katjoeus

That is so nice!! I think we all need to stop thinking of these people as robots; while I'm sure the appreciate (and need!! They usually send a lot of their earnings home to their families!!) the extra cash, I'm equally sure that they appreciate being treated kindly and small gestures like thank-you notes

I think most of us actually kind of agree, we're just phrasing it differently :)

For me, it's more of a principle thing rather than trying to save that money or not being willing to tip. I have an issue with expected/enforced tips in general, like when you're getting a massage, which is already expensive, and then on top of that, you are EXPECTED to tip a HUGE amount - a lot of them actually put tipping charts in their rooms, which I find, frankly, really cheeky!

It brings me back to my point: why should the clients be made to feel responsible for assuring that the staff make a living wage? This should be the employer's responsibility, and if it means increasing the rates, then that's what they should do. But it is what it is and I am too cowardly to go to the service desk and ask them to remove them from my account, even though that's exactly what everyone should do to let the cruise lines know that we are NOT ok with this practice!!!

I also think automatically adding 18% to everything on board is rather steep, but I can kind of see why they are doing this since there are no direct payments and therefore no option to tip...

Again, the point is, why do they need to be tipped? Why can't they get paid a decent wage? I work as a vet tech, don't get paid a lot and certainly don't get tips....

Plus, one could still give an amount of one's choice at the end of the cruise and have it be divided up amongst staff. Without the cruise lines determining how much this should be AND charging it automatically!! If this is acceptable, what stops restaurants doing the same thing and automatically adding a percentage???

Lol, ok. Maybe you just don't like having it pointed out that the real problem here is that people are trying to nickel and dime their way to being able to pay for a vacation that they really can't afford. Sorry if that hit a nerve, but if you're starting to feel your wallet pinched because of $100 or $500, then maybe you should just stay home, save for another year, and then go on your cruise when you can afford all the expenses that go with it, instead of trying to make all the people on the ship serve you for free because you can't afford to pay for your trip.

 

 

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But they are not serving us for free, are they? They get a salary and maybe that should be higher - seems to me the cruise lines do a fair bit of exploitation and rely on their passengers to supplement their workers' income. I think that is wrong. Cruise lines should pay their staff a decent living wage and passengers should be able to tip according to their own preferences. If that makes rates go up, then so be it - everyone has the choice of whether to book a holiday or not.

Because a tip is a tip for excellent service. Automatic gratuities for unknown service before that service should be called a service charge. That's really what it is.

Donna, you completely nailed it in my opinion!!!

One Price/Fare:

I'd suggest the cruise lines implement a One Price/Fare (depending on which staterooms one selects) including all taxes, port charges, gratuities etc.

 

Hopefully this will put a long overdue and merciful end to this eternal gratuities debate.

I couldn't agree more with this!! I think it's ludicrous to force people to tip - at this point, it is NOT a gratuity if it is automatically charged! And it should NOT be the responsibility of the passengers to make sure that everyone working on the ship is paid adequately - the onus for that should be on the employer!!!

I do understand that these people work hard and I would certainly tip, but this imposed charge really ,really annoys me.

You can purchase for all remaining days on board as long as there are enough days left, but also keep in mind that the price on board may not be the same as the price online, so what's $313 in your cruise planner may actually be closer to $350 on board, assuming your cruise has the current 20% off promo. If I did my math right and you have the 20% discount online, and are on a 7 day cruise, you would have to wait until there were 4 days left to use the OBC. Total then would be $214. Again, I did make some assumptions with that math.

They don't offer the 20% discount for the non-alcoholic packages, unfortunately...

Lol. Is that a drink???

 

 

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It's called Limoncello and it's a lemon liqueur from Southern Italy :)

I was going to look into maybe getting rental cars in some of the ports on our upcoming cruise (AOS, 10-17 September 2016, Southern Caribbean) but now I just read about someone's recent cruise where the itinerary was changed at the last minute bc of weather issues...

Has anyone been in this situation, what happens to a rental car reservation if the itinerary is changed???

Good review....the first cruise usually gets most people hooked...we just love cruising....enjoy your second!

