gergles

Every year inflation increases the cost of operating a cruise line, yet the cost of a cruise has not kept pace with those increases for at least the last 25 years. So how do the cruise lines manage it?

Nickel and diming (sorry, "unbundling") is one way to increase profits while appearing to keep prices the same. There are other ways, and I (and many others) think this particular instance of 'unbundling' is detrimental to the line and creates an atmosphere of unease and discomfort of "oh, great, what else is going to have a secret fee?"

Having guests who are uneasy to do anything onboard because they're worried about piddly charges is a really quick way to decimate your line's profits and just cause the base price to increase (because fewer people are willing to cruise because it is just like a land-based resort vacation where anything you can think of has an upcharge -- yet there's a fixed amount of profit the line requires.)

Cannot agree with the current majority that its cheap & tacky, if you really feel its necessary to have room service during the night then a small charge is surely not unreasonable.

If you really feel it's necessary to have breakfast on your balcony...

If you really feel it's necessary to have your room serviced twice a day...

If you really feel it's necessary to have your luggage delivered to your room on the ship...

Surely small charges aren't unreasonable for all of these services either? Get your nickels ready :D

I personally feel it is a version of nickel and diming. While it has been awhile since I have used it, I know I have used late night room service. Can someone please refresh my memory what options for food are available during those hours besides room service?

Extraordinarly limited (buffet has pizza until 1am and "late night selections" until 2am), and then none between 2 am and 6 am.

Cannot agree with the current majority that its cheap & tacky, if you really feel its necessary to have room service during the night then a small charge is surely not unreasonable.

If you really feel it's necessary to have breakfast on your balcony...

If you really feel it's necessary to have your room serviced twice a day...

If you really feel it's necessary to have your luggage delivered to your room on the ship...

Surely small charges aren't unreasonable for all of these services either? Get your nickels ready :D

I feel the same way. It'd be like me saying "I don't go to the theater shows, so I don't care if they charge a fee to see the shows"

Yep. I don't go to the hot tubs, let's put a swiper on them and charge you $20 each time you turn on the jets.

Room service personnel do not receive money from your tips, that is just totally false, I would hate to see them get screwed out of tips because of a false comment. I realize you didn't actually say that but the implication is there.

 

The old manner in tipping room service was if it was delivered by your attendant or butler no tip is required and you can adjust it at the end. If not a tip would be appropriate.

 

Tipping is really so simple, I don't know why everyone makes a big deal out of it.

People 'make a big deal out of it' because people like you on CC insist that everybody on the ship who looks at you simply must be paid extra money because of course they should.

I don't know why everyone insists they feel the need to tell other people what to do. Your customary tips are included and charged to your shipboard account. You simply do not need to tip anybody else. If a service has a customary tip, it has already been charged to your account or is charged at the time of service (spa/drinks).

I also don't see how you can maintain that it is 'absolutely false' that room service personnel do not receive tips from the mandatory tip. There's an "Alternative Service" slush fund on tips; I would be surprised if they were not compensated from that fund. We simply don't know (nor should we care) how the people on the ship are compensated. If they are unhappy, they will leave.

Wow, not only is it now suddenly $5, it also is only waived for Suites (not also CC & AQ.)

Come on, Celebrity, get your act together with this nickel-and-dime nonsense. If you insist on penny-pinching like this, your customers deserve to know the right information, the first time.

(wrong thread)

You may also bring soda with you yourself, as much as you'd like.

The explanation that I heard was that many times the server would get to the room, knock on the door and there'd be no answer - the passenger fell asleep, left to go to a bar, or it was "kids" fooling around. This delayed orders to people actually waiting. I don't believe Celebrity looks at this as a money maker; it is more of a service enhancer in response to a bad trend seen across some cruise lines. .

Only on CC could a new 'beacuse we can' nickel-and-dime fee be called a 'service enhancer' in what appears to be a completely unironic way.

Next 'service enhancer', a $20 fee for 'priority service' at the bars onboard... then a $30 fee for priority service ahead of the priority service line...

You can use the ship wifi to send iMessages. Texting will be done through the ship's roaming satellite service and will be very expensive.

They can't really tell the crew weeks after they got their paycheck that they'll have to pay some of it back can they? I may be a bit too imaginative here, but the next step is that NCL will have to guarantee 90% or so. (I read somewhere that cruiselines alread chip in for cruises where gratuities are removed a lot more than usual). Then the next step would that there is no moral obligation to pay gratuities anymore, because you wouldn't hurt the crew but just the billion dollar line. And then the line would need to raise the fare to pay the full salary.

 

I can't say I would mind that scenario.

There's no moral obligation to pay them now. The people that work on cruise ships are not slaves.

They are informed about their compensation, that some people may remove tips, and that this will impact their compensation, and are also given statistics and data about how much they should expect on average -- and ultimately, if they aren't satisfied with their compensation, they have the same option anybody else has with any other job and can quit.

Given the number of cruise staff I've seen with a double-digit number of contracts under their belts, obviously they are fine with the current system. While I've never removed tips, you bet your button I would in a minute if I found the service anywhere near unsatisfactory.

Paying gratuities is a personal decision, and the people who work on the ship go in with full knowledge that some people will not pay gratuities. Villifying people who choose to remove a fee that is described as optional/discretionary is wrong.

