e2011

As a former waiter, I can tell you that there are not many waiters that want to be paid via wage rather than tips. When I waited tables (at a mid-level chain restaurant), I made $3.27 an hour from the restaurant. However, I came home with usually $60-$100 in tips for a 4-6 hour shift and I'd do much better than that on holidays, and this was in early 90's dollars.

 

My actual wage was much higher if you looked at what I actually brought home. In Europe, where wait staff is often on a "minimum or higher wage", there isn't as much tipping as it is built in. However, the consumer still bears the cost through higher menu prices. There is no free lunch.

 

I'd rather work in a system where I could be rewarded for my productivity or excellence by making more $$ by waiting harder (picking up tables, etc.) rather than having no incentive to do beyond the basic.

 

But that's just me...

 

 

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And of course you declared all those tips on your tax return...

I found this on the internet:

Tipping varies extensively among cultures. Though by definition a tip is never legally required, and its amount is at the discretion of the one being served, for travellers it can cause some serious dilemmas. In some circumstances failing to give an adequate tip when one is expected to is a serious faux pas, and may be considered very miserly, a violation of etiquette, or unethical. In some other cultures or situations, giving a tip is not expected and offering one would be considered at best odd and at worst condescending or demeaning. In some cultures it might be seen as a bribe, and in some circumstances (for example tipping government workers), tipping can even be illegal.

In most countries service personnel get paid enough to live on, and they do not have to rely on tips. While intentions are clearly good, (mostly North American) tourists are sometimes not aware of this, (or they know, but they just feel bad not tipping), and they export their generous behaviour to other countries where tipping is traditionally not customary, especially to tourist areas. Of course, this is quickly accepted (how would you react if someone gave you extra money) and creates expectations that were not there before.

If you are tipping in a foreign country, ask yourself what that amount means for the one you are giving it to, not how much (or how little) it is for you. In some countries people occasionally get tipped a month's salary. While this definitely is cool for them, it can cause serious trouble. Think a waiter earning more than the chief of police...

Another problem is that, while tipping was originally intended to improve service, some employers use it to underpay workers with the expectation that tips will make up the difference. Good examples for this can be found in Namibia, even at government-owned facilities, and in the United States, where restaurant staff are routinely paid less than the minimum wage for other occupations.

In countries where tipping is expected (the US for example, where service personnel depend on it), complicated unofficial standards and customs have developed over the exact percentage to tip, and what should and should not be included in this calculation. In other countries and cultures the topic is way more relaxed. It is not easy for the traveller to know what to expect when they go to a foreign country. The idea of this article is to have some basic idea of the customs in other countries before you go there and embarrass yourself:

Wow! The US has the same low balling of service staff as Namibia. As Trump would say..thats really sad.

Exactly! The GRT and passenger space ratio is great and all, but doesn't do you any good when everybody on the ship wants to occupy the same space at the same time.

You mean like the life boat drill? LOL

Before the dream ws launched, I did a simple comparison of gross tonnage/passengers. (Gross tonnage is a measure of the volume of a ship, not weight)

The Magic class and the Dream have roughly the same volume per passenger. So don't expect to feel more packed in, generally.

Thank you! I have been using the gross tonnage divided by capacity for years to get a rough calculation of space per person and was highly criticized on another board as using a meaningless calculation. It works for me!

My order would have less to do with the ship and more with the cruise...but I wouldn't go on the Dream. Simple--it only does short cruises and I don't do short cruises. I prefer the Magic' date=' but think a kid would prefer the Fantasy.[/quote']

 

Very true on the cruise length. Many times for us a short 3 or 4 day is all I can take away from work and since we can drive from our house to the port its a nice weekend getaway. I have never done Wonder but we had a bad experience on the Magic. Not with the staff but with the design. The concierge one bedroom suites are right under the fun deck. So at 5am we listened to deck chairs being moved around by the staff to clean the deck and furniture. It was horrible. For that reason alone I would never do Magic or Wonder. Also no concierge lounge when we went. I understand there is one now which was a good upgrade. But to answer the OP question it doesn't matter what ship as long as you have fun!

I have found size makes no difference as far as perception of being crowded. I have been on smaller ships that "felt" crowded and I was on Oasis of the Seas (one of the largest ships on the sea) and felt like it was a ghost town. Hard to answer your question.

Even if nothing "falls out" of the diaper, the water from the pool is being filtered through whatever is IN the diaper....so if a baby poops in the swim diaper, the bacteria IS getting into the pool water! A "swimmie diaper" is like a fecal teabag. That's why they're not allowed in the pools.

LOL..."fecal teabag" summarizes why I would only let my kids swim first thing in the morning after in the freshly changed water.

Obviously, you are the one who has their mind set. Show me a recent study, and I'll look at it.

Try google search for UTI from hot tub. 111,000 results. Certainly one must be current. Knock yourself out. For me, no public hot tubs. Pools only in the morning.

As a physician, I can tell you that the current research says it is a myth. You countered only with a 10 year old article.

