J0Y0US

At full capacity a cruise is the most people in a confined indoor space I am ever in for a prolonged period. You also don't have people continue to circulate through the area spreading things if they are sick for most of your list. I can go to Lambeau and only have extended time around like 20 people in my seats, its all open air, and after 4 hours I am completely away from the crowds. (season ticket holder) A cruise and other locations are not exactly comparable as far as risk. Still have cruised a number of times since shutdown and will continue to do so (as long as the don't degrade the offering) but I just expect to possibly be sick afterwards.

Well I would just think you have a fairly terrible tenderloin and never go back. So no you might pull a fast one but they are different cuts, the flavor would be different, and the chew would be different. I could also put ground pork in your hamburger instead of beef and you might not know but it would taste off and you might not return again. Oh and also any teppenyaki I have been to they cut the meat on the grill itself its not already cut up so you would be able to tell that way as well.

In this thread start at page one and its back there. The rest will come with the OP is back on land.

This is what was posted previously for Day 1 at least which I suspect is normal the other nights.

It means I pay $20 and you pay $10 nothing more. Except I am paying more... $20 > $10 its 2x If I get a steak for $100 ($125 with tip) and my wife gets chicken $35 ($43.75) that is a total bill of $135 and the tip is $33.75 its not $16.875 per person. Dining is a bad analogy anyways because with dining you are getting 2x the product/service with 2 people. With cruises a portion of those actions are not actually duplicated as things like the bed being made would occur regardless. Um no. The whole payment plan concept is exactly what marketing people do to cover up the true costs of things and make it seem like a better deal than it is. Regardless of any of this and be it total or per day its still a 25% increase. A 25% increase is not a small increase. In the end like I said elsewhere NCL should raise the wages, remove tipping (except for extraordinary service), and raise their cruise rates to cover the costs. They won't though because lots of people like to avoid seeing the true number.

I have never come across anything MSC related except Youtube in the midwest, texas, or east coast either in personal or business fashion. I suspect there will be a big push in the Texas market coming up though if they get that cruise terminal in Galveston.

My thought is they will do the beds but not touch anything else. I can't imagine most of these cabins are big enough to allow the beds to stay out and not drastically impede your use of the room.

To outline this is because in part: They skirt US tax laws They don't follow US labor practices They don't follow US naval codes regarding ships (outside of Pride of America) So lets be sure to outline they made a ton of extra money as profit that would have went to the tax revenue in the US as well as other countries.

Well they did make billions in pre-covid profit.... You are staying at very different places than I am I guess. I put the DND sign on the door and still have people knocking to make up the room at times. I pretty much only ever stay Hilton family of hotels though. Also hotel service charges and parking fees have been around for decades and have not really change too much from what I see. That being said I normally travel East Coast or Canada for work so it might be different in your areas. Where people typically have an issue is when something is removed or there is a significant increase. If the cruise companies increases fairs over time some people might say things but when you increase essentially service fees by double digits you will get more negative feedback. Never heard of people complaining about Cable company increases?

Because that is what I am paying.... When I go on vacation I don't think about a per person per day its the total cost. You seemingly have bought in to the cruise line and others PR spin to make it seem like a smaller number. Its $600 leaving my wallet in the end for that example. So you leave 2/3/4/5 different tips on the table then? Or do you figure out the total tip an leave it?

I can't imagine they ever will unless there is some specific safety reason. It serves them no purpose if they are getting the money from NCL to take that action. Their goal is to have you walking away from that tour saying wow and wanting to tell everyone about it so they can make more money in the future.

No they should run their business like one that makes money and with the increased revenue pay for their employees. I always laugh when people like you try to throw around some accusation that people who are pro better salary are somehow saying its free money that is coming out of thin air. I am good with both and hopefully laws will be put in place requiring these to be placed in the advertised price instead of being hidden. Two of my biggest issues with tipping culture is 1) stress on employee if situations change and income goes down and 2) hidden aspect of hiding these costs away from individuals as a marketing tactic (same reason there is distaste for US cable companies) It only needs to be part of travel insurance if not refundable. NCL could change the cruise fare to include X% refundable until boarding which accounts for this portion. Separately this would also mean employee would not be hit with an empty cabin not paying any gratuity that sailing so they are hit because the cruise line couldn't fill the room. Flip side you may find with no "tips" included in the payment to NCL that more people add additional cash tips and they pocket even more money as crew. Also to add on to point 1 you now are having crew paid as if all rooms are filled potentially instead of being paid on each trip having a varied amount of rooms with people in them and possibly different amounts of people in those rooms. Which to my understanding is done in countries that have generous tax consideration so they might need to work with those countries. In the end that is a company issue and not a me or employee issue. They need to find a model and charge accordingly. I will state it fairly plainly I am fine paying more if the employee is getting a fair wage without a requirement of tips to live their life. If then however they provide great service and can be tipped even better. Its why I really like Sandals when we went. Charge more but remove tipping as a custom. I see little difference from a Cruise vs Disney World (where I don't tip the character) vs grocery store (where I don't tip shelf stockers) vs a variety of places in my life where companies pay wages instead of passing the requirement on to their staff.

I just want to say Haven to Alaska on the Glacier Bay day is amazing. You likely can stake out a stop in the general observation area (indoors) but we loved just bundling up and having that top forward part of the deck almost empty most of the morning. Were out there from like 6:30am until 12pm (went to get lunch as the ship left the area). It depends on everyone you are traveling with though but loved that outdoor private space for the glacier day. Also have to say having the hot tubs on the top deck as we pulled out of Ketchikan when it was sleeting and no one else on the top deck was another amazing moment of that trip. Sorry off topic as this is supposed to be about haven-lite.

Knew this would be a post. Its highly highly highly likely it was from the cruise. Is it 100% chance? No but its highly likely and the best explanation.

Sorry yes port arrival time.

The issue is the traffic. People talking about waiting in traffic for over 45 mins to go 1-2 miles to the port for both of the cruises leaving this year so far. We were able to adjust our flight to get in the day before and plan on getting to the port around 8:45am as we have the 9am boarding time. That should hopefully help us avoid the massive backup (maybe).

What is your favorite?

Wait they have Jersey Boys? What ships is that on? Also Choir of Man which ships is that on these days?

But I was told NCL and other cruise lines have to raise prices and raise gratuity (instead of salary) because they are so distraught financially still from COVID.

You just made me think what is the most expensive part of the ship that you are paying for? Space Solos and Doubles are essentially taking up the same amount of precious space with their cabin. Thats where most of the cost to the line comes from. On the flip side things like an extra set of luggage or extra dinner are fairly minor regarding total costs. Especially when you consider on that 2nd person they can get more upcharges extracted. I suspect the "deals" are structured so that solos do end up bringing someone possibly.

What weird is we did the free at sea and while we have 4 adult packages the kids are full left off and have no package attached to them. I am fine with it though as they wouldn't drink anything except water and milk basically anyways.

Dont show up late? lol I have not been on that line but from being on a couple different lines it all seems the same to me in general. It comes down to more specifically the ship you are on. So worry less about NCL and instead read more about your specific ship and watch youtube vlogs regarding people on the ship you are going on. This will give you an idea of what there is to do, if they ran in to issues, and different things like that.

Biggest crock in all of the travel industry IMO

Just want to outline that we have a 9am boarding time for Jan 15th but also are in the Haven so not positive if that makes a difference. That being said we expect to be waiting until around noon before you get on the actual ship.

Questions: Pizza - where is it and when and how is it? Ice Cream - is there a soft serve machine anywhere? You can see I am in to the important stuff lol.