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Don't remove gratuities. If anything, tip additional for good service. Envelopes can be found at guest services. That's my two cents.

I must be an English American.......................

I've never been a fan of the Windjammer. After having gastric bypass a few years back, I'm pickier about what I eat now. When you can only eat a small amount, you want WHAT you eat to be good. The Hubs loves the Windjammer breakfast. If forced to go in there, I usually just go for the fruit. I do love the salads in the MDR. The breakfast is much better there too. The oatmeal is good. The waiters on my cruises always get very concerned that I don't clean my plate. Usually by the 2nd or 3rd night, the Hubs explains that I had stomach surgery and can't eat much...LOL I have even had the Matre'd come ask if the food was ok....LOL We are sailing on Adventure Of The Seas in May.....Yes, I'm spolied. I will sure miss the Park Cafe and the yummies in the Spa Cafe too. I love the bigger ships....but this one was such a bargain. After enduring flooding from Hurricane Harvey, and 12 chemo treatments...all during recovering from Harvey....I wouldn't care if my cabin was in one of the lifeboats...as long as I got away for a few days.

Now I know why I book down by the prop.....

Being in a tourist destination we have many restaurants include the tip or "service fee". You have many different cultures and tipping is mostly a North American standard. I do believe if cruise lines feel these are required they should be a service fee. This way we know the ones in the background get their cut. If I get extra service I will gladly tip extra. You also learn if you tip along the way you are more likely to have your drink waiting for you on a busy day at the bar. I also never heard it mentioned about how they are paid. I was always under the impression that they are regulated by the minimum wage and laws of where the ship is registered. Since when on board you are considered under US law should the employees not be under the same? I also know on some ships the employees do have their own hot tube area and common area to relax and unwind (however not as nice as our areas.) I have worked with many Filipinos as I work in the construction industry, making even $5 an hour is like $100 back home. Houses are cheap to build and the food is even cheaper. One of my good friends can send home $1000 and can cover his families expenses, schooling fees and others. I was also told they are actually trained specifically for cruising industry. It is not often you are something else. Coming from first world countries we find it hard to justify but if you think about it if they were to make more they would have to work more. Think of what the new Ontario law has done to benefits. If it was not a great opportunity they would focus on other industries but it is one of their most desired jobs for a reason. I am not saying they don't deserve what they are getting for sure. I also don't fully agree with how cruise lines handle or word it. The way it is worded causes a lot of drama compared to a service fee. I think if it was a service fee people would actually be more willing to give extra. Going back to restaurants and the "included service fee". If I got mediocre service I may just give what is asked and if good service round it up or give a little. If I get bad service I am also now more likely to mention something to a manager, now if they are having a bad day this may impact their employment. However, if it was up to me I normally give a minimum of 10% for even horrible service, you still deserve something but I may not feel it was worth everything and now the next time they are better I might even give 20-25% easy. I always feel that if you thank for great service with higher % and maybe deduct % if you had a bad time is better control then something like comment cards as it leads to fewer employers jumping the gun and firing employees for 1 bad night, but they still get the message.

Hi @Sabrinaklai Our 'real plan' is take on the 6 bottles we are allowed and then purchase the odd bottle whenever required. Or a beer or short etc. She is not a big big drinker so can't justify the deluxe package (and me having to prove I don't drink too!) so we are both doing refreshment packages. Based on the pics Twangster posted there are not enough days in the year to try every soft drink option! Annoying thing is we can take on 2 bottles for a 3 day cruise as well as 2 for the 10 and 14 day ones! I am not sure she can make them last 10 or 14 days!! Maybe I need to find a couple or family who are getting on same time without wine and get them to be my wine mule!!

I hate to break it to you, but I purposely placed the smaller file size image first. Don't believe me? Save both locally and compare.

Indian registered ship docked in my home port, not sure what happened but word got out that crew hadnt been paid for months by owners, ship was seized by port authorities and held until court proceedings instructed ship to be sold and crew to be paid wages from the sale

I just experienced that type of weather forecast... clouds, wind and waves. There was definitely motion for most of the cruise. I think there's no shame in taking Bonine or some other medicine preemptively if you are worried about it. The main side effect of these kinds of medicines is it makes you drowsy at some point, so an afternoon nap is hardly much of a price to pay. The bottom line, is don't let the weather forecast scare you. The Captain will always look for the smoothest path possible, but motion in the ocean is not to say you cannot have a good time either.

