mugtech

7 hours ago, luv2kroooz said:

No. The title of the email is foreign currency exchange service discontinuation. Nothing to do with settling accounts. No.bigbdeal. onboard exchange rates were horrible. Always better to use an in network ATM to get bank exchange rates.

Exactly, one less way to get ripped off.

19 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

I’ve always wondered in crew income is taxable at all, given it’s earned mostly in international waters?

Depends on the crew member's country of origin concerning income taxes.  U S is one of the few nations which requires citizens to report all of their world wide income for tax purposes.  Other than POA not too many US citizens working at sea, it is all taxable.  There are certain exclusions allowed on w-2 income while operating out of a foreign address.

       Future department:  The Norwegian Sun just decided to bypass Manta, Ecuador, will be arriving in Peru a day early.

2 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Restaurants all over the place are paying start up bonuses for signing on.  I know 2 owners personally doing it.

 

Again, ask them if their tips are bribes.  None

of them will think that.  Truth is, if you ask them that question, they’ll be insulted!

According to the IRS tips are earned and reportable income, bribes are not, nor are they a deductible tax expense to the payer.

The coast is where most of the problems are.  If on the Sun I would not get off the ship if it stops in Ecuador.

11 hours ago, cruiser2015 said:

55 pesos to the dollar...what country was that in?

The Philippines,  Laguna Larry's home country.  Always carry pesos, so many great Filipinos working the ships.  Plus I snow bird there October to March.

1 hour ago, island lady said:

 

We have a cooking class tour there...booked with ship tour.  Guess we will find out.  

Good luck, would not stray from the tour.  Have some expat contacts in Ecuador, they are suffering through curfews currently, things are not quite as bad in the Andes, but Quito still has a curfew.

8 hours ago, crzndeb said:

Looks like only Ecuador stop is Manta on Feb 1

The coast of Ecuador is where the drug wars are raging.  Manta not worth getting off the ship

16 minutes ago, luv2kroooz said:

Haha. Must have been a pretty poor sushi restaurant if it didn't have any desserts. Try  green tea ice cream or mochi. How much did you tip?

200 pesos @55 pesos to the US dollar.  We had two meals there, told us we each got 4 food  choices per meal, so we used my meal and each ate two choices, so we each got 20 pieces of Sushi, and then 2 days later we used her meal for 20 more pieces each of Sushi, plus moderate amounts of wasabi.  We like to skip dessert, appreciated the heads up.

I noticed a better sense of humor on the Sky in September.  Laguna Larry told me, without provocation, the pile of green stuff with my sushi was avocado.  Told him it was not my first Japanese rodeo, told him to be careful, in many US states he could be charged with assault and battery for telling diners that wasabi was avocado.  He laughed and said thanks for the free legal advice.  Told us there were no deserts available at the Sushi restaurant, suggested we go down to The Buffet and help ourselves.  Actually gave him a tip (cash).

3 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I've actually seen that this has caused problems when a system of some sort "demands" a middle name.

My wife, following the tradition of the Philippines, has two middle names, her birth name and her maiden name, causes trouble sometimes.  The question remains, how can any name be called a middle name if you have 4 names?

        My best meal is always lunch on embarkation day, since it means the cruise has just started.

Simplify your life, be like Jack Reacher have no middle name.

Would not attend after 9 PM for any reason.

       We are sapphires,  will never sail Star, did 29 days on Sun, that was enough.  We prefer the Jewel class ships, Sky was well managed and entertaining to Quebec and back.  Not sure why anyone would be surprised that they had a bad cruise with Star, it is famous for them.

19 hours ago, Obobru said:

That's for the detailed post. 

 

I do agree they have some good itineraries, I wish other cruise lines would step up on that front. 

 

I would estimate 70% of guests were English speakers so comedy, visual magic, etc could have been offered. We have been on cruises all around the world and it's a basic of entertainment so I don't agree on that point. 

 

The ship could have been restocked in Ushuaia, 3 other ships were taking on stock and we were informed by one of the very good Antarctica speakers that 50 cruise ships of various sizes are in Antarctica this season! They just didn't want to pay as apparently it does cost more to load food there. 

 

The drill was a dill, not sure if I didn't make that clear but it was repeated 20 or so times over 2 hours. The crew were saying to us that they also found it stupid doing it when the ship was full and at sea, some crew said openly that the captain is a bit of a idiot. 

 

Again maybe you are not reading what I wrote I went to the room when crew were opening the doors to the corridors and telling people "the rooms are now ready" the clue is in what they said. You are making excuses for rudeness, not sure why you think being rude is acceptable when I just asked simply if someone could come and vacuum the room when they had time as it hadn't been cleaned the simple response is "sorry it must have been missed I will have someone come this afternoon" easy peasy. 

 

And yet again you have selective reading, a letter for a missed port is standard as people with missed port insurance need a letter stating the port missed, date, reason. It's really not that hard to understand or to supply. 

 

I am glad NCL works for you, you seems to defensive of them it's almost like work for them. 

Lotta stockholders on here

Sounds like you did not try the onboard Sechuan restaurant.

2 hours ago, yogimax said:

  The show has now been shortened and there is no intermission.

 

 

Spoke to someone who claimed they saw the new Cats, said no one walked out at intermission.  Now I know why.

7 hours ago, wahooker said:

Does anyone have experience with a situation like this? I'd like to get on board early, but If arriving early means just sitting in the terminal for 2 hours, I might change my checkin time.

Get there early, bring a good book.

When we got on Sky on September 1, 2023 for our cruise to Quebec out of Baltimore, the boarding was as soon as you checked in.  The Sky had sailed deadhead from Miami to set up this cruise.  In addition the cabins were available immediately, got to drop off our carryons and got our seapasses at 11 AM.  Our check in time was listed as noon, but with only 1,600 on the cruise it was the easiest embarkation I ever experienced  Good idea to check your ship's previous cruise.

5 hours ago, njhorseman said:

Canada considers DUI to be  a felony regardless. It doesn't matter how any US state's law or other country's law categorizes the DUI...you can be prevented from entering Canada.

 

Been to Canada many times on both coasts, never came up.  Perhaps it is because the conviction was 40 years ago.

7 hours ago, njhorseman said:

 

Holland America has assured its passengers who have not been able to obtain their Brazilian visa prior to boarding their world cruise that based on an agreement reached with Brazil those passengers will be allowed to board the ship. The cruise line will then assist them in obtaining the visa while the cruise is under way and any passengers who still have not gotten their visas by the time the ship reaches Brazil will simply have to stay on board at port calls in Brazil.. 

What if they could not get a visa and the cruise ends in Brazil?

3 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

 

When we have gone through that area, extra security was brought on board.  
m

Exactly, we were told because of pirates in 2018 on the Mariner voyage.  No pirates fired anything at commercial shipping as is the case these days.

11 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

When we were in the Haven on the Epic this past March, we got permission to invite our extended family members who were not in the Haven to eat dinner in the Haven one night.  If memory serves me correct, it was around $60 per non Haven guest.  

Worth $60 per guest?

        Has anyone heard if there will be changes to the itinerary in April when cruising from Dubai through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal?  Will they not allow anyone on the upper decks from sunset to sunrise while heading into the Red Sea?