onetimearoundtheworld

9 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

Absolutely not true at least from the people I talked to about it the last two weeks. When I found out it was $12.50 p.p. per day versus $18 on Celebrity I asked several people, bartenders, room stewards, waiters and assistant waiters, if they knew what the competition paid their help, and if they did, why did they stay with MSC? Every single one of them told me they knew what the competition paid their help and they were very competitive and somewhat happy there. That tells me that MSC, which is privately held pays a higher base rate,  happy there. They don't have stockholders to make happy and probably not an upper management team that would sell their mother to make themselves an extra dime.

I am always surprised that those questions get asked and the answers taken seriously. Even I just make stuff up and give random answers when other guests get too nosy or ask about stuff they clearly shouldn't have any interest in about me and my background or finances.

No one should expect the crew while employed by MSC, being on board of an MSC ship talking to a random stranger, where they can't be sure about their possible connections to the industry, tell them honestly about competition, working conditions, pay or any other contract details. Come on....

17 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

 

You can't walk to the terminal.

wrong

I'm not sure if they need all that stuff at all. Just recently came back from a port intense two week cruise on a jewel class ship that hasn't all of those new features anyway. And the probably around a dozen teens did what teenagers do, obviously they preferred the areas sparsely occupied by adults. They seemed to have a great time. Hopefully no cruise babies were made 😂

As long as they find some peers, a no brainer on ships that large, no worries. 

I never understand why people actually fill those out.

It is valuable data for the company. So what compensation do you actually get for spending your time aka as working helping them make better business decisions?

I’m always surprised that with guests from dozens of different countries booked through offices in different legislative systems people on this board always know exactly how a potential lawsuit around the world will end. 
 

Apart from that it is somehow embarrassing when people seriously believe that missing a port on a seven day drink and gamble run to the Caribbean where the highlight of the trip is getting skin cancer on a beach is comparable to missing three days in Iceland on a cruise marketed as an Iceland cruise. 🤷‍♂️ 

It would be interested to see how that ends up in court but I am pretty certain NCL will settle a refund with affected guests outside of that. Otherwise the question would not be of they could have gone to the ports, I don’t doubt it wasn’t possible, but at what times NCL decided what itinerary change and if it always was in the best guests interest in regard of replacement ports and tried dockings. 

1 hour ago, smile145 said:

I am sure it doesn’t matter to MSC that we won’t come back to purchase a cruise after our free cruise, but given the huge number of posts on this topic on various Facebook groups and roll calls for the upcoming Meraviglia US trips, of all MSC first timers, I think MSC will eventually realize they are making a mistake not offering the water on board either for free or purchase.

Depending on what kind of itineraries they offer they might not solely rely on american guests to fill their ships. Even though for europeans it will probably still be easier to fly to martinique or guadeloupe to join an MSC caribbean cruise.

But apart from that I am not sure if the percentage of people needing what other cruise lines offer as part of their special needs department is as hight as some make it seem here.

MSC has a lot to improve on, not only for the american market, but I don't believe their success will depend on the topic of this thread. 

1 hour ago, mnocket said:

Is this another example of a disconnect between MSC's practices and the N American's expectations?  I'd like to hear from some Europeans to see if they are as surprised and appalled  by this as we N American's are.  It's pretty unbelievable to me.

They gave the OP a solution for their problem. Which is the same for everyone else who needs something. If it is important bring it yourself.

When traveling you have always the choice to not bring stuff you need (extension cords, adapters, toiletries, ...) and most of the time you can get that for free from the hotel or cruise ship. But if they run out of it or don't have it at all it is your personal risk.

I guess if you ask for it after boarding you probably get it. But they won't take the liability and promise that in writing. Absolutely okay I think. 

There is a large array of styles and colours for athletic shoes. 

I am not seen in more than polo shirt, chinos and sneakers on a cruise evening so they better don't expect dress shoes or button down shirts for YC dinner. 

Not even sure why people always bring up people being blind. At least two blind people work at my company and my grandfather was blind and lived alone in his apartment until he died. None of them have/had a service dog. 

There are a lot of vacation/travel types I can't do even though I am not disabled and I am sure at some point I won't be able to cruise due to health reasons as well. That is life, not everything is fair and not everything someone else is able is possible for everyone. 

I am pretty sure if cruise lines start having more of these service animals or, another hot topic for me, scooter armadas other guests will go somewhere else. The cruise lines then will decide who to cater for. 

As losing weight is only about calories in vs calories out, if a nutrition plan has negative side effects on you use a different one. Everything else is not healthy and a huge warning sign of your body that something is not okay. 

Next cruise I will actually bring sweatpants to wear on the ship (northern europe cruise) and that includes dinner.

This defending of NCL is super ridiculous. They are a million dollar business, scheduling ships during the hurricane season year for year. Of course every customer should expect them to have a couple of alternative scenarios played through in advance, some of them including adding a day or two to a voyage and having to end it at a different disembarkation port.

I have no idea how anyone can seriously think its okay that NCL isn't prepared for that.

At other places people actually get banned for trolling

6 hours ago, rattanchair said:

To get back to intimidation factor. Each cruise line has a loyalty program with perks for frequent passengers. A few of these high level status passengers are 'pixilated' with their status while on board and often complain to staff management of their displeasure at some 'perceived' slight on the part of some lowly staff not catering fast enough to their drink order, etc. These 'status ' cruisers use intimidation rather than cash to get what they want while on board.

Non pinnacle as I don't cruise RCI as much but the reality is a different one. The staff is smart and of course they know that the guests who have a long and frequent cruise history will probably talk to their supervisors and senior officers more than a regular guest. I do and I don't hesitate to mention crew members by name and example who did something good but as well those who did what I consider sub standard for the company. And actually at a cruise line where you have had a couple of hundred nights with I don't think they should treat a guest just because they booked a suite better than me. That is in the common shared areas for parts that are not clearly sold as suite benefits. 

The same is true for every other aspect that makes the staff notice you. On my first MSC cruise I talked to one of the managers early on and he stopped chatting with me every day when he saw me sitting at bar as he was curious about my thoughts about their performance compared to the other big cruise lines. The bartenders and waitresses of course noticed and I had flawless and attentive service the whole trip. In none of the cases is intimidation involved. 

But the last quoted sentence is correct. I never use cash to get what I want I use my mouth and most of the time I don't even have to. 

Most people appreciate how much nicer and more upscale the new ships and refurbished ships look to enhance the ambience on board. And at the same time making hall ways look like ***** with tacky door decorations. If you like decorating stuff you don't own get a job in that field. 

10 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

 

I think most are the same these days, polo shirt, jeans (not ripped) and trainers would be the absolute minimum expected in the mdr, anything less like shorts or flip flops should not be allowed.

I would rather have someone in well fitting shorts who understands that a belt is an accessory and not a tool to keep up your bottom clothing instead of someone wearing a dated, ill-fitting suit with a tie not fitting his body type.

Drawing the line on the category of clothing instead of the put together package is pretty outdated. 

They write "suggested dress code" for a reason and it has a separate box below outlining what is not permitted. I follow the latter and politely decline the suggestion. I just look in the mirror when I leave my stateroom and when I am happy with what I see that is all I need. 

What do you actually talk about?

It would be nice to have an off the record talk about the industry, ships operations and topics like that but I fear it would be more the official corporate marketing handout.