MisterFidgetpants

On Air Club way too small for the ship. SRO and people turning away.

Solarium crowded on sea days.

Just what I want to do, take a 20 month old on a shore excursion, the memories they will have......:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

There's lots of family friendly excursions. You don't have to book them at all. They aren't super adventurous but we enjoy them for what they are and it also give us as parents some great memories. To each their own, right?

The constant negativity of cruise critic is really taking the excitement of cruising down. Every topic seems to be filled with naysayers and unnecessary levels of bickering and negative energy. Isn't anyone else happy to cruise or get excited to have a cruise to look forward to?

I have to admit I was glad to read this. We go on Sky soon and I've kind of just been feeling like ughhh sort of wasted some vacation time and money let's just get it over with, but this puts some excitement back in it for me.

Honestly if I stopped reading CC I'd probably be ants in the pants to get on the ship[emoji1]

Somehow I stumbled upon this thread this evening and have followed along. It is most enjoyable so thanks for sharing !

This thread is about a toddler and I don't know any toddlers who play in the arcade or do specialty dining. Ice cream is free unless I am missing something. I guess the Ben and Jerry's is extra but how much can a toddler eat, they can barely ask for the ice cream. The excursions have nothing to do with the argument because no one is required to book their excursions through the ship and many people don't do any excursions at all.

Earlier I said that when we take the kids we book excursions through the ship but if it is just us we do not. The point was that with kids there's plenty of spending going on.

That works for me. I get my cruises comped by CAS.....I'd be saving money on the DSC with a flat 15%. However, that would never work because what if the cruise was 11 days or 14 days, etc. The ratio of the room difference from 7 days to 14 days is not double.

 

Harriet

We are straying too far here. I think the point of the person I replied to was that when DSC represents 10% of your cruise cost it's easy to look down on someone in a cheap cabin but who may be paying 30% of their cruise cost in DSC. So level the playing field and pick a flat percentage instead of a flat cost. Plenty of people here brag they tip out 500 to 1k per week in the Haven. I don't believe them but a flat percentage could sure save some of them some coin....

But this thread had to do with a 20 month old. What excursions, what arcade, I thought ice cream was free? Just asking.....

Most excursions have accommodations for children. RCI ships have ben and Jerry's ice cream shops. Believe me, take little kids on a cruise and you will discover all the things available for parents to buy kids. I end up spending way more onboard with the kids along with us than I do when we don't have them.

Look, here is the bottom line, everyone contributes to the cost to run the ship. RCI have amentities and experiences available for all ages and for a charge. Don't think of it as who subsidizes who but rather a collective of money to run the ship.

I could see what you're saying if the DSC was ONLY for the cabin steward. However, studio's, insides, etc. up to mini suites still have the use of the entire rest of the ship, restaurants, bars, behind the scene people, etc. etc. etc. As a matter of fact, those in studio's also have their own lounge which requires more service. The fact is you can't really use the price of the cabin since you have access the rest of the ship stuff too.

 

Harriet

It's just a metric to go by. What if they eliminated DSC and charged a flat 15% of the cruise fare?

By that logic, why does an IX cabin pay the same as an aft facing balcony? With IX at say 499 and the balcony at 1500 pp, the lower level cabins with less services, amenities and size are paying a far greater percentage of their fare in DSC.

Yes as a percentage the cheapest cabins pay the highest dsc. Can you imagine if it was a set percentage and not a dollar amount.

I think it is more than fair. The child uses up a space on the ship and the child will probably spend $0 on board. They would prefer the child not come and find another adult but they aren't going to say that but they aren't going to throw away the money they could have gotten from another passenger. They are already throwing away any chance at onboard spending. They could, in a sense, justify an INCREASED price for toddlers when you look at it this way. I would never sail with young children who won't get my money's worth.

Except for the money we spend on kids for excursions, ice cream, gift store junk, arcade and specialty dining that we wouldn't be spending without them. You have a very narrow viewpoint

the average adult is not throwing things on the floor or mushing fries into a paste on the table either.

 

senior menus also tend to be far smaller in both size and content

I've seen those type of kids too but I wouldn't call it average. Give the kid bashing a rest.

