january 2020 updates

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january 2020 updates

Post: # 2566Post drib »

January 2020 updates will be in January 2020.

That is all.

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Re: january 2020 updates

Post: # 2574Post drib »

Made you look!

Check back tomorrow, after noon, Pacific time.

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crystal port fees

Post: # 2575Post drib »

Simultaneous to the monthly fare update, I will be adding port fees to the database for all Crystal trips ... where I can find them. It tested okay, but it's new, and there's bound to be a few glitches.

The new field will show on the Dollar View, on Ship Dollar, and on Fare Compare, but I don't want to add the fees into Crystal on Fare Compare until I know they are all good. You can see a sample though on some of the test cases already.

rollcall/farecompare.php?line=crystal&ship=symphony

rollcall/dollar.php?trip=6888&farecat=B1

This request came from one of the mean girls on that other message board ... and he had better watch his ass, because I happen to like Oceania, and I'm known to block people who offend my sensibilities!

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oceania update

Post: # 2576Post drib »

As always, finishing first on Fare Compare, and first among this set of luxury lines [Crystal, Oceania] insofar as the physical ship, including artwork, is concerned, are the O Ships, as follows:

Trip count 28, Dollar count 345, Sql count 385.

The breakdown of those 28 trips is:

Marina, 9 higher fares, and 2 lower fares.
Riviera, 3 higher fares, and 7 lower fares.

Does that add up? 9+2+3+7=21, so no ... there must have been a few changes on something other than a B1. Yes, there were 7 groups in the sql file without a B1, so that adds up now. Quality Control! So this post is good to go.

I was really expecting more fare changes than this, so check back again on January 4 ... late in the day, pacific time. But those fare decreases were pretty healthy, ranging from 10.6% to 18.8%, so be sure to check those out!

Final note: I just checked a future invoice, which is not surprisingly similar to a Regent invoice, and port fees are already included in their fares.

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crystal update

Post: # 2577Post drib »

Trip count 2, Dollar count 2, Sql count 477.

That's disappointing but not unexpected. I suspect we'll see more across-the-board changes on Saturday.

Since it appears that only Oceania had a lot of changes - Regent is still running, but no fare updates there so far - and I have the least number of subscribers on Oceania trips, I'm going to wait until Saturday or Sunday to send out emails.

I repeat - NO EMAILS UNTIL SATURDAY OR SUNDAY!

But be sure to check out the port fees on Crystal, which appear to have worked out well. And, as always, your bug reports are appreciated!

======

Oh crap - it did not pick up the Endeavor port fees because Endeavor does not have a comma before the last "and"! That's what drives me nuts about programmers who don't notice these things. Consistency is very important! Anyway, not a big deal to do a re-run just for Endeavor. Look for it in about an hour from this post time stamp.

======

This Endeavor itinerary is now in 500-land.

rollcall/rollcall.php?trip=7547

https://www.crystalcruises.com/voyage/t ... n220405-11

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regent update

Post: # 2578Post drib »

Trip count 0, Dollar count 0, Sql count 107.

I'm disappointed to report that this trip ...

https://www.rssc.com/cruises/NAV210616/summary

... still goes to "Icleand" instead of Iceland.

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Re: crystal update

Post: # 2581Post drib »

drib wrote: Wed Jan 01, 2020 10:19 amThis Endeavor itinerary is now in 500-land.

rollcall/rollcall.php?trip=7547

https://www.crystalcruises.com/voyage/t ... n220405-11

The prior itinerary is now also gone from the Crystal web site:

rollcall/rollcall.php?trip=7546

And both of the original Crystal links now go to the voyage finder, as opposed to an error page.

That's 27 days from Cape Town to Dakar. That would be a really weird charter. I wonder if something else is going on there?

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Re: crystal update

Post: # 2582Post drib »

drib wrote: Wed Jan 01, 2020 10:19 am ...

I repeat - NO EMAILS UNTIL SATURDAY OR SUNDAY!

