travelberlin

This sounds very good. I will try it. Thank you. Ivi

How far before the cruise are we supposed to receive the e tickets? Ivi

Thanks Keith. I mean when do they come down. For us traditionally they stay until January 6th (this is when we celebrate the arrival of the 3 wise men) and I was hoping to be able to see them when I board on the 5th. Ivi

How long do they keep the Christmas decorations? Ivi

I agree but I will enjoy the champagne 🍾 Ivi

May I ask why you are taking the topper? Cruise lines usually provide one. Maybe you could ask the cruise line. How long is your World Cruise? Concerning packing, we have done a world cruise on another cruise line and it was really not necessary to take too many clothes. We took one suitcase each and one suitcase to share. The only things that were important to take, were medicines that we could not buy over the counter. In addition we took a basic medicine kit with anti flu, vitamins, heartburn pills. If we saw we were using them, we replenished our kit on the countries we have visited. Our cruise was before Covid, but now we include in our medicine kit, Covid self tests kits and ibuprofen. Since the cruise line had a formal dress code, we took some combinable formal wear. In addition I have packed blouses and shirts that I was tired of wearing and replaced them in ports of call. We delivered used clothes in a port of call in Africa. This was organized by the cruise line. We had many opportunities to buy new inexpensive clothes in the ports of call. Because of the same reason, there is no need to take shampoo or creams. We can always buy what we need on the ports of call and in that way we contribute to their economy. For Ushia, a wind jacket, a long sleeve blouse, a pullover, gloves, a scarf and a head cover. This is enough for the one day and can be used on other ports of call and on board. And of course there is laundry on board. Think that the cabins are small and your suitcases will have to be stored there. The challenge is to keep the cabin tidy and to be able to store your empty suitcases under the bed. A world cruise is a wonderful experience. Have lots of fun. I hope Royal does a good job in terms of quality of food, services and entertainment.

In some countries, laws protect workers more than in others. It is good to know that in Norway, crew members were protected. I wonder if they work per contract also 🧐. Because it is more likely that once the contract finish, no one receives a further compensation independently of the circumstances. Ivi

I assume it is per month during their contract. I think contracts are per a certain number of months (4, 6, or 9). I would be too low if someone gets US 1800 for the whole 9 months (US 200 per month?). And the number of months varies among cruise lines. In order to make those base salaries comparable, who ever investigated them, had to use a base unit for example a month. But this is just my guess. The article does not say it. I might be wrong. Ivi

I assume it is per month during their contract. I think contracts are per a certain number of months (4, 6, or 9). I would be too low if someone gets US 1800 for the whole 9 months (US 200 per month?). But this is just my guess.

I am definitely not looking forward to cruise on one of those monster ships. I like the voyager class. I guess that at Royal, I will just sail on those old ships.

I have a small bias towards the Serenity because we have sailed more with that ship. But I like both. Due to their itineraries, I have now cruises booked with both. A couple of them departing from the Americas with the Serenity and others from Europe with the Symphony. Ivi

Is this the Maitre? Where is he/she on embarkation? Or shall I go to the Crown and Anchor Lounge for Diamond members?

There is a figure of a person. When I klick there and scroll down, I see dining. And there it shows traditional dining and the time.

One more question, I have asked my TA to request a table for 2. In the confirmation says “small” in relation to table. Is this for sure a table for two? Or maybe it is for 4 people?

Thank you! I have received the bunch of emails (there were under junk mail) and in the App now shows that I have early dining 👌. I have never though that I would be happy to change from MTD to TD 😁

My TA was able to change me from MTD to early seating. However when I look at the cruise planner, I still have my time dining reservations, which I did before requesting the change and before knowing that MTD was not anymore a good option. How can I see on the cruise planner which dining option I finally have? What do I do with those MTD reservations? Do I cancel them one by one? Or will they be get automatically removed now that I have early dining?

It looks like most cruise lines nowadays include prepaid gratuities at the moment of booking. I was reading for example, that at Royal Caribbean, although passengers can request not to pay the suggested per day gratuities (this means removing them from their bills) that about 2% of total passengers do this. I imagine that the cruise lines kind of guarantee those base salaries to the waiters. In the all inclusive cruise lines passengers pay the gratuities and as far as I know, no passenger would request a refund. In the cruise lines like Royal Caribbean if someone request a refund, probably the cruise line would pay instead of the passenger. Ivi

I guess per month, in which they work on the ship. It would be too low to be per contract. Ivi

That is right and it applies to all cruise lines for comparison. No one knows how much they make in terms of gratuities or other benefits. The article says: “The figures provided by the popular website SHIPLIFE, which tracks the salaries of all the major cruise lines, shed light on the variations in waiter salaries across different companies. It is important to note that the figures represent the base salary and do not account for potential tips, gratuities, or commissions.”

I have just seen this comparison about how much waiters make as a base salary on cruise ships. I am happy to see that those working at Crystal ships are among the best paid. https://crew-center.com/cruise-lines-comparison-how-much-does-waiter-earn?fbclid=IwAR0I4A5qIGtjejB0Z4alLhy6y_wgTg7-QUfwyE4cYPmvLcWLpJOkZUr9EzY Ivi

I have just seen this comparison of how much waiters make on cruise ships. Those are base salaries. https://crew-center.com/cruise-lines-comparison-how-much-does-waiter-earn?fbclid=IwAR0I4A5qIGtjejB0Z4alLhy6y_wgTg7-QUfwyE4cYPmvLcWLpJOkZUr9EzY

Apparently the chaos is in all ships. I am trying to change my MTD for early dining or my next cruise. Late dining not possible because of health reasons. It is disappointing. I used to enjoy MTD.

I hope that they start soon with the wire transfers. As far as I understood, they had requested the transfer information from us because they had already verified our cases. I am not sure what else do they have to verify now. And a wire transfer is a very easy thing to do. Maybe they could assign one person to start doing them. It is kind of weird that those clients based outside North America, have to have more patience and understanding than others, who have already received their money.. Ivi

Interesting article about tipping: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/03/why-you-may-be-guilt-tipping.html?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=Intl&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR20C_GKZ9UKW8vAsEbDxYdfjZLcZ6X4x4PTvEfC_h86cBslFtq9VrrBmsI#Echobox=1701252215

Have a great time. It is a wonderful idea to recover from your knee surgery onboard the Serenity. I wish you a good recovery and a lovely cruise. Ivi