bkrickles1

Taino Bay.

Thanks! We love St John! I wouldn't swap out Tortola for it, but I'd swap out all of our other stops for it. Lol 😂 Good luck with Bermuda and have a great cruise!

Thanks so much! We're sailing Getaway 4/19 with identical itinerary. And we're booked for Vibe too. 49 Days!!

Any chance you have dailies?

My wife loves left-right-center. That's your in with her on our sailing! I'll be at the bar. Lol!

I meant this below. And I'm very familiar with yiddish! Lol It's related to it in a big selfish way, but it is not itself. what does that mean? #daydrinking?

You lost me. I have no idea what that means.

I could not agree more!!! Since 2018, it's been all NCL for us because their product suits our cruise style. And the value is still, despite inflation, off the charts! We're sailing Getaway for 10 days at the end of April and for $200pp per day total we're getting all you can eat, all you can drink, entertainment, Vibe Beach Club, anticipated great service, our OSC, excursions, etc......... There's nothing on land that comes close and I don't think any of the other lines can match that value.

It would probably be nice to sit out on the balcony after putting your daughter to bed at night. We're sailing Getaway in April. Either way, enjoy your cruise!!

Kind of a no brainer. $300 is very little for an upgrade like that. Is it just you? What ship?

My best evening ever on a cruise ship occurred in 2018 on Norwegian Escape. It was a birthday cruise for my wife with my daughter, nieces and cousin. On her birthday I booked the Choir of Man show. This was the very beginning of Choir of Man, when it was only performed on Escape and only in the Supper Club for a fee, which was a pretty small and intimate venue. It was with the original cast and they were selling their cd after the show which, of course, my daughter had to have because they were "all so cute"! Lol! As many here know, you're invited to go up on stage and grab a beer and chat with the cast before showtime. I did this with my daughter and told a couple of cast members that it was my wife's birthday. The show, which is the best show I've seen on a cruise ship, was made even better because my wife was brought up on stage to be serenaded to by the guitar player and then my niece was brought up for the Pina Colada song section of the show. The food was pretty lousy, but the night was amazing! I've got pictures and video and, for all of us that were there, it was our favorite night of the sailing. I've since seen the show in the theater and, while it's still a great show, it lost the intimacy that it had in the supper club. I understand they had to move it because it became just about everyone's favorite show. Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! RIP Richard Lewis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow! That's awesome! That's a lot for a TA to cover. I was introduced to a friend of a friend, who's a TA, and she couldn't really do anything for me that I couldn't do myself so I do it myself. Lol!

I'm sure your bathroom excursion was private! Lol 🤣🤣

While there has certainly been some cutbacks, I believe the product is still pretty good. We sailed Joy last July and had a terrific cruise. It was virtually identical to the sailing we did the year before on Joy with service, food and entertainment being extremely close in quality to what we experienced in 2018 and 2020 on Escape and Encore. We enjoyed it so much last year that we're now booked on Getaway in 51 days! And I probably wouldn't put the blame on corporate. I believe it is almost entirely a pandemic plus inflation combination that most companies are struggling with right now.

I'm sorry, but I've gotta ask because I didn't see this anywhere and you've seen it so many times. Where are the posts stating that everyone should tip more?

Hysterical!! You kind of made my points for me! I certainly didn't question your values. I simply came to the conclusion that you don't value the behind the scenes crew as much as others. And that was based on the aggressive nature of your posts. Maybe you should reread them. I'm not sure how you would define "vast majority", but I'll take a stab at it myself. I believe that 95%+ of all passengers do not remove the OSC. I would say that's a vast majority. Do you agree? And you're correct. I, and the vast majority, do not think about the faceless people behind the scenes while we're enjoying ourselves onboard. We don't because we pay the OSC and know that we're doing right by them, hopefully leading to them getting paid a fair wage. Lastly, your math is wonky to me. I don't know how you get this 40% and, anyway, I asked why you group those 20% gratuities with the OSC.

NCL changed it from daily service charge to onboard service charge. It's right on their website where they describe every single possible cost/fee in excruciating detail. Anyone who feels duped, after the fact, has only themselves to blame for not properly reading all pertinent information. And, with all due respect, I was pretty clear that I wasn't saying that what I value is the same for everyone. What I said: "For me, all in, NCL gives me and my family the most value for the $$$." And for the life of me I don't understand why you insist on grouping the 20% gratuity for the beverage package and specialty dining with the OSC. One thing has nothing to do with the other. The beverage pkg and specialty dining are separate and optional, so no need to pay anything there unless you want those perks and then you pay the 20%. Easy peasy! And while you say that you "completely understand there are probably hundreds of behind the scenes workers that work hard for us", from your posts it appears that you don't value them like the vast majority of people that sail with NCL. Lastly, I certainly didn't criticize or apply any "peer-pressure" to you. Again, I was very clear: "But, I totally understand those that don't do anything extra. It's totally unnecessary and, in theory, your experience should be just as good without the extra expense." Happy Sailing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The thread is called "Cabin Steward Tipping". So, as I've described doing myself, some will give $$$ to the cabin steward on the first day. I've called this a "bribe" many times on these forums. It's because I'm handing the steward $20 before he/she does anything for me. I am doing this to build a quicker relationship with my steward and to have my list of common requests attended to in short order. This is the beginning of a 7 to 10 day relationship with one person that's cleaning up after me and fulfilling any requests I may have for the duration. You were comparing this to 1 hour in a restaurant where there are many variables and you're likely to never see that server ever again, so tipping/bribing before you order is not nearly the same thing. As I said, for me, it's a terrible analogy.

Terrible analogy!

First of all, it's OSC, not DSC! You continue to miss the point. NOBODY here knows precisely where the OSC goes but, obviously, it has a much wider purpose than just additional wages to the people you interact with. So, some people or something is being shortchanged if the OSC is removed. The people behind the scenes are, at least as important as the people you interact with in making your vacation the best it can be. Believe me, I understand that the OSC is a lot of $$. I'm sailing for 10 days in April and my OSC is $600. The reason it doesn't bother me is that I don't grind on all the individual costs and fees. I look at the all in cost and determine value compared to other options. For me, all in, NCL gives me and my family the most value for the $$$. If I were to remove the OSC, I'd be hard pressed to hand out that much in tips to servers, bartenders or cabin stewards, so I would absolutely "save a few bucks". So, that would lead many on here to believe that the people that remove their OSC are a little "cheap" and inconsiderate of all the behind the scenes crew that work so hard for us. And, I'm guessing, those same people don't do a lot of tipping throughout their sailing. I have never and would never remove the OSC and I choose to do some tipping over and above because it makes us happy to do it and there are some perceived perks. But, I totally understand those that don't do anything extra. It's totally unnecessary and, in theory, your experience should be just as good without the extra expense. 52 Days till Getaway!!

I do the same on the first day or two as I'm determining which will be my go to bars. It's amazing what just a couple of dollars and a happy attitude will get you! 😜

It's at the port where NCL docks. It's called Taino Bay and is a gorgeous resort area. Search on YouTube. Lots of good videos.

Absolutely has a bad connotation but, technically, what I and others do on the first day of a cruise is a bribe. It certainly can't be called a tip.

I have to disagree. I have previously mentioned in this thread that I "bribe" the cabin steward with a $20 bill on embarkation day when I hand him/her my list of common requests. I then tip another $20 on the 3rd day and another $20 on the last night. That cannot be called a tip on the first day and is technically a bribe. And it's definitely not extortion. Below is from Cambridge dictionary: to give someone money or something else of value to persuade that person to do something you want

Thanks for the input, but it's still not a "bait & switch".