TheDivineMrsM

Ha, ha, when ya got big boobs, food doesn't fall into the lap. lol

We did just about the same thing as the OP and wouldn't call it "work" at all. I consider it editing our list of where the money should go.

I know if I drank all those drinks every day of the cruise, whether alcoholic or not, I would be using the bathroom alllll day long. That's not a vacation to me!

We took about 400 photos of our own and it cost nothing. Giving up the photo package was a no brainier. Hardly work to make that decision.

Why waste time on the internet when it's cheaper at home and I can use it all winter when I'm snowed in? We loved taking in all the tropical wonder and cruising splendor of our trip without being tethered to internet access.

We had a terrific time. Tons of food, no specialty dining required. Took our own two bottles of wine. The last evening, I said, we have to finish this wine, I'm not taking it home. We barely had enough time to drink it, we were busy doing so much fun stuff.

I will try the Tide stain stuff next. Others I know say it works.

I've tried Dawn dish detergent but seems ineffective for the most part. Makes me wonder what kind of dye they use in tomato/spaghetti sauce because that dull red/orange doesn't want to lift out.

I'll give the baby powder a try, too. Never heard of that.

The only 'nececessity' we forgot on our (first) cruise was my son's toothbrush. We purchased one at the ship's store for $2.99.

Overall, I didn't feel we overpacked. I never used the over the door shoe organizer that was suggested that I took along. Plennnty of bathroom storage and I take lots of hair care stuff and son has all kinds of aftershave and what not.

Never used duct tape that was suggested. Didn't use the small inflatable tube in the pool, because both pools were saltwater and floating was easily done.

I hated the ship's hair dryer, you had to keep your hand on the button the whole time for it to work and it's wasn't powerful. I don't have that much hair but it took forever to dry; will take my own dryer next time.

One thing that wasn't a necessity but I would take next time is a stain remover for any clothes that get a splatter of food. If that happens early in the cruise, it's nice to rinse and pre-treat so it has time to work on the stain until you wash it after the trip.

Btw, did I read that someone uses "Resolve Carpet Cleaner" in a spray bottle to pre-treat fabric stains? I am always looking for a good stain remover; the ones I've tried have mixed results.

Would another reason for ships not to be registered in the USA be to avoid taxes? Out bus driver in Nassau said everyone in the Bahamas, regardless of income, big or small, only pays 1% income tax. So are the cruise lines cashing in on this kind of tax base?

An additional question I have about RCI employees is in regards to the workers on Coco Cay island. Here's an island in the middle of the ocean. There are x number of workers on this island. So they live there so many months out of the year? What is their housing situation? How many days do they have ship passengers visit the island? Every day? Several times a week? Are they RCI employees or not? Because items purchased at the straw market are paid with cash, but we bought a locker and paid using our sea pass.

Anyway, what happens if there's a big hurricane approaching, or even a bad tropical storm? Do those on that island have a place to hunker down? Are these workers from many different countries as well, or are the mostly from the Bahamas? The island was gloriously beautiful, but very isolated. I just wondered how that employment situation worked.

JMG, thanks for the book recommendation. I was able to put a hold on it at my local library consortium. I looked the title up on Amazon and saw that the author has another book out as well called Ship For Brains, so if I like the first book I'll read the second afterwards. I've just become a little fascinated by this type of employment that I never knew existed.

Thanks for all the insight.

I really didn't expect someone to post exacting figures like, "A waiter makes $215.93 a week plus tips" or "housekeeping personnel make $301.44 per week". I guess what I wonder is if the money they make working on the cruise ship is comparable or better to work they might do in their own native country. And I also wonder if a percentage of them work on a cruise for the adventure, or if it isn't really considered an adventure at all.

Someone told me on the cruise I just went on that there were a total of 13 Americans working on that particular ship. I didn't get the number of total employees but I thought I read it's about 500, but anyone can correct me if they have better information.

We just got back from our very first cruise ever last Friday. It was such a wonderful experience and we made many great memories.

There was so much to take in, both on the ship and at the different ports. One thing I loved doing, though, was checking out all the different beach wraps and bathing suits the women wore. There was great variety, different fabrics, different colors, shapes and size, and they all looked fabulous.

I also enjoyed seeing the lovely clothes people wore on formal night. There was even one man in a kilt! We loved it.

Another thing that caught my eye were the different hairstyles, especially after we visited the islands, because many women, young girls and even a few guys were sporting braids of all shapes and sizes after that. I wish I'd had time to have a few put in my hair.

Thanks everyone! We just returned from our cruise last Friday. The snorkeling went great! It is something I wish I could do every single day of my life!

We just went with the excursion's snorkeling equipment and it worked out great. One thing I didn't realize is that the salt water in the ocean gives you great bouyancy, so it was very easy to swim. I had a waterproof cover for my camera and even got photos of us snorkeling and some of the fish.

The reason I ask is because I had no idea that we'd form this attachment to our wait staff in the MDR who gave us impeccable service and the housekeeper who tended to our room twice every day making it spotless.

What kind of pay do their employees get? What are the perks of their job, if any? I heard they sign a contract and have to renew every six months and get rehired depending on if they get satisfactory ratings. Please tell me what you know.

I was truly fascinated by the fact that RCI employs people from around the world. I had no idea!!!!! To repeat, it fascinated me! It wasn't something I'd ever thought of before. I loved it!!! I read every employee's name tag that walked past me to see what country they were from.

