Cruises

[lucky_bee]

But, you're ON a cruise ship. That's not a vacation. That's being ON a cruise ship. That they have added all those...amenities...merely reinforces the point; you're on a cruise ship...BUT...hey, we got us a dance floor and a gym and you can go to church! On their cruise ship...trying to figure the best way to get the most alcohol as cheaply as possible...to deal with...being on a cruise ship.

LARRYYYY people are allowed to enjoy going on a ship and enjoying the cruise life Some people are too busy to plan, or bad at it, and the convenience of a cruise just appeals to them. The thought of boarding a tiny boat to go scuba diving terrifies the chit outta me and sounds more like torture. That is not a vacation to me I'd rather be forced to attend church on a cruise ship.

We got back Saturday from a 7 day cruise on RCCL. We went to St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Curacao and Aruba. They were all beautiful islands, but, Aruba was the bomb!!!! We left out of Puerto Rico. That said, I think its the last time we will go cruising. Things have changed on the ships, it was like being nickel and dimed for every little thing. I think we will consider an all inclusive resort before booking another cruise. I did talk to another couple on the cruise who advised that Oceana Cruises, offers all inclusive cruising. Has anyone ever used them before? Also heard something about Viking Ocean cruises being all inclusive.

I was THIS close to booking that exact same cruise! My guy is insisting he'll enjoy a cruise more than an all-inclusive resort. I think we'd have fun no matter what but I see a lot more opportunities to be disappointed by going on a cruise. He's never done either and I've only done the resort route. It just seems like we'd have to spend way more money to enjoy all the amenities he's looking for vs. what'd we'd be spending at a resort. There just seems to be so much more fine print involved with cruises. And while I'm good at researching all that fine print so we're prepared, I just think as long as you're using the right resort company, resorts seem way easier to vacation with. There's a lot of fine print with cruises.

I'm hoping that if we do a cruise this year and we do my resort vaca next year, he'll realize I'm right about everything once again

 

[Larry Gude]

LARRYYYY people are allowed to enjoy going on a ship and enjoying the cruise life Some people are too busy to plan, or bad at it, and the convenience of a cruise just appeals to them. The thought of boarding a tiny boat to go scuba diving terrifies the chit outta me and sounds more like torture. That is not a vacation to me I'd rather be forced to attend church on a cruise ship. :

People are allowed to like rap, poetry and pineapple on pizzas. That doesn't mean I have to sit by and not try and save the damn planet and raise awareness!


Attica! Attica!! Attica!!!

 

[kwillia]

I totally despise the expectation to tip for everything... that's just bull####.

 

[MADPEBS1]

FYI a heads up on how to get more wine vs the two per room. You and your spouse or person who you're traveling w/ go through the separate scanner line. They typically have 3 or 4 set up next to each other. We've always gotten on 2 bottles per person that way. Also we've subbed out champagne for wine and its never been an issue.

great tip, we go to canada on RC and we'll split up for sure........

 

[luvmygdaughters]

LARRYYYY people are allowed to enjoy going on a ship and enjoying the cruise life Some people are too busy to plan, or bad at it, and the convenience of a cruise just appeals to them. The thought of boarding a tiny boat to go scuba diving terrifies the chit outta me and sounds more like torture. That is not a vacation to me I'd rather be forced to attend church on a cruise ship.




I was THIS close to booking that exact same cruise! My guy is insisting he'll enjoy a cruise more than an all-inclusive resort. I think we'd have fun no matter what but I see a lot more opportunities to be disappointed by going on a cruise. He's never done either and I've only done the resort route. It just seems like we'd have to spend way more money to enjoy all the amenities he's looking for vs. what'd we'd be spending at a resort. There just seems to be so much more fine print involved with cruises. And while I'm good at researching all that fine print so we're prepared, I just think as long as you're using the right resort company, resorts seem way easier to vacation with. There's a lot of fine print with cruises.

