rugerdog

2 hours ago, dnvmiller said:

Can you bring coffee creamer on board with you before you leave?

I've done it every time I cruise, both the liquid variety, and the powdered flavored creamer.  Never a problem, never questioned.

Enjoy your cruise!

I've been on a private tour with Dora in Cartagena as well.  Excellent tour and very informative.  I'm sorry to hear you had a poor experience.  ☹️

3 hours ago, Cruzaholic41 said:

No. More like nosy. 

When a customer is being told that they have control over how much an employee gets paid, then I don't find it unusual to be interested.  

11 hours ago, SRF said:

2)  There is a minimum monthly salary based on work at sea regulations.  If the base pay plus service charge pay is less than that amount, the cruise line has to make up the difference to meet the minimum pay.

This is interesting.  Help me make sure I understand this correctly. 

Example:    The minimum monthly salary guaranteed to the employee is $1,000, with $800 coming from the cruise line, and $200 coming from the passenger.  If the passenger withholds the service charge/gratuity, then the employee still gets the entire $1,000, but it is completely paid by the cruise line, instead of subsidized by the passenger. 

Is that correct?

On 1/24/2020 at 12:03 PM, Denny01 said:

I’m doing something they don’t approve of......such as continuing to play cards in El Bacio when I finished my coffee!!

On a recent cruise on the Silhouette, I saw this one guy doing that . . .  😆😂

8 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Despite what is told about DSC, it is done for two reasons only:  one, to be able to lower the advertised cruise fare, and two, to attempt to form a "team" service culture where the crew enforce good service (since one crew's poor performance can affect all the crew) through peer pressure (taking the onus of strict supervision off the cruise line), and being able to blame the reduction of wage on the passenger and not the cruise line. 

Interesting.  Thank you.

8 hours ago, Langley Cruisers said:

But I'm still not sure if you started this thread to be provocative or trolling... 

4 hours ago, farawayatsea said:

Maybe I am feeding a troll here and if so I apologies to all. 

1 hour ago, mom says said:

So, you've been on these boards for all of 3 weeks, and call a respected poster who has been here for 14 years a troll because his opinion doesn't jibe with yours? That takes a lot if nerve.

I understood faraway to be referencing Langley's post.  Perhaps not.

52 minutes ago, Aquahound said:

 

As well stated, Princess' International Cafe is open 24/7 and it's quite good.  It's very comparable to RCI's Cafe Promenade.

 

NCL has a good gig going with 24/7 O'Sheehans, but it's a sit-down venue.  I think RCI's and Princess' set-up is much better because I've never had the desire to sit down to a meal at 2am.  Munchies maybe, but not sit down.  

Quite agree.  I love the IC on Princess.  I've gone there many times in the wee hours and they have great food, not just cookies. 

Since the coffee/bar portion is part of the International Cafe, perhaps you could get a cocktail there as well 24/7?  I can't speak to the beverage portion of the venue.

As far as "older and sedate", my experience has been that Princess demographics are very similar to Celebrity which tend to be a bit older than NCL.  I would classify the Princess pax as perhaps a bit more well traveled, but not stuffy at all.  

I've thought I had seen posts "disappear" on this site, but figured I was just having hallucinations.  How and why does that happen?  I understand if a post was made that was considered offensive.  

I agree that Glacier Bay is better than Tracy Arm.  Much longer time spent in Glacier Bay, many more Glaciers to see.  

Enjoy your cruise!

4 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

The president's office called me back and are willing to honor the $10,200 fare I was quoted. 

Eli, thank you for coming back to post the outcome.  That's great and I'm glad X finally did what they should have done from the beginning.

Customer service is very important to me when choosing to whom I give my dollars, and for that reason, Celebrity has proven to me repeatedly that they value it as well.  Hope you and your family have a wonderful couple of cruises.

55 minutes ago, gr8fulforcruising said:

I politely asked the girl from celebrity and her reply was there is nothing they can do... enjoy your day

I'm making the presumption you booked directly through Celebrity and not a travel agent, but either way it can be changed as long as there are other cabins in your same category available.

On my most recent Celebrity cruise just a few weeks ago, I checked online to see what other empty cabins were in my "assigned cabin category" and found one I liked better.  Called my TA, she called Celebrity and they changed it on the spot, no problem.  

I've put magnetic hooks or magnetic clips in both carry on and in checked luggage.  Never had an issue with TSA nor the cruise embarkation security.

To the OP, my experience with the Customer Service from Celebrity has been far and away much better than that of any other cruise line.  

Clearly, this situation is unacceptable, and a very poor example of how business should be conducted.  I'm sorry you've had this occur, and I would be very angry and disappointed .  

Thank you for taking the time to post about what happened and is continuing to happen.  It helps the rest of us who may find ourselves in a similar situation. 

I'm optimistically expecting X to do the right thing, once your predicament reaches the right eyes/ears.

I was hoping this thread was about tipping the photographer to keep them from taking pictures of you during dinner, embarkation, etc.  I might be up for that 😉

I'm firmly in the "absolutely loved it!" camp.

