more impressive was the crew who had it cleaned and fully replaced in a matter of minutes.

21 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

 

Doing that in Two70 Lounge was bliss, looking out those huge aft windows and watching the wake or just catching up on reading.

Yes!!  This ^^^^

I love the Two70 and at key times it has virtually nobody in attendance and has outstanding views as well as a great bar.

I gauge nonstandard cruise activities by the crowd in many cases. I would say our favorite is hanging out at the bar on the suite deck (sometimes listed as the after deck) on Oasis class ships. There very few passengers there usually, and we enjoyed the company and conversations with some highly skilled and very personable bartenders. On Quantum class ships the suite deck has no bar. But is also rarely used and a relaxing place to hang out. ... I hope I haven't given away any secrets

13 minutes ago, ehw51 said:

Seems like some positive news. Hope it all comes to fruition. Not booked till Nov, but we all need the positive info.

I agree completely! And ... in past couple days we've had discussions on cabin selection, Cruise photos, cabanas, lunch venues, UDP, DBP and more . Very positive and refreshing. A welcome departure from the topics that have dominated recently.

11 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

@Ogilthorpe  New taxes for July will be 11.75% for restaurants downtown and 10.75% in city. Don't smoke because cigarettes are like $15 a pack, property taxes are almost 3%...all of that will increase soon. That's why I love traveling, I get more bang for my buck almost everywhere.

One more reason to move to Florida or Texas!

19 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

@Andrew72681 True but our tax rate is almost 11% so I guess it is even........Also I now want a hotdog.

11%  !!? There are places that are worse than New York State??

It's a real toss up. Coastal Kitchen after a time at the Lime and coconut or sky bar wins ... Giovanni's is a close second.

I was making that exact comparison and decision for our October Oasis sailing. Both are excellent options and both have notable features and Sky class perks.  The larger balcony , larger bathroom with walk in shower, extra space and proximity to the elevator for access to our favorite venues were pluses for the owners suite. The loft being on deck 17 for the view and access to CK and the lounge are attractive features. In the end, it came down to location of the available lofts that caused us to book the owners suite. The lofts available were in the back with their balconies facing the sports courts. Had they been ocean facing, it would have been a closer competition. One caveat with the owners suite, there are some with a pole in the entrance area. Specifically, 14640 as it is under splashaway bay. If that would be a negative, I would recommend watching room specific tour videos for the layouts.

2 hours ago, Bean79 said:

I guess I was wrong for now. The stock price hit $68.06 so far this morning!!!

Wow ... now up over 26% for the day! That is very encouraging.

Largest and smallest in the fleet side by side in Cozumel March 2020

14 minutes ago, bytheslice said:

Great post, right on target. Incompetence at the highest leadership level, this is what happens with 3 years of no adult leadership

The problem has existed for decades and doesn't stop with the CDC. Include the FDA and the WHO and you have 3 of the most corrupt organizations on the planet ... and that's just in this grouping!  Branch out to virtually any with an acronym... and we could fill a page!

1 hour ago, Jill said:

“The CDC waited “it’s entire existence for this moment.” What went wrong?”

 

I believe the CDC, like many Government and non-government organizations are good at the status quo. Every year they remind us to get a flu shot, keep some statistics and media reminds us of their expertise. When events escalated the CDC and those other organizations had their incompetence exposed at a leadership level.

20 minutes ago, bytheslice said:

Never did I think potus would use government agencies to harm the hard working members of the cruise lines. 

I agree with you. Early on in this debacle, the cruise lines were mentioned early and often for consideration. Those frequent acknowledgements have fallen off. There are a lot of forces at work, but I remain optimistic that logic and reason will prevail.

Thank you for posting that ... but I cannot resist: (directed toward the media )

/startsarcasm insightful, what will that reporter expose next ... breaking news: sky is blue, non frozen water is wet ... film at 11 /endsarcasm  

On the Harmony a Grand Suite is Sky Class which includes Voom for each passenger booked in the room. Each passenger will have access for 1 device. 

The other Quantum class ships (Anthem, Ovation) have the Sea, Sky, Star classes. From what I have read, the Spectrum has only been in Asia and has completely different suite classes. I'm not sure I completely understand: clusters of rooms, dedicated elevators, silver or gold designation, etc. I suspect the Quantum could adapt  when sailing in North America.

2 hours ago, deep1 said:

I was unable to keep the OBC on a reprice last year... My experience with Next Cruise was very disappointing... 

I have found that there are times that I have needed to remind the agent about that in order for it to remain on reprice.

Just now, M First said:

Hello ,

I was wondering if anyone has used the Next Cruise feature on their ship, are you given much more of a discount then you would get if you booked with a travel agent on just called yourself directly?

Thank you

Michael

 

We've used Next Cruise several times. The deal you receive is whatever the current promotion is, plus a bonus discount based on category of stateroom booked and length of cruise. Alternatively, you can choose to receive an onboard credit. That onboard credit is nonvolatile, if you reprice later you can still keep the credit. Additionally, you can pay a reduced deposit based also on room category. Another bonus is you have up to 60 days to rebook and keep your benefits. Finally, you have the option to transfer the booking to your travel agent.

24 minutes ago, Va4fam said:

I think this is a very encouraging response that NCL has created.

I do wonder if the masks will be added at a later date if mandated by CDC/WHO.

A couple of thoughts:

The WHO already issued a statement last week that healthly people don't need masks

And I'm not sure to what extent the CDC has a say regarding onboard protocols. Although I suspect that they have already been consulted if NCL has published these guidelines