Can we all just take a moment to appreciate the fact that this guy isn’t criticising cruise lines but instead he is providing a detailed explaination as to why cruise lines do that
i mean he doesn't have to. his reasoning seem pretty condemning to me. the tips for instance could go directly to the crews but... etc etc... and minimum crew costs etc etc. on the contrary no-one has ever said minimum bonuses for board members
@@DragonFox84 Yes, and I'm sure you like money as well. As always, if you don't want to buy something because you feel it is too costly, nobody is forcing you to do so.
@@DragonFox84 I guess I don’t understand the money comment. Yes….they want money….Just like any hotel or resort or theme park or any other vacation spot. It’s ultimately about money. But…I mean I guess it’s just business right? Even hospitals charge for services at least here in the states. I can’t imagine anyone building a cruise ship for the sole purpose of just making sure people have a good time. Yeah they want them to have a good time but the sole purpose is to earn money. That’s why my husband goes to work each day As a GM at a body shop. Yes he wants to fix cars but he also wants to make money so that our family can live in a house and eat and stuff like that. I don’t know that the shipping industry is some huge evil giant. They’re huge and definitely a giant but they make money because that’s just what the world does. Of course that’s just my opinion
After being on several cruises I hardly see any people in the pool and wonder if they are really needed at all. However, the jacuzzi is more popular and more of those maybe the answer. Out of 2000 passengers on my last cruise I only saw 1 person having a swim. Anyone else just stood in the water because the jacuzzi's were full. As for anything in business you suck people in with low prices and hit them later. In the case of cruises it could be compulsory tips added to your room or more expensive drinks with service charge added. On P&O tips are in the price of the holiday and there are no service charges added to drinks. Very different on RC. $14.50 on the room per person per day and 18% service charge on purchases so I avoid RC. Cunard allowed me to alter the daily room charge and I tipped individuals, a sort of hybrid which I am happy with. However, they charge service on all drinks and spa treatments which I do not agree with if you are paying daily room tips. it should one or the other, not both IMO.
Gratuity is a fancy way of saying "part of the crew's salary". Letting passengers pay part of it so the cruise line doesn't have to raise wages is plain wrong.
The tip schedule is the pay raise. Advertised cruise costs are just a come on. If the cruise line had to advertise the real cost of taking a cruise, the bargain-happy people of today wouldn't even think of taking a cruise. Passengers can't avoid paying the tip schedule, so it's no big deal. Even experienced passengers still fall for the lie of this phony base price when they see advertisements.
@@tonkingulfyachtclub8111 more often than not, the gratuity is mandatory and a fixed gratuity is to be paid either prior to the cruise or before checkout.
@@tonkingulfyachtclub8111 am a travel agent and we do this day in day out. NCL, Royal Caribbean/Celebrity, Star Cruise..all charge mandatory gratuity which can be either paid pre-cruise or while on board. But they have to be paid. We don't have an option to opt out.
If they charge more, the price for cruises will look higher on the website than competitors' prices, and you more likely will choose competitors, because of that couple hundreds dollars difference. It's a marketing ploy.
The reason pools were located within the interior of the Queen Mary: comfort. She traveled transatlantically through cold weather conditions that would attract no passengers to the outside upper decks for a swim.
I used to work in the accounts department in a All-inclusive resort, they charge gratuity on everything, but only pay a fraction to staff, they keep much for the company, it was disgusting !!
@@jamesbizs depends on the jurisdiction. In the UK there is an ongoing debate about how far tips can count towards covering the min wage; but if there is a persistent shortfall the employer has to top up to the min hourly rate for hours worked. That makes it even more obvious that the customer is tipping the firm not the employee
Very good videos. Problem: every time I watch one I find more reasons NOT to consider going on a cruise. Tight space, constant sale pressure, scams, small pools, abused crews, and so on.
I have to say, I had similar reservations but I did finally go on a cruise and it was phenomenal. We sailed from Seattle to Alaska and it was an incredible experience. The only sales pressure I felt was they did keep mentioning the benefits of booking your next cruise during this one, but that was really all. My wife got to meet some crew members from the same country she is from, which was really neat and all and all it was just a really wonderful experience. I took part in a few of the game shows on board, saw some shows I normally wouldn't really see...As I say....I completely understand your reservations but as someone who recently took a cruise, I would now highly recommend it!
My biggest reservation is cruise ships sailing under flags of countries with no labor laws. I frankly prefer to fly directly to wherever I'm interested and spend my money in those countries rather than give them to the cruise companies (in Europe I also ride trains between countries). And airlines don't punish you for flying solo. My one exception would be river cruises where companies are not sailing international waters
@@nataliajimenez1870 you can sail on the pride of America. she is the only us flagged cruise ship and sail from California to Hawaii. Cunard lines are all flagged in Bermuda a British overseas territory. the works on those ship have a minimum wage of 16 usd and the right to unionize. ADIA ships are all Italian flagged. costa ship are also all Italian except for one ship that is in the process of being transferred to costa and transferred from Liberian to Italian flag. holland America is all flagged in the Netherlands. p&o cruses are all flagged in the Bermuda and the uk. the same goes for all princesses line ships. all of the celebrity ships other than the expedition class are Malta flagged it can really say anything good or bad about maltase labor laws. in general avoid royal Caribbean and go with carnival. all of the lines I listed other than celebrity are carnival lines. there are cruise options for what ever your labor law requirements are. there is of course no law options, bare minimum options, and even EU level options. UPDATE i just checked to Bahamas labor laws and they seem to match us labor laws with the exception of minimum wage with Bahamas being 260 usd a week which comes out 6.5 usd a hour for a 40 hour work week the current us federal minimum wage (some us states have higher minimums) is 7.25. I can't speak as hoe well any of these laws are enforced in any of the countries I mentioned.
On most of my cruises, the cabin steward works the hardest for me. When that happens I always tip them extra and put it in their hands, so I know they get it.
Now that tips are part of the fee, I think they are banking for extra like the cabin steward. I give him a tip as soon as I 1st meet him/her. If you ever get a tour of the ship you will meet a lot of hard-working people you never even see.
@@paulrock4816 I agree. I tip the cabin steward, the maitre'd and my waiter on the FIRST day. They then feel that they have to earn it, and I get amazing service. Very fair.
Yah my family does to we always feel so bad for them bc they word super super hard and I feel bad for them bc they probably don’t make much and working on a cruise was there only option to make money. But there always so upbeat and funny. We also tip them on the very first day
We tip the 1st day. Giving special attention to the cabin stewart with a gift bag of treats, some staples and extra money. Sometimes they are confused why we give extra b4 they provide service....we want them to know right away that we care for them and then learn about them and their families. I have food allergies so we also tip the matre d and the servers 1st day and the last. It means so much to me to be safe with my foods and that means I will have a fun trip.
Do away with tips all together and just charge me extra for the complete package so that I know the workers are getting paid a full wage. This gratuity control bs is total garbage and a shady business tactic.
I paused the video just to comment on the auto-grat system. Tips are PURELY there so employers can avoid paying decent wages to their employees while passing the cost on to their customers. Literally NO COUNTRY tips outside of North America. It's purely an American thing. (I had a bar tender chase me down in London for leaving her one pound on the bar one time).
If workers had been paid more, the cruise industry would not have been making profit. They use desperate people from the countries with big problems like wars, famine, dictatorships, criminal cartels, and pay them a fraction of an average americans' salary, while depriving them of basic human rights, freedom, constantly under stress and surveillance. It is a prison indeed.
in Australia, where we do not live in a society that demands tips like US, our fare is all inclusive, there is nothing addition to pay before or during the cruise
I would prefer it that way. Cost containment for (this) passenger so I'm not spending any more than what I budgeted when I booked the cruise. On top of getting to the starting port in the first place.
The gratauities are just built into the fare. It's more to do with Australian Consumer Law (you can't advertise a price then later add on other "compulsary charges". If the charges are compulsary, it's part of the fare)
As a french person, we do have a very different approach to tipping. In France, waiters are better paid from the beginning, so we almost never leave a tip, because it's not part of their earnings. Sometime, when the waiter/tress has been very kind or helpful, we leave a little something, but I speak 1 or 2€ as best, in common restaurant (in much higher elegant places, it's obviously more). Anyway, tips here are called "pourboire" which translates as "for drinking". It's meant so that the waiter can have a bonus drink with friends in a pub at the end of his day of work. That's why french people, when staying in another countries, are often perceived as people who don't want to tip. It's just not in our culture, and when not informed, travelers don't tip much, 'cause they're not told how it works. Once we have been taught the rules, we usually compelled, letting everyone know that "in France, it's better". Because, you know, that's how french people are 🙂
And since the tips are mandatory they have no incentive to do better to get better tips, some malls are actually cooler than cruise ships and at least you can leave when you want..
@@_wanted_outlaw3007 well now I've got Hotel California stuck in my head But on the topic, I'd say Cruises would be the least attractive vacation option you could ever present to me,
@@Igoriann Semi's have baffles inside the containment units (usually 4) to mitigate liquids sloshing around. It's already been said but not everyone drive's a semi. Here's an example; I drive a fire truck. It carry's 500 gallons of water with no baffles, it's overweight, and has a high center of gravity. Same principles apply yet I didn't think of it until after it was mentioned in the video. (Boat vs Truck.... I didn't connect the dots either).
