lildawgscottFL

The only reason I can give for buying it ahead of time is that you can begin boozing IMMEDIATELY!!!! ;) :D B) The line we saw on Freedom was ridiculous! The Queen was particularly happy to not have to wait on it. Also, like Matty always says, it's nice to have things paid off over time. Of course, since I'm not a shopper, not a gambler, and I prepay for my excursions, I have no idea how I'll use my OBC.

Stick it in your office! Right under where their face goes! So every time a patient lies down, they're forced to stare at it!

The Queen isn't a derogatory or condescending term. She is the Queen of our castle. She even bought a plaque for our wall (yes, she bought it) which reads... "When the Queen is happy, there is peace in the kingdom." Believe me, I wish we were equals. At least she's a benevolent ruler.

FYI, The Queen thought it was the guy too, so we're in the clear on the chauvinism! Woo hoo! :D B)

You're a crazy person? That must be it. Well, we like crazy people here. :P :wacko: :blink: I never actually got my license. I completed all of the course work, most of the clinic work, and the first part of the national boards. Right at that moment, I decided being a DC wasn't for me. The Queen did too. So we've got the $250,000 in student loan debt, but nothing to show for it, aside from the knowledge. A very expensive mistake indeed.

There are coverage DCs! YOLO BOOK IT!!!! :P

Maybe I'll just carry on thinking it's the dude anyway. How do you like them apples!? ;)

Thanks, Matty! I was gonna do the same thing, but I've been too busy at Disney. Holiday season and all. Hey, at least I've made enough (in tips!) to afford more cruises!

I'm totally trying that! Nice Jerel! Nice!

:lol: :D :lol: :D

Cut us some slack. It's not a gender-specific name. All of the following could go either way: J_Keeble, WAAAYTOOO, DocLC, and many others. Until we get to know them. Then, we're only left with DocLC going either way. ;) :lol:

Welcome aboard Christie! I'm happy you introduced yourself, because (for some reason) I always thought you were the male in that photo. Now (not that it matters much) I know I'm talking to the female. I was always fairly sure I was not talking to the baby. ;) Which college did you attend? The Queen (my wife, Laura) and I both attended Life University a lifetime ago. What could beat Disney? As you've learned, in many ways RC does. The Queen and I had our honeymoon at Disney nearly 20 years ago. Shortly thereafter, we moved to Orlando (not just because we loved our honeymoon) from Atlanta. We've since been to Disney hundreds of times and for the last two years, she and I have both worked for the Mouse (she's a server; I'm a bartender). What all of that experience has taught me is that in some significant ways Disney beats Royal, and conversely, Royal beats Disney. They have their pluses and minuses. From my perspective, who "wins" really comes down to what the guest is looking for from their vacation. I think maybe, if anyone else agrees, we should start a post: "Top 5 Ways Disney Beats Royal AND Top 5 Ways Royal Beats Disney" - you'd have to offer up both or you couldn't play. ;) Anyway, welcome again! If you have any questions, many of us are pretty well versed in Royal (and Disney).

WOW! I was quickly scanning through these and completely read that wrong.... "There was a time when I thought about naming my son (Something) Of The Seas..." That would have been really strange!!! (but understandable ;))

Oh man, I hope we get that upgrade in February! Please, please, please!!!

Scooter will be working the entire time. That's the nature of my job - I work when everyone else plays, and I play when everyone else works. But I do hope everyone enjoys the holidays!

Wow! What a story! I hope it all works out for you guys.

You buying? I'm in!

I demand a "Hate This" button immediately!

Do you remember when you said in today's periscope about some topic being too much to type? I don't even know where to begin on that disgusting, depraved, unfunny piece of trash! I could easily go point for point on that and destroy almost everything that imbecile said. Instead, I'm going to go eat chips and guac, and dream of Sabor. (You were just trying to egg me on! No dice, Señor Hochberg! No dice!)

Well, when you're gonna put it like that, bub! Fine! Matt didn't want this to devolve into a fistacuffs ballyhoo! Well, it's too late for civility! It's on! Bring it! ;) Yes, on a technicality, you are obviously right. That is definitely true. There is still room for a decision to be made by the consumer - even if it's the WRONG decision. (Too far?) If I had my say, the gratuities would be individualized and unalterable. Meaning, I buy a beer, the flat 18% "service fee" is included and goes directly to that crew member. Disney does that with parties over 6 and meal plans, for example. It's non-negotiable. The guest's recourse, which I agree they should have in the event they receive poor service, is to speak with a manager. The manager then has certain strategies he/she can use to assuage the guest. The server does not lose the money, but notations are made that go on the cast member's permanent record. Get enough of those and you're fired. That's how people are kept in line. Otherwise, the balance would swing too far in favor of the server, which would also be unfair.

