Mark_T

11 hours ago, Reds4life said:

We usually give the room attendant my wife's free bottle of champagne from being Diamond. We don't drink and MSC won't give us Diet Coke instead so it goes to waste unless we donate it. They have always appreciated it 

... or at least they have always said they appreciated it and probably returned it to stock.

The crew are very good at being positive in all guest interactions, but they are also going to be very careful about receiving 'gifts' of ship stock items and may not even drink alcohol anyway.

$$ are always the best gift (only real exception was during Covid when they were unable to leave the ship).

12 hours ago, nferr said:

 Gratuities aren't compulsory, they're optional. You can choose to not pay them. At least for US bookings.

That is the point, unless that changes then I don't see any chance that they will include them directly in their advertised prices as they do in other markets.

3 hours ago, perakcruiser said:

As long as they are not mandatory in the US, MSC maybe will not include them to show lower prices. 

I'm sure they will follow whatever the rest of the market does, as they are mostly driven by the price-comparison sites and other advertising.

As long as the competition offers fares without compulsory gratuities and advertises those prices I'd be surprised if they did anything different...

1 hour ago, perakcruiser said:

...never having a durian or other nice fruit from home. Not even a dragon fruit. But here is the point, I don't think your grocery store, even it's called "international", can provide this.

 

Dragon fruit and for that matter durian are not hard to find in European food stores, even Costco sell them in many countries, but I'm sure you wouldn't suggest anyone tried to travel to a cruise with fresh durian 🙂 

17 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

Nailed it. ^^^.  When in Rome, don’t try and change it to Australia. 

... need to remember that works both ways though and don't try to export US tipping to other countries...

20 minutes ago, Eaglestrike said:

That is OK if YOU ARE NOT IN THE YACHT CLUB, but if you are in the YC where the Butlers/Asst. Butlers, Waitstaff etc., are treating you like a King & Queen then in my humble opinion they should be tipped and this is what they expect however will not say this.

That is fine, it is your opinion, and one I generally agree with, but when people read simple statements like '...

6 hours ago, Eaglestrike said:

The daily amount that they charge on your bill is for the team members that are not in sight like laundry or prep work in the kitchen etc., not the Butlers/Waiters in the Yacht Club. 

... they are apt to misunderstand and believe that those crew are excluded form the tip pool, hence my comment.

5 hours ago, Eaglestrike said:

The daily amount that they charge on your bill is for the team members that are not in sight like laundry or prep work in the kitchen etc., not the Butlers/Waiters in the Yacht Club. 

I do not believe that to be true, they all share in that tip pool, both those you see and those you do not.

... of course as I've said before additional tipping where deserved is fully understandable, but it is additional, as they are included in the pool.

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

 As we discussed on the Divina, our Butler did not receive a tip from us.

Understood, there are always going to be exceptions, and if for whatever reason there was nothing 'over and above' about the service then I fully agree, nothing extra was due.

On 5/23/2024 at 1:10 AM, DaKahuna said:

Japan is an amazing country.  Rich in culture and heritage.  We loved it. 

So glad to finally get a chance to read this entire thread, sounds like you both had an amazing time.

Had a lot of family stuff to deal with since we parted company in Miami earlier this year, but I was determined to get to this tread eventually, and it was certainly worth the read.

Thanks also to the others sailing with you for their contributions.

This itinerary remains on our bucket list for sure.

4 hours ago, surrmanther said:

The cost is so expensive I dont think we could afford to go on the cruise if we had to pay for the two weeks wifi...

What do you believe the cost to be..? ... and where are you cruising from?

Getting a single device plan shouldn't be prohibitive, so I'm wondering if you are looking at the right prices and perhaps just looking at the single-day rate x 14?

2 hours ago, cellfree said:

So, are you on the ship?

This is the important question as I'm sure we are all hoping that the OP gets to go on their cruise, and their experience in how it was handled at the port would be helpful for a lot of people...