@@smileyp4535 he answered that in the video. They wouldn't fill the ship if they charged even more. At current fares they already have to fill a significant number of cabins at lower than list-price. My guess from that is that if list prices were higher the bargain-basement numbers would be even greater, and that the cruise lines are setting the prices at the best predicted trade-off between high fares and occupancy at list price
@@trueriver1950 well yeah, and the way they do that is by pushing it as high as it will go and then filling in what's left at the end. We're both correct here. They will charge as much as they possibly can and then also sell sell sell once on the boat, then if it's a few weeks before and they still have a few rooms to fill they will cut down with much more certainty because they assume even the people who got the last minute reservations will buy something, especially because they probably won't be able to sign up for any extra activities anyway since if those activities have a limit of spots to sign up for they probably will all be taken by the people who bought their tickets in advance, and if they don't they might even try to charge more as a "last minute/from boat sign up" fee (even if it doesn't make a difference) simply because they can
We've been cruising for around 25 years and I've talked to many crew members who flat out stated that many passengers "in the old days" NEVER tipped! When we started cruising we enjoyed handing out our tip envelopes and personally thanking the crew members that served us. Today, we use the automatic gratuities but still try to see each crew member and thank them. We've also additionally tipped certain entertainers that we've particularly enjoyed. For example, on one transatlantic cruise there was a truly fine classical guitarist who would talk to us about his musical background between sets. He even gave me a CD of some of his recordings. These are the kind of people that we believe deserve extra gratuities and recognition.
Cruise people certainly seem to enjoy cruising and more power to them. No place for this kid though. Being crammed into an ocean going petri dish isn't something I would choose to do.
@@brassholio Nothing in the world would induce me to take one of those things! If I go on holiday I ant to get away from people not get jammed in with more!
@@mikewalrus4763 I think most people who are against cruising are just ignorant on the subject and don't realise how massive they actually are. I mean, fair enough if you've gone on one and didn't like it, but until you've tried it you don't actually know. Hell, you can sit on your balcony and order room service the whole time and just leave your room to get off and explore new places. The whole experience is what you make it, if you want quiet go to the buffet at 10pm when no one is there, then go to the open deck, look at the stars and enjoy the peace. You can read the whole time or hit the gym. The idea is that you don't have to do anything for yourself.
My one (and only) cruise experience was a three-day excursion thirty years ago out of Miami. After the ship left the dock, the captain announced the AC was out of service, and it would take "a little time" to repair. It never was, and we passed several miserable days sweating in that thing. I still remember the floor show- they sang, 'Hot, Hot, Hot', if you can believe it.
I work on a cruise ship. My first crew cabin was on deck 1, under the water line, just forward of mid-ship. It was always smooth down that low. Even rough seas barely bothered me. One day, we hit a really rough patch heading into Maui. I was in the shower and I nearly fell into the sink. One of my friends was working in a dish wash station on deck 12, he said plates where flying everywhere. I always thought it was stupid that the really premium cabins were way up high.
I actually really like the prepaid tipping on cruise ships. I don’t carry any money around with me and there is no pressure or “tipping” expectation from staff like I have experienced in some all inclusive land resorts. I still give a monetary tip to the cabin steward and potentially other staff who have gone above and beyond but this would be at the end of the cruise before I disembark.
A long time ago I gave a $50 tip to our room attendant on the 1st night of the cruise and told him that we’d talk again on the last night. For the next 12 nights he looked after us above and beyond, with lots of extras here and there, now and again. We never had any problems with our stateroom, it was always well stocked, clean and tidy (even though we weren’t overly tidy ourselves!). It was really nice and very handy to see our stuff neatly stowed away, always in the same places, cupboards and closets. On the last night we gave him another $75 (total of about five bucks a day each from my wife and I). He deserved every cent. We’ve done the same a few other times, but kept it to about a total of 2 or 3 dollars a head in total from both of us.
I consider tipping at the start of a cruise (or a meal for that matter) to be rather vulgar. It's like saying "I'm important ich", give me special service. Tipping should say "thank you" not "I'm paying you in advance". btw, the gratuities are not compulsory. A trip to the inquiries desk can see them removed from your bill, leaving you free to tip who you want and how much. I take a bunch of envelopes (and a wad of cash!) to do this.
I bought a watch on my first cruise. I overpaid for it, but I like it, and makes me think of my cruise whenever I wear it. I would say it was worth it.
One time I had a Neptune suite on one of my Holland America voyages and it had a large balcony. This suite was located in the middle of deck 7 and thank god when we hit a rough weather one night - I was able to invite some people that I've met on the ship and whose cabins were at the front of the ship. I remember that I had roughly about 15 people on my balcony and we were having so much fun - despite the rough seas. I still remember that room #. It was the suite 7069 located mid-ship on Eurodam. Great video - thanks Gary!
I can understand the attraction of going on a cruise "back in the day", however nowadays (excluding covid of course) the industry has devolved so much that the mere thought of being crammed into one of those monstrosities makes me seasick, or maybe its norovirus? The floating cesspool, the criminally poor treatment of crew, the dumping of waste, the greater environmental impact, the localised problems and erosion of large ships in confined channels, the cramming of thousands of people into a very small moving space. I honestly cannot think of one aspect of this industry that would entice me to board a mass market cruise ship.
@@christinewild5935 and you think land hotels and complexes are any better? The cleanliness of those are worse. I have never been on a ship that felt crowded. Stick to the 2000 people and less ships. Somebody said merchant vessel. What a joke, the people on them have a lack of self hygiene. Washing hands after the toilet is non existent. I've seen it!
@@christinewild5935 I know this is a semi old comment that I'm replying to, but I felt the need to mention that a lot of detergents, sanitizers, and soaps will also fluoresce under uv light so unless they were using a light above 440nm, the results will be skewed. Maybe they did and the surfaces actually were disgusting, who knows. But I thought this would be good info for people to have because I know a lot people like to check their hotel rooms with a black light and I'm willing to bet a whole lot of them didn't know that any old black light won't necessarily work.
Worked on a cruise ship for 5 years now. The amount of negative will not surpass the service that will be given to you. The ratio is 1 crew for every 2 passenger. You will not treated badly not even close to how landbased hotel will treat you.
I recall reading the technical review for the cruise ship that would eventually become the venerable Island Princess, and it commented on the small size of the topside pool, but dismissed this by saying that the ship would be used mostly by elderly retirees (this was back in the early 1970s). In Victorian days, rich passengers might book two cabins: the deluxe one for ordinary use, and a smaller one amidships just for rough seas. The bigger luxury steam yachts had a similar system, with two or even three "master staterooms". Normandie was notoriously cranky (i.e. loathe to return to vertical) because although her hull was well designed, the company demanded that the deluxe staterooms and public spaces topside be furnished with genuine marble and glass, putting too much weight on the upper decks. This and poor fire-fighting techniques led to her eventual partial capsizing at dock.
Then you have breakout viruses on cruise ships and everyone ends up sick as there’s nowhere to go. Never seen a cruise’s appeal. Always thought of it as an elderly holiday for some reason.
I am a loner by nature, and I love cruises because I can spend most of my time far away from the other people there (unlike theme parks, stadiums, bars, etc). Even meal times are doable if you go to the least crowded stations and time it right. There *are* a few crowded situations, but they don't last long and most can be avoided.
I took a HA cruise 11 years ago. 2 weeks. Broke a shoe string first day out. Went to the "store" and was amazed to discover it was the size of a large bathroom. It barely stocked anything. Certainly no shoestrings. But, dang! They sure as hell had plenty of jewelry and clothing shops selling junk at a 1000% markup! 🙄
If you have an issue with having to pay tips for every service, only sail on Australian registered cruise ships. They can not add a system like that, but passengers can still offer tips. They go into a staff pool that gets equally shared between all staff at that service point on that shift. As for the room staff that do you linen and laundry change, it is customary to leave a tip and a thank you note on the last day. On one cruise I was on, we gave our service gentleman $50, which almost left him in tears. He was used to getting no more than $20. A couple of years later, on a second cruise on a different ship in the fleet, he recognised us and stopped to say hello and catch us up on each others lives.
I just consider the prepaid gratuities as part of the price of the cruise. I always tip extra to everyone I think deserve it. Something they can keep themselves without it going through the cruise line.
With Carnival, you can still control your tips if you like. You can make adjustments or cancel them altogether and just give your crew members cash if you like. In your paperwork it also states who actually gets that money and how much per day.
Tips should not be madatory... In fact they should not exist as a habit. It's just a way to make the customer pay the employee, I find it absurd I much prefer Europe habits, where tips are rare and a genuine sign of appreciation
theres places its mandatory in america but its normally high end places. for th most part the tips get spread to the bus boys and all too. i prefer you give something then nothing unless it was really bad service. wait staff in america tend to make less an hour and rely on tips. i feel it motivates them to do better service in most cases then not.
The concert theater I worked at used the same principle of the shopping on cruises. If a concert/entertainer was not selling well a lot of free passes went out to media for contests etc. An empty seat does not spend anything at the bar, souvenir table or partking.
Went on a cruise in 2014 for my honeymoon. We calculated out that we would have had to drink 8.9 drinks per day each for the alcohol package to break even cost-wise. We did our drinking on land while we were in port . . . .
I love vodka but dont wanted to pay 10-20 times more on the ship,so when i am in port i put vodka i bought in store in city in water bottle i carry with me ,my girlfriend also,and come on board with it..no one ever noticed
We don't mind that gratuities are included because we have seen so many people on cruises who do not tip at all. And, we still have the freedom to tip extra to those who stood out to us on top of our cabin attendant(s) and wait staff.
Our last cabin attendant took really good care of us and looked out for us constantly. We tipped him extra on the regular. So when we got back to the hotel and realized I left a ruby and diamond platinum ring in the safe (it fell out of the jewelry bag), he actually turned it in. RC sent it back via FedEx and I had it two weeks later. I'll always tip for great service. 👍
We've never taken a cruise, but my wife knows that if I did, she'd find me in the engine room every day! That's just the most interesting thing to me about large ships!
I feel you. My wife and I travel, and she naturally wants to sample the malls. I'm of the opinion that if you see a mall you've seen them all. The compromise is to visit malls that have a bookstore. She can then knock herself out shopping.
I’ve only been on 2 cruises, one originating in Hawaii and one in Montreal going to NYC. Tips were included on both cruises. Of course we chose to tip stewards, and cabin butlers for great service.
Haven't done a cruise yet. Do they actually allow passengers into the engine room? If so, do you get to poke around, or is it more of an OSHA-approved, all-behind-safety-glass, viewing deck type experience?
the swimming pools, they're small due to the free surface effect where moments are created due to the pool not being full and therefore more sloshing takes place. another point why they are so small is with international regulations you can't just dump the pool (empty the pool ) wherever you like, the tanks only have a limited capacity that they can hold so much of the water.
