SantaFeFan

This is based on the comments that inevitably happen on every tipping thread. There are three countries that are the most vocal and passionate about how unfair it is that they have to pay gratuities and what they do about them. It's a simple fact based on those comments that I was referring to.

Or put another way, we don't care what the dinosaurs want. 😊

My observation is that it's not "old timers", but a certain culture, both young and old, that removes the tips.

Yeah, you have convinced me that every crew member on the ship is dishonest and we must always suspect they are cheating us at every opportunity. SMH.

Thanks. I jumped here from my roll call's forum and didn't find anything during a quick scan. I'll dig a bit deeper.

We'll be overnighting in Honolulu on a cruise next March. We want to do some activities on our own that will require transportation from the port. We're planning to visit Waikiki beach for a few hours and then catch a shuttle arranged by a luau company that leaves from the hotels near there, so we need to get there from the port, and get back to the ship later that evening. How is the taxi, Uber and bus service from the port? Where would be the best place to catch them? Thanks in advance for any assistance!

A couple of people mentioned that the fish and chips at the pub lunch left a lot to be desired. For those of you visiting Juneau, Alaska, there is a well reviewed fish and chips restaurant just a few minutes walk from the cruise terminal. I just watched a video blog by Gary Bembridge, a UK citizen who reviews all the cruises he takes under the Tips For Travelers tag line. His latest is titled "Too Many Alaska Cruisers Still Get These 7 Things Wrong" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdG5xjaElwc About 3/4 of the way through he mentions that the best fish and chips that he has ever had was at the Alaska Fish And Chips Company in Juneau - https://www.alaskafishandchips.com/ From a citizen of a country where I have always had great fish and chips, this place may be worth checking out if fish and chips are a favorite of yours.

I think it helps to know the OPs cruising experience to help make better recommendations.

Is this only to use the complimentary SDs? We were able to make our SD reservations 8 months out and we are at the lowest tier with only one cruise so far. The charges showed up on our credit card statement within a couple of days.

All are good ports. Never been on either ships, but I would do the Sky. The two sea days at the end are more enjoyable than at the beginning. It gives you a chance to relax and get rested after a port intensive cruise before heading home. Plus, it's two more days on a cruise. More days - more fun! LOL!

And why waiters in the UK are some of the most surly of any I have ever experienced. Poor, unfriendly service seems to be a badge of honor in the UK. Of all my dozen plus visits to the UK or Scotland, the service there was about the worst of anywhere I have ever visited - and I have been to 40 plus countries in my travels. Other than the service, it's a great country to visit. But the service? Ugh!

People have a right to their opinions without someone passing judgement on them. SMH.

The fact is that the cruise lines do this to help the crew keep as much of their earnings as possible, something that has been validated by a member here who for years was the purser on various cruise lines, including NCL. They understand how tips work and how keeping them separated can increase the staff member's annual income. Go back and read post #114 for the reason. Hint: it isn't because they are taking advantage of the staff. And I agree with paragraphs 1 and 3 in your post., especially #3

I just edited my comment to include information from the manager of fleet recruitment for NCL that indicates that the crew does indeed have to be U.S. citizens.

The Passenger Vessels Services Act of 1886 (PVSA) ensures that only U.S. built, owned and documented vessels are allowed to transport passengers between coastwise points within the United States. Since the NCL Pride Of America only visits US ports around Hawaii, it must honor these restrictions. Foreign flagged vessels must always stop in a foreign port when beginning and ending a cruise in US ports. That is why a cruise from the US mainland to Hawaii and back will make a stop either in a Mexico or a Canadian port before arriving at the final destination. According to a reference on Marketplace.org, it describes that having an all U.S. crew IS a requirement because it's an U.S. flagged ship. In order to ferry passengers to a number of different ports in the Hawaii Islands, the Pride of America sails under a U.S. flag. As such, it has to have a crew that consists only of U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents. “What makes it very unique is that it is an exclusively U.S. workforce on board that ship,” explained Brian Perez, a manager of fleet recruitment at NCL, which owns 15 ships and is in the process of building another. “So we travel throughout the country doing domestic recruitment. Whereas for the other ships in our brands, we do international recruitment in the global market.”