...
I want to reemphasize that emails come from admin@bigdogfoto.com, so if you want to make sure you receive them, please add ...


... to your safe (not spam) list of your email client. In Gmail, this is how you do it:

1. Log in to your Gmail account.
2. Click the GEAR icon at the top right and then click SETTINGS.
3. Go to FILTERS AND BLOCKED ADDRESSES and click CREATE A NEW FILTER.
4. In the FROM section, enter admin@bigdogfoto.com .
5. Click CREATE FILTER.
6. Check NEVER SEND IT TO SPAM and ALSO APPLY FILTER TO MATCHING MESSAGES boxes.
7. Click CREATE FILTER again.

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Re: january 2020 updates

Post: # 2587Post drib »

Nothing happening for Oceania. I might spot-check that on Monday because maybe their IT guys are just sleeping late today.

I think Crystal will be light today - Crystal Light, where have I heard that before - but it's only about half-way through.

Regent has 94 trips, so far, out of 125 checked. It still has several hours to go to finish up. I suspect this is going to be the usual $100 or $200 across-the-board. But let's look at that again after the fat Seven Seas Lady has sung.

======

Crystal:
Trip count 2, Dollar count 2, Sql count 84.
So just a couple of fares changing from unavailable to available.

Regent:
Trip count 152, Dollar count 1905, Sql count 1941.
I'm afraid to look!

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regent fare decrease!

Post: # 2588Post drib »

It wasn't all bad news. For some reason this itinerary is 11.5% less (13.4% with jcalc) for an H cabin:

https://www.rssc.com/cruises/EXP200717/summary

That's Copenhagen to Reykjavik, Fjords of Iceland. You would think that the Navigator cruise that goes to "Icleand" would decrease rather than this one.

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Re: january 2020 updates

Post: # 2600Post drib »

One of my flounders advised me that I should update Crystal on Thursday.

I wasn't planning to until Monday - to give everyone's IT plenty of time to implement fare updates (and to correct their mistakes). I will check on Thursday, but I'm not going to send out emails until Monday ... because a lot of subscribers are looking at more than one cruise line.

I'd like to keep the fare history selector small. It would not be as useful if there were entries on it for 2020.01.04, 2020.01.09, and 2020.01.13. In fact, sometimes I back-date new fares to prevent a new entry - I just did that for SusieQft's - apparently a different person than SusiQ, although I think both are members on drib critic - I changed her Grand Voyages from 2021.01.06 to 2021.01.04.

What I could do, I suppose is change the fare history selector to just yyyy.mm. I wonder if anyone thinks that would be more useful.

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Re: january 2020 updates

Post: # 2602Post bodogbodog »

drib wrote: Tue Jan 07, 2020 11:11 am (and to correct their mistakes)
No - we like the mistakes - they are often where the bargains appear :cheers:
Email - bodogodog@gmail.com

Future Cruises - who knows if cruising ever resumes? But maybe they’ll include these ones
May 2022 - Silversea Silver Muse - Tokyo to Vancouver - 21 days - nope Japan was closed
Dec 2022 - RSSC Explorer - Singapore to Sydney
Feb 2023 - Silver Muse - Cairns to Singapore
September 2023 - RSSC Explorer - Vancouver to Tokyo
December 2023 - RSSC Explorer - Sydney to Auckland
Dec 2023 - Crystal Symphony - Auckland to Melbourne - 16 days - nope Crystal went belly up

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Re: january 2020 updates

Post: # 2603Post bodogbodog »

drib wrote: Tue Jan 07, 2020 11:11 am What I could do, I suppose is change the fare history selector to just yyyy.mm. I wonder if anyone thinks that would be more useful.
Fine with me - but who cares what I think anyway :laugh:
Email - bodogodog@gmail.com