On the last evening at the farewell gathering, they announced that the ship held employees from 58 countries!!! They had many of the employees carry the flag of their country down the aisles of the auditorium and go up on stage. It was very moving!!!! And I am one who doesn't care to use exclamation points very often!

Altho on Grandeur of the Seas-RCI there was no life guard at the pool, they always had an employee standing right next to it alongside the hot tubs. The employee had a whistle and didn't hesitate to blow it a number of times at kids that were getting too rowdy. It was effective.

All children should be taught to have respect for their surroundings and not to abuse the facilities they're using. While it should be common sense, maybe it isn't to some parents.

Yeah, I don't see the point in taking kids along on a cruise if you also take a babysitter with you as well. It never in a million years occurred to me that some parents would leave the ship for excursions while allowing their children to remain on the ship. It's certainly nothing I would have ever been comfortable doing, even if a babysitter was watching them, and I never would have imposed upon grandparents to keep watch over them while I did my own thing.

Everyone has their own tolerance level I guess. I believe I heard a figure of 750 kids on the cruise we just took. Never phased me, but I do work at an elementary. In fact, dh and I swam in the solarium pool once or twice at the start of the cruise and while it was beautiful, we spent the last two days in the lido deck pool surrounded by craziness, activity and energy. It seemed that was where the action was and we preferred it. I had a brief conversation with another woman in that pool and she complained about the number of kids on the cruise. To each their own.

Thanks to all who've replied. Having never been on a cruise until last week, I wondered what I should do. To play it safe, I packed a few snacks for the three of us: one can of Pringles, a container of mixed nuts, a box of Cheese-Its, 12 granola bars and 6 single serving snack bags of mixed granola.

I ate half the box of cheese-its before the trip. lol.

I took a few granola bars on the excursion to the airboat ride in Florida and I think I ate one or two.

Dh maybe ate a handful of Pringles and nuts.

I also ate a few snack bags of granola on the bus trip home from Baltimore to Pittsburgh.

The thing is, I took simple, easily packed stuff that could be eaten at home if we didn't use it on the cruise, and most of it we did bring home. There was a TON of food at the Windjammer, Park Cafe and MDR. I totally loved all the different fruit and vegetable concoctions; that was like heaven to me. What a life that was for one whole week.

My husband easily sailed through our first cruise with three pair of shoes: sneakers, dress shoes and flip flops. I also took sneakers, dress shoes and flip flops and a pair of flat sandals. Wore them all at different times and neither of us had any issues at all with slippery-ness. Wore the flip flops at CocoCay and Nassau; no water shoes necessary.

We just had our first cruise, also on the Grandeur. I bought Bonine just in case, but we never needed it. We did have a room about in the middle of the ship so that may have helped.

We saw many people wearing a patch behind their ear and some who appeared to wear the wristbands that are supposed to help.

Okay, so we returned from the cruise Friday. I'd bought a pretty black sparkly lanyard for $3 but never once used it. DH kept his sail pass/room key card in his pocket and I was always with him, so I rarely needed mine. I never found time to get a hole punched in it. I saw lots and lots of cruisers wearing lanyards of all types, RCI ones, fancy ones and plain ones. No one looked out of place wearing them.

Thanks for all the responses and discussion on the matter.

Heavens. Amazing that people would have that kind of money to throw around and waste. Or to be so out of control with behavior that you have to be confined to your room, spending all that money on a cruise you wouldn't get to enjoy. It's sad, really.

We spent a chunk of money to take this cruise. I told dh and DS no petty bickering. We even practiced "vacation good manners" at home for weeks before the trip. Yes, I even had to listen to my own instructions and learn to let the little stuff slide. Made for a great vacation.

Yes, well I'm glad that RCI protects the cruise experience for the other passengers in this way. I'm sure the officers assigned to the post don't particularly like having to sit in the boring hall but at least they switched out often enough. I noticed all the security guards were from India, so maybe some company from that country has a contract with RCI? Anyway, the incident was surprising and just added some interest to the trip that we weren't expecting.

Well, we just returned from our very first cruise and I will share more of the wonderful experience soon. Here's what we are so curious about. On about the 6th day of the 8 day tour, suddenly a security guard was stationed in the hall right in front of the room across from us. The guard sat in a chair. A new guard would relieve the old one every one or two hours and continued for the rest of the trip, and one was still there as we were leaving to get off the ship.

All the guards were quite personable as we came and went out our door countless times during the day and night, but of course not a one was going to tell us why they were there. What do you think could possibly be the reason? We and some of the other passengers on that floor were very puzzled.

Has any,one else experienced that?

What can we expect to see out on the ocean this week with all the action in he sky?

Oh and that is 'meteor showers'

I've never been to Sam's Club.

Thanks, leaveitallbehind and all who responded. I was pretty sure that was how it worked but dh was contradicting me here at home...I might have to have him walk the plank! Lol. I will definitely try the free lobster but don't plan to spring for the meal at an extra cost.

Nice pics. I haven't ever cruised yet but soon will. How did you take so many pictures with no one in them? I always thought these kinds of photos would be filled with passengers on the ship and am surprised to see so many shots of the decor without random people in them.

We are going on Grandeur this week. In regards to the MDR menu, I understand lobster is extra on most nights. But then is it offered on the second formal night at no additional cost? I'm not sure I'm understanding that right. Or is it even offered at all?