BruceMuzz

As a Hotel Manager on a cruise ship, I receive around 700 emails every day. That is one per every working minute of the day.

It is only 700 emails per day because the general public does NOT have my email address.

If my employer gave out my email address to the public I would never be able to leave my office.

Would you book a cruise through an airline?

I certainly would not.

Why would any intelligent person book an air ticket through a cruise line?

Many, many years ago, the cruise lines and the airlines considered themselves "partners in travel".

Those days are gone.

The airlines now consider cruise lines as direct competitors for the tourist dollar.

Any cruise line attempting to book discounted tickets through any airline will get exactly that - discounted flights. In this case, you don't even get what you paid for.

Anyone naïve enough to book air tickets through any cruise line can expect the very worst seating, worst itinerary, and worst overall service.

Most airlines have more business than they can handle. Why would they cave in to a cruise line begging for discounted tickets when they can sell those same tickets at a higher fare to the general public?

10 cruises with bank debit card. Never had any problems.

I have had 1,436 cruises (counting this week). About 1,000 of those cruises happened since the introduction of Debit Cards. On about 900 of those cruises we had anywhere from 1 to 10 passengers who spent the entire cruise on the telephone with their bank (instead of enjoying the cruise) trying to sort out all the problems with their debit cards. On this Christmas Cruise, we have only 3 cabins whose cruise has been ruined by these problems.

If you feel lucky, take a chance.

Most cruise lines have major problems with debit cards.

Straight purchases are not a problem.

But all the cruise lines put a daily credit hold on your card to guarantee that you will be able to pay your bill at the end of the cruise.

Many banks have problems placing credit holds on debit cards that essentially do not have any credit.

More often than not, your bank screws up your balances - or holds them for many weeks - which prevents you using the card to pay for anything else.

Much safer to use a regular credit card or cash deposit for the cabin charges.

Use the debit card only for regular purchases.

What is the price difference?

 

I know its the principle but over a cruise what is the extra cost on a few canned soda waters?

 

Best buy some at your first port and give princess Nothing;)

 

This is why I always smuggle booze! You are allowed to purchase duty free when you leave a country same as cruiselines get it tax free, but they want to sell you tax free booze at taxable prices to up their profits.

 

Could you imagine a land based Hotel taking your booze off you until you check out:confused:

 

Admittedly its rude to use your in room BYO booze at a bar hotel or cruise ship but if you want a cabin drink now and again why cant you drink your own?

 

I would have no problem buying soda as the post mix is not as good or consistent as canned soda.

 

I worked in a Nightclub once upon a time and management got me to remove all tap tops off the cold water taps in all toilets so patrons had to buy water at inflated prices:D

Could you imagine a land based hotel giving you free room service meals?

Could you imagine a land based hotel giving you free breakfast, lunch, and dinner?

Could you imagine a land based hotel giving you free evening entertainment?

Could you imagine a land based hotel giving you free transport from city to city?

Could you ever imagine an Australian hotel guest not complaining about everything?

CNN just aired a damning report showing Carnival Corp. knew of trouble and neglected to repair CCL's Triumph Engine 6. Fuel lines leaking onto engines, which caused Costa Alegra's fire, was a known issue but immediate fixes were not mandated.

 

But the kicker, in response to a passenger lawsuit, Carnival issued a statement that says the ticket contract "makes absolutely no guarantee for safe passage, a seaworthy vessel, adequate and wholesome food, and sanitary and safe living conditions."

 

What in the world? As they are the parent company of HAL, does this bother anyone like it does me?

It is not just Carnival. EVERY Cruise line has a similar passage contract.

It is not just the cruise lines.

EVERY Airline has a similar passage contract.

Now I have 2 questions for you:

1. If you are so concerned (as I am and you should be) about such things, why is it that you have never read these contracts?

2. Now that you know that all the cruise lines and airlines have similar contracts, will you still fly and cruise anyway?

The payout percentages on all the slot machines on my ship - and the 27 other ships I have managed on quite a few different cruise lines - never change.

There is no need to change them.

Slot machines are a sucker's game. We already make more money on them than any other activity in the casino.

The more money goes in - the more money comes out - but always the same percentage.

In the end we get to keep it all.

Thank you in advance for your donations.

