Gold Coast Cruisers

Yes me too! I will meet her tomorrow. My husband 'likes' her already! Oh dear!!!:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Lucky you.....enjoy your cruise and please report back to us all. We're booked for April and I am interested in hearing all about the ship generally, cabins, food, crew etc.

Have a wonderful New Year celebration cruise..

Jillybean:)

I am sure that you are covered for all travel purchased through your credit card if you have a credit card that offers insurance cover attached to that credit card.

Jillybean:)

A recent post suggested to check out Zoltina-J by going to Youtube.com and typing in Zoltina J. I found it useful. Hope you will as well:)

Thanks for the link Element......I now think I almost 'know' Zoltin-J and I now know where the 'thousands and thousands come from that everyone was having a giggle about....:D

She looks to be very happy in her job which is good, she was getting a lot of laughs from the audience.

Jillybean:)

According to the current blog entry she is.

 

http://pacificdawn.pocruises.com.au/index.php/meet-the-crew/

 

I bet that made your day.:D:p

Dennis do you know how we can we find out who will be CD on Pac Dawn in April 2010?

Doesn't worry me too much as I've not met Zolta although I've heard so much about her I would quite like to meet her anyway. Plus it's always nice to know who your CD is before you cruise.

Jillybean:)

I have been following this thread with interest.

I have always used local TA,s.

If you dont use them

you will loose them.

I have cruised at prices

well under what the US

agents quote...

Search and yee shall find.

I have 'seeked' but not found. Give us a clue?

I have to say that the USA Agents are far more flexible. They allow you to make changes within a certain date prior to departure without penalty.

They will credit you should your stateroom category drop in price before you sail.

They offer better on board credits or discounts if you are a shareholder of the cruiseline.

In Australia the T/A's are nowhere near as flexible. For instance today a friend of ours needed to transfer a cruise booked in April 2010 to November 2010,. He lost $200.00 for doing that. And I point out he is a good client, who, I might add has also booked 104 days on Dawn Princess with the same Agent. I would have thought the Agent could have been a bit more 'customer friendly', but no, always too worried about what is in it for them as far as their commission goes.

Jillybean

What about Holland America..are American T/A's able to book Aussies on HAL ?

I believe not.

Jillybean

I've experienced the opposite. And, I've still received the envelopes at the end while having prepaid. We were told that everyone received these just in case they wanted to extra tip. When this discussion came up at our table, our waiter told us they weren't allowed to be told who had prepaid. When we gave our extra envelope to our steward we told him this was for his wonderful service to us because we felt our prepaid amount just wasn't enough. He was genuinely surprised to hear that we had double tipped. He was very taken aback which led us to believe that most who prepay think they've done enough. So, maybe there's a difference in rules between the ships.

I believe that the staff do know who has prepaid and who hasn't. It's on the manifest they receive with their cabins/table allocation.

I posted on another thread about a conversation with an ex cruise ship wine waiter recently. Back in 1992 he was making US$1100 to US$1500 per week in tips. Now that was a pretty good income I thought. The company's input was US$50.00 per week.

Here in Australia I am happy to say it is not customery to tip. However, if you do tip it is purely because you have received exceptional service.

Some people might comment that things are more expensive here but that is because the average wage is a lot higher and waiters/bar staff etc earn enough wages to live on and tips are considered a bonus.

I would be interested to hear if anyone knows how much per year they calculate in their budget for tips, not just on cruises but for everyday living.

Jillybean:)

I have my own opinions based on personal experience. Personally, I was very disappointed in the condition of Mercury when I cruised in October of 2005. After 5 years of not cruising with X, and after excellent experiences on Horizon and Zenith in their early years and then Summit when she was still sparkly, I was very sad to see how shabby how Mercury had become. Our cabin was a mess and public spaces showed wear and tear beyond what is acceptable to me.

 

There are others who I am certain had no problem with the worn furnishings, nasty shower stalls, cracked sinks, and threadbare soft goods and that is certainly their right.

 

I had been on Vision of the Seas and Rhapsody a few months before Mercury and they were both in lovely condition though far older.

 

Jade, there was no charge for the sauna and steam on LOS and this is something I really enjoy about RCI's newer ships. Great and underused as well, so always quiet.

We too cruised on Mercury in 2005 and we were not impressed with the standard of the ship. It was well overdue at that time for refurbishment.

We cruised on her again in 2007 after a reburbishment and I am happy to say it was 100% better than 2005. Keeping ships 'ship shape' is really important and all Companies need to keep on top of their reburbishment schedules, even though they don't seem to have much in the way of dry dock time these days.

Jillybean:)

I love to read comments either positive or negative. It gives us all a balance when choosing a cruise line or particular ship.

Millie is cruising down under to visit our corner of the world later in the year and the cruises down here on Millie are very expensive. I wouldn't want to pay big dollars and experience some of the problems on Millie that I've read on this thread.

Regarding the service on board. Does anyone agree with me that prepaid gratiuties somehow take away that extra inch the crew will give you? I feel that a good job done deserves a tip but not a calculated prepaid tip. Maybe if everyone tipped at the end of the cruise based on the service they've received we might all experience improved service from the crew.

Jillybean:)

 

Trivia for today, where is WALA?

Jillybean:)

OK, I'll have to tell you as nobody guessed it. Wala is one of the islands of Espiritu Santo, of the Vanuatu Islands of the South Pacific. There is great snorkling to be enjoyed there amongst WW11 American war vehicles and ships.

Jillybean:)

Jillybean:)

Trivia for today, where is WALA?

Jillybean:)

Somebody once posted that they heard a theory from an officer on Constellation: The officer said that the itineraries that Constellation has done in her relatively brief life have not been as taxing as those done by other M-Class ships. She has been able to avoid pushing maximum speeds and has therefore not caused the regular wear to the bearings that Millenium, Summit, and especially Infiniti have (Those S. America trips are particularly taxing, I believe).

Interesting reading here, you're all very informative. Can you tell me does the Mercury have PODS also?:confused:

Jillybean:)