evitacruiser

We did select dining on our last celebrity cruise and in addition to the pre paid tips we tipped in cash on the last night as we had been seated at the same table or at least in the same section every night.

We had the same wait staff every night. We did request that which sometimes meant we had to let another party go before us when the next table became free, but we prefer to have a rapport with staff and also refer select dining so it worked well for us.

I wonder why they have decided t do it now?

http://www.cruise.co.uk/news/cruise-line-reverses-its-position-on-compulsory-tipping/?affref=crukfb&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social-online&utm_campaign=celeb-tipping-policy-250116

From the UK cruise critic forum

Thanks, I will have another look for it.

Not sure if this has been posted:

http://www.cruise.co.uk/news/cruise-line-reverses-its-position-on-compulsory-tipping/?affref=crukfb&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social-online&utm_campaign=celeb-tipping-policy-250116

The survey below makes interesting reading too, as do some of the comments.

http://www.cruise.co.uk/news/recent-study-reveals-50-of-guests-resent-cruise-line-tipping-polices/

We will be on the Epic just after Easter on this itinerary and I am copying and pasting some of your tips into my cruise research docs!! Keep them coming.

We have only ever done cruises where we dressed for dinner (RCL/Celebrity) so I am not sure what to expect on that side of things. Will men need a suit? How dressed up or down do people get?

We have been on some big ships so I doubt the size aspect will be an issue.

Looking forward to the next installment.

I'm scratching my head a bit at the comments that Priscilla Queen of the Desert has a social /political agenda-think you're overthinking it

 

I've seen it as a musical in the London West End and as a regional tour staring Jason Donovan.It was also made into a film staring Terrence Stamp

 

It's sheer entertainment-cheesy songs and not meant to be taken seriously

 

Bit like Rock of Ages on Breakaway which also attracted criticism -personally I loved both the West End productions and found the NCL one entertaining -they have taken hit shows which seem to divide opinion whereas Legally Blonde on the Getaway had equal criticism for being too bland

 

Guess it proves you cant please all the people all the time but have booked to see Priscilla on the Epic in March

I agree, I don't see a political agenda either, to me it is just entertainment not a deep statement. I have also booked the show for our upcoming trip in March and we will watch it from the standpoint of theatre and not politics. Each to their own I guess.

I wanted to share our experience. My son has moderate to severe autism. When we went on our first cruise as a family (Disney), the computers at the terminal went down. We were in line with a thousand other people for over 2 hours. By the time the lines started moving again, my son had decided that he didn't want to get on "the big boat" and was letting us know all about it. My husband and I were honestly trying to decide where my son and I would stay while he and our older son went on the cruise. The man in front of us in line (who, trust me, had every reason to hope that we did not get on that ship) turned around and put his straw cowboy hat on my son's head and said, "No one can see you now, so it's going to be ok." It was like magic. My son calmed down, we boarded the ship, he loved cruising, and we have our third family cruise coming up in Decemeber. My point is even a rough start can get better, and while there are some people who will be jerks, there are many more who will understand and maybe even help.

I teach those on the spectrum and this post really touched me. It is so heartening to read that there are still people who will take the time to to try to help. I firmly believe there are far more nice people than nasty people out there, it is just that we hear so much more about the latter.:D

My apologies then, it is about 18 months since I sailed out of CV, if it is so much further I wouldn't want to walk it either!

Yes, but the ship can be a walk from the port entrance and that railway station can seem mighty far away with 2 bags each and a couple of kids.

I appreciate that, but for a cab driver loading a car and driving much less than half a mile is not an attractive proposition.

Usually (every time I have sailed into or out of Cv) shuttle buses ferry passengers to the port entrance and from there it really is just up the street to the station.

The station for the port ( Civitevecchia) is such a short walk that I imagine many cab driver would not consider it viable. It is obviously harder with copious amounts of luggage, bu it is very close to the entrance to the port.

I agree, we loved MSC, the food was great, the people were freindly and the ship Magnifica was stunning.

The stafff were not rude at all, quite the reverse. Go with an open mind and I am sure you will enjoy it.

