Patto1000

The way i see it as a cruising newbie is.......

It's going to cost me $11.50aud for me and $11.50aud for my other half per day which in total for the both of us for our cruise $230aud which converts to approx 150 English pounds.

We are by no means wealthy people and have saved hard for over 14 months for our cruise and we are most definetely on a budget for our holiday as i suppose are many people. However i look at it as $230 very well spent as all these wonderful hard working crew are striving to make our cruise fantastic

I'm not knocking anyone who removes auto tips but personally we think its money well spent and are surprised that some people choose to remove them

Happy cruising

:)

We are getting so close, come on sweet little tipping thread, you can make it!

 

 

I actually understand a lot of the rationalization on here, but I do not agree with it.

 

I really do not understand the "I was on a 86 day cruise, and the tips came to $2000 for my family! That is a lot of money, I think $300 is more appropriate"

 

***? Which day on a cruise does the tipping stop? Are people really that bad at multiplication?

 

I have a free cookie for the first honest post...I will lead by example.....I usually over tip because it makes me feel good that I am helping someone who works so hard. That is for excellent service. Average service gets an average tip. I have never had bad service.

 

Those who remove tips are just cheap bastards, wanting to punish the big mean corporation by peeing on the little guy. You can rationalize it all you want, post long thesis' about crew wages and Gary Cahill's gold plated bidet, but the only person suffering because of the tip removers is the crew.

 

Stop with the "well, you did not see the tip remover pay in cash, how do you know we didnt?"

 

Great logic, you are right, I also never saw you use your toilet to take a dump either. How do I know you didn't poop over the side of your balcony, or pack your poop in your bag to take home? How can I make such an assumption?

 

Common sense, logic...things missing from many on here.

 

 

with all that being said, I love a good tipping thread!

Lol great post........

Will be interesting to hear some responses to it

We go on sun princess next Monday on our maiden cruise and at first couldn't work out the whole idea of auto gratuities however after reading lots of threads etc on cc we soon realised its the only fair and proper way to do it

However in my opinion (which probably won't count for much lol) maybe all the cruise lines should just put the cost of tips straight onto the price of the cruise in the first place which would stop anyone removing the auto tips when on board

And i do seriously wonder if some people remove the auto tip towards the end of their cruise because they have overspent during the cruise?

Everybody to their own i suppose but my auto gratuities will be definetely staying on :)

Thanks again Patto1000!

Just remember to take time to enjoy and let some of the cruising experience come to you. Anticipation of your cruise is at least have of the joy of sailing. You will never be able to do everything there is to do or have the time. That is one of the things that make the next one so exciting. Also remember if any problems arise they can't fix or try to help you fix them if they don't know about the problem(s). Best of luck and as always....................

Happy Cruising!

Thanks Christine for you advice it is much appreciated to us newbies lol

Can't wait to go......even if slightly apprehensive on what to expect

Kind regards

Mark and Angela

Hi Christine

Just been reading through the thread again and it's brilliant to read back on

It's only 10 days now till we sail on sun princess and your hard work on this thread have been fantastic and a great way for us to have an idea what to expect regarding the food on our first ever cruise

Thank you so much again

Kind regards

Mark and Angela

hahaha???

 

Could somebody explain the funny part for me?

Sorry for any upset caused i just thought it was quite amusing how the crew member got drunk and fell overboard

Sorry again for your lack of sense of humour ;)

Crew members were running out on the 5th floor walkway on our side and near the back of the ship looking out in the water. Then a spot light came on scanning the water (did not even know they had them). The the ship started a fairly tight turn to the right. John Heald came over the PA to announce that the ship was not in danger but it appearred someone had gone over board. Then they launched the little zodiak abd went out to find the person. It appears it was a drunk crew member who (lucky for him) grabbed a life preserver before jumping off of lido. They spotted the blinking light in the water and rescued him.

 

They had to notify the coast guard (SOP?) when there was a man overboard and then to tell them he was recovered and the Coast Guard could suspend their search anbd rescue deployment. Finally John Heald came over the PA. apologized for the disruption (praised the search and rescue team) and said it was a disturbed employee and he was alive and well, that he would not bother us with anymore disturbing announcements. We saw them taking him off on a stretcher (hancufferd to the stretcher) the next morning prior to debarkation..

Hahahaha fantastic story

Certainly one to tell the grand kids lol

Thanks for sharing it with us :)

Hey! How are you. Good to see you as well. Remember it well, especially the rough last day and the crew member jumping overboard.

Crew member jumping overboard?????

Sorry to go off topic but this is one story i must hear :)

Some people don't like the idea of tips that are forced upon them? Anyways, congrats this will be a 20 page thread.

Lol could even reach 30 pages :) :)

Thank you Patto1000 for your thoughts and kind words.

I don't know how I missed you.

Happy Sailing!

No really.....thank you for all your efforts

We sail on sun princess on nov 11th from Sydney on our first ever cruise and your thread has been a fantastic insight for us so thanks again :)

Kindest regards

Mark and Angela

Is it this November you are coming to Australia (you are counting the days' date=' not months!). We are also cruising out of Sydney on Celebrity Solstice which is a 12 day Australia to NZ cruise, leaving Sydney on 4/5 November. This is also our first cruise on a recognised luxury ship (I don't count a cruise back in 2005 on an old boat which has since been scrapped).

