spencerdrivecruiser

I do not agree with the mandatory reporting.  When similar items are purchased off the ship there is no reporting.  I like a level playing field.  Through the years cruising I have befriended high end watch buyers and I doubt they have ever declared them to customs.  Buying on the ship leaves the cruiser no choice but to declare.  I am not a fan of Big Brother.

Then there are the b2b cruisers who park  their vehicle in the Terminal lots and when the ship is cleared and the Customs Personnel vacate the terminal, they walk off the ship with backpacks filled with cigarettes and expensive jewelry purchased in the Islands and unload into their trunks. Then use their transit pass to reboard. It happens very frequently and customs, although aware of this still has no presence once the ship is cleared of debarking cruisers.  This also bothers me big time.

If you are purchasing an expensive item on the ship, eg, a refurbished Rolex for $8500, the shops will circumvent this reporting rule.  If you use your personal charge card and NOT place on the shipboard card, US Customs will not be notified.  They get their info from X based on charges to your Ship Card.

Best advice is to buy off the ship from a non recommended store.  They will let you take the purchased item with you and mail the box to your address from the USA once someone From the store travels to Miami to buy merchandise.
 

The shops will tell you that anything above the customs limit will be reported to US Customs by Celebrity.  That is a point of contention with me.

Forget about the holiday feeling.  The stuffing (dressing) tastes like hot white bread spiced up, very small scoop.  Lots of rubbery dark meat with a watered gravy.  Small cube chunks of sweet potatoes that were crunchy.  Huge let down.  If it were more authentic the cruise would be sold as a Thanksgiving Cruise and be 20% more.

After cruising for a few years and observing how hard the crew works,  7 days a week, 10-12 hours a day,  I made a mental note that if I ever had a private company in the USA, I d hire anyone who has worked several years on a cruise ship.  

They all so atypical vs the typical land worker.  Imagine, no weekends off, no accrued sick days and almost the life of an indentured servant.  Very sad when you think of it.  I consider my additional over the standard tips as charity since the money will likely be sent home for the family food, the children's schooling, medical, etc. It is charity in its purest form without any middleman.

1 hour ago, Terre said:

But if their job performance is falling short, shouldn't their supervisor know?  In other jobs you are warned and eventually let go if you don't perform.  I do take into account that the kitchen may be the origin of slow service, or that large table with many demands, but it's easy to tell if the waiter or cabin steward is the problem as well.

We, too, usually speak with the maitre 'd or guest services and things are corrected then.  When this happens my score for the survey also changes for the better.  If people don't know what's wrong they can't correct it.

I am always honest with my comments and scores and if someone or something deserves a six, then that's what you give them.  Why would you work on improving if you do less or subpar work, and continue receiving a ten?

I am on vacation and I am not anyones supervisor that serves me on the ship.  Speaking with the crew member has always solved any problem so there was really no need to take it higher.  They could get into big trouble if the problem is egregious. I dont feel it is my place to play boss on the evaluations/surveys.  If you cruise often it is better to stay on excellent terms with everyone because your assistant waiter today may be the Hotel Director in 10 years, ie, Zafer Cholak, IN Hotel Dir.   And they have long memories.

Each Hotess's stand has a computer and I have seen them checking the reviews from the previous cruises making comments when they saw something negative.  I asked to see mine on a b2b and sure enough, the numbered ratings appeared in addition to all my comments.   It doesn't hurt to give all tens, especially on a b2b because they are humans with feelings and have long memories.  Costs me nothing to be generous with my scoring.

Eric,   When i asked for a larger piece of Prime Rib the Waiter said, Oh you want the American Cut.  He said there is a Queens Cut, English Cut, Kings Cut.   Have really no clue of the differences but I did receive a bigger piece than my wife.

The best meal on the cruise is the first night in the MDR.  Ask for an American Cut on the Prime Rib and it will be amazing.  I wouldn't trade for  Tuscan if it was free.

We really think Jamie and Tangie are (were) top notch Concierges and excellent communicators. 

We have had Edwin for our EC Cruises on 4 occasions and because of his inadequacies, we will not deal with him again.

We have explained things to him, asked him important questions that needed answering and called him back asking why he never responded.  He had no clue about our 10 minute conversation a week before I called back.

It is not worth the frustration dealing with this man.  It is hard to believe he works with the top suite customers on the EC.

