cruziJenn

On 10/21/2018 at 2:34 PM, bury me at sea said:

 

I agree.  Though I am not opposed to the increase, I still want to know how the gratuities are divided among the staff.  

 

It concerns me when people say they don't feel they should pay the dining staff because they don't eat in the MDR.

 

It would also concern me to pay the full amount suggested for cabin stewards if ever once a day service became the standard.  

 

So of course it's important to be informed.

 

Happy sailing.

This is a very fine point and it is only to clear up misunderstanding if there is any....I am one that has addressed not TIPPING the MDR team when I don't eat there because why should I tip for service that I don't receive. Another part of that is that I thought I remembered seeing years ago that an older model for auto-grats was broken down 6 or 7 ways, not just 3, and that MDR had their own separate line apart from buffet line servers. In my opinion those are 2 different things, though it's hard to say about how many actual people would have to split whatever the percentage is of that line item, and so this is just a quibble....and let me also be clear again that this is a VERY SMALL POINT and furthermore to be even more clear, I/we have NEVER (not 'shouting' any of this, just stressing), never reduced our auto-grats for dining, we ALWAYS tip ABOVE the auto-grats unless service is really bad.

And idk, as far as tipping the maitre'd isn't that kind of a traditional thing in upscale restaurants? Idk, that's an actual question. I don't remember if we have ever done that on a cruise ship, or noticed that anyone else does that. Would it be good to do that or would it be insulting? Lol....

Last word for me though on this gratuities increase is that it doesn't really bother me at all, and maybe we should expect it when the overall economy and job markets are in upswing and the cruise lines may have to be more competitive to retain or get good people. Just thinking out loud. 

I always view and use this forum in a mobile browser and I've seen that many others do as well. This new design does not seem mobile friendly at all so far.

On 10/18/2018 at 11:35 AM, Bevv said:

The biggest thing that I/we may want to change on a cruise is the every day proportion that automatically goes to MDR. This is for 2 reasons. First is that on average we have dinner in MDR only 3 to 5 nights on a 7 day cruise. The other is that on too many cruises the disappointment that we may talk about the most is poor MDR service. Housekeeping potentially is another thing, but we have never had really bad housekeeping and we "need" that every day, no options there at all. We have always tipped our room stewards extra.

Grats should NOT be rolled into cruise fare for reasons like that and more.

How so? Admittedly, meeting people is not a priority for us on vacation but when I greet someone in an elevator, or sitting at an adjacent table they always speak back. This is exactly the same on any cruise I've ever taken.

.

Just call it 'atmosphere' if you want. Cruising with thousands of people including crew means that we are immersed in a crowded 'atmophere' of people that is affected by both how the crew are instructed to relate with passengers as well as the general expectations of passengers. Maybe I could even suggest group dynamics or something on that line....but both DH and I usually feel a little more comfy and outgoing with fellow passengers and crew on Carnival than on Royal.

I don't know about that. I've had more friendly people on Carnival say howdy to me than on any other cruise line. Especially sailings from Texas. :)

Compared to Royal, for sure as a whole Carnival cruisers are easier to greet and talk to. 4 cruises on Royal but twice as many on CCL and this is one of 3 or 4 reasons why.

The ship’s water is chlorinated. Nope. Chlorine speeds up the clogging of your arteries.

On the Oasis in July, I was dumping some water from the ice bucket and the chlorine smell hit me like a ton of bricks.

I took it to Guest Services and told them they were over chlorinating the water/ice. They called an officer down immediately. The people in GS could smell how strong it was.

He took the ice bucket. By that evening, I couldn’t smell ANY chlorine at all.

I am sensitive to the smell of chlorine. I can even smell it in their showers.

 

 

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Yeah that's the thing, you just don't know ahead of time how the water will taste or how chlorinated it will be. I may drink a little of the ship's water but mostly we either bring our own or buy onboard. It may not be cheap but it isn't nearly as costly as those "other beverages" that are so popular on cruise ships....lol...^_~

Go point on the deck below, thanks. Was concerned about the Limelight Lounge below my cabin and then the Dance Floor area in the Ocean Plaza for cabins above. Grand-kids above that section.

Hadn't thought of the clubs below....we were over the piano bar I think but that would never have the booming bass that the dance venues may have at peak hours. But the thing is I don't remember ever hearing much of that anywhere on the ship, even walking past, though I can't say that I was ever around (or over) the club areas late at night. But DH (a smoker, loves deck 5) has never mentioned it either and he gets around a lot all during waking hours. So I'm just wondering if they have the clubs extremely well soundproofed...?

