cruise_alot123

Wondering if a typical pocketknife Swiss Army or Buck style folding pocket knife is acceptable on a cruise ship? Is yes is there a blade length limit?

Are you looking for a fight or use it for fishing?

There are many butlers on an NCL ship, but there is only one concierge (who often has an assistant who presumably shares in the concierge's tips in some predetermined manner).

True that there's only one concierge and many butlers. However, the statement using "a concierge/butler" making 10k a week is still incorrect. It should have been concierge and butlers not "a concierge/butler" making 10k a week. Lets assume NCL has one concierge and 20 butlers serving 95 suites or make it 100 suites for easy division. One butler takes care five suites. This comes to each butler is making less than $ 72 day and that's not a whole when each suite cabin is tipping $ 100 during their 7 day cruise.

$ 100 tips

100 suites

= $ 10,000

$ 10,000/20 (butlers) = $ 500 per butler

$ 500 / 7 days = $ 71.42

If the concierge takes a percentage of that and I am sure s/he will get a cut then the butler is making a lot less. This is why I said I'll tip $ 250 if my suite cabin cost is $5,000 which is about 5% of my total cost.

There is one concierge and one assistant on our last three cruises - am I missing others? The point is I agreed with the thought that IMHO $100 is adequate.

You are making an assumption that only one concierge/butler is handling all 95 suites and s/he is making 10k a week and that is incorrect.

Actually dinosaurs still live on! That thanksgiving turkey we eat can claim the dinosaur as their ancestors.

 

Yes I have a kid who is a college prof. Lol

You said you have a kid "who is a college prof." but he allowed you using poor grammar? Do you see anything wrong with your statement?

I agree I don't pay more than $100. either! I think a lot of people here write BS about what they actually do tip ;-)

Just because you don't tip more than $ 100 it does not mean other people included myself won't so why is it BS?

I agree! On the new Escape there will be 95 Haven Suites...I can hardly believe that a concierge/butler (even at $100 per cabin) is worth almost $10,000 a week. I tip $100 for the butler and $100 for the concierge and I felt that was generous. We made all of our reservations for everything and had no meals delivered to the cabin. Although I did tip the cabin steward additional as he was awesome. Such a great attitude, helpful and the cabin was spotless (so he also got an additional $100.)

No concierge/butler will be handling all 95 Haven Suites by himself/herself and therefore, no concierge/butler will be making 10k a week.

We have always tipped our butler and concierge according to the services they have provided. On our last cruise we had a butler, concierge and (for the first time) an assistant concierge. Where does it end!?

If you have the money to spend it should never end. Enjoy life while you can because you can't take the $$$ with you when you are gone. Look at what happen right now around the world many millions are suffering so I'd never complain "Where does it end" if I can afford a butler and a concierge. Life must be exceptionally good and it all could ended in a nano second when the next monster "asteroid" hit. It happened to the dinosaurs.

not to cause a stir but the most I have ever paid in addition to the automatic gratuities in an inside for my cabin steward was 30 or 40 bucks and if the just did an okay job then I didn't tip anything beyond the prepaid gratuities. so idk if the average person tips 100.00 in an inside cabin. just my thoughts, no flaming pls lol [emoji3]

 

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Ah....I said average cabin not person so that's a different. However, if I were to spend 5k on a cruise, I think an extra 5% ($250) of my total cruise cost for my butler is not a whole lot and I wouldn't feel it in my wallet. Of course, my butler would take care everything including all my reservations. I've been on 30+ cruises and just back from the Breakaway and will be going on the Gem this fall to New England. There's no such thing is a bad cruise and if people are willing to spend thousands on a cruise what's a few extra bucks for the servers?

I am going on a 7 nights Med cruise this week, will stay in a suite with my mum.

Will have breakfast in Cagneys. Will not order room service. Have booked all excurions myself. Will arrange dinner reservation myself onboard.

Is $100 tip for butler enough?

I don't know what is the average tip others give. So don't want to underpay the butler.

Advice appreciated.

Butlers work very hard and if you are going to spend $ 5,000 on a cruise I'd tip at least $ 210 and that averaged out about $ 30 a day and that's less than 5% which is still low. I'd tip $ 300 if my cruise was at least $ 5,000. Most people tip $ 100 on average for an inside cabin so for suite passengers, you gotta step up and I know $ 210 may sounds a lot but percentage wise, it ain't nothing as compared to what you paid to get in Cagneys.

Be prepared to see 1500 kids on any cruise during the summer months from mid June til the end of August. Last school day is June 13 for most schools and kids don't go to summer schools in the US, they go to summer camps for a few weeks. We've been on a few summer cruises and you do see 1500 kids and they bang on your doors on their way back to the state room, you'll get no chance to use the hot tubs because 15 of them will be in one hot tub and they'll never leave, day or night. We have been on 30 cruises and will never cruise again during the summer especially going to Bermuda or the Bahamas. Europe is a okay.

We were already booked (and into the cancelation period) when this came to light, so will just not go in the water at all. Bermuda is such a great destination and there are plenty of things to see and do, so we will just enjoy the other options available. I think if I was booking now, and was already in the cancelation period, I might look at a different destination as well.

