I suggest we all take a breather for a few minutes.
CruiseLover, I want to address your concern about this forum and NCL. Please be assured that there is no bias against NCL. In fact, of my roughly 30 cruises, the most have been on NCL, spanning the period 1992-2008. I have also been honored to tour several NCL ships when they visited my home port. I believe that a review of my responses would indicate my knowledge of the ships, the line, and my overall positive experiences. There are also several other Staff members who have cruised NCL recently who have also provided valuable advice.
Additionally, we have a solid group of Members who have strong knowledge of NCL that they have been kind enough to share with everyone. Even I have learned a few things.
I'd like to add my 2 cents, or $2 bill, whatever the case. No one showed any bias towards NCL on any of the posts. I personally enjoy NCL. I've sailed on them 4 times and wouldn't hesitate to sail again. In fact, I don't know of a cruise line I wouldn't sail. I'm willing to try any line. I know that everyone on this board, except new cruisers, have their preferences. But I don't know of any one of the moderators that have ever shown any disregard towards NCL.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year to all. Wishing everyone on the board a wonderful cruise!
From another perspective I think a careful reading of posts in the other sections - in particular RCI and Carnival - do not show any favoritism. In fact I'd say a majority of the recent posts in those two sections have been critical and not fawning. This is certainly true for my posts.
We strive to have a fair and balanced forum. This means that opposing viewpoints are both expected and respected. If a member is unwilling to accept criticism to something they have posted, then that member perhaps should evaluate whether to make the post in the first place.
Now everybody knock it off and get back to business!
From a "newcomers" point of view, I've found this website to be biased toward cruiselines other than NCL. There are far friendlier websites/cruise forums available - with information geared toward NCL cruisers.
When someone joins a website and their only contribution is in the NCL forum; then I'd say they are being more bias than anyone.
As Lisa stated the majority of people on this website post about all cruises, and are open minded. There will always be differances of opinion based on individuals experiences. Let's not forget during this festive season those that are fighting for us and have fought in the past, to give us that right to have different opinions. Today is the 12th anniversary of my Mother's passing. As I remember her today, all the petty things in life are insignificant. Let's all remember that, and have a joyous Christmas season with your family and loved ones.
I can appreciate how you're feeling right now - I lost both my parents in the last year. But that's not the point.
Isn't this the NCL forum? If I had sailed on other lines, I'd comment on them. Since I have no knowledge of other cruise lines, I don't feel qualified to speak on them. And I feel the same way about "cruise gurus" who don't cruise on NCL. If they don't have first-hand knowledge, then they should not make comments on this board.
We don't generally give advice on subjects we can not provide accurate information on. The topic at hand is about tipping. (At least it was.)This is a cruise line independant topic if there ever was one.
We also do not limit members to discuss a cruise line based on their experience. Many people visiting CC are new cruisers, so that would be counter-productive.
__________________
================================================== ========== Carnival Cruise Lines:
Fantasy 90, Celebration 95, Victory 05, Conquest 05, Spirit 6/06, Freedom 6/08, Holiday 7/08, Victory 6/09, Valor 9/09, Dream 6/10, Splendor 8/10,Conquest 8/11,Magic 11/11,Triumph 4/12,Spirit 7/12,Freedom 11/12, Triumph 2/13 - The fire cruise
NCL Dream October 2006, RCCL Mariner OTS June 2007
When we cruised the Dawn in 04 we brought quite a quantity of ½ dollars that had collected over the years. They weren’t anything special and weren’t worth more than their face value. We thought it’d be fun to use them in the casino not realizing they were not accepted by any of the slots (my only vice in the casino is slots). Anyway, we left them lying on the table in the cabin without any thought.
Our cabin steward (Sergei) was fascinated by them and couple of days into the cruise he asked us what they were. Imagine his surprise when we just gathered them up and handed them to him. I imagine it was no more than $15.00 but you would have thought we’d just paid off his mortgage! The service was already exemplary but it just got better! After that we were almost like celebrities on our deck (and we were on deck 5 in an inside cabin). Even crew members that didn’t service our cabin seemed to know us and give an extra special greeting.
Clearly it isn’t the amount so much as the uniqueness. On our upcoming cruise we will certainly bring some $2.00 bills with us and we’ll have to dig up some ½ dollars as well!
Bon Voyage and Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays to all!
Linear Mode