So very true!!!!

Oh my goodness, the lengths some people will go to!!! It's like the Prohibition LOL.

Can you imagine the embarrassment when you get caught doing this, though?????

was on Grandeur last month July 21st 10 day sailing....

 

CARRIED ON 2 (2 liter bottles) of Ginger Ale and a factory shrinked wrap 24 pack of (16 ounce) bottled waters with NO problems.

 

had all in a large grocery store tote bag placed on scanner belt after scanned agent inspected all bottles and caps and gently shook them and said "enjoy your cruise" :)

 

however did see several bottles of various mouthwashes, shampoos and even a few bottles of wine that were missing their foil cap wrappings that had been confiscated....:eek:

 

What?? Now you can't even bring shampoo and mouthwash on board?????

Anyone know how much Foster's is?

Awesome, thanks, I'll look into Avis straight away! I've read some nasty things about some of the other rental car companies...

Can we just close this topic now and concentrate on the cruise related things that might be of interest to all of us? How people raise/nourish their kids is really none of my concern (well, it is when they get to be brats and annoy everyone else, but that's a different story!)

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one and let it go!!!

OMG people. Letting a baby take a few sips (SIPS!) of a fruity drink is not going to ruin her for life. :rolleyes:

Nor is it going to bankrupt RC :p

Is renting a car there easy and uncomplicated? Are the cars in an ok state? Can you recommend a company? Thanks!!

Following. We'll be in St. Kitts on September 12 and I also don't want to book through RC; Ideally, we'd like some sightseeing and then some beach. Don't care about shopping - I guess it'll be a pain to fend off all the peddlers....

Have you considered renting a car. This is what we just did a few weeks ago and it gave us the opportunity and freedom to go to several beaches at our leisure.

Could you share any information on the car rental company you used? Did it all go smoothly, was checking in and out easy and was the car ok? We are starting to think about getting cars in a few ports as the tours seem overly expensive and doing the group thing isn't really my cup of tea :-)

I read about them in a ship review on a different website; the people had booked something through them and were happy.

I just posted a similar question to yours here on Cruisecritic but haven't received a lot of answers, just someone saying they are not the operators but middlemen. Which I kind of knew and which is beyond the point as it doesn't answer my question about experiences people have had with them!

Anyway, I'll try to do some more research and will try to follow your thread, too, in case there are more answers!

But if they offer interesting excursions at much better prices than RC, why wouldn't I go through them? That's why I wanted to hear from peoples' experiences with this website, to see if they are legit, reliable etc.

OK, thanks - I certainly don't want to eat at the Italian place three times :-) Wonder why they even offer this on my cruise??

But how would I know who the tour operator is?? And how to book with them?

jujubird - I totally get your point and while I personally am not a big fan of having children on board a cruise ship, you are obviously taking her as part of a family trip (btw, my issue is usually less with the kids and more with the totally ignorant parents who don't care how their kids behave!!). I'm assuming you and your husband are taking her into your cabin to sleep in a crib, so I don't understand how RC can justify charging full price for her!! I also personally don't think there's anything wrong with your mom letting her have a sip of a drink every now and then (however, you say you don't want to give her the fruit juices and lemonades provided for free because of sugar content - I hope you realize that those specialty drinks your mom will be getting a crammed full of sugar, too - probably even more so than the other stuff :-) ).

As for the bringing water on board, that is a different matter altogether in my eyes as you are not consuming some of RC's without paying. If you're bringing your own water, you have paid for it yourself and I feel very strongly that this shouldn't be any of RC's business!! The water prices on board are such an incredible rip-off in my opinion!! On my last cruise (a German ship), they had several really nice fresh water dispensers on each floor and they gave you a carafe so you could always get water for your cabin (and fill bottles to take off the ship). Now that was a great service, and also very environmentally friendly as it avoided wasting thousands and thousands of plastic bottles!!!

We are traveling on the Adventure in January. Does everyone in the cabin need to purchase a drink package or can 1 person purchase it only? Is sharing "allowed" ?

Did you really think sharing was allowed??