Doesn't he know the stereotype image for country and western music is Whiskey and/or beer? Wine drinking cowboy doesn't seem to fit. "Whiskey for my men, beer for my horses" or "Merlot for my men, Chardonnay for my horses"

I just tweeted that question to the company that manufactured the roof, OpenAire. Will share the reply.

Ok, I have to ask? How much wine do you plan on consuming in your 27 day adventure lol? 10-12 bottles? And how much money are we looking at saving by smuggling in bottles in Plan 2 and 3? I feel like this needs a @twangster or @JLMoran spreadsheet ? Is it even worth it? In all honesty, I personally would go with @twangster's Plan 3. To go with the "rules" and then try a light version at the end of the first leg. That way, if they don't let you, you are only wasting one bottle of wine. If you can get away with it then try your 2 more bottles on the third leg.

Especially on the last full day so I have some breakfast to munch on in my cabin before I join the self-carry disembarkation line at 0-dark hundred.

My husband's math agrees with you! I'm going to confirm with both boys when they come home for spring break that they truly do NOT want to drink packages (just to make sure) and I think we're going to go with the on board day 2 option.

My way overly complex spreadsheet/eyechart comparing Voom pricing on board using C&A discounts versus advance cruise planner versus waiting to purchase on day two on board can be found below (slow day today). Day 2 strategy involves waiting until day 2 to purchase on board. With so much going on during day 1 do you really need Voom while in port and you possibly have cell phone data? For non-US residents who don't have cell phone data while in the US the day 2 strategy may be less appealing. Summary Diamond Plus - Always cheapest to wait until day 2. If you must have it on day 1 its cheaper to buy it on board except for 12 night or longer cruises. Diamond - Cheapest to wait until day 2 except for 11 nights and longer cruises. If you must have it on day 1 its cheaper to buy it in advance except for 5 night or shorter cruises. Platinum/Emerald - Cheapest to wait until day 2. If you must have it on day 1 its cheaper to buy it in advance. Gold - Cheapest to wait until day 2 except for 10 night cruises or longer. If you must have it on day 1 its cheaper to buy it in advance. Comparison does not take into account occasional Voom sale events. If anyone has the on board offer letters for shorter cruises I'd like to validate some assumptions. I tend to do longer cruises. Voom Comparison Cruise Planner 15.99.pdf

I've sailed on both (3x TUI, 1x AIDA), so if you've got any questions feel free to ask. Maybe by DM to not hijack this thread any further

We ate there for lunch on our first sea day on Vision of the Seas, 12/2017. We had the entire place to ourselves the entire time! Daughter had the dry-aged steak-burger and it was incredible. Wife and I each had the filet. The tater tots were a bit disappointing, but the asparagus and mac & cheese were delicious. We had all 4 appetizers and they were all enjoyed. Red Velvet cake for dessert. A steal for only $19 a person... Great way to try specialty dining before committing to an entire evening of it...

Great News.

The lack of transparency is what frustrates me. I have no idea what Royal is paying them, vs what percentage of their income is coming from gratuity. How much of the increase do they actually net, or is Royal pushing grats up so they can keep the salaries lower, which is really just shifting more of their labor costs onto the guests and the crew members aren't actually making more when it's all added up. I want the people waiting hand-and-foot on me to be happy with their careers and make a fair livable salary. But I also don't research the cost of living and regional job market differences for my waiters and cabin stewards or compare their total compensation packages including benefits and time off across cruise lines sailing in different markets and regions because I don't work for Royal Caribbean's HR department, so why the hell is so much of this decision making being left to me? It's a bad and confusing system.

I have lots of meds....with my luck, I would get the TSA agent fresh out of training who would end up strip searching me if I don't have my original bottle.

This has my name all over it! Previous cruises I also bought the drink pkg but ended up drinking more coffee than soda. The Hubs isn't a big coffee drinker but I'm originally from Louisiana. I grew up with coffee in my baby bottles!

WOOHOO !!! Great news, Joe. So glad you are doing well. Keep it up !

@rjac, thanks for the recommendation! Since I got the knee done today, I’m pretty sure I’ll be totally fine by sail away. I had actually looked at this service when we originally booked a year and a half ago, thinking I’d need it to get around. Since then, I had managed to stop needing my walking cane and do enough daily walking that I felt confident I wouldn’t actually need them. Going to keep that optimism now, after my earlier worry and pessimism. Need to turn the frowns upside down!

