MadManOfBethesda

Perfect. :)

I saw you are from Ontario and you spell 'cheques' that way vs. checks, the way we do in U.S. so I thought it possible you were using Canadian cheques. Of course, you would have been able to cash them, as well.

 

 

Have a great cruise.

 

FWIW, American Express has always spelled it cheques.

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/content/prepaid/travelers-cheques.html

We heard a rumour that HAL keeps 35% of the prepaid gratuities - staff only receive 65%! This came from a passenger who claims to have been told this on the ship. Does anyone have any information on this? Is this one of those "secrets" passengers never hear? And does this happen on other lines? Just wondering!

Anita

Anita, do you want to know how rumors with absolutely no basis in fact get started? Here's a perfect example:

My understanding is that any gratiuty passengers given to cabin stewards or hotel dining staff (over and above the auto Hotel & Dining Charge), is shared with other crew members. I have nothing to offer as proof of this, but from my observation it makes sense: for example, cabin stewards rely on their support teams, such as laundry service to deliver linens, and someone to cover their cabins when they are off-duty. Again, just from my observation, but when I give an envelope to a cabin steward or my dining room server, I have a sense that he or she is sharing it with others on the team (and that is also based on other staff members thanking me in acknowlegment - this has happened on both Cunard and Princess ships)

And there you go. A passenger has "a sense" about how something ought to work, makes a statement that it is "her understanding" that that's the way it is, and then....voila!...you have a "rumor" on how tips are dispersed on ships.

Friends don't let friends listen to rumors spread by passengers on cruise ships.

This has been a public service announcement.

I wonder if this will be stated in the contract of passage?

That authority has always been there:

6. Authority to Remove Passengers: We may reasonably determine that for your safety, the safety of the Ship or other means of transportation or the safety or comfort of other passengers or our employees, you be denied transportation either before or during the Cruise, Cruisetour or HAL Land Trip. By way of example, these would include situations where: (a) you are or become in such condition as to be unfit to travel or dangerous or obnoxious to other passengers or employees; (b) you are inadmissible under the immigration or other laws of any country included in the Cruise, Cruisetour or HAL Land Trip itinerary or fail at any time to possess required travel documents; or © you fail to abide by the rules or orders of the Master or other ship's officers. If transportation is denied after departure, you and your baggage may be landed or transported to any port or location that we select, without any resulting liability on our part.

http://book.hollandamerica.com/view/policies/cruise.jsp

We are leaving Rome the Equinox, November 28th. coming back to Ft. Lauderdale.I hope all of the rough weather is gone by the time we get to Europe. Not sure I want to have this experience.

 

We have done several fall / winter crossings and never had bad weather. Counting on our luck holding out this year!!

My wife and I are on that cruise as well. However, we also just returned home from a transatlantic crossing on RCL's Voyage of the Seas that departed Barcelona on October 30th. As our last port of call, we were supposed to go to Ponta Delgado in the Azores, but because of the storm in the atlantic (most likely the same one in the video), our captain decided to sail south from Cadiz to the Canary Islands instead and then take a more southerly route. After viewing that video, I'm damn glad he did, lol!

No. You would have to be on a Carnival Ship to do that.

or NCL

Or Princess...

Or Holland America....

Or Celebrity....

Or....

Should I go on?

June 1983.

Our cabin and bathroom were "normal," but our friends had one of those bathrooms with the shower head in the center of the ceiling which got everything soaked when turned on.

The Mardi Gras was my first Carnival cruise, but my 2nd overall. First cruise was on Commodore Cruise Line's M.S. Caribe.

Hey, great thread!

And five pages into it, I get to be the first person to mention Commodore Cruise Lines and the M.S. Caribe (not to be confused with the later Caribe I), as my first cruise in 1980.

It was the only cruise I've been on where the ship had it's own theme song, although all I can remember is the first two lines:

M.S. Caribe.......

The Happy Ship.....

I remember the CD & staff singing it during the week, but I don't remember any more than that. Although, now I can't get the little sing-song melody out of my head, lol.

As I recall, we sailed r/t from Miami to Freeport, St. Thomas, San Juan, and Puerto Plata.

Scott

Hey, great thread!

And five pages into it, I get to be the first person to mention Commodore Cruise Lines and the M.S. Caribe (not to be confused with the later Caribe I), as my first cruise in 1980.

It was the only cruise I've been on where the ship had it's own theme song, although all I can remember is the first two lines:

M.S. Caribe.......

The Happy Ship.....

I remember the CD & staff singing it during the week, but I don't remember any more than that. Although, now I can't get the little sing-song melody out of my head, lol.

As I recall, we sailed r/t from Miami to Freeport, St. Thomas, San Juan, and Puerto Plata.

Scott