jonthomas

Yup...first time I've seen that by the cabins, have only seen it by the pool area before.

Just off a cruise. Last night on our 6th deck, a guy was standing handing out bills to any staff passing by, I would have collected if I had any kind of uniform. Yes absolutely insane, crazies are everywhere, I took a photo, but of course won't post it and I'm sure some of you think that is perfectly OK to do. An upside-down world in so many ways.

Yes Astoria WAS lovely but not now. SF is OK from a tour bus, that takes you to select areas for tourists to see but no way can you enjoy it on your own as we like to do most ports. We are enjoying the Regatta very much, yes it doesn't impress like the Vista but the food is very good, clientelle is congenial, only 2 very bored small children.

last year when we did alaska we included the LA to LA portion... San Francisco was not the city we remembered just a few years ago....yes there were some problem areas as with all large cities but not like now... would not get off the ship there again... so glad we had seen much of it on our previous stops... Astoria was another big disappointment...we had been there 5 years ago...beautiful..walked for miles along the Columbia river, walked in town... last year, we were shocked at the change... will not get off the ship this time.. very sad....

yes....we do too, after the one time we didnt and our luggage was thrown somewhere in the hull of the ship...it took reception staff overnight to find it... these guys at the pier are vicious.... we travel very light and often just take on the luggage ourselves, that too gets dirty looks from the pier guys....

it does affect it.... staff around the pool were buzzing around a couple of people who were handing out tips for chairs, towels, etc.... open for all to see...unless you have vision issues... as I have said many times, the included gratuities now are meaningless, they are included for good service or not, staff are now trained to expect extra, not hard to figure that out, it is human nature...it is not O that has trained them for this expectation, it is the cruising public. what is really difficult is that no matter how much extra you now give, that is also not enough...

yes the stateroom attendants are very brief, have a lot to do, stick to what you need...we usually need nothing, not even ice...there is not much for them to do in our cabin... but in the terrace cafe, some can be chatty, we experienced that, yes we keep it to a minimum...not just chatty but have seen staff spend a lot of time with cruisers, overhearing all kinds of personal info..tables are close not hard to hear...

have never had a problem getting reservations, as long as you are willing to share... even then when we told the maitre d of the number of times we have had table mates that were not compatible to us, we were given a private table... if I see the extra tipping as described by a poster here, I will report it and ask for policy....

yup, that is the reason for the expectations.... can always use ignore...

my issue is that increasingly we have been seeing that staff are not satisfied with the included gratuity... because many tip over and above, it has become expected and nothing is enough... something else that we have not experienced before is stories told by staff of how difficult their lives are at home...how little O pays them and the expenses...I have no doubt that some have difficult lives, but have not experienced how freely they are sharing that... intially we were stunned at the stories...but then they became too similiar....the female staff all have the same story....single mothers with children and nowhere to live....overly friendly with stories etc.... also stories from passengers, how they take their attendants to the store, shopping, etc...no wonder they are no longer satisfied with included grats.... one woman in the penthouse that we had dinner with, told us how she supports her butlers family back home in India... has anyone else experienced this?

we are on the ship on saturday, alaska...but with the later date for releases will only be able to get an FCC or two.... too bad it is postponed..many lines have had their itins out for a while...

Thank you for this.

All kinds of tipping over and above is going on, sorry this is off topic. All staff now expect it. It's people like this that have created this expectation. The included gratuities now mean nothing.

I second that... Got an email from an O rep, new itins not till end of Oct, Jan is right.

Just need to find others of like minds, have no extended family and no fiends or acquaintances that would favour that kind of travel.

It's OK to be wrong, it's admitting it that makes you right. In any case it was good to shake us up a bit...lol

Some of us have reached a point when bargains on Celebrity no longer matter. Would rather travel less.

Yes Os excursions are very expensive.

I am now looking at loyalty programs of other lines, without getting into specifics, Os loyalty is definitely not the best at sea. I stand corrected for all those times that I said it was. Now more than ever, O needs to update and enhance it, if it wants to keep its loyalists and attract others. I will be on an O ship next week and will make it known to future cruise booking rep that there is a concern and to relay it to Miami. I know, many if you will say, I'm wasting my time, all that just falls on deaf ears. I know, I know....after all who am I...

Hope all the rest will be better...

Of course, I will want to know how you compare it to O.

Very interesting to read. Just Pre covid, I also organized many adventures. Reminds me of Switzerland, after a cruise, 5 days, trains, boats, busses, and mountain rails, all kinds of lodging...very fun adventure, without a hitch, but not too much thanks from the participants. Huge amount of research and work for me. Hope your group was more grateful.

Have not seen this anywhere. At this point, just misinformation. Something we see a lot of on all fronts.

Amazing, just amazing!

Jan you are SO right....