Is anyone cruising with me on the August 27th 2011 Meditteranean Cruise? Hellooooo?

[Tigerfan2k2]

Indeed, thanks Diane. There's an interesting article on the riots here.

Thanks for that article Hal. A good balanced view. In my opinion this has been caused by 2 or three generations of people who live with no consequences of their actions, who get what they need by doing nothing for it, who have been surrounded by the 'no blame' culture for too long and to top it all they won't change their lives, because why should they?

I work in a school that has a large proportion of students from underprivileged backgrounds and the one thing I would say they lacking is aspiration. This is bourne from all of the things mentioned above. If you have no aspirations to change your life - because you don't need to and have no role models to do so - then it is a sad life indeed.

I ask these type of kids to think about what it will be like to be on their deathbed. They should be filled with thoughts and memories of all of the wonderful things they have done throughout their lives. Will they be able to do so?

The other scary thought is that this is happening across the globe in 'developed' countries. Social reform is needed.

Sorry for the rant.

 

[jrs_mommy]

I just cancelled our Palo dinner on the 2nd night if anyone is interested.

Day 2 - Villefranche, France (Monte Carlo, Cannes, Nice)
Sunday, August 28, 2011 (8:30pm.)

If you hurry, you may be able to grab it!

 

[Halo]

Sorry for the rant.

I think that was a very informed commentary - by no means a rant. I just read another good article here in a similar vein.

Anyway, back to the cruise now.....

 

[Tigerfan2k2]

FE gifts are complete! All homemade and designed. Just got to make the FE itself now! We have the material and it just needs pinning and sewing.

Have been ebaying a lot these past two weeks and have sold loads of stuff which has gained us about £400, which will be our spends in euros (some of it anyway)

Slowly but surely getting excited.

 

[diane aggelidou]

I too ebayed/auctioned off some of my worn once gowns on ebay in order to pay towards my new bigger sized gowns.

Anyone,needs a last minute gown uk size 12/14, I have another 4 worn once that I have not advertised yet on ebay, kazar sequin beaded full length/aqua cruise embellished & shawl dress/2 jane norman chinese embellished flower .

Really looking forward to cruise,counting down days till depart! Cases already packed!
Just home to lock-down and dog to be collected by kennels for her holiday!

I am correct! 26th AUG Strikes are cancelled????????????can anyone else confirm as I have not changed flights and fly in on 26th to Barcelona!

 

[austraveler]

I have just spent 20 minutes I will never get back trying to fold the wine box we bought from the post office. You clearly need a degree in origami to work this thing. If the wine survives the trip I have a lovely bottle of Sauvignon blanc from the Hunter Valley ( about 30 minutes drive from where we live) to share.

 

[diane aggelidou]

just been reading another site called Dibb!

It says that they also provide free towels at pool????????????

Chocolate items are also free in theatre & cinema??????????????? What are they talking about,can someone explain??????????

 

[diane aggelidou]

sorry,more questions.

I have checked in on-line incl kids club for Tiff, Do I still need to stand in line at port for kids club or does she report straight to club to get tagged/bracelet.??

If I wish to pay tips in cash/provided envelopes,who do I inform and when of this to ensure that it does not go on my bill????

 

[diane aggelidou]

Any other smokers amongst you? Male?
I do not smoke,but hubby does and may want to meet some smoke buddies,as not to feel alienated! As I know there are specific designated areas for smoking!

 

[NHdisneylover]

I have just spent 20 minutes I will never get back trying to fold the wine box we bought from the post office. You clearly need a degree in origami to work this thing. If the wine survives the trip I have a lovely bottle of Sauvignon blanc from the Hunter Valley ( about 30 minutes drive from where we live) to share.

I can imagine trying to fold the thing
Our wines have made it to teh US and to London whole I an paranoid though and I always pad around the wine in the box with thick cotton socks (very absorbent in case of a break) and then put 3-4 sealed plastic bags around the box (I would HATE for the wine to break and leak out and ruin anyone else's things).

just been reading another site called Dibb!

