Donald

The airlines and cruise lines get their onboard movies from the same 2 suppliers.

Whatever movies that were available on your flight to the ship will most likely be the same on the ship.

The monthly replenishment schedules do not match exactly, so you might get lucky.

N.B. If you fly Business or First, or sail on a premium line, there will be a much larger list of movie titles.

In 2019 around 600,000 humans died from complications related to the common flu. This was an average year.

Many millions more suffered and survived.

The news people didn't give it much attention.

Last year, over 15 million people booked cruises during the flu season.

In 2019 around 200,000 humans died from complications related to Norovirus. This was an average year.

Several million more suffered and survived.

The news people gave plenty coverage to the 1% of those cases that happened on cruise ships, but generally ignored the other 99% that happened on land.

Last year over 30 million people booked cruises despite the very obvious Norovirus risks.

In 2019, in America alone, over 500 people were killed by riding lawn mowers. This was an average year.

Tens of thousands more were injured, but survived.

The news people gave them no attention at all.

There does not seem to be any downturn in the number of riding lawnmowers being sold in America.

In 2020 - so far - over 80,000 (and counting) humans have contracted the new Corona Virus.

So far - nearly 3,000 (and counting) have died; almost all over age 60; almost all in China; almost all NOT on a cruise ship.

As for the news people - "If it bleeds, it leads".

Now suddenly we have a mass hysteria brewing about catching Corona Virus on a cruise ship.

Are there any identifiable logical thought patterns that support this sort of thinking?

27 minutes ago, kiwirick said:

Maybe the cruise lines should be paying their employees a decent wage so that they don’t have to rely on tips to survive.

Maybe the cruise lines should double your cruise fare to cover that decent living wage so they don't have to rely on tips to survive. (Remember that a cruise line employee who receives tips gets to keep them. A cruise line employee who receives a decent wage has to pay income tax on earnings - so the cruise line will need to pay him more - from your cruise fare.)

17 hours ago, pacruise804 said:

Thank you.  I'm not very familiar with Japanese culture but it read more like a dinner than a breakfast based on my American palate 😉 

Cultural differences are one of life's finest pleasures.

My Asian palate looks at an American Breakfast and says  "Heart Attack Special".

On 2/27/2020 at 1:58 PM, jb008 said:

 

I personally wouldn't want to pay $5-8 dollars in ATM fees to get $50 worth of currency.  Also it's recommended security practice to only use bank ATMs due to the security risk of having a card (and account!) compromised by an ATM with a card skimmer.  If you know you need to use an ATM abroad, I recommend getting a Charles Schwab debit card as they'll reimburse the ATM fees and set up a separate account so your risk is limited to what's in the account.  Added in edit: there's also no guarantee that the third party ATM has a better (or even fair) rate - the airport in Paris had some ATMs that were gouging by about 10% above the daily rate, whereas Hamburg airport ATM was only about a point above daily rate.  Europe was good about requiring them ATMs to disclose the rates, but it was up to the consumer to know what was fair.

 

Having had family members who suffered having their bank accounts zeroed from a compromised debit card, I take simple card security seriously.  They were home and we could float them some cash until their bank helped them out - imagine having only the cash in your wallet accessible until the bank can verify your fraudulent activity claim!!!  In this day in age, it doesn't hurt to set up a separate savings account at one of the big banks that offers a high-yield savings account anyway (Goldman Sachs' Marcus account or Cap One 360 are two examples) and get the benefit of better yields >1.5% on your savings and a little extra security as it puts cash into a pot that is separate from your daily checking account.

 

As to small amount of Euros left over on our previous cruise, I used them as tips for the crew (#2).  My more recent Euros I stuck in a drawer and will use next time I visit the EU (#5), providing me with taxi money instead of having to fumble with a credit card.

I agree. I wouldn't pay $5 to get $50. I also have a credit card with zero ATM Fees.

But I wouldn't mind paying $5 to get $300 - especially as the better exchange rate in an ATM still nets you more money than going to a bank.

My credit card also has a low set daily limit for cash withdrawals from ATMs, and sends me an email every time my card is used for anything.

But then, I wouldn't spend $20 in a taxi to go to a bank in order to avoid using the ATM in the cruise terminal.

Nor would I pay the highway robbery fees charged by the cruise lines to exchange money.

This thread is all about a non-problem with a very simple answer.

Most cruise terminals on Planet Earth have ATMs right in the terminal.

They all have language options for the linguistically impaired.

And Surprise !! -ATMs nearly always give you a better rate than banks or currency exchange shops.

Even better, ATMs ALWAYS give you a far better rate than cruise ships do.

Now for the next non-problem.

What to do with leftover foreign currency?

