Wiltonian

Having sailed Celebrity a few times I have never seen any drinks from a carton. The premium package includes the branded spirits.

We don’t drink more with a package, it’s just useful to pay upfront.

Ditto; in five Celebrity cruises, I've never seen "cartonised" cocktails.

Stuart

Cunard do this, it is called "The Grills" (Princess and Queens) and "Britannia Club".

Passengers choose which grade (Britannia, Britannia Club, Princess, Queens) when making their booking.

This must be one of the most unhelpful comments for a while. Are you really suggesting that a sensible response to a person's desire for AnyTime Dining is that they should pay twice, three times or more for their cruise to get that option? Really?

Some people like fixed; others like AnyTime, and many cruise lines offer a choice. The world would not end if Cunard did likewise.

Stuart

Cunard Roll Calls are certainly the palest shadow of the Celebrity ones. We're on the QE in October, and one cruiser has arranged a series of private tours which we're joining. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2539983

But on Celebrity last year, there were so many private tours being arranged that someone produced a multi-page Word document to record who was going with whom and where!

Stuart

Have now done 4 Med cruises in October in the last 5 years. Generally warm, gentle breezes. Very pleasant and not too hot.

Occasional squally days, but we've had little rain. Of course, past experience is not guarantee of future performance . . . .

It's actually quoting The Sun - that other bastion of balanced and nuanced reporting. One of the reporters asked a mate what he thought: "An insider toldThe Sun: 'It chills me to the bone that so much gets through. 'If just one terrorist gets on a cruise liner with a bomb or gun there is nothing you could do to stop them from killing everyone'."

Only reporter's mates come up with such cliches as "chills me to the bone".

...and your point is?

That comparing Cunard and hotel prices is unfair on the latter, since they pay duty and VAT on the alcohol they sell, which Cunard don't.

Ah, but while the VAT is paid by the Customer the hotel/restaurant reclaims the VAT element they paid to their supplier: the net difference being forwarded to HMRC.

The mechanics of how VAT is paid along the supply chain does not alter the fact that along that chain, a net total of £4 VAT will be paid to HMRC on a bottle which retails at £20; a cost which Cunard doesn't have to bear.

We held my 65th in a 4star hotel in the South of England last year and the prices were roughly the same as Cunard.The difference is we don't drink in a 4star hotel every night for a fortnight.

The other difference is that the hotel was paying very high duty and VAT on all the alcohol it sold.

e.g around 50p duty and 20% VAT on a pint of beer; £2.16 + 20% VAT on a bottle of wine.

Cunard, and all the other cruise lines, don't do that.

We're not wine connoisseurs, but like a glass or two with a meal. We're going to take a few bottles from our cellar (which looks like a cupboard in the kitchen) and pay the $20 corkage on the bottles we take to the dining room. Should save a few £/$! And going down one deck from our cabin to the Promenade Deck with a glass should be nice on warm evenings.

Do I really want to add more length to a thread on tipping? Against my better judgment, I have to say that having never previously cancelled auto-tipping, fearing it would impact on the staff, the evidence seems to be that on P&O this is not the case. While there is no incontravertible evidence that cancelling auto-tips does not affect staff income, the evidence for that argument is far stronger that for the reverse. In other words, can someone offer proof that if I cancel auto-tips when I sail on P&O next year, staff on that ship WILL receive less income?

I have more than enough internet time - 0.

340+ days a year I live "on the Internet" with email, desktop, laptop, iPads, phone. I think it does me good to chill out for a cruise.

Sure, I sometimes need access, and port wifi and/or (in Europe) mobile roaming provides.

I know some people _have_ to have permanent fast internet, but it's not as many people as those who think they do! ;-)

God help us if we end up with cruise ships full of people walking around glued to their phones - just like at home!

Stuart

Those of us behind paying by card had no problems.

So you've never arrived at a checkout to find that your wallet with your cards in was still at home? I have. ;-)

Stuart

I think she should have been sent to the brig and then disembarked at the next port!!!

And what’s wrong with walking the plank - or keel-hauling? ;)

Stuart

It would appear that most of your questions have been answered, but here is one more suggestion. If you take a Cunard sponsored tour the ship will not leave with out you. If you go on your own and have a problem and cannot get back before they sail, they will sail without you.

And if you book privately with any established local tour company, they will ensure that you don't miss the ship. It would sink their company for that to happen, so it doesn't. All the cruise lines try to scare people into paying a premium for this alleged unique selling point, which is effectively illusory.

Stuart

Did Norway a couple of years ago. Non-cruise line excursions pre-booked and paid for. Did not spend a penny (or Krone) in Norway!

Stuart

This made me laugh ---- thought the same myself but didn't dare say it ;-)

So did scores of other CC folk! Although it's much more fun when voluntary rather than compulsory.

We like Tuscan and love Murano. A shame that Murano is being taken off some ships. Spend your OBC - it'll be worth it!

The fundamental issue is not average earnings in the Philippines, but the attitude to wages and tips inherent in the culture which dominates the cruise industry, the USA. It's commonplace in the US for waiters to receive perhaps $4 an hour, on the basis that tips will make the total into a reasonable wage. That's reflected in US lines like Celebrity, which add on around $15 a day for gratuities. Their whole remuneration model works on that basis.

Incidentally, given the relative poverty in many developing countries, taking average earnings as a basis for discussion is highly questionable.

(Quote) The big question for me then is why, if everyone paid the auto tip, the amount that P&O collect from the 18 cabins they service equates to £2650pm (14x.35x18x30). I would like to know what P&O are doing with the extra £2150 they are collecting for every steward and the extra they also collect from the waiters tips.(Quote)

 

Probably those two new ships arriving in the next couple of years.

How many stewards on a typical ship? How many staff? I suspect the ratio is at the very least 10 other staff for every room steward. Spread the gratuities across the lot, and you end up with very different figures.

Sorry Blu & Aqua Class didn’t meet your expectations.

 

To expect any dining room to have seating for all assigned to eat there at the same time is a bit unrealistic. If that were the case the dining rooms would be twice as large, reducing the other public venues and the number of cabins. Then the cost of the cruise would go up significantly.

Precisely! A quite unrealistic expectation. If you want the absolute certainty of a table at any time, try the Grills on the Cunards (or Britannia Club), but you'll pay for the privilege.

Stuart

Now £2979, including flights!

OTOH, in the cheap Midlands, I'd expect to pay no more than £3 for a pint of bitter in a local pub; £2.40-£2.60 would be more usual. And wine in a restaurant starting under £20.

Stuart

Given there's no other way of paying on board, how else could it be done?

I think you have highlighted a difference in American vs British grammatical norms. I _think_ that most Brits would write, "Cunard are annoying people with their new dress terminology", while I think that most Americans would write, "Cunard is . . . .". There are always exceptions, of course, and cross-Atlantic influences in both directions.

The issues pre-dated 9/11 by a couple of decades at least; 9/11 just made them worse.

Stuart