It must be brilliant for tendering - retired people wouldn't have to walk down several decks to get on board. I'm remembering a great cruise on the Nile where unfortunately some stops were so popular that disembarking meant crossing through several other ships before you reached the shore, it was interesting. The staff were very concerned that we would return to the right ship afterwards!
If I were to take a cruise, I’d want to do it on a ship from the 1930s, cabins in the middle, sun deck with lounge chairs facing the ocean (and not the people) all around, wait staff keeping drinks full and occasionally circling with an interesting snack.
@@JoelBlackmann500 Thought about doing that, but I heard they were checking water bottles to make sure they are still factory-sealed...then they banned bottled water altogether during our last cruise.
I remember when I was younger, I was just looking off the railing late at night and seeing the employees dumping garbage bags off the side of the ship. Think it was Carnival.
Wow, the last time I went on a cruise they gave out special envelopes at the end where you could give tips to the crew. The pool thing I'd already heard of. The extras I dealt with on the few cruises I went on when I was younger. They had a like a shipboard newspaper they would slide under your cabin door outlining all the extra excursions and other little things they had going on. Then there was the cards you could get for drinks and games as only tea and water were included in with your meal. I must've blown at least 1k or more on extras alone that first cruise I went on with my parents before I caught onto the game as it were lol. :D
I wonder how many times Celebrity Edge has used the magic carpet for tender purposes? Future itineraries have Edge based in the Caribbean, I can only think of Grand Cayman as a possible tender port.
Good video Gary! I’ve worked as a guest entertainer on cruises for over 40 years and I’ve seen many evolutions. What you said about pools and weight are true; but the 4 foot wide, six inch deep ‘lip’ surrounding the pool also has a scientific reason. It adds an enlarged surface tension to the pool water and very effectively dampens sloshing and wave-making for the deeper, straight-walled part of the pool. Just watch what happens to the pool at night when the pool gets drained. Once the water level drops below that 6 inch shallow bumper of water, the rest of the pool develops wave activity that can be huge! I recall one 1960’s built cruise ship had a small aft pool that was straight walled; and the passengers were frequently thrown around by huge waves caused by the slightest rocking of the ship. The later invention of the 6-8 inch water bumper would have dramatically lessened all that to next to nothing.
I used to jokingly call such huge ships a "hotel on a barge". But then I saw a photo for an Alaskan cruise with a viewing platform over the bridge and suddenly I wanted to be there, on that ship, taking photos (my passion). Four cruises later, the factor I most like: you take your hotel room with you. I hate packing, so this is wonderful. There are hassles, but I got to visit UK places I would love to visit again. Drive-by tourism, yes, but sampling is better than nothing. Yes they try to sell you overpriced artwork and want you to visit the casino. Just ignore that. I like to read, so sea days are reading days, not shopping days. I took a transatlantic trip (one of my lifelong dreams) for two weeks and was not bored one bit, even with a long stretch of nothing but ocean.
@@Paul_Wetor yeah cruises are great if you make the most of them. They offer good sampling so you can see where you want to back to, and having your transportation while sleeping and being able to relax in your hotel, go to shows, and try different foods is great. I just use dispensable income on ports to hopefully spend money more locally rather than just the cruise lines.
There are "giant floating holiday resort" cruises, and I will never choose one of those. There are also smaller cruises that are focused on going to *interesting* places that are difficult to travel to any other way. The ship is where you sleep and eat and pass time when you travel, but the primary focus of the trip are the destinations. The two are completely different, and while I have no interest in the first, I most definitely am interested in the second. My fantasy trip is a cruise to Antarctica ... out of my budget, unfortunately.
I've been cruising a lot, and many of the crew have loose lips when it comes to their tip, and how it's managed. A maître d' I got good friends with, told me that even when the tip have been pre payed, a servant might end up getting no tip at all if guest where to complain, and he/she would loose a table (or two) for the next voyage/sailing. Fewer tables equals less tip potential.
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The mandatory tips are there so they simply dont have to pay their staff that much. They will pay them less and use the rest from the tips. Previously, some staff would get no tips at all where others would get tons. Some would be underpaid and some overpaid. Now they just solved this problem for themselves.
The mandatory tip schedule is so that they don't have to advertise the full price of the cruise. I wish there were some consumer advocates that forced the cruise liners to advertise the correct prices, same with the "1 in any currency" plane tickets that have added charges for "airport fees" and stuff that in the end gives you a substabtial cost on par with the cheapest "all inclusive" airplane tickets from serious air lines.
Another point about the size of the pools is the free surface effect the water will have when the ship rolls or pitches. The smaller the pool, the less the effect of free surface.
I did a seven day cruise last year At the end of the cruise I had to settle up my bill for all of the extras that I had purchased on the cruise. It came to $4.
Great video! Rule of thumb, for every tonne on top there needs to be 2 tonnes below. QE2 also got round this by having aluminium above her freeboard, and steel below! When weight is added to a vessel, the centre of gravity of the vessel always moves in the direction of the added weight. Therefore, adding a pool which on average has a water mass of around 80 tonnes (W x L x D x Water Density) results in the vessel's centre of gravity rising, causing a decrease in the vessel's metacentric height and thereby its stability. Many people assume that they net the pools in heavy weather purely for passenger safety, but it’s actually a requirement by IMO to drain pools in heavy weather to aid stability, and reduce any free surface effect!
Oh! That explains it. I saw the Edge and it's 'Magic Carpet' elevator in December 2019 from a different ship moored a few hundred yards away. I don't remember exactly what port but I thought it was a strange looking thing on the side of their ship. Makes sense now. Cheers!
Lots of information about cruises. I make my wife watch them. Afterwards she says no way, let's save our money and go to a quiet beach house and save save save. I love my smart wife.
Aww, I never fall for the cruise line sales pitch.. I don’t purchase their excursions either..you come out cheaper exploring on your own! I caught a deal to the Bahamas for 200 bucks for 2 people..I got the drink package..ate only in the included dining rooms, went to all the free shows on board, and did not buy those picture packages..like for what, my phone takes great pictures! 😜
@@assassinlexx1993 best time ever! Besides the ticket I spent 500 bucks overall! Soon as you get off the ship there are locals offering tours etc for wayyy cheaper.. they try to scare you and say that’s not safe but I believe in getting money into the small mans hands plus other couples went as well, safety in numbers and we went to the same places the excursion charged over 100 pp for 25 bucks each!
Working for a cruise line (one of the brand you quoted). We have no suites on the back of the ships, the "owner suites" are of course in the centre of the vessel where you are less affected by movement. We have top-grade suites in the front of the ship, they are amazing, but you must not suffer sea sickness to sleep there. And in the rare occasions of _very_ rough sea (Captains try to avoid it) on the front you may hear sometimes the bang of the anchor against the hull.
I think part of the issue was also the ability to earn tips. If you have a job as a steward or bartender you were likely to get a tip. If you worked in the kitchen or laundry it would be unlikely.
To be able to advertise lower fares. A similar thing happened in Europe with airlines marketing fares excluding taxes and mandatory extras. The EU then ruled against the practice, because it was considered false advertising. The reasoning is that the practice didn't allow the customer to make an informed decision when comparing competitors
In 1979 my parents took my brother and me on the Pacific Princess down the western Mexico coast. Cruising was wonderful back then. There were only a couple of shops onboard and they were really reasonable and stocked with beautiful merchandise. The only thing I remember them selling outside of those shops were candid 8x10 passenger photos and they weren’t pushy about it. The photos were really good. There was one huge dining room we used for all meals, same waitstaff every day, and evenings required formal attire. I still have all the menus from each day. 42 years later I still have the 2 evening bags and the jewelry I purchased and they bring back such great memories.
I have always wondered what those two vertical rails on the side of the Celebrity ship were for. Anyone how has waited hours for a tender to shore should appreciate that perk. The info about balance is really illuminating too. Great Video, Thanks.
One thing you forgot about the tips. The cruise line keeps that money in their account and collect the interest on the money and keep that for themselves. For every five ships that’s around 10,000 passengers contributing to that fund a week.
I remember when I first started cruising you would always leave tips for your waiter and the room Steward the last night of the cruise. But I know that a lot of people didn't show up in the dining room on the last night of cruising and stiffed the waiter and probably their room Steward too. now that cruise lines have multiple dining venues it's an excuse for them to say it's easier for you that they do it this way. I think they should just call it a service charge and not a tip.
... I retired from a tipped share pool years ago ... let me tell you there are sometimes ..stewards ... housemen ... dish crew ... all in the pool... sure you paid a fortune for this trip ... so what's another hundred really ... tip the help always ... remember they helped you make the fun fun ... if you owned a yatch ... you don't complain about the price of gas ... or would you ...
If you're spending 50 to 100% equivalent in the shops just keep in mind that whatever you buy in the shops on board the ship gets declared by the ship to US Customs. So your declaration form better match up.
Some really interesting stuff there thanks Gary. They emptied the pools on our Celebrity Infinity cruise from South America to Antartica a few years back in anticipation of rough weather across the Drake Passage. Fortunately we encountered Drake Lake and had a very smooth passage both ways so the pools were filled up again on our return leg.
I love learning about the science of ships, since they always look top heavy anyway. The ships larger than small towns -- and most of it vertical -- always seem like a disaster waiting to happen. On our first cruise, I was happy tipping was included, since there are SO many people you could tip, and we did anytime dining so would have had to tip each meal, plus we never know what's appropriate. But I do fear cruise lines then just pay less and rely on this "service charge". And I TOTALLY agree with you about the blatant sales pressure -- even to shop at certain stores ashore -- awkward for passengers and cruise lines should be embarrassed.
You can opt out of mandatory tips if you speak to the guest services. The last cruise I was on I went to guest services questioning why I was charged for tips on services that I never used, they told me that I can opt out of it and tip at my discretion and adjusted my bill.
