Livvie

Very interesting reading all of the responses I have received on this issue, I have to say I am a bit surprised. It is funny to me that we have turned into a society of nothing but "hedging your bets with insurance, trips, TVs, life, property, and almost anything u can think of, circuit city went of of biz 10 years ago but they showed a loss the last 5 years in products sales and a $90million dollar profit in insurance for those products. Really? As far as passports go my daughters passport expired in March she turns 18 on April 23 we didn't want another minor passport when she could get an adult passport in 22 days, cheap no, I could afford as many passports as they could issue just not smart. Whatever

She could have gotten an adult passport at 16.

Your right we should have gone down day before, however if u look at all the posts around all sites cruise companies have been taking advantage of passengers for years, again regardless of policy there is a right and wrong way to handle these situations, I would hope you would agree. And, anytime you want to compare heads you let me know!

The right way to handle the situation would have been 1)make sure you had a passport, 2)buy travel insurance and 3)fly in the day before. Any one of those would have solved your situation.

You can board a plane leaving the US without a passport. Just need other accepted id. You can't come back by plane without one.

When flying to a foreign country from the US, our passports have always been scanned before boarding.

I think we need a bit of sociological understanding here. Experienced cruisers tend to be a tad older than the newbies found on so many of the 4-6 day cruises. You have to remember these folks come from the "participation" trophy generation and have never had to really deal with adversity such as losing their entire fare. So they honestly believe that they are due a refund and other compensation for something they could well have avoided with better planning. So don't jump to harshly on them, remember many are just fragile snowflakes.

 

Also a fast web search does NOT reveal any blanket FAA grounding of flights in any part of the US yesterday or any time recently.

Two big thumbs up for this post.

I think there are at least three lessons in this story. Insurance, a passport and flying in at least a day prior to your cruise date would have made a huge difference in this case.

Yup. Due to multiple poor choices on the OP's part, they have zero recourse.

I may give it a shot too for my July 1 cruise. I've got MTD and have made 6:15 reservations - also cruising solo and would prefer a 2-top to myself just based on 2 situations where I was made extremely uncomfortable by the conversation assigned tablemates made (basically it was extremely clear that they had issues with who I am - without them knowing as I'm not what one typically thinks of when they think of the term...I "pass" easily). If I do, I'll post back what I hear.

Wait, we have to make reservations for MTD? I thought that was the entire point of MTD, so you didn't have a set time every night? Now I need to contact someone about a time?!

On our past cruise on Oasis I bought a glass on the Royal Promenade. The dude gets 18% for picking it up and handing it to me. He didn't even package it in anything to help it survive the trip home.

Now that I know that, all my souvenirs will be bought off the ship.

You will be charged an additional 18% on just about anything on the ship that has a price unless it is bought in one of the actual shops. This includes just about anything being hawked on the Promenade or pool deck.

Ugh. That I didn't know. I despise being nickel and dimed to death on vacation. And people wonder why I prefer all-inclusives in Mexico...

 

I thought that if we prepaid the gratuities in advance that it would be over and done with however, does that mean that if I go to the bar and order a drink or buy anything onboard that I'll have to pay another 18% there and then even though I've prepaid?

 

Sorry for any confusion that I'm conveying, this is totally new to us!

Yes, even though you have pre paid, you will still be charged an additional 18% for every drink order.

A stranger is a friend you haven't met yet.

Wife is very sociable and we have always had fun with

our table mates. On Silhouette now and met a fun couple we will visit this Summer. Sad when people are so isolated.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

Call it what you wish. I think it is sad when people can't stand to have a private dinner with their spouse.

I am also an introvert and have no wish to converse with strangers. I don't find it fun or relaxing or any other word others have attributed to dining with strangers. It is uncomfortable and makes me anxious. Since it is my vacation, I chose to spend my time doing things I enjoy.

My husband and I loved fixed traditional dining but always request a table for 2. Its not that we don't enjoy meeting others...we're more than happy to share a table at breakfast or lunch...but when we vacation its our chance to reconnect and have a week or so of 'date nights'.

 

We treasure those dinners-for-two. We've also never had an issue getting a table for two primarily because we are not picky about where the table is located.

 

Yes, exactly. I want to enjoy our dinner in private, just the two of us.

I've always enjoyed the traditional dining experience, but it seems like more and more of the "new" cruisers want MTD for flexibility.

 

And, well, the art of conversation is on the wane.

I have zero desire to eat and converse with strangers.

According to many on these boards the auto tips were put in place to help make sure that more people are paying their fare share. If that is the case then more money would be flowing in AND they increase the amount of the tip on top of it. This sounds a lot like raising drink prices AND increase charged gratuities from 15% to 18%. Hit it from both angles. And it gets topped off by the fact that I still keep handing out some cash on top of the auto tips.

 

This reminds me of a quote from one of my favorite mindless movies... "Thank you sir, may I have another?"

Yes, having an 18% tip for any kind of drink on top of already heavily encouraged gratuities is highway robbery.

