DipBrat

Yellow Fever Vaccine does have a lot of side effects and even kills people so you don't want to get it unless you really need it. It is sort of taboo to talk about side effects of most other vaccines so sometimes hard to judge but I think Typhoid Vaccine is very low risk. As someone else said I consider Hep A&B as essential even for a short trip though realistically B is pretty low risk for most people on a cruise.

Commissions on cruises is typically in that range of 10-12%, and that is of the commisionable part of the cruise cost, We all know big box store can bank on volume and operate with a large amount of sales. Standard in the industries you mention is for the owner of the services to lower their price. You as a consumer of a cruise product are not purchasing anything from me, You pay me nothing. ThYou purchase fromt he cruise line and i am simply their representative. I am paid by the cruise line. Not many car salesmen I know actually agree to cut their commission after the sale. The General Manager or sales Manager may agree to lower the price of the car, there by cutting the sales reps commission, but I have never seen a sale finalized, paperwork signed, and then the sales rep eagerly hand ov3er 10% of the sales price back to the buyer out of his "salary"

 

You are negotiating up front for your price, not asking for a kick back from a third party in any of those cases.

 

As for your YC experience, the commission on the regular Yacht club cabin, depending on time of year, is not even 10% of the fare

 

Looking at an upcoming booking I have for a YC cabin on the Seaside, the commission on a cabin with 2 occupants is $429.48.

 

Now for me, that is split between me and the agency, so roughly $200 for each. and yet the consumer thinks they should get $400 OBC, not realizing to do so, if the agency agreed to give away their commisssion, too, we would end up splitting $29.48 as our payment, while subsidizing your cruise by $400.

 

Big box stores would take all of that business they can get, while the smaller operations, would tend to walk away from it.

 

What I would like to see is for someone to call a cruiseline and tell them outright that their cost is out of line and that you will only cruise with them if they lower it by $400, You can not tell me that my price to you is out of line as I charge you nothing. If you did get the cruise line to agree to the $400 discount, Travel agents would still get a healthy commission on the discounted fare. Cruise lines do not want their fares discounted by anyone other than themselves, and many prohibit the discounting by agencies, except in competitive circumstances. Unfortunately, many agencies and agents agree with the consumer that a small commission is better than no commission.

Actually I am talking about equivelent third party sales people. So for a mortgage. The mortgage broker can kick me back some of the money he gets in commission. As a low maintenance customer he might spend 2 hours on my file and will still make a very reasonable payday even giving me money back. Real estate agents can do the same with their share of the commission. Car sales is trickier but their are internet sights which will give you a better deal basically by doing the same.

I didn't think the OP was asking for OBC after the fact and I certainly am not. I use a comparison sight and take the best offer. I understand you personally might provide a lot of service and therefore if you only make $50 on a cruise it will not be worth it. When I book total time is less than an hour. (5 minutes on the phone with me and 45 minutes later I get all the paperwork.) I never call them again. I do all the research myself so would be happy to book on the website but will book with an agent in the incentive is large enough to make it worthwhile. I understand you might not like these services or agents. Eventually travel agents will be gone from cruising just like they are for most other travel services. Someone like NCL will stop offering commissions and the rest of the mass market lines will follow.

Any OBC that a TA offers that is above and beyond OBC being offered directly from the cruise line, come directly from the agents commission. With MSC and their bare bones "experiences" e.g. Bella, sometimes there is just not enough commission involved. I know that agents should consider the possibility of future business and all, but in today's climate of shopping business around, it just may not be worth the risk. In many cases the commission is split between the agency and the agent. In most cases the OBC is not from the agency, but solely from the agents share of the commission.

 

Many cruisers believe that an agent getting some of the commission and rebating back a portion is fair, and that some is better than none.

 

I can not think of any other business endeavor where a person is expected to provide a service and also expected to pay for the "privilege" of doing so.

It is pretty standard in sales. Real Estate, Mortgages, cars for a start.

I usually get around 10% of the fare back in OBC with one of the big online agents and got the same for my MSC YC cruise I just booked. I assume the super discount agencies must also kick in some of their share of the commission? This is for luxury lines or suites. For a simple balcony room I usually don't bother and book online the OBC offered is usually nominal on those cruises.

