sparks1093

I know many businesses ashore that even now are short staffed. This isn't something that just affects the cruise lines. The cruise lines can't just go get anyone off the street to fill positions, either. There are visas and background checks that need to be passed and that is in addition to finding someone that wants to earn their living by going to sea in the first place. And if some of the so called cut backs are designed to save money then I see that as sound business practice. Carnival has all of the data that none of us have and they know more precisely how many people are affected by a certain change versus how much they can potentially save by said change. I don't make my decision to cruise with a certain line by what amenities they have, or what late night eating options are available. My decision is made by what it costs to get onboard and anything that can be done to keep that figure low is a good thing.

I think the filling travel bottles directly is a matter of enforcement versus something that is allowed. I've seen people doing that on every cruise and every line we've cruised so far.

I'm certainly no legal expert but as I understand it the PVSA applies to transporting US citizens between US ports, so would it even apply to an Australian citizen?

As many have said there are a lot of options for you to consider. I think that I would like to do a back to back. Many ships will alternate itineraries so you could do the eastern Caribbean on the first leg and then the western on the second. Sometimes the cruises to the southern ports are a bit longer, 9 or 10 days and it might be possible to do a B2B with one of those cruises if they have a 7 day before or after to link to. I would prefer to do a B2B on the same ship and in the same cabin if possible, just for less hassle. As I understand it you disembark, wait a bit and then are let right back on. You certainly have a lot of options and I don't think you can go wrong with any of them.

You can pre-pay them any time 48 hours before the cruise. Go to your cruise manager and add pre-paid gratuities and, if you are within the final payment date window, pay them right then or pay them with the rest of the balance at final payment date.

Or worse with a dodgy cabin they could end up hating the experience and give up cruising as a result. Our first cruise was in a guaranteed inside and fortunately for us it was only a two night cruise to nowhere. We didn't necessarily hate the cabin itself, but we didn't love it. There was a lot on that cruise actually that was "off" for one reason or another and we were told throughout the cruise that cruising is normally better than this. We saw enough potential to think "if this is cruising at it's worst we can't wait to see it at it's best". And of course once it did get better on subsequent cruises we ended up loving it.

They've almost all 1 liter bottles (a few exceptions) and I've always seen it, although it could have changed since the last time that I looked (I just looked and it's not on the menu page but if you select an item it tells you in the description what the size is).

Possibly that, but mostly how intoxicated you appear to be.

Yes, it is great, but until you do that you will be limited in what you can get from the bar.

ish. I have seen the bartenders override the point of sale system for someone who has reached or exceeded 15. Yes, the system certainly keeps count. Whether or not you are cut off probably depends more on your demeanor than anything else.

Yes, that is certainly an option. For many reasons it is not one that I choose (mostly because it would only get used once every year or two).

I cut too much from my reply, I was responding the the question in your first line.

Of course I know that, and I'm sure others do as well. I don't want to be carrying a reusable bottle around.

I've read many posts by Chengkp75 on the topic and the water is made by using water evaporators or reverse osmosis to remove the salt. Minerals are added back in to improve the taste, etc.

That's the main reason that we only use bottled water on cruises and then only when ashore. I am fine with drinking tap water, both on the ship and at home. DW on the other hand hates plain water, period, but she does drink the bottled water when we are ashore. If we can't find recycle bins ashore we bring the empties back to the ship. I've seen (and experienced) first hand what local water can do to a digestive system and I don't want to experience that ever on a cruise.

I like the water on the ship and it's always just fine. We buy a small case of water every sailing to use when we go ashore.

NCL is the only line sailing from the US that I am aware of that allows a parent (onboard with the minor) to sign a form allow the minor to purchase beer and wine.

Before we started buying Cheers I would take a flask with me, order a soda and top it off with a shot from the flask.

As a general rule a passport wouldn't be required, but I haven't looked at MSC's requirements, which may be different (because each cruise line can be more stringent than the regulations call for), but under the DHS regulations a US citizen may cruise with a government issued birth certificate (as opposed to a hospital one) and if 16 or older with a government issued photo ID. If the person is a US citizen born abroad then they need to use their Naturalization Certificate or the Consular Report of Birth Abroad in place of a birth certificate.

And you are the one making it a big much a do about nothing. Carnival analyzed a practice, saw changes that could be made that would make the process more efficient, tested it and implemented it. That's what a good business does. They aren't changing it now because some people (who don't have the same amount of data available as the company) can't understand the change.

This system has been in place now for years (and as mentioned it is in place on other cruise lines as well) and if it weren't working Carnival would have changed it. It has made the check in process more efficient for the contracted staff in the port. It has cut down on the number of people trying to get into their cabin before they are ready. The passenger loses nothing in the process and enjoys less time at check in (and while each passenger may only save a couple of minutes if you have 100 people in front of you in line that couple of minutes per passenger adds up to get you through the line quicker as well). I can't say that no sail and sign card has ever been tampered with, but I have seen no reports of it on CC, so even with all of the doomsday scenarios that were rolled out when this was implemented have not come to pass. I believe that it is time to accept it as it is and move on to another topic.

That is an excellent point.

It's not a huge time saver for us as passengers but when you total the amount of time expended by the port staff it adds up. I haven't read any reports of there being any issues with the cards being left at the door (although when this rolled out there was a lot of speculation about all of the havoc that would be created by people taking other peoples cards and trying to use them).

Hopefully that would change if the system changed. It would be a shame to have such a wonderful thing derailed because a citizen couldn't obtain the necessary photo. What about a picture taken with the cell of the person, would that be allowed I wonder? Anyway, I hope by the time I have to renew in 3 years this will be an option.

Because if passengers are spending money they aren't making money.