K32682

Are they lying about being sick or just not running to be tested at the first sign of a cough or sniffle? It's not hard to see people avoiding tests if they are not seriously ill and know a positive result means immediate incarceration in an inside cabin for the remainder of the cruise and potentially further restrictions when disembark.

Go for it. The odds you'll have decent weather are still in your favour although not as good as other times of the year. If your luck doesn't hold then enjoy the ride. Heavy weather on a cruise is an experience everyone should have at least once.🙂

The ports of call are the only reason we cruise. Cruising is our preferred option for remote locations that are hard to get to and/or lack modern tourist infrastructure. In between ports we tolerate the tedium and occasional silliness of life onboard ship.

Furthest distance to embarkation for us was Toronto to Papeete.

Inform guest services that you will not be returning that day and will meet up with them at the next port. I wouldn't automatically rule out skipping a night because of general fears of a missed port. I would keep an eye on the weather and if the forecast looked doubtful cancel my plans.

Many cruise lines "suggest" better apparel on their "formal nights." Princess for example https://www.princess.com/learn/faq/pre-cruise/what-to-pack-for-a-cruise/ "Formal When formal nights are held, please observe the dress code in the dining venues for the enjoyment of all our guests. Evening attire or cocktail dresses for women Tuxedos, dinner jackets or dark suits with a tie for men"

The line is drawn wherever the cruise line operators decide to draw it. Your examples would be overdressing on a nudist cruise. The issue isn't that there is a dress code but that formal dress is, on most lines, a request but not a requirement. There may be some merit in those who wish a formal party of their own to hive off to another venue, perhaps one of the specialty restaurants, leaving the MDR to the majority of passengers who prefer not to drag formal wear along for one or two nights on a cruise.

Definitions vary https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/facilitating-payment.asp "In general, a facilitating payment is made to smooth the progress of a service to which the payer is legally entitled, even without making such a payment. In some countries, these payments are considered normal, whereas in other countries, facilitating payments are prohibited by law and considered bribes." In any event these transactions are legally restricted by some countries only when the payments are made to public officials not to stewards and bartenders on cruise ships.

Not always but often enough that it is worth considering and not only on cruises. I tip well at restaurants I dine at regularly and definitely get preferred service. It is not a bribe. A bribe is money paid to someone to do something they wouldn't otherwise normally do. Paying money for improved or faster service is a facilitation payment. It is no different than paying more for a faster passport, preferred seating or faster entry to an event or attraction.

I always pre-pay tips. It relieves me from wondering whether I need to tip and by how much. Additionally, I will tip in cash to a crew member who I feel has gone above and beyond the minimum service level. I've also found that tipping in cash in the early days can serve as an incentive for a crew member to provide better service to you for the remainder of the cruise.

Every cruise I've been on has had a "formal night" of some description where the passengers are encouraged to dress up. Certainly over the years the standards have been relaxed as cruise ships wisely conclude that a majority of passengers had no desire to recreate their high school prom. The enemy isn't the cruise lines but the few remaining passengers who express the fervent desire for a return to the "glory days" when cruise ships denied entrance to anyone not wearing a suit and tie for dinner and who heap disapproval on those who feel otherwise.

Her position is quite clear. There are "far more slobs among those who do not dress up." Should you not be dressed to the nines on "formal night" there is, in her view, a greater likelihood that you are a slob. Another view is there are far more more judgmental and insufferable snobs among those who dress for dinner especially if they prefer the cruise line banish people from the MDR if they do not wear suits and ties or formal wear on fancy pants night.

This is a variation of the "if you don't want to dress up then eat in the buffet" mentality. Passengers being banished to the further reaches of the dining room or ordered to some alternate venue to appease a few pretentious passengers who want to preen in their fancy duds is not going to happen.

I did a 7-day Alaska cruise on Princess with a carry-on shoulder bag with a similar capacity to a medium-sized backpack. No problem. Formal nights weren't an issue. Princess is not that strict and they had no issues with a collared shirt, cargo pants and hiking boots on fancy pants night.

I agree for the most part however am not prepared to self-exile to the buffet simply to appease the sartorially resplendent who would look askance at anyone who did meet their expected standards of MDR elegance. If the people in charge of the dining room don't mind the people who are eating there shouldn't either.