cruz chic

Im curious why every time someone asks a specific question about a PCC the discussion always changes to that of using a ta. It's like asking about the MDR and someone telling you about the cabin steward. It's not like the op asked if she should use a PCC or ta.

Good example of why I take anything said by Front Desk people with a grain of salt.

 

I don't know what it is with some people on the Front Desk, either under trained, poorly trained, in need of an attitude adjustment, or actually told to fob pax off plus insult them and their intelligence while they are at it.....

 

Having said that, I do know from experience in waiting in line and hearing what SOME pax say, what SOME pax's attitude is, how rude SOME pax can be.......it is not an easy job. Which does not make it OK to be less than polite, truthful and helpful.

Absolutely. I good portion of my last job was dealing with the company's partners. We did make a fair number of errors but there was also some really stupid people. I just loved it when these lovely people told me how stupid I was. I certainly don't miss that. It is tough but I didn't assume everyone I talked to was a moron.

Sorry, but passengers can cause A/C and plumbing problems. This is well known and hopefully understood up front. Why the chuckle?

 

There are warning signs for both issues, but some passengers either do not see them or do not consider why they are there. I do admit the warning sign on the balcony doors is woefully inadequate to explain why they need to keep the balcony door shut.

 

Also having these warning signs only in English will be a growing problem since so many more non-English speakers are part of the new international cruise community.

 

Plus no one is "blaming" the poster for the problems he encountered; only mentioning that someone on his HACV or plumbing circuit may well have caused the problem upstream that he has to now face. Just a general reminder that indeed sometimes passengers themselves need to show a little extra care, though it is HAL's job to make sure they get the message far better than they are now.

Yes, passanger can cause these issues but when it's prevalent on a ship I doubt that's the problem. Hal likes to put the blame on passangers too. Again on the eurodam I had toilet issues on my cruise. One day it was a couple hours when it didn't flush, another day iirc it was more than 4 hours. The front desk asked me if I flushed something I shouldn't have :rolleyes:. No I hadn't. The plumber said there was a major problem when he was trying to fix it. At no time did he ask me if I flushed something I shouldn't.

Cute story about the muffin man. I remember that song from my childhood. Thx for the update.

Thank for your report. There were some very serious problems on some ship(s) a while back when they installed some new pools in the aft deck according to one Hotel Manger we spoke with.

 

When the water splashed out when the ships tilted there was apparently no way they were not going to flood the cabins below. I suspect that is what was behind installing those silly aft splash pools in their place on some of the ships.

 

Don't hear those flooded stateroom reports any longer. The HM claimed this was pure engineering oversight and was still scratching its head, but he was also no friend of Seattle claiming a lot them had not even been on a HAL ship but were planning and making decisions in a void - he was old school HAL.

 

So yes, ship does happen from time to time. But never once felt staff on board was indifferent to passenger complaints. However, often there was nothing that could be done and cabin switches were offered whenever they can ....along with the future cruise credit compensation and ubiquitous chocolate strawberry plates.

I was on the Veendam last May. I had several issues but the most problematic was the air conditioning and the toilet. I was down ant the desk several times trying to get issues fixed until I met a guy called Gabriel at the front desk. I had to flush my toilet about every 3 hours or it would overflow. Finally Gabriel got the plumber there and it was a 2 minute fix. The other front staff just blew me off. Several people I talked with had problems with the front desk they could not get resolved. After I sent them to Gabriel their problems were solved. It's very clear that you believe that Hal can do no wrong. Some compassion for others would be very nice since you were not in their situation.

Agreed.

 

I hope OP finds another cruise line. I'd hate to run into them onboard.

Wow, that's a bit judgemental.

Just like there are bad TAs there are bad PCC's. I believe I had 3 before I got the one I've have now. Ask to speak to a supervisor and explain the issues you are having.

Hmmm...we're actually saying the same thing. Naturally slim people have the genes, metabolism, whatever you want to call it to stay slim, while others have to work at it. All I'm saying is that if you do the same things they do (stay more active, adjust calories, build muscle mass) you can maintain your weight.

 

I did find when I was losing weight that I grossly (!) underestimated how much I was eating each day and how many calories were in that food. I started tracking on myfitnesspal.com (still do), what an eye opener. I also overestimated the calories burned during exercise.

 

I lost the weight using the 5-2 diet plan, WW never worked for me but kudos to the OP for sticking with it!

My ex never exercised once in the 15 years we were together. Me, I exercise at least 5 days a week. All thin people do not have good habits just like chunky people don't all have poor eating habits either.

Some people are twigs and get away with eating whatever they like. Others are not so lucky

 

The quote above from another poster reminded me of something I learned when I was looking to maintain a 50+ pound weight loss a couple of years ago.

 

Studies have shown that thin people naturally reduce their calories after indulging. Their bodies do it for them, it's how they are wired. I'm not wired that way but I've made myself do the same, if we go out to eat or have ice cream, etc. I cut down in calories the next day (or two). It's worked and I've maintained my reduced weight with minimal effort for the first time in my yo-yo dieting life.