Future Cruises - who knows if cruising ever resumes? But maybe they’ll include these ones
May 2022 - Silversea Silver Muse - Tokyo to Vancouver - 21 days - nope Japan was closed
Dec 2022 - RSSC Explorer - Singapore to Sydney
Feb 2023 - Silver Muse - Cairns to Singapore
September 2023 - RSSC Explorer - Vancouver to Tokyo
December 2023 - RSSC Explorer - Sydney to Auckland
Dec 2023 - Crystal Symphony - Auckland to Melbourne - 16 days - nope Crystal went belly up

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Re: january 2020 updates

Post: # 2604Post drib »

What I meant to write was I wonder if anyone besides Bodog thinks that would be more useful.

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Re: january 2020 updates

Post: # 2609Post drib »

I'm just going to post what I wrote on that other message board, and the reasons for that are twofold: 1) because it' a long post, and 2) because then I don't have to post it under This is the Title in the Tester Bistro.
drib wrote:So, there were very few fare changes today, and no new lower fares that I could see. There was one on Serenity, and it was either an increase or decrease depending on whether you compare it to the original fare or to the last fare. (That's what jcalc is all about!) There was also one like that on Symphony. And then there were four others on Symphony that were just higher fares.

I'll double check before Monday because it could be that they're just slow to put new fares out there.

Since I haven't taken up too much of your time with this post, I think I'll review Little Women here, which I saw in the theater this morning.

My first impression was that it was a lot like Sex in the City, but without the sex, and without the city, and without the Jimmy Choos. They were similar, though, in that I disliked them both immediately. However, I couldn't change the channel, and the Baked Bear next door did not open until after the movie anyway, so I gave it a second chance.

It's a well-made film. The scenery is beautiful, the fashions are just so - although somewhat gratuitous, like when the father returns home wearing a Union soldiers cap. (I swear, it still had a price tag on it, as if he was about to go on an Oceania cruise with the new dress code!) I'm not so sure Bob Odenkirk was cast well for this movie because all I could think about during his scenes was Better Call Saul! The rest of the cast was fine, even very good, even very, very good. (I always thought it would help if the actors wore numbers on their costumes, like ball players, and there were scorecards where I could look up the character.)

As for the story, while it wasn't my kind of movie, it was very effective, and by the end of it, my menstrual cycle was definitely in sync with all those women. I was weepy and cranky and sometimes bloated. (The sodas cups there are just too large!) And I know what you're thinking ... that I'm a guy and I don't have one of those, and I'm too old for that anyway. But you'd all be wrong because Little Women is a period piece.

In sum, it was a pretty good movie for its intended audience.

Sorry that I didn't have any good news about the fares.

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january 2020 updates - final results - in progress

Post: # 2627Post drib »

Oceania:

Trip count 0, Dollar count 0, Sql count 82.

Crystal:

Trip count 4, Dollar count 12, Sql count 58.
plus (I now have a new process to correct for Crystal pokeyness)
Trip count 0, Dollar count 0, Sql count 2.

Regent:

Trip count 0, Dollar count 0, Sql count 103.

Best Picture Nominees:

Ford v Ferrari
The Irishman *
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women *
Marriage Story *
1917 *
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood *
Parasite

I've only seen the ones with an asterisk ... I'll probably see a few more before February 9 when they announce all the losers ... so I'll wait until the February updates for my prediction.

Image

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Re: january 2020 updates

Post: # 2629Post bodogbodog »

Is Guy Ritchies “The Gentlemen” eligible for this years awards - it’s a great movie

Friends (well 2 actually) rave about JoJo Rabbit - but they’re kiwis so extremely biased and their views don’t count anyway
Email - bodogodog@gmail.com

Future Cruises - who knows if cruising ever resumes? But maybe they’ll include these ones
May 2022 - Silversea Silver Muse - Tokyo to Vancouver - 21 days - nope Japan was closed
Dec 2022 - RSSC Explorer - Singapore to Sydney
Feb 2023 - Silver Muse - Cairns to Singapore
September 2023 - RSSC Explorer - Vancouver to Tokyo
December 2023 - RSSC Explorer - Sydney to Auckland
Dec 2023 - Crystal Symphony - Auckland to Melbourne - 16 days - nope Crystal went belly up