I dont believe you are a physician. Its a myth.

While the study may reflect the majority of hot tubs, which are privately owned and operated, and shoreside, so not regulated, I would disagree that it applies to shipboard tubs. First off, there is no stagnant water in the ship's tubs, since the circulation pumps run all the time. Also, the ship's hot tubs are maintained at a higher chlorine content than private or even public shoreside tubs, at 8-10ppm, again on a continuous monitoring and dosing system.

 

And while I agree that aerosolizing bacteria contaminated water is not good, this is why the air jets on ship's hot tubs were all disconnected years ago. In this vein, shower heads are a significant source of legionella, as the little bit of water that remains in the shower head when done, breeds the bacteria, and it is then aerosolized by the shower head. Cruise ships remove every shower head monthly, and sanitize them in 100ppm bleach solutions. Do you do this at home?

I would have to see evidence that cruise lines take off the shower heads every month in every cabin and sanitize them. I don't believe it for a minute. However I am not discrediting your thoughts about the water. But I am not going in so its really a moot point for me. One UTI was enough. Lesson learned.

Umm.. That's a 10 year old news article. Not a study. Neither was mine, but it is the current page from a healthcare system.

 

There is no current research implicating pools with UTIs. It is a myth.

I have learned never try to change anyones opinion on internet forums. For you its a myth.

I can find no studies implicating pools with UTIs. It is a myth.

You didn;t Google very hard. Let me help you...

http://www.science.tamu.edu/news/story.php?story_ID=493#.Vs8DJcdE_yd

That is a myth. http://www.wakehealth.edu/Urology/Pediatric/UTIs-in-Children.htm

 

This study seems to be the opposite of that study:

http://www.science.tamu.edu/news/story.php?story_ID=493#.Vs8DJcdE_yd

To get some idea of how much bacteria are in whirlpool tub pipes, Moyes says that a normal teaspoon of tap water contains an average of about 138 bacteria, with many samples not having any bacteria at all. But the same teaspoon of whirlpool tub water contains an average of more than 2.17 million bacteria.

"The stagnant water in a whirlpool bathtub pipe is a great place for bacteria to grow and grow," Moyes says.

She adds that such harmful bacteria can lead to numerous diseases, among them urinary tract infections, septicemia, pneumonia and several types of skin infections. Because of the aerosol mist created by the whirlpool action, microbes are forced into the lungs or open cuts, she explains. One type of bacteria, L. pneumophila, can cause Legionnaires Disease, of which 90 percent of all cases can be traced back to bacteria developed from a warm environment.

I am offering information that my friend who is a urologist gave me. I got a UTI from a hot tub on a cruise ship a couple years back and this led to the conversation with my doc about pools and hot tubs. I am simply passing along what he told me. For every study there is a counter study in medicine. One year coffee is good for you and the next is is not. I can only judge on my personal experience. Make your own decisions as you will.

Can you handle the truth? From a Board Certified Urologist: Swimming in any public pool can lead to UTI or worse. Hot tubs multiply that risk by a factor of 10. And the amount of sanitizer needed to truly cleanse a fully packed cruise ship pool would cause chemical burns on peoples skin so they do the best they can. And 8 times out of 10 its ok.

We never use hot tubs and only use pools first thing in the morning if it was drained the night before and refilled with new water. There are some adults that urinate in pools, especially after consuming too much alcohol. But worse are the adults who do not keep themselves clean in the bottom region. That is where the worse bacteria come from. Use the pool at your own risk!

If you become sick or injured and need to fly home you must have a passport.

My order:

1. Fantasy

2. Dream

3. another cruise line. LOL

Thats a no brainer. Leave Jr. with the grandparents.

Hi,

I just booked the Disney Magic for February 26, 2017 Western cruise. I've heard the weather is bad the 1st part of February. Can anyone tell how's the weather at the end of February? Thanks

 

 

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Where did you hear that? Typically the weather is good year round in the Caribbean except for the occasional hurricane in August or September. You should be in the high 70's and low 80's with occasional showers in February. Bring light rain coats along with the usual tropical attire!

That is good information to know about the kids club. We have never put our child in kids clubs because for us we want to enjoy every minute as a family but I understand we are in the minority. Also the thought of being away from my child if there was an emergency scares me. Maybe I was on the Titanic in another life.

As far as the food on IOS we went last year and I thought the food was normal mass production cruise ship food. Not bad and on level with any other cruise line. On the Getaway we ate the specialty places every night and all were amazing! This is one reason I enjoy NCL very much. On Disney, dinner is a problem for us. I find the food in the rotational dining to be below average mass production cruise ship food. We despise it and end up getting burgers, pizza, chicken fingers or room service every night. But thats ok because the rest of the Disney experience is outstanding.

