mistertomatohead

Is it even considered tips or do they just bake it into the wage like I'm assuming a daily service charge? Your cabin steward who is very new but works much harder than the person that has seniority. What is their share? What do they do with cash? Report it for taxes? Are they forced to put it into the tip pool? I say if you want to go through the hassle just take it out and control your tipping and use cash. By the way, trying to figure out what the share is for each crew member is pointless. There are so many unknowns. Not every ship is full and I can't imagine all crew members getting the tips. Are the officers included? How about entertainers and their support people? The doctor? I would just take the amount they want to take from you and just distribute at least that much by the end of the cruise. Someone will probably point out that it makes you seem like you're tipping a lot extra so you get better service since the vast majority will not take out the default gratuities. On Celebrity which I'm assuming is the same, when I went to use OBC to tip my cabin steward extra there was a form and one additional group they showed was housekeeping. These are the folks who clean the ship. Maybe also the laundry people? Those that wash the towels and sheets. There are plenty more people who might be excluded. What about the tender captain/driver? The people helping at ports of calls? Excursion desk people? Anyone tip the captain lately? It'll be very hard to tip them individually. They've set up a system that makes it hard to do your own tipping fairly unless you're just tipping extra. Personally, I wouldn't rock the boat.

I was on the Celebrity Solstice last week. The menu had the $16.99 extra charge for the additional lobster tail dish. I didn't go for it but I asked if it was the same as the first dish. It's the same dish with the same small lobster tail. $16.99?!?! I should've eaten more when I had the chance when it was included. I guess people will go for it if they have OBC to burn. I'm assuming it's the same for Royal. Anyways, so I had three entrees (lobster tail, duck, and lamb). $16.99x3 = $50.97! That's not including the two appetizers and one dessert. I won't go into how many entrees I got the other nights.

I just retyped one digit so the Save button shows and clicked the button. Now I'm reminded I'm 24 nights of solo cruising from Diamond.

Just got off it. Everything looked fairly new (i.e. not worn out). I was in an interior on deck 9 and everything looked updated. I'm pretty sure the whole ship's been through a renovation. It does have Starlink Internet now but to fully utilize it the older internal network equipment needs to be updated. I'm not sure when but that probably needs drydock. I never tried the Internet myself so I don't know what the experience is currently. There are only a few nitpicky things like the only plugs I found were far from the bed. The movable table and bedside pieces look worn like they didn't replace them in the renovation. The TV look longer than usual to load. By the way, I'm told this ship was supposed to be in Asia so sail on it from L.A. while you can because it won't be in L.A. much longer nor will it return. The fares are super cheap right now. This past week it was only about 1000 people on the ship so 1:1 ratio with the crew. It's a real bargain. I did a solo trip and I called in to get a cheaper guarantee inside cabin. I still had to pay for two people but it was still much cheaper than booking on the website. The cheaper guarantee cabin is not available on the website for solo but it allowed me to get the $200 OBC. If you book those last minute ("exciting rate") you lose out on the OBC but the rates are really cheap too.

On the Celebrity side, I thought I got it added by calling after booking on the website myself in July but the cruise I booked this month they wouldn't add the $125 OBC. Nothing about it only applying once a year. They just said it had to be a casino booking. After trying with different people I just gave up. I'm guessing booking through the casino is the best chance at getting it.

For NCL, it's a Daily Service Charge so they don't even try to pretend it's gratuities or tips. Translation, they can do with it as they seem fit. How's it being distributed? Is it really extra for the crew or is it baked in to the base pay? Don't know. Does the crew care? Probably not. They're happy to be working. (Although, if they work on multiple cruise lines they'll find which ones are best for them.) They also don't allow your non-refundable credit to be used for it. Their base alcohol drink package is super high and they make you pay gratuities on the full price. (Royal does this but at least the package isn't super expensive but it's probably creeping up. Follow the leader I guess.) Get just one drink on a day, you still paid gratuities on the full package price. Their free at sea is misleading. They have a sail away rate that's less than the base price for free at sea. And that's not including all the gratuities on the drink and dining you see at the end of checkout. I just gave up and don't tip EXTRA on NCL. I only sail with them because I get a good bottom line price for a solo cruiser with the drinks package and $50 excursion credit per port. I don't drink a lot but all things being equal (they aren't) it still works out better with all the extra discounts (solo cruisers, Amex offers, CruiseFirst, Shareholder credit, Caesars Diamond 20% off). There's a ton of sales/marketing engineering going on. I find a lot of hidden and confusing things. I don't find it as shady on the Royal side. I sail Royal if I can get a good deal. Obviously all the cruise lines make it hard to compare since they offer so many different things you can't directly compare. Some things are worth the extra money. One last thing, NCL is clear they never lowered prices during the pandemic. They have directly said this publicly a couple of times because they want their shareholders to hear it. Customers don't like to hear it but NCL seems to think everything's working out for them and they're making the most money possible. I'm just trying to get the best deal possible while trying to limit the surprises. Royal is much more straight forward to me.

I got spend $500 get 17500 points last night. Expires 3/31. Now if only I can find a cruise with no single supplement.