Absolutely correct. Every time we cruise, I go to Guest Services and have the “mandatory” tips removed, then tip certain crew members in cash at the end of the cruise.
I mean the thing about the load distribution of pools is mildly interesting, but all the human stupidity behind everything about it is just sickening. Still, this is not meant to bash the creator of the video, who does a good job as a presenter (thank you). But seriously, STOP EFFING THE PLANET BY FUNDING SUCH HUGE ASS SHIPS .
Water weighs about 8 pounds per gallon. Remember that when you see a fire truck. The smaller ones have about 500 gallons (2 tons of water, ignoring the rest of the truck), and the larger ones are 3000 gallons (24,000 pounds or 12 tons). Firetrucks don't stop quickly, and that's why. Cruise liners want to provide the service, but have to balance the risks associated with the service.
About 12 years ago, I bought a Citizen Promaster Navihawk Watch for about $350ish dollars on a cruise ship. I ended up saving money on the watch, since I was able to look up the price of the watch at several department stores in my area, and it was actually about $75 more expensive on land vs on ship, so I bought the watch, and still works perfectly today.
Common Sense would tell you why the pool is small. Number one the water weight is up high on the ship and if the ship is listing the water is moving adding to the listing of the ship.
Phenomenal channel. I don't cruise, but it's hugely interesting and informative. Thank you sir; nothing but admiration for a gentleman that knows his stuff. Happy cruising! Hello from Ireland.
Nice video but I regards to the weight of the pools, ships can offset this with ballast. Cruise ships are constantly pumping ballast from one side to another to avoid rolling in the seas.
Worst thing for ship stability is a big batch of water with free uninterrupted surface. Meaning big pool. Ballast tanks cannot offset dynamical effects of rolling water
For a ship that is meant to attract the young pretty crowd installing a small pool is incredibly short sighted. Unless they think the young hip pretty just want to pose around the pool but not actually get wet
My main issue with gratuities is that I've heard from crew that they only get the full amount that I've paid if they score "excellent" on the customer feedback forms, if you mark the forms as merely "good" or below then they get a smaller percentage. I don't like this as I don't feel I can be honest on the form, if something wasn't as good as it should be, as I don't want to financially hurt the crew member.
His tips are good specially for people that never cruised before. I say that because since 2011 I cruise once or twice a year and all what he said is true.
I have never taken a cruise and this video has further convinced me that is a wise decision. I prefer flying to a destination and staying in a nice hotel. The concierge can put you in touch with or arrange for the best entertainment, shopping and restaurants according to your taste. You are free to tip according to taste and I've never gotten seasick in any of the venues I've visited.
Celebrity cruises ship is quite a nice size pool and a there’s an outdoor and indoor pool. Neither of them ever get full. Not yet been on of the new ones so haven’t seen the magic carpet yet but hopefully I will one day. Only heard good things about it really, but everyone is entitled to an opinion if they don’t like something. We also choose to add tips to our packages so everyone can get something (sometimes those behind the scenes are forgotten about) however we still add an extra tip to those we want to - we often give extra to a bar staff, waiter and our room domestic who has looked after us. 🥰
The pool thing was very interesting. The onboard spending is also quite staggering. I liken the shops onboard to those at airports, namely overpriced and selling stuff I don't need, or if I do need it a ship is the last place I'd make a purchase. Being a professional artist I cringe at the prices they charge for art work and never understand the connection with art and cruising. I think they tap strongly into "living the dream". Of course the dream crashes spectacularly when your credit card bill arrives lol. Hence I don't shop on board, everything I need is packed in my case !
oh yes, and even better as the shop won't part you with your money directly, it'll conveniently be added to your running account which only needs settling when the cruise is over. So at the end of your 2 week cruise you get presented with a $10.000 shopping and restaurant bill you silently added up on every day without noticing, and that on top of the mandatory several hundred or even thousands dollars in forced tips and gratuities, port fees, the price of the cruise itself, and all kind of other things they tag on.
It is like the spas, they project the image a relaxation, massages and all the kit but when you get the bill you realize how stressed out you were earning all that money! LOL! Then it is time to get stressed at work earning more money to go to the spas! I pass, no spas!
When I was 10 years old in 1962 we took a liner from Montreal to Southampton. The liner had a small top deck pool without the shallow rim and in rough ocean water the pool sloshing mirrored the ocean wave action and swimmers got slammed into the pool walls by mini ocean waves. Getting in a out of the pool was unpleasant. I always assumed the shallow rims were to fix that, as they seem to do. The stuff about weight and balance is new to me and very interesting.
Regarding gratuities. You can thank your government for forcing you to pay the them. Since the UK (and other countries) require that the quoted price be the full price with no add-ons, your gratuities became part of the cruise price. In the US, passengers are still free to remove the "mandatory gratuities" and tip only those they wish to tip
Can we all just take a moment to appreciate the fact that this guy isn’t criticising cruise lines but instead he is providing a detailed explaination as to why cruise lines do that
to a point yes but somethings seem like an excuse given to him to cover the fact they dont care but want money.
i mean he doesn't have to. his reasoning seem pretty condemning to me. the tips for instance could go directly to the crews but... etc etc... and minimum crew costs etc etc. on the contrary no-one has ever said minimum bonuses for board members
@@DragonFox84 Yes, and I'm sure you like money as well. As always, if you don't want to buy something because you feel it is too costly, nobody is forcing you to do so.
@@DragonFox84 I guess I don’t understand the money comment. Yes….they want money….Just like any hotel or resort or theme park or any other vacation spot. It’s ultimately about money. But…I mean I guess it’s just business right? Even hospitals charge for services at least here in the states. I can’t imagine anyone building a cruise ship for the sole purpose of just making sure people have a good time. Yeah they want them to have a good time but the sole purpose is to earn money. That’s why my husband goes to work each day As a GM at a body shop. Yes he wants to fix cars but he also wants to make money so that our family can live in a house and eat and stuff like that. I don’t know that the shipping industry is some huge evil giant. They’re huge and definitely a giant but they make money because that’s just what the world does. Of course that’s just my opinion
After being on several cruises I hardly see any people in the pool and wonder if they are really needed at all. However, the jacuzzi is more popular and more of those maybe the answer. Out of 2000 passengers on my last cruise I only saw 1 person having a swim. Anyone else just stood in the water because the jacuzzi's were full. As for anything in business you suck people in with low prices and hit them later. In the case of cruises it could be compulsory tips added to your room or more expensive drinks with service charge added. On P&O tips are in the price of the holiday and there are no service charges added to drinks. Very different on RC. $14.50 on the room per person per day and 18% service charge on purchases so I avoid RC. Cunard allowed me to alter the daily room charge and I tipped individuals, a sort of hybrid which I am happy with. However, they charge service on all drinks and spa treatments which I do not agree with if you are paying daily room tips. it should one or the other, not both IMO.
Well if they want larger pool, there's a very large one just outside the ship.
Except that one has sharks in it.
@@soteful9949 But if the ship sinks, you're now in the buffet.😏
They just need to walk the plank
Very funny 😄
Aye, Davey Jones' locker it be.
Gratuity is a fancy way of saying "part of the crew's salary". Letting passengers pay part of it so the cruise line doesn't have to raise wages is plain wrong.
The tip schedule is the pay raise. Advertised cruise costs are just a come on. If the cruise line had to advertise the real cost of taking a cruise, the bargain-happy people of today wouldn't even think of taking a cruise. Passengers can't avoid paying the tip schedule, so it's no big deal. Even experienced passengers still fall for the lie of this phony base price when they see advertisements.
@@billolsen4360 We opt out of the gratuities when we board and tip individuals as we see fit.
@@tonkingulfyachtclub8111 more often than not, the gratuity is mandatory and a fixed gratuity is to be paid either prior to the cruise or before checkout.
@@karnbhardwaj Gratuities are NEVER mandatory. Go to the purser's desk and opt out.
@@tonkingulfyachtclub8111 am a travel agent and we do this day in day out. NCL, Royal Caribbean/Celebrity, Star Cruise..all charge mandatory gratuity which can be either paid pre-cruise or while on board. But they have to be paid. We don't have an option to opt out.
Mandatory tips no longer serve their purpose since it removes the incentive to offer better service. Just charge more and stop calling it a tip.
If they charge more, the price for cruises will look higher on the website than competitors' prices, and you more likely will choose competitors, because of that couple hundreds dollars difference.
It's a marketing ploy.
Exactly what I was thinking before I read your comment
well tipping in the US is basically mandatory as well
@@SchwertKruemel it isn’t mandatory. It is a dumb practice though.
@@SchwertKruemel
Only because we believe it appropriate to pay 325 an hr..
the magic carpet is really just a docking bay with a wet bar.
I thought it was a special expensive service of what had no idea!!!🤔
😆
The reason pools were located within the interior of the Queen Mary: comfort. She traveled transatlantically through cold weather conditions that would attract no passengers to the outside upper decks for a swim.
I used to work in the accounts department in a All-inclusive resort, they charge gratuity on everything, but only pay a fraction to staff, they keep much for the company, it was disgusting !!
like most bussiness... greed is universal
Don’t think that’s legal?
@@jamesbizs depends on the jurisdiction.
In the UK there is an ongoing debate about how far tips can count towards covering the min wage; but if there is a persistent shortfall the employer has to top up to the min hourly rate for hours worked.
That makes it even more obvious that the customer is tipping the firm not the employee
I assume not in Canada? Definitely illegal here.
@Aquarium Gravel we are way way too close to be there
Very good videos. Problem: every time I watch one I find more reasons NOT to consider going on a cruise. Tight space, constant sale pressure, scams, small pools, abused crews, and so on.
I have to say, I had similar reservations but I did finally go on a cruise and it was phenomenal. We sailed from Seattle to Alaska and it was an incredible experience. The only sales pressure I felt was they did keep mentioning the benefits of booking your next cruise during this one, but that was really all. My wife got to meet some crew members from the same country she is from, which was really neat and all and all it was just a really wonderful experience. I took part in a few of the game shows on board, saw some shows I normally wouldn't really see...As I say....I completely understand your reservations but as someone who recently took a cruise, I would now highly recommend it!
