Seaawgs

@3Sisters Celebrity Millennium.  While the cruise was excellent,  the tour afterwards left a bit to be desired. Talkeetna is fantastic, and I recommend getting out of Anchorage as quickly as possible. The vagrants are like mosquitoes. We used Marriott points for the Delta Hotel. Having their credit card is really beneficial when redeeming points.

It is easy to walk into the Vancouver port, it's like a mall.. There are plenty of hotels close enough to walk and avoid sitting in traffic. We stayed at the Delta Hotel. Vancouver is a nice place to hang out and navigate on foot, enjoy!

@Jim Lamb and @FJB Thanks for saying what we're thinking. Economically empowering the lower rungs of society with government give-a-ways and easy credit has caused chaos across all aspects of travel.  Daily incidents involving air travel, hotels and cruise ships have become the norm. Social media narcissism has also contributed to this current wave of "natural selection ".

Hey gang, survival is tricky business.  7 day Alaska cruises are currently going off under $300 while Caribbean cruises are over $1000. I lost an aft facing Sunset Sky suite on the Beyond  crossing next Spring. As an RCL stockholder,  I understand their decision however,  it's their lack of anticipation I find disturbing. As cruise ships become the destination,  where they sail becomes less relevant. Every plane is full, every hotel is full, every restaurant is full so cruising from a drivable port is the way to go.

@3Sisters the French chef will have the day off on Biscuits and Gravy night. Throw in a Creole night as well.. We have not been on an Edge Class ship yeships have 3 back-to-back coming up on the Beyond in October. Though we have worn the Caribbean out, the Maiden Voyage sounded cool. St. Thomas is one of our favorites as well.

@3Sisters We'll be on the Maiden Voyage December 3rd. Looking forward to the hoopla and the brothers. I'd rather see a "country boy" menu...less syllables and wet stuff.

We tip additional anyway. The Cruise line will insist their method takes care of those not engaged by passengers. So basically,  I'm paying extra to window washers and laundry personnel without the ability to assess performance in this scenario. Oddly, this is all taking place during a period of reduction in service. 

The question becomes; when paying thousands of dollars for a cruise, what are you actually paying for? "Gratuities" are simply a cash cow for the cruise industry adding $60,000 per day to an average cruise. 

Personal debt explosion and government give-a-ways make everyone a potential traveler. Seasonality has disappeared. Using las Vegas as a model, they simply cannot charge enough to slow demand. Cruise companies are getting in on this frenzy and are quickly erasing Covid debt. Celebrival and Carnebrity are the results of this attempt to attract the financially less inhibited. "Just put it on the card"

@euroguy copy and paste...exactly! 

I get hung up on the line " I think I booked the flights on their web with the cruise trip". When you book with Flights By Celebrity your flight information is everywhere. You get email confirmation. It's there when you login to manage your trip and it shows up on your app. You also receive flight updates in the app notifications as well as email updates. These flights are generally more expensive because they are "flexible" and unpaid until your final cruise payment. Most of us agree, show up a day early and spread the wealth. 

@3Sisters Many promotional Celebrity cruise fares include the "classic" package. If you upgrade before the cruise you'll save 5%, which is $1 per day. The "at-a-boy" the crew member gets is worth more to us and since we tip each round, our overall experience is enhanced. 

@3SistersWe always upgrade to premium. While on-board we look for a real "go getter" and have them upgrade us. That usually pays off down the road. Quality vs. Quantity is an interesting take on the different packages. It's tough to over indulge on high content beer. The MDR on Celebrity should never be accused of over feeding you and has good alternatives if you don't care for the day's menu. I personally have a rule to never leave "animal" on my plate, if I order it, I eat it.

If you don't factor human nature into the equation, the problem will perpetuate.  On Celebrity, people order a Dogfish Head 90 Minute beer because it's the most expensive on the Premium package. They take one drink, their face curls up and they leave the rest. Waste is relative to cost.

Expecting restraint from certain groups of people is folly. Aside from associating a charge with everything we enjoy on a cruise, waste is here to stay. Drink packages also promote a large amount of waste and excess garbage.  Charge less for the packages and a small charge for each drink. 

Bar snacks, always. Pre dinner escapades are much more fun with kibble.

Pickleball is a bridge between tennis and shuffleboard. Excursions are drastically different depending on the port. 

As of a week ago, breakfast is still free. Delivered food is mediocre at best so close your balcony door, quit heating up the ship and join the rest.

The stupidity and pandering make it tough to respect RCL. On a given day, I'll interact or come in close proximity with 100 people...more when I travel. Testing 2 or 3 days prior makes little sense. Old and obese folks are more likely to struggle with any illness, what restrictions are in place for them? 50+ cruises over more than 20 years, people bring lots of illness aboard and they'll keep doing so. 

Gratuities have become a Cruise Line cash cow and a sneaky way to re categorize income. We consider them part of the Cruise fare and tip based on quality of service.  In our experience,  tipping is an all around winner. 

It's been too long.  You'll now need an Anthropologist, Archeologist and Proctologist to find the line of distinction between Royal Caribbean's nose and the CDC's butt.

Budget has a strip center location near Port Everglades that also offers a shuttle. The shuttle service is slow so be early or take a >$10 Uber