I'll echo what was already mentioned. The ship clocks sometimes don't get updated and the app doesn't display the correct time. On my Samsung phone, I change the time and the app reflects the updated time even if it's wrong! Also, don't make the mistake I did last time when going forward one hour shortly before midnight. I didn't realize it starts the day over! My apps started to act weird. Make sure the day is correct when manually adjusting your phone's time.

When I tried on the app for my Navigator sailing a few weeks ago it went to payment so I had to do it in person. Maybe this depends on the ship? As mentioned it's whatever is open so not just sea days. My Cabo port day had Jaime's and Hooked Seafood open for lunch and I ate at both. On embarkation I ate at Hooked for lunch.

But what is the free sites' experience? The lowest tier? Is it a good indication of what the experience will be if I pay? I hate to pay and then beg for a refund when it's useless to me. On Carnival there was some grace period where they will refund your money no problem. I can't remember if it was a period of time or amount of data.

Personally I'm dismissing that. That could be anything. If you look closely at a lot of your food you will find all sorts of things. How many hairs have you eaten and not known it? It's amusing to me that people make a big deal when they see a hair in their food. If they cut up the celery and put it in soup you would never have known. Not to mention what happens when you eat at a port. That "authentic" food is much more sketchy. I've seen episodes of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares but it's never made me not eat out. Of course, you should always look at, smell and taste the food you eat and act accordingly.

I'm not sure if this was answered before. Are the free sites like RoyalCaribbean.com listed from login.com a good indication of the experience you would get if you paid for Internet? I was on Navigator of the Seas from 11/11-11/18 apparently before they switched to Starlink and loading Royalcaribbean.com was terrible. Are they doing something different with the free access versus paid Internet?

They appear to hold reservations until sailing so don't worry if you see them not available for purchase individually. Besides people cancelling and moving reservations, there are those upper class guests and dining package people they have to accommodate. I had no problem with my Unlimited Dining Package once I got onboard. Sure I had to be flexible with the times and sacrifice some entertainment but I ended up eating about $1024 worth of food for $250. I had two specialty lunches once (not counting a la carte lunch places like Johnny Rockets and Playmakers) and multiple nights with two specialty dinners. No need to worry about reservations beforehand but do make them once you get onboard.

I would ask at the venue once you're onboard. There seems to be room for some discretion on the part of the people ringing you up depending on the ship and crew. Also, while Izumi is a la carte, they have a prix fixe option that is covered by dining packages. The normal cost is $34.99. You get the miso soup and you can pick a small plate, two large plates, and dessert. So don't think you are limited to $20.

Second attempt was better. Just when I was about to get good at it, the cruise was ending. (Claws and tail meat)

Had this the other day on Navigator at Hooked. Definitely Maine Lobster. I asked what's the difference with the Chops one since that has an upcharge. They said no difference except Chops is a fancier venue and they split the lobster for you. Hooked was a bit of mess so you get a bib.

It's probably a good thing since people like me get onboard and book two lunches and two dinners with UDP. There are about 3500 guests on this cruise and for the most part I didn't have a problem getting reservations but I'm solo and I sacrificed everything else to get whatever time is available. I'm sure it's much harder with big groups.

No wonder I have to get at least three of them. I guess it’s to find the taste.

The crew. The food. The tenders. The dock. Etc. Etc. I think some roaches can fly too. It’ll one of those things where I think we’ve had roaches way more times in our lives but never known it. Always turn on the lights before moving around. Ask your cabin steward how many times they’ve seen roaches on the ship.

So what's on the menu for day 5? I wonder how accurate those menus and schedules are precruise. My upcoming one isn't consistent with the lunch schedule for specialty restaurants. I do see which day they have lobster tail though. That's probably accurate.

How do you know it doesn't have surge protection? Because the label says so?

Best bet is a good way to put it. Despite what they claim, this item does get confiscated once in a long while.

It's best to just point to the page. The information is only for now and can change by December. What does it mean by fully vaccinated? Do you have anyone under 12 years old travelling? Is this a transatlantic cruise? I don't think any translatlantic cruises go to Colombia. What kind of test is required? They've made testing a lot easier now. Do you have to still disclose your vaccination status? https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/will-i-have-to-take-a-test-before-i-cruise As of 11/3/2022 11:50 AM PT:

What's the security like around the area? Are there armed federal officers with big guns like you see in Mexico? The guys with masks hanging off trucks. After a while I get used to them. In Mazatlán they post officers along the path that cruisers walk. I don't exactly feel safe knowing they are there because there are problems. I rather they not be needed but I got used to them. Most port calls are during the day so there's that. I stayed on ship in Cabo during the night on my recent overnight cruise. If any of this bothers you, stick to Alaska cruises. Just watch out for the meth'd out bears. Oh and avoid certain areas in Vancouver. And Seattle.

There have been major problems there for a while now. If Royal was going to skip it they would've done it already. Anyways, what's stopping the gangs from specifically targeting the area? Probably much easier targets closer to their home. Maybe look at it like you're supporting the Haitian people (if the money actually filters down to them.) I guess it's like pirates at sea or drug cartels in Mexico. The danger has always been there.