Conference abbott::cruise_travel

    
    What you _DON'T_ have to worry about is understanding waht is to
    be done and when.  Believe me they'll make _sure_ you have all the
    information for the tips.  On the NORWAY there are some simple things
    and some things I did NOT like.  Here is my $.02.
    
    ALL beverages not included with the meal menu (drinks, wine) have
    a tip INCLUDED in the tab.  It is automatic.  This is true from
    the first drink you are _offered_ before sailing to the very last.
    
    SERVICES (waiter, busboy, cabin attendent(s), and head waiter) are
    all presented to the respective personell on the evening of your
    last day aboard ship.  If you're are following the same itienary
    as we did in Dec '89 this will be Friday.  Envelopes will be placed
    in your cabin by your attendent beforhand.
    
    TIPS are UP TO YOU !!!.  You do NOT sign anything.  So tip as YOU
    feel.  My wife and I both did NOT beleive our cabin stuward was
    doing even an average job, but believed that our busyboy WAS working
    VERY hard in the dinning room.  We simply gave the Busboy more and
    the stuward less then the standard rate.  Tips are the major portion
    of there income, but the tips are NOT a given. Just a guideline
    for AVERAGE work.
    
    Enjoy you cruise, we did.  WATCH YOURSELF getting on and off the
    tendors.  Those two "little" people haulers on the bow of the
    NORWAY.  The ramps move radicaly when boarding and going back onto
    the ship.  A few people on our cruise learned to pay attention the
    hard way. 
    
    
    Good Luck and best on a fun trip.
    
    George C.
    
    

      
        The Norway is the same ship we sailed on last April 15th.
     It was our first cruise also so I can understand your concerns.
     The total amount of tipping for us was about $200.00. we put that
     aside before we even sailed. All the tipping except for services
     like bringing drinks and room service is paid on this last night
     of your cruise.
       Your personal room steward and waiter get the largest tip being
     we gave $75.00 to each of them. The busboy who we really liked
     recieved $30.00 also our Matride recieved $20.00 as he was a
     very nice guy and took special care of our needs . He is optional
     depending upon how you may feel about his concerns for your
     services at the dining area.
       I am sure you will enjoy your cruise so much. My husband and
    I are now trying to decide where we will go next year for our 
    twenty-fifth anniversary that is where to cruise to because
    once you have been on a cruise you never want to vacation any other
    way.
       also the tours and special events are great for instance if you
    like submarines my hubby and friend went in one which they really
    loved but I must confess I was chicken.I instead opted to go on
    the glass bottom boat which was very enjoyable.My most daring
    adventure was a sail to Saint Bartholomew on a catermaran it
    was wonderful and ST. BARTH is a really gorgeous island .It is
    a privately owned island that is rich and clean. You can get a taxi
    for the whole day that will even drop you at the beach which is
    topless and he will wait for you to take you back to the catermaran
    all for $8.00 and he stops whenever you like to take pictures or
    shop. That was a great day for sure.
       Well as you can see I could go on for ever about that trip and
    the ship was outstanding by far.The service and room were great
    and the food was out of this world , you can order as many items
    as you like the only thing they do wish is that you order it all
    when he takes your order as they will do double portions or two
    or three entries if you wish but they do not like to have to go
    back and order a second time but everything is wonderful. The
    horseracing and bingo are fun. Try if you can to buy a horse for
    the race it usually is very profitable even if you go half with
    friends.
      Enjoy yourself and please enjoy let us know how you liked the
    Norway and it's Crew.
        Judy

    Thank you to all who have responded both here and thru the mail. 
    Keep the helpful hints coming. 
    
    QUESTION: Proof of citizenship - who needs what? My birth certificate
    does not match my present name. Do I have to carry proof of each time
    it changed? Would a passport make it easier? If a passport will solve
    the problem, where do you get one?
    
    QUESTION: What are we looking at for temperatures and weather in the 
    Miami to Virgin Islands area for late April? Average temperature HIGHS 
    and LOWS would be helpful, as well as general weather - windy, rainy, 
    humid etc.
    
