MTJSR

Hi all, we sailed last September on the Island out of San Francisco's new cruise terminal for the Panama Canal. At sail-away, the bow thrusters became mud blowers as we were stuck in it. It took two tug boats pulling us away from the dock to float out and sail off.

My guess, is the Crown experienced a shallow area and maybe as tide moved in it was easier to float against the dock. Possibility?

Nothing would draw more attention and make a bigger statement than ALL passengers on the next cruise boycotting large tips. "A buck a bag" as a show of passenger solidarity. Think about the evening news and the near universal support for your actions.

These longshoremen aren't exactly poor or adored and a reminder of just how good they really do have it, would be healthy.

If your bags got tossed in the bay or damaged, then imagine the attorney line that would form on our behalf. Now the negative light has really been cast on these clowns.

We took, like most the others, the Carrie B paddle wheeler thru the inland waterways. We had just disembarked the Island from San Francisco.

Now as a review, I would say it was good overall. The bus ride part around town was more a stall for time while we waited for our boarding time to get on the boat. The bus host (female german accent) was nice albeit a bit pushy/militant with the rules. The boat ride was very nice and I took a ton of pictures.

When we were being dropped off at the Ft Lauderdale airport, the host made sure to tell us that tips to her and the driver would be separate and they both stood in a "conga line" outside the bus door to catch every one of those tips too.

Currently booked as a "solo" (inside) across the hall from family in a balcony cabin. Not sure how the numbers all tally up but it was $3063.00 for C257 Star Princess to Hawaii this March 21st.

Excellent review! very very well written.

Having been there walking my dog twice (with ships in port), sailed the Island on a Panama Canal cruise, and about to sail to Hawaii soon. I love the terminal.

Now, I think from talking to staff and some porters, they also want it to be nice and efficient and they love it too. The bugs seem to be worked out on the inside of the terminal, but outside the Porters may be getting the attention they seek right now. I am guessing it will be back to normal soon.

I have never heard a porter ask for large tips or any tip for that matter. These guys all seem to be in high spirits ie: playful. Perhaps someone caught one of them teasing for a high tip and that got reported as what they all do. Not the case!

Enjoy your trip and relax!

Special circumstances may mean special hours,but on a normal stop there, we docked around 9am and left around 7pm. Enjoy the beach in Mahahoul if that's your thing. Be careful, the beach area near the dock is sandy/rocky.

What a great shot. The Star and Alcatraz clearly visible in the fog.

I do wonder thou, why they keep spinning the Grand class ships around so they are bow out of pier 27? They almost always went bow in at pier 35. When I left on the Island for the Panama Canal several months ago, we actually got stuck in the mud at sailaway and it took two tugs to free us. Not sure that has anything to do with it thou:confused:

I used to enjoy going down to the waterfront to watch the ships leave. I don't even bother anymore.

You know, sadly thats my attitude too.

I was all excited when pier 27 opened up and for me those spoiled overpaid and under-qualified (longshoremen) are ruining the experience people pay extra for. Sailing out of San Francisco, as a local just felt good. Now Id rather drive to San Pedro. No bull xxxx games getting onboard and sailing on time. I wouldn't bother driving over to S.F to watch a sail-away, heck it might not be until the next day.

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We just visited Manzanillo instead of Cabo due to the hurricane damage. This was on a Panama Canal cruise. Manzanillo is a very nice port, a mile long beach and plenty of shopping. The charm here is that tourists are not that common and there was no hustling/begging anywhere. Be sharp on Pesos value here as they prefer Pesos.

There is one slot machine in the casino that is 100 percent controlled and manipulated, in my opinion. The "Quarter Shooter" with the big tray that rakes and pushes quarters forward until they off the edge. I spend 2 weeks on the Island recently watching the "Bait" money being "Placed" along the edges so that people would play those machines at night. Im ok with placing bait, along as long it is not moved after that.

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No such thing as a setting for "near misses."

 

Chips are set to payout the big jackpot over X number of spins. It's not based on machine life. The number could be more than once in a machine lifetime - all depends on the X and how much the game is played.

 

Of course, since a RNG is just that - random - it is mathematically possible it wouldn't but that is not the goal of the casino. If it goes that long and not hit the big payout the game will have funded it so it in the presumed financials to pay it.

Exactly, and (from a casino manager directly) they are not obligated to keep a machine until it "coughs up it guts" either. Leasing, trade ins and new game contracts can gets machines pulled and sold.

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Something else that ship casinos have that is illegal in Nevada is a "just missed" chip. Watch how many times the big winning combination shows up just one line off (up or down) and compare it to the times it shows up on the pay line.:

I often hear the term "Near Miss" used for jackpot showing up one line away up or down. The RNG is like a deck of cards, it has alot more combinations that are "near misses" than the "One Big Hit" you are looking for. Now with thousands and thousands of combinations possible on a three wheel machine, it is possible the highest jackpot will "NEVER" appear in the life of that machine. However, it "Will" payout over it's lifetime the Pre-Set odds!

