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MikeACY

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Posts posted by MikeACY

    Lanzarote---Any "Private" Excursions offered by companies close to port?

    in Spain and Portugal Ports

    Posted

    Hello All. RCCL just canceled my excursion that I reserved thru them. So of course just about all of the excursions at Lanzarote are sold out. (There really wasn't much to choose from)

    We are coming in on Monday in October. Looking at private companies, (Catamarans) I see many are offered but leave at a different port. I'm worried about getting back to the ship. We are there from 8am to 5pm. Most of these Catamarans are 4 hours and leave at 11am...not sure if we have enough time.

    Question---has anyone taken any of these Catamaran excursions?

    BUT my main question is, are there Vendors at the port offering excursions, or do we need to go into town to find them?
    ANY suggestions would be appreciated. We like Catamarans, Beaches, etc.
    Thanks

    Mike 

    Hotel for the Day at 7 mile beach.

    in Cayman Islands

    Posted

    Hello everyone. Going to be in Grand Cayman end of March....few questions...

    1) Is there a hotel that will allow cruise ship passengers? (We Use used to go to Royal Beach Club....i believe it is closed?)

    2) If yes, suggestions and do I need to reserve before we arrive? 

    2) Cost

    3) Do they rent lounge chairs? 

    4) Cab ride cost?

     

    Wondering if this will be better then an Excursion to a beach offered by the cruise line.

     

    Thank you!!!

    Mike

    Gratuities, does the employees actually get them?

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    Here is a question....and this is just a question..

    Many on this topic has stated that a crew members..ie Waiters sign a contract with a specific guarantied salary paid monthly, bi-weekly....etc..doesn't matter....but here is my question.

    Let's say EVRYONE on board takes away the DSC from their account...which of course will never happen...but let's say it does...

    Does the waiters still get their salaries based on the agreed amount in their contract? or is it reduced? 

    Gratuities, does the employees actually get them?

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    It was a friendly conversation between us and the waiter, and my only concern is that the "Service Charge" is being given to the employees.  The waiter could have not answered my question..and I told them they didn't have to and I would respect that, but they chose to freely. IT is ridiculous to state that the service charge supports salaries. Isn't that what the cruise fare supposed to do? If that is what the cruise line is actually doing, then how about another service charge to support the Captains/Crew/Entertainment/maintenance/support personal, etc. After all, we all expect exceptional service from those employees and they should be compensated accordingly? OR isn't it the cruise line that supposed to do that?  Cruise lines have to "get on board" with All inclusive resorts that include EVERYTHING in their pricing, and we additionally tip according to the service we receive. I knew this was a sensitive topic when I started it, but I wanted to make sure the waiters are getting the actual gratuities. Or service charges, and the cruise line isn't taking a "cut" and cheating out of what they deserve. 

    Gratuities, does the employees actually get them?

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted · Edited by MikeACY

    43 minutes ago, SeaShark said:

    If you give them a gratuity, then yes, they get to keep it. However, what you are referring to is a service charge...which differs from a gratuity. The service charge goes to the company who then uses it to support their salary and incentive programs.

    This is what we were thinking..the cruise line gets to keep it and uses it to help pay the salaries. Again I'm not trying to cause trouble about tipping...i just want to make sure the waiters/room steward, etc gets to keep the extra money. Perhaps the "old system" of handing out envelopes to the waiter/room steward was better. Since I didn't pre pay, my account showed a "Service charge" every day. 

    Gratuities, does the employees actually get them?

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    At dinner we had a very friendly waiter and we started chatting. He mentioned that on this cruise there were 3000 passengers, next week there would be 3200 and the week after 4000. I ask him "That would be a good thing right?" He said he would be very busy. So I asked (i probably shouldn't, but he was very friendly) isn’t your salary depending on the amount of people on board? We all either pre-pay the gratuities or are charged daily. Therefore it makes sense the more people the more gratuities given to the staff. He shocked us by saying NO. He said his salary is fixed.

    Now IF this is true, then wouldn’t it be best for us to take some gratuities off our bill and just hand them cash to make sure they get the additional funds?

