The BEST and WORST Changes In Cruising?

You are not a dinosaur about dressing - really regret that lines are cutting down on formal nights.

I must be a dinosaur too, as the reason I love cruising is the formal nights. There is no where else the average person can go to a Gala Ball other than on a cruise ship. Happy 💯, and thank you for your insights.

Here’s my take on dressing up while on vacation. In our normal life we don’t even dress up for our jobs! Business casual now includes jeans and a shirt! Going to the theater or dinner people dress like they’re at an outdoor barbecue! I love to dress up! It makes me feel attractive, special and looking forward to the evening. Dressing up while on vacation to me is a treat. To see a whole bunch of people in flip flops, bathing suits, jeans, shorts etc is fine during the day, but at night, in a gorgeously appointed restaurant with fine dining menues and an evening planned with music and dancing, I want to dress up!

I think it’s kind of interesting that at the same time cruise lines are complaining about cost of food, they’re not willing to give solo cruisers a break on their cabins?

Gary I always appreciate your succinct and well-thought-out videos. I don't have tons of extra time to watch 20-30 min videos. I love that yours are right around 10-12 mins. To me, that means you appreciate the time we take to watch your uploads. There are so many I'd love to watch but I'd rather take in 2 videos in that time frame than only one. So, another great video - thank you!!

Congrats on cruise number 100, Gary! What has gotten even better is the quality of your content. Your videos just keep getting better and better. Here's to the next 100!

haha, Gary, you're certainly not a dinosaur! I can see your point about enjoying the formal nights, it's lovely to be at an event where people are dressed in their best.

I agree on the smoking. I try to avoid areas where there is smoke, which is actually making the lines lose money, as I would love to spend a night in a casino, but the smell of smoke just put me right off that area.

Gary, you look great, no change between today and 100 cruises ago! Congratulations! Thank you for your vlogs, you are excellent teacher and adviser. I appreciate all you do.

Great video Gary. One improvement you should mention is Musters. The current way to muster on most ships is FAR superior to the way they used to be.

I have been cruising since 2003. Good things - more food options, better tech, but downside I think dumbing down when a lack of dress code.

My first cruise was in 1987. I was impressed with the service. Our cabin steward was a ninja. I enjoyed the formal dress. We had Lobsters and baked Alaska too. What was lacking was other dinning and snack options. It was the formal dinning room by seating. My second cruise in 2011 was less formal and had some snack options with burgers and pizza. By 2011, less formal was welcomed sailing to Alaska. With the airlines baggage fees, dressing for cold weather and the hot weather that we left, and limited formal wear, it was one less headache. My 3rd cruise was a New Years Eve in 2019 (pre-covid). You had to ask to have your cabin cleaned, there was no turn down service. There were all kinds of up charges on food and drink that talking with other passengers they felt like they were being nickel and dimes too. Our early seating time did not allow us to go to the shows and if you went to the shows you missed your late seating dining. Our next cruise is in April 2023 and there will be an up charge for a burger restaurant. We book the premium beverage package just to avoid only some of the up charges. Lobsters is now is an up charge. There is going to be more opening seating so maybe we will get to the shows. It appears that laundry options have also improved which will help in our packing for a 15 day cruise. (note: these are 4 different lines). As far as the ships getting too big, that is a mixed bag. There are advantages such as having different theme bars and areas to hangout in. But I have been on land when cruises ships have dumped 5000 people to a port. In some cases multiple ships. Now the local tourists are suddenly trying to deal with the cruise ship passengers and competing for the same things . And being on board a large ship taking up to an hour to get off is no fun either.

Virgin includes tips, wifi, fitness classes, soda, BREWED coffee and tea, and almost all food in the cruise fare. Essentially only alcohol is extra in this moderately priced line...and I love the "bar tab" concept rather than the "drink package" as we drink very little. You can share your bar tab with anyone you'd like and it is good on all beverages that have a charge--premium coffee, smoothies, fresh squeezed juice in addition to alcohol. If you have money left at the end of the cruise, buy a round for your new best friends or buy a bottle of wine at the bar to take home. No affiliation, just a happy cruiser. My credit card charge on my last cruise was $8 total, and I could have avoided that had I not chosen a premium drink on the last night. I totally agree about ship size--we like the 2500 size! They can also visit a lot more interesting, smaller ports.

While I am not a cruiser I stumbled upon your channel one day and you are so fun, educational, and soothing. I know if I want to take a break from the world watching you is 100% going to work. Maybe one day I will make the leap to a cruise and get to use all the wonderful things I have learned from you and now La Lido Loca.

I am not really a snob, but I do wish cruise lines would put all the people on a separate cruise whose idea of "dressing up" is their nicest t-shirt and jeans.

Speaking of the class system: there is also "Club Orange" on Holland America. In my opinion, having a few exclusive areas is no problem. With HAL, there was plenty to do when I was on-board and never concerned myself with club orange. If it overtakes too many activities...then it is a big negative.

You can imagine the changes I’ve seen after 36 years of cruising, not all for the better I’m afraid especially as far as the food goes. It’s nice to see younger people cruising these days but, bemoan the fact that cruise lines aren’t that strict on the dress code these days.

As a whippersnapper, I agree that there should be some catering to the desire for a good old formal cruise. It must have been magical, and that’s a mood worth creating. I wouldn’t take advantage of it myself, I’d probably avoid it, but I can definitely recognise the value of it

Actually having some lines implementing a dress code where you dress up is great. I'm not considering myself as old and I like having people around me in ball gowns and tuxes. Although also having lines with more leisurely dress codes is great as well. You need to have both, so you can choose. I've just come off a ship with 5100 passengers. The largest ship I've ever been on. Even though its design as such, the details etc. we're great, I was in search of my destination every time I wanted to go to a specific place until the very last day - and I've never "suffered" from a bad orientation. It was a shock to my system and it took me a good 3 days to feel at home and start enjoying the vacation. Next time I will know what I'm getting myself into...

The return of the class system was especially evident when I sailed the new NCL Prima. Amongst it's many problematic issues (and there are a lot!), one that was quite glaring was that around 1/4 to 1/3 of the ship is VIP only, from the massive Haven area to the Vibe Club.