Donald

I never dress like I am going to clean the garage. I never wear baseball caps to cover the bald spot. I never try to eat or drink my money's worth. I never treat the service staff like servants. I always speak in complete English sentences. I never stand in a line. I never try to be the first to board the ship, nor the first off the ship. I do not walk around with food or drinks in my hands and mouth.

If the ship is heading East, changing the clock at noon gives the crew more sleep at night - but less sleep on their afternoon break, and less time on their afternoon coffee time. It also saves food cost as many pax are not very hungry at the earlier dinner time. If the ship is heading West, changing the clock at night still gives everyone plenty of sleep, without shortening or lengthening the time between lunch and dinner.

My colleagues at the United States Public Health Service (USPH) have a theory that on every medium sized cruise ship (2500-3000 pax) departing a US Port, there are at least 60 passengers who have just boarded with either COVID or NLV. Some of these people know they are sick, and are hiding it to avoid quarantine or being denied boarding. Some of them are unaware that they have the illness, as they just picked it up in a hotel or on a flight. The symptoms will start in a day or so. Either way, these 60 passengers will be trying (perhaps unintentionally) to give their illness to you in all the public areas. They are also exposing the crew who clean their cabins and serve their food. On a high density occupied ship, the odds of you getting in some sort of contact with one of these infected pax are quite good. On a smaller cruise ship, with, say 100 pax, the number of infected pax boarding the ship might be 4 or 5. Smaller ships generally have more space per person, reducing crowding and unintentional close contacts. Those 4 or 5 people are still trying to get you sick, but you may never get close enough to them to become infected. If you go to the Vessel Sanitation Website of the USPH, you can research the history of all cruise ships that have recorded Viral Outbreaks onboard over the past several years. The one trend that is very clear is the size of the ships - nearly every one of them is large. One can argue that there are many different factors that can affect spreading illnesses on a cruise ship - but one cannot deny that smaller ships (with fewer pax and less crowding) rarely have viral outbreaks, while bigger ships (with more pax and more density) usually have the outbreaks.

Time zone changes are really done for the crew's benefit - but not in the way you might think. Going westbound, the clock changes usually changes at night, giving everyone an extra hour of sleep. This rarely causes much drama for guests or crew. Going eastbound, losing one hour of sleep at night quickly gets passengers very grumpy. After 4 or 5 changes, they are all in a foul mood and complaining about nearly everything. The crew have a much more difficult time with them. On Eastbound trips, changing the clock at 2pm does not interfere with Breakfast or Lunch timing. The only downsides are: The hotel crew have a shorter afternoon break, and the passengers are not so hungry at dinner time. The ship actually saves money on food cost as people tend to eat less.

Exiting an airplane in any US airport and getting hit with that blast of stale McDonalds grease smell at 9am. Absolutely disgusting.

Now you have a good idea what it is like for a non-US citizen to try to visit the USA.

This seaweed problem is not even near the top of the very long list of reasons why one should not ever cruise in Florida or in the Caribbean.

You didn't tell us which Hong Kong Cruise Terminal you are sailing from. The older terminal is at the point of Kowloon, next to the Star Ferry Terminal, and next to the Train Station for the train to and from the airport. The newer Cruise Terminal is a bit further away, at the old airport.

The bigger the ship, the greater the odds of catching something.

WhatsApp works great in Japan.

Most cruise lines in the world - and all cruise lines that call at US Ports - follow the very strict and complicated regulations of the United States Public Health Service (USPH). Specifically the Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP). You can find the VSP Manual online and download it to read - if you have a spare month or two. Note that the incredibly strict regulations that are required of all cruise ships visiting America are not enforced on land in America. If they did choose to enforce those same rules on land in America, virtually EVERY restaurant there would fail and be closed down.

Windstar had to remove laundry from the All-in Package because too many people were buying it. The ships do not have enough storage space for all the grey water created by heavy laundry use. If they had continued offering laundry to so many people, they would have been forced to change itineraries to allow the ships to get out to sea to dump the grey water. That would have resulted in shorter port stays or missed ports.