My biggest reservation is cruise ships sailing under flags of countries with no labor laws. I frankly prefer to fly directly to wherever I'm interested and spend my money in those countries rather than give them to the cruise companies (in Europe I also ride trains between countries). And airlines don't punish you for flying solo. My one exception would be river cruises where companies are not sailing international waters
@@nataliajimenez1870 you can sail on the pride of America. she is the only us flagged cruise ship and sail from California to Hawaii. Cunard lines are all flagged in Bermuda a British overseas territory. the works on those ship have a minimum wage of 16 usd and the right to unionize. ADIA ships are all Italian flagged. costa ship are also all Italian except for one ship that is in the process of being transferred to costa and transferred from Liberian to Italian flag. holland America is all flagged in the Netherlands. p&o cruses are all flagged in the Bermuda and the uk. the same goes for all princesses line ships. all of the celebrity ships other than the expedition class are Malta flagged it can really say anything good or bad about maltase labor laws. in general avoid royal Caribbean and go with carnival. all of the lines I listed other than celebrity are carnival lines. there are cruise options for what ever your labor law requirements are. there is of course no law options, bare minimum options, and even EU level options.
UPDATE i just checked to Bahamas labor laws and they seem to match us labor laws with the exception of minimum wage with Bahamas being 260 usd a week which comes out 6.5 usd a hour for a 40 hour work week the current us federal minimum wage (some us states have higher minimums) is 7.25. I can't speak as hoe well any of these laws are enforced in any of the countries I mentioned.
Then don't go. Your loss lol.
On most of my cruises, the cabin steward works the hardest for me. When that happens I always tip them extra and put it in their hands, so I know they get it.
Now that tips are part of the fee, I think they are banking for extra like the cabin steward. I give him a tip as soon as I 1st meet him/her. If you ever get a tour of the ship you will meet a lot of hard-working people you never even see.
I do that too....I give them cash (in addition to the tip charged on my account) on a daily basis bc you are so right, they do work HARD!!!
@@paulrock4816 I agree.
I tip the cabin steward, the maitre'd and my waiter on the FIRST day. They then feel that they have to earn it, and I get amazing service. Very fair.
Yah my family does to we always feel so bad for them bc they word super super hard and I feel bad for them bc they probably don’t make much and working on a cruise was there only option to make money. But there always so upbeat and funny. We also tip them on the very first day
We tip the 1st day. Giving special attention to the cabin stewart with a gift bag of treats, some staples and extra money. Sometimes they are confused why we give extra b4 they provide service....we want them to know right away that we care for them and then learn about them and their families. I have food allergies so we also tip the matre d and the servers 1st day and the last. It means so much to me to be safe with my foods and that means I will have a fun trip.
Do away with tips all together and just charge me extra for the complete package so that I know the workers are getting paid a full wage. This gratuity control bs is total garbage and a shady business tactic.
Right?!?! Just tell me how much, for the love of Jeff! I'll pay it, you divvy it, and now there's no more awkward stares between me and the staff.
@@rustythrombosis5417 That's what they do now.
I paused the video just to comment on the auto-grat system. Tips are PURELY there so employers can avoid paying decent wages to their employees while passing the cost on to their customers. Literally NO COUNTRY tips outside of North America. It's purely an American thing. (I had a bar tender chase me down in London for leaving her one pound on the bar one time).
If workers had been paid more, the cruise industry would not have been making profit. They use desperate people from the countries with big problems like wars, famine, dictatorships, criminal cartels, and pay them a fraction of an average americans' salary, while depriving them of basic human rights, freedom, constantly under stress and surveillance. It is a prison indeed.
@@oksanazp They don't have to work on ships if they don't want to. They have the choice. If you don't like it, don't cruise.
in Australia, where we do not live in a society that demands tips like US, our fare is all inclusive, there is nothing addition to pay before or during the cruise
I would prefer it that way. Cost containment for (this) passenger so I'm not spending any more than what I budgeted when I booked the cruise. On top of getting to the starting port in the first place.
The very nature of tips means they're NOT demanded. LOL
Which is the way it should be. All up fare. If something is compulsory then it’s not a tip - by the very definition. So let’s not fool ourselves.
@@xr6lad That's all I'm sayin. Just raise the price of the ticket and say "no tips allowed." Just that simple.
The gratauities are just built into the fare. It's more to do with Australian Consumer Law (you can't advertise a price then later add on other "compulsary charges". If the charges are compulsary, it's part of the fare)
As a french person, we do have a very different approach to tipping. In France, waiters are better paid from the beginning, so we almost never leave a tip, because it's not part of their earnings. Sometime, when the waiter/tress has been very kind or helpful, we leave a little something, but I speak 1 or 2€ as best, in common restaurant (in much higher elegant places, it's obviously more). Anyway, tips here are called "pourboire" which translates as "for drinking". It's meant so that the waiter can have a bonus drink with friends in a pub at the end of his day of work.
That's why french people, when staying in another countries, are often perceived as people who don't want to tip. It's just not in our culture, and when not informed, travelers don't tip much, 'cause they're not told how it works. Once we have been taught the rules, we usually compelled, letting everyone know that "in France, it's better". Because, you know, that's how french people are 🙂
Wow, this cements that I have no desire to cruise on a mega-ship. It's a floating mall.
And since the tips are mandatory they have no incentive to do better to get better tips, some malls are actually cooler than cruise ships and at least you can leave when you want..
@@_wanted_outlaw3007 well now I've got Hotel California stuck in my head
But on the topic, I'd say Cruises would be the least attractive vacation option you could ever present to me,
@@Voron_Aggrav
When you add everything up they are actually pretty reasonable compared to other resort type vacations
@@JoshB_TheTower and those still find their place on the bottom of the list of things I could possibly do,
Same here. You'll never see me inside one of these!
Very interesting video. I had never thought about the weight aspect and placement of pools before. Thanks for sharing this info.
Glad it was helpful! It makes sense once we know but also had not really thought about it either....
Seriously? Have you never loaded a semi truck??
@@Igoriann unless someone drives a truck why would they ever load a semi?
@@Igoriann Semi's have baffles inside the containment units (usually 4) to mitigate liquids sloshing around. It's already been said but not everyone drive's a semi. Here's an example; I drive a fire truck. It carry's 500 gallons of water with no baffles, it's overweight, and has a high center of gravity. Same principles apply yet I didn't think of it until after it was mentioned in the video. (Boat vs Truck.... I didn't connect the dots either).
Same. I tend to forget that water is heavy as fuck
The fare basically covers the "costs" of your trip. They cruise lines make their "real" money from the extras.
thanks captain obvious. he literally said that in the video
sounds like budget airlines too...
not even, that would make sense, but why not gain a profit from over charging and THEN sell shit on top?
@@smileyp4535 he answered that in the video. They wouldn't fill the ship if they charged even more. At current fares they already have to fill a significant number of cabins at lower than list-price.
My guess from that is that if list prices were higher the bargain-basement numbers would be even greater, and that the cruise lines are setting the prices at the best predicted trade-off between high fares and occupancy at list price
@@trueriver1950 well yeah, and the way they do that is by pushing it as high as it will go and then filling in what's left at the end. We're both correct here. They will charge as much as they possibly can and then also sell sell sell once on the boat, then if it's a few weeks before and they still have a few rooms to fill they will cut down with much more certainty because they assume even the people who got the last minute reservations will buy something, especially because they probably won't be able to sign up for any extra activities anyway since if those activities have a limit of spots to sign up for they probably will all be taken by the people who bought their tickets in advance, and if they don't they might even try to charge more as a "last minute/from boat sign up" fee (even if it doesn't make a difference) simply because they can
We've been cruising for around 25 years and I've talked to many crew members who flat out stated that many passengers "in the old days" NEVER tipped! When we started cruising we enjoyed handing out our tip envelopes and personally thanking the crew members that served us. Today, we use the automatic gratuities but still try to see each crew member and thank them. We've also additionally tipped certain entertainers that we've particularly enjoyed. For example, on one transatlantic cruise there was a truly fine classical guitarist who would talk to us about his musical background between sets. He even gave me a CD of some of his recordings. These are the kind of people that we believe deserve extra gratuities and recognition.
“Mandatory gratuity” is a complete contradiction in terms. Those overcrowded floating hives just get less and less appealing to me.
Maybe you should try it first. You may like it.
Its awful been there. Boring crowded and its like having a friday out on the town but being stuck on a boat
Cruise people certainly seem to enjoy cruising and more power to them. No place for this kid though. Being crammed into an ocean going petri dish isn't something I would choose to do.
@@brassholio Nothing in the world would induce me to take one of those things! If I go on holiday I ant to get away from people not get jammed in with more!
@@mikewalrus4763 I think most people who are against cruising are just ignorant on the subject and don't realise how massive they actually are. I mean, fair enough if you've gone on one and didn't like it, but until you've tried it you don't actually know. Hell, you can sit on your balcony and order room service the whole time and just leave your room to get off and explore new places. The whole experience is what you make it, if you want quiet go to the buffet at 10pm when no one is there, then go to the open deck, look at the stars and enjoy the peace. You can read the whole time or hit the gym. The idea is that you don't have to do anything for yourself.
My one (and only) cruise experience was a three-day excursion thirty years ago out of Miami. After the ship left the dock, the captain announced the AC was out of service, and it would take "a little time" to repair. It never was, and we passed several miserable days sweating in that thing. I still remember the floor show- they sang, 'Hot, Hot, Hot', if you can believe it.
I work on a cruise ship. My first crew cabin was on deck 1, under the water line, just forward of mid-ship. It was always smooth down that low. Even rough seas barely bothered me. One day, we hit a really rough patch heading into Maui. I was in the shower and I nearly fell into the sink. One of my friends was working in a dish wash station on deck 12, he said plates where flying everywhere. I always thought it was stupid that the really premium cabins were way up high.
