Fishfan0073

And again as it has been stated many times. Tipping is subjective, tip if you want to don't tip if you don't want to. It is not going to change how I spend my money. As long as I am enjoying myself on vacation that is all I care about.

Most of my local servers know us and we usually never have a problem as we like to frequent the same locations. And I have never been ghosted by a room steward.

Mom is feeling much better thank you.

I also tip my cabin steward the amount depends on our needs for the trip. My standard is about $10.00 per day and I like to tip at the beginning of the trip. T.I.P.S To Insure Prompt Service, and I usually never have any issues with my cabin. Again tipping is very subjective and to each their own. This is a judge free zone on my part. I am just passing along what I do.

I just googled longshoreman in Florida https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Longshoreman-Salary--in-Florida

According to ZipRecuiter Florida ranks 48 out of 50 for salaries and the average is $12.71 per hour. So if this is true please tip your porter as this is not a wage one can live on.

I am still going down the rabbit hole and am determined to find something

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/ship-dock-worker-salary-SRCH_KO0,16.htm Not sure how accurate glass door is for salaries but that link has an average for all dock workers.

I did a simple google search for https://www.google.com/search?q=are+cruise+ship+porters+unionized+in+florida+2023&sca_esv=573847129&rlz=1C1ONGR_enUS978US978&ei=nZEtZYXoGK2n5NoP0emf4As&oq=are+cruise+ship+porters+unionized+in+florida&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiLGFyZSBjcnVpc2Ugc2hpcCBwb3J0ZXJzIHVuaW9uaXplZCBpbiBmbG9yaWRhKgIIADIFECEYoAFI1yBQzARYpw9wAXgAkAEAmAG3AaABqAuqAQM1Lje4AQPIAQD4AQHCAgsQABiKBRiGAxiwA8ICCBAhGBYYHhgdwgIFECEYqwLCAgUQIRiSA-IDBBgBIEGIBgGQBgI&sclient=gws-wiz-serp That is the link to my google search. The first article is regarding Port Canaveral in Florida. You can scroll to about the middle of the article and there is a breakdown of the salaries for the union employees. The first two are Cruise Operations staff A and B. I am not sure which the porters fall into if any but you can see the salary for A is $16.50 and B is $19.00 per hour. There are others on the list that earn a much higher salary but they are crane operators not porters. And now this is just my opinion but we tip between $5.00 and $10.00 a bag depending on how much my wife is packing. We do not usually have to fly to ports so my wife tends to over pack but hey we are on vacation. So I tend to give a little more than maybe I should. I am not tipping to help my bag stay safe or get there sooner. I am tipping the porter because I appreciate his/her help. Tipping is subjective and I also spent my younger years in the service industry so I tend to be an over tipper, but I appreciate good service and feel people should be rewarded for their efforts.

@harryfat1 Sorry for the delay in posting a pic of the plug situation on Mariner of the Seas. Life has been hectic since returning from our cruise the beginning of September. We had a great time but my mom has been ill since our return and is just now finally feeling better. Better late then never here are the plugs.

I don’t think we will need an itinerary change if the turn to the north happens soon enough. The only port that might need a change would be Cococay. Just depends on how close to the Bahamas the turn happens. I will try to remember to take pictures of the plug situation and how we are dealing with it. I have a few gadgets to help with the issue. But my real question is, does anybody get as excited as I do to fold luggage tags? And how anal are you to make sure you fold them so they are perfect in the tag holder? I not going to say I print extra just incase I screw one up but my wife said “How many bags are we bringing?”. Just getting all the final things done and will be driving north around noon ET. Cruise day 1 is tomorrow.

@harryfat1 I can not thank you enough for making the last two weeks feel less miserable. Vacation starts on Friday and we leave for our Mariner of the Seas cruise on Saturday. With me starting vacation mode two weeks ago your trip report has made the time go by. Now all we need is Tropical Storm Lee soon to be Hurricane Lee to go north and stay away from the US. Hoping this happens by this weekend. Thanks again for the report enjoyed every minute of it so far.

I had the opportunity to see "O" front row a few years ago. We have seen 6 or 7 different shows and will say "O" was the best of the bunch. I am sure being in a permanent theater helps them do different things, but it was worth the money.

I will agree those of us in Florida are spoiled. We have 4 cruise ports to choose from. We live in South Florida between Fort Lauderdale and Miami and have sailed out of these ports many times. They have grown by leaps and bounds over the last 10-15 years. Funny enough tho we are sailing on Mariner of the Seas in 2 weeks out of Port Canaveral. This will be our first time sailing out of there. This is about the time I start to get cranky at work. Already in vacation mode and people trying to give me work aggravates me. Don't they know I am in vacation mode.

I guess I am a 9.2 on the anal scale as well. So far every time you have mentioned being anal about something I say to myself, well I do that.

The paper is backup but I also put the set sail passes in my apple wallet and my wife's. So in really the paper is the backup to the backup.

So I am also over 50 now but consider myself tech savey, but due to my anal score being high up on the scale I still print everything to bring with me. My wife just shakes her head at me, but hey better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

We are currently booked in a GTY Oceanview Balcony. It was a GTY cabin and we have been assigned a very nice cabin midship on Deck 8. Click on the link below and those are our options and minimum bid options. Royal Up Options.docx

We are sailing on Sept 9 and just received the email to bid on upgrades this morning so just under 60 days out.

Finally it is cruise week. We are leaving this Saturday and now time has slowed to crawl. Final shopping trip with the wife was not to bad. She says I need a new pair of sandals and three pair of shoes later I think we are finally done. That is until something else comes up and then the last last minute shopping trip will take place. Covid tests booked with Onpoint virtually for Thursday night, and my sister will come in on Friday. All we have left to do is pack and wait for the time to pass. This will be my last post pre-cruise. All we need now is that negative test and Saturday to arrive. This will be the longest 5 days ever.

Enjoy your cruise

Hope things worked out for you.

Good news, cruise tickets now in hand. Now we just need a way to make the clock move quicker. 12 days and counting

I have placed a call to the person that I spoke with at MSC when booking the cruise. They have always been helpful and responsive. Praying this continues and we get this handled. I will keep you all posted

I do believe that all my information has been entered and accepted. I have all of those check marks accept the one that says total amount has been paid, but I paid the full amount of the cruise and insurance when I booked over 60 days ago. I did book with my Vegas rewards and spoke with MSC directly and paid them directly. I guess I will be making the dreaded phone call and pray I get someone that can help me. Wish me luck