There really is a very good reason why we call it gambling.......................................

The helicopters are Russian.

If I thought wrong then there were serious problems on all of the previous 11 cruises I have done - given they have all had sanitisers at the appropriate entries and some also in lift lobbies and that includes Seabourn ships!

 

It is easier to get people to use the goo than getting them to wash hands especially before entering food areas.

Yes, you did think wrong, and there may indeed have been serious problems on your 11 previous cruises.

It's absolutely ridiculous that in the 21st century, cruise lines are held responsible to teach supposedly civilized adults how to properly wash their hands after using the toilet.

You are correct. It is far easier to get people to use the "goo" as you call it then it is to convince them to properly clean themselves. Then they think their hands are sanitary and they handle all the food and utensils. But this "goo" does not kill viruses. It just smears them around on your hands, making it easier for you to deposit the viruses on things that other people touch, spreading the contagion.

The US Public Health Service has advised all cruise lines to remove hand sanitizers from public areas when the ship is NOT experiencing GI Outbreaks. Their studies have shown that most of the cruising public uses the sanitizer as a substitute rather than an adjunct to proper handwashing.

Ships that have followed the USPH advice to remove the sanitizer have reported a far lower number of NLV cases.

I'm. confused.

 

I don't really understand what the Health Department or the USCG have to do with a Dutch ship when it is in international waters.

 

Scott & Karen

The US Public Health Service claims jurisdiction over any non-US Flag cruise ship that sells tickets in the USA, visits the USA, or has a sister ship that visits the USA, or carries US Passengers anywhere in the world.

The US Coast Guard and US Navy make the same claims.

The US Internal Revenue Service has similar regulations:

If a European National boards a non-US Flag ship in a US Port, then wins a casino or bingo jackpot over $1200 in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, the cruise line is required to deduct US Income taxes from the winnings before giving the remainder to the winner. If the lucky winner boarded in any other country, he is not liable for any taxes.

US Customs is the same:

If a Dutch ship that sells tickets in America, or carries American passengers, or visits the USA, or has a sister ship that visits America even once, buys Cuban Cigars in China and then sells them to a European passenger anywhere in the world, US Customs will fine the cruise line US$1 Million.

I really don't care either way about this change in offering but I do care about limp excuses that make no logical sense. The regulators have never stopped anyone from serving Caesar Salad on dry land for health and safety reasons. Thousands of restaurants still do! I do believe flambes may be a bit dangerous on a ship but Caesar Salad??? :rolleyes: HAL is getting very good at coming up with excuses that make no sense to explain their decisions.

Assuming things usually gets us into trouble.

This is a perfect example.

Assuming that the regulators (USPH) for non-US Flag cruise ships have the same rules and regulations as the regulators (FDA) for North American shore-based hotels and restaurants was your first mistake. In fact most of their rules are completely different from each other.

USPH has no jurisdiction over land-based anything, and FDA has no jurisdiction over non-US Flag cruise ships.

The FDA has one set of required maximum food storage temperatures for land-based operations; USPH has a different set of maximum food storage temperatures for non-US Flag ships.

Assuming that the US Public Health regulations for food operations on ships have to make logical sense was another mistake. Many USPH regulations make no sense at all - but we still have to follow them.

Land-based regulators never stopped restaurants from serving fresh fish - but cruise ships cannot do it. Any fish served on a ship must be frozen for at least 72 hours before serving.

Land-based regulators never stopped restaurants from leaving dining tables set up for more than 4 hours - but cruise ships cannot do it. Once we hit 4 hours, all unused tables must be unset.

Land-based regulators never stopped restaurants from serving protein items purchased anywhere on earth - but cruise ships cannot do it. Any protein item served on a ship must be purchased from a US Certified vendor (which can only be in the USA).

Land-based regulators never stopped restaurants from serving or recycling leftovers - but cruise ships cannot do it. Any prepared food served on a ship must be consumed or discarded within 4 hours.

Land-based regulators never stopped restaurants from preparing fish and meat in the same kitchen - but cruise ships cannot do it. Fish, red meat, poultry, and eggs cannot be stored in the same room and cannot be prepared in the same room on a cruise ship.

