Thinking of a Cruise

[Captain Kong]

Thanks for that Jim,
Unbelievable how much the prices have increased in two years.
I will now have second thoughts about sailing with Cunard again.

[jimmys]

These prices are normal for city centre glasgow 250 cl good quality merlot £10. A decent pint of ale a fiver.
You have to wonder what world these cruise people are living in. Someone has to pay the shipbuilding costs.
The QM2 a British Flag clip joint. I never sailed with Cunard but keep away from anything involved with P&O.

regards
jimmy

[Jim Brady]

I think we are quite lucky here in Liverpool a glass of wine could be £3.00 buy the bottle £5.90.and a pint of tonic water and a pint glass of ice for free I've been out today pint of Boddies/John Smiths £i.80.and you can get it far cheaper than that in many placers.If you like the Beatles come to Liverpool August Bank Holiday three days of music all for free (not only Beatles music)Many street stages and all the pubs rocking with music,over 100,000 people and not an ounce of trouble,make it a date.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[Jim Brady]

I've just phoned my sister who has just returned off a cruise on the "Aurora" P&O.Her husband told me it was less than £3.00 for a large can of Guiness and £3.00 for a glass of wine.The downside is the tipping regime was £7.00 per day for the Bedroom Steward,most probably the same for the Waiter.Obviously you can opt of this if you wish to,but would you.They get the money from you one way or another.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[happy daze john in oz]

Not sure how things work in U.K. or USA but down here in Oz you are not allowed to take alcohol aboard any ship. There are large notices regarding this at evey port and all baggage is inspected. Under local law it is illegal to take alcohol on board any ship sailing from an Australian port. Yes paying for coffee, hambugers, speciality restaurants such as staek houses is quite common on P&O ships though not on Royal carribean. P&O have free coffee stations around the ship but thta is all. With R.C. you get coffee making facilities in your cabin, coffee stations around the ship and free ice cream dispensers. Guess each company does it differently.

[Ian Warren]

Hi Jim,

The current policy on P&O ships is that tipping is voluntary, and they aren't automatically charged to your cabin bill. The suggested amount is a total of £3.10 per passenger per day, to cover both your bedroom steward and your waiter, which you can put in envelopes and give direct to the people concerned. Perhaps the £7.00 a day was the total for your sister and her husband, and was a bit more than the suggested amount of £6.20.

Regards

Ian

[Captain Kong]

The last cruise with Cunard was two years ago on the QE2`s last World Cruise, the tips were charged to your account at $15 US per day per person perhaps.which means $30 a day per couple. after a few weeks this mounts up to quite a large bill. On two occaisions I have refused it, and I had to sign a paper to that effect and it was then cancelled, saving a lot of money.
Last year I did a trip to the Antarctic Continent and the Islands, via Cape Horn to Cape Town.on a ship called `MINERVA`. of Swan Hellenic. It was fairly expensive but well worth the money.
The service, food and accomodation was excellent, all inclusive, no tips and the bar was free, wine with dinner was free, there were no extras, even excursions in Buenos Aires. Tierra del Fuego and in Cape Town were included.
Obviously it was all in with the fare. but it avoided the shock of a large bill at the end of the trip.
So the person who drank the most had good value for money. There was only 200 people on board and they were mostly Tee Total ` naturealists` who were up at 4 am with their cameras filming the whales and albatross so it was left to me to make a stand in the bar, I figured if I drank enough I would have had the cruise for nothing. If that is logical.

[happy daze john in oz]

Well Ian it wouls appear that P&O have different policiews for different parts of the world. Down here it is charged to your final bill. There is a note in the cabin information booklet which tells you it can be waived but i would suggest very few read it. Some travels agents here advertise on occasions,'gratuities included in fare'.

[robpage]

The thought that you pay for your cruise , then have to pay the crews wages as an addition , does not appeal to me at all . I just don't want to support those kind of practices .

[Tommy the T]

The above post by "Rob" is the very reason that I left the sea........

I was working as a Wine Steward on the "Royal Princess" ( I joined her for the maiden voyage in 84 & left her in 87),
basically we were all made redundant, on the final day onboard we had 2 sheets of paper in front of us
1) to leave the ship & never return ( paid off with severence pay)
2 accept severence pay & "sign on" again but under a new contract, which basically said that "tips" would be collected on our behalf from the passengers & the company would ensure if needed they would "top up" so that we earned $650 per month, after doing a 9 month stint ( instead of the usual 4 months) we were not confirmed that we would be able to return after being on unpaid leave,
To be honest......I told em where to shove it....approx $160 for working 70 hours per week no thanks.

Tommy the T