This is from the CBP website:

U.S. citizens on closed-loop cruises will be able to enter or depart the country with proof of citizenship, such as an Enhanced Driver's License (EDL), a government-issued birth certificate (issued by the Vital Records Department in the state where he or she was born) or passport, and if 16 or older, a government issued driver's license, picture ID, denoting photo, name, and date of birth. The Enhanced Driver's License (EDL) allows you to re-enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. The EDL is only accepted at land and sea border crossings, not for air travel. An U.S. citizen under the age of 16 will be able to present either an original, notarized or certified copy of his or her birth certificate, a Consular Report of Birth Abroad issues by Department of State, (DOS) and/or Certificate of Naturalization issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

https://cbpcomplaints.cbp.gov/s/article/Article1378?language=en_US

The critical point for leaving the USA on a cruise is proving citizenship, EDL does do that, Real ID does not as it is available to non-citizens.

In general I'd suggest keeping a close eye on the 'Healthy' section of the menu as they will slip in some excellent choices there, like the butter chicken, and it is all too easy to miss them if you don't study that section every day.

1 minute ago, ready2cruzagain said:

This is not correct. It has to be a state certified copy of your birth certificate and a Government issued ID. It does not have to be an enhanced drivers license.

The EDL is enough on its own though, which would have been helpful here.

30 minutes ago, Peteloo23 said:

Not enhanced. Its real ID from CA

I believe Jamie is correct, Real ID on its own is not going to be enough sadly..

7 hours ago, Peteloo23 said:

Going on 7 day cruise tommorow and forgot my passport. Is a photo copy of birth certificate and drivers license okay for boarding? I am leaving from florida and returning here.

Is that an Enhanced Drivers License?

A photocopy of your birth certificate isn't going to be acceptable.

4 hours ago, oceans.calling said:

What if you need Kosher wine?  Trying to find out what they carry (if any) on board. Form sent to Special Needs but no response. Traveling with friends who require Kosher. 

Did they already sort out the food?

There is a list on the MSC Israel website of the Kosher food options...

https://msccruises.co.il/en/on-board/dining-drinks/kosher/

No idea if this is available on all cruises though...

24 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

i just booked my 2nd cruise a few days ago. my TA gave me my price with the discount applied, unsure his mechanism that he got the price but i'm glad i got it.  it was a tad off compared to the site price but immaterial enough to me that i didnt argue. saved that 5 plus his 9 percent is pretty good

Around 9% is about right as it isn't 5+5=10%, it is 5% off then 5% off the remaining 95%, this is why it is written as 5+5%.

So you get 9.75% discount rather than 10%

8 minutes ago, SpareBrew said:

You can reapply for a status match update.  My MIL was Platinum on Princess when she did her status match (making her gold on MSC) then became Elite a couple months ago.  She applied again and is now Diamond.

I would not depend on that as it is officially not allowed.

Glad she got lucky but I wouldn't treat that as a generally available option...

MSC only let each passenger do one status match, and your current status would get you Gold, but if you  wait until you are Princess Elite that would match to Diamond.

On the other-hand it really doesn't take long to get from Gold to Diamond...

No, you cannot bring wine onboard to consume during the cruise.

If you do purchase anything while in port on a cruise it will be stored for you until the end of the cruise.

11 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

$112 pp/week  .. 1413 crew  = 8 cents per crew member which goes to paying their contracted salaries. If passengers remove their gratuities the cruise line is obligated to make up the difference to reach the minimum contractual salary.

As I understand it, the MSC contract provides for their salary in full and in addition a guaranteed sum which reflects their anticipated minimum share of the daily service charge. This allows the crew to plan what they are sending home and removes the fear of being impacted by passengers removing the charges during the cruise.

Then as long as the service charges collected exceed the expected minimum they get an additional bonus, if it falls short then MSC cover the difference.

This always seemed like a fair solution and gives the crew some stability when they have a large percentage of guests from markets that allow the removal of the 'gratuities' during a cruise...

1 hour ago, sollyman said:

Well Mark_ T we did!

... I did say 'most' ... 🙂

16 minutes ago, actuarian said:

Is this also true in the Yacht Club? Do the butlers usually receive cash tips?

Yes, and Yes.

I defy most people to stay in YC and not feel a strong desire to leave an additional tip for your Butler and his assistant.

1 hour ago, dasi11 said:

Are daily tips charged to the room for the waiters, room steward, etc.?

Everyone, including your butler are covered by the daily service charge that will appear on your room charges if you booked in the USA.

Additional tipping is always welcomed but never expected.