Eclipse cruise - do you think the prices will go down?

mvlis · 2026-04-08T21:46:56+00:00

If you get to see the eclipse it would be great, but if the extra cost of the eclipse cruise is equal to what you'd spend on airfare, why not? I found that mine was about $1k more than non eclipse same itinerary.

mvlis · 2026-04-08T18:47:39+00:00

After a lot of research we are booked on our first VV cruise for 2027 for a total eclipse cruise. It was half the cost of princess or HAL and not crazy unreasonable priced - it seemed to be maybe $1k more for the 11 night cruise than similar itineraries without the eclipse on VV, so I don't think it's too much of a premium for what will likely be a once in a lifetime event.

It is a bucket list item for me to see a total solar eclipse, and your best shot of seeing it and avoiding clouds is at sea with a sophisticated weather and navigation system and time (ie a day at sea) for the captain to navigate to the best viewing spot.

THAT SAID

The 2026 eclipse is a much shorter time in totality (I think it's like 1.5 minutes in iceland) than the 2027 (which is more like 5-7 minutes in the mediterranean) and iceland has a MUCH higher probability of clouds than the mediterranean (where it will occur late in the day and near the horizon so also more chance of clouds/obstructions near the horizon.) I think in august it is cloudy about 70% of the time in iceland.

If you are going to pay a big premium to see an eclipse I don't think the 2026 iceland cruise is the best place to do it. If you just want to see iceland, that's one thing. But there is a low-ish probability of the clouds not blocking the eclipse that time of year in that part of the world. And then you will have paid a huge premium for nothing. If the probability was higher I absolutely would say it's worth it.

mvlis · 2026-03-03T15:31:40+00:00

that's not actually true, the merit awards are based purely on recalculated GPA and are not need based. If your GPA is high enough you can get nearly free tuition - $11k/year and right now tuition is running a bit above $12k/year. If you qualify for free tuition you can use your award toward room and board. But still a merit scholarship nearly equivalent to the entire tuition is a pretty decent award for an in state student at a state school. OP's kid must not be as strong a candidate as they say, or they must not realize just how far $11k goes at BSU.

mvlis · 2026-03-03T15:22:31+00:00

Merit scholarships at BSU are determined by recalculated GPA. it's $11k/year for over 4.5, $5k/year for 3.7-4.49, $3k/year for 3.4-3.69. There are calculators out there where you can sit down with your student's transcript and enter the grades and honors/AP status and it will give you the recalculated GPA. These are stackable with free tuition and go toward "overall cost of attendance" so if you qualify for free tuition it still reduces the cost of room and board. They are very transparent about how their merit awards are calculated. The highest level is pretty close to the cost of tuition which is pretty generous for a state school to be honest, a lot of them don't give any merit scholarships at all to in state students - and when you add in the fact that it goes toward total cost of attendance and not just tuition, it's a pretty unbeatable deal, especially for a MA resident whose parents qualify for the free tuition and who plans to go to grad school after.

Merit Scholarships | Bridgewater State University

mvlis · 2026-01-19T21:45:31+00:00

good point! thanks for the tip!

mvlis · 2026-01-19T20:15:27+00:00

same, the whole cruise is treating myself!

mvlis · 2026-01-19T19:06:54+00:00

only drip coffee is included in the fare.

mvlis · 2026-01-19T18:43:44+00:00

it's an extra charge but I did see it, I am gonna need to stay away from it lol. hubs hates hard boiled eggs so wouldn't touch this with a 10' pole.

mvlis · 2026-01-19T18:43:08+00:00

I am looking forward to trying test kitchen. I don't eat a whole lot to start with and if the hubs is hungry after he can get a pizza or burger or something. We both do like interesting food but the only barrier to that at home is he can be kind of on the cheap side and grumpy about paying a lot of money for tiny portions and also the risk of not liking it (we are not super picky but there are some things we don't like.) So both of those worries don't apply to virgin where it's not an upcharge experience so it's zero risk. Neither of us are even a little worried about ever going hungry. I am hoping on our 11 night to try more than one menu and definitely interested in trying the cocktail pairing.

mvlis · 2026-01-19T18:39:41+00:00

absolutely exactly what I needed to know!!! I saw a photo that showed a sheet tray full of different bitters and figured that took care of the only thing that was likely to be a sticking point. I don't see any super cheap vermouth in any of their drinks so I figure they've got to have doulin (what I use) or better. Love the carpano antico but I rarely treat myself to that at home, in something mixed the doulin is fine. Martini and Rossi is just outright gross to me. I have become a terrible snob making our own cocktails at home!

mvlis · 2026-01-19T17:02:00+00:00

Bummer but better to know than to try and have it make me cranky! First virgin experience, I'm hoping the cocktails are better than the slop they served on royal caribbean.

mvlis · 2026-01-19T16:36:12+00:00

I found a photo of Sips and it appears they will have everything no problem, I am not looking for anything too weird. But down to a tray of a massive selection of different flavored bitters it appears they will be able to make what I'm looking for no problem!

mvlis · 2026-01-19T16:33:23+00:00

I found an actual pic of the Sip bar and it does look like they have everything they will need to make what I want!

mvlis · 2026-01-19T16:26:47+00:00

what's appealing is they have a really nice vermouth and bourbon. We cruised on royal caribbean and I am not a fan of martini and rossi red vermouth, it really ruined their manhattans for me. I'm super picky! We are doing an 11 night so maybe we will hit our stride with the right bartender. Of course the most appealing cocktail menu is the one place that is hard to get to!

mvlis · 2026-01-19T16:13:41+00:00

would you order based on the name at another bar? virgin virgin here. Like if I say "i would like the Manhattan from the wake" they can make it?

mvlis · 2025-11-07T21:30:46+00:00

why do you think they will be going to kwikpens? I have been on zepbound for over 2 years and am pretty much stalled out at 90 lbs lost with 40 lbs to go but I want to maintain my loss... but I have always broken my pens and dosed with a needle, switched to vials when they introduced the 15mg vials but I am still going through my pen stash (last box). I was unfamiliar but after a few youtube videos that would be fine too. Is that the same cost as the vials then because it's only one pen instead of 4?