My mother asks for a senior menu for smaller portions and thus slightly lower prices.

That is one reason we take kids to specialty dining. Royal really has it priced right for kids and they get a smaller portion than adults. This is an area that RCI had an edge over NCL which just raised kids in restaurants to full price.

So if we are on a family cruise we eat together. We either go to MDR or specialty but we don't separate adults and kids. NCL is likely to get less of our money because of their policy making it overall expensive whereas Royal will get money from us because their policy makes specialty dining more affordable to families. But in the MDR if my kids order the small portions of junk food off the kids menu it still costs me the same as if they have 4 shrimp cocktails, soup, 2 entrees and a dessert like I have seen adults do.

Kids ARE expensive and we, as parents, spend plenty for them overall on board ships. No they don't get to enjoy all features and amentities. That's ok. Not everything is suitable for a kid and I get that adults want some kid free space. But the kid hate on a vacation forum for a family cruise line is irritating and troublesome.

When or if these cruise lines have trouble booking you will see kids sail free or kids 50% off because they know that overall families are cash cows and they need them onboard. A seasoned couple that gets CA discounts, free drinks, access to a concierge, and spends little to nothing onboard may cost mpre to have onboard to the company than a family with kids.

You're totally okay and understanding of 24 months but not 20? It's not really what they'll be eating but more so what they WON'T be spending.

3rd and 4th guest rates have nothing to do with age at all, as mentioned earlier in the thread. You can have 4 adults in a room all likely to spend as much as each other, makes no difference on the 3rd and 4th rate as opposed to 1st and 2nd. Royal simply doesn't have kids rates.

But, actually, when kids are involved we spend more through the ship. When it is just us and no kids we tend to be a bit more adventurous with our excursions and don't book through the ship. When kids are involved we book ship excursions because we know they are "safer" and we don't have to worry about scheduling and transportation as much. They DO offer a kids rate on most excursions which is a nice break as a parent, but same argument there, the kid is a head taking up a seat on a bus/train/ferry, etc.

I don't necessarily feel kids MUST or SHOULD be cheaper, but many companies in the hospitality industry do provide lower rates for kids. Royal is not amongst them. They could match the industry on policies but they don't. That is okay. That's their model. But it sure brings out the kid haters on the internet!

no kids here, thankyewverymuch.

 

diaper disposal ALONE is enough.....

 

so you don't think the extra work generated by cleaning up after ground in cracker crumbs is worth it? or the fact that the wait staff will provide toddler friendly items to eat, fawn all over them to the point of creepiness and generally go over and above to spoil them rotten is worth the cost?

 

then do not sail until they are old enough in your mind to warrant paying the price.

 

funny how when out in public( restaurants, etc) I seldom, if ever see parents clean up after their kids. But man do they demand that their kids eat free or gets a cheaper price because they are only kids.

 

 

Kids are expensive.

Calm down. All I said is my kids are not a destructive mess. Yes kids are a handful and a responsibility but not all kids make huge messes at every turn.

As for the rest of your unsolicited advice and opinions on parenting, I am not interested.

I have my TA doing a courtesy hold for one of the 4 night cruises in December but not sure I will keep it if it has a sea day and not KW. The price is much lower than other 4 night cruises so perhaps that reflects the loss of KW from an interest standpoint. Enchantment is actually closer to us so if I wanted the sea day I'd just go with that ship.

Has anyone found out the reasoning to have a sea day on select itineraries?

Nassau to Key West is 244 nautical miles

Google says Coco Cay to Key West is actually a bit shorter in distance.

Here is a better question: Does anyone think that whatever is covered by SDP today, July 2015, will be what is covered by SDP when the restaurants switch to a la carte in 2016? Are they still going to allow you to order any amount of apps/sides/desserts or will a limit be imposed and you are charged a la carte over the limit?

I think a lot of people are on the fence because this has not been clarified, so you if buy SDP now for 2016 and beyond you may not know what you are getting for your purchase.

every person on board generates a mess( and sorry but a toddler generates a helluva bigger mess than most adults, even the drunk ones).

