fortinweb

Per RCI, It cannot be paid at the end of the cruise with MTD. (Seems odd because we could still have random waitstaff if we don't eat in the MDR).

 

Again - I have no issues with Tipping those that assist us, but I don't like that it's a mandated breakout for adults or children. I wouldn't even mind if we paid the 12$ but got the opportunity to reallocate it differently if needed (hard to say what is needed before any given cruise!). Since that's not an option it seems, I would prefer the tips be reduced so we could then add to those who do go above and beyond.

 

I also like being able to give our tip to our room steward in person and saying thank you. It's handled now as a service charge and not as a 'thank you'. It feels cold and impersonal to prepay like a tax.

 

 

 

 

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I cannot believe the amount of effort some people go through to re-invent a process that works just fine, then rationalizing their own approach, and the endless defense of such actions. :eek:

I understand your desire to thank the steward in person. We do the same thing. But, we do it with either additional cash over and above the set tip amount if the service level was over and above what we expected, or a handshake and a "thank you" if they only provided expected service levels. If they excelled, we also write up a favorable comment card and turn it over to the customer service desk. These favorable comments do more for them than a larger tip, since they are a written endorsement of that person's performance levels, which is taken into consideration when promotions or repeat contracts are signed.

We have never had any reason to reduce the tips, ever. That is a testament to how hard these people always work to make our vacation time as pleasant as possible.

Just because we don't agree doesn't mean you get to be mean

So, if someone has a different opinion than yours, they are being "mean"? :eek:

What difference does it make if you pay in advance - which we do by choice - or pay at the end? It should all be the same amount either way. If you insist on removing the auto tips and controlling who gets the tips, you are only defeating the purpose since all cash tips MUST be turned over to the tipping pool if a person has removed those tips, and everyone who would have gotten their share with auto tips still get's it.

This has been documents in so many threads that it is no longer debatable.

That would have required too much effort to click on the link and wait for the screen to populate with the information.

Much easier to let someone else do all the heavy lifting. :D

Still a lot of people think tips shouldn't be 100% for children though.

 

On a ship of 4000, 20% is still 800 people with this view.

 

:)

Sad, isn't it, that there are still people who think that way. :(

Hopefully there are always enough people with a generous heart who will give additional to their attendants, which will cover the shortfall from the cheapskates.

When going through the locks, you will not know until immediately before entering the lock which side of the ship will face the other lane of locks. Since the ships are fleeted through the canal, groups of ships start at each end in the morning and end at the opposite end in the late afternoon. This allows for both lanes to be used for traffic going the same direction to speed up the transit for all ships. The captain will try to arrange one side towards the other lane at one end of the canal, and the other side at the other end. This will give all balcony users similar views of how the locks work.

Our balcony was on the starboard side. We entered the first set of locks with the port side facing the other lane, and the last set of locks with the starboard side facing the other lane. This allowed us a close up view of how they handled the ships through the locks in the last set of locks.

I think we will overnight in Bangkok. Does anyone have any recommendations for hotels? Would you recommend touring on our own or hiring a guide?

We are four adults doing the reverse cruise in a couple of weeks. We hired a private guide and driver to show us around over the two days. We are using http://www.thaitourguide.com/. Since the day we are there is a 60th birthday for one of our group, we chose the Shangri-La Hotel in downtown Bangkok to celebrate the special occasion. It is very well located on the main river through town. http://www.shangri-la.com/bangkok/shangrila/about/

Enjoy your cruise and visit to Bangkok.

The OP is currently booked in an OUTSIDE stateroom.

Yes, but it is not a balcony. I was just making the observation that in many cases staterooms are the same size, whether inside, outside, or balcony. Besides, most cruise lines call their outside staterooms without balconies "ocean view". The OP made no mention of any view.

I would upgrade if you can afford it. My husband and I had a balcony and we spent a lot of time on it. It also gives you more room. I agree with cb at sea, for 4 adults, you will want the extra room.

Although it may be the same size as an inside room, the large picture window/door at end of the room will make it look larger. Plus, the ambient light that filters in is not only pleasant, but also healthier than just lights. Add to that the fact that you get additional space out on the balcony, and you might find it very much worth it.

Personally, I have spent enough time in windowless rooms when I worked in an office. No way will I ever subject myself to not being able to see outside while I'm trying to enjoy a vacation. :eek:

However, for four adults, do consider two rooms, even if you have to stay in inside cabins to afford it. Four adults in such a small space would be a recipe for everyone getting on each other's nerves. There just isn't enough square footage, closet and storage space, and bathroom availability.

As of this post:

 

6% No tips

13% Reduced tips

81% All pay

 

Interesting.