I can't even imagine how much f$%king goes on in the crew cabins.
@@sylviaisgod6947 Can confirm this. It's awkward when the room-mate walks in.
@@brassholio The cabins are so small, the room-mate will just have to join in... a three-way with 3 different languages sounds like fun!
I actually really like the prepaid tipping on cruise ships. I don’t carry any money around with me and there is no pressure or “tipping” expectation from staff like I have experienced in some all inclusive land resorts. I still give a monetary tip to the cabin steward and potentially other staff who have gone above and beyond but this would be at the end of the cruise before I disembark.
A long time ago I gave a $50 tip to our room attendant on the 1st night of the cruise and told him that we’d talk again on the last night. For the next 12 nights he looked after us above and beyond, with lots of extras here and there, now and again. We never had any problems with our stateroom, it was always well stocked, clean and tidy (even though we weren’t overly tidy ourselves!). It was really nice and very handy to see our stuff neatly stowed away, always in the same places, cupboards and closets. On the last night we gave him another $75 (total of about five bucks a day each from my wife and I). He deserved every cent.
We’ve done the same a few other times, but kept it to about a total of 2 or 3 dollars a head in total from both of us.
I consider tipping at the start of a cruise (or a meal for that matter) to be rather vulgar. It's like saying "I'm important
ich", give me special service. Tipping should say "thank you" not "I'm paying you in advance". btw, the gratuities are not compulsory. A trip to the inquiries desk can see them removed from your bill, leaving you free to tip who you want and how much. I take a bunch of envelopes (and a wad of cash!) to do this.
Wow that tip situation is terrible - you can’t even call that a tip… that’s just an added tax. If it’s mandatory it’s not a tip.
Tipping on ships cause problems.
Some cruiseline pay USD 50/ month for Cabin steward, waiter, asst waiter, that's why tips is needed.
That magic carpet is rarely used for tendering. Sea conditions have to be nearly flat. It’s a huge waste of money and breaks down regularly.
I bought a watch on my first cruise. I overpaid for it, but I like it, and makes me think of my cruise whenever I wear it. I would say it was worth it.
yes i agree, i feel the same
as long as you convinced yourself why it was ok to throw money down the drain on something overpriced
One time I had a Neptune suite on one of my Holland America voyages and it had a large balcony. This suite was located in the middle of deck 7 and thank god when we hit a rough weather one night - I was able to invite some people that I've met on the ship and whose cabins were at the front of the ship. I remember that I had roughly about 15 people on my balcony and we were having so much fun - despite the rough seas. I still remember that room #. It was the suite 7069 located mid-ship on Eurodam. Great video - thanks Gary!
I can understand the attraction of going on a cruise "back in the day", however nowadays (excluding covid of course) the industry has devolved so much that the mere thought of being crammed into one of those monstrosities makes me seasick, or maybe its norovirus?
The floating cesspool, the criminally poor treatment of crew, the dumping of waste, the greater environmental impact, the localised problems and erosion of large ships in confined channels, the cramming of thousands of people into a very small moving space. I honestly cannot think of one aspect of this industry that would entice me to board a mass market cruise ship.
Agreed
@@christinewild5935 people really be doing the thing crazy if it's on all those items, sheesh 🤣
@@renebatsch2555 Honestly that does sound like more fun. Getting to meet genuine mariners in a no bullshit environment.
@@christinewild5935 and you think land hotels and complexes are any better? The cleanliness of those are worse. I have never been on a ship that felt crowded. Stick to the 2000 people and less ships. Somebody said merchant vessel. What a joke, the people on them have a lack of self hygiene. Washing hands after the toilet is non existent. I've seen it!
@@christinewild5935 I know this is a semi old comment that I'm replying to, but I felt the need to mention that a lot of detergents, sanitizers, and soaps will also fluoresce under uv light so unless they were using a light above 440nm, the results will be skewed. Maybe they did and the surfaces actually were disgusting, who knows. But I thought this would be good info for people to have because I know a lot people like to check their hotel rooms with a black light and I'm willing to bet a whole lot of them didn't know that any old black light won't necessarily work.
Worked on a cruise ship for 5 years now. The amount of negative will not surpass the service that will be given to you. The ratio is 1 crew for every 2 passenger. You will not treated badly not even close to how landbased hotel will treat you.
I recall reading the technical review for the cruise ship that would eventually become the venerable Island Princess, and it commented on the small size of the topside pool, but dismissed this by saying that the ship would be used mostly by elderly retirees (this was back in the early 1970s).
In Victorian days, rich passengers might book two cabins: the deluxe one for ordinary use, and a smaller one amidships just for rough seas. The bigger luxury steam yachts had a similar system, with two or even three "master staterooms".
Normandie was notoriously cranky (i.e. loathe to return to vertical) because although her hull was well designed, the company demanded that the deluxe staterooms and public spaces topside be furnished with genuine marble and glass, putting too much weight on the upper decks. This and poor fire-fighting techniques led to her eventual partial capsizing at dock.
The real question is why do people cram themselves into these things with so many other people to “get away from ‘it’ all”
Then you have breakout viruses on cruise ships and everyone ends up sick as there’s nowhere to go.
Never seen a cruise’s appeal. Always thought of it as an elderly holiday for some reason.
I am a loner by nature, and I love cruises because I can spend most of my time far away from the other people there (unlike theme parks, stadiums, bars, etc). Even meal times are doable if you go to the least crowded stations and time it right. There *are* a few crowded situations, but they don't last long and most can be avoided.
@@kamelhaj6850 I'd rather go forest camping....
@@andycapo9you Ah, yes! My family did that when I was young!
I took a HA cruise 11 years ago. 2 weeks. Broke a shoe string first day out. Went to the "store" and was amazed to discover it was the size of a large bathroom. It barely stocked anything. Certainly no shoestrings. But, dang! They sure as hell had plenty of jewelry and clothing shops selling junk at a 1000% markup! 🙄
Dental floss works in a pinch. Just need to double it up.
Same with the string in athletic shorts and sweats.
@@brownsamurai3070
😀👍
no offense but how in the fuck did you break your shoe string? LOL.
What is HA
@@mkaylor121
Holland America
If you have an issue with having to pay tips for every service, only sail on Australian registered cruise ships. They can not add a system like that, but passengers can still offer tips. They go into a staff pool that gets equally shared between all staff at that service point on that shift. As for the room staff that do you linen and laundry change, it is customary to leave a tip and a thank you note on the last day. On one cruise I was on, we gave our service gentleman $50, which almost left him in tears. He was used to getting no more than $20. A couple of years later, on a second cruise on a different ship in the fleet, he recognised us and stopped to say hello and catch us up on each others lives.
I just consider the prepaid gratuities as part of the price of the cruise. I always tip extra to everyone I think deserve it. Something they can keep themselves without it going through the cruise line.
We opt out (yes it can be done on day one) Then pay a nice amount to those that tend best like the housekeeper, waiter etc. Screw it going In the pot
I'm no cruiser and doubt I ever will be but fascinating insights come out on the topic from your ultra clear videos. Keep it up, its a gift.
Can’t see the point of going on holiday inside a big shopping centre that rocks in bad weather, especially if I’m charged tips to be there too.
With Carnival, you can still control your tips if you like. You can make adjustments or cancel them altogether and just give your crew members cash if you like. In your paperwork it also states who actually gets that money and how much per day.
Tips should not be madatory... In fact they should not exist as a habit. It's just a way to make the customer pay the employee, I find it absurd
I much prefer Europe habits, where tips are rare and a genuine sign of appreciation
theres places its mandatory in america but its normally high end places. for th most part the tips get spread to the bus boys and all too. i prefer you give something then nothing unless it was really bad service. wait staff in america tend to make less an hour and rely on tips. i feel it motivates them to do better service in most cases then not.
When that happens, service drops DRAMATICALLY!!!
The concert theater I worked at used the same principle of the shopping on cruises. If a concert/entertainer was not selling well a lot of free passes went out to media for contests etc. An empty seat does not spend anything at the bar, souvenir table or partking.
I really like how direct & concise you are. Appreciate the time stamps in the description.
Thanks, great to hear!!!
Went on a cruise in 2014 for my honeymoon. We calculated out that we would have had to drink 8.9 drinks per day each for the alcohol package to break even cost-wise. We did our drinking on land while we were in port . . . .
I love vodka but dont wanted to pay 10-20 times more on the ship,so when i am in port i put vodka i bought in store in city in water bottle i carry with me ,my girlfriend also,and come on board with it..no one ever noticed
Stability is paramount in ship building. Swimming pools also make excellent reservoirs for sprinkler systems.
I have often wondered why the swimming pools were so small relative to the number of passengers - now it makes perfect sense. Thanks!
We don't mind that gratuities are included because we have seen so many people on cruises who do not tip at all. And, we still have the freedom to tip extra to those who stood out to us on top of our cabin attendant(s) and wait staff.
Our last cabin attendant took really good care of us and looked out for us constantly. We tipped him extra on the regular. So when we got back to the hotel and realized I left a ruby and diamond platinum ring in the safe (it fell out of the jewelry bag), he actually turned it in. RC sent it back via FedEx and I had it two weeks later. I'll always tip for great service. 👍
We've never taken a cruise, but my wife knows that if I did, she'd find me in the engine room every day! That's just the most interesting thing to me about large ships!
Scotty, I need warp power in 10 minutes or we're all DEAD!
I feel you. My wife and I travel, and she naturally wants to sample the malls. I'm of the opinion that if you see a mall you've seen them all. The compromise is to visit malls that have a bookstore. She can then knock herself out shopping.
I’ve only been on 2 cruises, one originating in Hawaii and one in Montreal going to NYC. Tips were included on both cruises. Of course we chose to tip stewards, and cabin butlers for great service.
@@elia.almodovar9558 Shopping centers are all the same, once you've seen one you've seen a-mall.