It says that they also provide free towels at pool????????????

Chocolate items are also free in theatre & cinema??????????????? What are they talking about,can someone explain??????????

Yes, towels are provide at the pool.
Snacks sold by the theatres (both movie and live) are NOT free. They are fairly spendy too. However, you are welcome to stop by the buffet and pick up free snacks and then take them down with you (or order room service--ordering a plate of cookies to take can be nice). Sodas and other drinks offered in the theatres are also charged to your card, but you can walk up to deck 9 before the show and fill your own soda for free if you prefer.

sorry,more questions.

I have checked in on-line incl kids club for Tiff, Do I still need to stand in line at port for kids club or does she report straight to club to get tagged/bracelet.??

If I wish to pay tips in cash/provided envelopes,who do I inform and when of this to ensure that it does not go on my bill????

You will still need to get a bracelette for Tiff st some point. You can either get that in the terminal at the port or at the club when you go for the first time. If you have to wait a bit to board anyway it just seems easier to get one at the port.

You do not need to inform anyone if you are NOT charging tips to your room. It will not be done unless you ask that it is. However, I think you are a September 3 refugee like we are--meaning you have credit. Did you know that credit can be spent on tips if you charge them to your room?

 

[ptkelley]

I am correct! 26th AUG Strikes are cancelled????????????can anyone else confirm as I have not changed flights and fly in on 26th to Barcelona!

Diane, My Spanish brother-in-law checked Spanish news sources and told me that the strikes are called off "for now". here is the link he sent me, unfortunately, I do not speak Spanish, but he tells me that the strike is off and promised to watch Spanish news for any change. Seems to be still called off.

http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2011/08/09/economia/1312913179.html

Looking forward to meeting everyone! Cathy

 

[JoyB-UK]

sorry,more questions.

I have checked in on-line incl kids club for Tiff, Do I still need to stand in line at port for kids club or does she report straight to club to get tagged/bracelet.??

If I wish to pay tips in cash/provided envelopes,who do I inform and when of this to ensure that it does not go on my bill????

:


You do not need to inform anyone if you are NOT charging tips to your room. It will not be done unless you ask that it is. However, I think you are a September 3 refugee like we are--meaning you have credit. Did you know that credit can be spent on tips if you charge them to your room?

There have been several reports from early med cruises that tips are getting added to accounts at the beginning of the cruise and that this will be explained to you at check in. Possibly because there are lot more different nations on board with very different views on tipping. If it is added to the account and you want to pay cash then just take the cash to guest services and have them add it to your ship account so you are not getting that amount put onto a credit card. It looks like the staff may have been getting a lot less than normal for them to have started doing this, which is bad as the tips are basically the only wage they get, they don't have much of a salary above and beyond the gratuities.
Joy

 

[venny]

I'm fine with tipping and generally tip over the recommended amount. However, this sounds like we are being strong-armed into tipping, which leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. If a tip is truely a tip then it should be at your discretion, otherwise it is a service charge. Now I know you could most likely remove the tips from your account, but it still feels like I am almost being forced into leaving a tip, rather than leaving it based on the level of service I receive. It's all starting to sound a little like the Table in Wonderland automatic 18% gratuity

 

[JoyB-UK]

I'm fine with tipping and generally tip over the recommended amount. However, this sounds like we are being strong-armed into tipping, which leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. If a tip is truely a tip then it should be at your discretion, otherwise it is a service charge. Now I know you could most likely remove the tips from your account, but it still feels like I am almost being forced into leaving a tip, rather than leaving it based on the level of service I receive. It's all starting to sound a little like the Table in Wonderland automatic 18% gratuity

I agree it does seem a bit forced, but having experienced wonderful service last time on the Magic I have no doubt that its worth every penny. Last time we charged the recommended amount to our account and then put extra cash in the envelope, I couldn't fault the service at all. The only person who didn't get extra was the head server as we never really saw him. I'm sure if there are any issues during the cruise then Disney would let you amend the tips, but its unlikely to be necessary.

