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GUT2407

By GUT2407,
in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers

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possum52

possum52

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, NoWhiners said:

 

He is grey and black, with a curly tail. I'll add a pix (an action shot!).  We didn't name him, we rescued him and they called him Smokee Joe. We thought hat 2 names for a dog would be confusing, so we just called him Smokee. I always thought the 2 ee's were for Keeshond, not sure about the Smoke part!

 

Visited him twice today after surgery yesterday. He was groggy and unable to stand by himself but once he was up, he could walk. He wasn't eating or drinking, so they asked us to come and offer him water. We also brought him some cooked chicken. We got him to eat the chicken, drink some water and eat a bowl of their food. Came back about 4 hours later, he could stand up, walk, ate more chicken and a bunch of their food, drank  lots of water. Looks like he will come home tomorrow if this keeps up.

 

fingers crossed.

 

 

smokee dog1.jpg

My sister had a German Shepherd that colour. Smokee's a gorgeous boy ML.

 

Leigh

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NoWhiners

NoWhiners

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, possum52 said:

My sister had a German Shepherd that colour. Smokee's a gorgeous boy ML.

 

Leigh

 

Thanks Leigh, he is pretty and very sweet. Just got off the phone with the hospital--we can take him home later this morning., yay! Now, we just have to hope he recovers well, no setbacks, and his tests don't reveal anything bad. We are hopeful, one of the techs who was in during surgery said the doctor thought the nodule they removed looked benign. I know this isn't definitive but I am encouraged.

 

Maybe we can take that cruise.

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NoWhiners

NoWhiners

Posted
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Fingers crossed. I'm a little concerned about the trouble he has first getting up but it's only been 2 days and he has hip issues anyway. And, we may have to ask the house-sitter to take him to a final checkup appointment.

 

But if things keep going Ok, we'll be able to cruise. Another person just posted on our RC they had to cancel--she needed emergency melanoma surgery 😮 I guess it could be worse.

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NoWhiners

NoWhiners

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OK, so I have  a question for you Aussies.

 

But first an update: our dog is doing great, eating, drinking, going out to do his business, even barking at "monsters". He is peeing up a storm, more than usual, but I read that could be an after-effect of surgery.  Also found out that our house sitter had 2 dogs get splenectomies, so she is experienced. A good sign. I feel better about things.

 

Now, my question. I know you Aussies don't normally tip, and I get why. I have been reading tipping threads that express a range of opinions, from no extra to more for better service. So, when you leave Australia (for example, on a cruise), do you change your tipping strategy? I would love to hear your reasons, not the amount. 

 

I know this is OT, but I didn't want to post a new thread that could be hijacked by others. You're my mates, and I would love to hear your perspectives,

 

Thanks for your thoughts.

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GUT2407

GUT2407

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Posted
3 minutes ago, NoWhiners said:

OK, so I have  a question for you Aussies.

 

But first an update: our dog is doing great, eating, drinking, going out to do his business, even barking at "monsters". He is peeing up a storm, more than usual, but I read that could be an after-effect of surgery.  Also found out that our house sitter had 2 dogs get splenectomies, so she is experienced. A good sign. I feel better about things.

 

Now, my question. I know you Aussies don't normally tip, and I get why. I have been reading tipping threads that express a range of opinions, from no extra to more for better service. So, when you leave Australia (for example, on a cruise), do you change your tipping strategy? I would love to hear your reasons, not the amount. 

 

I know this is OT, but I didn't want to post a new thread that could be hijacked by others. You're my mates, and I would love to hear your perspectives,

 

Thanks for your thoughts.

Glad Smokee is doing well.

 

Now as for tipping, if the ship has auto tips, service charge etc we leave it on. (Most of our cruises don’t) we will then tip extra to anyone who makes our cruise special, usually by making us laugh, probably the blokeI tipped the most was far from a good waiter, but a real fun guy. I also hunt out their supervisor to compliment them. Had a bar server  Norwegian last year who took great care of us, mentioned it to the F&B manager, who then stopped for a chat every time he saw us. What did Vilard do that was great? Not a lot but realised that juggling a cup and manouvering wheelchair and getting food was hard so would hand over unopened drinks, (no chance of spilling it) or even brining it to our table (it was a bar near the buffet). Jeffrey (on Celebrity) had made us laugh and when he saw us in the Buffet, would have a Diet Coke before we even settled at a table, and at Breakfast (not seated in his area) told our server we were his friends and to take care of us.