But generally we now love the aft cabins on most ships that we've tried them on, especially the Dream class ships but on Oasis as well. They've always been really quiet and less busy than other areas that we've had cabins on. I'm sure that you'll be happy with your location.

We are on desk 6 with other family members near by. It was all we could get. I see you had desk 6 as well. How was the sound from desk 5 below? We have aft 6444.

You should be fine, 6444 is located behind where the wide part of deck 5 narrows so your view will be straight down at the water, not above any crowd activities that may be going on. Last cruise on Magic (same arrangement) we were in the same location but on starboard side where the Sea Day brunches are, but even on sea days it was not noisy for us on our balcony. You should be even better being on the port side.

If you prop open the wood door to the fridge slightly. It will allow air flow and you fridge will run more efficiently.

 

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Yeah that really does help. Just adding my own experiences FWIW.

As for best deck for balcony cabins, we love being closer to the water (have had cabins hi and lo) and for water view the aft area cabins (on either side not actual aft) are best, where deck 5 narrows down and you can see the water right below...and also very quiet there, less traffic and so on. It's a long walk to the forward MDR (for anytime dining) but we don't mind that at all. Deck 4 is a nice scenic route for getting there if you want to avoid the casino on deck 5.

Breeze is our #1 fave of all Carnival and Royal ships. Decor is best of all, colorfully understated and unique lido seating. Food is as good as any and better than most. There is a walking/jogging track on deck 12? but deck 5 is our favorite for walking (except on really windy days or at speed) as well as for lounging/sitting/relaxing. The Oasis class covered track is better on windy or bad weather days but I/we love that sunny open space on Breeze and it is seldom crowded. Crew and congenial service are also among the best. Love the Red Frog Pub and piano bar, both on deck 5 again, near the taste bar and coffee/desserts counter....so convenient and all of that is in between 2 elevator areas. Carnival balcony rooms are mostly bigger than Royal but balconies themselves are about the same? And once we got a deluxe OV cabin and it was almost "huge" and with 2 bathrooms, one with a mini-tub. That was on Dream but Breeze is Dream class. Deck 11 aft area, overlooks the aft pool, is also a nice place to lounge and chill, and it's right above pizza, bar, ice cream and so on. So many conveniences plus great services and the unbusy but invigorating decor....no wonder it's our favorite ship of all :)

Not only have we taken food from the buffet to enjoy on our balcony, we've taken food up to Serenity to enjoy while sunning, we've taken food to whatever venue is hosting a trivia game, we've taken food to the main show lounge, etc. I put what I want on my plate, cover it with another plate, and go where I want to go.

 

Enjoy.

And sometimes for a dive-in movie.

Seems that the biggest risk of getting policed for taking food out of the lido buffet or anywhere is here on the CC boards :rolleyes:

Just fyi, on our last cruise we canceled at the GS desk about 30 minutes before the excursion start time because DH wasn't feeling well. Carnival excursion of course. It was no problem at all and they refunded it right away to our OBC account.

Ginger...doesn't have to be candy, you can get it in several forms. Canada Dry ginger ale has real ginger (not all of them do). DH takes an herbal supplement. And yes Amazon is a good source for lots of variations. Dr's recommendation is to start taking it in several days before cruising.

I just want to let you know that I read your ports of call with great interest, especially that you found nice ways to enjoy them. Just to mention DH is a european history buff and he's made me one as well :) but I have dreamed for a long time about those seaside restaurants and even walking some of those narrow streets and maybe even finding a little jewel of a street cafe or shop along the way. And DH has done some of that himself. We have been trying to decide between a Med cruise or a driving tour of the Adriatic coast from Venice to Greece or maybe along the western coastline, the riverias. And so your descriptions of Nice and all of them brought me right around to daydreaming about that again :) so thank YOU for every little detail that you wrote about your port excursions!

Pipo, that may be the case for people without issues but others need to have padding in some areas. I have a firm mattress but it's not hard. It's a posturepedic and has good support but also the right amount of padding for a comfortable sleep.

Yes. Both of us have back issues and one thing is that there can be a big diff between firm and hard. Concrete is hard. Our mattress at home is firm and good quality but we added a 2" pad a couple of years ago. That little extra softness on top of a good mattress makes a lot of difference.

@ khm1, thank you so much for the link! Getting nearly paranoid about the 'new' RC mattresses from reading this thread.

Following! Yes very interested in food including the pub, all of the snack places and so on.

Do you think a double mattress pad will work to provide softness like an egg crate? My last cruise on celebrity they put a duvet on top of my mattress pad, better but not the same as an egg crate.

When you have a bad back and a hard mattress aggravates it, no I have not found any mattress pads that can help at all.

