mundocruiser

We are thinking of touring Roatan, Honduras with Victor Bodden, but have read some articles that Honduras may not be safe to visit.  What experiences have you had in Roatan?  Would you visit it?

We were told on a Celebrity cruise by the crew when we did this that they just loved it. They said they rarely get access to treats like chocolate bars and that many of them love American candy. They said if they didn't like it, they would pass it on to a friend who did. We've been on several Christmas cruises and I always take the bars wrapped in the Christmas colors. They always say something about it. I was just wondering if Oceania crew were just on a different level and might not see it the same way.

No one is speaking of "tipping" in advance (bribing). While I have a small percentage of your cruise experience, and know I will never hit 100, I agree with you that good service will be given whether or not there is a 'pre-tip'. Maybe it is cultural or my upbringing but I cannot see me handing cash to someone in advance. In fact, the absolutely very best bar service we have ever received was on a NCL cruise and we did not tip (beyond the auto added gratuity) until meeting with her on the last day. She dealt with everyone wonderfully with warm, genuine happiness; a very impressive person.

 

 

The OP is talking about giving a tip for things like room service when it is delivered. As for the candy if they can't eat it themselves or don't want to they can simply give it away. Someone will enjoy it.

 

While I have not added a gift of chocolate with a tip I know it is a big item.

 

We were at one port where there was a separate tender line for crew returning after shopping in port. There was an hour plus delay to get on a tender so lots of idle time. I was intrigued by the amount of stuff (even a string trimmer (and I thought the cabins were cramped) - someone at 'home' is getting a special gift!) and chatted with one of the crew. Many of the crew had armloads of things they bought and a number of them had foldable rolling carriers to pack all their goods. I soon learned that different ports were known for different purchases. At this port Costco was the main attraction, hence the weedeater, and was told a huge item was chocolate. I looked over the crew line and could see that many of them had boxes (and boxes) of chocolate bars and candy. Apparently a German port is the best for inexpensive European quality chocolate though. I realized the crew have all these ports mapped out. Bottom line is, chocolate and candy was clearly a big thing with that crew.

I am sure they appreciate the $

You will get good service with or without the chocolate ;)

We will tip the room service person if & when we order something

At the end of the cruise we leave an envelope with cash & a note to housekeeping staff to show our appreciation

we put the cabin number on the envelope so they will get to keep the extra $ & not have to put it in the tip pool

also mention their name in the final cruise questionnaire as this gets them better points to move up the chain ;)

We always give them a mention in the reviews if they have done a great job. We might do the envelope with the extra cash at the end. Thanks for the suggestions.

We have cruised several different lines. This is our first cruise on Oceania. I always buy some chocolate bars of different types and take $1 bills. Any time we have someone come to our cabin for anything, I take one of those bills, wrap it around the chocolate bar and "tip" the person. Someone on these boards suggested it years ago as something he did. I have found it gets us really great service and builds a small relationship with the people who work in housekeeping and such. Over the years, the ship workers have thanked us at the end for these tips. Is this something that would be frowned upon on Oceania, or do the ship employees enjoy small things like this, too?

I don't want to offend them as they all work so hard.

Thanks for the information.

Thank you so much to everyone who posted. We chose a ship tour. Let us hope that it doesn't get held up!

We are on Oceania in June for the Panama Canal. One of our stops is Acapulco. We are TX residents and have been told by visitors to Mexico that Acapulco is very dangerous. We have heard news reports here of people being robbed at gun point on the beach. What can you safely do in Acapulco? Thanks.

You can also contact Oceania directly or through your TA and make your request in advance for your favorite non-alcoholic beverages in your cabin. They will also provide other things you may need in advance-hypoallergenic pillows, twin beds, etc. Contact specialservices@oceaniacruises.com

 

Mary

That's useful! thanks so much!

We were just in Barbados last week. We had done a bit of snorkeling on other stops, and we wanted to see the interior of Barbados.