Refreshing to see that the vast majority do the right thing!

No masses when I was on in June but I would love to have priests inboard. When I was on Holland America they had mass daily and Royal had mass on our TA to England a few years ago. I don't see why they won't provide this service for those who are Catholic. Maybe if we started requesting them they would offer priests.

Are you willing to pay the priest's fare for this service? If not, who is going to pay it? The cruise line? Then what about all the other religions? Should the cruise line pay for a spiritual leader for every religion out there so everyone can have the same benefit? If they cover one or two, the other religions could complain about discrimination - and rightly so. So, to be fair to all, they cover none.

If a priest or rabbi or whatever is on board because they paid their own way, the cruise lines will be more than happy to make a room available for services. The same for any group that wants to celebrate a special event.

A cruise line is in the business of providing vacation experiences. They are not in the business of spiritual salvation.

It is covered. Here is a photo of the opposite side with the same room location as yours.

Another vote for selection 2. In fact, we are leaving in less than two weeks for our cruise to the same ports, but in the opposite direction.

Which Celebrity ship had their MDR (main dining room) open on embarkation day? I have been told the MDRs on ALL Celebrity ships are NOT open on embarkation day.

Same question. I have never been on a Celebrity ship that had the MDR open on embarkation day.

Don't hold your breath. Want a real ship instead of amusement park that floats? You need to look at premium and luxury cruise lines or make the switch to crewed yacht charters.

Celebrity and HAL are two premium lines that are nowhere near being floating amusement parks. No water slides, no rock climbing, no pool side jumbo trons, no shopping mall type restaurants. And at competitive prices. You don't need to go to luxury lines to avoid those less-than-elegant features.

On some lines they still have to hand the tips into the pool

so you are defeating yourself

Actually, this is the process on most lines. If a person removes the auto tips, any cash given to individuals MUST be turned over to the supervisor who will add it to the tipping pool so everyone get's their fair share. If a crew member doesn't turn it in, they face reprimand that may include being fired. The crew live in very close proximity. Everyone knows what everyone else is doing - including hoarding tips if that is what they are doing.

With auto tips in place, however, any ADDITIONAL tips can be kept by the crew member.

This process has been well documented in many threads over the last few years.

The general advice is to leave auto tips in place and tip extra those people you feel gave you better than expected service. Anyone who removes auto tips so they can tip "those who provide exceptional service" are only fooling themselves and are only complicating things, and probably end up giving everyone less than the auto tips would provide.

RCI doesn't "Pool" tips.....and I guarantee if you hand someone cash, it will go into their pocket....absolutely, positively.

And how can you "guarantee" your claim? During a Q&A session two years ago, the head of housekeeping revealed that Royal DOES pool tips. I prefer to believe an actual ship officer.

A few years back, before 123GO, we went on a cruise and bought a premium beverage package for me and a non-alcoholic beverage package for my DH. One day in the buffet, i wanted a drink and no bar waiter was in sight. DH agreed to fetch it for me. The bartender made a couple of comments that suggested DH was getting the drink for himself, although he made the drink. It annoyed DH quite a bit, as we were not sharing at all!

Not sure what you are saying. If your husband went to a bar to get a drink for you, all he would have to do is ask for the drink and indicate that he was purchasing a drink for someone else and would pay for it. Not sure what is annoying about that. :confused:

On 31 December, the Vietnamese Government informed all cruise lines that the group visas previously available for cruise ship passengers are no longer.

The cruise line can still get the visa for you onboard, but it will be the far more expensive individual visa.

On my ship last week, we charged over US$100 for this visa (including handling fee).

Yikes...$100.00pp...not very happy with this new policy.

 

I'm going to be on RCI Mariner (March) with a port stop in Phu My..that changes things a bit...Wonder how the private tour operator's (or ship offered excursions) are going to handle this...I was considering using one for the short 10 hours in port.

 

Not even an in-transit option for cruiseship passengers...Yikes...I thought they wanted our business.

But, then there is this article published just three hours ago in which the Vietnamese Prime Minister has called for making the visas the same price as before:

http://www.eturbonews.com/54401/vietnam-pm-visa-cruise-tourists-should-be-cheaper-easier-obtain

Quoted from this article:

"In it, he asked that the visa fee for cruise tourists remain at US$5—the fee that was in place before January 1 when the new Law on Entry, Exit, Transit, and Residence of Foreigners went into effect.

The new law charged cruise passengers $45 each to enter the country.

Dung has directed the Ministry of Finance and relevant organs to quickly amend regulations on visa fees to make them easier and cheaper to obtain."

Note that the new charge is $45, but BruceMuzz says his ship is charging over twice that much! That's quite a hefty profit.