    I know this is a sensitive topic. Notice I didn’t say  NOT pay them gratuities. Just want to make sure they receive them. I don't think he misunderstood me. The others in our group did ask him again after his reply to make sure he understood. Maybe it is just NCL cruise line? 

    • Thanks 1

    San Juan Rain Forest Review.

    in San Juan, PR

    Posted

    The MSC Seaside excursion description said this was a 4 1/2hour tour, with a long bus ride to the rain forest. It didn't mention that thiswas ONLY a bus tour. After a 45 min ride we stopped at a souvenir shop for 1/2hour (not mentioned in the description). Then off to the rain forest. Afteranother 30 min we stopped at Yokahu Tower in the rain forest for 20 min. Thendrove again for 15 min to see a water fall that was on the main road. We stayedthere 20 min, then to another location 15 min or so away to see a water streamrunning along the road. The excursion description mentioned that we would behiking thru some rough stuff and to wear appropriate footwear...well I guessthis was the place they were talking about. We walked down maybe 20 feet to arunning creak of water. No big deal! A few people went in the water, and thatwas it. We stayed about 30 min, and then boarded the bus back to the ship. Soin the 4 1/2 hours we sat on the bus for 3 of it at least. The excursiondescription gave us the impression that we would be hiking thru the rain forest,but that was not the case. Everything was seen from the main road, and exceptfor walking down a slight hill to get up to the running stream, everything elsewas on sidewalks. Would NOT recommend unless u just want to ride thru the rain forest on a bus!

    Balmoral Island Beach Break

    in Bahamas

    Posted

    We booked with the MSC Seaside cruise line a few days beforefor $59.99 per person. The day of the excursion, after a short walk, they tookus to a boat for an 1/2 hour ride over to the Island. During the 1/2 hourcruise, one of the boats crew members over their PA system gave us a"tour" of what we were seeing along the way. He also mentioned itwould be wise to purchase water on his boat for $2 instead of the prices on theIsland. And he was right!!! There was only 2 ships in port that day, so when wegot to the Island, there were plenty of lounges and umbrellas to go around. Thesand was soft and clean, the water crystal clear and shallow. Some rocks, butnot many. The pool water however was cloudy and you couldn't see the bottom.The biggest issue was the price of food, water, coffee on the Island. Water was$6, hot dogs $16, (US dollars), chicken sandwich $18. Coffee, $7 plus a 12% taxand a gratuity and every food/drink item you purchased. It was a rip off!Although the excursion description mentioned there was food/drinks to purchaseon the Island, it didn't warn us how expensive it was. On the way back weboarded the boat back to the ship...and it was overcrowded! The reason therewere more people on the return was the cruises that did the sting ray ordolphin encounter tour on this Island were returning with us...they didn't GOwith us. Many passengers had no were to sit. I was looking at the capacityplates located on the vessel, and we were beyond that. So in summary, a niceplace to go for the day, but very overpriced ($59.99 a person) and veryexpensive to purchase anything on the Island. I think there may be otherinexpensive beach experiences in Nassau.

    Review of MSC Seaside Sept 1st - 8th 2018

    in MSC Cruises

    Posted

    REVIEW OF MSC SEASIDE

     

    The following is my impression of our 7 day cruise fromMiami to St. Maarten, San Juan, and Nassau in September 2018.

     

    Embankment:

    Pro: Simple, efficient and easy.

    Cons: No one looked at or cared about our check in times.Rooms were ready by 2:00pm

     

    Room: Wehad an interior on the 12th floor.

    Pro: Roomy and well lit. Multiple electrical sockets and USBports to charge devises.

    Con: Shower could have been a little larger.

     

    Ship:

    Pro: Beautiful ship. Well laid out.

    Con: Not enough elevators. Waits were too long. We had to go“UP” many times to go “Down”. Also we couldn’t get to the front of the ship forviewing. The front was reserved only for their Exclusive Yacht Club Passengers.