Haven't done a cruise yet. Do they actually allow passengers into the engine room? If so, do you get to poke around, or is it more of an OSHA-approved, all-behind-safety-glass, viewing deck type experience?
the swimming pools, they're small due to the free surface effect where moments are created due to the pool not being full and therefore more sloshing takes place. another point why they are so small is with international regulations you can't just dump the pool (empty the pool ) wherever you like, the tanks only have a limited capacity that they can hold so much of the water.
My cousin used to work for royal as an accountant, and after he got laid off he told me freaking horror stories about the billing practices of royal.
Travelled on Edge, magic carpet is lousy for dining, windy and you get gull invasions, but great for tendering.
It must be brilliant for tendering - retired people wouldn't have to walk down several decks to get on board.
I'm remembering a great cruise on the Nile where unfortunately some stops were so popular that disembarking meant crossing through several other ships before you reached the shore, it was interesting. The staff were very concerned that we would return to the right ship afterwards!
Nobody actually looks out at the beauty of the ocean anymore.
🌊 🌝👍
Really? Nobody?
Is the correct answer...it appears that beauty is design and interiors.....ohhh how wrong.
You don't need to be on a cruise ship to look at the ocean. If that's why you cruise...you're doing it wrong.
If I were to take a cruise, I’d want to do it on a ship from the 1930s, cabins in the middle, sun deck with lounge chairs facing the ocean (and not the people) all around, wait staff keeping drinks full and occasionally circling with an interesting snack.
Actually I'm like a dog with his head out the window of a pick up truck. The rougher the seas, the better.
God, I remember when you used to be able to buy liquor and make drinks in your room! They got smart to that and "held" it for you until the last day.
Last cruise my wife was able to smuggle small liquor bottles in her bra since she has the large breasts.
Good old trick is empty water bottles filled with vodka! Used to work a treat
@@JoelBlackmann500 Thought about doing that, but I heard they were checking water bottles to make sure they are still factory-sealed...then they banned bottled water altogether during our last cruise.
Sylvia isgod to be fair I’ve not been on one in years. However it used to work, even through scanners
I remember when I was younger, I was just looking off the railing late at night and seeing the employees dumping garbage bags off the side of the ship. Think it was Carnival.
Sounds like Carnival 🤣
@David Goodchild I remember late at night, I was younger, I was Crapping on someones yard. Think it was David Goodrich's house.
@David Goodchild might have been Waste Management?
@David Goodchild David Goodrich is the Internet gatekeeper. Why don't you make like a tree, and leave 🍂🍂🍂🤣🤣🤣 Your a Fool with way to much time.
Gary, your videos are informative and even soothing to watch. Thanks, and keep doing what you do!
Thanks. Great to hear 😀 Really appreciate you watching
yuck , gary lover still annoying
I walked on the cruise ships. My cabin was always under water near the new propulsion shafts. Great night sleep
Wow, the last time I went on a cruise they gave out special envelopes at the end where you could give tips to the crew. The pool thing I'd already heard of. The extras I dealt with on the few cruises I went on when I was younger. They had a like a shipboard newspaper they would slide under your cabin door outlining all the extra excursions and other little things they had going on. Then there was the cards you could get for drinks and games as only tea and water were included in with your meal. I must've blown at least 1k or more on extras alone that first cruise I went on with my parents before I caught onto the game as it were lol. :D
When I worked as a maid at a 5 star resort our tip per room was .78 and we were not allowed to tell the gest. I got a tip, as in ONE and it was $5
Whoever invented the magic carpet platform is a freaking genius. Hope he/she got a nice bonus for that...
Agree !
Probably told the passengers to pay for the bonus
It’s the ugliest looking thing at sea.
Good idea to use as an elevator to get to the shore excursion boats. But did they have to put a dining area on it?
I wonder how many times Celebrity Edge has used the magic carpet for tender purposes? Future itineraries have Edge based in the Caribbean, I can only think of Grand Cayman as a possible tender port.
Good video Gary! I’ve worked as a guest entertainer on cruises for over 40 years and I’ve seen many evolutions. What you said about pools and weight are true; but the 4 foot wide, six inch deep ‘lip’ surrounding the pool also has a scientific reason. It adds an enlarged surface tension to the pool water and very effectively dampens sloshing and wave-making for the deeper, straight-walled part of the pool. Just watch what happens to the pool at night when the pool gets drained. Once the water level drops below that 6 inch shallow bumper of water, the rest of the pool develops wave activity that can be huge! I recall one 1960’s built cruise ship had a small aft pool that was straight walled; and the passengers were frequently thrown around by huge waves caused by the slightest rocking of the ship. The later invention of the 6-8 inch water bumper would have dramatically lessened all that to next to nothing.
Thanks for watching. Great to know that nugget about the lip! Thanks
The behavior of cruise lines is exactly why I would never want to get on one.
I used to jokingly call such huge ships a "hotel on a barge". But then I saw a photo for an Alaskan cruise with a viewing platform over the bridge and suddenly I wanted to be there, on that ship, taking photos (my passion).
Four cruises later, the factor I most like: you take your hotel room with you. I hate packing, so this is wonderful. There are hassles, but I got to visit UK places I would love to visit again. Drive-by tourism, yes, but sampling is better than nothing.
Yes they try to sell you overpriced artwork and want you to visit the casino. Just ignore that. I like to read, so sea days are reading days, not shopping days. I took a transatlantic trip (one of my lifelong dreams) for two weeks and was not bored one bit, even with a long stretch of nothing but ocean.
@@Paul_Wetor yeah cruises are great if you make the most of them. They offer good sampling so you can see where you want to back to, and having your transportation while sleeping and being able to relax in your hotel, go to shows, and try different foods is great.
I just use dispensable income on ports to hopefully spend money more locally rather than just the cruise lines.
There are "giant floating holiday resort" cruises, and I will never choose one of those.
There are also smaller cruises that are focused on going to *interesting* places that are difficult to travel to any other way. The ship is where you sleep and eat and pass time when you travel, but the primary focus of the trip are the destinations.
The two are completely different, and while I have no interest in the first, I most definitely am interested in the second. My fantasy trip is a cruise to Antarctica ... out of my budget, unfortunately.
Gary helps my Vicarious life style
His videos seem better than all the hassles of actual cruising
I've been cruising a lot, and many of the crew have loose lips when it comes to their tip, and how it's managed.
A maître d' I got good friends with, told me that even when the tip have been pre payed, a servant might end up getting no tip at all if guest where to complain, and he/she would loose a table (or two) for the next voyage/sailing. Fewer tables equals less tip potential.
The mandatory tips are there so they simply dont have to pay their staff that much. They will pay them less and use the rest from the tips. Previously, some staff would get no tips at all where others would get tons. Some would be underpaid and some overpaid. Now they just solved this problem for themselves.
The mandatory tip schedule is so that they don't have to advertise the full price of the cruise.
I wish there were some consumer advocates that forced the cruise liners to advertise the correct prices, same with the "1 in any currency" plane tickets that have added charges for "airport fees" and stuff that in the end gives you a substabtial cost on par with the cheapest "all inclusive" airplane tickets from serious air lines.
Favorable tax treatment as well as this doesn't have to be classified as income.
Another point about the size of the pools is the free surface effect the water will have when the ship rolls or pitches. The smaller the pool, the less the effect of free surface.
I did a seven day cruise last year At the end of the cruise I had to settle up my bill for all of the extras that I had purchased on the cruise. It came to $4.
I bet you were mad
@@susanparsons4338 they sound cheap..
Great video! Rule of thumb, for every tonne on top there needs to be 2 tonnes below. QE2 also got round this by having aluminium above her freeboard, and steel below!
When weight is added to a vessel, the centre of gravity of the vessel always moves in the direction of the added weight. Therefore, adding a pool which on average has a water mass of around 80 tonnes (W x L x D x Water Density) results in the vessel's centre of gravity rising, causing a decrease in the vessel's metacentric height and thereby its stability. Many people assume that they net the pools in heavy weather purely for passenger safety, but it’s actually a requirement by IMO to drain pools in heavy weather to aid stability, and reduce any free surface effect!
I always enjoy your videos, you give useful and informative explanations to so many cruise related subjects!
Keep up the good work!
Thanks. Appreciate you watching
Luckily we don’t have mandatory tips on German cruises 🚢 the booking price already includes everything from drinks to tips 🙏🏻
Oh! That explains it. I saw the Edge and it's 'Magic Carpet' elevator in December 2019 from a different ship moored a few hundred yards away. I don't remember exactly what port but I thought it was a strange looking thing on the side of their ship. Makes sense now. Cheers!
Whoever said shopping malls are dead has never been aboard a cruise.
Lots of information about cruises. I make my wife watch them. Afterwards she says no way, let's save our money and go to a quiet beach house and save save save.
I love my smart wife.
Cheaper too! And privacy with swimming
Aww, I never fall for the cruise line sales pitch.. I don’t purchase their excursions either..you come out cheaper exploring on your own! I caught a deal to the Bahamas for 200 bucks for 2 people..I got the drink package..ate only in the included dining rooms, went to all the free shows on board, and did not buy those picture packages..like for what, my phone takes great pictures! 😜
@@thetravelgoods2760
You are very clever. You still end up with a great holiday.
@@assassinlexx1993 best time ever! Besides the ticket I spent 500 bucks overall! Soon as you get off the ship there are locals offering tours etc for wayyy cheaper.. they try to scare you and say that’s not safe but I believe in getting money into the small mans hands plus other couples went as well, safety in numbers and we went to the same places the excursion charged over 100 pp for 25 bucks each!
Cruises are the best holiday ever. Save at a beach house I dont think so
Working for a cruise line (one of the brand you quoted). We have no suites on the back of the ships, the "owner suites" are of course in the centre of the vessel where you are less affected by movement. We have top-grade suites in the front of the ship, they are amazing, but you must not suffer sea sickness to sleep there. And in the rare occasions of _very_ rough sea (Captains try to avoid it) on the front you may hear sometimes the bang of the anchor against the hull.
