Thread: Star Princess Roll Call - Rio De Janerio to San Francisco Feb 18 2012

Originally Posted by nealberk

It would be nice if the cruise lines were to advertise the boards that have M&Ms for the various cruises. Hey, it would probably increase their popularity.

Spot on Neil......even if they would just let people interested in knowing more about online groups come to the M&M it would also help increase popularity. Special since they don't really knock themselves out with free drinks and food any more then what does it really cost the cruise lines. I truthfully was kind of ready to not cruise any more after our cruise on the Radiance last year (just wasn't all that thrilling) but I kind of got all jazzed up by listening to people on CLF talking about cruises that they had taken and upcoming cruise. They are missing the boat by not making the M&M's more special and promoting them during the cruise.

Sally, send the above post to the cruise lines and let them know how you feel. The boards are free advertising for them and if even 10% of the people feel the way you do, it would be advertising well spent!

Hmm, a very simple ideal. If they could have links to the roll call threads on the various boards when they list the cruises, it could be a great selling point. Let the people add the links to the cruise web page. Totally no cost except for some occasional monitoring to insure that the links are not for commercial use.

That's a great idea Neal. I like the way you think.

Now I'm starting to worry about what sort of surcharges for fuel will be in place by next February. Not looking happy in that area. With a 30 day cruise that could really mount up if it is a daily charge. I probably should read the fine print on the Princess page and see what can happen. I'm under the impression that they can charge you even if you've paid off the balance so will probably ride out only having $200 down till next Oct. and see where the chips fall.

Fuel prices are only going to go up. And what they don't tell you is that the crack spread, the additional charges for turning raw crude into fuel usable by ships, cars, and planes is really increasing.

Originally Posted by nealberk

Fuel prices are only going to go up. And what they don't tell you is that the crack spread, the additional charges for turning raw crude into fuel usable by ships, cars, and planes is really increasing.

How comforting Neal!!! NOT!

I know. There has been a lot of press (and devaluation of airlines stocks) because of the rise in fuel oil prices.

Originally Posted by nealberk

I know. There has been a lot of press (and devaluation of airlines stocks) because of the rise in fuel oil prices.

Interesting, my SIL stock guy called her while we were in Phoenix last week and told her to buy South West Airlines stock. Hmmm.....I had wondered about his advise, doesn't sound like a wise investment to me at the moment.

It depends. If you think that the rise in oil prices is a temporary panic thing then maybe. Airline stocks have gone down prices have gone up and the airlines have cut capacity all of whcih indicate an improvement in their returns. But the price of fuel is the big wild card.

I guess basically we've gotten away with very low fuel prices in comparison with a lot of the world for a long time. This chart from Wikipedia is pretty interesting.
Gasoline and diesel usage and pricing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
New Zealand has gas approaching $6 a gallon right now and that's the amount in US dollars. In NZD dollars that's $8.00 a gallon. Let's just say that compared to my daughters salary that makes gas horrendous. I can hardly wait for a 6 weeks of filling up the rental car tank.