BlerkOne

I believe the canceled pax can get a 200% FCC + a free cruise if they use any part of the FCC this year. I know Carnival over compensates, but in what universe is the Virgin policy sustainable?

In the good old days it was not uncommon for some to calculate to the penny how much to leave and you would always hear envelopes clinking.

Carnival isn't a leader when raising gratuities - they follow others. So blame the others. Carnival probably will never build tips into the cruise fare because, 1) It destroys incentive for the workers to go above and beyond since they already know what they will receive, and 2) It puts Carnival at a competitive disadvantage since the main competitors don't build tips in and too many cheap people select cruises based on price alone.

Yes. When people pull tips they are cheating the behind the scene people out of their compensation. It is always a team effort. The people the customer sees would fall on their face if not for the others helping them to shine.

They still aren't as bad as FeeStyle cruising. 🙃

You're really going to scream if they add VAT to that. Cheaper to stay home, drink yourself into oblivion, and watch the Travel Channel.

That makes more sense.

To most people, I think Free means Free. At least it should.

It's not brand new. It was around for at least part of last year. If you want nuts, Royal charges a gratuity on top of the service charge for room service. Celebrity adds a gratuity to the price you pay for specialty restaurants. NCL charges a gratuity on their "free" beverage packages. You already know the solution. Pay it or don't purchase.

Airlines, theme parks, etc., all have plausible deniability due to the relative short period of contact between customers compared to days or weeks at a time on a cruise ship. The pandemic still sets the schedule, including testing for cruise lines.

The cruise lines are free to follow the CDC recommendations or not. They can choose to follow the CDC’s COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships or opt out.

Maybe not as high as a full transit Panama Canal cruise. 🤥

That was not my intention. I even stated masks and other mitigating factors. I objected to some suggesting there is no value in testing.

Of course masks alone are not 100% effective and you want all the PPE you can get. If the early days, there were shortages of everything. Did you take all those precautions for show, or because they work - even if not 100%.

Go for a balcony if you can swing it.

You go for the scenery and the wildlife and not for a party. It is amazing. Do it before the glaciers disappear.

If you see Maitre d' Kostyantyn say hello to him. He is from Ukraine.

Sound-a-rama. and apparently you dunk everything in the spread.

It qualifies. "Only one onboard credit per shareholder-occupied stateroom." Are you staying in separate cabins?

Still isn't moving....

Depends on if you stay in separate rooms. Sometimes I would book a balcony and an inside if there was no single supplement. It was cheaper than booking both of us in the balcony. Doesn't make it right and perhaps contributed to the demise of no single supplement.

True. and Arizona. And I know some Texans moving to Florida. Not sure where they can go from there? 😕

I emailed a request at 9:59pm Monday night and received an email 4:23am Tuesday morning that the credit had been applied.

California has a population density of about 2.5 times that of Texas. But it does suck to be Montana or Wyoming. 🙂