Also, they can easily clawback grats if they are removed later. Ask a commissioned salesperson about clawbacks, it's the exact same scenario.

Yeah, there was no such charge on my Silhouette sailing earlier this year either. Bummer.

Muster station is A, group is A3. There is a good reason why the group is printed on the keycard but only the muster station without group number is printed on the instructions behind the cabin door (they could if they wanted beause the current cabin and escape routes are marked anyway).

The muster station with group number was printed on the door in the Silhouette and on the Breakway (NCL). The lifejackets also have group numbers, not just muster station. I find it highly unlikely they're reconfiguring lifejackets and door signs.

It has nothing to do with being familar with a specific ship but to be familiar with your specific muster station on each cruise - in order to your comment to make any sense, one would need to sail always in the exact same cabin (while the muster station stays the same, the smaller muster group might vary based on occupancy in other cabins assigned to the same station).

No, the muster station for a cabin never changes. If cabin 5678 is station A3, it (and everyone in it) will always be A3. If you sail in the same cabin on your B2B, there is zero reason for you to go to the muster drill a second time, other than that it is a cruise line requirement.

Thank you. We have a cruise scheduled on the Silhouette, but our previous experience was on Holland America, Royal Caribbean, Silversea, and Seabourn. HAL issues an off-ship beach towel to each person in a stateroom, but there aren't any restrictions on pool towels. Pool towels are a completely different color.

 

Then again, I can't think of any time that we spotted chair hogs since we were on the Explorer of the Seas more than a decade ago.

There were no towel checkouts or deposits when I was on the Silhouette. One beach towel per person was left in your cabin before beach days, with a card that you'd be charged if it wasn't back in your cabin, but this wasn't enforced (I returned the beach towel to a towel bin by the pool and didn't read the card until afterwards, but wasn't charged) -- there are abundant amounts of pool towels that you can just take near all the pools.

I wonder if the word 'purchased' in English has the same meaning in the North American languages ?

You know X sells beach towels, right? You can ask your cabin attendant to charge you for one then take the one left in your room.

At least I'm glad to see they still have the sushi bar, one of our other favorites that we didn't get on the other cruise lines. (Please don't tell me that's gone as well :))

There is still nightly sushi. :)

There is a kids' program the poster above me described, but there aren't a ton of "kid-oriented" activities throughout the rest of the ship.

If your kids will be happy hanging out with other kids and doing organized activities with a chaperone, it sounds like they'll be well-accommodated, but there aren't lots of things for an independent kid to do; there is a (tiny, expensive) video arcade, and then there are the pools, of course, and a basketball court - but there aren't like, rock climbing walls and waterslides and other kid focused public areas that some of the other lines have.

IMO, kids the ages of yours would enjoy being onboard as long as they are reasonably independent and can entertain themselves, or if they'd enjoy the kind of organized 'camp' style activities in the Fun Factory/Club X.

Can any one tell me.....if you book a cruise on board and receive an on board credit to spend on the cruise you are on at the time,and then decide to cancel the one you've booked, do you have to pay back the on board spend?

 

Presume if you just transfer to a different cruise it won't be a problem.....

No, but you don't get your deposit back for the cruise you cancel (since you got OBC equivalent to the deposit amount.)

As alluded to, make sure you ask about grilled items, which are complimentary. On my sailing they were only grilling one item a day (you didn't get to choose) but they rotated between chicken, shrimp, and fish.

Don't they still have a brunch in the MDR on a sea day?

No, it's now set up in the main buffet area. They call it the "Extravaganza" and they have the chocolate fountains/ice sculptures/etc. there.

HI. I am sure this has been asked a lot before, and it is off topic. I have only sailed in a Haven suite on Ncl, and I am sailing in a SS for the first time on the Summit. (Sooooo Excited!!) Do people tip the butler extra at the end of the week?

People on this forum tip literally everyone for everything, so keep that in mind. :)

Your automatic gratuities are higher (by $3.50/pp/pd at least) in a suite and the increased amount goes to the butler. You can decide if you want to give them extra, but they have already been compensated.

Surge protectors are not prohibited by Celebrity.

I don't get why people keep pointing to a thread with someone dredging up a memo about container ships and then thinking that Celebrity is:

a) unaware of how their ship's electrical systems work and

b) incapable of stopping people from bringing dangerous items onboard and/or

c) refusing to add a potentially dangerous item to the prohibited items list.

If surge protectors were dangerous or even potentially dangerous to the electrical systems of Celebrity's ships, they'd be on the prohibited list. They aren't. It is really that simple. Tens of thousands of people every week are on a Celebrity cruise, yet nobody has ever reported a fire or electrical problem in a cabin due to a surge protector. Do you think that Celebrity would let people bring these things onboard if there was any chance it would cause a problem?

Surge protectors are allowed. Extension cords are not allowed.

Buy a 3-outlet tap like the one pictured or even the orange and black one (you'll know it when you see it) and you'll be totally fine.

I sailed in the middle of February in the middle of a snowstorm and there were people outside and enjoying the loungers by the start of the first sea day and in the pool by noon. You get to warmer temps very quickly.

I had a studio (deck 11) and definitely felt some motion throughout the cruise. I took meclizine (bonine) pills and didn't get seasick, but you are well-aware you're on a moving ship. The lower and more central you are, the less motion you feel, so if you are becoming disturbed by it, moving towards the middle and down can help.