sparks1093

I only feel sorry for them when people arbitrarily remove the tips. I'm not talking about the folks who remove them and give them in cash.

You are right, for the type of travel the OP is doing they don't need one. Now whether or not they should have one, as I said in my original response, is based on a lot of different factors. Passport is certainly the king of travel documents but some people only need a queen or a jack.

I think they do just fine at the process but we all do what we do.

That is also another reason. Many of the missionary priests in our state had to go home because their work visa was expiring and it was going to take Immigration some time to work through the backlog.

There is a shortage of workers in a lot of industries right now and I don't think that we've reached a point where we can say we've returned to normal. Onboard ship it is standard for all employees to perform multiple jobs, that's true of almost all seafaring jobs. None of this indicates that the tipping model is failing. The steward who is cleaning 35 cabins used to clean, what, 20 twice a day so their overall workload remains the same. In any event as I've said multiple times they deserve every penny they get.

I do see the big picture but to me it doesn't matter how much a person makes if they deserve a tip they get a tip. I'm sure over the years I've tipped people who made more than I did at that time. Bottom line is they work hard and deserve every penny they get.

A simple check will prove your story. I figure I trust the cruise line with my very life while I'm onboard, so trusting them in a smaller matter is easy. Yes, a passport would clear all doubts but it's also helpful to know what alternatives there are.

The smoking rules on ships have changed because society has changed and smoking is becoming less and less tolerated. The authorities identified smoking as the likely cause of Star Princess, but they did not identify it as the cause because they couldn't definitively identify the cause. I served on many ships in the Navy and never saw such a conflagration caused by a cigarette. OP, I would also report them to guest services.

I am not sure why you say that. It works for the employer. It works for the employee. The only way it doesn't work is if passengers don't do their small part.

You should avoid labeling people who choose to do things differently than you do. It is unnecessary and interferes with open debate. As I just pointed out if a cop stops me I point out that I am a cruise ship passenger and he knows that his government has cleared me to be in his country. If I miss the ship (highly unlikely but still a remote possibility) then I make contact with the port agent and he will give me my passport that the crew has retrieved from my cabin safe. And to answer your next question if for some bizarre reason they didn't do that then the port agent will take care of getting me where I need to go, even if that means flying home and even if that means flying home without my passport. Yes, that is possible since the DHS regulations contain provisions for the waiver of the passport requirement. It would be a hassle, which is why I make all effort to be back onboard well before the boarding time. Undocumented does NOT mean that you don't have your documents with you.

You say that you are a passenger on the cruise ship. Most people go ashore without their passport so by your definition they are "undocumented", but that isn't the case. The cruise ship passengers, regardless of what documents they used to board the ship, are indeed documented in accordance with international agreement. The cop who stops you knows that as a passenger on the ship his government has indeed made sure that you are documented. You are way over thinking this. And many people choose to travel on closed loop cruises with something other than a passport for many different reasons. While some of them may indeed be foolish most of them aren't.

And one thought that I had after the last time I posted on this, they will need to deal with this on the little time off they are given. So instead of having some down time they have to take the time to go to wherever they need to go in order to turn this in, maybe even having to wait in line in order to deal with it.

It doesn't matter to me what it's called, it's how the hardworking crew is compensated and that is all that I need to know.

The tips don't stretch as far as some believe and they are paid to the traditionally tipped or tipped out crew members. Yes, I agree, giving additional tips in cash is a good approach but that is over and above what is paid with the auto gratuities.

Except the tips are pooled so your calculations don't work. And even if this were the case, your bolded statement is wrong because it would only apply if there were a tip shortage, which likely wouldn't happen often enough to be a concern, so leaving an additional trackable tip would benefit the crew member much more often than not.

Ok, I misunderstood your post. 12 years ago the WHTI was till new to everyone, including CBP. They've learned a lot since then.

