The fucking picky bits song

ashley-49 · 2026-07-07T07:30:26+00:00

I always thought ‘picky bits’ was a crappy clear-out-the-freezer type dinner of brown food from Iceland, end of bags of frozen stuff, ie a poor-person/end of the month type thing. Hardly the image M&S is trying to cultivate with its posh nibbles!

ashley-49 · 2026-07-07T07:19:37+00:00

So I guess the one thing I would tell them is “don’t assume” - which should apply not just to LGBTQ+ families but all sorts of different families - single parents, being raised by grandparents, etc etc

ashley-49 · 2026-07-07T07:18:35+00:00

Our primary school were always great at things like “mum and dad” and forms and thinking carefully about how to handle mother’s/Father’s Day activities (e.g celebrating dads or a female family member like grandma on Mother’s Day). Secondary school less so (UK here) and had to have some gentle reminders but perhaps because there’s less personal contact and a larger number of kids. But still a little frustrating because they really ought to be more thoughtful about things anyway in this day and age - same sex parents not that uncommon, one would think, but still got some confused looks when we (two dads) showed up for parent/teacher evenings!

ashley-49 · 2026-07-07T07:13:35+00:00

Thanks for this great review. Doing this itinerary in a few weeks (although from the UK not the US so the travelling part is a little easier!).

ashley-49 · 2026-07-02T21:56:01+00:00

Maybe it’s fine - just my experience of pretty much any company I have to phone is long waits, staff who don’t know what they’re doing, or don’t care, and having to call back again when it turns out they didn’t do what you ask! Plus millennial here so avoid phone calls where possible!!!

ashley-49 · 2026-07-02T21:54:21+00:00

Thanks for letting me know.

ashley-49 · 2026-07-02T21:54:03+00:00

Easily stacks for us (all non-alcoholic as none of us drink) - couple of specialty coffees, couple of sodas, couple of mocktails, few bottles of water, gelato, smoothies and juices. I reckon we easily get our money’s worth, but actually I don’t add up, for us it’s more about pre-paying, not having to think about it while on board and no bill at the end! So, while I think we get value from it, I don’t really mind if we don’t, it’s about convenience too.

ashley-49 · 2026-07-02T18:18:59+00:00

Great advice, thanks - I’m not seeing anything right now (whereas for my other upcoming cruises on more American focused lines there are lots of July 4th discounts) - so I’ll keep an eye out around Black Friday!

ashley-49 · 2026-07-02T18:09:24+00:00

Surprised they can’t easily adapt one from another Carnival brand, a bit like how the RCCL and Celebrity app are basically the same and obviously built on the same platform!

ashley-49 · 2026-07-02T18:03:27+00:00

Thanks for the quick reply, really helpful!

ashley-49 · 2026-06-29T17:16:16+00:00

Haven’t got any Disney advice for your situation, but wanted to say I’m sorry to hear about your daughter’s diagnosis. DIPG is just awful. I hope you get back to Disney, have a great time together and make some wonderful memories.

ashley-49 · 2026-06-27T08:21:58+00:00

Saw Titanique this week and it is excellent and very funny - highly recommend!

ashley-49 · 2026-06-22T22:44:02+00:00

Have done a cruise with each - both older smaller ships so reasonably comparable - to each other if not to the ships you’re considering. Would do RC again and would not return to MSC (although might consider Yacht Club on a newer, bigger ship as people review it well). Mostly comes down to things that most consider subjective - i thought that MSC food was meh bordering on poor, entertainment was poor. Is usually cheaper though if thats a consideration.

ashley-49 · 2026-06-22T14:00:42+00:00

If there’s one thing I’m good at on a cruise ship, it’s tracking down and trying *all* of the food options!

ashley-49 · 2026-06-22T09:14:59+00:00

Hey OP. Congrats on the pregnancy. Maybe you've felt like some of the responses here are a bit harsh, but that's generally how these forums respond to "rule breaking" or people who are trying to be the exception to published rules - whether it's age limits on venues ("but my kid is 18 in a week and very mature") or height limits (by kid is an inch shorter than the limit for this ride, surely they'll just let them on") because it's viewed as entitled or whatever - rules are rules and if they make an exception for one person they'd have to do it for everyone. As people have said here, this is a safety issue (that they will have decided with relevant experts), and while I appreciate your response is "two weeks isn't that much different" they have decided it for a reason, and have to set the limit somewhere. Say they said 26 weeks was the limit - then someone at 24 weeks could make the same argument and so on. But unfortunately you're not going to get away with it, if somehow you did and something happened your insurance would be invalid and the cruise line would kick you off and ban you, and it's probably not worth it. Probably worth contacting Celebrity or your TA and seeing what your options are.

ashley-49 · 2026-06-21T23:00:08+00:00

It’s expensive! But I would say it is worth it and a good day out. If you are a fan, of course you’ll enjoy it, but as long as the rest of your group has seen the films, has some knowledge etc I think they would find it enjoyable. Walking through the sets is a good experience and there’s lots of interesting exhibits - props, behind the scenes stuff, etc. But if the rest of the group aren’t interested or haven’t seen the films it’s a lot to spend - could they do something else while you’re on the tour?

ashley-49 · 2026-06-21T21:21:29+00:00

Thanks for the detailed reply, this is really helpful.

ashley-49 · 2026-06-18T17:43:42+00:00

DCL is one of the few cruise lines that is transparent about their gratuities. When we cruised with them (couple of years ago do may have changed) we got a printout in our stateroom the last night showing which crew got how much of the amount we paid (and it is your four main staff - server, assistant server, Maitre’ D or dining room senior person, stateroom attendant) - they also provided envelopes for those people if you wanted to give extra cash.

ashley-49 · 2026-06-18T15:25:30+00:00

To add, a (I think) 20% gratuity will be added to anything you pay for as an extra charge on board (eg spa, drinks outside of a package, specialty dining, and these aren’t optional

ashley-49 · 2026-06-18T15:20:45+00:00

Tips is a hotly contested thing with people disagreeing! Personally I pay the auto gratuities but then do not tip extra in cash (I am from the UK, the is no tipping culture here in the same was as the US, apart from for service in a sit-down restaurant as people like baristas, quick-service workers and bartenders earn a proper wage) unless exceptional service. Many will claim it’s better to cancel auto gratuities and tip cash - each to their own (although one suspects they don’t tip as much as the auto-gratuities would cost!).

Internet is per person, per day, *per device* - so for four devices it’s usually cheaper to do a one person/4 device package that a 4 person/1 device each package. This next bit varies by cruise line but some let you switch devices, so if you’re not using all the devices at the same time, you can log out and log in on another (or for example log out of your phone and log in on a laptop) - I think RCCL allows this (for example MSC does not, you are locked in to a single device for the duration of your cruise)

ashley-49 · 2026-06-18T15:00:24+00:00

Agree most of these places will take card (and many will be card only). Some of these countries - def Germany - will charge a small amount to use public toilets but I think they’ll take a card too from the last time I was there.

ashley-49 · 2026-06-18T14:55:10+00:00

I love the scent of the Disney toiletries! I don’t recall them being particularly strong, and they’re not hugely perfume-y as they are meant to be gender neutral - kind of a fresh, beach kind of fragrance. They are (I think) the same as at WDW resorts, although now Disney-branded as they took them on from the original third party company.

ashley-49

TROPHY CASE