If you leave from Vancouver which is considered an American Port for some reason since its so close to the border and go to an American Port and back to Vancouver you must disembark the ship.  Cannot go to a USA Port.  Kind of antiquated but thats the Jones Act.  They are 100% correct.  You can go from Honolulu to Vancouver but not onto Alaska.  Not sure why they dont repeal this Act.

With the governor resigning last night they will probably resume the stop there on the EQ.

Another scam.  We wanted a few miniature Vodkas from the Mini Bar and noticed they looked sealed at the top, were very tight but they tasted like water and in-fact it was water.   I had a very hard time getting anyone to believe that some prior guest drank the mini bar alcohol and replaced in contents with water.

Lesson learned.  The first day I have the Attendent remove all contents in the ice box and store until the end of the cruise.  Amazing what people would do for some free libations.  The little bottles appeared sealed on first glance but they weren't.  I dont like to be in a position of trying to prove something that is almost impossible to prove, its just my word.  Luckily I was not charged.

Have carried an NFCU Debit Card for years using it all over the world.  The surcharges seem minimal and not worth the time to research to save a few $$s.  The nice thing is I can load up the Debit Card online before each transaction.  There is hardly anything on the card when it's dormant so there is no fear if it is stolen or if I inadvertently place it in an illegal scanner at an ATM.  A very versatile card. 

On the S Class Ships there is a night light always on in the bathroom even when the light switch is turned off.  The power is never completely off in the bathroom.

The bathroom outlet works with the light off.  The electric toothbrush is charged fully in the bathroom outlet on S Class ships.

I have one big problem with the S Class RS vs M Class.  When sailing with a parent or a child staying in the living room, you are stuck in the Bedroom with no way to the balcony.  There is no door to open for fresh air in the bedroom of the S Class RS.  Being stuck in the bedroom until the relative wakes up is a bummer.  We would never disturb anyone by walking past them and opening the balcony door during sleeping hours.

Cruising without a living room relative is fine except we like to sleep with the balcony door opened a bit to hear the sounds and breath some fresh oxygenated air.  When you open the drapes in the S Class bedroom you see a very intrusive jacuzzi in front of the window.  The design of the balcony makes me wonder.

On SL and EG they have a Tiffany Boutique.  Tiffany prices are not discounted ANYWHERE so when buying Tiffany on the ship there is zero CD the next day that you paid too much.  Most of the other items will be inflated, ie, especially cough syrup, Advil and other personal needed items, captive audiences.

Capt K is very special.  That doesn't necessarily apply to everyone.

There was some dissension because Kate wanted to work with her husband at Celebrity which of course is verboten.  I had heard through a source that Mr B. will allow it on his ships. He is very innovative and a trend setter.  Let see how this all plays out.  I can’t think of one married couple that would not want to see their spouses on a regular basis.  If they even have the same schedule, 3 months on, 3 months off, that only half a year together.  I doubt that’s do-able for the long run when you are young in your prime.

It is just a matter of time before Kate gives in to Virgin.  Jill Anderson will be the First HD on the ship. Pass the popcorn waiting for the next round of Celebrity Recruits. 

I have never had an Assistant Maitre'd turn down a tip.  They are all there to make money.  Nothing wrong with a nominal gratuity upfront.

We had a room next to Harry Casey a few years back and got friendly with him.  He was there with the band and some friends occupying 6 suites.  A nice guy to talk to with many stories.

(Casey and the Sunshine Band).

On departure day on every X cruise I have been on there have been in room LOUD announcements with luggage tag numbers.  It is extremely annoying for b2b passengers who don’t meet till 9:30. I totally agree with the OP.

Some great F&B Workers currently:

Agung , Blu

Wayne McQueen, Blu

Er-Dall, MaitreD Blu, EG

Ali, SL

Prada, EQ

Anitsa, Blu Maitre d EQ

Jesus, Maitré d, EQ

ARSAPA

15 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

I think this is more for the "convenience" of the waiter.  We didn't have a drink package last time we were in a suite.  We requested tap water in Luminae as we are quite happy with that, but were often served Evian because it was handy.

It shows that there is some flexibility in the beverage rules and I was pleased that the significant other wasn't given ship water, a bit of class on behalf of the Waiter or Asst Waiter.