BlerkOne

Have you been on the ship?

Gamblers love to assert this without any numbers to support. Yet some admit to gambling almost nothing. and sometimes gamblers win some. They certainly are among the biggest complainers including Carnival cutting back offers. Post covid, giving away cabins was a way to get occupancy up and cash flow going, but with cruise lines running at over 100% occupancy, there simply isn't a need.

Doah - I guess it was late - it was 2 hours in the other direction. I think.

As they should. And service will be even faster as the staff want to finish up. But I try not to push it that much. My last cruise was from a port with a 2 hour time difference, so eating "late" wasn't really that late, although we do prefer to eat later than many. And we "fall" back tonight an hour.

How rude and insulting. This is one of the reasons I avoid RCL at all costs. I was on the ship for 15 days and never noticed anything is desperate need of cleaning and repairs.

More like 8:30. Don't they stop seating at 9? They don't run out of food.

Petty theft is likely all they could document.

Marketing 101. They still have your $429 plus gratuities on a cabin that may have gone unsold. Carnival likes to give deals to gamblers, other cruise lines spread them out.

I don't bother with reservations and just walk right in - usually about 30 minutes before they close.

Did Royal just increase gratuities? Life goes on. Nobody is forced to cruise much less eat in specialty restaurants. Perhaps if Carnival stopped subsidizing gamblers, the rest of us wouldn't have to share the burden.

or perhaps shifted their target market to different players. Promotions are marketing gimmicks and only exist as long as desired results are achieved. They are nothing earned or owed.

That would indicate Carnival doesn't need to offer better to get the desired ROI. I do find the Carnival casinos to be more entertaining and less of a money grab compared to Celebrity, although I do like the non-smoking aspect. Celebrity gave me a free cruise before I have ever set foot on a Celebrity ship. It might be the only way I would go back.

But Venezia does offer a retractable roof over one pool allowing it to be enjoyed in all weather.

It just means I will ignore until forced to comply via some other means instead of a CVP. The current policy should work through Feb for cruises through June. +/-

I guess it is good I don't use a CVP. I'm not sure they can change the terms of the existing policy as easily as they can change the terms of the new policy.

It is published statement by a publicly trade corporation. They are absolutely not treated the same as other sources. Two examples- if a cruise is cancelled or someone cancels a cruise the appropriate funds have to be refunded from the appropriate buckets. If someone upgrades from one package to another, the difference still has to be properly accounted for. The employees will be paid their salary whether or not a cruise occurs. Monies such as cruise deposits, crew appreciation, etc are liabilities until the cruise occurs. The actual dollars can all be in the same account but not the same accounting entry.

Gratuities are not wages but are part of total compensation. Princess is transparent with their policy, which is more than I can say for any other cruise line. https://www.princess.com/html/global/disclaimers/crew-appreciation/

Other than GAAP and a few other reasons requiring proper accounting of financial matters. If Princess were to use the funds to pay salaries then Princess would be required to declare the gratuities as income to Princess which they are not. In addition, you should assume that the gratuities are kept in a separate account from general revenue. Princess isn't a Mom and Pop business where anything goes.

Throughout the year could be monthly. or even weekly. AFAIK, Princess is by far the most transparent, though. There are no facts to indicate Princess pays salaries from auto grats.

That's why the whole thing is laughable. One way or another the customer pays. The cruise line is a business and isn't going to subsidize the customer. Trying to blame America or the cruise line only reflects poorly on the complainer

As an observation, the water bottle filling station(s) are sometimes down for maintenance. You might still need a backup if drinking tap water is not an option for you.

Including American. Paying separate gratuities has always been part of mass market cruising. If you want gratuities baked into the price you pay, opt for Princess Plus or above . Problem solved.

Whatever they do, the crew deserves it.

Port and Debarkation stuff Misc.pdf

PitterPatters from the cruise Pitterpatters.pdf