Land-based regulators never stopped restaurants from hiring cooks without an international cooking certificate - but cruise ships cannot do it. The new MLC2006 regulations require that all cooks on a ship (even the crew cook) must have an international certificate of competence before boarding the ship.

Land-based restaurants can use heat lamps to keep food and plates hot. Cruise ships can only do this if the lamps are enclosed in armored cases that prevent glass shards from falling on food if the bulbs break. The same rule applies for every other light over any food preparation or dining area on a ship. Land-based restaurants have no such rules.

Land based restaurants can store canned drinks just about anywhere. Cruise ships must have special ceilings installed above those stored cans to prevent dust from settling on the cans.

Land-based bars and restaurants can serve just about any type of alcohol they choose - if they have a license. Cruise ships can only serve alcohol that is less than 110 proof.

Not sure about your ships, but most ships bunker water from shore not for cost savings as their first priority, but due to itinerary constraints, where port time exceeds sailing time (the only time they can make water, regardless of what type of watermaker is used). Itineraries with sea days tend to bunker water in port less than those without sea days.

 

A PP mentioned crew bringing bottled water onboard. This is usually a sign that the cruise line is not paying to keep recharging the Calcium Carbonate in the rehardening system, and yes, drinking distilled over long periods is not good for you, as the water will leach minerals from your teeth and bones just as Bruce says for the pipes onboard.

 

Another PP wondered about laundry. Most ships, from my experience, tend to use the water condensed from the A/C system for the ship's laundry. Those of you with central A/C at home know about the need for a small condensate pump to remove the condensed water from your unit. On a cruise ship, depending on the itinerary and time of year, this can amount to a couple of hundred tons of water a day.

 

Shore water sources, regardless of country, must meet WHO sanitation standards, and have records of this which must be retained onboard for inspection by USPH, and there are additional sanitizing processes for the shore connection, hoses, etc.

 

USPH requires that the ship's water tanks that are bunkered from shore, be tested for coliform bacteria prior to being used. This test takes 18-24 hours, so that tank must be quarantined until the test comes back negative. Water from 6 various places around the ship (sinks, showers, drinking fountains, etc) must also be tested monthly for bacteria.

Correction.

MOST SHIPS THAT DO THE 3 to 7 DAY "GRUNT" RUNS are concerned about port time vs sailing time in order to make enough water. The company I work for only does longer voyages with many sea days. We have no concerns about the sailing time needed to make water. We are only worried about the excessive fuel costs involved in producing water, and the proper mix of minerals in the water. We purchase almost all of our potable water from shore. It saves a great deal of fuel and money, and keeps the price of passage down, without any negative impact on our guests.

MOST NEWER SHIPS do use A/C technical water for laundry in order to save money on potable water. But the older ones rarely do that. The metal ions leeched out of the A/C system tend to make all the laundry look grey and dirty. Our older ships only use regular potable water for laundry. The technical water is used only for washing decks.

when you book a cruise and then go into the personalizer, it does not show the actual date for each port but rather starts with day 1 and goes on. you have to count in order to figure out the actual date in a specific port. I though I had found a place once that listed actual date but don't know where that was.

 

This is especially important if you are booking private tours.

 

Thanks

You have to count........... A very painful task in the 21st century - especially when you are on a cruise longer than 20 days. Then you run out of fingers and toes.

I wonder how many CC Posters have a real table cloth (not plastic) on their table when they eat Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner at home?

There is also a helicopter transfer service that runs occasionally between Hanoi and Halong Bay. They use old helos left over from the war.

Travel time is around 40 minutes one-way.

Prices seem to vary.

Your guest speaker may know quite a bit about water, but he is not very knowledgeable about ship's water.

Most cruise ships - depending on their age - have 2 possible choices in producing fresh water from sea water; distillation and reverse osmosis.

Both systems require extra fuel ($$) to produce that water.

With fuel prices at an all-time high, it currently costs us around US$6 per ton to produce fresh water using these systems.

The water produced onboard is absolutely pure, but also completely lacking in minerals. When this water is pumped through metal pipes to your cabin, the metal ions in the pipes are quickly leeched out, causing leaks and pipe failures. So the cruise line has to add mineral salts to the purified water in order to help save the pipes. These mineral salts are not completely effective, but they do help. These salts also add a bit of taste to the water.