 

Like a previous poster, when we're on a ship we have fruit and maybe a whole wheat roll or turkey sausage in the morning, then a salad with a protein of some kind (no sauce), both from the lido and then we eat what we want for dinner...including dessert.

The people I know must be cutting down on the sly. I've watched for years as my colleagues ate twice as much as I did. I rarely eat sugar and I got to watch them all indulge in cakes, cookies etc while I sat there and watched. That's not fun. It's not like I'm a thin person. I'm a chunky gal just like 98% of my relatives. My mom battled with her weight her entire life. Now in her 80's she close to a normal weight but she eats next to nothing. It's a well proven fact that some folks burn calories faster then others. I'm an avid exerciser as well so it's not like I'm inactive. My ex husband ate like a horse. He never cut down on what he ate and he was of normal weight.

Seems to me it's at the end of the month. For the cruises I looked at they just increased the price of an oceanview to match the balcony so I didn't find the pricing to be any deal.

Yes, open dining is on the lower level.

Oh my goodness, I LOVE Filipino food. We can really do this in the MDR? :D

 

Lorie

I'd be very surprised if they would do this. Maybe on longer voyages. On my eurodam I asked for some bitterballen ( I realize this is Dutch not Filipino)and it shouldn't have been a big deal but it was. They do have Filipino food in the lido in the Asian section on certain days.

I can't believe it's almost over. Thx for all your hard work for the last 21 days. It's been very enjoyable.

Curious if you realize that they already add 15% to your bill? The high pressure sales if part of the reason I never go anymore.

+10! I love the crisps' date=' which are fruit based with a crumble on top, and I always have them with a scoop of ice cream on top. Yummy![/quote']

 

Me too. That's my go to dessert.

Based on the menus you posted with all the spices and balsamic vinegar not sure we are too interested in the food. I feel your "pain" above. We are at the airport in Portland ready to fly out. Too bad we will pass each other on Friday....:(

Rick & Joyce

Have fun!

I believe copper us on the world cruise right now so you probably won't get an answer from him.

We did complain a couple of years ago on the Nieuw Amsterdam. I was lying down, resting after reading, and the couple in the cabana next to us had a mini-party going on with two "guests". They were very raucous and I finally had enough, so I quietly walked over to the steward and asked if he would please say something to them. They were not very happy about it but it's called The Retreat for a reason.

 

We, too, have seen "squatters" but our cabana stewards were great about recognizing them immediately as not having a cabana -- they were shooing them out as soon as they settled in!

I wonder about people. I was at the dr office yesterday. There were two kids screaming and running around while the parents grinned from ear to ear at them. Another two folks were watching videos full blast on their phones. Some people just don't understand the noise pollution they put out.

One recommendation would be to save a all important documents to your preferred cloud service (i.e. Dropbox). This way, you can access your documents from any computer or device in the entire world. If one loses their phone/tablet/computer, having a copy saved to that device is useless.

 

Last cruise I didn't bring one piece of paper with me. I was able to board every transportation vessel with electronic boarding passes. Not having paper copies may scare the living daylights out of some of you, but it works for me! :D

Just a heads up on that. Some folks have been missing amounts of obc. In order to get it Hal has insisted on having paper to show it. It's been reported that Hal did not accept information that you could see online. That may not bother you but I won't take that chance.

Exactly how I feel - and I'm currently on a diet!!

 

The biggest cause of weight gain is not WHAT you eat, but how MUCH you eat. If you're serious about weight control, limit your portions. If you go to the buffet and load your plate up to overflowing and go back for seconds (which most of us do on a cruise), you will be overeating, no doubt about it.

Really? So if you eat cake only for breakfast, lunch and dinner that wouldn't matter? That makes about as much sense as everything in moderation. Some people are twigs and get away with eating whatever they like. Others are not so lucky.

Sippy cup :D love it. Glad you had a relaxing day!

Thx for the updates.

Spot on, Cuizer2!!! Have never understood why some folks carry reams of paper with them when the salient/important info is on a couple of sheets ... oh well, to each his/her own ...

You don't need to understand. On more than one occasion I've needed to look at sections to see what is covered for my own reasons. If the op doesn't think they'll ever look at it then they shouldn't bring it. I'll never understand why every time I say something it's cause for a put down by some posters. I guess I'm just that interesting.

Years and years ago had had spa selections on their menu that did have calorie counts but it's been a long time since I've seen it.

Thanks for the answers re: perks for Mariners. I guess for the way I tend to travel, none of them would be enough to keep me wedded to a particular line. I agree that a few would be nice additions, but if and only if I was already very happy with the product.

 

I walked away from Princess several years ago when I was getting to be fairly high status and can't say I really missed the perks, other than the internet minutes. (And the line I cruise with the most now has very reasonable prices for that anyway.)

Just speaking for myself if I don't enjoy the product the perks aren't keeping me there. I'm wondering if people would stick with a line they don't like just for perks.