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Cruise Casino Jobs - Casino Manager

 

In charge of the department aboard the cruise ship. Supervising the subordinate casino positions. Creating and maintaining an entertaining gaming environment. Responsible for the training of casino staff. Observation and control over all casino games, slot machines and casino cage in order to minimize security threats and fraud cases. High school diploma is a must. Bachelor’s degree in management, business administration or related field and managerial experience is a plus. Good English. Additional languages. Basic computer software required.

Salary: $2800-3600 per month.

 

 

Plus free room and board. $33600 to $43200 annually is certainly not high.

lol, still not the point! But ok, I'll play along for fun. Sure give all the responsibility to the casino manager to manipulate odds at sea, risk destroying the games integrity right there in real time:eek: All of em are expert computer programmers, genius mad scientists capable of reprogramming a sophisticated mathematical numerical generator. All while smiling at their victims, rubbing hands and laughing hysterically.

Nope its just not going to happen, high pay, low pay no way!

Are you saying that the on board Casino Manager is low-paid?

Well.....are you suggesting its the highest paying position? Consistent with sea life salaries in general, id assume is not high paying.

My point however, is no person is going to be allowed to play fast and loose with a screw driver on these slots and change odds in front of a payout, like depicted in the Op's post.

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I owned an IGT Triple Triple Diamond slot machine and purchased the "RNG" that the Nevada Gaming Commission placed on the mother board, at delivery time to the original leasing Casino. The RNG (random number generator) is a pre-programmed chip (brain) placed and then safety sealed to the board (no tamper seal) to prevent removal. The odds in Nevada are of course set by the Casino Slot Manager and the Gaming Commission by state law guidelines. Typically a small percent to the house only.

At sea, how could a low paid, long hour working and un-policed (per se') person be given control to make such a potentially lethal public relations decision, in this entertainment/cruise industry?

Its just not going to happen!

Please Google the numerical science behind the "RNG", computer slot operations and plain old luck.

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Hi everyone,

I am happy to help with answers, my thing is writing about the ports because this is what we travel for. Forgive my long trip reports, I hope they help in some way.

Amelia

Thank you for taking the time in your trip to do this, I think I speak for most here, Sapphire's (changes since reposition) are what we are "Loving" in your reports this time.

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Better yet, anyone "really" know the facts? :eek:

 

This is shot with my phone, but if anyone is actually interested, I will bring my Nikon over with me this week.

 

 

http://mrose.org/cc/p-star-dd3.jpg

No need, you took a great picture and we appreciate it!

Thank you for taking the time to write and post your review. I have not sailed Celebrity so your comparisons help.

Like you, one of the biggest disappointments for me (a Princess loyalist) is the buffet. I started my work life in the food business, went to school for it and am a self appointed chef at home. The buffet is just plain mediocre and I am being nice. Time after time I give it a try only to be underwhelmed again. I know some love the stuff, but for me its dead flavors and overcooked proteins. The pasty fake scrambled eggs are gross, the overcooked broken shards of bacon dripping in fat etc are not what a $2700.00 cruise fare should be rewarded with.

I am hoping Princess is willing to go from an good cruise line to an outstanding one during my lifetime. :)

I am trusting that Carnival Corp will do what is right for the family of this crew member. As all of you probably know, these workers support their entire families back home and as long as they are alive, continue to do so. Very sad!

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We would love to take the trolley in Aruba when we are there is December. Where can we board the trolley in relation to where the Island Princess is docked?

 

Thanks!

When you exit the secure area, it's right there. Or turn right and walk that blvd of shopping as well. Enjoy!

Sometimes it's not the ports or excursions, it's the people!

 

I hope you are enjoying poolside. Is there anything in Cartagena that you wished you had done? What did you do in Aruba?

Cartagena was great, we found the taxi man and made him our private tour guide. We saw a great deal of it, would go back and maybe do the newer areas next time.

Aruba is a pretty desolate island, away from the beachfront it is like the moon, Utah or Nevada. I heard great reviews about the beach. We took the free trolly downtown shopping. Somewhat surprised how cruddy it felt here. Not kept up very well and the people are kinda chilly. Think beach here!

Thank you for your review and information. We are scheduled to be on a partial Panama transit at the end of October. We are getting concerned about the reports on the state department website and the CDC site about the mosquitos and chikungunya virus in the caribbean and central america. We became more concerned today when a pop up warning about it came up on the cruise personalized site.

We experienced NO mosquitos, now having said that, we were also advised to apply a repellant in certain ports. I would just be aware and take every precaution....Obviously!

INTERESTING NOTE: In Aruba yesterday and berthed right next to us was the FREEWIND. It is the Church Of Scientologies private cruise ship that one former member said he was held hostage on. Interesting people onboard!

To aunt Judy, don't see anything from you in her Yahoo mailbox. Oooops!