A taxi driver made this suggestion, we negotiated the price, and off we went.

The taxi driver is Antonio Yearwood. His email is antonioyearwood@hotmail.com

His phone number in Barbados is 1(246)231-4135.

He was a great person to meet and share a morning with in a taxi. I told him that I would put in a good word for him on the boards. He will negotiate prices for driving people around and said he would plan in advance if you wanted him for the day.

The place he took us was amazing. It is called Hunte's Gardens. You can find it online. http://huntesgardensbarbados.com

Just beautiful... You could spend several hours there and still not see everything. Anthony Hunte was a delightful person to meet and you cannot go wrong with a trip there as a way to spend some time.

We are doing the Panama Canal in June on Oceania. Two questions:

Is the coffee on Oceania brewed, or is it the coffee syrup mess that they serve on most of the ships?

Would there be a way to brew my own coffee if they do only serve coffee syrup?

I do not do well with the coffee syrup stuff, so I take my own decaf, some Bodum travel presses, and make my own each morning with the butler bringing the hot water.

Thanks for the info!

That's a perfect example of never getting the same information twice from Celebrity. You never get the same price twice, the same information, etc. It seems that there is no one in charge and no one knows the correct information.

I agree. Have their bean counters lost the ability to count? Do they think we're stupid?

 

Here's an example of my recent experience with Celebrity:

 

When I got back from an Alaska cruise in May I got an e-mail saying as a thank you I could get $100 OBC on my next cruise. So my TA called Celebrity to see if it could be added to my booking for October. They said no (I already had three benefits attached to that booking). Makes perfect sense.

 

Well, the little darling she talked to was bound and determined to get me that $100. Whatever she did caused me to be re-fared for $800+ more and to lose $300 in OBC. So, to gain $100, I lost over $1100. Where do they find these people???

 

My TA was able to get it sorted, but really--how could anyone be that stupid?

 

I'm not seeing a lot of Celebrity cruises in my future except for the ones I have currently booked (prior to this BBB nonsense).

 

I was not impressed by the new campaign or the offerings. They can't get their website and their customer service by phone right, and they think they need a new campaign?!

You can't use the website half the time.

You can't get a straight answer on the new pricing for the promotion.

You can't get the same answer on most things most of the time.

If you try to call them, half the time the phone service says there is a technical glitch and call back another time.

Once you are on the ships, it is nice. It is just trying to make reservations, place orders, and deal with the company beforehand that can make you crazy.

I take Bodum's travel French Press coffee tumbler. I have one for myself and one for my husband. I take ground coffee in a ziploc bag. You order room service to deliver hot water every morning, except the last morning. They bring you hot water, you pour over coffee, seal the lid and after 5 min., voila! HOT COFFEE... I love coffee and cannot stand the coffee syrup garbage they serve in the MDR and in the buffet. It is a way to have my morning coffee and it still taste decent.

We have used LLBean luggage for the past 20 years. It is well-built, rugged, and has a lifetime replacement warranty. We flew to Maine last year for our 25th anniversary. We had a suitcase with a bad zipper. We took it into the store in Freeport and walked out with a brand-new one. You can just ship the one with problems to them and they ship out a new one. My in-laws had LLBean cases for many years and replaced them several times. They have great styles, too.

I wonder how often someone from Celebrity reads these posts? Do they ever take the time to read through things like this? It might be helpful to them to gauge the feelings of consumers using their product.

Then your post and posts like it become useful tools.

Does anyone know if Celebrity reads these boards ever?

Thanks for the info.

Has anyone ever taken an Alaskan cruise and then planned their own interior of Alaska tour? We are having second thoughts about a Celebrity cruise tour we have booked for next year. I think there's going to be a lot of mixed transportation and schedules which eat up time we could be doing this ourselves.

 

I'm in the process of researching this, and it seems like it would be a lot of fun to rent a car and do some time in Kenai, Anchorage, and drive up to Denali.

