Buckeyefrank100

Passengers pay 100% of their compensation. It may come through "revenue" or "cruise fare" or DSC or Tip... Regardless, passengers pay 100% of the compensation.

I'm sorry we're not sparkling wine drinkers so I didn't ask. Hopefully they do for you because that bar honestly had the shortest lines all week.

They had (some) wine, but no beer at all on the last day. That was a common theme throughout the cruise... items not in stock.

The buffet bar. It only has beer and wine... and only Heinikin on tap... which was empty of course.

We had a great time, but the cruising portion for us was awful. If I'm paying for a drink package I want to be able to get a drink and not have to wait 30 minutes, which I did a lot. We were not assigned our dining option and were not allowed to switch. We cannot eat at 8:30pm so we ate the only other available option, the buffet. Admittedly I am a picky eater, but my wife is not. There was not a good selection on the buffet and way too many food stations closed and pathways blocked. There were WAY too many ingredients out of stock at bars. They weren't restocking them. If they ran out of something, they were out for the cruise. The beer and wine bar had no beer on the last day. That's just unacceptable.

I can answer a few of them. The Easy Plus Package is what we had. Beer was not available at all at the beer and wine bar on the last day. In the pub, there wasn't very much on tap left. On the island, beach chairs are available and free, I believe you have to pay for the umbrella though.

We'll be on that cruise as well.

I mean the real question is, would YOU accept a half drunk bottle of alcohol from a perfect stranger?

Meaning the cruiseline uses passenger revenue, paid by the passengers, to pay their employees. Whether is comes from the passenger as "fare" or "service charge" doesn't change a lot. It comes from the passenger.... not from the cruiseline.

That is Carnival's business model... oh as well as all of the other high profile cruise lines. You have the choice to take your money elsewhere if you don't like it.

This doesn't make any sense. Regardless of whether a SC or tip is given directly to the staff or it is paid as a wage, the passengers are in fact paying 100% of the employee wages.

I don't care what the "obscure formula" is on any cruiseline. We know ahead of time, the amount of services charges (or whatever you want to call them) and they are expected and basically mandatory. I have never removed them and rarely tipped more than required. I for one, don't care at all what MSC pays their employees anymore than I can what Walmart pays their employees. That's between them..

Thanks for all the replies. I think the only time it would be an issue is in the evening when I don't feel like leaving the balcony every 30 minutes to go get drinks. Much appreciated.

They are not going to change it and add the DSC to the fare. It would increase revenues and require paying taxes on those amounts in various localities. It also would have the affect of increasing commissions to TAs. Not to mention the marketing literature would be detrimentally impacted. The opposite is actually true on land based hotels. A lot of them have resorted to reducing the nightly fee and charging a daily resort fee so they can more easily hide it.

Appreciate that. From all the reports of difficulty getting drinks at times, I'd like to be able to get a couple to take to my balcony in the evening and not have to worry about leaving every 30 minutes, and then waiting 30 minutes..

My wife and I are excited to be going on the Meraviglia in a couple weeks. I am leaning heavily to getting the drink package for us. I know each line handles the purchasing or ordering of drinks differently but how many drinks (on the drink plan) can I get at one time? Could I get 2 drinks on my card at one time? NCL will generally allow this. Also if I take my wife's card to get her a drink, would they honor that or does she need to be within eyesight? Thanks

I agree and I'm also crying foul that he is a music executive. I've never heard of flamingo guitar.... There's flamenco, but not flamingo.

Same thing is happening to me. Just select to have the e-ticket emailed to you. That gives you everything you need.

I second Horseshoe Bay. Other things to do would be: Fort St Catherine in St George Putt putt at Dockyard (not normal putt putt) Frog & Onion pub has excellent food and drinks. Oldest brewery on island Harbor Nights Festival in Hamilton depending on when your cruise arrives Crystal Cave tours World class golf courses to play to name a few others

That's lovely. Let's illegally deface a legal note intentionally.

Bermuda is a massive upgrade over T&K

Please God no!!!!! Almost anyone who works with money day in and day out despise $2 bills, $.50 coin and $1 coins.

FYI, the reason this question was asked is cruise lines can require more documentation than legally necessary. Since MSC is an Italian company and used to requiring passports for their cruises.

I have nothing other than Go Bucks to contribute!

I've heard that. Do you know when they start blocking off the garages? We will be there the night before staying in a hotel within walking distance. The plan is to just park there the day before.