Da-Painter

When you give money in the beginning it's a bribe, not a tip. I don't understand the rationale of giving someone money when they haven't earned it yet. But, that's just my opinion.

You give money to someone at the beginning to let them know that you are the boss, and you demand they do a good job for you. That if you did not give them this money now, they would not provide good service for you.

Its insulting.

JMHO.

Also just got off the Spirit on Tuesday, & got the 8 piece box. I do not think they are all that tasty, DW eats some of them. We were in a suite. Got nightly mints.

We are each Platinum, did not do the 'Behind' tour, as we have been on it before, missed the Latitudes party, but did the 2 free bags of laundry.

Hi All

Do you really need to download and print your cruise documents and bring them to the pier with you

I don't think they looked at mine last year

I think I just went to the desk and showed my passport to check in

Thanks

JS

NO, don't bother printing them, just take your passport as before.

And if they ask for them, just tell them no one looked at them last time, consequently, there's no reason to print them.

Let us know later how that worked for you. :)

It is a improvisation comedy show.

 

It gets very mixed reviews, some love it, some hate it. I managed to watch it for about 15 minutes, and was pleased to leave.

Those are agonizing 15 minutes.

They have the same skits all the time.

The performers will laugh, to let you know what's funny.

That's about it. :eek:

I'm not sure if I'm the best person to fill in that particular blank! :rolleyes:

No, there's another term for that. :eek::):eek:

How true.

Our first cruise was in 93', Alaska cruise from Vancouver to Anchorage.

We went to a travel agent, hard to find a cruise expert then. One could not book something like a cruise without a travel agent then.

DW and I had an inside, there was only 1 way to this cabin, I think it was directly over the propeller. Was about $2,700 per person, didn't want to spend more for a balcony then. And to us, it was the "Cat's Meow".

The ship was built in 1957, had the 6" high thresholds you had to step over to move around the ship.

Now we cruise in a suite, for less then that.

Things change, but cruising is so much more today, then what was available 21 years ago. :)

People have off that week? Really? I would think most people have off the week of Christmas, not the week before.

 

But yesterday I could get it on a certain club membership wholesale place (if you know what I'm talking about) for $519. I would love it to go down to the low 400's. My dad was able to get a cruise for low 200s last year and we were thrilled. I just want to get the best deal I can!

 

We don't drink (my dad will have a few beers) or gamble. So we don't really have any charges besides the tips. But that's irrelevant.

From about mid November to early January is when folks take holiday vacations. Try booking airfares and getting dirt cheap fares during this time. The airline's know they do not need to discount fares to fill the planes, nor do other travel services.

Did you also consider joining AARP, you do not need to be 50+ to join. Its about $16/yr, and you may be able to save additional $$ in booking the cruise. It may feel depressing to do so, but for the $$ savings, it may be worth it.

Good luck. ;)

I am thinking about booking a 9 night cruise to Eastern Caribbean on December 13. I was looking last night at prices and today the price jumped up $30. A few weeks ago it had dropped $150. (So now we're $120 under the first time I found the cruise) So I'm wondering if the price will continue to rise until sail date, or if the price will go down again. That week before Christmas isn't really when people have time off so I don't see the rooms filling up completely. Does anyone have any experience with this? What will happen?

This is the time folks have time off to cruise, consequently, cruises fill up, and are more expensive.

How much are you willing to pay, how much of a drop are you expecting to see? Hundreds of $$, or $10-20???

Are you willing to pass up a cruise for a pittance amount of money? that really does not amount to much in the end. Folks will stress out over $25 or $50, then pay off a $1,000 bar bill at the end of the cruise.

We can guess what can occur with pricing, sometimes these questions are like what the price of stocks are going to do, we do not know.

If you want to go on a cruise, book a low priced guarantee, hope for an upgrade, and have a great time. Hopefully $100 will not impact you financially. :eek:

The old days of rushing around at the end of a cruise trying to find people who helped you all week to give a tip to are over. That was not a very efficient way to do things.

I like that I can go eat, and use a variety of services, without having to carry money with me passing out tips to everyone who opens a door for me, or fills my water glass. I am on vacation, with the understanding I am not required to pass out tips continuously. With the DSC it is all taken care of, I let NCL do this for me, they have a system, works for most folks.

We will usually give an additional gratuity of thanks to our cabin stewards, as they always do a great job, as well as butlers, etc.

We will also write up the comment card with employee names and information, these are available at the pursers desk, and can really benefit the employee more then giving them a few more dollars. They can get additional off time, get more acknowledgement from NCL, etc., which they appreciate more.

This system works for me.

I don't think they can detain you from non-payment of the DSC as it isn't a law.

This is called "Theft of Services", look it up. Could be charged as a larceny, and may be either a misdemeanor or a felony, based upon the value of the services.

