buckeyefrank

As long as anyone I'm interacting with treats me with respect, I'm fine. I have no need to be "recognized" by the staff. The tipping culture in this country is just getting out of control.

it could be two different ships on either side of a dock.

It's not entitled at all. I am by all accounts a very nice guy and I treat everyone very well, including bartenders, servers, housekeeping, etc. I don't look down on anyone for what they do. However, I don't feel the need to bribe another person to do a job they agreed to do for a price they agreed upon. I also don't feel the need to make friends with every worker I run across. Let's be honest.... most people on here espousing tipping additional amounts, are only doing it to make themselves feel better and to gain benefits like faster service or longer pours. It is not an altriustic gesture. it sounds more entitled to me to be flashing money around to gain favors over other passengers.

My wife has very similar episodes as you do. She has a growth of fat cells in an unoperatable location in her brain. It causes her to have minor seizures daily right when she falls asleep. In no way is this stopping us from traveling and it shouldn't stop you guys either. By the way, welcome to the BIG 10 and Go Bucks!!

Am I the only one who doesn't really care what the bartender thinks of me? I generally don't tip extra, but I think the standard tip which ends up being about $2 a drink is more than enough.

You were not communicating to scammers... you were talking to Carnival the whole time. There is likely a virus on your computer or phone that allowed a scammer to obtain your booking # and name. That would be enough to allow them to call Carnival and change the address that the check was being mailed to. The original check was most likely not deposited before Carnival was able to place a stop payment on it. They will generally wipe out the name from the check and enter a new name (probably an unknowing mule) who can deposit it into their account and then forward those funds to the scammer. If the check would have already been deposited, it would have taken a considerably longer amount of time to fix.

The buffet may be lacking on Carnival... it actually is on almost every line due to inflation over the last 2 years.... but MSC's buffet is horrific.

There's no way it took 2 hours to get out of customs with a BC and DL. Did he not have a valid DL? There had to be something else going on that was flagged for him to be stopped for 2 hours. At least one person in our traveling party each cruise (10 of them) has had a BC / DL and nobody was stopped for more than a minute to have a question or two asked and to verify the picture matches the face.

We have about $700 of FCC that we received from a cancel for any reason insurance claim for a cruise we couldn't go on due to family medical issues. The FCC expires at the end of September and we were going to use it on the Icon OTS we have booked in September. Unfortunately, we will not be able to go on that one either but we are looking to try again in February. I do not want to lose the $700 if at all possible. If I call RCL, will they extend the sail by date on the FCC? If not, if we apply that to the Icon balance and then cancel, will they issue a new FCC for that amount with a new sail by date? TIA

They're doing this exact scam to businesses by sending letters saying their address has changed. They get the check and they change the payer, hoping that the positive pay system doesn't have name matching.

I can tell you exactly what happened. Both Carnival and you were scammed. A scammer intercepted the email from Carnival, most likely from a virus on your phone or personal computer that was previously placed. When you received the email from Carnival, the scammer was able to see the email and he had all the info he needed. He then called Carnival and pretended to be you. He had your booking # and name so Carnival CS wouldn't have thought anything was amiss. He read from the letter that you would be receiving a refund, so he told the Carnival rep to send the check to a different address, where he could access it. This is a type of scam called spear phishing. Carnival was a victim of this scam as well, but they are not really to blame since the scammer had your info.

Good evening all. We are looking to book a back to back for next summer and we have never done one. For those who have done a b2b on Carnival, what is the turnover process? I've heard on RCL that b2b peeps are the last to get off, go to the desk to settle the account, then get right back on. Is carnival similar?

Civil unrest?? They effectively don't have a government and drug lords are fighting for control.

I wouldn't be so confident about that... Haiti has been a dumpster fire ever since their earthquake they never recovered from... Now 4000 violent criminals are walking the streets with effectively no government and 4 different war lords fighting for control... Not sure it gets under control anytime soon.

If you wait here in the US long enough, everything will be claimed to be racist. SMH

I think a vastly underrated benefit of drink package is the fact that you don't have to keep track of the amount spent during the cruise. I usually select it, if I think it's going to be relatively close break-even wise. We may not come out ahead on a dollar basis, but I don't have to think about the amount I've spent and can more easily relax on vacation. Additionally it gives you the freedom to try different drinks that you wouldn't if you didn't have the plan. If you don't like it, don't drink it.

Yawn. Lol

That's what we're hoping for :). Honestly though we just want a room on the ship at this point.

That's why we're a little concerned about the email but they are still selling rooms on our sailing, so I wouldn't think they would be overbooked already.... but then again, we did book very early and are paying less than half of the current rate. I guess they could be telling the truth, they could need the cabin for some type of group cruise that was booked... or they're overbooked or had some booking snafu. Guess I'll find out shortly.

I'll try to find a few, but mostly on the wonder and thinking back it probably started in May 22. It was before they started soliciting volunteers.

I am a CPA and can tell you that 100% of the tips... service charges... whatever a line calls them goes into employee only programs. You may or may not like how it's spent, but it all goes to the employees.

Doing business in the USA and listed on the NYSE. The SEC requires a financial audit every year from them and Carnival, and NCL.... That doesn't include the audits from other jurisdictions that are required, which may or may not be piggy backed off the US audit. It doesn't matter the jurisdiction, they are required to have an audit and tips are absolutely looked at.

They're a US corporation subject to US GAAP international accounting rules based on the fact that they are a publicly traded company and on the NYSE. The external auditors review the procedures and workflows, perform testing on the controls around those processes and perform testing on some of the actual activity conducted during the year. The auditors would be testing specifically for any items recorded in income that shouldn't be there.... like swindled tips.

It 100% does

I see it completely differently. RCL is offering a vacation experience on whatever vessel is being booked. That includes a certain level of service for dining, room service, entertainment, etc. Part of the cost of the cruise includes the daily tip, which I see as no different from the base rate. What RCL does with and what RCL pays their employees is none of my concern. No different than going to a restaurant. I know the expected percentage to tip and don't care how the server splits that with the back side of the house.