I think part of the issue was also the ability to earn tips. If you have a job as a steward or bartender you were likely to get a tip. If you worked in the kitchen or laundry it would be unlikely.
all the cruises I have been on tack on a tip every time you buy a drink... goes into a pool and not directly to the bar tender that does the best job
I've always wondered why anyone would by artwork on board a cruise ship.
Since tips are non- discretionary, why have them at all? If we have to pay it, why not just wrap it up into the fare?
To be able to advertise lower fares.
A similar thing happened in Europe with airlines marketing fares excluding taxes and mandatory extras. The EU then ruled against the practice, because it was considered false advertising. The reasoning is that the practice didn't allow the customer to make an informed decision when comparing competitors
RE:James S. I suspect it's some kind of an income tax evasion issue and/or the company doesn't have to pay benefits on "tips".
The staff don't get that money! Its basically day light robbery!
Floating dept stores! No thanks!
@@munsters2 ah ha! Clever ...well done u ! !
In 1979 my parents took my brother and me on the Pacific Princess down the western Mexico coast. Cruising was wonderful back then. There were only a couple of shops onboard and they were really reasonable and stocked with beautiful merchandise. The only thing I remember them selling outside of those shops were candid 8x10 passenger photos and they weren’t pushy about it. The photos were really good. There was one huge dining room we used for all meals, same waitstaff every day, and evenings required formal attire. I still have all the menus from each day. 42 years later I still have the 2 evening bags and the jewelry I purchased and they bring back such great memories.
I have always wondered what those two vertical rails on the side of the Celebrity ship were for. Anyone how has waited hours for a tender to shore should appreciate that perk. The info about balance is really illuminating too. Great Video, Thanks.
One thing you forgot about the tips. The cruise line keeps that money in their account and collect the interest on the money and keep that for themselves. For every five ships that’s around 10,000 passengers contributing to that fund a week.
I remember when I first started cruising you would always leave tips for your waiter and the room Steward the last night of the cruise. But I know that a lot of people didn't show up in the dining room on the last night of cruising and stiffed the waiter and probably their room Steward too. now that cruise lines have multiple dining venues it's an excuse for them to say it's easier for you that they do it this way. I think they should just call it a service charge and not a tip.
I agree, service charge is a more appropriate name.
... I retired from a tipped share pool years ago ... let me tell you there are sometimes ..stewards ... housemen ... dish crew ... all in the pool... sure you paid a fortune for this trip ... so what's another hundred really ... tip the help always ... remember they helped you make the fun fun ... if you owned a yatch ... you don't complain about the price of gas ... or would you ...
If you're spending 50 to 100% equivalent in the shops just keep in mind that whatever you buy in the shops on board the ship gets declared by the ship to US Customs. So your declaration form better match up.
Some really interesting stuff there thanks Gary. They emptied the pools on our Celebrity Infinity cruise from South America to Antartica a few years back in anticipation of rough weather across the Drake Passage. Fortunately we encountered Drake Lake and had a very smooth passage both ways so the pools were filled up again on our return leg.
Though have no interest in cruising, I truly enjoyed the presentation and the information.
Glad you enjoyed it!
When you stay at a resort the tips are usually added in automatically also.
I love learning about the science of ships, since they always look top heavy anyway. The ships larger than small towns -- and most of it vertical -- always seem like a disaster waiting to happen. On our first cruise, I was happy tipping was included, since there are SO many people you could tip, and we did anytime dining so would have had to tip each meal, plus we never know what's appropriate. But I do fear cruise lines then just pay less and rely on this "service charge". And I TOTALLY agree with you about the blatant sales pressure -- even to shop at certain stores ashore -- awkward for passengers and cruise lines should be embarrassed.
You can opt out of mandatory tips if you speak to the guest services. The last cruise I was on I went to guest services questioning why I was charged for tips on services that I never used, they told me that I can opt out of it and tip at my discretion and adjusted my bill.
Absolutely correct. Every time we cruise, I go to Guest Services and have the “mandatory” tips removed, then tip certain crew members in cash at the end of the cruise.
Thank you Gary for your interesting and thorough videos.!
Thank you for confirming that I never want to take a cruise, LOL
This
Same 👍
I mean the thing about the load distribution of pools is mildly interesting, but all the human stupidity behind everything about it is just sickening.
Still, this is not meant to bash the creator of the video, who does a good job as a presenter (thank you).
But seriously, STOP EFFING THE PLANET BY FUNDING SUCH HUGE ASS SHIPS .
It's a lot more to it..definitely worth trying..have done quite a few..once on board the focus isn't on these details anymore.
Yes, just like when shooting heroin, I guess it's not so much about the problems that come with it, anymore
Water weighs about 8 pounds per gallon.
Remember that when you see a fire truck. The smaller ones have about 500 gallons (2 tons of water, ignoring the rest of the truck), and the larger ones are 3000 gallons (24,000 pounds or 12 tons). Firetrucks don't stop quickly, and that's why.
Cruise liners want to provide the service, but have to balance the risks associated with the service.
I very rarely buy anything in the shops unless I have to use obc
About 12 years ago, I bought a Citizen Promaster Navihawk Watch for about $350ish dollars on a cruise ship. I ended up saving money on the watch, since I was able to look up the price of the watch at several department stores in my area, and it was actually about $75 more expensive on land vs on ship, so I bought the watch, and still works perfectly today.
and no sales tax at sea
15 years in shipbuilding industry made me realize one thing clearly, never go on a cruise ship.....never....
Common Sense would tell you why the pool is small. Number one the water weight is up high on the ship and if the ship is listing the water is moving adding to the listing of the ship.
Great info Gary. As always your comments are well structured. Yours is my favorite cruising channel.
Thanks 👍
Phenomenal channel. I don't cruise, but it's hugely interesting and informative. Thank you sir; nothing but admiration for a gentleman that knows his stuff. Happy cruising! Hello from Ireland.
Nice video but I regards to the weight of the pools, ships can offset this with ballast. Cruise ships are constantly pumping ballast from one side to another to avoid rolling in the seas.
Worst thing for ship stability is a big batch of water with free uninterrupted surface. Meaning big pool. Ballast tanks cannot offset dynamical effects of rolling water
Your points about tipping are spot on. I no longer consider them a "gratuity", but rather, a "service charge", and a line item in the fare.
The Virgin ship still boggles the mind with the smallest pool!
Indeed 😀
Is it actually smaller than the normal or did they just not disguise the size well enough?
@@Cheezitnator a bit of both, I think. And also, it's the ONLY pool on the entire ship, whereas some ships I've sailed on had 2 or 3, plus hot-tubs.
For a ship that is meant to attract the young pretty crowd installing a small pool is incredibly short sighted. Unless they think the young hip pretty just want to pose around the pool but not actually get wet
Agreed. Huge fail that will be realized once this ship is in actual use.
My main issue with gratuities is that I've heard from crew that they only get the full amount that I've paid if they score "excellent" on the customer feedback forms, if you mark the forms as merely "good" or below then they get a smaller percentage. I don't like this as I don't feel I can be honest on the form, if something wasn't as good as it should be, as I don't want to financially hurt the crew member.
The idea of getting on one of those behemoths and going to sea horrifies me,but interesting videos.
Why are you watching then? Just curious, I don’t watch videos of stuff I’m not interested in....not a slam just curious..
His tips are good specially for people that never cruised before. I say that because since 2011 I cruise once or twice a year and all what he said is true.
I go for the pools not all the stuff they pile on for more money. I like smaller ships
I have never taken a cruise and this video has further convinced me that is a wise decision. I prefer flying to a destination and staying in a nice hotel. The concierge can put you in touch with or arrange for the best entertainment, shopping and restaurants according to your taste. You are free to tip according to taste and I've never gotten seasick in any of the venues I've visited.
Celebrity cruises ship is quite a nice size pool and a there’s an outdoor and indoor pool. Neither of them ever get full. Not yet been on of the new ones so haven’t seen the magic carpet yet but hopefully I will one day. Only heard good things about it really, but everyone is entitled to an opinion if they don’t like something. We also choose to add tips to our packages so everyone can get something (sometimes those behind the scenes are forgotten about) however we still add an extra tip to those we want to - we often give extra to a bar staff, waiter and our room domestic who has looked after us. 🥰
The pool thing was very interesting. The onboard spending is also quite staggering. I liken the shops onboard to those at airports, namely overpriced and selling stuff I don't need, or if I do need it a ship is the last place I'd make a purchase. Being a professional artist I cringe at the prices they charge for art work and never understand the connection with art and cruising. I think they tap strongly into "living the dream". Of course the dream crashes spectacularly when your credit card bill arrives lol. Hence I don't shop on board, everything I need is packed in my case !
oh yes, and even better as the shop won't part you with your money directly, it'll conveniently be added to your running account which only needs settling when the cruise is over.
So at the end of your 2 week cruise you get presented with a $10.000 shopping and restaurant bill you silently added up on every day without noticing, and that on top of the mandatory several hundred or even thousands dollars in forced tips and gratuities, port fees, the price of the cruise itself, and all kind of other things they tag on.
It is like the spas, they project the image a relaxation, massages and all the kit but when you get the bill you realize how stressed out you were earning all that money! LOL! Then it is time to get stressed at work earning more money to go to the spas! I pass, no spas!
When I was 10 years old in 1962 we took a liner from Montreal to Southampton. The liner had a small top deck pool without the shallow rim and in rough ocean water the pool sloshing mirrored the ocean wave action and swimmers got slammed into the pool walls by mini ocean waves. Getting in a out of the pool was unpleasant.
I always assumed the shallow rims were to fix that, as they seem to do.
The stuff about weight and balance is new to me and very interesting.
I worked on a tender at Bali. The first guest slipped and he was so heavy and I couldn't keep him from hitting the floor. I felt bad but he was ok
Regarding gratuities. You can thank your government for forcing you to pay the them. Since the UK (and other countries) require that the quoted price be the full price with no add-ons, your gratuities became part of the cruise price. In the US, passengers are still free to remove the "mandatory gratuities" and tip only those they wish to tip