bluegirlum

Ok, I've been on over 10 cruises, and I just had this thought---can I ask for another ice bucket for the cabin? Or are we strictly limited to one?

I know that on Majesty, there were times when some drinks were greyed out, and then they closed down the machines for a bit to "refill" them. Maybe they just need to be refilled from the previous day? Hopefully.

You should have tipped your cabin steward with a a big box of chocolates and a tshirt from your hometown instead. :D

I don't either. It's none of my business what someone else gets paid.

 

The gratuity amount which is added to your account or charged to you for pre-paid tips is $12.00 per passenger, per day in the cabin (more for a full suite). You are looking at $144.00 for each passenger in your party.

I think OP wanted to know so that he knew how much he should give the steward, not because he actually cares how much they get paid. It's hard to know what to tip precisely because we don't know what they get paid...at least before when they gave us a breakdown, we had an idea of what was considered appropriate to give each person.

59...3 points ahead of my ex BF who got me hooked on cruising (we're still friends). I talked him out of doing a solo cruise in July so he wouldn't get ahead of me! :eek: I want to be the first to Diamond.

I believe that if you have OBC and want to use that towards gratuities, you can't use it if you pre-pay. (I'll be corrected if I'm wrong).

I've been on Majesty 5 times, so I guess I'm ok with the same ports. :D Coco Cay is my favorite port. I actually could do without Nassau, but if I cruise by myself, I'm fine stopping there, because I know the lay of the land, feel totally safe walking around, then can get back on the ship and hang out at the empty pool on the ship the rest of the day.

KW and GC are my 2 favorite ports. I'll be on Brilliance stopping at KW in a few weeks. If you want a beach, then definitely GC. You can just hop on a bus (minivan) and go to 7 mile beach. We chose KW so we can just walk around and go to the bars. Have fun whichever you choose!

Thank you all. We are going to pack a suit. We like dressing up but didn't want to look over dressed. Cruise review in a just over a weeks time!!!

Always better to be overdressed!! :)

IIRC, you will get your winnings via "ticket" instead of cash on the slots on Oasis. Then you take that to the cashier and get cash. Also, make sure to put your seapass card in the machine to get "points." You'll get great things like a keychain and a t-shirt :)

We also saw everything on formal night on Oasis--Hawaiian shirts, suits, tuxes, men in kilts, military attire. I was raised to dress for the "occasion" (I still dress up to fly), so if I go to formal night in the MDR/specialty restaurant, I wear a dress and BF will wear a suit, but I don't care what others wear. I personally would wear sweatpants all day everyday if I could, but I realize that's not always appropriate. :)

Formal night was on our first sea day, so day 3.

Great. Thanks!

Forgive me if I missed the answer, but did anyone say which night formal night is?

Also consider for every one of us who is comfortable with tips increasing, there is a "gratuity remover" on board that we have to make up for so it evens out in the long run. 😕

 

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What evens out? It's not even if someone is too cheap to pay tips and I pay them.

Just curious why an extra $1.47 a day matters? So many post have said that the bar staff feel they get less money overall because of the unlimited packages. I would tend to agree. Also, how many people already state they add an extra tip per drink. Most cases, they tip around 30%.

 

Honestly, the staff can keep the extra 1.47 per day in tips. Just stop asking me to sign a slip of paper only to toss out. (Yes, the slips w/o a extra tip added or not kept).

For me with something like this, it's that they increase the tip/do something else without telling us first. If you receive a message from them saying "Hey, we're increasing gratuities to 18% starting Feb. 1" then you're prepared for it when you go in to purchase the drink package that you were expecting to only pay 15% for because that's what you read here/on the RC website. $1.47/day isn't much, but I think if they do this for a lot of things and you aren't expecting it, then you might have made other decisions because then it could become $15/day or something. To me it's more of a communication issue.

I like to look at the Compasses in advance--just to see when certain specific things are so I can remember to look for them when I'm on board--and it gets me excited for the trip. Also, my BF is coming on this cruise with me and he's never been on a cruise. Seeing a compass was really helpful to him so he could see what kinds of things there are to do on the ship. The only thing we have booked is an excursion in port. Other than that, we're just winging it.