Hey Jenn

 

 

Not to be a downer here, and I understand you seem to know what you are doing, but that type of thinking leads to Melanoma and early death. If you think by sitting in the shade you won't get sunburn or have the sun effect your skin, you are wrong. Take it from some one who has had 2 cases of melanoma, both caught early. I had grown up in the sun, and am paying for it now. It can, and will effect you, if not now, then later in life.

I know it may be a bother, but PLEASE, use that sunscreen anytime you are out, even in the shade or on non sunny days. Not criticizing, just trying to warn you of something I've already been thru.

 

 

Cheers

Len

Hi Len,

I totally understand why you responded the way you did to my comment and I'm really sorry to hear about your experiences with melanoma, but happy to hear that it was caught early. I used to know a beautiful 41-yo woman that was diagnosed as terminal. Very sad. I'm very familiar with the risks especially with reflected UV and so on, always very careful, always use a good spf on cruises and so on....and am actually quite pale compared to a lot of cruisers and beach goers. I truly appreciate your cautions very much and for anyone that reads your post. I was only wanting to mention the shade trees on the GT port beach as a way to stay a little cooler on blistering hot days.

Cheers and happy cruising :)

Does anyone know if Margaritaville takes credit cards?

Just about everyone at the port takes cc's I think, but we usually go with cash....much safer all around at cruise ports. Just fyi, DH was bitten twice by cc fraud after cruises and so now we both allow paranoia to rule most of our cruise spending :)

Also fyi the port area generally does NOT feel as crowded or closed in as the pic that Moonarino posted up there may suggest, except at the bar/restaurant area....

And a lot of the free lounge chairs are in the tree shaded area, for anyone that prefers or needs shade over soaking up a tan. We never worry about taking sunscreen with us on GT unless we're in a walking mood.

Agree with other posters on two things....

Advertise as much as you can that it's a honeymoon cruise (congrats!!) because you just never know how the perks will come, maybe even a little something from Guest Services.

I would defo add Italian just for a different/extra experience from the Steakhouse. Depends on the ship how good an Italian dinner may be but so does the steakhouse.

One problem usually with GT is that ships usually leave the port very early. For that reason we never do excursions there so no help on that, sorry.

But GT is probably our favorite port for just chilling around the port area. Great beach, great pool area, Margaritaville and the bar/restaurant are decent. And every now and then the pop-up entertainment is off the chain lol....dance contests and whatever.... Beach area has nice shade trees and free lounge chairs, tho some are rented out by local vendors....showers for rinsing off....bathroom facilitiess are usually clean....and no sales harping like you get slammed with at a lot of ports. It can be a nice (and cheap) 2 to 4 hours just hanging out.

Add....just a warning tho, when larger ships or multiple ships dock at GT it can get really crowded.

That’s funny!!

What isn’t funny is that Carnival will continue to sail these outdated and, in some cases, ragged ships as long as the short cruise market is willing to pay their hard earned cash for them. The clientele is skewed towards the younger party crowd who isn’t very particular about the experience as long as the ship doesn’t run out of alcohol

 

 

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But Royal doesn't? Majesty, Rhapsody, Vision, Voyager are all as old as or older than Triumph. Norwegian Sky and Spirit are the same age. Holland America has 3 or 4 ships that are older and one that is more than 10 years older than Triump. No thought before posting except to just slam Carnival?

We sailed Carnival Destiny before it became the Sunshine and the only reason that we noticed its age was because we had an aft balcony and saw thick rust on some of the beams below us. But those beams were VERY thick. The ship and the cruise were very enjoyable for us, we could tell that the ship was old but mostly it was just a different 'atmosphere' than Breeze, Magic, Conquest and others. Nothing broke during our cruise and the food, service and everything were good or better

OP I do hope you enjoy your Triumph cruise and I'm confident that you will.

It's possible to hate a cruise, but it's a lot easier to enjoy it.

Truth!!! :p You or someone should post this in every 'complaint' thread lol.

NOLA was okay the one time that we sailed from there, no issues at all. A little confusing driving in but we made it. We used cruise terminal parking (the only time ever) and it was great unloading luggage, taking a short elevator ride and then we were RIGHT THERE, stepped right into the baggage check queue. Easiest in and out ever.

Thank you all, I did so.e digging on insuremytrip for the preexisting coverage and came up with another question!

 

Has anyone found a policy y

That covers snorkeling? The top 3 policies suggested, including Nationwide's two, dont cover water activities except for 'recreational swimming'.

RoamRight is one that has an upgrade option for 'hazardous sports' including water sports. I don't know how good they are about claims but they're one of the higher rated companies. I believe that on one or more of the agent sites you can search for specific lines of coverage like sports.