canderson

8 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 I do not know either.  I know bartenders get a cut of the gratuity for any packages or upgrades they sale. I expect it is the same for the sommelier's.  I honestly do not know. I do know that the sommelier in Luminae does not share in the added gratuities and so we always tip the sommelier individually. 

 

If we haven't ordered enough paid-for wines from the Sommelier, and he/she is doing a really good job, I've been known to ask the sommelier for a net $0 receipt to which I add a tip if we're not carrying cash.  I'm sure it looks really goofy to the accounting department, but it works.  Normally, though, we're ordering enough of the higher end stuff by the bottle that the sommelier is getting good money that way every day or two. 

12 minutes ago, alexandria said:

 

... the TA won't see it on the FBC site either.  
 

Yes, a TA sees the same thing we do on the FBC site (it's all a filtered front-end through to Expedia anyway, which is what most of the big lines have switched to now - they've quit maintaining their own schedule links to the airlines), but a phone call by the TA can have different results, same as by pax.

2 minutes ago, the penguins said:

Where do you get the increased cabin count figures ftrom?

 

Notice that I typed 'new' and not new.  It's relative and has been incremental.  And the point made was that while wages are higher, part of the cost of operation would be there and paid for whether they take cruising pax along for the ride or not, which would keep that side of the cost lower.

The exception would be if they were using the cruising side to subsidize the mail/ferry side, in which case, the somewhat higher cruise fares make sense.  For a cruise ship, ALL of the operating expense has to amortized across cruise passenger $.  Not so with the cruise/mail/ferry approach, especially given the space allotted per passenger aboard is even less than a river boat.

One would think, as I noted, that the evolution from mail/ferry to cruise/mail/ferry would have begun as a way to enhance revenue on itineraries that had to happen anyway.

5 hours ago, alexandria said:

They don't.

If I understand the original post, yes, they do.

FBC has access to a great many flights that don't show up on the online FBC web site.  My next cruise is an example of that.  If there's a real desire to book flights through Celebrity, it's always best to do your own search for a couple of itineraries you like, and start your live conversation with FBC with those if you don't find them on the FBC site.

The only thing to be careful about when viewing photos and videos on cruisedeckplans is to be mindful of the dates.  They've amassed an incredible gallery there over a considerable length of time, but as a result, you have to pay attention to whether a particular photo or video is current when viewing them. 

If a person is wondering what a Royal Suite looks like on Millennium, there's quite a difference in appearance pre/post Revolution, and CDP has plenty of photos both ways.  Is the current layout for a given M class a combo of bench seating + chairs around the dining table, or all chairs?  How big is the table?

It was just noted a couple of days ago that the use of space in the Millennium M class PH changed due to the Revolution in addition to the appearance change (no more vanity area outside the master bath - just another closet now - for example). 

4 hours ago, IDL said:

Not saying this is the case with cruise lines but if you book a ballroom in a hotel for a wedding let’s say the hotel adds a service charge and it is made clear that is not a tip as the hotel is allowed to add tax to the service charge amount.  I have no idea what amount, if any,  out of the service charge is distributed to the employees who work the event but the expectation is you tip on top of the service charge. 

Yes, that's often done, and is a separate business model - totally opaque, as you say.  But tipping where it's clearly a 'tip' on the receipt is another thing altogether. 

Here in the U.S., it's strictly verboten for a business or a manager to pull any amount from an employee's tips.  The Department of Labor is always interested in hearing about these incidents when they occur.  Here's a decent article on the topic re the law here in the U.S.:

https://natlawreview.com/article/dol-cracks-down-and-opens-cracks-employers-keeping-tips

And yes, before anyone reminds me that these cruise lines don't play by any rules out  there on the sea, no, it's not a legal question for them, just a potential PR nightmare.  I only point out the U.S. situation to provide an example of how the practice is not only considered really bad form in most of the civilized world, it's even outright illegal in some countries as well.

As I say, I really doubt Celebrity (or any of the other well known lines) is doing this. Just too much risk to the brand.

2 hours ago, alyssamma said:

I think the OP logged in as themselves, logged out, then logged in as their spouse.

I am still keyed into post #1 where the OP said "We were both logged into our accounts" which definitely sounded concurrent. 

