firstcruiseever

What is the difference between being unsupervised at night than unsupervised during the day.

no difference. They should be supervised!

If I made minimum wage or $40 a day I wouldn't be able to cruise but some do and use removing of tips to be able to cruise at the expense of the hard working staff

 

Very sad but hopefully prices will go up and the staff gets paid and campers go back to camping ;)

Its silly that you say that minimum wage cannot go on a cruise, you can! You just have to save up for a few years. Thus the gap between our last (which took us 3 years to save up for and it was supposed to be a honeymoon) and this one which took us 2 years to save up for. We are working full time, full time students going into teaching, but you can save up bits here and there and go on vacations. IF you don't take vacations when you are young, you will never get them. I have been told time and again, don't wait till you are old to take vacations. You never know what kind of health you will have, if your spouse will be alive or if you will even have the energy to take a vacation. And as far as the whole cutting tips to budget, cutting tips is not an option for us. We reward good service. It is part of the budget we set when we plan for our vacation. Sad though that you are so concerned with someone else's money.

It's not slave labor, but pretty close. Their living quarters are very tiny, they share a room. The food you and I get, is not what they get. They are on call 24/7, and some people do abuse it. If you really want to learn about it try reading Chronicles of a cruise ship crew member. Very enlightening. These threads are full of peoples opinions and views of people who have never worked on a ship, or taken the time to talk to the crew members.

 

 

GO MIZZOU!!!!!!!

Thanks for the info. That is what I was looking for. :)

NEVER! I would never let my kids wander the ship alone. Just because your on a cruise doesn't mean that everyone is suddenly a "good person". Pedophiles and Rapists take cruises too! Too much risk. Stuff happens, and you can't take it back. You are basically on a floating hotel filled with staff, people from around the world, and empty unmonitored rooms. That's obviously my opinion, but you can take it with a grain of salt if you like.

So there was a slight price drop of $10 pp. I sail in 10 days. I bought the cruise and paid in full on the second... Can I still get onboard credit or something for the price difference?

Thanks

I think you were too nice! What a jerk! That is not acceptable. And I wouldn't have tipped him. I would have taken all his tip and given it my waiter or something. That is awful. I would have flipped if he had come into the room when I was alone and shut the door. And I think my husband would have had words for him as well!! You sound like you were too nice to him, but GOOD FOR YOU for taking the high road :) I wish I were more like that. So you set a good example :cool:

Where are you getting your information from ? It's not from these threads, if so you would know NOT everyone is a good, let alone above and beyond tipper. It doesn't matter if they make more money than you or not, if you make minimum wage there are waitresses that make more than you do, that doesn't mean they don't deserve a tip when they wait on you. If you want their pay then go be a cabin steward, you'll find out how great it is. There's several books on life on a cruise ship,maybe you should read one. Cabin Stewards and others do not get a salary.

 

 

GO MIZZOU!!!!!!!

My information is from the majority of the responses on this thread alone. It seems that most are saying they "tip more than the automatic gratuity". And as far as them making more, the only point I am arguing is that others on this board were saying that room stewards worked for what is essentially slave labor. So no, it doesn't matter. I tip my hair stylist and my waitresses and they make more money than me. But I would not say that the room stewards work for slave labor or that they "need" us to pay their salary. That is all.

It is reduced, but not free. Honestly the "kids sail free" deal is not that good on other ships. Norwegian is doing that promotion right now, but all they did was hike up the price of the first two passengers to make up for the price of the third and fourth. Not worth it. MSC used to have kids sail free too, I don't know if they still do it, but they have an AWFUL kids program so its not really worth it anyhow.

I love how everyone on here says "its how the crew gets paid." I want to know where their facts come from. Seriously? And also, why is this even an issue when EVERYONE on this board seems to be a perfect and above and beyond tipper? If everyone tips good, this is a non issue. No need to discuss it. If the cabin stewards are making $4 per person per day on a cruise, I WANT THEIR PAY! Plus they have free room and board. Even if they only clean 10 cabins with 1 occupant, that is $40 per day, plus room and board, plus their base wage (whatever that is). That is more than I make at my minimum wage job, and I still have to pay almost the entire paycheck (sometimes more) to food, rent and everything else. Doesn't sound too terrible. Even with just a base wage and free room and board they are probably making more than me. And I support a whole family.