1. Do you really have that much to worry about it? Chances are that the amount is tiny.

2. The currency makes great souvenirs for children. Also great tips for cruise line and hotel service staff.

3. Nearly any of your local banks can exchange it for you - even if they need to send it to a larger city.

4. Do you or any friends, relatives, neighbors, or co-workers ever plan to visit that country again? Probably.

5. Just holding on to the money will probably not bankrupt you, and it is unlikely that the currency will lose value over time.

4 hours ago, mssimpson said:

Of course, I understand your analogy and I appreciate your reply. As I stated at the very beginning of my post, I am new to cruising and do not understand all the policies and procedures. I have seen numerous posts mentioning refunds and onboard credits. Although it may not be the norm, it is certainly not unheard of. I was simply asking how it works. It is obvious purchasing a cruise package is somewhat different than purchasing a car. Again, thanks for the reply.

It never hurts to try - and it will cost you nothing to ask.

Trying this sort of thing on a mass market cruise is much like trying it with a mass market car.

If you have a problem with the price of your Chevrolet purchase, you will probably not get much satisfaction.

If, on the other hand, there is an issue with pricing on a Rolls Royce or Ferrari, you will most likely get some personal attention from the dealer.

Another good reason to avoid the WalMart-type mass market cruise lines.

Say I buy a new American car in July. I get to pick the color, perks, and extras on it.

You wait until October to buy the same model from the same dealer. Now it is end of the Model Year time.

You will probably get a better price - but the available colors, perks, and extras may be limited.

You may not get exactly what you want - but still get a great deal.

If you tell me about your great deal on the same model I bought, I may be a bit jealous.

Can I go back to the dealer and demand a partial refund, based on the new lower prices?

I can try, but will most likely not have too much luck.

While my example is not exactly the same as purchasing a cruise, the procedures and outcomes are remarkably the same.

The first scheduled cruise for Star Breeze is mid-May.

The first scheduled cruise for Star Legend is September 1st.

Kaiseki is a classic traditional meal; breakfast, lunch , and dinner.

Some of the better Japanese Lines serve this regularly.

My favorite breakfast is Kaiseki, on some of the Japanese cruise Lines.

14 exquisite courses:

• Saizuke – a small savory appetizer served before the meal.
• Hassun – a seasonal themed sushi
• Mukozuke – a seasonal sashimi
• Takiawase – a medley of vegetables and fish or meat or tofu, all simmered separately
• Futamono – “lidded dish” often very hearty and usually, but not always, a soup or stew
• Yakimono – a broiled seafood dish, or eggplant, tofu, or bamboo shoots served grilled
• Su-zakana – a palate refresher of mixed vegetables, served with a mild vinegar dressing
• Hiyahi-bachi – summer only chilled-dish, fish or vegetables
• Naka-choko – another palate refresher sometimes a chilled soup
• Shiizakana – a hot pot dish, simmered or dressed
• Gohan – rice course,  cooked with seasonal ingredients, topped with fresh seafood
• Ko no mono – seasonal pickled vegetables
• Tome-wan – soup served with rice and pickled vegetables. A miso based soup.
• Mizumono – a seasonal dessert

30 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

A couple of flaws here, Donald................

 

Airlines do have responsibility for ensuring that passengers have correct paperwork.

If they board a passenger who doesn't have the correct paperwork for the destination (for instance if the passenger is required to have a visa and one is not available to buy on arrival), the airline is liable, including returning the passenger to the city where they boarded.

That's why check-in staff always need to see my passport and any necessary visas.

 

At some ports, yes the ship will arrange visas (or landing cards - not the same thing as a visa but does broadly the same thing).

But that's not "usually", it's at some ports

And where a personal advance-purchase visa is required, eg India, the cruise line will want to see that visa before the passenger is permitted to board, because  the cruise line is liable.

There has been much confusion over transit visas for cruise passengers visiting Chinese ports like Shanghai. At one time some cruise lines permitted boarding on the grounds that passengers could enter China on a transit visa purchased on arrival, but some - certainly Celebrity - made it clear that passengers whose cruise ended in Shanghai would be denied boarding if they did not have a full Chinese tourist visa. I don't know if Celebrity is still out-of-line on that.

And a passenger on a Baltic cruise who had only a single-entry Schengen visa was required to leave the ship at Tallinn, Estonia (a Schengen country), and skip the ship's visit to St Petersburg (in Russia, not a Schengen country), instead taking a ferry to Helsinki (Finland, a Schengen country) where they re-boarded a few days later.

 

Rights and responsibilities regarding passengers' travel documents is a minefield - it's always dangerous for us laymen (and even travel professionals) to be specific cos there's to many ifs and buts

 

JB 

 

 

 

Not exactly flaws.

Airlines do check to ensure that we have the proper visas - but in nearly every case where it is missed (which happens quite often) the only liability the airline faces is having to fly the passenger back home if the immigration officials are not happy. It is very rare that an airline is fined for flying illegal passengers.