It wasn't until #4 that it sounded like she had afterwards begun to do her own separate log in/out/in with the two accounts as a test of the pricing differences.

8 hours ago, the penguins said:

New business model?

Yes, significantly more focus on cruising (much increased cabin count).  If you look at the ships now, the bulk of the space above the waterline is taken by cruise accommodations and public space for same.  It started out as a 'sideline' and has now taken over the majority of the GT of the ship.  Then there's the addition of the Signature runs to the original Coastal Express itineraries.

2 hours ago, alyssamma said:

On booking.com, my wife and I see completely different prices for the same hotels. Sometimes, she will even see a cheaper price when *not* logged in. I've also seen different prices when logged in on my phone vs my laptop.

 

On Capital One's travel site, again, my wife and I will see different prices for the same hotels for the same dates.

Yes.  You can look at a hotel price, first while logged on to the site, then while not logged on, and voila, the price has changed.  Certain travel sites have been playing that game for some years now.  The differences are generally small, but in some cases predictable   There have been some interesting and revealing articles written on the subject.

Problem with Celebrity is that you get NO pricing for add-ons unless you're logged in and have specified a particular booking, so they don't even need cookies to play the game for that.  There they could use your account login to differentiate things for you. 

Am still surprised by the ability to open the record for a booking with 2 accounts simultaneously, though.  Even my TA can't update anything if I've forgotten to log out!  Then it takes something like 15 minutes.  It used to be possible to lock yourself out of your own record for 15 minutes by closing down the browser without logging off first!  Couldn't use the site again in a new browser session until it timed out.  Neither could a Celebrity agent.  Used to really annoy people!

38 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 I always thought it went to Celebrity and that the sommerlier gets some portion of it.  How did you find out they received it all? 

 

Just a further thought upon what you might be insinuating there (or not?)...

If it EVER got out that the company was taking a cut of the tips to add to the bottom line, they'd have a PR nightmare on their hands.  It's more or less universally understood, at least in Western countries, that the company grabbing a share of the tips is EXCEPTIONALLY bad form, and is actually unlawful in many places. 

I doubt RCG would ever risk the fallout from doing that.

That's not to say that RCG doesn't cheat and enjoy the "float" between the time the tip is gained (typically from credit cards) and a somewhat delayed payment to the crew, but it's very hard to imagine they'd take the risk of taking any % off the top.

37 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 I have never seen any evidence that the sommelier gets the entire gratuity.  I always thought it went to Celebrity and that the sommerlier gets some portion of it.  How did you find out they received it all? 

 

Don't know.  Guess one or two people associated with the service might get a piece, but it's the somm's incentive to sell.  The only other two people with actual skin in that particular game (wine sales) are the F&B Manager and Hotel Director, and their incentive plans certainly wouldn't include dipping into the tip jar!

I'll have to check next time. 

21 minutes ago, Sevedog said:

We were both logged into our accounts and see different pricing on the exact same excursions.  For example, if I booked the excursion the price is the same, on my husbands log in the price is lower.  How can that be?  Shouldn’t the price be the same for everyone?  

You were both trying (successfully?) to access the same booking # at the same time?   You have two separate account logins tied to the booking?  I've always had record locking problems if trying to access one booking from multiple logins.

5 minutes ago, Ronaldo807 said:

I’m familiar with how it works, but we (and I'm sure plenty of others) have multiple airports within driving distance, may have multiple airports they can fly into, would consider flying in sooner/later depending on cost, etc so it’s much easier to see all of your options online.

The FBC web site never has shown all of what they're prepared to sell you.  Like I say, I use Kayak to do this kind of initial 'filtering' legwork (it knows how to handle multiple airport options, too), and then call FBC only after I've spotted a couple of itineraries I like so we have something to discuss.

Edit:  Kayak also offers flexible dates with a calendar that shows red/orange/green to give you an idea of which days offer better prices.

6 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Remember FBC is not a travel agent.

Amen to that.  Just dialing up and asking for flights is like using Kayak.com with no filters.  Most US cities to Rome would bring up a hundred different ways of getting there, and as @Ronaldo807 days, you really don't want to spend hours sorting through them.

Just as another data point regarding 'days ahead' ... used FBC for upcoming cruise and we're flying out on 1 Nov, not embarking until 7 Nov.