Maybe yours, but not mine. Not all kids are destructive and messy.

Then don't go into the buffet for breakfast and lunch because they will ask questions about that and will make you pay for it. I wish NCL would pull a Royal Caribbean with banning people from the line for for having a history of not paying the DSC but its not going to happen any time soon, sadly. (before anyone goes off saying when has RCI done that - there are news articles regarding RCI banning people for complaining too much or saying the wrong things at the wrong place / time to staff)

False

If you do both, do Waverunners early in the day and Stingrays in the afternoon. Passing afternoon storms in the Bahamas could preclude a later in the day wave runner tour.

Well...it is called Ultimate, not Unlimited, so while you may still select any restaurant there is a chance the program will have certain groupings or combinations available and after a set amount anything else is a la carte.

Besides whatever is in play today means nothing about what the reality may be in 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, etc...

Vertical burger at a carving station is pretty low class IMO.

BTW I am not boasting about my riches because I am not financially rich and never mentioned anything about my personal finances. By giving my employees very generous benefits we all live comfortably. I don't have to pay an assistant warehouse guy $17 and I don't have to give part timers Healthcare. I am a proud American, invented something in America. I employee Americans and we manufacturer in America. I am not ashamed at all of our team accomplishments and I'm proud how we take care of our employees. If you hate on that, that is 100% your problem.

Don't let the Rose coloured glasses of others stop you from your principles, it's your right to to ask a valid question of what your vacation dollars will do for you.

That's right I am just asking what I thought was an easy question. With all recent increases can guests expect improved service or amentities. And for this I am attacked? Come on. It's a fair question. We should all be able to have a mature and civil discussion. Not sure why select few are so nasty but that's the nature of the Internet. Give the ignorant and hate filled a keyboard and anonymity and they run wild.

Have you never raised prices? How do you pay for the increases you give your employees?

 

I read your later posts and it sounds like your business is doing well. What would you do if you built a huge warehouse and then couldn't pay for it. Could you generate enough new business in a short period of time or would you have to get that money from existing customers? If you want profit, you manage revenues as well as costs. Maybe NCL has gone overboard with the things they are trying, but I know the other lines are watching. Anything that does stick will be copied. Looks a lot like the airlines.

When lending got tight in 08 and 09 we almost lost our shirts. Sold my car and got a 12 year old car with 200k. Sold our house which thankfully wasn't underwater and went much smaller. It was either that or close the company and go back to some beige office somewhere. My office is a beige box but it's my box. Anyway I digress. I'm not NCL. I don't face the same market forces they face.

I will tell you a story that somewhat relates to NCL raising prices which I believe is for revenue not for employee obligation. We had subcontracted a run of 20000 pieces of an item. It was prototyped and all parties signed off as to pricing, delivery, acceptable qa levels etc. The company then added 87 cents per piece on the first 5000 piece run. I refused it. I went back to the contract. They refused to fill the order and I was kind of stuck without product. So we had to seek remedy. By then they had produced another 5k pieces thinking they'd jam it down my throat. I won and paid the first 5k pieces at the contract price. When they wanted me to buy the 2nd 5k order I said nope. They said we have a contract. I said sue me. Go figure.

If I accepted vendor increases out of left and right I'd be sunk. Now if material costs vary a lot yes piece cost can but that's in the contract already and wasn't the case here. The manufacturer was just greedy and burned themselves. I switched manufacturers and never looked back.

Whatever NCL uses this new found money for is fine. But they haven't said it is for the crew even though they'd like to lead you to believe it is. It makes no sense giving someone two raises in half a year far exceeding any COLA increase. So I am asking questions. Now you're entitled to your own thoughts and opinions buy I'd really like answers and saying to just forget it is dismissive and doesn't help anything out, you know? Why should I not ask? Why shouldn't anyone ask?

Plus you're an Alabama fan. Not sure I can have you at my BBQ [emoji33] [emoji106]

No one here has ANY credible answer whatsoever so I am told I should not ask the question. Come on guys they raised the DSC four months ago for the first time in over 5 years. Fine. The crew have earned it. So why another increase so soon? Makes no sense