daydreamer62

Yes you are entitled to the 25% discount as well as the credit and it can make a big difference. . For my cruise the minimum was 6 to get the discount and it was cheaper to book 6 than to book the 4 I originally wanted to do. (I chose less expensive ones for the extra 2). the credit comes off the total after the 25% is applied

You clearly want the last word so you can have it. I know exactly what the reaction to your actions would be but you clearly know better so was I said you do you.

20% would be ridiculous and pretty much unheard of in NZ where a the minimum wage is $23.15 per hour even for wait staff. But hey if you want to pay that then you do you . Regardless of the amount it would be far better received in $NZ no matter what the amount .You clearly think your time is more valuable than the staff serving you. You could have spent 2 minutes at an ATM getting NZD or pay by CC as most of us do.

We also love the area and last year were there for a week and walked from Beaulieu Sur Mer to Villa Ephruzzi. Had a great morning tea in the cafe there too after taking the audio guided tour and learning the life of Beatrice. We loved Villefranche Sur Mer so much we are returning for a week at the conclusion of our Vista cruise in June after securing a waterfront apartment.

They generally aren't and the only place I have tipped in my life(at home) is for exceptional service in a higher end restaurant, but it does seem to have become more prevalent in restaurants over the last few years to the point that some of the new electronic payment systems have an opt out button for tipping, kind of insinuating it's more normal than it actually is. This has caused some discussion and hasn't been well received by many. NZ has a fairly decent minimum wage that must be paid to all employees except to youth who can be on a special youth wage. However I'm sure nobody would be offended to receive extra, despite it being not required. A small amount of foreign currency though would have the same value as no tip at all! I don't understand the whole concept personally.. of expected tips or built in service charges.. if your business is a service industry then that should be taken into account in the costs and included in the food(or other) charges and then the employer should pay their staff well for good work and I that's pretty much what it used to be like here but with globalisation there is always change good and bad .

Did you even read my reply? When was your last experience tipping in USD in New Zealand???????. Banks in New Zealand do NOT handle foreign exchange ( since at least 2019). A few dollars in foreign currency isn't worth anything. Nothing at all because the fees to exchange are higher than the value of the money. If you truly value good service perhaps some respect for the person you are supposedly tipping might be more appreciated than your money in foreign currency .

I would kindly suggest if you ever come to New Zealand that you don't tip in US dollars. Banks here do not convert foreign currency at all. You need to take it to a currency conversion shop which give appalling rates and often have minimum amounts and maximum fees to convert. A few US dollars would be almost useless unless the recipient was planning to leave the country . It would be far more appreciated if you had converted your money to local currency or used an ATM to get cash and paid those fees yourself if you really appreciated the service you had received

Some (many) food trends definitely need to stay in the past. The 'everything in Aspic' is one of those. Nothing tastes better encased in jelly!! I do like beetroot though but it's definitely not better in gelatine!!

Once again I just would never judge a restaurant based on their use of tablecloths. There are 3 Michelin star restaurants that don't have tablecloths.. I've also never eaten at Jacques so I can't judge which I would prefer but I tend not to prefer the old style french heavy on the sauces type of cuisine so I may not have preferred it anyway based on the menus I've seen ... but I'm not one to judge anything that I haven't experienced myself... It seems to me you have a preference for a style of restaurant that perhaps others might feel is démodé but that's fine too. It's your preference.. It may not be (and clearly isn't) the opinion of others. Oh and I'm not a Vista cheerleader.. I've never been on it.. I don't judge something before I've experienced it..as I said.

I've not eaten in Ember either (though im booked in on June 2 so I'll let you know).... However I can't understand your obsession with tablecloths as a judgement of quality. I've eaten at amazing restaurants where we've paid over $300 per couple for one meal (let alone board and lodging) that ..horrors .. don't have tablecloths.. A tablecloth doesn't ensure quality .

Never sailed Celebrity but I've never had a meal in any establishment or any house or anywhere at all that was inedible.(Unable to be eaten) I've certainly had some that I didn't want to eat but that didn't make them inedible.

And likewise when I read a review ( about any restaurant not just Oceanias) that states the food was 'inedible' I mentally roll my eyes and pay little attention to any further complaints . I've seen the inedible' descriptor quite often on CC posts ...