 

as for tipping at home, we certainly aren’t big tippers, but if we have made the servers job a bit harder, ie a big group, or lots of special requests we will tip, but nowhere near the 20+% in the USA.

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NoWhiners

NoWhiners

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2 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

Glad Smokee is doing well.

 

Now as for tipping,...

 

Hi Mr Gut

 

Thank you for the good thoughts, I'm sure it helps.

 

As to tipping, yes, I quite agree. If a server/waiter/waitress anticipates your request, that is worth a lot. And I think the server for a large group anywhere deserves a good tip.

 

Thanks

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NoWhiners

NoWhiners

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

Remember minimum adult wage here is around $18 per hour, with some jobs getting penalty rates for shifts and weekends or public holidays.

 

Yes, i know this. I tried to phrase my question to allow for this but that might have been missed. I actually agree with that approach but in the US, it a very uphill fight. I will say, we are great tippers!!

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MicCanberra Holiday Sharing Rare

MicCanberra

Posted
Posted
39 minutes ago, NoWhiners said:

OK, so I have  a question for you Aussies.

 

But first an update: our dog is doing great, eating, drinking, going out to do his business, even barking at "monsters". He is peeing up a storm, more than usual, but I read that could be an after-effect of surgery.  Also found out that our house sitter had 2 dogs get splenectomies, so she is experienced. A good sign. I feel better about things.

 

Now, my question. I know you Aussies don't normally tip, and I get why. I have been reading tipping threads that express a range of opinions, from no extra to more for better service. So, when you leave Australia (for example, on a cruise), do you change your tipping strategy? I would love to hear your reasons, not the amount. 

 

I know this is OT, but I didn't want to post a new thread that could be hijacked by others. You're my mates, and I would love to hear your perspectives,

 

Thanks for your thoughts.

Great news about Smokee.

As for tipping, we have the gratuities included (Australia) and pre pay them when elsewhere. We also tip extra when we feel it is justified, a staff member has gone above and beyond, this could be a little or a lot.

We follow what happens in that country when doing land travels, so in the US, we tip everywhere.

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NoWhiners

NoWhiners

Posted
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20 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Great news about Smokee.

As for tipping, we have the gratuities included (Australia) and pre pay them when elsewhere. We also tip extra when we feel it is justified, a staff member has gone above and beyond, this could be a little or a lot.

We follow what happens in that country when doing land travels, so in the US, we tip everywhere.

 

2 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

I should add we don’t travel overseas anymore unless you count NZ when it was possible it was follow the local customs. Though I always find the high tipping unnatural.

 

These get to what I was thinking about. To be blunt: do you feel you are held 'hostage' to other countries standards (ie. US)? I often wonder about this when we travel, and then when we are home and see foreign visitors.

 

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Thecat123

Thecat123

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Posted

The way I look at tipping in the USA is that say a steak costs me NZ$30 with no tip in New Zealand and I pay US$25 with a five dollar tip the steak costs me the same in either country. Pity our dollar isnt the same value as the US dollar but thats life

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MicCanberra Holiday Sharing Rare

MicCanberra

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, NoWhiners said:

 

 

These get to what I was thinking about. To be blunt: do you feel you are held 'hostage' to other countries standards (ie. US)? I often wonder about this when we travel, and then when we are home and see foreign visitors.

 

It is what it is. Do in Rome as the Romans do. It is all part of the travel experience.

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MicCanberra Holiday Sharing Rare

MicCanberra

Posted
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4 minutes ago, Thecat123 said:

The way I look at tipping in the USA is that say a steak costs me NZ$30 with no tip in New Zealand and I pay US$25 with a five dollar tip the steak costs me the same in either country. Pity our dollar isnt the same value as the US dollar but thats life

Yes, I agree with you analogy,  and I do wish our currencies were on parity with the countries I visit.

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