Loreley990

Just my opinion but I feel that tipping a bartender 15% to give me a can of beer, to pour a well drink out of a spigot or to pour some wine into a glass is outrageously high. I am certainly never going to add anything more to that.

 

DON

couldn't agree more. perfectly fine.

If folks start tipping extra left and right, the overall service level will go down over time as extra tipping will be expected.

As it has been stated before, the 15% that is added to drink tabs is SHARED among all the bartenders and servers. Therefore, selling 10 drinks an hour does not net them $8.60. Even if they sold 10 in 10 minutes, it wouldn't be $8.60. As for it being "tax free," I have no idea how or if Princess or the crew management company each employee signs on with handles taxes (if any) and other mandatory charges and deductions...

 

Suffice it to say that it might be more than they can make in their home country, but to me, it's NOT a high-pay job for all the hours they have to work.

 

I'll not grumble about the 15% and will continue to add extra as I see fit!

I'm guessing that if you have 5 bartenders each selling ten drinks an hour, and then sharing the tips after, you would still come out at $8.60 an hour per bartender.

I find a 15% tip totally adequate. $0.86cts on a $5.70 beverage. Sell 10/hour and you got $8.60 tax-free....

The Captain made another announcement during dinner. We will arrive in Houston Thursday night. Friday morning all passengers will have to leave the ship with their bags and clear customs at that time. We will not be allowed back on board. They intend to do a thorough cleaning that day. He spoke of norovirus and the fact that the rough seas have contributed to more people being sick.

For the time being, it is a rough ride. Things turned bad about 3 pm. The skies turned cloudy as the seas got rougher. Within an hour, there were gale force winds (according to the in-room ship's TV). Wind across the bow was 37 nts. and blowing rain. The TV is not presently (now 8 pm) reporting conditions, but I'm certain the seas are 10-12 ft., as the captain earlier indicated they would be. Last I saw, we are traveling 19.9 nts.

In my 15 or so cruises, I haven't been on very many rough rides. This is my roughest. Doors to the outside decks are roped off.

Thanks for the update. What are their plans in terms of refunds? Just the port fees and the one night prorate I guess?

We are back at our hotel after a decent cruise. We made all three ports (costa Maya, Belize, and Cozumel) with nice weather at all three. The two sea days were terrible.

 

We arrived back at Bayport on time. We chose the last walkoff group and wondered where everyone was. The place seemed deserted. Even our cab driver commented on it. They hadn't started calling the colors for those who had put out luggage the night before.

 

One nice surprise: we were the second place "Most travelled passengers."

Great that you made all three ports!

We'll be going on this cruise in February....would you happen to know whether they offered passes for the sanctuary for the full week or could one only by half-day/day access?

Thanks!

Chris

I did not think they produced cabonated water on board.

You can produce carbonated water at home with a device called soda stream....

Is this an over-the-top attempt at humor?

Not at all. It is word for word what we were told during the behind the scenes tour on Carnival Magic while visiting the desalination plant.

I always book Sanctuary upon boarding the ship!You can either buy it for the entire cruise at $15 per day or just be there early in the morning for a day use at $20.00.

On a seven day cruise, do they make you pay for six days or for seven days (I take it the area is open to the public on embarkation day and won't be used on disembarkation day, hence effectively one would be using it on six days max only?)?

The main reason why they use cans is that they simply cannot produce enough potable water onboard to supply the demand that would result from using exclusively soda fountains. They have relatively limited capacities to produce and store drinking water. Capacity will just do for the number of passengers purchasing beverage cards.

Hi,

I am taking my first MSC cruise later this year on MSC Divina out of Venice and really looking forward to it. But can anyone tell me if they are "gay friendly" and do they hold FOD's ?

 

Gerry

My partner and I have cruised on MSC Fantasia in the Med and found the environment and attitude amongst both staff and fellow passengers rather hostile towards two men travelling together. There is a lot of families (kids oftentimes travel free) and the staff is unlike most other cruise lines not Asian but mostly from Italy and Eastern Europe. We behave like normal people, we tip well, don't express in public and you could not tell we're gay by our looks or body movements:-) but still they made us feel rather unwelcome and definitely seemed uncomfortable with us being around them families and kids. We've been on HAL and Carnival many times and never had such experience with them. Would not cruise with MSC again (ship's interior and cabins were very nice though...)

Chris

P.S.: And no, no FODs on the one we took and to be fair I should add that their shows were the best I've ever seen at sea and would have been worth upwards of $60 each and every night. Good Vegas show quality.