3 hours ago, Ronaldo807 said:

The phone representatives can book earlier flights, but who wants to sit on the phone with them for who knows how long going over all of the options. 

It helps if you start the conversation with a specific itinerary or two in mind.  Have often come away with my first choice.

1 hour ago, Lastdance said:

We had an exceptional butler on a b2b.  This individual was as close to perfect for our needs, as it gets; however, our needs are very simple, yet his personality, temperament and smile were priceless, thus we ended up going above and beyond when tipping.  It was then we found out how very gracious he was, as his wife was expecting in the very near future.  Sometimes you encounter someone who made each and every day very enjoyable because of one special individual.

We had such an experience in Dec 2021.  His name was Anu.  An individual you'd really want to spend your time with in a more normal setting.

He set a really high bar for all that have come after. 

2 minutes ago, Liao said:

And they are already among the higher paid crew on the ship.

I'm wondering if that's universally true.  While on a given Celebrity cruise there may be a VERY small number with the qualifications to actually use the title, there also seem to be a much larger number who are less well informed - some are total rookies - recently promoted wait staff in some cases.  Surely there are some big pay scale differences among them.

After our amazing Silversea sommelier experience (and I don't know if it was typical or not, being our first), I'm really going to need to reset my expectations again.

30 minutes ago, the penguins said:

You are really comparing apples with pears.

One of the biggest differences is in the costs of the crew. All Hurtigruten crew on the Norway programme have pay and terms of employment that would probably bankrupt X and all the other major cruise lines.

Actually, I'm comparing pears with apples 😉

Granted, there are definitely additional costs for carrying pax, but some of this is offset by the fact that a large part of the operational cost is already sunk.  The captain and the rest of the crew necessary to keep the boat afloat - so to speak, much of the fuel, and much of the engineering maintenance is already the cost of 'delivering the mail', so to speak. 

One would have expected that 'new' business model that included taking on 'cruise passengers' would have been done for the increase in incremental revenue, not to subsidize the basic services that these ships provide to those who depend upon them for delivery and personal transport ... though I supposed that's what could be happening here.

5 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

The sommelier is not part of the tip pool so we just give them their own tip.

Good thing to remember in that calculation is that every $100 bottle of ($40) wine you buy generates another automatic $20 tip which goes straight to the sommelier's paycheck.  So any additional needs to be for a reason.

@bjahil47

I wonder if they've got the right email for you in that office?  We've always had prompt email replies from them.

Have them double check your address and have them send you a test message in real time while you're on the phone with them.

Ah... and check your inbound SPAM folder.

36 minutes ago, ETHTrader said:

If you sailed Edge class ships before, it will be a big adjustment so set your expectations accordingly

You could ask to be raised and lowered a few times with a bartender in one of the lifeboats to simulate the Magic Carpet experience. 

2 minutes ago, Norwaylady said:

 

Its the local ferry😆 So the rooms are not big, but they are functional and designed to make them work well.  

But you spend most of your time in the viewing lounge front facing forward, out on the deck, in the Jacuzzi outdoor or you are eating some delicious Norwegian food enjoying the view from your table 🤣❤️

So it works out okey👍 

It seems they are using the 'local ferry' boats for the Signature cruises (like the North Cape Line) as well, not just for the 'mail run' itineraries.

I was also a bit surprised at the prices given the cabin size. 

MS Trollfjord, 14nts in an O2 cabin for $5,300pp, cabin is 108 - 129 ft²

Celeb Apex, 14nts in a Veranda cabin which is at least 2.5X the size, $4,500pp

@Norwaylady

Thanks for a great deal of clarification, especially the two primary different itinerary types. 

We note that cabins aboard these cruises are typically only about 11m² unless you're paying the big bucks for one of the top two cabins on the ship.  Surprised, as that's even smaller than the smallest cabin on a typical river cruise boat. 

12 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

Don't need the bread and makes a great start for the Seared Branzino (mistakenly spelled as Bronzino on the menu) or as the surf side to go with the Grilled New York Steak Frites.

It's Bronzino if they hit it with SPF 30 before searing.

I never knew that they'd use the filling to make up other items.  Maybe I'll switch off the Luminae burger for this next cruise.

This one from Connie is a little better quality. 

Turns out this video was from of our RS neighbors on the same cruise.