SeaShark

We just did Spirit and stayed at the Marriott convention center. Do not try to walk over with luggage. Take a cab for about 5-8 bucks. On the same corner as the Marriott is a convenience store. Not open early on Sunday morning, so I would buy on Sat night/evening. Your about a five minute walk from Harrahs casino and Bourbon St. Not a bad location.:D

THANK YOU!!! That is excellent info.

I'd ask the hotel if they have a free shuttle. Hampton is really close and they shuttle both directions for free for guests.

Great idea...Thanks Todd. Free shuttle service is a really great amenity to get at a hotel.

I did check with Marriott...they don't have any sort of shuttle service available at this particular location, so I'm back to square one on that.

Hi SeaShark,

 

There's a CVS Pharmacy at 800 Canal St. which is 3 blocks away from your hotel.

 

It looks like you've done your homework as to walk to the port from the Marriott or cabbing it. Although the port is within walking distance (about 2 miles) it is a better option to take a taxi to the port.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Jorge

Thank you very much, but I think you might be thinking of a different Marriott hotel. The one I am staying at is on Convention Center Blvd between Julia St and St Joseph St. literally right across the street from the Convention Center.

Hopefully, some of the locals can help out.

I am sailing next month on the Norwegian Spirit, which leaves from the Erato Street Cruise Terminal.

I already have a room booked at the Marriott Convention Center the night before.

I understand that the hotel is within "walking distance" of the cruise terminal. However, I've looked at a map, and while it does seem walkable, I'm not so sure it is walkable with luggage! It is also difficult to tell if there is a way thru the Convention Center or if you would have to walk all the way around the building....and if you walk around do you go around the bridge end of the building or the Julia Street end of the building?

Or is it just better to get a taxi? (After all, it can't cost that much being that it is so close!)

I would appreciate any advice or insight from anyone familiar with the area or from those who may have stayed at this hotel previously. Any and all opinions are welcome.

Also....wouldn't object to any info that might direct me to a store close by where I could pick up a case of soda.

Thanks in advance!

SeaShark that is exactly what I thought the point was that the poster was making. That basically why should the bar tender receive the "$300" for opening 1 bottle and yet if Guest B bought 100 bottles it would require tons more work but ending up making the same amount in the end. Rather unfair if Guest A & B are dealing with different bar tenders, bar tender #2 - Guest B would have to work much hard for his $300. :confused:

Well, yes. However that is because you are looking at the same side of the coin as the other poster. (You will note that I did NOT say he was wrong, I said he wasn't looking at all sides of the issue).

The other poster's point was to make the service (opening and serving one bottle) and make a judgement based on the difference in gratuity amount (while ignoring the coresponding difference in sales).

I am just pointing out that to do a fair comparison, you can make the sales AND the gratuity paid equal so that you can honestly compare the amount of work asked of the cruise line worker to earn the same money from the same sales. We can easily see that the person ordering the lower cost items is creating a significant amount of extra work for the employee without offering any additional compensation.

What is the difference in service between ordering a bottle of Petrus for $2,000 or a bottle of house wine for $20? You get the same service but the 15% gratuity is 100 times more on the expensive bottle....just food for thought....

Interesting observation, but you are looking at the issue from only one side of the coin...

Let's say that we have two passengers (Guest A and Guest B) each with a wine budget of $2,300 which they will spend in full (to keep it equal).

Guest A orders the Petrus and his bill is $2,000 plus 15% tip of $300 which blows his budget. The cruise worker must open 1 bottle and serve it to receive the $300 gratuity on the $2,000 in sales.

Guest B...on the other hand...orders house wine that runs $20 per bottle. So each bottle costs Guest B $20 plus the 15% tip of $3 for a total of $23. Guest B can order 100 bottles of house wine to consume his wine budget. The cruise worker must open 100 bottles and serve them to receive the $300 gratuity on the $2,000 in sales.

As you can see...the sales are the same, the gratuity received is the same, yet the Guest who orders the lower cost items is causing the cruise worker to have to perform a much greater quantity of work in order to receive the exact same gratuity amount.

All I was saying is that if NCL has to charge it as anything other than tip it is considered income which is taxed. I was just joking.

Yes, I realized that. However, no matter how it is charged, if everyone's net income stays the same, then so does the tax amount since you don't pay taxes on the gross amount.

And FWIW...it is usually easier to ensure that an attempt at humor is seen as such if you follow it with either the ;) smilie or the letters 'jk'.

The cruise line would probably raise it to $1.22 to cover taxes on the income instead of tip.

There would be no increase.

At a price of $1 plus $0.15 tip, NCL keeps $1 and the employee gets $0.15

At a price of $1.15 with no tip, NCL keeps $1 and the employee gets $0.15

The out of pocket for the consumer is the same.

The employee gets the same.

In the end, NCL gets the same as the increase in gross income is offset by the increase in wages paid...therefore the tax liability does not change.

Would you not be happier paying a few dollars more knowing an equitable wage was being paid?

This is a loaded question that presumes facts not in evidence...

What is the definition of an "equitable wage" and who makes that determination?

Is the equitable wage based on the standards of the country where the cruise line operates?

Is the equitable wage based on the standards of the country where the cruise passenger resides?

Is the equitable wage based on the standards of the country where the cruise worker resides?

What is "equitable" could change very much depending on how the questions above are answered.

For example, a person in job "x" may make $25/hr on average in the United States.

The cruise line could hire a person to do job "x" and pay them $7/hr on average.

A United States citizen would think that the person working for the cruise line was grossly underpaid since they base their opinion on US standards.