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Re: january 2020 updates

Post: # 2631Post drib »

bodogbodog wrote: Mon Jan 13, 2020 3:36 pm Is Guy Ritchies “The Gentlemen” eligible for this years awards - it’s a great movie

Friends (well 2 actually) rave about JoJo Rabbit - but they’re kiwis so extremely biased and their views don’t count anyway
"The Gentlemen" is not scheduled for release in the US until January 24, so not eligible. See Rule Two, item 2d.

https://www.oscars.org/sites/oscars/fil ... _rules.pdf

I don't know if I'll go see it in a theater, but I like Guy Richie, more than Madonna ever did, going back to "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" - geez, it's been a long time since he made a good movie. This is one of my favorite lines from "Snatch," about Boris the Bullet Dodger:


Jojo also looks good, but I don't know that I need the big screen for that.

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1917

Post: # 2634Post drib »

This was a fantastic movie. I won't say too much about it because I don't want to spoil it for the legions of fans on drib critic. The degree of difficulty is so much greater for this movie that I would move it ahead of "The Irishman" on my patent pending pick for the Academy award.

The plot points were sometimes thin, but everything else about it was first class film-making.

I'm going to take the board down later this afternoon for a PHPBB3 update. Maybe I'll expand on this review more later.

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1917 continued

Post: # 2638Post drib »

You probably already know about the camera work, that it's just one smooth continuous shot. That's been done before, but not usually for this long. For another great example of this, watch Robert Altman's "The Player," the opening fifteen minutes or so.

You would think that in the middle of a war, it would be weird for me to describe the locations as beautiful, but they often were. Yes, there were a lot of dead burned-out bodies strewn about, but in terms of movie-making, those were fabulous too. There was one scene where one of the couriers shoots one of the enemy, and the repercussion from the gun blast knocks him against a stone wall where he falls unconscious. The screen goes dark for an uncomfortably long time, and even that was beautiful. But when he wakes up, it's now nighttime, and the town outside the building is ablaze, like it was the Gates of Hell. Fantastic!

The first half hour or so are mostly in the trenches, and those are beautiful! The British trenches are not nearly as well-constructed as the German trenches. Maybe the Germans spent too much time following some trench patterns they saw on DHGTV? And maybe that's why Germany lost the war. Darn it, I should have given a Spoiler Alert before that. Now I can't go back and modify it. Cats out of the bag.

Speaking of cats, what's worse, "Cats" the musical, "Cats" the movie version of the musical, or cats?

Back to 1917; it's hard to be diverted from the action, but if you listen for the score, I think you'll find it sometimes beautiful, and always effective. I think Thomas Newman deserves the Academy award for it.

Here's are some observations I made on how 1917 was like other movies you probably know. The movement in the Trenches reminded me of "Raiders of the Lost Ark." There were ROUS', in the Germany trenches, almost as big as "The Princess Bride." (In a French trench, they probably cook the ROUS' in a heavy garlicky sauce, and serve it with a nice Cab.)

Now this is going to sound crazy, but as I was following the couriers along, I was thinking that 1917 was a lot like "The Wizard of Oz." The couriers were following a yellow brick road, and occasionally they would stop and interact with some other character. One time, it was a German pilot who had just been shot down in a dog fight! Another time, it was a French girl with a baby in hiding. Another time, it was a Sikh Soldier. And so on, and so on. Then, at the end of the road, they realized there was no place like home. (No, not really that last one.)

The ending, I think was appropriate, but I don't want to discuss it.

Anyway, it's an excellent movie, well worth seeing on a big screen, with a good sound system, a box of buttered popcorn, and thinly sliced ROUS served on a soft croissant, or perhaps a brioche.

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