Ret MP

We agree and, yes, I fully understand that it was in effect after the booking.

Well, and this is not intended to be a swipe at you or your comment/opinion, this is a discussion board and it is international in nature. I, for one, enjoy and appreciate other points of view from other cultures. I may not agree with them, but it is theirs and I have no authority over their culture or say so in their culture. I can only have an opinion and a discussion about it. But, yes, this topic has been discussed ad nauseam.

The bottom line, it's their football, their rules. I guess they don't feel the need to justify anything to anybody. It is too bad though that people have no relief for their prepaid/non-refundable excursions, airfare, and so on. Edited In: BUT, if the requirement was published and in effect at the time of booking and non-refundable items were purchased anyway, well, what can I say?

And that may work out well for you and others like your business. But, it is YOU that determines if a person is an employee or IC. But, don't be wrong, it could cost you $$$$, big time. Have a great night.

Being retired from Port Everglades, Ft. Lauderdale, Fl., I can definitely tell you that non-U.S. Crew Members have crew visas that allow them to go ashore to shop, sightsee, and transfer from cruise port to airport and Vice Versa. Times of national emergency excepted, of course. Like the COVID shutdown, 911, et al. The cruise line/company can dictate who can and cannot go ashore, though.

1. I live in Oxford Alabama, not Oxford England. So, I'll stick to the U.S. dictionaries. 2. I don't know how or why they are related either, and I don't care. I do know that in most places I've lived the Water bill included a separate line for sewer and another for garbage/trash pickup. My point of bringing it up is to show how cheap the cost of living is here in Alabama and how carefree it is. I don't worry about having to pay for "Time of Use" electrical rates, I just use it and don't care about the time of day, and I don't have to worry about expensive water and trash pickup. But, here in Oxford, I'm on a Septic system. BTW, my electric bill is $113.00 per month on the budget billing program and has been for about a year now.

Two things: 1. We don't have "Time of use Electricity" here in Alabama (Alabama Power). It costs the same to use my washer/dryer at 5:00 PM as it does at 5:00 AM. I pay on average $18.00 a month for water and that includes garbage and trash, unlimited, pick-up, one or twenty garbage containers, one cardboard box or 50 of them, tree limbs, grass cuttings, whatever. And we don't recycle or it isn't mandatory. I can't and won't get into the politics of why I don't live in CA, and I have. It's prohibited here. 2. I'm a little educated and know full well what "Sustainability" means as it pertains to business financial and policy issues. What I'm talking about is what corporations have morphed the meaning into and it was also a little tongue in cheek. And the Oxford Dictionary is only one source. Websters doesn't mention anything about "ecological" balance. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sustainable.

I don't know where you are coming up with this "non-American" crew stuff. When I'm talking about W-2s or 1099s, I'm only talking about people residing in the U.S., U.S. citizens or not. I've never said anything about non-residents/non-U.S. citizens receiving W-2s or 1099s other than they don't get them and don't owe taxes to the U.S. government. And I've said that if a crew member is a non-U.S. citizen, but a resident of the U.S., he/she is obligated to pay taxes to the U.S., by law. Simple: 1. U.S. citizens, no matter where they work, in foreign countries or not have a legal tax burden to the U.S. Government (only a few exceptions). W-2 or 1099 2. U.S. Residents (U.S. Citizens or not), no matter where they work, in foreign countries or not have a legal tax burden to the U.S. government (only a few exceptions) W-2 or 1099 3. Non-U.S. Citizens not residing in the U.S. have absolutely no legal tax obligation to the Government of the U.S. No W-2 or 1099 issued or required Anyway, enough is enough. I'm out unless something of new interest comes up.

Well, this question is from pure curiosity as I really don't know the answer to the question. Although, I think I have some idea: What included food/free food can you get on a Rustbucket cruise ship that you can't get on a RCCL ship for free? I'm not talking about the quality of food, just the availability of included/free food. I can't think of anything that is included on a Rustbucket ship that isn't included on a RCCL Ship. But, I could be wrong. No agenda, just honestly curious.