 

Seems silly to be so protective of Norovirus on the ship (which makes good sense) and then go ashore and get into water which the US CDC is advising Typhoid/Hep A shots for.

We have been on 30+ cruises and just off the NCL Breakway last month to Bahamas and was thinking to book it again to Bermuda. Although we've been to Bermuda 3 to 4x and loved it everytime. However, I think if you're already booked you don't really have a choice and there are other things to do if you don't plan to get into the water so just relax on the the ship or visit around the island. As for us, I think is better to book a cruise to else where. Did not mean to scare anyone but swimming in contaminated water does seem scary and the last thing you want is to get sick from the cruise and it had happend so many times this year.

Was planning to book my NCL breakway now changing my mind. Better think 3x b4 getting into the water b/c you are basically swimming and drinking other people poops which could be very dangerous and deadly. I'll pass on this one.

Hi Tony, I found it pretty easily....I went to the Equinox Forum and

type in April 30, 2012 and it popped up.......here is the link:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1439633&highlight=april+30+2012

Excellent. Thanks.

April 30, 2012 to the Baltic. The reason for this is I've lost some contacts in this old roll call and am trying to find out if I can locate them using the old roll call. I am trying to locate the CC user id from this roll call.

Thanks.

Tony

There have been several threads started here recently on the main Celebrity board where cruisers are searching for others sailing with them. It occurred to me that we have so many new members here on Cruise Critic that many may not be aware that we have a ROLL CALL section within Cruise Critic where you can find others cruising with you.

 

Therefore, I thought I'd post a quick note to explain what ROLL CALLS are and how you can find one for your sailing.

 

WHAT ARE THEY?

Roll Calls were started for individual cruise lines so that our members could "meet up and chat with" others who they'lll be sailing with. This made it much easier to find others on your cruise instead of scrolling through all the threads here on the main Celebrity board.

 

HOW DO YOU FIND YOUR ROLL CALL?

There is a separate ROLL CALLS section on the main page of our BOARDS. Here is a link directly to the ROLL CALL area for Celebrity ships (called Celebrity Connections). http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=206 Click here and then locate your ship that you'll be cruising on. You'll then have to scroll and search for your particular cruise. Celebrity's roll calls are very popular and you can usually find a roll call for sailings within six months of your cruise.

 

WHAT IF I CAN'T FIND A ROLL CALL FOR MY SAILING?

You can start one! In the thread title, be sure to include the name of your ship, your sail date and year. Some roll calls get started very early, others start closer to sailing dates; some are very active; some tend to be a bit more quiet. Regardless of how active a roll call is, this is a great opportunity to meet some folks sailing with you.

 

IF MY ROLL CALL IS SLOW, CAN I POST IT ON THE MAIN BOARD?

No. Please don't post threads looking for others cruising with you on the main boards. Roll calls became so popular that there was a need to set up a separate area for them. We ask that you keep roll call discussions to your roll call in the ROLL CALL area and keep the main board open for general Celebrity cruise discussions.

 

 

If you need assistance with a roll call, please feel free to contac me or Host Walt and we'll be happy to help.

 

HAPPY SAILING!

How do I find the one that I've sailed? For example, I am trying to find the April 2012 roll call on the Celebrity Equinos. Where can I find it?

Thx!

Don't mean to sound cheap and this is how I usually do it. I get 3 oranges in the morning then cut them in half, squeeze them in the glass then I have my own ship made fresh juice. Yum, yummmmm....:cool:

As I said, no worries, just book when you get on the ship and your room key is your ticket for the shows. Plenty of seats, just go to the theater and book everthing there all at once. Rarely anybody waiting in line.

Hi all,

 

I will be taking my first ever cruise aboard the Norwegian Breakaway in May. I know that you can't book the online entertainment until 45 days out, which will be tomorrow....but all the entertainment is showing on the website already. My question is, how often does Rock of Ages perform? We wanted to do it on the second night of the cruise but it seems like the show is only on 1 night of our 7 day cruise. I clicked through each day on the itinerary and Rock of Ages only shows up on one day. Will this change when reservations open up tomorrow?

 

Thanks.

Just came back from the Breakway last month and there are 4 shows only for Rock of Age. You can either book online from home or book it from the booth right infront the theater. No worry, we booked online then changed the time and date when we got on the ship and still plenty of seats. Btw, the show is almost 2 hours long.

Well almost - It's a 3.5 hour yacht tour on the Potomac River to see the Cherry Blossoms in Washington, DC hosted by Celebrity and Emirates. Includes food and cocktails.

 

Thank you Celebrity !!!

Huh??? My office is just right around the tidal basin and I don't even venture to see the Cherry Blossoms b/c my street is full of Cherry trees. I do go to MDLive casino and play poker there a lot and that's exciting.