It should be at the managers discretion. It would make people who are just cheap have to look a senior manager in the eye and explain why they have a good reason to remove gratuities--there would be far fewer cases if this happening. It would also allow senior management the opportunity to address and correct issues they might not otherwise learn about.

 

And as I mentioned, it would make sure innocent parties weren't punished for someone else's actions as only a percentage of gratuities would be removed.

If it is a gratuity, it is optional and at the discretion of the guest whether it is removed or not, no reason needed.

Under the Cruise Critic Logo in the upper left hand side of your screen is a yellow bar that says "User CP". Click on this.

 

Under the section that says "Settings and Options" is section called "Edit Ignore List". At this point, you can put in the Members user name you wish to block.

 

You may still see some posts if he or she is quoted in a reply.

Thank you.

guess you're not a read to the end type. But if this topic really bothers you, scroll right by it and let others talk about it. Badgering people isn't going to change anyones opinions. Asking questions or offering input might be constructive though.

Thank you. Does this forum have an ignore feature?

Reading through this thread, I was thinking about the waverunners, so thank you to the previous posters who brought it up.

 

Not only are the kayak sellers approved or permitted by Royal, they are encouraged by the guides! "On our next stop, we'll be visiting the water mall. Vendors on kayaks will approach so you can make a purchase." As stated before, it's said that if you don't have money you can just pay back at the dock.

 

Nothing ever caught my eye, so usually a firm, "No thank you," worked. One trip I remember they were a little more harassing before they paddled away. Regardless, I've always felt that the guides must be in an awkward position to have to encourage their riders to shop. I'm sure they wouldn't do it, and it wouldn't be an official stop on the tour if the activity wasn't sanctioned by Royal.

 

Whenever I read threads about the aggressive vendors and how Royal ought to do something about it, I chuckle. Of course Royal isn't going to do anything about it. They encourage them to there! It's probably part of the lease and usage agreements designed to spur the local economy.

 

I've got nothing against people trying to make a living in whatever culture they live. If Royal wants to provide the opportunity for the locals to benefit from the steady stream of guests, that's fine. It's more traffic than they'd otherwise get if they set up a craft booth in their own village. But I think it should be an option for guests to choose to frequent if they want to, such as is the way the craft market is set up. Walk through, or not. Your choice. But leading the guests straight into the pack of lions (kayaks) and telling them they should shop is uncomfortable at best.

 

Again, "No," works, so I know they're not forcing us to buy anything. But for the money spent on a waverunner excursion through the ship, I'd much rather spend the precious minutes flying over the waves or hearing about another scenic stopping point than sitting idle for a sales pitch.

 

Luckily, there's no "water mall" on the Coco Cay waverunner excursion.

We go on excursions for the express purpose of not having to deal with obnoxious vendors. If we were forced into a "water mall" on one, I would definitely be letting RCL know my feelings about it when we returned to the ship.

Dispute the charge with your credit card before it is too late.

The US Government is required to allow US citizens into the USA with or without proper documentation. It is illegal for them to not allow a US citizen into the country. The situation I"m sure occurs every single day with people misplacing or losing their passport / passport card, etc. There is an inconvenience factor it's not like you won't get back into the country.

If you don't have the proper documentation, how can you prove you're a US citizen? The government doesn't accept "because I say so" as a valid form of ID. Having copies of all your documents helps immensely, though copies obviously don't replace the originals. It gives you a good place to start, though.

 

This is yet another reason why having a passport/passport card is so important even on a closed loop cruise!

[quote name='swedish weave']NCL restricts the use of non-refundable OBC. You are not allowed to use it for DSC or in the casino. Carnival does not restrict the use of it.

Carnival still serves lobster and escargot in the MDR. I don't believe NCL does that anymore without additional charges.[/quote]

Pride of America doesn't have a casino and I don't care for lobster and/or escargot, so no worries there. :p

[quote name='ryarger']There aren't a lot of big differences. The lack of formal nights is probably the biggest. More importantly, since you'll be on the PoA, you should be aware that a cruise on the PoA is unlike any other NCL cruise.

It's an extremely port-intensive itinerary. The ship is really just a floating hotel to take you from island to island as you explore Hawaii. The shows are are pretty much an afterthought and there are few other activities on board.

It is just coming out of it's second dry dock in 3 years so who knows what new goodies will be added, but make no mistake that the point if the cruise isn't the ship, it's Hawaii.

All that said, I loved my time on the PoA. Took an upsell to an Penthouse suite and have been spoiled for regular cruising ever since.[/quote]
Thanks.

We've cruised twice on Carnival and will be booking Pride of America for this Fall.

I'm wondering if someone could give me a brief rundown on the differences between NCL and Carnival?

Thanks. :)

People like that make you afraid to ask a question. Unnecessary Rudeness.

 

This will be my first time cruising after a few years break and I have a ton of questions. Most people are nicer I think.

I hope so.

This would be the first sticky you see when you enter. So many of these threads on here are all right on NCL home page. I don't understand why people don't read.

People don't read the stickies. It is just something to skip over before you get to the questions.