repo-cruiser

FOX News! Wow .... They are hardly likely to go for just the sensational aspect, after all they are part of the Murdoch empire. :eek:

 

I can just imagine the threads here if Anthem had delayed sailing and the storm had not escalated.

 

"I am stuck in Port and there is no reason we could not be cruising. This is the last cruise I do with RCI"

 

"Don't RCI realise their ships are built to sail in poor weather. My vacation is now ruined. The Captain should be sacked"

 

"I have been sailing for XX years and we have been through far worse. I remember back in .... <long irrelevant anecdote> .... so I cannot see why we did not sail."

 

"I am D+ and cannot believe they have delayed me. I did not even get a personal visit from the captain to ask my valued opinion. Royal now ignores the advice we give them. It's not like the good old days"

 

Then some others will point out that it was the safe thing to do, but they will get flamed for their opinions.

 

 

 

Sail or not sail. Either way ...... it's been fun. :D

"That sound you hear is the gnashing of teeth and the rending of garments in newsrooms everywhere from ABC to MSNBC, following the results of a Suffolk University/USA TODAY poll released Wednesday which declares Fox News the cable and network news ratings winner.

According to the survey of 1,000 likely voters conducted Sept. 24-28 (with the usual margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points), 23 percent of U.S. voters named Fox News as the TV news or commentary source they trust the most, reports The Washington Times.

CNN -- the self-proclaimed "most trusted name in news" -- was a distant second at 15 percent, then NBC at 10 percent, CBS at 9 percent, and ABC at 6 percent. Pathetic.

Below them was MSNBC at 5 percent, squeaking ahead of Comedy Central -- Comedy Central -- at 4 percent and C-SPAN at 3 percent."

You stick with your biased news and I will stick to the facts as so dictated by non- political truth in media who ranks Fox News #1 in fact checks. You stick to NBC who comcast owns or the joke Ted Turner broadcasting who owns CNN. ;)

That's pretty much in line with what I was told.

 

A shep sailing at 90% capacity is at break even point (as a generalization) and it then makes its profit from the 10% and inboard spending. So a ship full of singles would really cut heavily into the profit, I was also told that singles spend less on board than couples.

 

Now was it true?? I was persuaded anyway.

so when a 4 person occupancy room is taken by a couple, 2 people. Are they doubled charged each? They are losing an extra 2 people of revenue out of that room?

Not at all. There is nothing wrong with me not wanting to sail out of certain ports that have a history of issues. Why should you care what I do? If someone told me they didn't want to sail out of Baltimore, or Miami, or wherever it doesn't affect me at all and I wouldn't think twice about it. Why should my vacation habits be any concern of yours?

Because you posted your vacation habits on a public message board. I'm sure you don't cruise out of the northeast in winter and I am sure you never cruise out of Florida during hurricane season.

I was on the same cruise, although we did it differently. I was the leader of our group. I observed before and after boarding smuggling of alcohol. I ratted them out immediately and did so through out the cruise. We certainly can't have smuggling of alcohol when I am paying the high price of drinks. Don't you know it says so in the contract no smuggling, so I policed that.

I would also go down an hour before both dinner times and stand by the maitre d and would tell him who was dressed properly and who wasn't. He would always agree with me and send them back to change. Come on it's in the cruise contract people. Don't you know it is 5 star dining with dancing waiters. I also walked the dining room making sure not one person ordered more than one entree, It's my business to determine how much and what you eat.

Every day, morning, noon and at night I would walk the ship and find every employee I saw and tip them. Come on people don't you know how hard they work. I also would stand by guest services and make sure no one removed tips, you know there is no way they ever could have had bad service or bad treatment from the employees. Those employees never mess up they are perfect, and they work so hard. Also it is my business to know who is tipping and how much. I always go to guest services at the end of cruise and have them double charge my gratuities . I then walk around the ship and let everyone know how much I extra tip and call them cheap if they don't. It is everyone's business how much I extra tip.