    Thanks again for all the help.
    Only 82 more days - but who's counting!
    
    Amy
    
    

    Just another example on tipping.  I went on the Norway August 1988
    (my first cruise also) and I was also worried about how much to tip.
    We tipped the room steward $30.00, the waiter $40.00, the busboy (who
    does all the hard work) $45.00. ($115 TOTAL)  This was suppose to
    be average (or so that's what my cruising friends told me).
    
    The ship is ABSOLUTELY GREAT!!  Had the best time of our life.
    
    Best of luck.
    
    Linda
    
    

    RE:  Proof of Citizenship
    
    Your birth certificate or passport work equally well.  Do not do
    what I did.  I don't have a passport and managed to leave my birth
    certificate in California.  We flew to Florida and I realized en
    route that I had forgotten my birth certificate.  I called friends
    and had them tearing through my house trying to find my birth
    certificate.  Finally found it 2 hours before cruise time and tried
    to have it faxed.  The fax arrived about 15 minutes after we had
    to leave to get to the ship, it was basically unreadable.  My friends 
    tried to fax it to the cruise line without success.  My mom, being 
    the always on top of it person that she is, asked the people at the 
    ticket counter when we had to show our birth certificates.  The told 
    her we didn't unless there was a spot check so I was able to get my 
    boarding pass.  I was a bit nervous each time we got off the ship to 
    go somewhere but I never had any problem and I didn't get stopped for 
    a spot check.  I do not recommend doing this at all, it was nerve 
    wracking thinking they wouldn't let me on the ship.
    
    Your local passport office should be able to mail you an application.
    They should be listed in the phone book.  At least that is the way
    we get them here in San Jose.
    
    Jan
       

    Only 51 more days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    
    We are all paid up and rearing to go. Anticipation is starting to set
    in REAL TIME now. 
    
    Still haven't heard from anyine regarding weather. This would be a big
    help as we start putting our wardrobe together. HELP!!!!
    
    

    
    I can't believe that April is finally here and I'm on the count down.
    Lets see, 16 more days to the NORWAY!!!!!!
    
    I was reading note 201.5 I think it was, where "Joe" went thru the dos
    and don't for the different port of calls. What should I be aware of
    regarding St. Maarten(?) and St. Thomas? What are the "do it here" for
    each island and what are the WARNINGS? All information welcome both pro
    and con. 
    
    Well, I have finally finished shopping for the cruise. I should have 
    started sooner. Now, where are all the suitcases hiding? I do have a
    few questions regarding cloths for the cruise. One of the other couples 
    is having a rough time affording all the cloths. He had no suits or sport 
    coat, and she has no "dressy"dresses. Do the men in our party need both
    a suit and a sports coat, as I have been advice, or can they get away 
    with just a suit? How about the ladies? Will a nice dress be OK or does
    it have to be "dressy"? Will anyone care if you wear the same one
    twice?  Answers to this question ASAP will be most appreciated. They
    are getting themselves into such a tissie, that by the time the cruise is
    here, they won't be able to enjoy it. I don't think they planned on the
    cost of a suit etc, when they budgeted to pay for the cruise.
    
    Thanks for all the helpful tips. This file is great. 
    
    Amy
    
    didn't realise suits cost $200. 

    1 suit would probably be OK for the men, as many men will wear the same
    suit for both formal evenings.. They had other nights where I think
    they wanted a bit dressy, but noone is going to stare or refuse to seat
    you if you are not wearing a suit or jacket (at least this was my 
    impression)
    	As far as the dresses go, I know one couple where the women wore a
    regular dress for one of the formal nights.  There are women there who
    wear gowns worth thousands, but once again I think it is up to the 
    individual.  The boat is going after a general atmosphere, but they
    dont stand there deciding if what you are wearing is OK.
    
