JohnG

Small ship fan here. The 690 pax R9's of Oceania, Azamara, Princess, and the Viking Ocean 963 pax ships.

Since the article was written by a Brit about people on ships sailing from Britain or a U.K owned line, (like P&O), they do things differently there. Typically no required gratuity and some people tip in a specialty restaurant. It is notable that tipping is not customary in many cultures other than North Americans. In Indonesia, if you try to tip a taxi driver, they may even insist you take it back.

First time cruisers need the advise.

"For those that say "Anything but Carnival"" View full cruise review

Today they reversed the rule on food restriction on removing it from restaurants. See the new posting on this today.

Travel Weekly, By Tom Stieghorst / May 26, 2015Norwegian Cruise Line said it will once again allow passengers to take food to their cabins from dining venues, reversing a month-old policy. Norwegian President Andy Stuart said the decision was made after getting considerable customer feedback from a number of channels. In particular, the issue became subject of in-depth discussion on the a cruise website, where a thread attracted more than 65,000 views. Passengers also called and wrote Norwegian and discussed the change on social media. Stuart said the ban came about after new Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings CEO Frank Del Rio toured one of the ships and observed piles of dishes and trays lining corridors and passenger spilling food on their way back to their cabins. It roughly coincided with the adoption of a new room service menu and a $7.95 delivery fee. Stuart said the idea behind the ban on restaurant food going back to the room was never about revenue, but rather about cleaning up the corridors and improving the passenger experience. “We’re changing the policy,” Stuart said. “We’re still going to fix the issue because the issue is the same,” he said. So instead of banning food, Norwegian will have more frequent inspections of the corridors so dishes get removed quickly. “It’s another good example of how we listen to customer feedback and act on it,” Stuart said. “We picked the wrong solution."

I am not trying to be cantankerous, just saying I didn't think Asiana might not be the airline of choice, based in its history. There was no reason to jump on me.

http://www.planecrashes.org/asiana-airlines-safety-record.html

My point was simply that Asiana might not be the airline of choice. Look at the links above.

Passengers[edit] Seat map indicating injuries and deaths Two 16-year-old girls with Chinese passports were found dead outside the aircraft soon after the crash, having been thrown out of the aircraft during the accident.[39][40][41][42][43] One was accidentally run over by an airport crash tender after being covered in fire-fighting foam.[44][39] On July 19, 2013, the San Mateo County Coroner's office confirmed that the girl was still alive prior to being run over by a rescue vehicle, and was killed due to blunt force trauma.[45][46] On January 28, 2014, the San Francisco city attorney's office announced their conclusion that the girl was already dead when she was run over.[47][48] Four flight attendants seated at the rear were ejected from the aircraft when the tail section broke off, and they survived.[49][10][50] Ten people in critical condition were admitted to San Francisco General Hospital and a few to Stanford Medical Center.[51] Nine hospitals in the area admitted 182 injured people.[52]San Francisco Fire Department Chief Joanne Hayes-White, after checking with two intake points at the airport, told reporters that all on board had been accounted for.[53] A third passenger, a 15-year-old Chinese girl, died of her injuries at San Francisco General Hospital six days after the accident.[54][55][56] Of the passengers, 141 (almost half) were Chinese citizens. More than 90 of them took Asiana Airlines Flight 362 from Shanghai Pudong International Airport, connecting to Flight 214 at Incheon.[57] Incheon serves as a major connecting point between China and North America. In July 2013, Asiana Airlines operated between Incheon (Seoul) and 21 cities in mainland China.[58] Seventy students and teachers traveling to the United States for summer camp were among the Chinese passengers. Thirty of the students and teachers were from Shanxi, and the others were from Zhejiang.[59] Five of the teachers and 29 of the students were from Jiangshan High School in Zhejiang; they were traveling together.[60] Thirty-five of the students were to attend a West Valley Christian School summer camp. The Shanxi students originated from Taiyuan,[61] with 22 students and teachers from the Taiyuan Number Five Secondary School and 14 students and teachers

I am not being disruptive, just remarking when you mentioned Asiana airlines that it has had problems. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiana_Airlines_Flight_214 http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/24/us/asiana-ntsb/index.html http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/runway-approach-not-normal-in-japan-crash-asiana-airlines-755473

My point is that Asiana has reported two incidents, a crash and another incident, including the one serveral were lost lost a year ago. They have reported that the Asiana staff has not been keeping up with certifications. I am not making this up. You can look it up yourself.