Went to Papitos last week..found it great! We did the all inclusive with transportation added on. We walked about three blocks from pier and greeted by man..gave us entry bands to park and for Papitos and got our taxi...took about 35 min to get there. there was NO time limit..except ships de barking time as far as time spent. Not I pressed with lighthouse or ruins so glad we did not choose that option. NOT crowded at all..only about 25 people there with five ships in port. We had MANY drinks each..bar tenders very attentive. DELICIOUS guacamole and chips,tacos, quesadillas..MORE guacamole. The weather had been stormy so ocean stirred up so not good for snorkeling. I had a massage..amazing..but a little SPENDY dor Mexico..$50 for 30 min!

 

When we were thinking about leaving we told mgr..he ordered taxi..they drove us back to lighthouse area and our taxi was waiting..only about 20-25 min baxk to Port. If u add up food and drink..it was Prob SPENDY but when considering ships drink prices..not bad. I would do it again...wish ship got in earlier!

Thanks for letting us know. You said you weren't impressed by the lighthouse---what exactly is there to do at the lighthouse? Why would people go there? (I'm trying to figure out if it's worth our time).

Ummm, it actually did. 😊 in any event, I've apparently saved the OP $30... 👍

 

 

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My response was in no way meant to make fun of you or the picture either. As someone else said, it was really helpful. I'm glad that you liked it--that's all that matters really. Thank you for posting the picture!

What the H*LL did they do to that "lobster"? The only way to eat lobster is steamed with drawn butter. As a youth I pulled many a "sea cocker roach" and believe that isn't a Maine lobster.......or one born with no claws...... You can go on-line today and get a whole clam bake with fresh lobster over -nighted to your home for not much more per person than the $29.00 / person. Good luck and I would at least think it is better than that dreadful "warm water" lobster they serve now.;)

Yeah...I was thinking of splurging to get the lobster on my upcoming cruise, but that picture has made me decide otherwise.

I have never experienced that. Especially if you are using the freestyle machine. There is no one to look at your card.

Right. If there's a freestyle machine, the cup will have a chip on the bottom. Only those cups with the special chip will work. I doubt they are selling those at the end of the cruise.

What about the Mayan ruins--I believe Tulum is nearby. You might want to book in advance or at least know what you want, but I bet you can probably get something when you get off the ship. (I'm a planner so the thought of that makes me very nervous!! :eek: ).

The "cup" is never questioned...Until the second to last day and the last day of each cruise.

 

That is because they sell those souvenir "cups" at all venues for take home on the last two days. Therefore, on those last two days you MUST show your card indicating the beverage plan and they will run the card for even a simple Coke on those last two days. Funny how your picture comes up...

Really? When did that start? I didn't know they sold them at the end of the cruise.

I've only docked at Mallory Square and will be docking at Outer Mole in March. I assume it's pretty clear on where to catch the tram/trolley each way? How much time should you allow to get from the tram pick up back to the ship?

Well, if I'm going to complain, I have to come back and say good things when I get a proper resolution. I talked to a really nice guy at reservations and he was able to get it all straightened out for me. He was really, really nice and I very much appreciate his help. If I had my way, I'd do everything in my life via email/online, but this time actually talking to someone made the difference. :)

I emailed RCI last week to see if it was possible to change to MTD on my upcoming cruise. I just wanted to know if it was possible--I didn't necessarily want to do it.

They emailed me back on Saturday and said I had to call them in order to make the change.

I emailed them back and said I wanted to keep my original 6pm MDR time.

I received an email this morning saying I had been changed to MTD and I owed the gratuities asap! What??? The other email said I had to call to make the change, but they went ahead and made the change for me?

I called to fix the mistake and they said that they already made the change, and that if I want the 6pm seating, I have to get on the waitlist.

I realize this isn't the end of the world, but why tell me I have to call to change it if they're going to change it on their own? I had had such great service up to this point.