Great news :) Glad it went well :)

I think the original post brings excellent points, and I am a firm believer everyone should research where they vacation. After all, an informed/educated customer is likely to lead to a better experience overall. That being said, the argument against it is the thought "I have to go learn all of that just to cruise? Seems like a lot of work. I just want to sit at the pool and drink!" Or something like that.

They'll still be getting $0.00 from me.

Plan 1 is 'guaranteed'. A modified version is have the wine split between carry on bags so maybe they don't catch it all or any if security is busy. If all bottles are in the same bag they will notice. I did bring the email from C&A stating I could bring 4 bottles on my B2B in case of a new security person. Plan 2 - I've considered plan 2 but it might vary depending on cruise terminal and how consecutive cruisers are processed through security. I've even thought about pre-printing individual SetSail passes for each cruise and presenting myself to security as if I'm just like every other new guest for 'this' sailing, then once past the x-ray machine, whipping out my consecutive cruiser SeaPass card or paper. Plan 3 - maybe try a light version on the 2nd cruise in case you get busted. If it works on cruise 2 (day 1) you will know what you can get away with on cruise 3 (day 1). Plan 4 - I like plan 4 but it means lugging around a lot of wine until cabins are ready. Plan 5 - bring me and I'll smuggle wine 6 more bottles for your wife

We sailed from Southampton last year with 3 couples, with a 3 having different C&A status. We queued together for priority check in and although we had different boarding times as we were a party they were fine to let us all go on the earliest boarding time together.

Joe, Have you thought about renting a scooter for on board use, if the knee isn't 100%? Here's some info: Scootaround (formerly CareVacations)Phone: 888-441-7575Local: 204-982-0657 Fax: 204-478-1172 E-mail: [email protected] They will deliver the scooter to your cabin and retrieve it when the ship gets back into port. I saw a lot of these on the Serenade last year. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

As always i love your words and writing, and your pictures are amazing. For those of us who can only cruise a limited amount, your blogs provide us with mini cruises that brighten our days. Thanks so much! Jane

Im going on my first trip to europe...viking river cruise out of paris...this summer but will be back on royal for a 2019 mediterranean/greek isle cruise on vision. That was a total impulse trip and i didnt even check another line. While vision is older, it was my first ship in 2015 and i loved it. The itinerary of 8 ports and 4 sea days was a nice combo of relax and tour and i cant wait. Ive never considered the air pkg through royal because i heard it was always more pricey but now i will at least check it before i buy. Jane

Posted this in another thread today related to single day pricing. This is on board pricing in 2018. Ignore the green box, the multi-device plans are above it. 2 devices, Surf & Stream $18.99 per device per day, so $37.98 per day on board assuming you purchase it for the "Full Voyage". Compare this to advanced pricing in cruise planner based on normal 20% discounts: 2 devices, Surf & Stream $15.19 per device per day, so $30.38 per day in advance. A savings of $7.60 per day compared to on board pricing.

Joe, i have had both my knees scoped. Both were medial meniscus tears. The first one I ran my Navy physical fitness test 2.5 weeks after! (Full disclosure i was 25). 10 years later i had my other one done. No physical fitness test to pass but recovery was just as fast. Never took one narcotic pain pill, just ibuprofen. It takes 30-45 minutes so the anesthesia is minimal also. You will do great. Good Luck!

So here's the subject line from the e-mail verbatim: EXCLUSIVE! It's a special announcement for you: Save big before you board. The Deluxe Beverage Package is priced $3 more than it was last week (when it was $47). Aren't I special! Nothing else has changed...but it's EXCLUSIVE!. SMH...RE

Well there has to be a lot going on..if this is the biggest one ever....wish there was more concrete info out about it...I am surprised they haven't released more to try and drum up excitement and bookings etc for this seeing as its such a big thing...or so they make it seem like.

Actually, I think it's just the opposite. Maybe RC thinks that people would be willing to pay $79 for the "star class" treatment without paying $20K for the star class suite.

Hell is nice for about 10 minutes. There isn't much to do other than taking pictures. Some tours do stop there for a few minutes anyways so you might get lucky. When you are back in town Margaritaville is only good for its slide (sad to say its expensive and slow) There is a nice little place overlooking the water called Paradise (you will see the water trampoline if you look at the sea.) My old "watering hole" is called Guy Harvey's (upstairs and Bar Crudo downstairs) it has changed a lot since I went there but its still a nicer location and tends not to be as busy (tourists tend to stick with names they know.) If you are looking for a good Caribbean flavour then you have Rackams on the waterfront just up the road towards Seven Mile Beach (maybe a 10-minute walk.) From where I work most things in town are about a 10-15 minute walk so it should give you an idea of how small our town area is. We also have a newer area called Camana Bay which is pretty nice but is geared more towards the locals but offers very nice atmosphere but may be out of the way depending on your time restrictions.

I meant to add earlier, the near flat seas turned very flat. It was quite a pleasant day and my cabin balcony door was open when ever I was in it. Around 4:30pm I headed out to grab a glass of wine with the intention of drinking it on my balcony when I ran into some people at a bar. Then more people. Somewhere along the timeline I heard someone's wife mention they saw a great sunset tonight. Oh well, next cruise, I was enjoying my bar friends too much. YOLO. With regerts (pun intended) no sunset pics tonights.

For those that haven't come to this realization themselves, food coma is real. I chose the Windjammer tonight thinking I would find some of the same old food and therefore could walk away, instead of being rolled away. I was wrong. Some food was the same, but it was jerk night. Oh boy. Finally @Sweety I met the dessert of my dreams. So far on this cruise my timing was off and I only managed to flirt briefly with a red velvet cupcake, but tonight was the real deal - Red Velvet Cake. These calories are for you!

See the same thing for my March Harmony cruise. Can make complimentary reservations or pay to have VIP seating. While I can understand that some bean counter thinks it is a great idea, the price is just too much. Why would anyone pay $79 for a meet and greet? How did they come up with the price...I could see some people paying $20. I wonder how may new cruisers will now think they'll have to pay for shows and miss the free reservations. Luckily for now, the free reservation is the obvious thing to click on the cruise planner but I wonder if that will change. As someone who has to drag her DH to the free show, I hope this experiment fails.

I couldn't agree more ..... this site, and the people within it (along with Matt's blog), made our first cruise back in '16 so much easier and less stressful. By the time we boarded, I felt like a seasoned cruiser. I "Tip My Hat" to all of you. As for there being a "First Time Cruiser Seminar" --- Love it ..... It doesn't need to be that long or that complicated ..... just the basics --- perhaps with testimonials and ideas from other cruisers....... Heck, they could even invite seasoned cruisers on each cruise to participate and share their stories (and reward them with a little OBC for their time).

And cruisers like us will keep on enjoying cheap cruise fares. Not unlike the cheap goods we like to import from 3rd world countries where labor laws don't exist and cheap labor abounds.

Oh I WHY they do it....I just don't like it..period. I have bitten the bullet so far, however all bets are off for future cruises. I would like to see how I feel actually tipping the people that help/serve me when they deserve it. Like how we all do in real life when not on a boat.

True but here everybody is eating the same meal and paying more while in suites. Overall I agree that this system is sick and doesn't make much sense but this is becoming academic discussion. If we want to make changes, we could: - Contact RCL and express your dissatisfaction with current system - Boycott RCL and stop cruising or select cruise line that pays all their employees decent wages - Address this issue with politicians to enforce lines operating from US port to adhere to US labour standards. What we SHOULD NOT do is to opt-out paying gratuities because THAT'S HOW CURRENT SYSTEM WORKS and you’ll ONLY effect earnings of people who are working hard for you, while you enjoying your vacations.

Metric money. Completely different.

I understand where you are coming from. The recent increase from $13.50 per day to $14.50 per day represents a 7% increase. I sure wish I received a 7% increase this year. Tipping in the US hasn't increased 7% since last year. How is this increase justified and why is it required when cost of living has not increased at that rate? I've gone along with auto gratuity on more than 25 cruises but I'm starting to question the whole tipping more now. I wish it was all more transparent. I'll have to think hard before giving the same additional cash tips as I've done in the past. Might have to cut that back.

Great point! I'm drinking this one to help support the crew and their family back home. Una mas por favor!

But did you like my ALF costume??? I made it myself! Oh....and how about next year give out some name brand candy? Sheesh.

Central Florida, between Orlando and Tampa.

Pretty much all my life, I was fed the whole "NJ and NY suck" thanks to Baretta and Kojak, etc. Nothin but bums, winos, hookers, and litter-filled streets. Man, was I dumb. Get away from the city and NJ is beautiful. I saw more different types of animals in NJ during my couple of days there than I've ever seen here. And NYC blew my mind. We stayed in Weehauken, and took the ferry over to the city and it was wonderful! Very good people up there, too. More like "Friends" than "Jersey Shore".