Entertainment

 

OH - FIREWORKS! I was looking forward to the fireworks, but we didn't end up seeing them. They may not even have happened our cruise - I eventually lost track of what was going on. The fireworks were scheduled for the night that we left Nassau, and we were sailing towards some sort of weather. They were originally scheduled for something around 9:15 - the daily said to view them from Spice H2O or port side on the Waterfront. We had eaten a late lunch that afternoon, so we were planning on a late dinner or room service if we weren't hungry before the restaurants closed. At some point before the fireworks were scheduled, there was an announcement that they were being delayed due to the weather and had been rescheduled for 10:15. We ended up having dinner at the noodle bar that night and I thought I heard another announcement that they had been delayed again. At that point, we were tired from a long day and went to bed - if there were any more announcements or fireworks that night, we slept right through them! Oh well - we've seen fireworks before and will again, so it's no big deal if we missed them!

 

The ropes course was SO MUCH FUN! I recommend going early in the week - you can always go again later if you want to, but if you wait until the last couple of days and encounter bad weather, you've missed it. We didn't have time to go until the last two sea days and it was closed every time we checked on one of them! We made it on the last sea day, but the plank and zip line were closed due to winds - which was a bummer. It was really fun people-watching up on the ropes course, too - we had fun guessing which way people would go and who would get scared and turn around. I'm not a big fan of heights, but once I got up there, I was impressed at my own bravery! I definitely would have walked the plank if it had been open - actually, I may or may not have tried to sweet talk them into opening it. :D No luck on that - silly ropes course staff were insistent upon safety. ;)

 

 

Next up: Bars

Hello Neighbor,

Glad you enjoyed the cruise so did we. However, my wife was sick for the first half of the cruise so we did not make it to the CC gathering and therefore, did not get to meet you all.

We were there for the fireworks around 10:15 PM in the evening and it only lasted 10 mintutes with very loud rock n roll music. The weather was lousy and high wind but they did manage to get it going. My wife did the plank and zip line while we were in port canaveral since we did not get off the ship for having been to this port many times before.

Keep up the great review.......

Tony

We just off the Breakaway this past Sunday and shoveled 8 inches of snow on Monday. Ouch...However, lobster night is the first sea day which is on Monday night. They called it a seafood buffet night and they do serve all kinds of seafood including seafood pizza, ceviche, and all you can eat lobsters. I think I had 8 lobster tails and they are very tasty and no need for the drawn butter but they do have drawn butter next to the lobsters if you need it.

As for the line, we showed up around 6 PM and there were no lines maybe 3 or 4 people in line and they have 3 or 4 stations that serve lobsters so no worry about the long line. Always plenty of food to go around and if you see a line, just walk around to the other station and the buffet area is very big.

Great cruise and people are happy, very clean and new, weather was 85 degrees in GSC, and Nassau, did not get off the ship in port Canaveral since we've been there many times before so we just do the zip line etc...

Casino is smoky and you can smell the smoke inside the elevator on deck 7 and always packed with gamblers young and old. Casino does open when we docked in GSC which is new to me b/c I thought when the ship docked the casino is not suppose to be open.

The Burn the Floor show was great and Rock of Age was also good but long almost 2 hours. Rock of Age is not for young kids and did see a few people left in the middle of the show perhaps do to some sexual acts.

Water in Hot tubs just lukewarm and always crowed unless you go around between 4 to 5 PM.

Walk off is super fast and easy. We choose to walk off at 7:40 AM and was in the parking lot by 7:55 AM.

How early can you get off if you haul your own luggage?

Thanks.

We have had the most wonderful time on The Gem (February 8-February 17) and my review was going to gush over the near perfect vacation. But yesterday, we were in such rough conditions, I do not think that I will ever take another cruise. We have just become platinum level, too. I do not know yet what the specifics were last night but suffice it to say how relieved I am this morning and the conditions are listed as 26.2 ft waves and 41 knots wind speed. It's still difficult to stand or walk but it is not harrowing like it was from approx 8 pm till 3am. I cannot understand how we did not hang back near Florida for several extra hours yesterday instead of sailing right into this thing. Earlier this week, the captain made reference to his 8:00 flight home on Monday and we are now wondering if that is an am flight or pm flight. I am sad to think that we forged ahead to ensure an early arrival for his convenience.

This ain't so bad. When we cruised to Bermuda a few years ago, we hit 30 ft waves and 70 knots wind. That's right! 70 knots wind and the waves were up to deck 9 and only 10 people showed in the dining room. During the morning of the rough seas, half off the passengers were hunkered down and some of the kids were vomited right on the dining room tables and we had to get up and moved to the far, far end table because of the smell. However, people just forgot all about it when we got to Bermuda and the return trip was nice and sunny. This was in June and we all had a great time.

Anybody knows how many hot tubs on this ship and which one that you have to pay?

Thx!

Tony

We are booked on 21st June 2014 sailing of Celebrity Eclipse to Scandinavia, in my planning preparation I discovered via Celebrity's web site that the port is listed as Muuga which is 17km away.

 

Does anyone have any experience of this port as I can't find out much through the search feature.

 

I am hoping that the ship will dock in Tallin next to the old town and the little info I have been able to gather says that the authorities discourage Cruise ships from using Mugga.

 

There is a website showing which ships are in each port on a particluar day but can't find it.

 

Help anyone?

Just way too early to have sweat over it. Wait til April 2014 then be worry if is still say Muuga.