Hi Gang,
Just got back from Pacific islands cruise on Pacific Sun today,
Fantastic weather all the way, Visited New Caladonia, Nice island, pity about Noumea, interesting history, but has rather run down appearance, got the...

Bonzer

says me message is too short ? So now it is too long ?

Thanks Phil for sharing your experience.

My wife & I chatted with some of the crew on the NCL Jewel including our cabin stewards & they told us that they were working 8:00 shifts. They seem to like what they were doing. The service was top notched.

What really impressed me the most was the amount of different crew nationality & they all seemed to be getting along just well. My hat goes off to them.

As far as tips, it was added automatically on our bill at the rate of $10.00 US funds per guest per day. I don't have a problem with that as long as the crew gets it and not the corporations.

Cheers

Marc

Well Ozzibob at some point the pilot take or took the ship out of there because he's knows the tides........etc..... Meaning "local" Pilot Must run the ship to her final position at dock side.(when they are getting IN or OUT port or tender) and this happens everywhere even in Dravuni Island, the pilot DON'T NEED TO CRUISE all over the place

G'day all,
DJ Victor, The captain informed us that the pilot would not be taking us out and that locals would be marking the chanel for the ship to go thru the reef. This we saw with our own eyes , The pilot had flown back to Suva long before the ship left. If you knew Dravuni Island you should know there is no dock "to took the ship in or out of"
End of story

Hi guys.
It is true that whenever entering or leaving a port the local Pilot must be on board, however when passing thru straits and the like I would believe that with todays modern equipment/maps, gps,sonar, radar,psychics, etc and with the permission of the local authorities [if not in international waters] it would be no big deal for the captain to navigate these types of waters, particularly if it saved him have to divert [at great expense]. It all boils down to ''is it safe'' Just because theres a pilot on board doesnt guanrantee a safe passage, wasnt the QM2 Azipods damaged navigating a port with a pilot on board ??. regards
Philpara

Remember the Michael Lermontov !!!!!!

Actually, it all boils down to local law -- Does local law require a pilot for the transit?

Some places have very strong pilot unions, and usually those places have laws that require a pilot.

Therefore, there are straits that require pilots, and those that don't. Likewise, there are ports that require pilots, and those that don't.

For example, since the Exxon Valdez accident, pilots, including escort tugs, have been required to transit the strait from Bligh reef to port of Valdez in Alaska.

- we have had tipping both ways - added to your account and where you take care of it yourself at the end. Having it added to the account causes me concern that the cruisline is going to play with the money that is intended for the staff.

Banks are allowed to invest money based on the "average daily balance" in the clients account. It doesn't matter if there is actually money in the account. If the account averages a daily balance of $10,000 - the bank can invest that amount even if there are days the balance drops below that amount. The same applies to corporate accounts that earn interest - with new clearance guidelines for deposits and having it done by wire transfer, the cruislines can (and possibly do) charge your account for each day for services and tips and deposit it to there accounts thus increasing there average daily balance. For every day they hold those moneys they are gaining interest.

Even if they just hold the tips for two or three days, based on the number of ships and passengers - they are holding a TON of money and are making interest on it themselves.

I much prefer giving it to the staff myself. I can adjust it up or down from the recommended amount as I see fit based on the service received and I know the individual is getting directly. For the most part we have always tipped more than recommended.

Another comment was how little they receive - yes the staff can get stiffed, but lets assume they don't. A waiter that is good and has had no negative comments on the review cards can be rewarded with tables of up to 24 passengers (three tables of eight). Using a recommended amount of $3.50 per person per day (RCI) totals $84 per seating - most ships have two seatings which would total $168 per day times a 7 day cruise comes to $1,176 per week. That is a decent amount - yes they work tremendous hours and some will get stiffed and some get bad reviews and are given less passengers to serve. But if it was really terribly bad do you think the cruiselines would have so many employees?

Just my ramblings.

Vic.

Vic...thanks for your ramblings....(about tipping...not piloting) despite my earlier post...a lot of what you have 'rambled' on about also makes a lot of common sense.

Hard to know what is the right thing to do...and of course not all cruiselines follow our thinking....your thoughts much appreciated.

Methinks I will stay with the method of...allowing automatic tipping to be added to my bill...and perhaps adding that 'little bit extra' for those that I feel have made my cruise experience an exceptional one?

Isn't that the great thing about cruising??? No two ships are the same experience for all of us...nor onboard issues as well

Cheers

And in my part of the country, you have to carefully in the ways of tipping.

To some it means giving them some money, to others they would just "tip" the person over ...as in "Waiter Tipping ".

New sport for ships that are out of entertainment ideas.