Tatka

I returned from this cruise with RSV. I think that was it as several other people reported it and symptoms matched. I would not say it was better than any of Covids I had..

Quality of appetizers varies from ship to ship greatly. Number of guests too.

So I guess you missed it? Cruise lines paid for their flights to initial port, but then they were getting very low pay in comparison to other positions even though they worked just as much or more.

How long ago you started cruising? We started in 2003. At that time there was no collected gratuities. It was all cash with recommended amounts. 3.50 to waiter, 3.50 to steward and so on. Basically gratuities were paid directly to people who served you. They were getting sometimes very large amounts (of course as they were all cash not everyone paid) even $4k+ At the same time non customer facing crew was paid very low amounts. $400-500 a months. I talked to many crew from Eastern Europe in various positions. (Customer facing and not) Some from counties which used to be parts of mine before dissolution. Since moving to autogratuities pay for lowest positions was increased to min $1200, and now it’s higher.

It’s basically a Daily Service Charge. Resort Fee. On some lines it’s even called this. Before switch people who served directly where getting a lot, while general workers who are not working less $400-500.

After losing 22 bil anyone will.

https://cruiseradio.net/fact-check-do-cruise-lines-pay-us-taxes/ How much do cruise lines pay in taxes? In 2019, Carnival Corp. paid $71 million in taxes on $3.06 billion in income. In the same year, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. paid $25.5 million in taxes on $1.8 billion in income, and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings paid $18.9 million in taxes on more than $911 million in income. That works out to a tax rate of 2.32% for Carnival Corp., 1.4% for Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. and 2.07% for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the federal tax rate for foreign corporations that are not tax-exempt is 21%; when combined with state and local taxes, that rate goes up to 25.75% for non-tax-exempt foreign corporations. They do not pay federal taxes, but they do pay taxes

I know it is registered in Liberia. They do pay taxes here, also they give lots of business to US.

It does affect our decisions... We did not cruises exclusively to achieve status, but status gives us some nice benefits. Not only status though. We cruise out of Northeast now. Royal gives us 5 good choices a year. 4 out of NJ... with various classes of ships and itineraries + 12 dayer on Vision class out of Baltimore. This + benefits... + winter ship Anthem make us very loyal. We would go out of the way for some exotic itinerary in Europe where Royal often loses to NCL or Priness. We would sail with Celebrity if price is close (at least not MUCH more).

Why do you think they do not pay decent wages? I explained above. They collect auto-gratuity and pay decent wages. Maybe not your idea of decent wages, but they usually come from countries where they get 4-5 times less for identical work. Autogratuities are collected separately to separate this amount from profit (which is declared to shareholders) and company does not pay taxes on them. This way they have MORE money to distribute.

On our second milestone (210) ship was out of blocks.. so we filled papers. Had to wait and call, but eventually received it. #1 and #3 we received on the ship. Both Anthems. Old and New.

So why are you doing this on cruises? Royal and other lines are using autogratuities to compensate crew well just like in Australia. The only reason it is not collected together with a fare ...collected money are not counted towards the profit and no taxes are paid on them.

We like both. Benefits and a lounge. We think Royal's benefits are the best, and they are achieved the earliest. We would go crazy if we instead of cruising would work on achieving this status.

We just cruised on Anthem for Thanksgiving week and many times before. I did not see any. Will check in January.

You can even sneak in by teaming up with a Diamond+ while nobody sees. They don’t usually have cruise police by the door. 😉 What are you looking for inside of this lounge?

And just for the record. We are not Loyal to Royal. We sailed with 8 lines and with some (Princess, Celebrity, NCL) even after we achieved this noble status… but in a process we discovered that Royal is the best combination of everything (including number of ships and variety of itineraries) for us.

Don’t rush to conclusions. They are very important! This is why I share experience and recommend how their dreams can be achieved sooner! Not real status, but similar enjoyment. And what is a real status anyway? Don’t thank me. It’s my pleasure.

Do the Math. Why other people should calculate it for you? 🙂 If I were you I’d try to enjoy your cruises while you are on this honorable mission. Buy drinks, photo etc and you feel like a Diamond instantly! Remember when you are a real Diamond like some of us you will start chasing another dream of your life … being Diamond Plus… because it’s a Diamond of higher quality.

We had 4 among us from Jan 2022 to Jan 2022. First time together and then each separately. Tested after our cruise. Almost after each of 14 cruises we took since pandemic people in groups reported being positive. I don’t think people are testing on the ship much aside from own tests… or they feel really bad. Do people quarantine with a flu?

Oh, I would love to have blood wurst(?) on RCI ships for breakfast. We had it on Celebrity.

Just checked … maybe something happened from our two cruises on Liberty this year and Adventure last year. Nope … current schedule on them. Some music is available

Maybe not from 5, but close there is live music in Centrum and some other venues on Vision class. I believe on other classes maybe not always, but often too in schooner at least

Do away with towels check. Add roof over all Solariums. I am not sure about better food… I am already struggling. Maybe provide shots of Ozempic/Victoza? LOL

I don’t remember two ice shows or two Aqua shows on Allure prepandemic or on Oasis. 1 Broadway and 1 other production show on Allure yes.

I would love to see kids (boys!!!) listening! Pick closest chairs/table as some adult like to talk.