I'm hoping that if we do a cruise this year and we do my resort vaca next year, he'll realize I'm right about everything once again

We've done both all inclusive and cruises. After the last experience with cruising, I would definitely do the all inclusive resort. You know what you're buying the exact amount you've spent. I cant stand the "additional" charges for every little thing. What ever you decide...Have fun!!

 

[b23hqb]

Been on one cruise in my life (not counting blue water USN ones) last year - Alaska. I'll do that again out of Seattle, just maybe a Glacier Bay addition next time. I had no idea what to leave our cabin steward upon departure, so just saved $150.00 cash to hand him on the way out. I thought that was fair for seven nights, or was I cheap? Dude did an excellent job overall, but he does get paid something from the cruise lines. We arranged our shore excursions in advance directly with the vendors and not the ship. Same thing, and less expensive, but no guarantees you'll get back to the ship in time for departure. Gotta have some kind of excitement along the way, right?

I think the only other cruise we would like to take is a Panama Canal excursion in the near future.

We're not big partiers or drinkers, so the only drinks we consumed were with a few meals we had in one of the real sit down restaurants, and tipped the waitresses/waiters there 25%. The rest of the cruise meals were what they called "free/open dining anywhere else, pretty much 24/7. I thought Norwegian did a really good job.

 

[kwillia]

Been on one cruise in my life (not counting blue water USN ones) last year - Alaska. I'll do that again out of Seattle, just maybe a Glacier Bay addition next time. I had no idea what to leave our cabin steward upon departure, so just saved $150.00 cash to hand him on the way out. I thought that was fair for seven nights, or was I cheap? Dude did an excellent job overall, but he does get paid something from the cruise lines. We arranged our shore excursions in advance directly with the vendors and not the ship. Same thing, and less expensive, but no guarantees you'll get back to the ship in time for departure. Gotta have some kind of excitement along the way, right?

I think the only other cruise we would like to take is a Panama Canal excursion in the near future.

We're not big partiers or drinkers, so the only drinks we consumed were with a few meals we had in one of the real sit down restaurants, and tipped the waitresses/waiters there 25%. The rest of the cruise meals were what they called "free/open dining anywhere else, pretty much 24/7. I thought Norwegian did a really good job.

Found this:

The room steward (or stewardess) is the person who cleans your cruise cabin and assists you with anything you might need while in your cabin. The industry standard for tipping the room steward is $3.50 per person per day, given on the last day of the cruise.

You tipped $21.42 a day... I'd say he talked about your tip for a while.

 

[b23hqb]

Found this:

The room steward (or stewardess) is the person who cleans your cruise cabin and assists you with anything you might need while in your cabin. The industry standard for tipping the room steward is $3.50 per person per day, given on the last day of the cruise.

You tipped $21.42 a day... I'd say he talked about your tip for a while.

Well, good. He made really cool animals each day out of ships towels which he set on the bed. My wife took pictures of each one, and still shows them off, I think. I thought $20 per day sounded reasonable, so I guess I'm not cheap.

 

[lovinmaryland]

Found this:

The room steward (or stewardess) is the person who cleans your cruise cabin and assists you with anything you might need while in your cabin. The industry standard for tipping the room steward is $3.50 per person per day, given on the last day of the cruise.

You tipped $21.42 a day... I'd say he talked about your tip for a while.

Actually the thing that sucks is anything over the $3.50 per day is set aside and equally split between him and his other workers. Theres an assistant room steward, head room steward, etc... Learned this from our room steward a few cruises back.

 

[kwillia]

Actually the thing that sucks is anything over the $3.50 per day is set aside and equally split between him and his other workers. Theres an assistant room steward, head room steward, etc... Learned this from our room steward a few cruises back.

They all play a part in the care of the customers so it seems fair to me.

 

[luvmygdaughters]

Well RCCL charges you 18% gratuity fee for every day you cruise. We did tip our room steward extra and a couple of bartenders who ran around the several bars on the ship to locate and open my 2 bottles of wine.