Fanmail Friday: November 28th Edition
What is the best way to pay for tips on my upcoming Royal Caribbean cruise?
Royal Caribbean is one of my favorite cruise lines. They seem to have found the right mixture of “party environment and refinement”. My preferred method for handling tips is to prepay. Between excursions, drinks, slots and bingo I tend to ring up a large enough final billing statement. Please note prepaying only takes care of the tips for the cabin steward, housekeeping staff and the dining staff. The 15% gratuity attached to drinks for the waiter or bartender will still be added to your ship account. While you can have them added to your ship account at the end of the cruise, I like to have as much as possible paid for before boarding.
On my next cruise, I will be meeting family in Puerto Rico; will I be able to show them around the ship?
Although non-passenger visitors were commonplace during episodes of the Love Boat, that was a long time ago. Post 9/11 all of the rules changed making it so you probably won’t be able to show them around the cruise ship. Having people who are not passengers on the cruise ship is a severe security risk, without proper screening any kind of lunatic could come on board the ship. While you can still try to write the cruise line in order to obtain a visitor pass, unless you fit one of these categories you will most likely be denied:
- a crewmember working on board the ship that has family visiting for the day
- a vendor who has official business on board the cruise ship
- a travel agent or part of an incentive group on a ship tour for marketing and sales purposes.
- if you are having a wedding or some other ceremony on board the ship.
What are those large metal doors all over the cruise ship used for?
The large metal doors you are referring to have different functions depending on where you are located on the cruise ship. On decks below the waterline the primary function is to stop the spread of water should there be any flooding on board the ship. The doors located above the water line are to stop the spread of smoke and flames if there was ever a fire on board the ship. The doors can be operated either remotely from the bridge or manually at the site in the event of an accident on board the cruise ship.
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