icft

There are many possible deal breakers for us. No food, no drink, no air conditioning and the like. But the thing that is actually approaching deal breaker for us is safety. We're in our late 60s with over 30 cruises. On our last couple of cruises for the first time we felt unsafe at times. The problem is people who have no regard for rules and can not speak a sentence without the "F" word. Carrying around the modern equivalent of a boom box shoving their music down every one else's throat, smoking pot, coming up after you have been sitting for ten minutes and telling you that is their chair... In short, people who don't know how to behave in public, don't care about rules and rather than ask threaten. We suspect the cheap cruises are the cause and hope that as prices go back up the problem will disappear, but we keep getting free cruise offers. We have a few cruises booked but are not booking any more until we see if the problem continues. If it does we will have to go with luxury lines just to feel safe. They can't pay us enough to take a cruise where we don't feel safe.

Ah! Back in the true days of cruising when ships were still used for transportation. I remember something like 50 years ago my parents and I accompanied my uncle's family when they moved from Trinidad back to England. Yes, it was tipping in those days. You tipped those who provided you service. But these days it is a bit different. The so-called tips these days go not only to those who provide you service, but also to to "those behind the scenes." That's another reason it is not really a tip. The problem with doing it the way it was done when it was actually a tip is that part of the pay of "those behind the scenes" is the "tip" money. The cruise lines essentially hold a gun to your head saying "tip our way or else the Filipino guy gets it." It is no fault of that "guy behind the scenes" that part of his pay is this so-called tip and we don't want to hurt those guys so we do it their way.

I agree that Carnival has both decreased the service provided and increased the standard tip charge. If you look at it in terms of tips it makes no sense and has no justification. But these are not really tips and while Carnival pays lip service to them being tips Carnival does not really consider them tips as evidenced by the suggested tip going up as service provided by the crew goes down. The charge labeled tips does have one thing in common with a true tip - the money goes to the crew. But for Carnival this set-up is just a way to have passengers pay part of the wages of the crew and is not related to any service provided. The amount of suggested "tip" is not related to service but rather to what the market will bear. They will shift as much wage expense onto their customers as possible under the guise of tips (while keeping their advertised cruises as low as possible). We just prepay the gratuity and consider it part of the cost of the cruise.

I think Carnival handled the entire situation with Freedom very, very well. The ship looks just plain "wrong" but that is a small thing that just brings a smile to my face. Good job Carnival!

I agree that if anyone is qualified to be the arbiter of all things maritime on this forum it is chengkp75. But calling him in all the time would be kind of hard on the poor guy...

That is the reason I order my eggs over easy at the omelet station. Real, fresh eggs.

I agree that tour guides would not be my first choice for charity. Those are high paying jobs for those areas and the "connected" get them rather than the poor and downtrodden. But the point I'm trying to make is that the OP asked about tipping and rather than advice on tipping was getting advice on supporting social causes.

Your personal attack is both false and not appreciated. Giving money to what you consider a worthy cause is perfectly fine. But giving a day's wages is not a tip.

Is a window involved?

The omelet station is always good. While there is occasionally one good item that item never has appropriate side items - like finding a good meat in a good gravy but you will never find mashed potatoes to go with it. The only thing other than the omelet station I can count on is the salad you can make. The nod to the salads is not really saying much. I don't eat salads except out of desperation on a Carnival ship. The few times they have had a chicken noodle soup I have liked it, but since it is good it has not been served on our last five cruises after reopening. I think they are pushing folks to specialty dining with bad free food.

Well, I think you guys are paying to feel good rather than tipping. For 2020 the gross income per capita in Belize was about $4,000. In Jamaica it was $4,600. Divide those amounts by 52 weeks you get about $76/week in Belize and $88/week in Jamaica. Divide those amounts by a 5 day working week you get $15/day in Belize and $18/day in Jamaica. I think a $5 tip is more than adequate. Those tours are not cheap and the operators are getting enough to pay the guides very, very well.

Nothing being swept under any rugs. The CDC ship status page lists Glory, and most ships, as orange. Covid is endemic everywhere, especially in your neck of the woods.

Ah! Now that you have explained it to me I see I misunderstood your first post. So, never mind...

I'm surprised again. This thread has made it this far without someone saying, "you could have easily gotten two plastic trash bags, filled them with ice and tied them together over your shoulders to have one in front and one in back. Problem solved."

We're still getting a steady flow of casino offers but the incentives have decreased. It is not unusual to not see a lot of offers for very far in the future. We often get offers that are "book by" some months in the future and as that date approaches no new offers have arrived. But as that future date gets close, or when they expire, a new set of offers good for months in the future will arrive.

This thread surprised me. We have over 30 seven day Caribbean cruises on Carnival and have never had any temperature problems other than my wife usually wearing a light jacket because she finds most air conditioned places chilly. But if I did take a cruise where the room did not stay below about 71 at night I would be miserable. I like it cool when I sleep (and my poor wife has a pile of blankets on top of her).

I'm ashamed to say it wasn't the drugs that lured me here. It was the "Me and my two DD's." I should be better than that...

Yep! Texas does have a few "different" things. I don't know if things have changed, but pre-covid we sailed out of Galveston and on debarkation came across a place where the the State of Texas wants you to declare and pay Texas tax on any alcohol you bought on your cruise. We just walked on by with our bottles in our luggage. They have no power to search you without probable cause - they don't have the power of the federal customs and boarder protection. It is a "stupid tax," as in a tax upon the stupid.

Maybe. Then I would not be surprised if they were both 1984 next year...

What's with all the 1983 around here?

Not a silly question at all. We live in silly times with silly rules so how is a person to know where the silliness begins and ends?

I hope not, but that may become more common. I like Gentleman Jack. A few months back half way through the cruise they were out of it. Regular Jack Daniels? No. Wild Turkey? No. All they had was some brand I never heard of. They apparently did restock at the next port. That was the first time in decades of sailing I was on a ship that ran out. A while after we got back someone posted on here about their not having something else. I think it was on the Vista and someone responded that the delivery truck had been stuck in Galveston traffic. So, just like the quality of food - the raw ingredients like beef - have gone down to save costs or, like bacon, become rationed, I would not be surprised if the quality of alcohol goes down. Hope I'm wrong.

What's really tearing me up is that I miss the old Guy's but how do I complain when I can't, with a straight face, say, "you know how much I paid for this free cruise?"

Sometimes a guy just wants a drink he likes... Why settle for a wife? Try any of the women you find in the bar (each bar has a slightly different selection). Try women that you wouldn't ordinarily try because you don't want to spend money on someone you may not like. That's one of the benefits of having a package - if you don't like her you can try someone else after 5 minutes...😇

They have been all over the place on our five cruises since reopening. There is no longer any such thing as "Guy's Fries," just things called fries available at Guy's.