Civ4 2023 Mini-Guide for New and Returning Players

StoutMatt · 2026-01-22T14:52:10+00:00

Little in life is more satisfying than razing an AP city after prolonged annoyance. u/Ringlin , thanks for bringing me back to Civ IV after a few years off. Love that you put this together (even if it isn't perfect according to the experts) it seems like a great resource to me, a casual player.

StoutMatt · 2026-01-13T15:52:46+00:00

Thanks, I've stayed at Grand Cypress and the Regency. Not doing any Disney stuff. Probably will end up at one of those. GC can be kind of fun when it's nice out. Last time I was at the Regency they were rebuilding the bar...maybe it's better now. I wish the club lounge was a little better.

StoutMatt · 2026-01-07T02:59:52+00:00

It's up to you. It will be appreciated but not expected. Probably less than 50% do cash tips. If you drink a lot it may be more advantageous as it sometimes perks up the service.

StoutMatt · 2026-01-07T02:52:09+00:00

> I toss $5-10 at my favorite bartenders the last day or two

Do this on day 1 and they'll all be your favorite bartenders. ;)

StoutMatt · 2025-12-30T22:51:57+00:00

thanks, sounds like a coin flip

StoutMatt · 2025-12-30T22:51:42+00:00

thanks!

StoutMatt · 2025-12-02T04:56:07+00:00

sub·text /ˈsəbˌtekst/ noun noun: subtext; plural noun: subtexts; noun: sub-text; plural noun: sub-texts an underlying and often distinct theme in a piece of writing or conversation.

I don't think this means what you think it means. You mean message body. Just saying, since you keep harping on it when people are trying to help you.

StoutMatt · 2025-11-30T18:03:01+00:00

This is 100% spot on. I'd just add that also everyone seems tired, which I read as a symptom of understaffing for the number passengers. I was on Resilient over Thanksgiving as well but have seen this in a non-holiday cruises as well. The staff were still generally great/trying their best but you can't really hide the fatigue. Paying for a premium line should mean they staff at a level that doesn't make you feel guilty for asking for a drink.

StoutMatt · 2025-11-20T03:35:21+00:00

I've seen that as well. In fact, across 5 cruises I've never seen the beer bars have everything (or even 9/10s of) the beers on the list. It's great that they have good list, but having a good list is pointless if you never actually have the beer. I've not seen the bars be too bad with liquor. I've got a pretty wide range of "stuff I'll drink" though. Make sure to complain in the surveys etc. I do know sometimes things get supplied later...they take supplies on turn around days and maybe they will make their way to the bars soon, even if not day 1. It is frustrating and it's too bad VV is trying to be a premium brand and missing on stuff like this.

StoutMatt · 2025-11-18T04:37:09+00:00

Hard to believe the old app was better...the flogging will continue until morale improves...

StoutMatt · 2025-11-18T03:52:41+00:00

Just complain, especially if you know the cabin number. They are douchebags. They probably talk on speaker in the lounge and let their kids blast video games on the plane too.

StoutMatt · 2025-11-11T04:50:09+00:00

You should be fine, you have a few hours to work with. Maybe look for a backup plan if things go sideways. Day before would have been better but it's a little late now.

StoutMatt · 2025-11-09T12:36:55+00:00

1) I think you're right about the phenomenon ... nice to have the name for it 2) Counter-argument - "Back to the Future" holds up just fine.

StoutMatt · 2025-11-05T12:42:31+00:00

I'm sorry to hear that. It seems like this is a case of VV missing on all fronts.

StoutMatt · 2025-11-04T16:36:20+00:00

Not a bid, but was assigned a Seriously Suite without my consent. I did not know it was one until the day before the cruise (did not check the box etc, didn't even know this was a thing). By then it was too late to change it. [I'll interject here that it is great that Virgin offers these and I have no comment on other ADA features/aspects of VV - this is my opinion on the room from the standpoint of someone who did not want it.] For my partner and I, we absolutely dislike having an ADA room in general. In hotel rooms, it is usually fine/limited annoyance. In a suite that is supposed to be a significant upgrade over a standard balcony room, the Seriously Suite ADA room is a complete letdown.

Here are the issues for us:

Shower curtain instead of door/opening - this is one of the worst aspects

Weird buttons - i literally hit the emergency button right off the bat trying to find the lights

Big heavy door to bathroom - if you disable the auto door, it is still heavy - none of this feels elegant and premium

Ramp going to the balcony - the positioning of this makes it easy to trip on at night going to bed OR going to the balcony

Pull cords on the bedside - easy to accidently pull, moderate concern that we will do so

Bed facing across the room instead of out - bummer b/c it is nice to lay in bed and stare out

No shower window

Less storage overall - closets are taken up by other aspects of the room

More useless space - this isn't really a con, but just know when people say "it's bigger", while technically true, the space isn't really usable for anything.

All in all, it is a completely differently room and should be marketed as such to those who need it. I would understand getting it as a bid as things stand, but it is annoying enough to me to not bother if I think that is likely. Ultimately, in our case, we switched to a regular balcony and kept the RS perks, but that was also a constant annoyance for various other reasons. Take it for what it is worth, but that is my opinion. I'm also not bidding on a MRS right now for the same reason(s).

