Times Are A Changin

[sail7seas]

And sometimes you even get to honk the horn!

 

I think there are better ways to raise revenue. Like going to the bar. But I'm old school.

 

I'm now thinking I should have charged them for letting me judge the crews' Miss Maasdam contest!

 

 

Ah yes, the ship's whistle. My DH, indeed, had the incredi ble fun of sounding the shi'ps horn. :D

[kazu]

We have done a bridge tour too back in the old days (at no charge), but I don't think that is the same thing as the entire behind the scenes tour that is offered?

 

the Behind the Scenes tour encompasses a lot of areas on the ship and is much longer than a bridge tour.

 

The bridge was fun though, for sure ;)

[BruceMuzz]

One assumes that he is referring to Rémy Martin Louis XIII Cognac Grande Champagne.

 

I worked for Remy Martin some time ago.

My job involved visiting hotels and restaurants and that served our products.

I conducted educational tastings of all the Remy Martin products for bar and restaurant waiters, hoping to inspire them to sell more of our products.

 

Usually the tastings were "blind". That is, the samples were identified by a number rather than their actual names.

After the tasting, I would identify which cognac was which.

 

Without fail, during every blind tasting, Louis XIII scored last place. The people tasting it -without knowing its name - didn't like it.

 

It is so loaded with caramel and artificial color (in a poor attempt to give it the appearance of being older) that it tastes remarkably like Coca Cola.

If you read the small red, elegant looking booklet that comes with the bottle, there is a claim that the cognac in the bottle is an average number of years old. That word " average" is often overlooked by naive drinkers.

Yes, it is true that the "average age" of the cognac in that bottle is quite old. But if you put in a few drops of cognac that is 300 years old, and then add 700ml of cheap cognac that was distilled last week, you end up with an average that appears very impressive. And that is what Remy Martin does in order to nickel and dime naive people.

 

Whenever anyone falls for this cheap trick, I tend to be a bit skeptical of any other opinions on quality they might offer.

 

Incidentally, the lead crystal decanter that holds the LOUIS XIII cognac can be purchased empty from Remy Martin. Last time I looked, the price was around US$200.

So next time you want to impress someone by purchasing this ridiculously expensive but poor quality cognac, bear in that a large portion of the price you paid allowed you the opportunity to look at a decanter that you cannot take home with you.

I will sit next to you and look at the decanter, free of charge.

Edited October 30, 2016 by BruceMuzz

[sail7seas]

We have done a bridge tour too back in the old days (at no charge), but I don't think that is the same thing as the entire behind the scenes tour that is offered?

 

the Behind the Scenes tour encompasses a lot of areas on the ship and is much longer than a bridge tour.

 

The bridge was fun though, for sure ;)

 

You arecorrect. What you describe would not include the night an OF officer feom galley MDR, piCKEd US Up, sat us down as we wAt ched EARLY SEATING DINNER W] BEING SERVED, FASCIN tinG GTO WATCH AS THE STWARDSS,, All THE SGTEWARDS PICCKED UP THEIR APPETIZERS, THE SALADS, W\AIT IN LINE FOR THEIR SPECFIAL ORDERS, ALL THE ENTREES. IT WAS SUCH A PRIv ILEGE TO WATFCH THE WHOLEDINNER SERVICE OPERATION ALONG WI TH THER OFFICERRS OBSERVING TO DSE ITT WAS ALL B eing doned CORRECTLY. We . tHEY THEN TOOK US TO COLD STORAGE, ETC . wHat night. ! We finished the evenining with them in Crows Nest :D

Edited October 30, 2016 by sail7seas

[avian777]

When was this tour? And how did you obtain this tour?

 

Very good questions, CruiserBruce, especially the second one. It sure would be nice if kakalina (& sail7seas, who makes similar claims) would answer the second one, as I'm sure lots of CCers would like to how to get the full ship tour for free!!!

[sail7seas]

Friends

 

It is not available to everyone................ and one cannot buy it.

Edited October 30, 2016 by sail7seas

[mariner]

Correct.

 

Be a nice passenger and all of a sudden, doors open FREE.

 

Stood on the bridge wing once going into port (this was before the wings were enclosed). A woman on the other side of the roe wanted to know how she could get there. The captain told her, as he was preparing to dock, you can't madam, you can't.

[sail7seas]

correct.

 

Be a nice passenger and all of a sudden, doors open free.

 

Stood on the bridge wing once going into port (this was before the wings were enclosed). A woman on the other side of the roe wanted to know how she could get there. The captain told her, as he was preparing to dock, you can't madam, you can't.

:) :d

[kazu]

Correct.

 

Be a nice passenger and all of a sudden, doors open FREE.

 

Stood on the bridge wing once going into port (this was before the wings were enclosed). A woman on the other side of the roe wanted to know how she could get there. The captain told her, as he was preparing to dock, you can't madam, you can't.