I've done a one way from Vancouver ending in Honolulu on Celebrity, and the longer RT from San Pedro on Princess.  Both were fantastic, but of the two, I preferred the RT.  Lots of sea days are great for relaxing and enjoying the ship.  Port days are wonderful but tiring, so the sea days returning back to California feel like a luxurious second vacation.  I've never felt bored.  But then again, I'm pretty easily entertained 😉.

Have a great holiday!

6 hours ago, blcruising said:

NCL is by far the worst repeat offender in this. It is another reason why I book a week prior to the cruise. They have the most cavalier of the mass market lines and make no apologies for inconveniencing their guests. They do it because their contract says they can, and things change all the time. Solid customer service would give the passenger the opportunity to cancel or sail at a reduced rate. Not because the legal jargon says so, but because that is what solid customer service is. Each business can choose to operate as Spirit Airlines which routinely scored low on satisfaction or they can be Amazon or Costco. 

Completely agree. 

It's not that NCL is the ONLY cruise line that has issues, it just seems to be how they handle the issue once there is a problem.  Of all the cruises I've been on, I've only had itinerary changes once, due to "dry dock" issues, and yes, it was on NCL, with less than a week's notice.  And yes, in my opinion, they handled it very poorly.  

As far as booking a cruise for the ports/length of cruise/itinerary, that is why I book a cruise.  I can't imagine giving thousands of dollars to any business and saying "do whatever you want, doesn't matter to me."  When I board a plane/train/taxi, I fully expect to go where my purchased ticket says I'm going.  When I purchase a can of green beans, I expect there is going to be green beans, not peas in it.  I don't think it is unreasonable to have the same expectation when purchasing a cruise.

Obviously unsafe and unforeseen conditions are understood.  Things don't always go perfectly in real life.  But again, it's how the business chooses to handle the situation that makes the client feel valued or not, and as the client, I then choose who gets my vacation dollars.

That's so cool!

1 hour ago, Wolf 8 said:

Our first cruise is in 23 days so I haven’t yet seen cabin door decorations first hand.  Still, noticing that others are joyous enough to celebrate life’s good fortunes with amateur door art will probably make me feel happy, too.

 

I don’t intend to decorate our stateroom door.  I don’t intend to eat soup with the incorrect spoon.  I would only hope that before others render verdicts on propriety and decorum they stand naked before the mirror and ask, “Do I really want others judging me?”

Well said.  

I appreciate your positive attitude!  You're going to have an amazing cruise, enjoy every second of it.

12 hours ago, kerryincork said:

I don't sit a dinner table with bright light shinning it peoples eyes demanding they tell me all. Its meant to be a light conversation that passes the dinner hour by..

Exactly!  

On 11/11/2019 at 7:38 AM, Cruise Raider said:

 

Indeed!  I cannot figure out how people would lose sight of the way to their cabin.  It's not like the cruiseline hides the cabin number when you aren't looking.  

On 11/11/2019 at 7:40 AM, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Exactly. Or like the cabins can move!

 

Worst-case take a picture of your cabin number on your phone - or if you don’t do your phone on a cruise write it on a piece of paper and carry it with you!

On 11/11/2019 at 2:04 PM, mom says said:

I think if someone can't remember what deck they are on, or write down their cabin number, then perhaps they should consider bringing along a care giver. Don't the elevator lobbies have the deck number displayed?

 

Door magnets have a habit of walking - sometimes onto other decks. Not something I would depend on. But then, I think most door decorations are like pink flamingoes and plastic gnomes on the front lawn of a mansion- they just bring down the property values of the neighborhood.

I cruised for several years with my Mother, who suffered from brain tumors and related memory and cognitive issues.  I always decorated our door with some small magnetic sign, sometimes from Cruise Critic, sometimes from our favorite sports team.  It helped reassure both of us that we were indeed at the correct cabin, and it gave her some assistance when walking down a seemingly endless hallway with identical looking cabin doors.  As soon as she'd spot our door decoration, she'd smile and say "oh we're here!"

Now that my Mother only cruises with me in spirit, I take along a door magnet in her memory.  It still makes me smile every time I see it.  

Sometimes the very small things in life can have a very positive impact.  It does not diminish me to be kind to others, indeed quite the opposite.

18 minutes ago, rangeley said:

Does anyone know what ship this was? We were on the Royal the 9th-16th.

It's my understanding it was the Coral.

14 minutes ago, JennyB1977 said:

Until these people are taken to task via proper channels (not a confrontation in a Captain's Lounge or online) NOTHING is going to change.

100% agree.

7 hours ago, gold1953 said:

We have never and will never get a beverage package so the elite events are wonderful

It sounds as if the elite events are really fun.   Especially if Zsanett is your server!  😁

1 hour ago, Blazerboy said:

The free convertible upon arrival home was a nice touch...but why so chintzy?  A Mercedes? 

You only were given the convertible?  Wow, you must have really angered the Zenith gods.  We had the Bentley for ourselves, and a Tesla for our dozens of suitcases.  The service has really been slipping . . .