njhorseman

Credible information...my years as a travel agency owner and decades as a cruiser have given me the opportunity to learn from cruise line executives both on land and from senior hotel officers such as general managers and F&B directors on board ships. Oh...and I've had waiters give me the more accurate information that they prefer an additional gratuity to be in cash rather than added onto the charge slip because they can keep the cash while the added tip on the charge slip is pooled. It's rather common for people in general not to read or understand a contract that's shoved in front of them for their signature. Do you really think that somehow crew recruited for shipboard work do a better job of that than other people?

From my decades of experience as a cruiser as well as a number of years as a travel agency owner... Revelation #1: A substantial percentage of the crew honestly doesn't know where their paycheck comes from and how their pay is computed. This is particularly true if they're new...and a substantial percentage of crew on board cruise ships now are new. Hint...the 20% auto gratuity is where their salary primarily comes from. Revelation #2: It's not uncommon for crew to flat out lie about this topic to gain your sympathy and con you into tipping in cash because they can slip those tips directly into their pockets. I'm not saying whether what you were told is true or false today on Oceania, but take it with a grain of salt because there's a chance you were not told the truth either out of ignorance or because you were lied to.

Since you have "NCL" in your thread title I'll assume you're asking about NCL's insurance. If that assumption is correct you should ask your question on the NCL board.

My point is that the "carbon footprint" thing is just BS for PR purposes. It's all about fuel savings and the associated $$$ savings. When you're sitting in port the fuel the ship is burning, while relatively minimal, is doing nothing to get the ship from that port to the next port. From what I've read the increase in fuel consumption as the ship moves faster is not linear. As you approach the ships maximum cruising speed the fuel consumed increases disproportionately to the increase in speed itself. It should be possible to compute an optimal cruising speed for fuel consumption and by doing so adjust your port schedules in a way that reduces total fuel consumption for the voyage.

You don't understand what I was talking about. Yes, the CEO's salary is bloated and he's far too cozy with the board, but I would have said the same thing if FDR were paid $1 per year. His salary has nothing to do with what I said. My point is that some people have the mistaken notion that if crew were paid straight salary that the money to pay that salary somehow would come out of the company's profits rather than the passenger's pockets. That is utter nonsense. You, the ultimate consumer of any product or service pay for everything. The company pays for nothing. Crew compensation is paid by the passenger whether it is straight salary, straight gratuities, or a combination of salary and gratuities. If gratuities were eliminated today fares would be raised today to pay for the former gratuities that are now paid as salary. It's coming out of your pocket one way or the other. The money doesn't come out of company profits.

Allowing more time at sea between ports reduces fuel costs. Ships burn less fuel per hour at slower cruising speeds, just as your automobile burns less fuel per mile at slower speeds.

You, as the final consumer of the product or service always pay for everything regardless of whether it's invisibly buried in the bottom line cost or an added item such as a gratuity. Don't you not understand that if there were no tipping on a cruise ship you would be paying a higher base fare ? Businesses don't pay their employee's wages out of their profits. You, the consumer, pay the wages whether those wages are from salary or gratuities or a combination of them.

Yes, A&K also bought the Crystal name and customer database, but that was a separate purchase made from Crystal's assignment for the benefit proceedings in Florida. Crystal Cruises LLC owned the Crystal brand name and database, but they did not own the cruise ships, which had been arrested for non-payment of fuel bills and other monies owed to creditors. Crystal's third ship, the Crystal Endeavor, was purchased by Royal Caribbean for a reported $275 million for its Silversea subsidiary and was renamed Silver Endeavour, so far more was paid for the newest of the three ships, which obviously did not come with the rights to the Crystal name or its customer database. Very simply, the nearly-new Crystal Endeavor could be placed back in service with little or no additional investment and its entire useful lifespan ahead of it, making it a far more valuable physical asset than the two much older Crystal ships that need expensive renovation and are many months away from returning to service. A&K reportedly also bid on Crystal Endeavor but were outbid by Royal Caribbean.

A&K bought the Crystal Serenity for $103 million and the older Crystal Symphony for $25 million. You're not going to get $103 million selling a ship for scrap, particularly since somewhere around 35 cruise ships have been sold to the breakers since the start of the pandemic.

