time4u2go

Why can't they each just use their own card?

What I said is still true. They get paid their agreed-upon compensation whether or not people pay the automatic gratuity.

They get paid their agreed-upon compensation whether people pay the automatic gratuity or not.

I agree. If we concern ourselves with the person that washes the dishes, then do we also worry about the person that fixes the dishwashing equipment, the person that cooks the food that feeds the person that fixes the dishwashing equipment, etc? Where does it end? Those things should be built in to the cruise fare.

Agreed. I'm sure that there are some new cruisers that don't even know about the gratuities being added on later. They only see that $1000 price and it looks better to them.

Agreed. They certainly aren't going to let people know that they don't like it. They are going to pretend to like it even if they don't.

I'm always confused and a bit disturbed when these activities include guests twirling their napkins around in the air...the same napkins that people have been wiping food from around their mouths onto.

Not if you want your dessert and they haven't served it to you yet.

These are both great points. If nothing else, it disrupts the flow of the meal.

Do Galveston hotels still require a 2-night stay?

I'm not suggesting that they don't do their jobs. I'm suggesting that there is no need to make them do extra work by doing this silly performance.

Same here. It definitely takes away from the whole environment. Let the servers do their work.

Other than the cruise line designating it as such, what makes a cabin a single/solo cabin? Does it only have a twin bed in it?

I like it for basically these same reasons. It makes the room not only physically bigger, but it brings in a lot more daylight, so it seems even bigger.

This is very true. Not every island or location that a cruise visits has a consulate or embassy.