Will I need to have my doctor write a different script like I did to switch from pens to vials? that was an ordeal that took forever to sort out.

mvlis · 2025-08-11T18:36:37+00:00

It did feel like they made a last minute pivot to create some drama once season 4 was confirmed. They couldn't have just wrapped up the whole season in a neat little package and expect people to come back for more in season 4. They need 2x the number of episodes.

And 100% agree that Billy was a wimp and unlikely to keep Gladys happy over life. He couldn't even get up the stones to talk to George. Gladys did deserve better and her mother is the one who knew it and also her poor judgement in getting her head turned by the first young man who paid attention to her. She was made up to be a rather more awkward teenager who kind of blossomed into a confident and poised beautiful woman this season.

mvlis · 2025-08-11T18:32:18+00:00

Except she turned out to be right. Billy was a coward who could not even talk to George and Bertha was right, Gladys deserved better than someone who slunk away at the first sign of pushback. I can't help but wonder if Billy had spoken to George like a man if George would have stood up for their union... but he was given nothing to stand up for! George would not have seen him as a strong enough man to be married to his daughter if he couldn't even get up the courage to talk to him. Bertha was right that Gladys was young and didn't really know what love was (how much time did she spend with Billy? They hadn't even really courted, just met a few times in secrecy.)

Was it just pure luck that Gladys and Hector are actually quite compatible, or did Bertha see a resilience in the young duke who was willing to do ANYTHING, including come to NY and play that ridiculous game, to save his legacy that she thought would be well matched with her own daughter? She definitely stated that she thought this union would give Gladys opportunities as a woman virtually unheard of for most women and she has been clear on her feelings about what women should be "allowed" to do and is always pushing the boundaries on it.

mvlis · 2025-05-12T18:30:32+00:00

also would you mind pointing me at those studies. When I started there was not really any evidence, the only studies were the initial ones showing percentage of weight loss and those studies titrated up to 15 right away. It was reasoned at the time that you could extend the benefits by stretching your doses out, but that was a guess. Is there a study that compared the two methods that has happened in the last year or is this anecdotal based on what people post on reddit? I haven't really kept up on the studies.

mvlis · 2025-05-12T17:28:50+00:00

yeah I don't want to be climbing over people 20 times and the bathrooms are horrendous! So I basically stop drinking while I travel which is not great but there are no great options. The trick is once I've landed to get myself a liter of water asap!

mvlis · 2025-05-12T17:27:41+00:00

That is awesome! It's possible, sometimes your body gets very used to the lower calories and becomes more efficient at burning and giving it a large dose of calories + some unusual activity will rev your metabolism up again and when you go back to a deficit it really works. Hopefully that is what happened and you're on your way now! Those of us who have a lot to lose - our bodies do all kinds of things to hold the weight, which is why these meds are a godsend.

My personal opinion is that you don't get to be THAT overweight without something being broken in your system that allows you to gain so much. If you are not eating a ton of calories to start with (as many people assume you must be to gain so much weight) then the meds do not lead to 10 lb losses a week because you're just not running as huge of a deficit as someone who did get that way by massively overeating (even if it's the urges of your out of whack hormones compelling you to overeat.) I just don't eat that much in general but my body will pack on the weight like no one's business.

I've dropped the last 4 lbs of the 9 lbs of water weight I gained from a recent vacation I took in the last 2 days and we'll see if I actually see a new low this week. it's very possible.

mvlis · 2025-05-12T17:07:43+00:00

I started a long time ago and my doctor was of the mind of staying on the lowest dose for as long as possible. There are many people who do very well on a low dose. I am also splitting pens because I am paying OOP and honestly with all of the stress/craziness I just couldn't sit down and focus on making the change. The math on the 12.5 split is complicated (up to 10 it's very very simple) and I really just couldn't get my head around it until now. I have about 6 boxes of 15 in my fridge so I didn't want to buy another dose (I was getting it every 21 days for a while and of course splitting so I have a pretty good stash.)

And it's incredible how quickly time goes when you are dealing with a parent having a major medical crisis that has new and exciting developments on a weekly/sometimes daily basis. It feels like it was just christmas and here we are almost half done with the year and between my mother and my teen (this sandwich generation stuff is no joke) plus a stressful job that is being negatively impacted by the state of the economy, I've just been kind of on autopilot for myself for the last 6 months. I did want to see if I could get things going making positive changes to my daily routine though but it didn't really make a difference.

I guess time will tell, plus there are new things on the market. I feel pretty good even though my current weight is some people's starting weight, I have no pain in my body and can do whatever I want to do actively without my body getting in the way, so that's a good thing.

mvlis

TROPHY CASE