Birdie And Sue

14 hours ago, spanishguy1970 said:

We have two coming cruises, one this October where we are paying $14.50 per person, and the next one next year we see that it has gone up to $15.00 dollars. We still  think cruises are still the best bang for your buck, but, we are now working on what would be the highest price we would pay for the service charge before we say is time to look for other ways to vacation. 

 

I know prices go up, that is a fact of life but i also know when is time to keep up with our budget. Anyone else knows when will be enough for you before you give on cruises? just curious.

I donty worry about hypotheticals.  It is a silly waste of my time.

15 hours ago, david_sobe said:

I believe what they are trying to say is that there is no thermal spa.  It was removed during the renovation.  There are spa treatment rooms for services but no sauna, thermal pools, etc.

Would that etc that is missing include the following?

Hot tub
Heated stone recliners
Non-heater reeclieners
Therapy pool

2 hours ago, psawka said:

spot on...nor should they....all members of a crew do deserve a living wage, but that is the responsibility of the employer not the patrons.  If you go to a restaurant to have a nice meal....do you tip every employee?  I would think not....they all deserve a dece3 t wage but the is the responsibility of the employer not the customers...you tip only your waiter...not the owner, not the cook , not the clean up crew..etc. etc. etc. and it has nothing to do with being rich or cheap...you reward good service....but not the entire corporation

 

All of the wages paid to the employees of any business are paid by the customers of that business. 

2 hours ago, PelicanBill said:

His argument is not to pay DSC at all; he wants to tip only specific people.

 

Paying the DSC has nothing to do with who anyone decides to tip.  In fact it is likely that everyone who tips only tips specific people.  I highly doubt anyone has ever tipped every single crew member on any cruise.

10 hours ago, RedwingHockeyFan said:

Yeah, I don't know.  I usually start looking about 14-12 months out.  I try to book at the CruiseNext desk to get the free stateroom upgrade.  I have had no luck ever finding a Sail Away balcony.  I wish there actually was a way to select that as a category when you search so I could get an idea of what the price difference is.

Just pick the cabin type and it will list the prices for all levels in that type form SailAway to the most expensive.  Easy to do.

7 hours ago, emcelh said:

You have to do the math and decided if the price difference is worth it.  Nothing is free and when corporations (and politicians) say it is, don't believe it.

The biggest problem with free is that it is so darn expensive!

16 hours ago, shanet60 said:

I find it funny they offer these 5 free perks , but you have to first choose a cabin thats not sail away and then pay all the gratuity for them as well!! The difference in my sail a way balcony and one with the perks was $1034. How is that a perk? I mean even if you drink like a fish it would be hard to reach that even with 3 free meals and $50 off of shore excursions!! None of the cabins on the breakaway have obstructed views so I’m not worried about that , I moved mine back down to a sail a way and will just pay as I go because I don’t see myself spending over $1000 , I never have before!! I’m just curious what others think about this ?

Wow Really?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

On 7/29/2019 at 1:09 PM, aero777 said:

Here’s a thread from this March started by FreestyleNovice detailing the progress of the extensive $50 million refurbishment of the Joy. We sailed the Joy in May and liked it so much we booked two more cruises on her this year. If you can live without a thermal suite in the spa it’s a fantastic ship with some great pricing.

What parts of the spa are consider to be the 'thermal suite' and thus missing from the Joy?

3 hours ago, psawka said:

All the people in "the background" do a lot of work and should be paid an honest wage by their employer....the ones that directly benefit me are the wait staff and the housekeeper.  Any other thing that is done for me I would tip at the time.  as for the amount, it is not unreasonable...as a matter of fact, when I leave the ship the amount of tips to the wait staff and house keepers usually is greater than the daily charge, but has been well earned by these individuals.  All others are the responsibility of the employer, not the passengers.  We don't leave a tip for every employee of a motel when we stay there....as a matter of fact many people do not even tip the house keepers (my daughter and grand daughter have held these jobs and got nothing) and certainly should not be expected to trip all the other staff members that are involved in maked the motel work.  It is an individual decision to make...my original question was to find out what I could about NCL .not to start a battle with anyone, nor was it posted for my entertianment.

The issue is that your initial post is based on the false premise that you are paying a daily "gratuity". 

2 hours ago, MotownVoice said:

 

This is the exact point at which we go from reasonable, gracious tipping for a job well done ... to an insane, closed system wherein you must feel guilty, responsible for a cruiseline’s cheap labor practices, and self loathing that you’re having lobster in a cream reduction while your steward may be going home to boiled fish and reeds.

 

It is not your responsibility to make sure cruise staff make a living wage.  That burden falls upon the employers.   Your responsibility is to fulfill whatever agreement you have with the cruise line when you purchase your ticket.   If you find a loophole that you can exploit to avoid paying money, that is your prerogative.  Don’t let anyone sucker you into that “how can you do this to them” line of garbage.

 

It is honorable to tip well.  

 

It is smart to unionize, or otherwise do what you can to force an employer to respect the living condition that a full time wage under their employ provides.