However....

In the 3rd world country where the cruise line worker resides, the average wage for a person performing job "x" is just $2 per hour (if there is work available).

So, if you lived in the 3rd world country where your profession paid $2 per hour and the cruise line paid $7, would you think taking that job would mean you were grossly underpaid?

We'll meet for a drink on the Sun and gladly pay the 15%:). But I think the price of each drink would actually raise higher than 15%. If you go up to one of the bars and order a drink and you are the only one that orders a drink that shift the bartender gets the 15% gratuity. Without the auto-grat NCL would still have to pay the bartender's wage for working a shift in the bar with no customers, so they would have to increase prices to account for the "dead" times.

 

I know its a very simplified example.

Yeah right...since you're a Navy vet (assumption based on the haze grey comment in your sig), I'll buy your drink! :D

I would like to disagree with you, but sadly its a point well made that NCL could still screw its staff.:( But would you look at NCL in the same way if you found out it had increased its prices but stiffed its staff.

You are going off on a tangent with this. Your question PRESUMES that somehow NCL is screwing its staff when there is NO EVIDENCE what-so-ever on exactly what these people are paid...only assumptions and heresay.

Let's just stick to the "should there be an auto-gratuity topic".

It woud benefit the person that bought drinks, if tipping was not allowed and salaries were increased (to that of being tipped) than that cost would be distributed over all cruise passengers whether they ordered a drink or not. So this policy of no tipping would help the person who ordered drinks, it would be a detriment to those that dont drink.

How do you figure?

The price of the drinks would simply be raised 15% to cover the lost tips. The consumer would still pay the same amount they paid before. NOT an increased amount.

Since the price of drinks would be raised, ONLY the guest purchasing drinks would be paying the increase. NOT all passengers.

This "no tipping" policy would help no one. $1.15 for an item or $1 plus $0.15 for the item is still the SAME THING.

In the world of mathematics, this is known as "=" :rolleyes:

You are indeed right.

 

But yes its worth it. It could mean staff getting a fair wage, who can complain about that. And remember its not just US citizens cruising, many are now cruising from non tipping countries like the UK. Whilst i am positive some from the UK will post and disagree i would equally imagine many will have the same feelings as me regarding this.

I completely disagree. In either case the price of the item that the consumer must pay is the same $1.15.

In both cases the employee gets the same wage.

You have shown NOTHING that would make the entire change beneficial to anyone.

You are making a big to-do about nothing. Let me explain why.

For the purposes of this example, we consider an item priced at $1. With the 15% tip that would come to $1.15.

You advocate removing the auto-tip. Fine. As a result of the removal, the cruise line raises the price to $1.15.

You pay the same price either way.

So....

You can either pay $1.15 for the item or you can pay $1 plus $0.15. Either way you pay the same.

Is it really worth all the hub-bub in the end?

Can you get the Moderno salad bar at Cagney's?

The salad bar is NOT included in the price of or menu of Cagney's...it is strictly a part of the Moderno Restaurant.

That said...It is the unofficial policy in Cagney's to allow guests who ask to use the Moderno salad bar.

For those who love Moderno...

News is that NCL will be rolling this restaurant out to the rest of the fleet in the future. Speculation is that it will take the place of the Tex-Mex restaurants.

Additionally, another dining option is about to be released. For those who love Moderno's salad bar...it will soon be available as a dining option all on its own.

I am not talking about a kid !! my lad will be 18 his sister 15, they want to spend time together, but my son cant go in the teen club and my daughter cant go in the Adult areas - are there any discos etc they can go together ?

Splitting hairs is never productive....

"Kids" in this context refers to children traveling with their parents.

You've stated the simple solution...Your adult child cannot go into areas that are restricted to minor children only. Your minor child cannot go into areas that are restricted to adults only. So take either of the obvious solutions:

1) They spend time together in areas that are not age restrictive

or

2) They spend time together in the company of their parents (NCL allows access to areas to children WITH their parents than they do to children WITHOUT their parents present)

Enjoy your vacation time with your family!

It is amazing how much things have changed. When I was a kid, a family vacation meant spending vacation time WITH my family.

It would have sucked to have gone somewhere with Mom & Dad only to have been shuttled off to Day Care (ie Kids Club) so my parents could enjoy themselves without us.

I'll bet that if NCL didn't force parents to take the kids to dinner that some would leave them in the kids club 24/7.

This came out today...

 

NCL is offering Studio Cabins on the Norwegian Epic for sailings in Sept, Oct, and Nov 2010 for just 362 per week.

 

If you go to NCL's website and price the cruise through the booking engine, the reduced pricing comes up when you get to the "select a cabin" page.

I should have said yesterday...the pricing mentioned above is for solo travelers....the pricing listed in the booking engine will come up higher until you enter the "select a cabin" page...then you will see the reduced pricing.

I had booked this sailing earlier because it had a 150% single supplement it was priced at 974. I almost fell over when NCL called yesterday to tell me that there was a price drop of over 600!

Fantastic deal...

This came out today...

NCL is offering Studio Cabins on the Norwegian Epic for sailings in Sept, Oct, and Nov 2010 for just 362 per week.

If you go to NCL's website and price the cruise through the booking engine, the reduced pricing comes up when you get to the "select a cabin" page.

Our details state the following:

 

Stateroom: 9579 Category: N

Two lower beds.

 

Not category JJ! I would really like to know for sure. Should I just call NCL directly?

Did you book with NCL directly?

If so, call them.

BTW...Your cabin changed. It was 9575, now it is 9579.