Donald

20 hours ago, evandbob said:

On most lines, the MDR food is simply average, so I don't find the need to offer thanks, verbal or financial.

 

Specialty restaurants are another story. 

Correction.

On most Cheap mass market lines the food is simply average.

There is little impetus to show appreciation for mediocrity.

But that’s what you paid for.

A high end cruise is an entirely different animal.

Is a balcony worth it?

Is a Ferrari worth it?

Is a Rolex watch worth it?

Is a beach house in Malibu worth it?

There is one group that likes to do things in style, because they think they deserve it.

There is another group that tries to do everything on the cheap, so they can do it more often. 

Both groups are correct.

Which group do you belong to?

Mike,

Well done. You are correct.

Generally speaking, the newest ships (built to exact CDC Specifications, and with all new equipment operating properly) tend to get the highest inspection scores.

If you look carefully at the VSP Inspection Standards, about 50 % involves equipment and 50% involves processes.

Most of the newest ships today are also the largest ones, and most of them begin their lives sailing from US Ports.

For a number of good and bad reasons, the USA usually has the highest number of Norovirus cases in the world every year.

CDC estimates that any ship carrying at least 2,000 pax from a US port - any time of the year - will board at least 60 pax who are infected with Norovirus. Some of them know they have it and are hiding it to avoid quarantine or denied boarding; others have picked it up on the airplane or in a hotel and do not yet have symptoms. These 60 people often do a great job of spreading the virus around to everyone else.

If a 2,000 pax ship averages 60 infected guests every cruise, we can extrapolate the number of infected pax boarding a new ship that carries 4,000 or 6,000 pax.

With that many infected people running around, touching surfaces that others touch, contaminating buffet equipment, it is a wonder that every cruise from a US port does not get cancelled.

Sounds like a really exciting cruise.

On 12/20/2019 at 10:12 AM, milepig said:

At this moment WS, legend or otherwise, has no place in my future travel plans given the poor compensation offered. 

After all your negative posts and comments about Windstar, I bet they are really sorry to Lose you.

On the 1400+ cruises that I have worked, I can tell you that on EVERY one of those cruises, guests managed to get themselves invited into the galley. This was not the galley tour or the chef’s table. It was a private visit.

So long as the visit is not at peak meal service times, there is not a problem.

Contrary to popular opinion, chefs jackets are not required.

As Hotel Manager on 29 different ships, every cruise I invite guests to accompany me to the galley, laundry, provisions, engine room, bridge, crew bar, and many other places. 

31 minutes ago, njkate said:

On Jade TA April 2019  the one smoking area by Pit Stop bar was always filled to capacity on one side of bar where they allowed smoking. Thinking your response was meant tongue in cheek

I'm quite serious.

The Jade discounts TA Fares below $100 per day.

My ship discounts TA fares to $1000 per day.

Smoking is one of the vices of the lower classes.

We rarely see smokers on my ship; they cannot afford to sail with us.

Cruise prices are based on many variables  - but the prevalent determiner is supply and demand.

If demand is high, the prices go up; low demand pushes prices down.

Bear in mind that the cruse lines know that the average cruiser has the attention span of a gnat.

Whatever disaster is imminent, everyone gets very excited for a few days and then moves on to the next imminent disaster.

It is likely that all this will be completely forgotten in a few weeks.

Somebody who has worked on Carnival brands for 14 years - me.

14 hours ago, Mary229 said:

 I would think this has a lot to do with it.  If the WHO declares a medical emergency, which is what is being discussed, then HAL's own insurance would kick in.  If they cancel prior to that declaration they would have to bear all of the costs themselves

All of Carnival's brands - including HAL - are self-insured for events like this. There is no insurance waiting to kick in.

At HAL, the Priest / Minister / Rabbi gets to keep 50% of the collection plate.

There is satellite coverage all the way across the Atlantic.

However, coverage in mid-Atlantic is limited.

Sometimes when my ship crosses, we have good coverage all the way across; sometimes we lose coverage for a few hours or a few days. Our IT Officer likes to blame atmospherics and bumpy seas for the spotty coverage.

No guessing for me. I always know exactly how many smokers are on my ship every cruise.

Housekeeping and Beverage Staff monitor the smoking area and make a weekly report on exactly how many smokers we have.For a typical 10 day cruise, we average 2 smokers onboard.

We are currently on a 13 day transatlantic crossing. We have 3 smokers onboard this trip. That's a 50% increase.

So if the US Government is propping up any illegal regimes around the world, should we all refuse to take cruises to US ports?

Razor blades

13 hours ago, GeriatricNurse said:

At Philipsburg, St.Maarten, port of call, there is a small hut, in the shopping area close to the pier, which ONLY sells PURE VANILLA, in various sizes and containers!

Well、it must be true then.

I cannot believe that any tourist shop in the Caribbean would intentionally mislead it’s cruise line customers......................

People in the West face some rather bizarre concepts about alcohol being evil and a tool of the devil. Asians generally do not suffer form those hang ups. Most of Asia - Japan included -has no “sin taxes” or silly laws about alcohol.

Real vanilla extract is expensive - no matter where in the world you buy it.

If you find some “real” vanilla extract at a price that is too good to be true, it is exactly that.

Imitation vanilla extract looks great, smells great, and tastes very much like the real thing.

Unfortunately it is often made from very questionable products that could endanger your life. 