All potable water on ships - regardles of the source - has small amounts of chlorine and bromine added to kill any bacteria in the water.

All potable water - regardles of the source - on ships built after 1995 is also exposed to intense ultraviolet radiation that kills anything and everything living in the water. When that water reaches your cabin, it is absolutely free of any bacteriological danger.

Many ports around the world are quite happy to sell potable water to cruise ships. The price is generally between US$3 and US$4 per ton.

One advantage - aside from lower cost - is the fact that shore-produced water contains the metal and mineral ions lacking in ship-produced water. The more shore water we use, the longer our pipes last (and the more money and fuel we save).

A large Princess ship consumes around 3,000 tons of fresh water per day. If they bunker 30,000 tons of water in a port, the company saves between $60,000 and $90,000 in operating costs over a 10 day period.

You can imagine that every cruise line is more than happy to purchase potable water in any port at every opportunity.

When my ship is in Laem Chabang, most of the crew (male and female) take taxis down to Pattaya to watch the "Tiger Shows".

Hint: There are no Tigers in these shows - but it is quite an educational and unique experience.

Thanks, make sense:D

 

How do we say goodbye to what they had - tablecloths.

I know where this road is going - no more towel animals

All I know is what they had - great food and comfi beds

If we get to see tomorrow - more cutbacks

But forever gone away- the young at heart

It's hard to say goodbye - to tradition

 

I agree with you completely.

What's "traditional" cruising?

I started cruising (working on ships) in the 1970's.

In 1973, a 7-day cruise on my ship in a standard outside cabin (there were no balconies) cost US$ 3,500 per person. That was the same price as a new Buick automobile.

Everyone was well dressed, well traveled, well spoken, well educated, well behaved.

Most of my guests had traveled around the world multiple times; many were multi-lingual.

We had towel animals for children - but not for adults.

Nearly every night was formal might. We never saw people wearing denims or bathrobes in public.

We never had discussions about the merits of American Fast Food, because my guests didn't eat that sort of thing.

Nobody ever complained about the price of anything.

The average tip per person per day was $25. In those days $25 was quite a bit of money.

Real "traditional dining" was the only way we did it. This meant that you had a table reserved just for your cabin for every day for the voyage. You could dine at any time and stay as long as you liked, because we were not feeding you in early and late shifts (factory-style) like we do today.

We had no television, no internet or wifi, no broadway-style shows, very few entertainers, one tiny swimming pool, no art auction, a tiny spa, a tiny gym, no jogging track, no childrens center, no alternative restaurants, very limited room service.

We did have one major problem. All the ladies brought their furs to wear every night. But we never had enough refrigerated storage lockers to properly store all the furs. Some of our guests got very upset that we could not properly look after their furs every week. This was our #1 complaint nearly every week.

Today the #1 onboard complaint is the price of a Coca-Cola.

That was MY traditional cruising. And it is long gone - never to return.

Unless I get to charge you today the price of a new Buick Automobile for a 7-day cruise.

If you will pay me $35,000 for a one week cruise, I can guarantee you would have everything and more that we offered in the "good old days".

I was responding to this post, I should have quoted it back with the reply:D:)

For me the cheaper the cruise the greater my on board spending (pics, drinks, soda card, pics, arcades games, soda card, pics). I spend more on a cruise on Carnival than I do RCL. More on a cruise with my kids than as a couple.

"For me" is where you are going wrong.

Mass Market cruising is not designed for you and doesn't cater to you.

It is designed to appeal to the masses.

You may spend more on a cheaper cruise - but MOST of the masses do not.

In fact it is exactly the opposite.

Cruise lines no longer make a profit selling cruises. In fact, we often sell them at a loss. Please do not advise me to change the system - that decision is above my pay grade.

We only make a profit selling things to passengers once they get onboard.

Cheaper cruises appeal mostly to people who cannot afford the more expensive ones.

Most of these people have no money.

Many of them spend a lot of time on Cruisecritic, trying to cut their onboard spending even further.

The cheaper the cruise, the lower the onboard spending - hence the lower the onboard revenues and the lower the onboard profits.

On cheaper cruises, the only way the cruise lines can make a profit is through massive cost cutting.