Personally in the Caribbean we will usually do a beach day at most stops. For Nassau Atlantis waterpark would be fun at those ages (depending on height of the 5 year old)

Have you looked at the MSC excursions for your cruise? For my European cruise they have some interesting looking family excursions that are relatively reasonably priced as well.

Keep in mind the Cherry blossoms can vary year to year. With global warming they sometimes are much earlier. Last week was two full weeks earlier than typical for example. Of course if you cover a few cities you can be pretty sure of seeing them somewhere.

I don't really find the specialty restaurants take much longer than MDR though I generally go to the Asian ones rather than Cagneys etc.

It is really hard to give advice without more information about your kids. Personally I wouldn't feel the need to do anything special for my kids when 6, 8 or 11 but we eat out a lot. We never allow ipads and our kids all eat adult food from the age of two or so. (my weirdo kids wouldn't eat anything off of the kids menu other than maybe pizza). If you eat out only once a week at somewhere family friendly like the Olive Garden your kids may be bored and might not like the food (though in this case the kids menu is available).

Why would you trust NCL to not do that? They've literally done it twice in the last year.

Sailed through a hurricane or a storm? Big difference.

Thank you so much for the response. It is very helpful. I am a loyal RCCL cruiser but now with the little one we are thinking of trying Disney instead. I do appreciate your thoughts

 

 

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I don't really think a 22 month old would benefit much from Disney vs any other cruise line. I mean do people actually show kids that young disney movies? and they recognize them? Will they have fun yeah. As they would anywhere with their parents.

For me best idea would be to take the train and choose a hotel near a train station. But I prefer to be on a train with a stroller rather than have a squirmy baby in my lap. To the port is a bit trickier for the last mile you will be on the less confortable shuttle or walking.

Taxi from Kobe cruise terminal to Shin-Kobe station: 10 min

Shinkansen from Shin-Kobe Station to Kyoto Station: 27 min

Taxi from Kyoto Station to ??: 10-15 min

Total cost: about 5,000 yen per person.

Check the Shinkansen schedule. You may need to wait for an hour or more at Shin-Kobe. Train may also be full.

 

Taxi from Kobe Port Terminal to Kyoto: 56 minutes

Cost: 28,000 yen

Google maps might tell you 56 minutes but I'd say 1 1/2 hours is closer to average during the week.

question--in one section you say there are 1000 seats I showroom in another 3,000 seats--which is correct?

1000 per show X 3 shows= 3000 per night

A link?

They don't show up on mobile/tablet version.

On MSC Seaview (not Seaside) right now. Reservations for the shows are recommended due to limited seating. We have 3 shows each night. Reservations can be made while onboard via TV in cabin , via touch-screen monitors in public areas or on mobile device via MSC for Me App.

How are the shows compared to Seaside (or reviews if you haven't been)? Anything else substantially different from Seaside?

My son was 12 when we 1st sailed. Wewere on a 4 day on the Norwegian Sky. At the time I allowed him to check himself inand out of the Kids Club but he has to come straight to the room or straight toour agreed upon meeting place. Shortly after we arrived home the news featureda story of a 12 year old girl who was waiting alone for an elevator. The elevatoropened and a male crew member was I inside he pulled the girl into the elevatorand sexually assaulted her it was all caught on tape. The new story showedclips of the incident, blurring out the girls identity. This happened on aDisney cruise ship. The crewmember was arrested, yet the damage was already done.The man received a light sentence since the incident occurred in internationalwaters if I recall. After that story myperception of allowing kids to roam has changed. Even now at 15 years old and 6”1I allow his to go on his own but I am very uneasy about it. I know we cannotlive in fear but this really struck a nerve with me.

Something like 20 million people a year cruise so this one incident as shocking as it is is very very rare. Leaving your kid with your best trusted uncle is almost certainly more dangerous. That said a cruise ship is a floating hotel and I would be more cautious than a kid walking to school alone or other independant activities in your community.