That's giving me a mental picture I won't easily forget. 🤣 If that's the case they should have been making them to order all along, or at least not making nearly as many in advance.

One observation on your question. Nothing that you've noted NCL is doing will have a noticeable effect on their 2022 results. Some of the more significant actions such as increasing the daily service charge, increasing the beverage package prices and decreasing cabin attendant services are only taking effect in 2023. The 2/27/23 financial reports cover 2022 so nothing that is happening in 2023 can possibly affect the 2/27 financial report . It's all about the financial trouble NCLH is in . All this does for the 2/27 report is give NCL the ability to say 'Look at everything we're doing to improve our results in the future." Forward looking statements are essentially hot air to make the company's financials look as good as possible.

Surely this thread's title is a rhetorical question.

There's discussion of things to do in Panama on the Panama Canal Ports of Call board.

What last you heard is wrong.

You should ask your question on the NCL board to have the best chance of getting an answer on current dress codes for this ship. Typically on NCL ships one main dining room and Le Bistro (I believe its name on POA is Jefferson's Bistro) require men to wear long pants and a shirt with a collar at dinner, it's possible the rules on POA are different.

Since you're taking an international flight I'd suggest no earlier than noon . As the previous poster stated, Uber/Lyft or a taxi will work.

Unfortunately not everyone seems willing to accept that fact.

You should also post this on your cruise's Roll Call. There may be a better chance of someone who is on board seeing the post.

I'm quoting directly from Costa's website as of the moment I posted. Are cruise line websites accurate 100% of the time? No...but they almost always are and they are official sources of information provided by the cruise line. Screen shots from the past or from unofficial sources aren't reliable. If you have something current from a reliable and official source then you should post it so that others can see, not just take pot shots at posters who are trying to answer your question.

The PATH station at 33rd St. is just short distance from MSG. A five minute walk at most. Alternatively, if you were to stay in Newark at the Doubletree Newark Penn Station you can just take NJ Transit from Newark Penn Station to New York Penn Station, which is where MSG is located. However, The hotel location in Jersey City you were considering is more attractive than Newark.

See my answer on the other thread where you asked about this. Please remember that a cruise line may have requirements beyond those of the embarkation country and ports of call. Even if Argentina doesn't require a test, Costa has the right to require one.

Costa's website seems pretty clear to me. It says that a pre-boarding antigen test taken within 24 hours of boarding is required for vaccinated passengers over the age of three on South America cruises of more than 5 days: https://www.costacruises.com/cruising-soon/safety-above-all.html Pre-boarding antigen test All guests who are under the age of five or immunized against Covid-19 will no longer be required to take a pre-boarding antigen test for cruises in the Mediterranean, the Caribbean and the United Arab Emirates*. The pre-boarding antigen test is still required: a) for guests who are not immunized against Covid-19 as per those cases indicated in the FAQs on vaccines and pre-boarding tests you find in this section. b) for guests (over the age of 3 years old) who are immunized against Covid-19 and are cruising in South America for longer than 5 days. In this case the test has to be done within 24h of boarding. c) for guests (over the age of 5 years old) who cruise on a World Tour or from Europe to South America, to the Caribbean or to the United Arab Emirates. In these cases, the test must be done within 48 hours of boarding (72 hours for World Tour). For these cruises additional immunization requirements are requested, as indicated in the FAQs on vaccines and pre-boarding tests you find in this section. d) for guests arriving from China until 01/31/2023, before boarding by plane in China and upon arrival in Italy (order of the Italian Minister of Health of 28/12/2022*).

No...suites have both a butler and a stateroom attendant. Their duties are not even remotely similar. The stateroom attendant's primary job is cleaning your cabin, making sure you have fresh towels, etc. The butler does not do those things.

I gave you some names on the other thread you posted on.

For ordinary sedan service I would look at Carmel Limo, Dial 7, Uber or Lyft. If you want more upscale "black car" service try Blacklane or even Uber Black. None of the above would be called a "Brooklyn" car service. They provide their services most everywhere. There's no need for a dedicated Brooklyn-based service.