It could be a hassle trying to get off the ship after you check in, and not worth the effort. Consider meeting at the airport and taking a later transfer. There are a few places in the terminal, outside of security.

We have done it in Venice on Celebrity and there wasn't a problem, but we will have to work out the logistics.

Yes, it was just a thought but I think we will arrive at the port around 12 so we will have ample time after checking in to head into town before sailaway.

Nothing at the port. Have your going away party in the city, then check in a little later and miss waiting in lines at the port.

We are only flying in that day and have transfers from the airport included in our package with NCL.

I suppose we could board then head back into the city for an hour or so.

We will be sailing on the Epic from Barcelona as an extended family. My eldest son's best friend lives In Barcelona, would he be allowed onboard the ship for a drink with us before sailaway?

If not, are there any bars in the port complex that we could meet up at after we have checked in? We would need one pretty close to the ship so that we can board, have lunch then disembark and meet up with him for an hour or so.

I don't expect they will allow him to board but last time we sailed Celebrity they announced "all those not sailing please leave the ship now" That surprised me, so I thought I would ask if NCL have a similar policy.

We will definitely go to the other restaurants a couple of times, maybe more but I wanted that to be from choice, not because the food served in the mdr meant we needed to!

I am sure it will be fine, we are foodie on occasion but we don't eat like that every night at home and we don't want to do that every night on a cruise. We normally choose another restaurant when the MDR food starts getting "samey" which it does on all lines after a few nights.

I cruise on both NCL and Celebrity.

 

Food in the main dining room - Celebrity's is much, much better, I don't like the food in the MDR on NCL and only eat in the specialty restaurants. NCL's MDRs are much, much louder than Celebrity's.

 

Specialty restaurant - A tie. NCL has the selection, but Celebrity's food in the specialty restaurants is awesome. Have had great experiences at the specialty restaurants for both NCL and Celebrity (if you go on Celebrity and the ship has a Qsine, it is a must do...a lot of fun).

 

Entertainment - Again, I'll give this to NCL.

 

Crew - Pretty much the same, in my opinion.

 

Kids - NCL has a lot more children then Celebrity does.

 

Shore excursions - I have to give this to Celebrity, they just seem to be more organized.

 

NCL is way, way more casual (day and night) then Celebrity is.

Yes, we loved Qsine on the Silhouette, and Bistro on 5, I think that if it was just myself and DH we would choose Celebrity, but this time we are taking my mum in law who will be celebrating her 80th birthday and is a first time cruiser and our three sons all of whom are happy to dress for dinner, but would rather not have to do it every night to eat at a full service restaurant.

I am now a bit worried about the food in the mdr though! We are paying for the trip for everyone and I really don't want to add in pay for restaurants every night of the cruise for 6 of us unless it is absolutely necessary.

Yes, we have got a great deal, and as there are three generations sailing I think the freestyle concept will suit us better for this cruise.

It was the timing (several of us work in education) so Easter was a good date, and the itinerary (we have done most of the Med ports several times) so the Canaries and Morrocco appealed.

We are on The Epic.

Aside from the obvious; dress requirements and freestyle dining, what differences will there be between the above cruiselines?

We have sailed with RCI and Celebrity many times but are trying NCL for the itinerary and the timing (Easter 2016) we are pretty easy going so I am sure we will love the experience, but any pointers to aid expectations would be great.

Thank you it looks great, we will definitely try and get on it.

This is a holiday, it is not "real life" you can repeat or get back a holiday you can never go back to a time when mourning is the right way to go. I would be absolutely furious if a family memeber thought I would prioritise a holiday over being there when a loved passed or being there to pay my respects or being there to offer comfort to them in hospital.

It is a large online agency based in the UK trading as Planet cruise/Iglu. I have asked them the question and will await their response. I should say we have used them once before without a problem, but I probably just didn't notice the difference in payment dates then as I was new to cruising.

The ship's are not registered for US tax, they do not follow US employment law, but they try to ensure the US passengers follow their customary generous tipping regime to circumvent having to pay their staff a living wage. That is the truth of it, and it is working really well for them!

We leave the tips in place, but I can see through the policy and cannot blame others who want to take a stand.