Originally Posted by Rainger99 (Post 2408278)

In May, you can take a seven day MSC cruise roundtrip from Port Canaveral for $1340 for two people. Kids sale free. Food and entertainment is included and you can drive to the port.

How much is a seven day stay at Disney with meals?

Originally Posted by asianthree (Post 2408274)

Last week stayed at Polynesian new Island Tower, for less per night, than your Art of Animation experience. We did have lunch at 220 definitely more than $100

Originally Posted by Nana2Teddy (Post 2408306)

Clearly you got a special rate, or are DVC members because $500/night for a room at any Magic Kingdom resort is never $500 or less per night. We are APs and tried to go for a couple of nights last week for our anniversary and I couldn’t find us any room at a MK resort using the current special 35% off rate for APs for less than $7-800/night, which of course was before taxes. We’d have been out $2K+ just for the room. We decided to go for the day only, which turns out was more than enough now that it’s hot and humid again.

Originally Posted by Bill14564 (Post 2408240)

Are the drinks that much more expensive than they would be at Bluefin, Red Sauce, or Prima?
Given that cruises are international, not every country has a custom of tipping, and American tourists are cheap, is it unreasonable to recommend a tipping level?
I have no idea how much it costs to provision wifi for several thousand people on a ship, much less contract with a satellite provider for that much internet bandwidth, do you?

Cruising is not inexpensive and I'm sure the company makes money but are the prices exorbitant or is that just what it costs to provide the service?

Originally Posted by bonbonn (Post 2408334)

we went on royal caribbean cruise. we bought the ships insurance, my wife got sick went to emergency by wheel chair. Before they would look at her they wanted our credit card, I said we had bought the insurance. We were told we had to pay them and then go to the insurance for reimbursed. I dont think they were even doctors. we waited for her to feel better and went back to our cabin. never cruise again

Originally Posted by TerryBo (Post 2408343)

Americans I believe tip more than any other people. I don’t see people tipping as much in Europe.

Originally Posted by Bill14564 (Post 2408240)

Are the drinks that much more expensive than they would be at Bluefin, Red Sauce, or Prima?
Given that cruises are international, not every country has a custom of tipping, and American tourists are cheap, is it unreasonable to recommend a tipping level?
I have no idea how much it costs to provision wifi for several thousand people on a ship, much less contract with a satellite provider for that much internet bandwidth, do you?

Cruising is not inexpensive and I'm sure the company makes money but are the prices exorbitant or is that just what it costs to provide the service?

Originally Posted by TerryBo (Post 2408343)

Americans I believe tip more than any other people. I don’t see people tipping as much in Europe.

Originally Posted by Rainger99 (Post 2408192)

There was a recent article in which a passenger on a cruise ship had $20,000 of medical insurance that he bought from the cruise company. However, he had a three day stay in the ship hospital and the bill was $47,000!!!!

Minnesota man wins free Norwegian cruise vacation -- then catches the flu onboard and gets hit with $47K medical bill

I usually get travel insurance when I go on vacation. However, can a cruise ship charge whatever it wants for the treatment?

For example, if you go to the doctor for a minor injury - a couple of stitches, etc. - and the cruise ship charges $75,000 for the bill, does your travel insurance pay the $75,000? Or do they pay a reasonable amount, and are you stuck with the rest? I would think that $20,000 would be enough insurance for almost any treatment that a cruise ship would provide - but after seeing this story, I am not sure.

I called a travel insurance company and the representative could only tell me that the insurance company would have to review the bill and the policy after the treatment.

Does anyone have any experience with this issue? Thanks.

Originally Posted by Rainger99 (Post 2408192)

There was a recent article in which a passenger on a cruise ship had $20,000 of medical insurance that he bought from the cruise company. However, he had a three day stay in the ship hospital and the bill was $47,000!!!!

Minnesota man wins free Norwegian cruise vacation -- then catches the flu onboard and gets hit with $47K medical bill

I usually get travel insurance when I go on vacation. However, can a cruise ship charge whatever it wants for the treatment?

For example, if you go to the doctor for a minor injury - a couple of stitches, etc. - and the cruise ship charges $75,000 for the bill, does your travel insurance pay the $75,000? Or do they pay a reasonable amount, and are you stuck with the rest? I would think that $20,000 would be enough insurance for almost any treatment that a cruise ship would provide - but after seeing this story, I am not sure.

I called a travel insurance company and the representative could only tell me that the insurance company would have to review the bill and the policy after the treatment.

Does anyone have any experience with this issue? Thanks.

Originally Posted by TerryBo (Post 2408343)

Americans I believe tip more than any other people. I don’t see people tipping as much in Europe.

Originally Posted by retiredguy123 (Post 2408356)

A tip is a voluntary gratuity, and the amount is determined by the customer. I understand that some cruise lines actually charge for the tip in advance of the cruise. If not, they tell you how much to tip and they do not treat it as a voluntary payment. This is not a tip.
Charging a service fee is one thing, but to call it a tip is insulting. That is just one reason why I do not go on cruises.

Originally Posted by biker1 (Post 2408433)

That is not typical. What you may see is recommended gratuities preemptively added to your folio. You can either accept these or have them removed and make other arrangements to provide gratuities, as you see appropriate. Many cruise lines have stopped explicitly collecting gratuities and they are included in the cost of the cruise (yes, it is built in). The one area you may see a gratuity that is paid in advance is on an included drink package. The dollar value of the included drink package may be subjected to a mandatory gratuity that is charged, and paid for, upfront with the price of the cruise. As always, you are free to consider the entire cost of the trip and decide whether it is a good value.