After 40+ years managing cruise ships of every size and price range, this is my observation: The Premium Cruise Lines almost never experience Bed Bugs. The Mass Market Lines have them on every voyage. It could be the cheaper hotels that cruisers stay in pre-cruise. It could be that the cruisers themselves are the problem. It could be that the mass market ships are not as clean as the Premium ones. It could be something else entirely. In any case, on average, the odds of encountering bed bugs on a mass market cruise are far higher than on a premium cruise. You pay your money and you take your chances............

American Citizens who fly into the USA are not required to have vaccine proof or COVID tests. Non-Americans who fly into the USA are required to prove vaccinations and expensive COVID tests. Is this discrimination? Non-American cruise ship passengers who disembark a ship in the USA are allowed to stay in the USA as long as their visa is valid. Non-American cruise ship employees who disembark a ship in the USA MUST leave the country within 24 hours - regardless of any visa they might have. Is this discrimination? The United States Public Health Service, which governs many things that cruise ships do, forbids cruise ships - in most cases - to serve fresh fish to passengers, as the fish could have dangerous parasites that could harm them. But it is perfectly OK with them if we serve that same fresh fish to the crewmembers. Is this discrimination?

In the mass market cruise industry, every cabin on every cruise is sold an average eight times before the cruise actually begins. Mass market cruise lines rarely make any profit selling cruises. They only make a profit when people spend money on the cruises. Cruise lines have a multitude of opportunities to sell just about any cabin on just about any cruise. Who should they choose to sell it to?? A single traveler who will spend an average amount of money onboard? OR A couple who will likely spend twice as much money onboard? Most business minded people who like to stay in business would opt for the couple.

Most cruise lines have the same problem with their call centers. They cannot hire foreign staff like they have on the ships. They are forced to hire American employees for these entry-level jobs. The entry-level employees are not entirely motivated to do their jobs well.

Some might describe HAL’s onboard ambience as SedateD.

I cannot decide if I should Segway or Segue intro my next comment.

It will only get crazy if tourists are careless enough to visit China under these conditions.

Today the Beijing Government announced that they are cancelling all quarantine requirements for tourists. A bit surprising as the number of new infections in China is estimated at 37 million per day, now that the lock downs in China have been cancelled as well.

You really need to ask that question of the people increasing gratuities at the Reception Desk. When I have asked, the usual answer was, “We don’t carry much cash and prefer to have it go on our Credit Card.

On Japanese Cruise Ships there is no tipping. If you price a Japanese Cruise, you will understand why tips are not part of the tradition. But we are talking about Western Cruise Ships, where tipping - like it or not - is part of the cruising tradition and system. You might be surprised to learn that on mass market ships, a rather large number of passengers choose to visit the Reception Desk and actually INCREASE the Service Charge on their cabin portfolio. As with the pax who decrease the charges, the Reception Desk staff always ask if there is a particular reason or person responsible for the decision. Quite often, a particular crewmember's name is mentioned for the increase.

You may be surprised to learn that this tipping / service charge / crew appreciation system was first introduced on British Ships (White Star Line) by an American (J.P. Morgan) soon after he purchased the Line in 1902. He reasoned that the crew would work harder and better if their compensation depended solely on performance. That is, the passengers were encouraged to tip those crew who went above and beyond in their duties. Poor performing crew would earn less, and either decide to work harder - or leave. It was an interesting idea that soon morphed completely away from its original intent. With the current version of “crew appreciation” on most mass market ships, crew who do a great job earn substantially more than the crew who work on the luxury no-tipping lines, like Seabourn.

On all HAL, Princess, and NCL ships (I have worked on nearly all of them) the Chief Purser sends a daily report to all Hotel Department Heads, detailing any increases or decreases in Service Charges from the previous day. The report typically lists cabin numbers, Guest names, and sometimes photos from the Security File. The reports often include the reason the Guest gave for changing the Service Charge. Usually those Department Heads post copies of this report on Crew Notice Boards located back of house. These reports often come up in Captain’s and Hotel Manager’s meetings if the Service Charges are reduced for Service or Quality-related reasons. Occasionally the Head Office will make onboard enquiries if a Crewmember’s name is mentioned positively or negatively.

The system / practice varies by cruise line. Generally speaking, on many ships, the Chief Purser sends out a daily update on gratuities / service charges. Usually the daily report lists any changes in the service charges, additions and subtractions, by guest and by cabin.