     

    Entertainment:

    Pro: Different show in the main theater every night and theywere amazing! Multiple rooms on the ship where music was playing at all times.Main Pool side entertainments were very good (the usual belly flop contest,Miss Ocean Queen, etc)

    Con: Don’t forget to make main Theater reservations on theship via their Wifi (more on this later) or on many of their information boardson the decks. Seats “sold” out quickly. Some passengers commented that theshows were actually the same every night except for the customs. They werereferring to the same 4 singers, the same acrobats, (Roller skaters, hula hoopguy, man doing stunts with a large ring, two very flexible-contortion- women).I found them all to be beyond cruise ship standards, so I didn’t mind watchingthem again on every show. Other comments where that much of the music playedwas Latino and therefore sung in that language.

     

    Pool Area:

    Pro: Enough chairs to go around. Although the entertainmentwas “noisy” for some around the main pool, one could go other places for peaceand quiet. Hot tubs were not always available. I was happy to see a poollifeguard and attendant to keep inconsiderate passengers from jumping into thepools, and to keep the hot tubs capacity under control. Most hot tubs held 9people, and the life guard will monitor that and ask people to leave if thatwas exceeded.

    Con: The main pool is over 6 feet deep!!! Whose idea wasthat? People were clinging to the sides while in the pool. It was easy to floatbecause of the large salt content, however, who wants to do that? I do not knowif the other pool located in the back were the same depth.

     

     

     

     

    Buffet:

    Pro: Two buffets. A smaller one on the 16thfloor, and one larger one on the 8th. The 8th had a widevariety to choose from, and for the most part the food was good and at leastwarm.

     

    Con: Everyday was the same food. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinnerin the buffets were the same every day! Also they ran out of ice, coffee,coffee cups, drink cups, didn’t clean the tables in a timely manner. This justdidn’t happen once, it happened often.

     

    Dinner:

    Pro: We only did the complementary dinners, and for the mostpart food was fair to good. Quantities were smaller, but enough.

    Con: No lobster night! And not enough staffing!! (More onthis later) Service was slow, and it took a full 1 ½ hours at least to eatdinner because of the slow service. No individual attention and we had the sametable/waiter every night.

     

    Wifi:

    Pro: Excellent idea where passengers were able to hook up tothe ship Wifi and not be charged as long as they used it for booking excursions,shows, dinners, etc. It also showed your agenda for the day or week includedall the reserved shows, ship itinerary etc.

    Con: Not user friendly!!! Took me at least two days tofigure out how to use most of its features. Great idea, but not easy to use.

     

    Bars:

    Pro: Everywhere you looked or turned there was a bar.

    Con: Not enough staffing. Most had two bar tenders to a barand it wasn’t uncommon to wait 5-10 min for a drink. They were not lazy, butoverwhelmed!!

     

    Excursions:

    Pro: Easy to reserve, just us the Wifi. Excursion desk neverhad a line.

    Con: I usually do most excursion reservations with off shipvendors. However, this time I reserved thru the cruise line since this was alast min cruise. I was sorry I did. The descriptions weren’t accurate and theywere expensive. I have other reviews on this site that describe my unsatisfaction.

     

     

    Disembarkment:

     

    Pro: Simple. Had to be out of room by 7:45 but we overslept and left at 8:30 with no problem. Luggage tag showed our departure from the ship at 9:50 and it was accurate.

    Con: None

     

    Overview:

    A beautiful designed, well maintained ship, and excellententertainment. The cruise director was funny and always seen. Many passengers werenot happy that when an announcement was made over the Public Address system,that the crew repeated the same message in at least 5 languages. Since mostpeople understand English, after the first message, people started talking, noone listened, so it became ignoring. Their biggest issue is staffing. Ourwaiter did an excellent job trying to keep up serving 30 people in our group.And it wasn’t just our group, but others in the dining room experienced thesame. I miss the individual attention that waiters on cruise lines gave theirpassengers. Staffing at the bars, unacceptable. And running out of cups,coffee, ice, not cleaning tables (many tables were outside and in port theseagulls were eating the food off the tables) was unacceptable. No one enforced“washy washy” at all!

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