Many cruise lines still visit Cuba.

But any ship / cruise line that calls at a Cuban port cannot visit an American port for many months.

Many people from around the world visit Cuba every day.

It is only the Americans who cannot legally do it.

Really too bad. Cuba is a marvelous destination.

Must be a slow news day in Miami.

The writer - and poster - have highlighted minor lapses of extremely strict health regulations, found in surprise inspections on massively big food operations.

If the same inspectors surprised any local Miami Restaurants (or local Georgia Restaurants where the poster is listed) the results would be far, far worse. Those land-based restaurants do not even have the systems, equipment, training, and regulations that the foreign flag cruise ships MUST follow and use 24/7.

The VSP (Vessel Sanitation Program) of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) governs only non-US Flag ships. Why is that?

Their stated goal is to prevent the introduction of food and water-borne illnesses into the USA. Their incredibly strict rules and policies do exactly that.

They unfortunately cannot control local land-based food operations where the employees do not even know what a blast chiller or a back-flow preventer is - much less what to do with one.

A bit of trivia for you:

CDC has discovered that on average, the ships with the highest inspection scores tend to have the highest number of Norovirus outbreaks. They do also know why this happens.

Can you guess the answer?

I feel your pain.

I am a Keto - Breatharian.

Very simple really. But the cruise lines just cannot get it right.

6 hours ago, ski ww said:

I wouldn't cruise on one of those if it was free.  Think of what it will be like when they dock in some small Caribbean island ports & you dock next to it.. 

A few years ago, I was working on HAL’s Noordam. We came into into St Thomas one morning and pulled up to the Sub Base Pier. At the same time, one of Royal Caribbean’s mega ships pulled up to the other side of the pier. We both lowered our gangways at the same time. Noordam had one gangway; RCCL had 8 double gangways. In 15 minutes, the RCCL ship was empty. Noordam had passengers lined up the length of the ship to exit via our single gangway. We finally got them off the ship after 90 minutes.

At the end of the day, the 5,000+ RCCL pax were back onboard and the ship sailed away on time. Noordam had a line all the way to the end of the pier to get back onboard. We had to delay sailing by one hour to get everyone back onboard.

4 minutes ago, Ptroxx said:

If you say so.      
 

but the crew sees 2.00 bills all the time and enjoy getting them.  
this from personal experience. 

 

sorry if you don’t like the fact that people like getting 2.00 bills.  

 

until there’s actual proof from a ship employee that they dislike these 

everyone is just assuming.     
 

 

OK. Here is some proof for you.

I have managed Hotels on cruise ships for nearly 30 years; 28 different ships for 18 different cruise lines.

I have had 10s of thousands of tipped crew working for me over the years.

Every few months we get some guest who thinks it’s cute to tip with strange currencies or denominations.

The crew brings the odd bills and coins to me to see if I can change them for something that’s is useful to them. They cannot take the strange currencies home, as they cannot change them there. Many times they cannot find time or a location to change them during the cruise. Generally the crew purser will not accept any unusual coins or bills from the crew. So the crew is usually just stuck with them. 

After smiling at you when you hand them the strange bank note, they only remember the nitwit  who thought he / she was being cute.

14 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

Out of curiosity what are people so afraid of that could go wrong on an inaugural cruise? How bad of an experience could you have😳? 

In my career at sea I have taken out 12 new vessels and 14 vessels coming out of dry dock.

None came out completely as advertised; about 25 % had multiple issues that required refunds after numerous complaints; about 50% had significant problems that resulted in financial losses for the cruise line and many customers lost forever.

Examples:

Electrical blackouts resulting in loss of propulsion, loss of aircon, loss of toilets, loss of fresh water, loss of elevators.

Shipyard workers working onboard around the clock, hammering, welding, smoking, spitting.

Venues closed (casino, restaurants, bars, lounges, children’s center, pools, jacuzzis) due to late completion of work.

Ports missed due to propulsion / steering issues.

Cold food due to inoperative galley equipment.

Fires onboard as a result of improperly installed equipment.

Drunk shipyard workers fighting in guest areas.

Some cruisers book these cruises for the thrill of something going wrong.

Some cruisers book these cruises for the increased chance of getting a full refund for a failed cruise.

Some cruisers just do not know any better.

13 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

Out of curiosity what are people so afraid of that could go wrong on an inaugural cruise? How bad of an experience could you have😳? 

In my career at sea I have taken out 12 new vessels and 14 vessels coming out of dry dock.

None came out completely as advertised; about 25 % had multiple issues that required refunds after numerous complaints; about 50% had significant problems that resulted in financial losses for the cruise line and many customers lost forever.

Examples:

Electrical blackouts resulting in loss of propulsion, loss of aircon, loss of toilets, loss of fresh water, loss of elevators.

Shipyard workers working onboard around the clock, hammering, welding, smoking, spitting.

Venues closed (casino, restaurants, bars, lounges, children’s center, pools, jacuzzis) due to late completion of work.

Ports missed due to propulsion / steering issues.

Cold food due to inoperative galley equipment.

Fires onboard as a result of improperly installed equipment.

Drunk shipyard workers fighting in guest areas.

Some cruisers book these cruises for the thrill of something going wrong.

Some cruisers book these cruises for the increased chance of getting a full refund for a failed cruise.

Some cruisers just do not know any better.