 

Just like it is for every single other one of us.

No one MUST feel any particular way.  people feel how they choose to feel, the choice is usually made to make them self feel justified for being cheap.  Such silliness over something that is 100% an accounting issue.

Tip each $10,000 and you will be fine!

There is no "usual" minimum amount.  It all depends on the current rate for the cabins in question on the specific cruise in question.

1 hour ago, Luckiestmanonearth said:

No such thing as a free cruise.  If something is too good to be true, it usually is.  Words I live by

Looks like my total out of pocket cost for a 9-day to 16-day cruise for two will be less than $600, and they give me more than that in free casino play..  That is close enough to free for me.  Thanks!

On 1/15/2019 at 11:46 AM, KateQ22003 said:

I have tried to do this in the past, but it was very close to sailing and they wouldn't let me. They said they were at lifeboat capacity. The funny thing is, I then won an upgrade bid and they made me pay for two people to upgrade, and still wouldn't let me add a second person to the suite. Make sure you don't wait too long! If there is capacity, you should only have to pay the taxes and port fees to add the second person.

The upgrade would have been that way regardless of your desire to add somrone.  That is how solo upgrades work. The cost to add as second person depends on how much was paid for the solo.  In some instances the solo pays less that double the per person double occupancy rate.

59 minutes ago, Frogdogpal said:

Can I cancel my NCL reservation and immediately make a new reservation with a travel agent

Yes you can.  Depending on the situation you may or may not have a cancellation penalty.  Call NCL.

Thanks for all the feedback.  Now to see if I have enough airline miles to fly R/T for free!

24 minutes ago, ThxMomnDad said:

Are the cash games $1/2 NL or $2/4 NL?

Neither they are $2/$5.  Straddle (multiple) allowed starting UTG.

Today I got a flyer in the mail that is offering me a "free" cruise (ocean View) and $1,000 AUD in casino "fun play".  I have several cruises to select form, ranging form 9 days to 16 days, all sailing from Sydney or Melbourne.  What cost ate not covered on these 'free" cruises, how much would that costs come to?  The cruises are on the Splendor and Spirit.  What are the advantages/disadvantages of each of these ships?  Lastly what is "fun play"?

The tournys on NCL are more or less all-in-fests.  With the blind structure the way, there really is no reason to play it any other way. 

The cash  games are 10% rake max $25 per hand.

4 hours ago, kaylasnana said:

I was just thinking the brightly colored tags would be easier for the luggage handlers. The ones I printed out just st say “purple”. 

They would be brightly colored if you printed them in color. 🙂

Sounds like a great time on a beautiful ship.  Enjoy your cruise everyone who is sailing her.

3 hours ago, RaiderDuck said:

Question: Would you consider a table-sized reproduction of Michelangelo's "David" to be art or not?

 

If so, what's wrong with the reproduction of Tomasz Rut's "Te Amo" (one of two or three hundred, I believe) that hangs above the couch in our living room? We love our painting (or print, or whatever you want to call it) and remark to each other at least once a week how glad we are that we forked over the $1200 for it. If you came along tomorrow and offered to buy it for twice that, we'd politely tell you to pound sand.

It is a novelty trinket.  Good luck having anyone offer you 50% of what you paid for your replica "collectors item".  I guess it is displayed next to your series of commemorative presidential plates (LOL).  The number of the trinkets reproduced are not an indication of the quality or value of said piece.  Then as long as you are happy with it... They seem to have found their target audience!

7 hours ago, deliver42 said:

NCL seems to "adjust" their itineraries more than other lines. Why? I don't know. Other lines may adjust due to propulsion problems, but NCL seems to do it with no explainations.

And what difference does it make whether you get an explanation or not?

11 minutes ago, RaiderDuck said:

Park West DOES sell art. Now the paintings, lithographs and whatnot else they sell may not financially be worth what you paid for them, etc, but they ARE art. Peter Max, Norman Rockwell, Tomasz Rut, Thomas Kincade, and the other artists featured there are legitimate artists (alive or dead), and Park West is a legitimate (if somewhat overpriced) reseller.

Your definition of 'art' is very weak my friend.   Note I never said that the artists are not real.  I said it was not real art.   Park West features computer generated reproductions (basically posters) and images of work that is done by or under the supervision of these artists.  The reproductions and posters are hawked as "original" when in reality there are hundreds if not thousands of copies printed off weekly on giclee ink jets printers then distributed to mass marketers like park West.  Go into their poster gallery and mention the word giclee and you will be promptly escorted out so that you cannot continue to warn other passengers as to what it is they are really buying.  Enjoy your overpriced posters.

On 8/15/2019 at 2:17 PM, adam_s_allen said:

I’d say there’s probably no more than 200 bartenders on the ship. If only half the people on a sailing have the drink package that’s $40,000 per day in gratuities going to 200 people.

 

I’m not saying not to tip additional, I’m just saying it’s not a small amount.

The key word in your post is "IF".