If you are that cheap. I would suggest you take the train to the cruise port. You first need to take a shuttle to the Green line and then transfer again. Probably take a couple of hours but kill some time and save you cabfare.

LAX is not the niceset airport. I have slept in Asian and European airports but they are totally different than US airports. Even arriving late at night to LAX it seems like it is shutting down and looks far from bright and inviting.

You won't see much of Japan on the NCL itinerary. The Kobe stop is short wheras the Osaka stop gives you a lot more time to see Kyoto. Okinawa and Ishigaki are both beach destinations though Okinawa is also of interest to lots of Americans who were stationed there and or had parents who fought there etc. The other Japan stops on the MSC cruise let you see more of "real" Japan. I don't know anything about Taiwan stops so can't compare.

Overall you might get better advice if you post this on the Asia board.

During the school holiday period especially, YC is not as private and quiet as its sometimes advertised or believed to be. Check out this thread where children and poor parenting are accused of ruining the YC experience. MSC is a family cruise line so kids are generally everywhere including the YC. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2388245

Reading through the whole linked thread will give the OP a good overview of the different opinions but more importantly different experiences that are possible in YC. Only thing I would add is school breaks in Europe are different from the US. Italy has some regions that only go back to school in Mid September for example so while the week after labor day will be almost free of school age kids on most US lines it is possible it will be filled with Italian families on MSC.

Which mainstream cruise line offers free drinks? I’ll hang up and listen.

 

Or any that offer them for just the gratuities? I may know that one.

MSC qualify as mainstream? They don't charge anything for their drinks included packages which they are offering I think on all cruises to US purchasers right now.

NCL calling this a gratuity is a bit disingenuous. While I am sure it technically goes to the staff it replaces what otherwise would be wages so saves the line money. The service charge is far more than I would spend on alcohol so personally I have refused the promo. I guess it depends on your perspective but I feel like it makes the atmosphere on board better as most people have the package and are enjoying themselves. Maybe the ropes courses aren't as busy as they once were as everyone is drunk?

Jeans and T-shirts are probably fine for a Breakaway Caribbean cruise. A bathing suit is of course essential. Why not go to a department store in NY on arrival? Which one would depend on your style and price point. Actually even Target could be a good option. There are several in Manhattan.

It's not the most exciting city. I would recommend you consider staying on the ship but coming off of a TA that won't make sense. If you have never been to Norway you can get to see some fjords from Gothenburg which would be interesting.

Was planning on going on an 8 Day Princess Circle Japan Cruise out of Yokohama this Tuesday. After cruise was going to spend 10 days in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. With Super Typhoon Jebi, Cat 5, 170 mph winds, 30' seas scheduled to hit east coast of Japan at same time thought Princess might be cautious for passenger safety and cancel. Called, nope, they say they're going. I asked them to cancel my paid excursions through Princess since decided not to take the chance on going. Answer was nope. Have canceled plane and hotel reservations. Even after storm passes there may be damages at Japan port of calls. Hope there isn't much damage in Japan. It's a beautiful country, people and culture. Enjoy your October cruise. Hopefully weather will be good.

So you cancelled your whole trip because of the potential for a storm? It looks likely that Tokyo and points north won't have much more than a bit of rain. Did your insurance cover cancellation?

In the Med the best option is usually to spend as much of your time as possible ashore. Both those ships are older with less wow factor than their new builds but with so many great ports concentrate on that. $1500 will give you a lot of experiences ashore that will be more memorable than slightly better food or service.

Cannes is very walkable and easy to DIY. Barcelona is bigger but also easy to do without a tour. A tour might be worthwhile to Rome. Check out the Italy port pages for advice and you might find a non-ship tour that is better value. Others can comment on Mallorca. I would think it could be a good beach day but I have never been there myself.

For visa purposes yes Hong Kong is not part of China. Multiple stops in China may necessitate a visa. A stop in only Shanghai or Tianjin will almost certainly not require a visa.

Yes based on current rules you will not need a visa. Keep an eye out for changes but visa rules are only becoming more relaxed in China. The Asia board has several experts on China who are a good source of up to date info on all this.