In my opinion the quality of an excursion is greatly dependant on the tour guide, not the number of participants. I've had exceptional guides with larger group ship tours and I've had not particularly engaging guides on small independent group tours. The secondary consideration is the other participants in the tour and whether they can listen and follow instructions. In the case of the larger tours the chances you will run across those who seem unable to do this is greater because of the greater numbers involved but it can still happen in a smaller tour ( and certainly I've experienced this too!! )

And they may have gained as many as they shed.... Change is the thing that some will never like.. if you think of the many who were contemplating Viking who decided their prices are just too high but they liked their semi inclusive options there then Oceanias change may have drawn them in . (I'm one of them so I figure there are more ) But you are right some policy changes do result in unintended consequences

On Oceania with Simply More you could have multiple glasses of champagne with your lunch if you choose. Nicer to be seated to drink it than wandering juggling a glass with hand luggage

My understanding is if you have both credit paid for excursions and personally paid for excursions, the credit portion is used first. So if your SM credit paid for 3 excursions and your purchased excursions paid for 3 then if number 3 is cancelled then the SM credit is moved to number 4 and at The end of the voyage your refund would be in $$ refundable because you had personally paid for more excursions than you took. If you only booked 3 all paid by credit then if one was cancelled and you didn't book anything else then you would not receive that refund in $$ as it was originally paid for by the non refundable credit. I might be wrong but this is what I was told

Of course which is why I mentioned Facebook messenger or any of the many many other apps that can be used via wifi . You definitely don't need a ship provided app for this purpose. Therec are so many other and probably better options for communication.(Outside of wifi availability they can also be used with mobile data)Many millions of people have been using these to communicate on land and sea, both locally and internationally via wifi for years.

Or just take a photo of it on your phone.

You can use any messenging app between android and iPhone if both are on wifi. Whether it's Facebook Messenger, what's app or any other of the multitude of apps for that purpose on land also work at sea on wifi

Rather than bill through the hotel who are likely adding a premium you could book your water taxi direct https://www.motoscafivenezia.com/en/ticket/choose-destination.php?_gl=1*ww0rz3*_up*MQ..&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwMqvBhCtARIsAIXsZpbZUETiIpIJQMnLkUL8MegG9LVrKPa9SPhbTvv7J9P0WbiaG1_FUPIaAoQHEALw_wcB

And the very next review from a couple in their 40s/30s gave a really great review. Different strokes for different folks.

I'm in a prime position to compare as we are booked on Vista for 11 days followed by a plane, train, hotel apartment type of vacation directly afterwards. The cruise cost $580NZ per day each for a balcony. The hotels/apartments cost on average $550 NZ per night for 2 so $NZ 225 pp room only for not fancy but hopefully 4 star level accommodation. Transport ( 2 trains 1 plane)cost another $1000pp divided over 10 nights and I know from our costs in France last year that we will spend at least € 120 pp at the very very minimum on restaurants per day so that's NZ 267 bringing the land portion to at minimum NZ$539 per night and that is before daily travel costs such as metro uber taxi etc. Taking into account the convenience of going to sleep and waking up in a new port, no packing and unpacking etc the cruise portion is surprisingly good value. It's a totally different experience of course and I don't believe one replaces the other but doing the maths makes me wonder if we just shouldn't have stayed on board for the next 7 days B2B after our original cruise!! ( This cruise was a replacement for a longer one cancelled due to the red sea transit issues that averaged $564 per night) we changed our outgoing flight and kept our original return flights from London so have 11 days to fill in getting from Athens to London hence the land portion in France and the UK.

Exactly. A resort based vacation to me would be akin to boarding a ship that never leaves the dock. Those who enjoy that shouldn't be complaining about port changes of any kind. I just don't think you can compare the two like for like.

I'm younger than you. Early 60s , but we tend to travel for longer periods because we are coming from New Zealand and it's a very loooong very expensive flight. I'm always less than 23kg even fully laden but that's still hefty to get on and off trains, and luggage racks aren't always convenient. As I said we are using this method of travel after our cruise ( travelling in France and to the UK) but really only to give my husband a driving free holiday for a change . But personally I don't think train travel can be compared to cruising. It's completely different ( unless you are doing one of the luxury all inclusive journeys)

Have done that and will be doing it again at the conclusion of our next cruise however it definitely has its downsides. Luggage being the worst IMO. You really don't want to be lugging big heavy suitcases on and off trains (so that limits my shopping and wardrobe choices ). Then you need transport from the train station to your hotel . It's not a great issue if you are young and fit and travel light.. Then in Europe there are the (not infrequent) strikes to contend with