livingonthebeach

Agreed. But why don't just include whatever tip (and tips are optional), in the cruise fare then we wouldn't be having this conversation would we? Not bragging but since we live in a tip culture and cash is king aren't we doing what we usually do? Really?

Understood, that was your experience but that's not how it works everywhere else. I also worked in a restaurant and know that not all of them operate the same way.

Thanks for sharing this. Now we know that the tips are not spread out shipwise -- only commissioned employees get tips. Interesting that he says that employees on American cruises get more tips than on Asian, European or Australian cruises. The US is has more of a tip culture and those tips are usually more in cash.

Direct or indirect tips? Did he mention that part?

Tips in our society have always been optional. In some countries in Europe tips are included and in Japan you don't tip at all. I really don't care what RCI spends on their costs to do business and what they charge me for my overall cruise but when they tack on some phantom tip charge that I don't know where it goes, I would rather pay generous cash to those that provide service directly to me, YMMV.

I have to believe that when I go to any restaurant and tip my waiter/waitress it goes directly to them and not to the owner to be divided by some unknown formula to contribute to the busboys' and dishwashers' salaries.

The problem some people have is that there is no way of knowing exactly where the gratuities go and how it's broken down. Like some others, I bring lots of cash and tip generously. I do have a problem with RCI charging me daily for something that is far from being transparent.

I didn't either and I hopped on the local bus not knowing where in the heck it was going. Never saw any bad areas at all. I loved the pink sand and all the shades of blue and green waters. It was way more upscale than some of the islands in the Caribbean, IMO and nothing like some of the 'hoods in Miami.

I've been on several transatlantics (precovid) and they were loads of fun! I don't know what the situation is now. I imagine the countries visited would have different CV19 requirements. I met a lot of lovely people on the TAs I've taken and would do it again in a heartbeat when the CV19 thing gets more relaxed.

You'll have to complete the cruise before you can take advantage of the Diamond Plus level though -- unless you sweet talk the Loyalty Ambassador but they mostly don't let you have the benefits until you have completed the cruise even if you make a new level while on the cruise.

Here is the loyalty points chart:

Fair enough. Some of the passengers can get unruly, wild, obnoxious and drunk, however we don't have to deal with them unless they are traveling with us. We do have to deal with the CSRs though, unless we go through a good TA.

I see them here on the beach wearing their speedos all the time -- I leave them alone too 😇

That's smart as it happens in the US as well especially tourist areas. The thieves can spot the tourists right away. When I lived in France you could spot an American tourist from miles away. Here in the Miami area the thieves target rental cars, hotels and shopping malls.

I have sailed on three different RCI ships after the lockdown and didn't encounter any major snafus. The first one I had to wear a mask indoors -- not fun. Other than that, supplies were plentiful, food was good and service was up to par. I did enjoy my Celebrity cruises more than RCI but haven't been on Celebrity recently. Can't say the same for Carnival, NCL and Princess. I want to try MSC for something different especially if they still have the matching loyalty levels. Sometimes it's just the luck of the draw and not the actual cruise company. It's a good idea to try different lines before giving up on cruising altogether. Just my two cents worth.....

Yes and out of quite a bit of money as well - poor but fashionable. Those designer clothes don't come cheap. The ships have overpriced stuff as well. They must have brought some clothes to the room other than what they were wearing, I would imagine.

The edit feature disappears after some time -- not sure if it's 10 or 15 minutes.

There's a lot of pick pocketers as well trunk breakins. The takeaway is don't put your wallet in your back pocket or hanging out of a purse and never leave luggage in the trunk of a car. I had friends that got their luggage stolen in France and the police told them it happens a lot.

I've heard of this happening in Europe a lot. They seek out Americans because they are known to leave stuff in the trunk. I never understood why you would leave stuff there overnight. This could happen anywhere in the world but it seems it happens more to Americans in Europe.

I guess if you can buy a fake negative covid test you can buy a fake positive test and get your money back if not insured.

Correct -- and there are fake tests and fake vaccine cards as well. Nothing prevents people from lying on the health questionnaire -- they could have a myriad of communicable illnesses like chicken pox, mumps, hiv, hepatitis, legionnaire's disease, norovirus, tuberculosis, regular flu, rabies, shingles, zika, ebola, etc. etc. etc

Same for South Florida -- occasionally, you see some wearing a mask but for the most part no one wears one and they are not required and haven't been for quite some time. Recently I went to Michigan and didn't see anyone wearing a mask on Mackinac Island. Didn't see any at the Detroit airport or on the plane either. At the beginning of the restart of cruising masks were required indoors (Freedom) they lifted the mask thing the day we got back to Miami. I'll never cruise again on a ship that requires masks. I'm okay with testing but masks -- no way.

Yeah and while we're at it, let's ask him why the CSRs don't know their a$$ from a hole in the ground.