DCThunder

Well, it's not like Jamaica has suddenly become a crime hot spot in the past 10 years.

I certainly take your point.

Actually, that's not entirely true, at least according to the US IRS. However, since most crew aren't US citizens, they may not be paying US taxes. Tip income is taxable and must be reported | Internal Revenue Service (irs.gov)

I was just reading a news story about an American woman who was killed in a drug deal gone bad in Tulum, Mexico. She wasn't on a cruise, and I'm sure no one on a HAL cruise would be looking for illicit drugs in Mexico or Jamaica, but all it takes is being in the wrong place at the wrong time for bad s**t to happen.

What is the current "cause" that HAL is doing the "walkathons" for? Is it still Ukraine relief as it was last spring (March 2023) or have they moved on to another one?

What sort of entertainment has been presented on the World Stage? Boarding Zaandam on Saturday for the Amazon cruise and am interested in what will/may be available there on our cruise.

And you get OBC on the next cruise for using them. Depends on the length of the cruise as to how much OBC you receive.

It's even worse if you're doing 14 day B2Bs. You can sort of tell the cruise directors jokes for them.

Does HappyinVan seriously think that the only compensation for hotel department employees on a ship comes from the auto gratuity? That's the impression I'm getting from his posts and especially #144.

Isn't LGA the airport code for LaGuardia in New York? Sounds like they're gonna take you all the way home by bus. I hope you can hold your breath!

Ok, bro. Whatever you say...

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot! I have no clue what point you are trying to make.

You are absolutely correct. Compensation for crew is already calculated into the fare charged by a cruise line. So is the depreciation on the ship, the insurance, the fuel, the wholesale cost of the liquor, wine, food, electronic charts, and the pension for the captain and officers. The staff are being paid an agreed to amount for their labor. This is no different from any other employee of any business. Thinking that staff compensation isn't something passengers pay for is crazy.

I've only been to Princess Cay once and was not impressed with the facilities. This was within 6 months of the restart so perhaps that colored the experience.

1. No 2. Normal channels are fine 3. Not really 4. The TA should be able to get you in the same cabin for both cruises. Is it truly a B2B with two booking numbers, or a 14 day (or 28 day) cruise with a return to the home port, but only 1 booking number?

I saw a YouTube video the other day about portable routers. These could be hooked up to a single WiFi signal at a hotel or on a cruise ship and would allow multiple people or devices to be connected through that router. It seemed to make sense for times when two or more people were together in a cabin, but it wouldn't do much for walking around the ship or connecting in the buffet or a lounge, unless you carried the router around with you and set it up where you were. I found a thread from 2021 on the HAL boards about using these portable routers. The issue then was bandwidth and latency due to satellite internet limitations. With StarLink becoming widespread, I'd think that problem might be going away.

The one I had wasn't too bad. Certainly not a Crown Grill level steak (no smoked salt to sprinkle on 😒) but it wasn't a Golden Corral/Sizzler level steak either.

When I was on Island this fall in the eastern Med, for part of the cruise, they listed a strip steak as one of the "Princess Favorites" available every night along with grilled chicken and a salmon dish. I had it once and it was a NY Strip, about 3/4" thick, and was quite tasty. No surcharge for it. The second half of the cruise (the TA part), that strip steak was no longer offered, only the upcharged steak you mention.

Thanks.

Rather than start a new thread, I'll ask this question here. I've booked a standard balcony cabin. Am I "allowed" to walk through the Queens Grill or other haunts of those booked in the fancy parts of the ship? Or are there barred doors, a la Titanic to keep the hoi polloi at bay?😉

There are many topics that are a constant across all of the Cruise Critic message boards. These include: indoor smoking, chair hogs, tipping/gratuities, and many others. But one absolute constant topic is proper dress for that particular line. Cunard, HAL, Princess, Celebrity, you name the line, there will be long discussions about what's proper and improper to wear on "their" line. All of this is a long way of saying that I have found the posts on this topic very enlightening and will help guide my packing for Alaska. I asked the question and got honest answers. I couldn't have asked for anything more.

I never said it did. The thread is entirely dependent on contributions from passengers sailing on Princess ships and providing information to keep the list up-to-date. The impression I got earlier in this thread is that HAL had discouraged people from doing the same thing on this board. Is that a mistaken impression?

This is an interesting rationale given that there's an extensive thread on the Princess board that lists the captain, CD, ED, and DOR on each ship and has been going on since approximately 2012. I guess Princess doesn't care about the privacy or safety of their senior staff.

Thanks @NE John. I appreciate your comments. I've been looking at "pre-owned" tuxes and have seen several that would fit the bill without breaking the bank. I also just tried on the jacket of the only dark suit I have and looks like I'd need to go shopping either way as I've bulked up a bit through the shoulders and chest. I've got a 30 day cruise to the Amazon River upcoming, so I'll be revisiting the tux shopping in mid-March when I get home from that. I likewise look forward to meeting you aboard QE.

I don't own a tux and I think the last time I wore a dark suit was to a funeral when I lived outside DC. I've lived in a fairly laid back beach community in North Carolina for the last six years. I'm not averse to getting dressed up, but a blue blazer and a nice pair of khaki pants is about all that I've needed on other cruises. It sounds like said blazer and khakis are about what I'd need to wear on a non-formal evening, even in Alaska.