You had me going LOL

We did Carnival and are doing another one in 10 days WOOT. But we will be doing a Disney Cruise with our tax return this year :D YAY. I am looking forward more to the Disney than this Carnival. I guess because we are kids at heart and I love everything that Disney has to offer.

Umm, in the comments below someone was saying that their neighbor was smoking weed and they had a 3 yo and it was coming into their room. If that was REALLY the case, I would not have gone back to the room and refused to go back there until they moved me to another room. I don't care how "full" the ship is. There are always extras somewhere. They could put me in one of the officers quarters for all I care, but I would NOT go back in there. I would rather sleep on the deck. Why would you allow your 3 yo to be exposed to that. The comments on their were HORRIBLE. Thank goodness for cruise critic. I would never come on here if I heard stuff like that!

Great Review! LOTS AND LOTS of pictures. My kiddos (4 and 3) had tons of fun looking at the pictures with me. They don't know they are going on a cruise in like 11 days!! WOOT! They kept asking me "mommy can we go on a cruise ship like that little boy?"

By the way, you did really good pictures especially with the camera that you had. I was very impressed!

Oh and don't forget, the food is HORRIBLE. I wouldn't even rate it 2 stars.

LOL. When I first read your post, I was going down your list and thinking. Holy crap that sucks! What a terrible cruise. When you find your cabin boy, send him my way. I don't think my bed's been made in a week

So ny wife calls me and asks if Carnival has called me, I told her no why???

 

She tells me she just got a call and offered a suite for $500 total with no extra taxes...

 

So needless to say we are now in a $3400 suite for right at $2100!

 

We cruise on the 17th, and I can't wait as we've never had a suite .

I can't wait for ours on the 18th. I hope that the upgrade fairy calls us!!! :(

We are arriving at the parking at 10:30, so we will be there before 11. Don't mind if we have to wait!

Tought to answer. It really does vary by ship and itinerary. Which ship are you sailing?? Maybe someone will have some first hand knowledge to share??

Carnival Ecstasy on 11/18. :D YAY

Hey Y'all

Does anyone know when the chef's table generally is? We have two kids and would have to have them in camp carnival, but I don't want to go past ten cause then we have to pay for BBSitting.

Also, if we don't drink, will we still have fun? Is it still worth it?

I like the origami thing once in a while. It is neat. And the candy idea is neat too. I love candy, and I'm guessing other people love candy. Plus it doesn't take up a ton of room in their quarters. So Yeah that would be cool :) Who doesn't love getting a sweet treat that you don't normally get or getting a cute little present like a 10 folded as a ship? that is pretty cool

And who should pick up the donuts.:D

Or the WCMC

Hi there! We just had an interior. It was on the Empress Deck. Loved that one. Very quiet and private. The only issue we had was when the drunks came back to their cabin... but that would happen on any part of the ship. When you board the Glory, there is a fish and chips station above the Lido deck buffet. I highly recommend going there the first day. it is much less crowded (usually only a handful of people) and pretty good :)

How come this isn't at 20 pages yet?

I think we need longer comments :D

You should have bolded or highlited SERVICE EMPLOYEES.

Bus boys get minimum wage or more as do hostess'. The only one who gets paid less is the server.

If you belive that then maybe you will be intrested in the bridge I have for sale. In most restaraunts tips are required to be poolled and all non management employees get a share.

 

AS FOR PAYING CARNIVAL EMPLOYEE WAGES. As with all service empolyees in the U.S. the company is allowed to and in most cases does pay them a lower rate cause they recive tips.

I would not take a job where I had to pool tips. I have waitressed in good restaurants (by no means five star or anything fancy) and I have NEVER pooled tips. And that is not MOST restaurants. That is some. Tips are earned by the server, not by anyone else so I would be pissed if someone tried to take my tips.

Also have my cosmetology license. I would never share my tips there. i would laugh my way out of any salon that tried to take my tips. That is also the service industry. I also wouldn't share my tips with the secretary.

I saw a tip jar at Five Guys yesterday. I was like, "HUH"?

hehe That's like seeing a tip jar at McD's :D