 

[diane aggelidou]

I will check on this when aboard,as prefer to decide for myself how to tip and do not want this to be taken off my credit before day one! I also prefer to tip cash as normally staff prefer this as have the cash in hand that they can use directly and not wait for it to go through accounts first. In my case Euros could come in handy for them!

 

[diane aggelidou]

I understand the low wage issue,but we too are on low wage!
So my opinion is that I tip based upon the service and politeness/hospitality of staff, as lets face it if all tips were automatically taken first,then some staff may have the attitude (because of low salary)on a full ship not to bother giving their best as they know that they already have the tips and after each voyage comes new passengers! Remember,my husbands job!

Well going to go and have a lazy day at hotel pool and enjoy med sun!

 

[NHdisneylover]

Joy--thanks for catching my error and alerting me to the new policy. It had not even occurred to me that the policy has changed after so many years

Personally--the whole tipping thing on ships has always been a bit weird. While technically, it is an "extra" it is more like a service charge that is expected. The servers/room stewards are not just paid low wages, they are almost not paid at all (I think it is about $50 per MONTH on DCL, which is better than most other cruise lines, sadly). Soooo, really if people do not tip then the staff goes essentially unpaid--which I feel is wrong. It is well publicized long before a cruise that tips are expected and what they "should" be and I have little sympathy for those who stiff the staff (not that I think anyone here would do that--but apparently it was happening and thus the new policy).
That said, I do like to have control over what the tip is. On Royal Caribbean this year we could not charge anything other than the recommended tips (neither more nor less). WE had a bad waiter who I wanted to tip less and a great room steward who I wanted to tip extra. I added cash to the room steward but had no way to show my displeasure with a truly rude and surly waiter On DCL the service has been nearly always top notch. I have tipped at or above recommendations all but once. We had one poor assistant waiter. We said something after the second night but he never got any better. Our waiter though managed to cover entirely for the guy and take care of everything for us, and always with professionalism and friendliness to counterbalance the coldness and glares from the assistant. In that one instance we cut the assistance's tip in half (and gave all that to the waiter on top of his tip because he did the job of both himself and the assistant).

 

[NHdisneylover]

I forgot to put in my two cents about cash tips vs. charging to the room

We asked crew three times which they prefer. In all three cases we were told charging. All had the same reasoning as well. They explained that they (and most of the crew) send the majority of their pay to family back home. When tips are charged they get deposited straight into the bank along with the paycheck and they (crew) can go online and send the money home easily. Cash tips require them to hold on to the money until they can get time off in a port with a bank on a day/time banks are open and then wire money (often for a much higher fee than the bank account bank would charge them). Our server last May was particularly worried about finding banks and figuring out wiring money from the Med and was really hoping he got mostly charged tips for the season so his family would not be short changed until fall.

I have no idea if that holds true for all--but it is what we were told so I thought I would pass it along.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Ok totally confused on this new tip policy change. So now Disney is automatically charging all of the tips at the suggested rate of $12/day per person? What if you want to alter the amounts ( give some less, some more?) we had an aweful stateroom attendant on our Wonder cruise back in 2009. Her tip reflected that. Is it possible to request that they NOT do this until instructed or is this automatic? Agree, I feel I'm being strong armed into this.

 

[Halo]

Ok totally confused on this new tip policy change. So now Disney is automatically charging all of the tips at the suggested rate of $12/day per person? What if you want to alter the amounts ( give some less, some more?) we had an aweful stateroom attendant on our Wonder cruise back in 2009. Her tip reflected that. Is it possible to request that they NOT do this until instructed or is this automatic? Agree, I feel I'm being strong armed into this.

The standard levels are, I believe, merely the default options. If you advise them otherwise, that is what will be reflected on your account.

We had the standard levels charged to our account, and supplemented this with additional $s in cash for our dining attendants as we felt the service was so good - and for our stateroom attendant who we felt was excellent (you need to appreciate the chaos our 3 kids can cause! ).