 

My question is: has anyone here done that? I'm interested in your opinions, reviews, recommendations, etc.

 

Thanks in advance!

We did two days in Anchorage before our cruise. There is so much to do in the Anchorage area, museums, national parks, great places to eat, etc.

We did walks in national parks, all the museums in Anchorage, drove north for just a nice drive, and enjoyed a number of fabulous restaurants in Anchorage. There is a brew pub there, cannot remember the name, but it was fabulous food and beer. There is a fancy restaurant which everyone tells you to go to, been there forever, have to have reservations, DON'T go. It is average food for insane prices and the view is meh. Look at TripAdvisor for restaurant reviews.

Be sure to do the hot dog cart in downtown. The one where the guy abuses you while you order. He is annoying, but the reindeer dogs are worth it.

We have done three Christmas cruises. They were all just spectacular. I think Jan. would be fun, though, to escape the cold and the dreariness of Jan. Not my favorite month!!!

Make sure you explore the entire ship. There is art all over, out in the open and tucked into nooks. You will enjoy.

I am writing that down right now! Thanks for sharing!

Can't be any worse than being parked next to a Disney ship all day... You can hear It's a Small World from their ship inside your balcony cabin with the door shut.

We are Texans. Mosquitos are a nuisance for us. Mosquitos in Alaska are beyond nuisance! Buy some repellent when you arrive and before you get onto the ship. You will be grateful.

First time cruisers. Is there any way one can make a cup of coffee or tea in the cabin? If not, how early can one order such a cup in the morning as room service? Is there a charge? Do you tip the server daily? About how much (just coffee). Also, may I pack my little travel iron to take out the wrinkles? Delux Balcony Cabin. Thanks much for any help.

Yes, you can make your own coffee. I have for many cruises. Take your own coffee, ground, of course. You place a standing order for a pot of hot water and coffee cups once you get on the cruise. You can either use a French press or a gravity drip on top of your cup. I found that a dollar tip wrapped around a mini chocolate bar every morning insured prompt delivery. They love those candy bars. You will have the best coffee on the ship! I have done this on Princess and Celebrity.

We had a stateroom attendant on Silhouette who was the shampoo rationer. It took three complaints before we could get more shampoo. We went two days without shampoo and had to find a cart in the hallway to wash our hair. Someone finally made him give us more shampoo. Never experienced that before on a cruise...[

QUOTE=varoo;41435959]We have found that the efficiency with which they replace used items will vary depending on the stateroom attendant.

Some are very good about leaving more as soon as you even start to use anything without any need to ask.

With others, we need to request what we want, but it has never been a problem.

If you just leave a post-it on the bathroom mirror asking for whatever you need, the next time you return after the cabin has been serviced it will most likely be there waiting for you.

We never needed to request more q-tips or cotton balls. Those have always been refilled for us automatically, in any cabin.

It would be nice if there would be some way to order samples of the ship's products to try in advance so you could determine whether or not to bring your own.

Scotchie's is most excellent. You will really enjoy it. We invited our driver to have lunch with us. He hesitated at first, but we had a really great conversation with him about Jamaica. We bought his lunch and he thanked us profusely. You will have a great lunch there.

This is not a Celebrity-specific secret, but it is a great tip.

We take a couple of bags of the mini-chocolate bars (Milky Way, Snickers, etc.) on each trip.

When we have someone bring something to our room, we wrap a dollar around one of those.

The crew loves them. The first time you hand it to them, they look puzzled at the lumpy dollar, but when they open it, they say, "Oh! Chocolate!"

You get amazing service from then on out. We have had extra canapes at night brought to us before dinner, extra strawberries, cookies with the decaff coffee we order at night and so on.

You also get service with a smile after that, too. Our steward said that they don't often have access to such things and that it was really nice to have it.

I agree. A great, great list! Thanks loads!