We have decided next cruise we will just send the money we would have paid for the cruise to the workers, so we will not cruise and they work so hard and we will feel good about ourselves and tell everyone what we did.

After today's game you might want to hide that flag or hang a Ram's flag. They should have passed on 4rth and one instaed of handing to Lynch and him gaining zero yards. Oh the irony.:p

NCL does have minimum standards for dress code - - from their FAQ link posted above

 

"We want you to be comfortable, but tank tops for men, flip flops, baseball caps, visors and jeans that are overly faded, with holes or tears and worn below the hips are not permitted in main dining rooms or specialty restaurants"

 

Lucked out. I have a golf hat not a baseball one. :)

So what would you do if they didn't allow carry-on beverages at all? Aren't you glad they DO ALLOW you to bring it on board. Not being snippy, but I often wonder if folks bring their own type of pop to restaurants while on land?

That is not a good analogy. When I stay at hotels I sometimes stop at a store and pick up some soda or beer to take to the hotel room. Same as a cruise(floating hotel). When I am at the hotel(on land), I do not take my drinks(soda or beer) down to the hotel restaurant, I only drink those in the room. You comparing bring pop to a restaurant on land makes no sense, asking people if they take their own type of pop to a hotel on land would be the correct question. :)

Maybe. But my daughter got stuck in one a couple of years ago. The water flow wasn't consistent from what my husband said. And she had to push herself a couple of feet to get going again (he went on after her). Surely that threw off the timing. Besides, not everyone gets up and out quickly. If there's nobody at the bottom spotting, then the person at the top needs to be able to see the bottom or something. Just to avoid stuff like this. I'm quite sure the person wasn't just sitting there relaxing.

 

That said, I don't think there's any lawsuit here. It was an accident. It would have been nice had someone checked on them onboard I suppose. I'm surprised that didn't happen.

This wasn't an accident. No one goes down the slide until bottom is cleared. There will be a designated person sending down the guest when designated person says it is clear at the bottom. They had no one at the bottom giving the clear signal. This injury should have not happened if Carnival followed their own rules. That is not an accident.

Might want to switch to inhaled insulin. Afrezza from the hundreds using it say it mimics the Pancreas. I understand it is a prandial insulin but the reviews are unbelievable. My wife now has zero hypo's. Can sit at dinner when it starts and take a puff. No more needles.

Listening to live Caribbean music by the pool is a big cruise factor for me.

Even if you are cruising to Alaska?:eek:

Princess and HAL have not always been world market delivery choices for Carnival. In fact until fairly recently, both lines were very North American market-centric. HAL still is. Yes both lines sail on world wide itineraries and have for a long time, but those itineraries have always catered to North America. As I mentioned that is still the case with HAL, but Princess has only recently branched out to make a name for itself in other markets such as Australia, Japan, and now China.

 

So I would certainly not say "always".

 

Also Carnival the brand is certainly not immune from this strategy. Just take one look at Australia. Ships are being sent there (unfortunately the best in the fleet) and adapted for the Australian market. These cruises are not even marketed in the US. As for Galveston, well more power to Carnival. You couldn't pay me to sail out of there.

What is wrong with Galveston? You don't like friendly people? Probably better yoiu don't cruise from Galveston, Texans are friendly and don't complain, so you would stick out like a sore thumb.:)

True although not quite like they used to. Carnival used to be the golden boy of the cruise industry. Everything they touched turned to gold. Now I would rather have my money invested in Royal Caribbean. Much better return on your investment over the past couple years compared to Carnival. Times have changed and one thing is for sure, bigger is not always better. Just look at McDonalds and Walmart. They are the biggest, but both are mediocre companies at best.

"Walmart is without question the most successful retailer in the history of the United States, and in the history of the entire world by almost any measure (number of stores, sales revenue, number of employees, market share, etc.)"-Forbes

"Today, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation announced that over the last fiscal year they gave more than $1 billion in cash and in-kind contributions, making it the first time Walmart or any U.S. retailer has achieved that level of giving. The growth in global giving was largely due to increased in-kind donations in the U.S. to local food banks and families impacted by disasters."-NYTimes

Yea sure they are mediocre.

