cruise ships

[Kenneth Kenny]

My two sons have been on a couple of cruiises with there wifes both in there forties,love them to see the world,we had to go away to sea in the merchant navy,to do that which i'am glad i did.the young lads in the last 15years,have know chance the way things are in to days world.My daughter will not go on the Birkenhead Ferry she might get sea sick.Ken.

[Graham Payne]

Worst thing I ever done was gob off to my wife about my time on P&O Orient line, she said she would love to see what is was like,
I agreed to a short 1 week trip to the Fijords, unfortunatley she loved the bloody cruise
10 cruises and a few ££££££ s later she still wants another one Arghhh

[Tony Wilding]

my elder brother an ex chief cook goes every year says they are fantastic, his wife also, tried to talk me into going, not for me, i prefer to go where i want when i want and not with 3000 other people, apart from the fact i consider them disasters waiting to happen,

[Lou Barron]

To many bars for me might fall overboard

[robpage]

at the shock of the price and the tips I expect Charles

[Captain Kong]

I always took my own bottles of whisky with me and had a drink in the cabin before dinner and before a show.
On a long trip, 25 to 48 days the bar bill can mount up astronomically, with 15% going in tips.
also the daily tips are a rip off.13$ a day each, 26$ for 48 days ,is too much on the price you pay to go there. so I always sign the paper at the Pursers Office not to take any tips. I am not paying towards a bunch of eastern european slobs who have no hygene standards, That is what Cunard have reduced themselves to.
I bunged my Filipino cabin Steward a few bob as he was good and cheerful.
Brian

[Capt Bill Davies]

As I have said before the only cruise type ship I sailed in was one of the 'Hurtigruten' on the 12 day round trip out of Bergen, Norway. The catering staff I dealt with were happy with more personal tokens of appreciation like Wine et al.

I have never been an advocate for 'tipping' (probably the Welsh in me) but what I read on this site about the tipping forming part of ones wages is totally and morally unacceptable to me and I will not venture on one of those ships that employs that manner of payment. Carnival/Cunard/P&O mean nothing to me.

Brgds

Bill

[happy daze john in oz]

If you know what to do they can be very ngood fun. There are plenty od spots on board away from the crowd if you know where to look for them. Stay away from th emain pool.

[Jim Slattery]

Took the family on a Disney Cruise around the Medi last summer and have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it, as did the whole family.

Plenty of well organised entertainment for the Children and Adult only areas for drinking and dining should you require some peace.

The food was top notch, the drink not overly priced, the crew most accommodating and friendly, the State Room we had was big enough for all 5 of us to move around in comfort and all for less money than the last Ski holiday we had.

Port excursions are not recommended, better to find your own way around if you can.

The children didn't want to pay off in the end and that backfired as we are now going again on Disney's new cruise liner, the Disney Fantasy, in September!

Must say I am looking forward to it, a bit of a busman's holiday I know, but it is great to be onboard a vessel with no responsibilities.

[happy daze john in oz]

There has been much spoken about the system of tipping on board cruise ships. The policy of many P&O, Royal Caribbean, Cunard and a few more, to stipulate how much per day you should pay and it has been automaticaly added to your on board account.
After recieving many complaints from Australian bloods Princess Cruises decided to end compulsary tipping from May 1st last year on all ships sailing from Australian ports. This has now ben extended to all Princess cruise ships. In the on board services advisory book in each cabin there is a section specifying this. It says,' Tipping on Princess Cruises is not required. However if you believe you have recieved exceptional service from a crew member and you wish to reward them then you may do so.'
I am unable to say if thie practice now extensd to other companies under the Carnival umbrella.

Prior to this change in practice all bar accounts included a 10% gratuity charge. Last year a Gin and Vodka cost me $15 including the 10%. Now without the 10% it costs $15.20. Last year before the change came in my ticket account said 'gratutities not applicable'. at that time the compulsory charge still applied so I applied to the purser for a waiver on the charge. This was done and he took a photo copy of the ticket. On my next cruise with them I recieved a discount of my fare equivalent to 10% of my last bar account.

As a result of the removal of the 10% on bar accounts all bar staff now recieve a bonus based on their sales. It encourages them to make sure people such as I are well cared for.
There was a rumor going around that this bonus was to be cut by 25% to pay for the cost of recovering the Costa Packet (Concordia). The bar staff all said they were not aware of such a story. But it continued to such an extent that last Monday during his midday announcement from the bridge the officer of the watch said he had been instructed by the company to inform all bloods that this was not the case.
It goes to show just how some often mad cap stories get around.