I understand and I see your point as it pertains to U.S. Employees performing their jobs within U.S. boundaries, and your particular situation. However, a 1099 IC and it payer is not held to the same employment standards as a W-2 Employee. For example, if you offer a benefit to one "employee", example: Health Insurance and/or Retirement, it must be given to all "employees". ICs 1099s are not employees and therefore are not covered legally like employees' W-2s are. As stated earlier, I was a Resource Manager for a very large company that had thousands of employees spread out all over the U.S., including Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas, many years ago. That company has now merged into a company called Standard Parking Plus. It was many years ago and lots may have changed. However, I do know that lots of businesses do utilize ICs almost exclusively, trucking companies to name just one example, think "owner-operators" or just direct independent contractors, like I was. While you and your business may not see the advantage of utilizing ICs, many businesses do. Again, yes, I'm sure that the employees at the Miami Headquarters are, for the most part, if not all, "employees" W-2. They are in the purest meaning of the words, full-time employees, receive benefits, are told where to work, how to work, how many hours to work, and get paid overtime for anything over 40, unless salaried, and so on. Crews, for the most part, only work for a short period of time, I'm guessing for 6 months or less at a time. Their contract ends and then they renew when they are ready to return to work. They receive no financial or in-kind benefits and if they do, it's contained within their contract and no other IC is required by law to receive the same benefits. They receive money for the fruits of their labor and may receive some negotiated benefits.

Correct, but that's not my point or issue. I'm not disputing that she may have received a W-2 or if she is a citizen of the U.S. or not. However, if you reside in the U.S., U.S. Citizenship or not has little to do with paying taxes in the U.S. If you are A RESIDENT of the U.S., you have a legal obligation to pay U.S. taxes. The big difference, which is the whole point or what I'm trying to get to, is if a worker receives a W-2 or 1099. An actual employee of a company and you are a resident of the U.S., you get a W-2, regardless of citizenship, if you reside in the U.S., you pay taxes on your income/wage/compensation for your labor. If you are an IC you receive a 1099, and that has nothing to do with citizenship. If you are a resident of the U.S., you pay U.S. taxes on your income/wage/compensation for your labor, regardless of citizenship. And it has nothing to do with where you work or provide a service/profession, including on a cruise ship (serving in a war zone excluded, maybe a few others as well). Yes, non-U.S. Citizens that don't reside in the U.S. have no obligation to pay U.S. income tax. What defines who gets a W-2 or 1099 is what I'm trying to make clear, to myself. What I'm doing here is talking (typing) out loud to myself (and anybody else that is interested). W-2 is for full-fledged employees of a firm/company/whatever. They are told what to do and how to do it. They generally receive some or many benefits like life insurance, hospitalization, unemployment insurance, vacation pay, social security, etc. Taxes are withheld by the employer 1099 is for ICs. They are given tasks but it is up to them how to perform the task(s), only given standards to achieve the company's end result(s). They generally don't receive anything but the agreed-upon compensation. Taxes may be withheld or may not be withheld by the employer, including social security and medicare. https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/independent-contractor-self-employed-or-employee In fact, two people of U.S. residency working on the same ship doing the same exact job, one may be an employee, W-2, and one may be an IC, 1099. That's my take on this whole thing.

Yep, thanks for that. It is one of the references I looked into yesterday. It backs up what I was saying. But, like me, the author admits that he is not a lawyer. The author says that he was given a W-2 at tax season. Very possible as he may have been an actual employee, not an IC. I know when I was an IC, I'd talk about my tax form as a W-2 when in fact it was a 1099 because not too many people know what a 1099 is or what it was used for. Just easier to say W-2.

Yes. I also remember when they used to change bed sheets every morning, and hotels too. I really can't remember if my memory is from Rustbucket or RCCL. But, then they come up with putting a card or something like that to put on the bed requesting sheet change or not to change sheets, and now we have evolved into changing sheets only once or twice during a 7 or 8-day cruise, not sure about that schedule. RCCL may request that I reuse a towel but that doesn't stop me from getting fresh towels when I want them. The corporate definition of "Sustainability" is: Reduce services and products while raising the prices/fees. I'm a total capitalist but I don't like it when they pee down back and tell me it's raining.

Yes, I'm sure we can all point to one or two cruised on RCCL or any other cruise line that didn't go as we would like. My comment is in general. I find that generally speaking, RCCL is a little less of a free for all than the other line. And again, that's my opinion.

I understand. I do want to point out, because it is not clear you know that we in the U.S. have a minimum wage as well, for all employees. Unfortunately, for the waiters/waitresses is it embarrassingly low (that's why I have my signature the way it is). But, some, especially higher-end establishments, pay more than the minimum wage or guarantee a wage, not many but some.