Also, if they think this new rule about no bottles will cut down on smuggling, then they are dumber than even I thought.

I wonder if we will hear from the people that kept saying smuggling alcohol does not affect anyone but the smuggler?

 

eventually if enough people try to cheat a company.. it affects everyone

Except the smugglers by smuggling, have now brought down the cost of water. I say thanks to myself and the others that helped all these people get lower prices for water. You're welcome.:)

I agree. They just pick up the tray and carry it to a cabin.

 

We always tip. The tip is for delivering the room service food and not for the food.

 

We never know if the order is completely correct until the person who delivered it has left. We usually have five or move covered dishes.

 

During the cruise we always keep some extra silverware wrapped in a napkin from the lido deck in our cabin in case we need it.

Actually the one bringing the food to the room is responsible for checking the order that was called in(its on a slip) to the order that is on the tray. So if they didn't check the order it is their fault. Now the order could have been taken down wrong so even if he checked it would be wrong. If order is wrong check the slip and if on the slip it is the correct order it means the runner messed up.

I always get a good laugh about people that smuggle booze on board because, "we/I think the prices are too high on board...".

 

 

I can't imagine going to my favorite roof top restaurant in NYC that has the most amazing views and trying to sneak in my own food because their prices are too high.

 

I would have no problem with people breaking the rule and admitting that 1) they are cheap or 2) they get a thrill out of breaking the rules. I do not think "I can not afford to buy on board drinks" is a valid third option because maybe you should reassessing whether or not you picked the right vacation.

 

I personally believe 1 bottle of wine or champagne is a great compromise and reasonable.

 

 

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A room on a cruise ship is more comparable to a hotel, not a high end restaurant and most hotels allow you to bring alcohol to your room and not have to purchase it from the hotel bar. That is a more accurate comparison than a a restaurant.

My most angry moment on a HAL ship was (without getting into a smoking issue) an IDIOT in the Lido chatting away with his "partner" on a walkie talkie.

 

Second place was an older gentleman who complained bitterly to a Lido staff person that she was cutting the meat wrong. He berated her loudly and turned to tell all of us that he had been a butcher for a 100 years or so. I even found the supervisor and told him that she had been verbally abused for no reason.

 

Hats and t-shirts in the MDR are just plain rude but the lady in the Lido wearing a bathrobe and barefooted during breakfast was disgusting.

I made at least 15 people get sick(vomiting), because I wasn't allowed to wear a hat in the MDR, so I went and they all got to see where I had recently had brain surgery. Quit being so judgemental, and prepare for what you will get .:)

Nothing worse than hairy toes and fungus toe nails. Kind of ruins my appetite along with men's hairy armpits reaching across the table for the butter. I just wish they would enforce the minimum standards.

Or a womans hairy head as she reaches across table and her hair is in my soup.:eek:

Very well said........

 

There is no way that the OP or anyone removing tips, CLAIMING that they will tip everyone that has provided them service in person, will actually follow through and do it. They are just cheating those that work in the buffet and other behind-the-scenes areas out of their tips.

 

For those that have stated that they don't believe in tipping before a service is rendered, fine, but you cannot account for the behind the scenes workers. It is far more easier to leave the tips on or pre-pay them and then, if and only if you have an issue, remove or reduce them.

 

Claiming that you must have good service proven to you before you tip is just a mental expectation for expecting subpar service. It's just a sorry excuse to remove the tips that you were planning to do the entire time.

 

Cruising is not the same as tipping on land. You are in a floating hotel with many, many more folks that provide you services so you can enjoy your vacation. You use the same buffet day, same entertainment staff etc... It's not like a land vacation where you may eat at a restaurant outside of your main hotel. Same with the entertainment. Is is a self contained environment and call it a tip or a service charge, these workers have more than one job on board. You morning buffet server may also be the one selling water bottles on your port day. The Lido servers may be the ones on the private islands serving your lunch. They multi-task and there is no way for you to know exactly who to tip individually. That is the whole purpose of Carnival adding them or requesting them up front. Everyone is covered so you don't have to worry about it.