Google Park West, then read for a couple of hours. After you digest that, run!!!

READ THE ABOVE!

Its taking advantage of folks stupidity, who are made to think they are getting a deal. They have to entice you with liquor, get you sauced, so you make a poor decision; but they are in business to make money. :eek:

We did a forward suite on the Star through the Panama Canal, it was great for that.

Otherwise, it was a big deck, no shade, windy, hard to sit out there and enjoy it a lot.

Big door has to be closed, and curtains closed at nite. The ceiling tiles would shake when front door is open. If you open front door and cabin hallway door, you will create horrible winds.

Since, we have done the aft suites, and really like them.

Such a different experience at the aft, versus the side balconies. The ships wake is very comforting to see and listen to. Have our next 3 cruises booked for afts.

Would only book a fore suite for something like the Canal.

Hope this helps.

;)

When we did this cruise we always docked.

In Mykonos we docked, and they had a free shuttle into town, its only a mile away, not really a walkable 1 mile, small road, no shoulder.

But sometimes it tenders in Mykonos. ;)

I think in our bus there were about 25 people, so it was not crowded.

They have a number of excursions that take folks to a variety of beaches. This one did not include any food or drinks, you can take your own or buy them there.

The pool was only a few feet deep, so your kids should enjoy it.

If you go on this, just go explore the ruins on your own, and then catch back up with the tour guide. I recall he was not very efficient, slow, and went on and on and on.....consequently we did not see everything. Then you can see all the ruins. Its very small, but part of the excursion is for you to buy stuff in their shops.

Yes, we did this one last year, you head across the island, there are small ruins. Get off the bus, spend 30 minutes being sold stuff, pictures taken. Then the tour guide starts taking you through the ruins. About 1/2 way through, you leave, we did not get to see everything, and continue across the island to a restaurant on the beach, with some shacks with more stuff for sale. The beach was not very conducive for getting into the water, very rocky. There was a swimming pool, typical plastic lounge chairs, a few iguanas roaming around, which was the highlight of the trip. It was a low cost excursion, but was quite disappointed with it.

I would like to see all the ruins, so next time I will take a taxi out and back to see them. To sit on the beach there was nothing special.:eek:

I don't know about OP's particular offer, but my DH's first cruise was a gift for us attending a Blue Green timeshare presentation in Indianapolis. We received a voucher for a Carnival cruise. Yes, the presentation was painful and they get ugly with you once they realize you are a firm, 'No', but the cruise voucher, itself, was definitely legit.

 

Our voucher was from a company called Spirit Incentives. There were a lot of fine print deadlines, but as long as you were organized, we got our cruise for just the port charges and taxes and had a huge inside stateroom on the Carnival Fascination. This was in 2003.

 

That 'free' cruise has since cost my DH dearly. He is hooked on cruising now! ;)

Just go to http://www.ripoffreport.com for this company, and save yourself time and money.

Just pay a $100 deposit, and $600 deposit, and you will end up with nothing.

See their other charming reports.:eek:

I have a bridge for sale in Brooklyn if anyone is interested.

I'd be interested in it, only if you threw in a NCL cruise. ;:eek:

We are Platinum, and got free laundry service.

The last time on the Spirit, our room steward took our bag, and delivered it back to us the next day. Can't complain about that. :)

AND, you do not need to be 50+ to join AARP.

I had my daughter join AARP, in her 30's, and she and her husband got the discount on a suite. For $16/yr, its worth it. :)

Hey Snow1, why the long face?;)

1. Free alcohol

2. Free specialty dinning in all venues

3. 100% cash refund on all gambling losses

4. Convert ALL staterooms into Aft Facing Penthouse Suites

5. Lobster night - every night

6. An additional 20,000 poolside lounge chairs added to every pool deck

7. An additional 25 hot tubs added to each ship

 

:D:D:D:D:D

Finally, a realistic idea!!!!

When you get off the ship into the terminal, there will be someone directing folks, they will direct you to taxis, they are always waiting to wisk you away. The taxi is the easiest and most reasonable way to get to the airport.

We use to book our suites directly, but now use a big membership store and save about 10% doing so. Still get all the perks.

Be sure to check out joining aarp, for an additional 5% off.

:)

We had a front suite, the deck is about 15'X15', and the best for viewing the entire movement thru the canal.

We invited others to join us, and the butler brought refreshments for us.

There is no shade, and the butler brought us umbrellas to keep cool.

Its an all day journey thru the canal, and all the public areas are packed early in the morning.

There are other limitations to using this front deck, wind, keeping the door and curtains closed at nite. But If I were to go thru the canal again, I would choose these cabins. But for most other cruises, I would not.

Just curious. Do you take medical insurance for trips abroad?

No, and to make some shiver, I do not buy extended warranties on products I buy in stores either. Different strokes for different folks.