Cruise ships, on the other hand, are regularly fined by immigration officials for not ensuring that their passengers had the proper paperwork. Your China example is a very good one.

If an airline mistakenly flies a foreigner with improper paperwork into China, the passenger is turned around at the airport and placed on the next flight out.

If a cruise ship brings a passenger with improper credentials into China, there is a large fine for the cruise line.

17 hours ago, gerryuk said:

I don't get this argument that nobody can purchase a cruise ticket and board on the day of sailing. Surely the facilities, other than the money transactions are available at most, if not all major ports in the USA / Europe?

All major ports have immigration and police officers on duty 24 hours a day, Will they care if people are buying their tickets for immediate travel, as long as they have the correct travel documents and are not intending to brake any laws. To be blunt is it any of their business when customers purchase their tickets?

As for the cruise lines themselves, at many ports if you miss the ship after a day doing your own excursion, cant you fly off to the next port and board the ship there after going through immigration? So technically speaking, it already happens.

 

 

 

 

 

Gerry,

You need to do more research.

Most major ports DO NOT have Immigration Officers on duty 24 hours a day.

They are only on duty for hours when ships are arriving and departing.

Most North American ports have no permanent Immigration Officers at all. They are pulled from the nearest International Airport (thereby slowing traffic at the airport) only when absolutely needed.

The USA has a dozen or so larger ports where crew and pax cannot join or depart the ship, as there are no Customs or Immigration officers available.

Cruise Passengers and Airline Passengers are treated differently by most government authorities. The cruise lines do not have a voice in this. International flights are cleared to land - but each passenger is personally responsible for any visas or other paperwork. International Cruise ships are usually granted a blanket visa for ship, passengers, and crew. The cruise line is legally and financially responsible to ensure that everyone onboard has proper paperwork.

In major ports, manifests for arriving and departing ships could total 20,000 to 50,000 names in one day (remember that crew names are also required). Most governments (USA is a prime example) do not have the manpower or computer capacity to do background checks on that many people in one day. That is why they require manifests submitted a day or more in advance. Ships arriving at a US port are required to submit manifests 72 hours in advance of arrival.

3 hours ago, gerryuk said:

It seems to me that any cruise passenger who has viruses like influenza should be able to contact the cruise line, even if its on the day of boarding, and cancel their cruise, and the cruise line should reimburse them their total ticket cost, no questions asked.

Is it not better for the cruise lines in the short term to loose money on a few empty cabins, than have viruses spread because many passengers will not cancel their cruises due to the huge financial implications of doing so, no matter what they are going to bring and spread on board? Also all cruise passengers must and be able to prove that they have travel insurance when buying their tickets so that they are insured for things like flights etc, so they have even more incentive to cancel.

Now you can say that this is unfair on the cruise lines, and it is, but at the moment we are living in dangerous times, and all bets are off. How much will it cost the cruise line if one of their ships is quarantined?

Loosing thousands of pounds / dollars does not give anyone the incentive to cancel their travel plans if they are ill, getting their money back will.

Cruise lines in major ports in America and Europe should adopt a turn up and go wait list. So many cruises out of these ports are always sold out. If you can turn up on cruise day with all relevant travel documents and the cruise you are interested in, has cabins available due to last minute cancellations, you should be able purchase the cabin, there and then. If you are the only turn up and goer for that particular cruise, the cruise line should tell you how much the cabin cost the person who cancelled, then you should be allowed to make a reasonable offer to purchase said cabin, its then down to the cruise line to accept your offer and make some money back, or decline and make a loss on that cabin. If there are more turn up and goers than cabins available, then the cruise lines should auction off the cabin with sealed bids, then and there, who knows the cruise line could actually make more money for that cabin, than they originally sold it for. Just a thought.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gerry,

Don't quit your day job just yet.

Your budding career as cruise line consultant may not work out as planned.

In most countries, cruise lines are not allowed to add passengers the day of sailing. Immigration and Police authorities require advance booking reports in order to vett all passengers.

If a family or passenger cannot afford travel insurance, they also cannot afford to spend the budgeted daily revenue onboard. In that case, the cruise line really does not want them anyway. Mass market cruise lines make zero profit selling cruises. They only make profit from passengers who can afford to spend money onboard their ships.

The people who previously booked cruises at the pier on the day of sailing were bargain hunters who would not spend any money on board. The cruise lines do not want these people.

Most cruise passengers have the attention span of a gnat. A quarantined cruise ship is quickly forgotten and fully booked in no time. Three months after the sinking of Costa Concordia, Costa's business was better than ever.

Cruise lines do not have the staffing or facilities to sell cruises. They much prefer to have the travel agents do the legwork. The commission they pay is far less costly than hiring many more sales employees.

If you do manage to get a water kettle onboard, consider this.

Your cabin's fragile electrical system probably cannot handle the load required by your kettle.