We've sailed on the DCL Dream, Fantasy and Magic and on NCL Gem, Pearl and Breakaway. We really enjoyed DCL. Yes, it's expensive, but the service is excellent. Whenever we had an issue, it was resolved and no one ever made excuses or passed the buck. We had water seeped into our cabin one day and the staff was mortified. They were on it so quickly and then insisted they compensate us somehow, which, IMHO, wasn't necessary as they solved the problem so quickly. That evening, there were special sheets and a special treat for our son in our room and a note thanking us for our patience with the water issue. It was really lovely. We loved having a dedicated wait staff every night - I'm even FB friends with our head server from our last cruise! The kids club staff was amazing and took great care of our son. DCL was just a really lovely experience and we would not hesitate to cruise with them again.

 

NCL on the other hand is exceedingly tacky. I couldn't stand getting the cut-rate jewelry flyers in our room every day and the laundry specials. Whenever we had an issue, no one wanted to help, they kept making excuses, said they would get back to us, etc. We always traveled in Haven class suites - the concierge there just didn't seem to care. The kicker was one day when I called our butler to get a DVD. The phone just kept ringing and ringing. Someone finally picked up and told us our butler was training someone else and wasn't available to help us, so we couldn't have a DVD. It was ridiculous. On the other hand, on DCL, my son wasn't feeling well, so the concierge staff stopped by with a big Mickey Mouse to cheer him up. That just wouldn't happen on NCL.

 

So, to make a long story short - I don't care how much cheaper it is. We would never sail on NCL again. Really tacky and really bad service.

Wow! That sounds like our trip on the Disney Magic. Total cluster truck. However the Dream and Fantasy were exceptional every time!

We have sailed NCL in the Haven many times and have never encountered that scenario. You should have gone right to the head of hotel operations on the ship and resolved your issues. You said you sailed 3 NCL ships. What ship were you on when this happened? Also you said that the concierge in the Haven seemed not to care. However the Haven typically has 3 concierge staff members. Did you try talking to the other ones? I do agree the butler is basically worthless. He/She is just and extension of concierge. I can say that one time on the NCL Epic my daughter was sick and the Butler did stop by with a big Sponge Bob. Obviously they would not have Mickey because they were affiliated with Nick at the time. If you ever cruise on NCL again you can ask your room steward to not put any discount flyers on your door. You will not get any. But keep in mind a lot of folks want and use them.

If I wanted to do all that work, I would eat at home! If I had service that poor, I would have left less than my usual 20% and asked to speak with the person in chqrge

You are on to something. We should probably all eat at home more. Restaurant food is killing us slowly.

First of all' date=' you are reading a thread that is several years old. THe Magic now has a concierge lounge. The Wonder will dry dock in September and October, so a lounge might be added at that time. Currently there is no info on the plans for the dry dock.

 

If there is a lounge, you can get unlimited water and soda there.

 

Personal opinion, for 3 people I'd rather have 2+ cruises than one cruise in concierge. I can buy a swimming pool full of water for $10K. Yes, the suite will be more roomy, but how much time will you spend in your room? I just don't feel the concierge perks on DCL are worth the price increases.

 

On some other lines, booking concierge is essentially a "ship within a ship" with private restaurants, pool, etc that are not available to non-concierge guests. On DCL you get a lounge with a few beverages...and anyone can buy the beverages elsewhere. Yes, you will have a person at your beck and call and a short list of nice perks...but not worth doubling the price. If I were to book it, it would be for the space. But I'm OK for a week in a regular room.[/quote']

 

I agree, not worth it for what DCL charges. On NCL, the Haven is a must and worth every penny. But Disney has nothing even close to the Haven.

Yes, welcome to the cost of cruising. You are from NH, a tourism dependant state where many of the people depend on tips to supplement their $2.35 an hour. Can you imagine what life would be like in your community would be if everyone who ate out suddenly stopped tipping?

Thats an interesting idea. I like it! That would make all restaurants self service. I would be ok with that because then my water glass would always be full and my food would get to my plate hot! And when I wanted ketchup I would not have to wait 10 minutes and remind the waitress 2 times! Therefore self serve would be completely opposite of my experience last night at Outback! LOL

Certainly you can do this. But remember that for those in tipped positions' date=' the tip makes up almost all of the monetary compensation they receive. Don't short good people as a method of voicing an objection to a policy that they had nothing to do with. If you tip in cash, do tip an appropriate amount based on the service received. DCL has provided a guideline as to what is appropriate.

 

If they don't earn it, fine. In our experience, that has been very rare.[/quote']

 

I understand your point. I am not sure that almost all their compensation is from tips. However if that is true and everyone quit tipping, No one would take those jobs. Then Disney (or any cruise line) would be forced to pay them a respectable salary. Its tough love but it would work if you could get consumers to realize how much power they have when they work together. Don't get me wrong, I do tip even though I think it is an outdated custom. But I tip those who I interact with on the cruise. But to tip those I never meet is absurd. If I never go to the main dining room I have a real problem with tipping the Head Waiter, Waiter and Assistant Waiter. I never met them and they did nothing for me nor did I ask anything. I always inform the concierge staff before we even board the ship that we will not be using the dining room for dinner so they can fill our seats.