Was I duped?

[hawkeyetlse]

1 hour ago, Grimix said:

Alaska doesn't have a state sales tax...

Sitka has a 5 or 6% city tax. If the Bliss has been doing Alaska all season, I assume the staff are pretty aware of the tax situation in each port (from having to deal with passengers griping about it week after week).

[DCGuy64]

16 hours ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

We often times find a spa in one of the ports and get massages there.

Exactly this. I got a great massage on the beach in Costa Maya during a cruise in late 2019 for $20. The massages are VERY overpriced on the ships (although you are paying for the convenience of having it right there). I *did*, however, get a nice haircut/blow dry and shave on the Norwegian Gem in 2021 for around $50, so that wasn't so bad. And last December on the Epic, we each got $100 OBC due to a missed port, so I did use that to bring down the exorbitant cost of a massage. But the regular prices are just crazy.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

I love the thermal suite and almost always get it, but the spa services are so overpriced plus 18% and to add more to that for the overworked massage therapists, who often do double the industry standard for safety each day.  It’s too much.  I can go to a lively high end spa here at home and get out for far less than on a ship and with a better massage.  Just me, but I long ago tired of the film flam of the spa.  You can have a discount, except you really can’t.  No thanks.  We often times find a spa in one of the ports and get massages there.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

We have a wonderful person in Cozumel wh does a 60 minute Shiatsu massage for $60.   Fabulous!  And who doesn’t love a beach massage.  Yes, they are not always the best massages, but they are still quite good.  And for the price, what’s not to love?   We used to go to the Mayan spa in the port area at Costa Maya, but the bar next door has gotten so very loud that it’s not enjoyable any more, and since they have become an excursion with some cruise ships, it is much more expensive than in the past.  Too bad it is a lovely place.

[ChiefMateJRK]

11 hours ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

And who doesn’t love a beach massage.

I think it's the same stick-in-the-muds who don't like birthdays.  🤣

[MagnoliaBlossom]

20 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I think it's the same stick-in-the-muds who don't like birthdays.  🤣

Well if you don’t want another birthday, they will literally stick yu in the mud! 😋