cruisellama

Good point - haven't seen anything reported so must be good news.

A lady goes to the bar on a cruise ship and orders a Scotch with two drops of water. As the bartender gives her the drink she says, 'I'm on this cruise to celebrate my 80th birthday and it's today.' The bartender says, 'Well, since it's your birthday, I'll buy you a drink. In fact, this one is on me..' As the woman finishes her drink, the woman to her right says, 'I would Like to buy you a drink, too.' The old woman says, 'Thank you. Bartender, I want a Scotch with two drops of water.' 'Coming up,' says the bartender. As she finishes that drink, the man to her left says, 'I would like to Buy you one, too.' The old woman says, 'Thank you. Bartender, I want another Scotch with two drops of water.' 'Coming right up,' the bartender says. As he gives her the drink, he says, 'Ma'am, I'm dying of curiosity. Why The Scotch with only two drops of water?' The old woman replies, 'Sonny, when you're my age, you've learned how to hold your liquor. Holding your water, however, is a whole other issue.'

If Congress actually passes - it looks like a work around. Its up to the USG - no need to stop at Canadian ports if the law is changed. Fine if its only temporary and regionally limited, but best to look at a better solution long term. Would be bad to shudder all those Alaskan resorts and other businesses for another season. Can see the bear lounging on the deck of the Princess resort.

Let's see what transpires 2 weeks after spring break. Will we see a bump?

Its easy to provide controlled "packets of spending authority - different denominations" on the seapass. You can purchase using cruise planner also.

Would want to watch when crew movements start. Guessing a setback of at least 30 - 60 days of from a sail date. So May sailing could imply crew notifications in March. Maybe look for that 2 month sliding window. If anyone has insights into provisioning suppliers at major ports, knowing when purchase orders start trickling in would be another observable. But crew watching might be the easiest to get insight though watching crew blogs. To amend comment: also as certain cruise lines will require crew vaccinations, there should be a fair amount of chatter about when that starts.

USG can fix this on its own (just doesn't want to).

Is there a site to query whether a port is open for cruise ship operations? For example - what ports are open to cruise ships in the Med at a given time?

It floats!

"One of these days - just one of these days"

A pink cruise ship crashed into a purple cruise ship. You could say the passengers were marooned

Yes but lately - who in gov't is actually following any law? We're in a make it up as we go along mindset. Moving goal posts - more masks are better now... Can't fly to Mexico without a test, BUT you can drive or take a bus and its not required.... So much inconsistency.

License it and pick up some revenue

Pretty bold statement. I guess he can always move his fleet to a more industry friendly regions. But "FULL" fleet operation is quite a statement. Hope it doesn't come back to bite too bad.

Think they're sailing TUI in the Canary Islands (which is partially owned by RCG). Agree, don't seem to be very aggressive on work arounds. The Barbados porting is a step in the right direction to help with Carribean region, but only 1 ship.

Fantastic - keep the stories going.

Highly recommend Chef's table. Which is an extra - but held in CK. Its nice having selected wine pairings with each course of the meal.

While free internet would be nice - back to sail will most likely require the ability to use Muster 2.0. So getting information on when older ships get the required "IT" upgrades is a readiness to sail signal for me. In fact inability to get the "IT" upgrade might be what inhibits older ships to be part of the initial restart.

Remember the day when you could book on-board for lower deposits.

I just look for "Go Best" and that's my happy place.

No issue with cruising starting under the condition that only open to the "locals" of the region. Good way to test protocols and build confidence. Lessons learned will still be gained.

I have a B2B in June, starting in Venice. Really like the itineraries. I think its a low probability of going.. On one hand hoping L&S will be available -on the fence with paying off or just cancelling. As its a B2B - not wanting to get in too deep with the continued uncertainties in sailing. Have another planned for Nov '21 as well as late Dec '21. These things can stack up during shutdown.

If the Alaskan delegation can convince US Congress and administration to waive or amend the current PVSA then it can happen. This is a USG self-imposed restriction - totally fixable by 2 branches of the US gov't. Canada can remain closed to traffic as long as they need or want.... IMO - I do not think the USG has any hint of sympathy toward the cruise industry - outside the local politics of major port cities that need the revenue.

I think lines should just pick a practical (provisioning, hotels, and air accessibility) non-US embarkation port, and operate "A" ship that makes sense for that port. Just get 1 ships or 2 on a regular schedule to keep the machinery and crews running. Maybe over a 6 month period. Mirror what's going on with Quantum. Lean forward

You can also add to gratuities through your account access or use cash. We always carry cash to provide additional recognition to those who really went the extra mile. Typically our room steward, and the waitstaff/bartenders we get to know during the trip. We'll give them a thank you card and some cash in addition to the pre-paid gratuities. They're able to show their supervisors the cards and it can help at promotion time.