Definitely disagree. Your CPA gets paid for preparing your taxes. Your MD gets paid for your examination. Your gardener gets paid for lawn care. These are all services and services have fees, just like products have fees. This isn't personal - this is business (say that in your mnd like a mob boss). You want a service, you pay for it. It's the graying out of this clear concept that's creating so much confusion. And, with America becoming more and more of a service-driven economy, we better figure out how this works quickly. By the way, I knew and agreed with my current stance long before I worked in the industry. It came from my family, my friends, and my neighborhood. People just understood that someone was doing the serving and that someone ought to be compensated fairly.

(Here comes my "form letter" once again. "Insiders" will understand what I mean.) ;) This is from a different post on these boards (http://www.royalcari...n-july/?p=11005), but instead of making you search, here are my thoughts.... B) First, my disclaimer: I am a bartender at Dockside Margaritas in Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney) at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. I live on tips. So, admittedly, I am biased. That said, I can still present an objective argument as to why tips really are not included when you purchase the drink package. Yes, technically, they are. But, it is a set dollar amount regardless of how much you drink or do not drink. For example, let's say that the total gratuity amount is $50 (it's not, but it's close to that - round numbers are just easier, obviously). Then let's say you get 10 drinks over the course of your cruise. Each bartender would get $5 per drink. But, you never would get just 10 drinks, because to break even on the drink package, you would need to drink 5-8 drinks per day (easy for this guy to do! not so easy for others). So now let's say now that you get 50 drinks. Each bartender would get $1 per drink. You see how their tip just dropped a lot? But still, you probably wouldn't get just 50 drinks, because then why buy the package? You didn't come out ahead and you should have just bought the drinks individually. BUT!!! It gets worse. They tip share! Not only do they tip share with the people at their specific bar - let's say R Bar - but they also split with other people at other bars - let's say the On Air Bar. The bars are grouped, so stronger bars will help support the staff at weaker ones. So when you give the bartender $1, you're really giving that bartender $1 divided by the amount of people sharing that $1. In the case of the R Bar and On Air folks, that's split at least 6 ways. So instead of the traditional 15-20% tip a tipped crew member should receive, they're receiving something like 2-3%. I don't know about you, but I think the service I receive from the Royal Caribbean crew is worth far more than 2-3%. So what we do is leave a buck per drink on top of the "included gratuity" - in some cases two bucks for more difficult to make drinks, like mojitos,etc. At the R Bar, the bar we spent the most amount of time at, we ended up giving them a lot more than that. But, we weren't just paying for someone to put liquid in a cup. They provided such a unique experience that we felt the need to say thank you in a big way. Remember, if you do not do the drink package, you still have an included gratuity. We always round that up as well, again because they earn more than they're being given. One contrary point. If the bartender isn't happy to see you, seems to begrudgingly pour the liquid in the cup, and doesn't seem to care if you are there or not, feel free to stiff the guy! Well, okay, maybe not stiff. He still lives on tips. So maybe just a bad tip. ;) Just because I'm in the industry, doesn't mean I don't recognize that there are horrible servers and bartenders out there. Speaking of servers, you should also give them something more. Calculate the amount of money you would have to spend for any meal based on the prices you'd pay on land, and then consider how much of a tip you'd give your land-based server - 15-20%. Then consider how much you're giving your sea-based server. Then, don't be a curmudgeon! If you can afford to spend thousands on a cruise, find a few bucks for the service you're receiving. If you can't afford it, maybe you can't afford the cruise in the first place. Finally, don't forget to tip something anytime someone goes above and beyond for you. If you're stateroom attendant does his job and nothing more, then he is already being tipped. But, if the deck patrol guy does something WOWing for you, give him a few. He probably doesn't get that often - you'll make his day! If he WOWed you, WOW him!!! Instant Karma!!!

He doesn't have to, but his tip, or lack thereof, will be reflected in the amount of booze, of lack thereof, in his drinks! ;) :P Long live the free pour! (Royal uses jiggering, so there's no way they can short you. On second thought, I have seen a lighter jigger pour and an "oopsy!" jigger pour, as in "oops! I may have put too much booze in this guy's drink - the guy who tips me well.") Of course I admit my bias. We all have biases based on our life experiences, but that does not mean we cannot strive to find the objective reality nevertheless. And you're dead on about the Windjammer crew. The Queen was just reading an article about them today in fact. There is a lot of behind-the-scenes tip sharing going on that most folks have no idea about.

Doesn't make me wrong though.

Wow! Gratuites are always such a hot button issue! (And, obviously, I'm biased as hell!)