“You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.” ― Daniel Patrick Moynihan Unlike you, I am not into conspiracy theories. I happen to know from having read these tipping threads for years that what I described is factual. There have been several industry experts, one who had the financial responsibilities of dealing with staff pay with various cruise lines, who have described what the reasoning is, and that is what I explained in my comment. So, believe whatever conspiracy theory you want. I prefer to believe in facts.

NCL's Pride of America is an American registered cruise ship. That is why it is allowed to cruise US ports without having to visit at least one foreign port, a requirement of ships with foreign registry. It is also required to have only US citizens as crew on board - no foreign staff allowed. Their staffing problems are worse than other ships due to that US worker requirement. Finding people willing to work on her has proven to be quite difficult in our current environment.

Then don't read the comments. No one is forcing you to read this thread. Your head hurts because of you, not how many pages long it is.

They don't need to "walk on water". They only need to be reactive to your needs and offer attractive fares. We've been through several booking sources, including the cruise lines, AAA, Costco, large online agencies, and small local agencies. Through trial and error we finally settled on a TA that offers good discounts and additional benefits such as OBC, specialty dining vouchers, etc. He himself has been in the business for over twenty years and works for a long established agency. Of all the sources we have used, he is by far the best, far better than all the others, including Princess, as far as responsiveness to our needs and saving us money in the long run. Ask your cruising friends or search online for cruise planner reviews to find one you are happy with.

What games?? If the service charge was included in the base fare, the cruise would cost the same amount of money as a lower fare PLUS the service charge. Either way, you will pay the same total amount. Why is that so darn difficult for some of you to understand. It is simple math!! What is even more important, if the staff's salary included the gratuities instead of them being kept two separate incomes, many of them would be paying much more in income taxes in their home country. Many of the countries the majority of the staff are from only include salary when annual income taxes become due. Tips earned from service charges are not counted. The staff then pays less to taxes, and keeps more for themselves. If the service charges were included, their taxed salary would be much higher. If you actually cared about their wellbeing, you would happily pay the service charges to help them save money rather than complaining about games being played. The only games that are being played is by people who out of their own selfishness look for any excuse to stiff the staff.

With traditional dining you ALSO might not like the table/server, plus you might ALSO not like your table mates! I don't see how your argument makes any sense when considering the crap shoot that was traditional dining. In the prehistoric days we have had good tables in perfect locations, bad tables back in a crowded corner, good servers who treated us like family, bad servers who had difficulty getting our orders correct, good table mates who we enjoyed talking to, and bad table mates from hell (like those four religious zealots who demanded that we stop talking while they prayed and then asked us not to order wine with our dinner because alcohol offended them - seriously! And it went down hill from there). Most of the passengers I have talked to, and most of the posters on these forums who share their dining experiences, prefer the new Dining My Way format, considering it far superior to the archaic traditional dining system of ancient times. Sorry that you had a bad experience. But considering how loudly you are complaining about it, perhaps your attitude was part of the problem?

It's still open because YOU are still reading it!

I was watching a show on cruise ships and the captain showed his socks to the camera - red on his left foot, green on his right. He started wearing them as a joke, but over time it became his trademark and now he always wears them. The captain had a good sense of humor and seemed like a great boss to have. From www.boat-ed.com: "Sidelights: These red and green lights are called sidelights (also called combination lights) because they are visible to another vessel approaching from the side or head-on. The red light indicates a vessel's port (left) side; the green light indicates the vessel's starboard (right) side."

Thank you for that information. I have always wondered about the numbering when looking at deck plans. It makes great sense. It's always nice to learn another interesting detail about cruise ships.

I can book any cabin I want in most categories on the Princess booking site, including only one of two connecting cabins. Try a mock booking and you'll see for yourself. In fact, on my Royal Princess Hawaii cruise next March there are several mini-suites near us with connecting doors that are booked but the companion room is not. The room next door to us is a connecting room, but it is still empty while its companion room has been booked for several months. The ship is currently less than 50% booked, and less than 25% of the mini suites appear to be booked.