Plugging it in will most likely trip the electrical breakers that power your cabin.

Since cabins are normally grouped in 3's and 4's on the electricity grid, all your neighbors will be blacked out as well.

Then you have to telephone Reception, report the outage, and wait for an electrician to restore power to you and your neighbors.

The words "dining" and "NCL America" do not belong together in the same sentence.

This thread truly shows the extremely low levels that mass market cruising has reached.

People arguing over mediocre American fast food on a cruise ship.

No problem.

So the sky is falling.

Lock your doors, turn off the lights, draw the curtains, hide under your bed.

Do not answer the door.

I will telephone you as soon as it is safe to come out.

Maybe they are asking about Safeway?

7 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

I think you may be the only person in the world who does this.   

This is why 10% of the US population had Norovirus last year and nearly 800 Americans died from it.

2 hours ago, bonsai3s said:

The gym (RCCL) will have alcohol based wipes.  We wipe down all the machines, before and after using them.

Alcohol in concentrations above 60% has been proven to kill many (not all) norovirus spores - but only if the dwell time is longer than 3 minutes.

When you wipe down the machines, do the wiped surfaces stay wet with alcohol for at least three minutes?

If not, you are wasting your time.

Norovirus contamination is typically fecal-oral.

This means that someone with infected fecal matter from their body has touched you or something that you touch or eat.

That infected fecal matter remains contagious on a clean dry surface for several weeks.

The amount of Norovirus spores required to infect you would easily fit on the sharp end of a pin.

On a big mass market ship, how many people have the opportunity to infect a public toilet in one day?

A public toilet that looks and smells clean is rarely virus-free.

If you walked into one with an ultraviolet lamp, you would be shocked and sickened.

How many people have the opportunity to contaminate your cabin toilet?

Do you feel lucky?

On 2/9/2020 at 1:46 AM, navybankerteacher said:

Why? 

 

How many norovirus fatalaties have have you heard of?

 

I got norovirus once - two days - one of which I spent on or near the toilet;  not pleasant, but certainly capable of being handled.

 

 

Last year in the USA, over 700 Americans died from complications coming from Norovirus.

1 hour ago, lenquixote66 said:

I am obviously in the minority because I use Purell in public bathrooms.I bring my own.If you wash your hands in a bathroom you first must touch the faucet and then touch it again after washing your hands.

The CDC conducted many surveys on cruise ships over the past decade. They discovered that ships pushing the hand sanitizers had far more Norovirus cases than ships that do not. Too many cruisers do not understand that hand sanitizers are an adjunct to handwashing - NOT a replacement.

Other CDC surveys pinpointed the best locations to contract Norovirus; 1. airplanes, 2. schools, 3. prisons, 4. old age homes, and 5. hotels. Did you or any of your fellow cruisers visit any of those locations before the cruise? Just about everyone.

The next surveys pinpointed the best places on a cruise ship to contract Norovirus; 1. Self-service buffets, and 2. public toilets.

Where does just about every mass market cruiser go immediately upon boarding? 1. Buffet, and then 2. Public toilet.

So if you carry a container of sanitizer with you, where do you store it?

Most people opt for a trouser pocket, possibly the dirtiest place on a human being - or a purse, the second dirtiest place.

So you take the contaminated bottle of sanitizer out of a pocket or purse. This guarantees that your hands are contaminated.

Then you sanitize your hands.

Next you use your clean hands to place the still-contaminated bottle back into your contaminated pocket or purse.

So your hands are contaminated again.

You have just defeated the system.

Purell may not be effective against Norovirus. But there are some hand sanitizers that are effective. In order to kill Norovirus "spores', there is a minimum requirement called "dwell time". This is the length of time a liquid sanitizer remains liquid and in contact with the viral spores. Most sanitizers require a dwell time of several minutes in order to be effective. How many of you squirt the sanitizer on your hands, work it around a bit, and then quickly dry your hands? You have just defeated the sanitizer and rendered it ineffective. The dwell time was too short to be effective.

How many cruisers squirt enough sanitizer on their hands to keep it liquid for several minutes? Hardly anyone.

Now let's talk about the mobile telephone that you carry in your contaminated pocket or purse. This is the thing that you are constantly pressing against your face, letting others press against their faces, and handing it to any number of people to hold and view a photo or video. How many times a day do you properly sanitize that mobile telephone?

Wiping it on a trouser leg or a shirt doesn't count.

Do you sanitize your hands every time after you use your mobile telephone or loan it to somebody else? You should.

Do you wash your face every time after you press that contaminated phone against it? You should.

My ship is currently 75% across the Atlantic.

We have fantastic weather and very calm seas.

We are a very upscale cruise line.

My guests are paying more than $1000 per day, per person.

Occupancy is 52%.

We have more crew than passengers onboard.

My guests tell me they have died and gone to heaven.