This is one of the benefits of using a tip pool for the employees, it minimizes the effect of people that leave no tip or under tip (and it also evens out the effect of empty cabins). I believe that Carnival uses a tip pool, based on a lot of reading and my own knowledge of how things work, so doing simple math to determine how much your steward is making doesn't work. At least Carnival allows staff to keep any tips given over and above the auto gratuity amount, in some establishments all tips go into the pool. While I understand why some folks like to remove the tips and leave the same amount in cash they are just making more work for themselves and for the staff. Since I think the staff works hard enough I don't want to add to their work load.

Entering from a land border is different than re-entering on a closed loop cruise. The risk of human trafficking is also much lower for a closed loop cruise (and probably cruises in general). All passengers are vetted by CBP while the cruise is ongoing (which is why clearing Customs at the end of the cruise is so fast) and if they look at documents at all it is very cursory. When we disembarked from our cruise in February they didn't even look at anyone's documents, they stood outside their checkpoints and smiled at everyone as they went by (probably because there were no flagged passengers that they needed to be looking for or any other passenger concerns).

I tend to side in the camp that this won't be a problem. Bring copies of the paperwork that you submitted to make the correction. The worst I can see happening is that a sharp eyed CBP officer might huff and puff and possibly send you to secondary inspection. There you'll tell your story and likely be on your way in a short time.

Just a word about reading reviews- most of them need to be taken with a grain of salt and every cruise line receives some bad reviews. Reviews regarding the food are problematic because one person's greasy cheeseburger is another person's juicy cheeseburger. General statements like "all of the food sucked" or "we couldn't find anything edible the whole week" are not helpful and probably a bit exaggerated anyway. I'm sure that the food on MSC is just fine and while some might not be to your liking there should be enough options to get you through the week. I applaud you for taking your little one with you, I remember what we had to do for a day trip to visit grandparents and quail at the thought of a week long trip.

This thread got me to thinking so I pulled out a set of Fun Times from our cruise in 2012. No mention of credit card holds. While I miss the Fun Times using the app is more friendly to the environment.

Weird, I would think that is something that would be programmed into the Point of Sale system and would be automatically applied.

They also cover it in their FAQ: Sail & Sign Account Opened with a Credit Card or Debit Card Guests may activate their Sail & Sign account on Carnival.com, My Cruise Manager, Online Check-in prior to their cruise or on the first day of the cruise at embarkation. On embarkation day, an initial bank hold of up to $200 (depending on cruise length) is placed on all credit card and debit card accounts to verify that the card is valid: 2 - 6 day cruise: $100 USD for each stateroom charged using the same credit card or debit card 7 days or longer: $200 USD for each stateroom charged using the same credit card or debit card If the guest replaces a credit card or debit card previously used, the hold will remain on the account during the cruise and will remain on the account for one or more days after the cruise depending on the issuing bank's hold policy, limiting access to funds. As money is spent throughout the cruise, additional holds on bank funds are obtained. This will result in multiple amounts being held. If a credit card is presented, this will reduce the amount available on the credit card for other purchases. If a debit/check-cashing card is presented, the hold will restrict the available cash in the checking account. On the day the cruise returns, Carnival immediately settles the guest's account with their bank for the total amount of their onboard expenses. Holds will remain on the account for one or more days depending on the issuing bank's hold policy, limiting access to funds. For Debit Card Holders, if using this form of payment, the bank will process the final total spent on the guest's Sail & Sign account plus retain the bank holds processed, per the bank policy. The bank is responsible for releasing any pending holds from the guest's account. Please Note: Carnival is not able to expedite the release of bank holds. The guest will need to contact their bank for assistance.

As was pointed out above if a drink is over the $20 limit you only get a 25% discount. Sometimes the fine print sucks.

We always use www.insuremytrip.com and find a plan that provides both robust medical coverage and robust medevac coverage. We don't worry about Cancel For Any Reason because if we do end up cancelling it would be for a covered reason. I've read that a good rule of thumb is that insurance shouldn't be more than 10% of the amount insured and we usually find plans that are 5-7% of that. If you book your insurance within a certain period of time from making your deposit (usually 10 to 14 days) some plans will include a pre-existing condition waiver. As mentioned, Carnival's plan doesn't take age into account whereas the plans sold by others often do so at some point that might be a factor for us.