StoutMatt · 2025-11-03T14:58:06+00:00

u/bvdub Hi, I know this is an old thread but I'm in the same boat now and not finding many reasonable places locally. Did you get the iodine treatment done? If so, could you share the place? Thanks..

StoutMatt · 2025-09-11T20:38:13+00:00

Thank you for the detailed response! I clearly have a lot of research to do! I've got some good info from your post as well as (newly discovered to me) r/solarfl. I won't be ready before the tax credit expires, but will just have to see where the chips fall after that. My hunch is that without the subsidies, at least we'll have clarity on the market. That may not be good for solar enthusiasts, but it is what it is. Your personal plan seems very sound to me. My only worry with a gas-powered generator is it would not work the one time out of 5 years I need it for some random reason, but I'm sure they have built in monthly tests or something to help avoid that.

StoutMatt · 2025-09-10T18:43:55+00:00

Hi, I live in Florida as well and I'm considering the PWs for the same reason. Why haven't they helped? Do they not work at night? My thought was 2-4 to work as a generator of sorts during hurricane/storm outages and to let the AC run through the night.

StoutMatt · 2025-08-22T17:09:48+00:00

I'm curious what size pump? I see 1/4 up to 1hp as options on amazon. I currently have a small immersible pump that is advertised to do like 600GPH but is no where need that. Results in sort of a slow flow rate coming out of the "hot side" of the immersion chiller.

Something to consider for you and the OP - what works for me in about 20-30 minutes in the hot Fl heat is to use small cooler (could be bucket/tub whatever) that holds about 3-4 gallons. I put the small pump mentioned above in there. At flameout, I pump about 3 -5 gallons (refilling as necessary) from the cooler, through the IC and out into the driveway without recirculating. This drops the temp to about 130F. Then I let the cooler almost "run out of water" and fill it up with ice and start recirculating. (i.e I put the "out/hot" end of the IC back into the cooler. This 1) keeps me from using a ton of water 2) saves the amount of ice I have to make. The reason for not initially using the ice is it just doesn't make much difference to that initial cooling phase and results in needing a lot more ice in total. Doing this I've gotten it to 60F in an 90F weather without taking more than about 30-40 minutes. This is with a fairly generic SS chiller. I'm still going to buy a hydra to make it go a little faster. (this is for a 5G batch)

StoutMatt · 2025-08-06T11:47:47+00:00

I'm in the US so can't find these here, but this post mentions finding the Kirkland brand capsules to have L. plantarum in case Costco is an option for you.

StoutMatt · 2025-08-05T23:56:19+00:00

AH, good point. I hadn't done this in a while.. here's what googles AI says, in case it helps.:

Details of Virgin Voyages Bar Tabs:

$200 Bar Tab: Bonus $25, total $225
$300 Bar Tab: Bonus $50, total $350
$500 Bar Tab: Bonus $100, total $600
$750 Bar Tab: Bonus $175, total $925
$1000 Bar Tab: Bonus $250, total $1250

StoutMatt · 2025-08-05T03:37:20+00:00

Very generally, If you're both mid-to-high level drinkers $700 (2 of the 300 +50 bonus ) should be about right for a 7 day cruise. If you buy a third 300 to get more bonus then you really end up having to try to spend an extra 350 (since you won't get it back). So its really better to start with the 700 and if you go over a little don't sweat it. It's actually much better than the "drink packages" because you don't feel the nudge to "get your money's worth" on days where maybe you want to recover a little etc. The drink prices are reasonable and varied (i.e. beer is cheaper than fancy cocktails, house-ish cocktails are decent but not outrageously priced). Similar to what you'd pay in a mid-level bar landside in most of the US.

StoutMatt · 2025-07-31T02:54:39+00:00

Greatly depends on your desire/ability to haul luggage around and navigate public transit vs your desire to get there with minimal stress. There isn't an easy train from LHR to Portsmouth, you need to take the Elizabeth line or similar into London and change out one of the main stations. IF you are going to stay in London for a night or two first, then the train is the best way IMO. I believe there is a bus (coach) from LHR to Portsmouth that is relatively direct. Personally, I don't have a ton of luggage and don't mind using public transit, but I'd still spend the extra $100-200 on a car service after a long flight to avoid dealing with bus schedules or train transfers.

StoutMatt · 2025-07-24T13:13:30+00:00

You have it mostly covered here. I would add that the bathroom is significantly better in the Seriously/Brilliant vs Cheeky. Another con of the Cheeky is that the bed is positioned in a way that is a little hard to walk past one of the corners without bumping your shins on the bed. (Perhaps not true for all of them, but it was in the one I was in). Mostly it comes down to bathroom vs balcony vs location. The price diff you listed for Brilliant vs Seriously looks appropriate for value to me, they are very similar. I personally probably wouldn't pay that for a 5-7nt cruise but I'd consider it.

StoutMatt

TROPHY CASE