sparks1093

Just saw a rum menu in the thread what types of rums are onboard and Bacardi Gran Reserva Limitada is $21, as one example.

That's the thing, when pools are tipped (and I believe that the cruise lines do pool the tips, even Carnival) you really don't have any say about who gets your money. As you say, you know who you handed the gratuity to, but the person you feel undeserving of gratuities still get their share. As pointed out, the folks who receive a share make it possible for the others to provide the excellent service that you receive. (Just playing devil's advocate to your devil's advocate 🙂.)

I think you are confusing the two, it has been $20 for some time now. It was, at one point, something like $50(?) as I recall, but I am also in the "old" category and my memory might also be playing tricks.

I think this is the likely outcome, you won't be able to check them in so they will be put down as no shows.

One of our sons is in college and will be missing some of his classes for our cruise in April. His art professor told him that if he visits an art gallery on the cruise, takes pictures and sends them to him he will mark him as present for his class. So, are there any art galleries close to the port in Montego Bay?

I wasn't aware that there were reports on waste disposal, but if there are they are likely done aboard the ships and not by corporate and not by trained accountants and lawyers.

I don't see what that has to do with financial reports that are routinely audited. I don't know about anyone else, but if I seriously thought that a company was stiffing its tipped employees I wouldn't do business with them.

Excellent outcome and you are so right.

Or we just focus on our own actions and just ignore them, since we can't control what they do. (We could use peer pressure to try to influence them but I don't think we're allowed to do that any more, it would be called virtue shaming or some such.)

That's one of the drawbacks of working for tips, there will be people who won't tip. I don't know how it works out for delivery drivers but I know for hospitality workers it generally averages out for them, probably because tipping is so ingrained in our society and most people comply. I would suspect that a lot of people don't even know how delivery drivers are paid and probably just assume they are salaried.

Actually, if Carnival were pocketing any of it they would need to disclose that on their financial statements.

I believe it's possible, if not likely, that they know if you didn't prepay your gratuities (I think a list is published but I'm not sure). They also know if you remove them because they supervisors will be questioning them to find out why their customer thought the service was so bad that they had to remove the gratuities.

I don't drink enough to have a hangover regardless of what brand I'm drinking. 🙂

There is a definition for binge drinking- 5 drinks in a 2-3 hour period for a male, 4 drinks in a 2-3 hour period for a female. Drinking at this rate will inebriate (BAC .08 or higher) most people. Drinking 1 drink per hour is considered "safe" in that a normal persons BAC won't be raised above .08. I normally wake up at 6 a.m. even on vacation, but on vacation I'm likely to go to bed between 11 and 12 midnight. That's 17 to 18 hours. If I started drinking when I woke up (spiked coffee) and had one drink per hour throughout the day I could easily consume 15 on a sea day and not be inebriated. I don't do this, even with Cheers, but it does shows that it can be done. Heavy drinking on the other hand is defined as 15 or more drinks in a week for a male, 8 or more per week for a female. I think a lot of people do heavy drinking on vacation. I know that I drink much more on vacation than I do at home. I have seen inebriated people on a cruise, but I wonder how they accomplish that given the weak pours everyone complains about and the slow bar service. 😉

Some companies might actually do that, or at least I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that they do. As you aptly pointed out though this is a silly rule that has no real purpose.

The thing to remember is that security is not affiliated with Carnival. They might be responding to feedback from the cruise line, but it's also possible they are being overzealous with enforcing the rules.

And remember also this is per person in a family group (over 21 for alcohol). We've brought back 4 without issue. Since the duty is charged for the excess and on the sale price most CBP officers won't bother with it since it's not a large amount of duty.

Did you book an Early Saver fare? That allows you to apply for price drops up until 2 days prior to sailing. Give Carnival a call and ask if they will adjust your fare, even if you didn't. The worst case scenario is you don't get an adjustment, but you still get a cruise.

Yes, but if you have Cheers this is one of the perks- drinking the top of the shelf stuff. My palate does not, unfortunately, appreciate the difference between rotgut and high end but that doesn't keep me from ordering the expensive stuff when I am able. 🙂

It may just be me, but if my TA couldn't answer such a basic question as this I'd be looking for a different TA.

There are really two questions- do you legally need a passport for the cruise in question, followed by is it prudent for you to travel without a passport. If it is a closed loop cruise, leaving from and returning to the same US port and traveling within the area covered by the WHTI then most US citizens can cruise with a government issued birth certificate and government issued photo ID, unless the cruise line they are sailing with requires more. Whether it is prudent or not depends on a lot of factors that impact one's risk of needing to return in the middle of the cruise and this includes such things as the traveler's health, whether or not there is something or someone back home that they would need to get to quickly should something go wrong, etc. Also a factor is how often one will be able to travel both by cruise and international air. Sure, it opens up the possibility of traveling by international air, but if one can't do that for whatever reason (lack of money, lack of time, etc.) then it isn't a consideration. For the vast majority of travelers traveling without a passport on a closed loop cruise is a low risk endeavor. The regulations do contain provisions for waiving the passport requirement for emergencies and for humanitarian reasons. Your cruise line should have a FAQ that describes what documentation is required and Royal Caribbean says this: For sailings departing from U.S. homeports, an official US state-issued Birth Certificate is also accepted. Guests age 16 and older that present an official US state-issued Birth Certificate will also need to provide a valid Driver’s License or picture ID issued by the government.

When we went on Norwegian with our oldest son they allowed parents to sign a form to allow 18/19/20 yo's to purchase beer and wine. He had just turned 18 so we signed the form. He liked neither, which was fine with me since he would be departing for college later in the year. Found out he does like whiskey, so go figure.

All of this tech talk reminded me of a story I read once. A High School football coach needed someone to keep the score sheet for him and a young lady volunteered. He was showing her how to fill out the form and showed her how to use carbon paper. She exclaimed, "This is neat! This will make copiers obsolete!"

Yes, letting folks know about potential niggles is one of the benefits of Cruise Critic and that's why I asked the question, and I thank you for the information. An Alaska cruise is on our radar at some point, just not sure when.

I think you have to use your Sail and Sign card on the private islands. (You can even use your sail and sign at some of the straw markets on the private islands.)