 

There is so much for you to see in Sydney - The Rocks, Opera House, ferry trip to Manly, Taronga Zoo, Museum/s, Art Gallery, Darling Harbour - your days will be filled. And most of these you can visit on foot. Sydney is very accessible for tourists. Also, November is a lovely month weather-wise being the last month of Spring.

 

Which cruise are you taking? I would image as you are away for 10 days it should take you right up the eastern coast of Australia as far as Cairns in the far north. You should have a wonderful time on your visit to Australia, we are a

 

friendly bunch out here and speak your language too, though sometimes I have trouble understanding our teenagers (me thinks they possibly watch too much TV and parrot what they hear !).

 

 

Enjoy your cruise ......[/quote']

 

 

Lol our teenagers are exactly the same.....the youth of today :)

 

Yep it's this November we come and visit your beautiful country,

We leave the uk on 6th November and have a stopover in Singapore before travelling on to Sydney where we spend a couple of nts before we pick up our cruise,

We are going on the sun princess which leaves Sydney on the 11th nov for 10nts and head up the coast to the Whitsunday islands and back down to Sydney

One of our ports is airlie beach as well as cairns but we will probably stay on board on that port stop due to the fact that we are heading back up to airlie later in our holiday

We don't have many port calls on our cruise so will be spending a lot of time on board so are crossing our fingers we like cruising

After our cruise we have another couple of nts in Sydney before flying up to the Whitsundays

So it's your first cruise as well (sort of)??? Bet you can't wait either can you?

We probably should have gone to New Zealand as well while we are over in oz but i suppose we couldn't do everything (unfortunately)

There's more to this cruising than we thought and although we are looking forward to it we hope it suits us, cruise critic has been a great help with some fantastic people giving fantastic advice

Can't wait to visit your beautiful country and meet some lovely new friends

 

Hope you also have a brilliant cruise

Kind regards

Mark and Angela

I think it all comes down to priority really. We intend to be out and about during most of the day and will only come back to the hotel late arvo/evening. Therefore' date=' we don't really need 5* but do expect something clean, comfortable but above all it must be in the centre of the city, which the Travelodge is. We didn't want to catch taxis, particularly in Sydney's traffic congestion and don't mind walking to the various sites we want to visit. Also, we intend to do a full day trip to the Blue Mountains and the train station is virtually a few minutes away, so very convenient for that excursion.

 

However, as Sydney / Harbour is my old home town I have seen it and been on it countless times. But if I was coming from overseas I can certainly understand why the priority is to be as close to the harbour as possible and also to have a view of the wonderful vista from my hotel window. It is possibly your first and last visit to Sydney so definitely make it as memorable as possible.

 

 

The only drawback is that hotels with harbour views are very expensive but what price do you put on a once-in-a-lifetime unforgettable memory.

 

Got to admit, every time I visit Sydney and its wonderful harbour it still takes my breath away, particularly on a beautiful sunny day......... nothing beats it.[/quote']

 

I think that was our logic when we booked to be honest because as you say we probably won't ever go to Australia again

We fly over for a month in total from the uk on November 6th and have stretched ourselves financially by booking hotels that to be honest we wouldn't normally spend so much money on but in the end like i say we might never go back, our cruise takes us up the Gold Coast from Sydney for 10nts and back to Sydney, from which we head up to airlie beach in the Whitsundays,

It's not only our first visit to oz but its our first ever cruise and so hopefully we will enjoy cruising even though we aren't too sure what to expect....

Can't wait to visit Australia and although slightly apprehensive about our trip and been so far away from home we also are so excited and are counting the days :)

Hi. I have just booked a 4 night stay in Sydney for next May at the Travelodge Wynyard. This is right in the heart of Sydney and very' date=' very close to a CBD train station. I chose the Travelodge because it is only a 5-10 minute walk of Circular Quay, Opera House, main shopping malls, Hyde Park, etc.

 

And the best bit is.... normally one night is about $180-$200 but because I have booked 6+ months in advance the room rate comes down to $119.00 per night. I have paid an extra $12 a night to get a room up high to get a view. This price is almost unheard of in the centre of Sydney. I am still pinching myself because I can't believe my luck.

 

Check out their website http://www.travelodge.com.au/travelodge-wynyard-sydney-hotel/hotel-features[/quote']

 

 

That's a fantastic price because we stay in Sydney for 2nts pre cruise and 2nts after cruise in sebel pier one and its costing $1600 for the four nts

We could have got a cheaper hotel but certainly not as cheap as you booked that one....

What a bargain

Could have done with you as our travel agent before we booked our holiday lol

 

:). :). :)

That is the end. I believe that all of the menus are here. Too much trouble trying to keep it where people can see and use it. Everyone wants to read, but not comment. so We will slowly fade into the "dark Pages".

It has been fun and it has been time consuming.

Happy Cruising!

Absolutely fantastic thread

Thank you so much for all your hard work :)