 

I suspect that there is more to being a nice passenger involved.

 

there are lots of nice passengers on the ship.

 

You probably have to be speshul;):D very speshul (aka special).:rolleyes:

Edited October 31, 2016 by kazu

[mariner]

Nope. Being nice has all to do with it. Be friendly with the crew. Spend some money. Take things in stride. Don't take to the internet to lord and extort service. Don't blow a gasket at the smallest things. Handle complaints with the proper person in a civil tone. Don't remind everyone with a uniform what cabin you paid for. A matter of building trust. Has worked for me since 1968.

[Fouremco]

Nope. Being nice has all to do with it. Be friendly with the crew. Spend some money. Take things in stride. Don't take to the internet to lord and extort service. Don't blow a gasket at the smallest things. Handle complaints with the proper person in a civil tone. Don't remind everyone with a uniform what cabin you paid for. A matter of building trust. Has worked for me since 1968.

That description fits us to a "T", but we've yet to be offered a free tour. I agree with Kazu, you also need to be someone "speshul;):D very speshul".

[3rdGenCunarder]

That description fits us to a "T", but we've yet to be offered a free tour. I agree with Kazu, you also need to be someone "speshul;):D very speshul".

 

I think the speshulness has to do with having more stars than I'm likely to amass. And if you think about the number of cruises you have to buy to get that many stars, the free tours have been paid for in advance, as are many past passenger perks.

[mariner]

Have had this treatment even before HAL had stars. In fact, I have no clue how many stars I have on HAL. If the medal ceremony is the last day, I usually pass. Rather get some sun, much to the crew's frustration.

[Ken the cruiser]

Have had this treatment even before HAL had stars. In fact, I have no clue how many stars I have on HAL. If the medal ceremony is the last day, I usually pass. Rather get some sun, much to the crew's frustration.

 

Mariner, it sounds like you've sailed with HAL for decades and have watched her evolve over the years and have many tales to tell. I don't want to get too personal, but would very much enjoy hearing which ports over the years you have loved sailing to the most?

[mariner]

My HAL experience (and other lines) has been the Caribbean. They keep changing. St. Thomas used to be fabulous. That changed. St. Maarten too (when you walked off the tender had a block and the beach). These days, St. Kitts and Curacao (Knips Bay $100 r/t cab ride, but worth it). British VI. And always Bermuda.

[Ken the cruiser]

My HAL experience (and other lines) has been the Caribbean. They keep changing. St. Thomas used to be fabulous. That changed. St. Maarten too (when you walked off the tender had a block and the beach). These days, St. Kitts and Curacao (Knips Bay $100 r/t cab ride, but worth it). British VI. And always Bermuda.

 

Thanks Mariner! We'll definitely have to check out Knips Bay when we go to Curacao in February.

[mariner]

And if you can time Trinidad at Carnival DO IT. What a blast

[Ken the cruiser]

And if you can time Trinidad at Carnival DO IT. What a blast

 

We will! Thanks!!

[iancal]

Here is how we look at it. According to the dollar times website, $1000 in 2000 dollars is equal to $1405 dollars today, adjusted for inflation.

 

We don't think cruise fares have gone up that much. In some cases we find that they have either remained the same or actually been reduced.

 

So that means something has to give. We either have to pay for more things on board or the cruise offering/experience, ie service, food, entertainment, mtce, has to be decreased. It has been the latter with the mass market cruise lines because they are competition driven.

 

So we really have three options if we want things to remain the same as they were. Pay higher fares, pay or pay for more on board items, or take today's real inflation adjusted value of what we paid back then and buy a cabin on a premium cruise line that meets the standards that we enjoyed in 2000...or 1995, or???

[slidergirl]

One assumes that he is referring to Rémy Martin Louis XIII Cognac Grande Champagne.

 

A dated reference to a cognac highlighted in a scene from the movie "Cocktail", done in 1988 ;)

[iancal]

Some time ago guests could, on invitation, visit the bridge gratis.

 

Then they stopped. The claim was security issues.

 

Now they started it with a $150. charge.

 

Does this mean that the security issue no longer exists or does it mean that the $150. revenue takes precedence over the security risk?

Edited October 31, 2016 by iancal

[sail7seas]

.

 

 

....

Edited October 31, 2016 by sail7seas

[avian777]

Friends

 

It is not available to everyone................ and one cannot buy it.

 

... sort of like class, I guess!!!

[sail7seas]

.

 

 

 

........

Edited October 31, 2016 by sail7seas

[WisRiver]

On a Zaamdam repositioning cruise I took the "Behind the Scenes Tour" at a cost of $150. We were told that the proceeds went to the crew welfare fund to pay for things that the crew sports teams. I assume that since our contribution to the crew's welfare fund is one of the reasons why the crew was uniformly welcoming. I was told our payment did not go HAL. Does anyone know different? The tour was a great way to spend two hours on a sea day.