Make sure you know if you banks charges extra frees if using an ATM with foreign currency. For example USAA charges and extra 1% unless your active duty military (I think on deployment).

BofA charges $5 for every transaction not done on a partner bank's ATM.

So now the message is, no matter what it is, if you can get away with it, it's OK. Sad.

Seems that way, doesn't it. Strange that the OP first asks what is wrong with using her husbands card while he is sleeping, then claims that she doesn't do it. If you don't do it, why ask if it's OK to do so?

And, to top the foolishness, everyone who doesn't agree is told to get lost, she doesn't want to "here" anything that differs from what she seemingly is planning on doing.

Amazing how people now days think that opinions that differ from theirs are inappropriate. Must be the entitlement phenomena rearing up it's ugly head again. :rolleyes:

I have (again) changed my opinion since post #29 when I was convinced it couldn't be done.

 

Now I think that, in a just a few years time, maybe 10, no trained crew would be needed at all, and the price of having drones capable of detecting man overboard situations flying around full time will drop to at most a few hundred dollars a day.

 

If I had the time to do so, I would be starting a company based on rescue drones. Besides the cruise industry, there are a many places where drones could be the obvious answer to finding and rescuing people in dangerous situations. Oil rigs, mountain climbing, wildfires, etc will ensure enough demand to do the research and bring prices down. The (quite small) market of cruise ships not wanting drowning passengers will benefit from that.

It would be easier, and probably much cheaper in the long run, to simply build 10 foot tall glass walls around the entire ship to prevent the very rare occurrence of a man overboard situation. Low tech, low maintenance, and no manpower needed to monitor and maintain a fleet of drones that may not be used for years at a time, if ever. There are cruise ships out there today that have been in service for 15 years or longer and have never experienced a man overboard situation. That's a long time to maintain a fleet of drones for nothing.

My opinion? Yours is a solution looking desperately for a problem to solve to justify itself.

it does not take long for a simple question to get blown out of all preportions does it, I asked two simple questions and cle- guy answered those 2 questions completely for me,then others get on board and start to air their two bobs worth.

I stated that I know about sharing (not to) and I won't,but the simple question was to ask that if the card holder was having a snooze could his wife get a drink with it while the card holder was asleep.the point being what difference would it make, if the card holder was not using it (by sitting at a bar for possibly hours drinking) and his wife just wanted to use it for say a speciality coffee ,then whats the deal.

 

I don't want to here from people who want to air their beliefs ,but facts from people who have done or tried what I have asked

 

thank you

You set yourself up for people airing their beliefs when you said, and I quote: "if only one in the cabin has a drinks package, (all the men purchased one each some twelve months ago for this cruise) [this can only be understood that you didn't buy a package for yourself] if one of the wives want to go for a cocktail or coffee but the hubby wants to stay in the cabin and have a snooze, can his wife take his card and get a drink with it without him being there. [this can only be understood that you are going to order a drink with his card]"

Not sure how else to take that comment other than you not having a package and wanting to use his card to get yourself a drink. What you are asking is can you order a drink with his card if he isn't using it, [which is against the rules] and hoping people will support your plan with suggestions and ideas on how to do it without getting caught.

And, it is not our "beliefs". It is the rule. Why are people supporting the rules so offensive to you? Or is the idea of following the rules not done in Australia?

using someone else's card is sharing.

 

only the person who has purchased the Drink package my get drinks on the package( without paying additional for it). so it is unlikely that your friend will be able to use her husband's card to get a 'free' drink. also it is possible that the bartender would not allow her to purchase a drink on someone else's card. if she wants a drink for herself and him she must bring BOTH cards.

Or use the card for one and pay for the other.

The drink packages are not designed to be shared. Any person wanting the benefits of these packages MUST purchase the package. It is dishonest for two people to share a package. We each bought our own - I expect other people to be similarly honest.

duplicate post - sorry about that

Well, they already have an "Ice Bar", but I escaped from New Jersey to Florida to get away from the cold and snow (among other things), and hope to never see the stuff again!

 

Hey, how about a monsoon room? An earth quake room? What will Sheehan and his crew think of next?!! :D

I agree! Being from California, I feel discriminated against with this 'snow room' idea. We need an earthquake room so we can feel at home. :D

We have always found the ATMs in Europe to offer the best rates.

This is only a benefit if there isn't a use fee for an out of system ATM access. My bank charges $5 if I take money from an ATM that is not part of their partner groups. That charge will almost always negate the benefits of slightly lower exchange rates from the local ATMs. With this in mind, we always save money by getting foreign currency from my local bank. Saves the effort of hunting for a free ATM to use.