    			This is just my opinion here.  I brought two
    somewhat fancy dresses on board, but neither cost more than 100$.
    You can go to the malls now and find some of the fancy dresses on
    sale for less than 50$ if you look carefully.  It is up to the 
    individual though.  Once again this is just my opinion, others may
    differ from their observations
    

    		WE LEAVE SATURDAY!!!!!!!
    
    I want to thank everyone for all their helpful suggestions and
    information. We did some suit swapping among the men, and now everyone
    will be outfitted to the hilt. 
    
    We are all so anxious about the trip, this past weekend when we all 
    got together, we were basket cases. We tried playing cards and no one 
    could keep their mind on the game. My girlfriend gets a headache every 
    time we talk about it and her husband can't keep track of the days. My 
    husband ( who says that nothing bothers him) said that yesterday he walked
    around work in a daze and doesn't know why. Me? My stomach has been
    rolling and turning for the past week and a half. 
    
    Thanks again for all the help. This file is great. Where else can you
    draw on the knowledge and experience of 100's of people at the same
    time. 
    
    I'll post a reply when I get back.
    
    Amy
    

    WERE DO WE SIGN UP TO GO AGAIN???????????????????
    
    I have just returned from my first cruise aboard the SS NORWAY and let
    me just say, IT WAS GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    
    All the words in the world can not discribe the FUN, BUSY, RELAXING
    experience of cruising. The staff was there to make sure we had fun and
    we did just that. Boy, do those folks work, and work hard. There was 4 
    couples in our group and at least 3 of the couples had a great time. 
    One couple, the wife got sick, and says she won't go again. 
    
    I never got so little sleep, and had so much energy. And the food was
    out of this world. Everything everyone has said in this file is true
    and then some. Tom, what did you think? I never did catch you in your
    cabin, called and stoped by a few time. Did you have a good time?
    
    Let's see:
    	Flight down went well, and there was no problem getting a
    ride on the NCL bus to the peir. Getting thru the paperwork and customs
    to get on board was probably the roughest part of the trip (time wise). 
    Had an unplanned stop at San Salvador island, Sunday. One of the
    passengers had to be taken off the ship and rushed to a hospital. Lost
    a total of 4 passengers during the week, all for medical reasons. Seas
    were a little rough, but not to bad. Ship made good time getting back
    on schedule. Weather did not cooperate as well as expected, with clouds
    and off and on rain during the week. It's a good thing I'm not a sun
    worshiper. However, those that were, made good use of the sunny hours.
    Lots of sunburns and tans. I couldn't get over how much hotter the sun
    was. 
    The islands tours were great to so-so. No one in my group liked St
    Martin except for the shoping. The tour guide was great, but the tour
    itself left a lot to be desired. We all fell in love with St John. My
    husband and I are thinking of camping there for a week some time in the
    future. It can't come fast enough to suit me. St Thomas was nice and
    the view I had of Maagans Bay, says I'll have to make that spot on one
    of my next cruises. 
    The SS Norway will be going into dry-dock in August to have some
    changes made. They are going to add rooms with balcony  to the upper
    decks to reclaim the "Largest Ship" title. Also, they are going to
    expand the facilities on the Dolpin deck to include more health and
    fitness supplies, equipment, and facilities. 
    It was also mentioned about a new ship for the NCL line, call
    PHENIOX(?). This ship will hold 5000 passengers, have all staterooms on
    upper decks, with public rooms inside or on lower decks. They will
    carry the tenders inside the ship, opening doors at water level to
    remove, and once gone, leaving a large indoor swimming pool. That's
    about all the details I can remember about the Pheniox. 
    
    Well, as you can tell, I had a good time, and am now planning the next
    cruise. How does one find out about ALL the different ports of calls
    there are around the would and which ships go to which ones? We (Ed and I) 
    want to pick out a place we want to see, then pick the cruise line to go 
    on. Can a travel agent help us out? We did not make these last plans, we 
    went along with a group. I've never been to a travel agent, so I'm not 
    really sure how much help they can be.  Will the travel agents also let 
    you know, which Cruise lines have specials and when they are? 
    
    Wish I was packing today. Next year can't come soon enough.
    
    Amy