I understand you didn't quote me. But, this is a discussion board. As a side note, we also vacuum the entire home every other day. One time by a real vacuum and the other time by our robot. None of my comments are directed as a criticism of you and how much you clean your home or body. It's just the way we do it. I'm a product of my mother, a super clean busy body (meant in a loving way). Back in the day, when people smoked in their homes and every end table had ashtrays on them, my mom would get up and empty the ashtray after every ash was put in it and after every cigarette was smashed in it. Dishes were never stacked anywhere, they were washed immediately after the meal or other usages. Bathrooms were cleaned from top to bottom every day they were used, if not used, they were at least dusted down. My wife and my mom are those that have to make the bed(s) every day, every morning. YMMV

Please don't take this as a criticism of the UK's or other countries' custom(s) of tipping. If it works for you, so be it. However, I really like our and Canada's method of tipping. Now, is Royal's, et al, way of collecting gratuities in the U.S. perfect? No, I certainly don't think so. But, I definitely prefer the method of rewarding the service provider for personalized service and working for tips to get them from me directly by a percentage of the total bill. I believe that if a guaranteed tip is a norm, it tends to allow servers to do as little as is allowable by the consumer and/or business. A service provider who works for tips gets immediate feedback, positive or negative, and tends to work harder for a much better tip/reward. A bad service provider or even a mediocre service provider will either be fired, improve, or move on to another line of work. I start off with my intended tip being 15%, it either goes up or down from there. I'm a good tipper, though and I usually give at least 20%. It takes a lot for me to do less than 20%. However, I have left a penny before. For me, a penny is my minimum, it sends a message. If you leave nothing, the server may think that you just forgot to leave a tip and otherwise everything was Okay. Oh, and I do verbally let the server know how I felt about the service, good, bad, or mediocre.

That is true, the itinerary and length of a cruise have a lot to do with the demographics of a cruise. No doubt! "Royal is more expensive especially when considering drink packages so that help keeping out the riff raff". A price I'm willing to pay.

It is my belief that bad behavior, consistent bad behavior is a "Line" issue. On my last cruise on the Independence of the Seas, several times a day, I'd see this very professionally dressed and business-looking lady with an iPad. So, one night as we were entering Chop's Grill, she was there at the Host kiosk just standing, watching, and typing on the iPad. So, I asked her if she was an employee of the ship. She said that she was from Corp., and she was inspecting the customer relations of the ship's crew and management. I asked if that was a normal thing for Royal and she said that on almost every cruise on every ship, there is a Corp., director, or upper-level Corp., representative checking things out and evaluating the ship's crew and management and/or other ship's operations. I think that may contribute to better behavior on Royal Ships. No, I'm not saying that there isn't any bad behavior on a Royal ship. I just don't think it is as common on a Royal ship.

This reminds me of a cruise I took, pre-pandemic, the robots wouldn't work properly and be shut down for most of the cruise. Actually, I never saw them working except once. There was a tech guy working frantically above, below, behind, and in front of the system. He looked stressed. Also, this isn't meant to disparage you for your use of the term "bartender". But, I would call him/her more of an attendant. Sounds like all he/she did was input your desired drink and then deliver it to you, not mix a drink at all. He/she was probably responsible for cleaning up the mixing area, too. Every time I observed the bionic bar operating there were a lot of spills that had to be cleaned up almost constantly. Having said all that, I'm happy for you that you enjoyed the Bionic Bar. Really!

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=electric+adaptor+British+to+European&crid=3E15H8A6VZKS0&sprefix=electric+adaptor+british+to+european%2Caps%2C125&ref=nb_sb_noss Keep in mind, not all adaptors are also voltage converters. Make sure you check that out before you purchase/plug it in. If a device is a dual-voltage device, it's usually not a problem.

Ohhhh ohhhhhh ohhhhh, I do, I do. Sometimes 3 or 4 times a day. I love a fresh towel when I get out of the shower. YMMV. For General Consumption: I won't criticize if you use the same towel for more than one shower/bath. Don't criticize me for using a towel once and then washing it. Actually, we wash towels about once a week, we have plenty. But, if I run out of towels before the usual wash schedule, we just wash 'em early, but that hasn't happened. I don't care about 2x services a day. I just want extra towels if I don't get 2x service, period. Why is this so controversial? I don't understand.

Oh oh oh, BTW, it is possible that he or any other crew member may have been a full-time/part-time employee of the company he worked for, received benefits, and so on. I'm not saying that just because you are a crew member of a cruise ship, automatically makes you an IC or a full-time/part-time employee. It depends on many legal hurdles.

Ya, I doubt that too.

I'd welcome it. Is he a professional in the subject?