Making less profit and revenues so why continue to build monstrosities. Each line is coming out with a bigger class of ship, even Princess. Were they more profitable with smaller ships but higher quality that cost more. Why the monstrosities of the sea.

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Forums mobile app

You have it completely wrong.

The American Wal-Mart business model has taken over the cruise industry.

Oasis of the Seas alone currently makes more money - and profit - than other entire cruise lines that have as many as 15 smaller ships.

Perhaps the original question on this thread SHOULD have asked:

"Are cruise passengers cutting back?"

The answer is a definite YES.

Today's average cruise passenger pays less for the cruise, and spends far less money once onboard.

But operating a cruise ship costs more and more every year.

Cruise lines then make less revenue and less profit.

So they have less money to spend on passenger perks and amenities.

That's when the cruise lines are forced to cut back.

All of the art auctions should be taken off all ships. Takes up to much room and most of it is ugly anyway.

There is a very easy solution to this problem.

Art Auction on a ship the size of Ruby Princess generates about $300,000 in revenue every week.

The cruise line could just increase everyone's fare by $100 on every 7-day cruise to make up the difference and then nobody would have to suffer through the auctions.

Of course Princess would lose those customers who spend that $300,000 every week, as they would go to other cruise lines that still offer the art auctions.

So to make up for the lost fares and other revenues paid by those people, Princess could tack on another $100 per person per week.

This way everybody wins.

Princess makes the same amount of money as before, and you only have to spend an additional $200 per person per week to avoid those nasty art auctions.

Let's send a petition to Princess and demand they follow up.

Is everybody with me???????

Why is it that Australia and Qantas discriminate against Japanese?

If I want to fly from Tokyo to Sydney, I must pay twice as much as an Australian who books a flight from Sydney to Tokyo.

I can assure you that is the exception not the rule in Australia. I have not been charged a service fee at a restaurant in Australia and the only time I have heard of it over here is on public holidays where the staff have to be paid penalty rates, sometimes up to three times the normal hourly rate. My 20 year old nephew waits on tables at a mid price restaurant and receives $20 per hour for doing it, I know of others that receive more and some that receive a little less. The wages for waiters and bar staff in Australia is equitable with other workers of a similar skill level, that is why tipping is only done over here for exceptional service.

 

To say that a service charge is added to pay staff wages in an Australian restaurant is ridiculous, wages over here are regulated by law and even if the restaurant never sold one meal for the night the staff would still get the same pay.

 

The non paying of the HSC on cruise ships by Australians is easily fixed, all they have to do is include it in the fare, it could not be more simpler. It is not just Australians that don't pay the HSC either, on a recent HAL Baltic cruise there were American and Dutch cruisers boasting that they would not be paying any HSC.

 

One other reason some Australians are hesitant to pay the HSC is because on average we pay much more for the same cruise than our American friends. As an example a 14 day cruise in an oceanview cabin on the Maasdam departing 6th Dec is available to Americans for $749 while the same cabin would cost Australians $1945. That is not a misprint, more than two and a half times the price for the same cabin.

 

As to an $80 increase in fare turning into $200 after tax I think that needs some explaining. I am not aware of why money paid as a fare would be taxed at over 200% wile money paid as a HSC would not be taxed.

 

For the record as stated earlier I always pay the HSC and usually give a little more to staff directly.

 

As I also said earlier, it is not the cruisers responsibility to make sure the staff receive a fair wage, it is the cruise lines.

My staff and I encountered this "exceptional" service charge in restaurants in Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Broome, Exmouth, Fremantle, Perth, Adelaide, and Melbourne. We did not encounter it in Sydney or Hamilton Island

Of course in Hamilton Island the local officials informed us that our Asian and Caribbean Crewmembers were not welcome to go ashore. They did not want a bunch of "brown and black skinned people" wandering around the island.

This service charge seems to be a rather widespread Australian policy for an "exception".

In every case, it was explained that this non-negotiable service charge was being used to pay a proper wage to the service staff.

We never encountered anything like this in New Zealand - only Australia.

So is it the responsibility of my un-tipped crew to ensure that the Australian Restaurant Staff receive a fair wage - or is it the responsibility of the Australian Government?

Is this a Holland America Line ship you speak of?

No. But HAL ships are having the same problems we have.