And Royal and Celebrity still have no permits for Glacier Bay, which is why I don't normally recommend them foe Alaska. Great land portion of their cruise tours, though.

They just extended it to the entire Norwegian fleet after a month's pilot program. And people seem to be overlooking that the continental breakfast, like coffee and pastry, is still free.

Hasn't Asiana had two crashes in the last 6 months.

They are doing it because the loyal customers who book well in advance are upset when they find out someone paid a lot less for the same category. And Regent, for example, always sells full and never lowered prices to do it. Norwegian's new CEO Frank Del Rio, has been saying they will use the more inclusive offers rather than lower prices. (See the Norwegian Sky beginning in 2016.) He has been successful with Oceania, too.

The 1A category you mention has two twin beds that cannot be converted to a queen and sometimes are bunk beds.

We love MSC because of the dancing venues and shows and food/wine. Can't wait for this new one.

That is what I posted here above on Apr 3. And you can still get continental breakfast with pastries and coffee, etc, with no service charge, just like before. It is just for items on the enhanced menu that includes eggs, etc.

I listened to a webinar for agents this week led by the Norwegian President and he said it is a one month test program and then they will evaluate results. As part of it they expanded the menu for breakfast from continental only to a full menu, including eggs to order. By the way, many high end all inclusive resorts don't even offer room service until you are at least in a concierge level room category. And Royal Caribbean has been charging for after midnight room service for some time.

Karen is the walker but she says yes about that deck. They of course have buffet dining. They also have a "pay" pizza by the yard place open in the evening. And free pizza in the buffet all afternoon. They do have room service but a limited menu.

Back in 2008 we sailed on Summit from Venice to Athens and they were testing out for the first time the sea day grand buffet, a white night dinner on deck, the Round the World Wine Tasting, and several other things. The white night didn't make it, but most of the others were implemented fleetwide on Celebrity. Interesting that they keep using Summit as the testing ground. We loved it when we sailed again on Summit this last December for our 25th anniversary celebration after it has been "Solstice-ized". Our review of that sailing is here on the board reviews, too.

We loved dancing on there, too, especially in the atrium by the bar and elevators. While it already had the Blue Iguana, and Red Frog, it didn't have Guy Fieri's Burgers yet when we were on it last Nov. Also good internet connectivity on there.

TRAVELPULSE September 25, 2014 By Theresa Norton Masek Carnival Cruise Lines is rolling out new for-fee “Steakhouse Selections” in its main dining rooms fleetwide. The roll-out began in late August after a “successful pilot program” on four ships starting in May, the cruise line said. The new steak and lobster entrées will be available for $20 each in the main dining rooms on all the ships. Currently, 13 Carnival ships have separate steak restaurants that levy a $35 service charge. Offered nightly, the “Steakhouse Selections” include a 1½-pound Maine lobster, 9-ounce filet mignon, 14-ounce New York strip steak, and surf-and-turf of broiled Maine lobster tail and filet mignon. The steak offerings are prime aged beef. The “Steakhouse Selections” seem to be aimed at those who want a premium beef or lobster dinner but don’t want to pay the $35 cover charge, prefer to stick to the main restaurant and their dining companions, or aren’t inclined to bring their kids to the steakhouse. (The $35 fee applies to children too). Royal Caribbean International has offered for-fee steak entrées in the main dining rooms for years. The selections from the Chops Grille specialty restaurant are a 10-ounce filet mignon for $14.95; a whole 1¼- to 1½-pound Maine lobster, served broiled, grilled or steamed, for $29.95; and both those selections in a surf-and-turf entrée for $37.50. A 15 percent gratuity is added. Royal Caribbean points out that guests can choose from 10 complimentary entrees every night in the main dining room, including a Black Angus top sirloin steak. Also, Maine lobster tail is a featured complimentary entrée item on select evenings on all seven-night or longer itineraries and five- and six-night itineraries sailing from Boston, New York and Baltimore. “Guests sailing aboard a Royal Caribbean ship that does not offer particular specialty restaurants or with family members and young children who do not wish to dine in a specialty restaurant have responded positively to having the option to enjoy a premium selection in the main dining room,” Royal Caribbean said in a statement. ________________________________________________ What are you thoughts, CruiseCrazies?