 

Lastly, is your cruise time not important? Who wants to stand in line at guest services and take the time to remove the tips and then "claim" to fill the individual envelopes and deliver them to all that have served you. The logical thing to do is to leave the autos on and tip extra if you feel that the service was so great. If not, then deal with the situation accordingly and before the last night on board.

 

If one cannot afford to pay the $11.50 per day than perhaps save up a a bit longer or cut down on what you have put aside for your bar-budget, because that's exactly what it amounts to - being too darn cheap to take care of those that are taking care of you - making sure that you have a great cruise.

 

 

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Wrong. Tipping is OPTIONAL. So until it is not optional then they can afford a cruise without the 11.50 per day. Nothing worse than internet tippers telling others how to tip through guilt and name calling.:mad: Do you think the womans tips were removed from the employee on Holland America that assaulted her? I'm sure you would want that employe tipped as well.

This is Cruise Critic. Clearly the answer is "someone told me" or the answer is made up by the poster to defend their position.

 

Almost everyone here is a "Cruise Expert", knows the "answer" to every possible question or scenario, and many measure their post count like males measure a certain part of their anatomy.

 

RdP

9.5 if were measuring.

My wife and I always bring 2 toothbrushes each. One set is a fake set that we clean things with, we leave these out and our good toothbrushes are in the safe.:)

I hope you have the names of the screeners in addition to the recording as well as everyone you talked to, what was said, and dates and time. Carnival employees (and other cruise lines) are notorious for lying about most anything when it is more convenient to do so.

 

And just ignore the responses from the Honey Boo Boo types that make the ignorant posts.

 

Cheers!

Just curious about your "honey boo boo types" comment . Are you insulting liberals and Obama as Honey boo boo and her family voted for him and are big fans of him, or is your bigotry geared towards people from the South? Because if it's towards the first one then I agree and if it's the second one then that's bigotry.;)

Who is there competition out of Charleston?

These same people against E-cigs are the same ones who believe organic food is better for you.

"The alleged superiority of organically grown produce is a separate question. In a 2013 survey 68.9% of people who purchase organic food said they did so because they believed it to be healthier (more than any other reason given). However, fifty years of research has so far not produced convincing evidence that there is any health benefit to consuming organic food. Likewise, systematic reviews of nutritional quality of organic produce also reveals no difference from conventional produce.

The recent review is therefore in agreement with previous reviews – organic produce is not more nutritious or healthful, but it is more expensive".

Not only is everyone getting the 50/50 deal, but they are also getting airline change fees and accommodations required due to the early return covered. And those who were confined to cabins will also get credit towards a future cruise for each day they were confined.

 

I'd say that's a pretty fair deal.

 

When you get sick at home, you don't expect the doctor to visit you for free, your rent/mortgage/bills don't stop, and the chicken soup doesn't just materialize out of thin air.

Ahh but while I'm sick at home in bed I am still getting paid by my employer.

It's funny how everyone blames "passengers coming on board" with the illness, yet most of the time it is crew members coming on board sick and hiding illness because they need the money to send back home , so they hide their illness so they can work. This has been proven a lot in past Noro incidents.

That is the beauty of this new program.

 

Instead of the full music charters that usually accompany these bands, which charge a huge premium for that sailing.

 

This program does NOT raise the price of the cruise, but ONLY the people who CHOOSE to pay for this "excursion" pay any additional fee.

 

Those who have no intrest in the artist, just get an extended time in their port, to enjoy whatever they CHOOSE to do.

 

Bill

I wish you were right . Looking at cruises yesterday and then today, I've noticed the cruises that are having the artist on board to perform have gone up in price. So it has raised the price on these cruises even if you didn't want to see said artist.:mad: