Snowchaser

Yes and no. For people that need it to pay bills they will. For those who find the money disposable they will buy whatever to temporarily prop the economy up until business gets moving again.

Yep do this. You will find most bank run ATM's throughout Europe do not charge fees like some here in the U.S.. So all you need to do is verify with your bank/credit union what (if any) fees are associated when using your bank card internationally. Out of my two different credit union accounts, one was 1% and the other was 0% per transaction, so even if I used the 1% card I would still be cheaper than paying to convert funds. Doing it this way ensures you only get charged the actual exchange rate and not an inflated one. On a side note, when using your credit card abroad, make sure you select to pay in your home currency and not to have the business do the conversion for you as the store exchange rates will not be favorable.... to you. lol

It wasn't' offered on the Independence of the Seas on our 7 day this past may, only for an up-charge. First time I haven't seen it offered on a formal night.

Oh man, I had forgotten this one! Our last cruise on the Independence of the Seas in May was the first time we didn't have lobster tail on the menu (non up-charge that is) offered during a formal night.

I agree with your list 100%, I would just ad that I would also get off at all the southern Caribbean ports as to me they are all fantastic and top anything on the list above.

I was on the Indy out of Southampton in the middle of this past April and had somewhat similar experiences. In our experience though the head waiter was constantly pushing the specialty dining. We typically don't do specialty dining just due to how much the additional cost is and the fact we've already have a paid for dinner that you get no credit for. I have no problem asking once but once is enough. The wife and I both also commented afterwards that our room steward was just......meh. The room was tidied up but there was always an empty glass left, a plate with maybe a sliver of food left on it or maybe a piece of trash left in the can. He was a friendly enough fellow but after being on many cruises your expectations just get set to a certain level. Bar service and the drinks were excellent as usual. Shows were very good although I did fall asleep at the late comedy shows. Food in general has been steadily getting more bland and mediocre over that last few years with this being the first cruise I've been on that didn't have lobster tail on at least one night. To me it just seemed that there may be (like in a lot of industry now) a shortage of good help on the ship. Maybe the pool used for filling these service jobs is getting a little shallow, not to say I can't see why. All in all we still had an excellent trip mainly to us being pretty laid back people just going with the flow.

They typically adjust the max deluxe drink package drink allotment to match the price of premium drinks. Was just on the Indy out of Southampton U.K. and most of the drinks were listed at $14 on-board and that was what the Deluxe package covered up to for our sailing.

I'd have to look back in my cruise history but one of my most favorite cruises was a 12 day Royal cruise out of L.A.. Hit Catalina Island, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Cabo, San Diego, then back to L.A.. It's been some time though as Cabo now is waaaay different. If you really want a west coast I would do Princess. We have sailed Princess several times in the past and actually found the food better than Royal and the service maybe a tick better. Lately though the price of Princess cruises has taken a price jump and with Royal offering better pricing for kids we have done more Royal cruising lately.

For the first time in a long time we didn't do a balcony on the Indy out of Southampton U.K. and didn't miss it one bit. Now with the said the weather while sailing wasn't exactly warm and only in the mid 50's so that definitely played a part! This time the outside/window only was too good of price to pass up on so we saved the cash for deluxe drink packages.

Sailing the Independence next week out of the U.K. and I haven't seen it under $54 for all the months I've been watching. Mid $40's is my limit so looks like no Deluxe pkg this trip. Last spring on a port heavy cruise on the Jewel we did manage to score the Deluxe pkg for $38/day which is the best I've ever seen.

I'm curious too, we sail out of Southampton U.K. in a couple weeks and was also wondering about what currency to use in the casino as well? Pounds, Dollars or either?

I agree. We've done the Deluxe in the past and if fact our last cruise on the Jewel managed to snag it at $38/day which I haven't seen in a while. On that cruise I did keep track and we easily drank more than we paid but we for sure drank way more than we would have if we hadn't purchased it. The other thing I really noticed was that I eat substantially less with a drink package, it just seems like I'm always full from drink calories. Obviously another win for the cruise line that you paid extra for... haha. Now with that said, walking up to any bar and ordering any random drink to try has me wanting purchase a drink package again. Marketing at its finest!

Thank you!

Hi All, I just created an account to add a little bit to the topic. My family and I just returned from a cruise on the Jewel of the Seas. While talking to a member of the staff (someone who would receive tips) about extra tipping and such, this person stated that they were less concerned about an additional tip and emphasized that they much prefer that we give highest marks on the customer survey post cruise. They stated that the survey provides a ranking based on feedback as to the number of guests that they will tend too. So for instance an assistant waiter in the main dining room who has higher customer satisfaction will get more tables/guests which equals more pay. Now they did not say that tips are pooled and I didn't think of it at the time but this persons comments would lead me to believe that they are pooled and people in customer service are vying for bigger pieces of the pie. Purposely not stating which staff member due to repercussions they could face if for some reason they could be tracked down.