Q After watching CNN and other interviews with the poor folks getting off the Carnival Triumph , I r

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Q We ve just returned from a cruise on the Oasis of the Seas and some friends we had dinner with told us that they had gotten friendly with their cabin attendant who told them that crew is paid next to nothing and really survives on tips. In this day and age and with minimum wage laws, I wonder if this could be true? Do you have any information on this?
A -  Workers aboard cruise ships are not protected by US laws as they are classified as foreign workers aboard ships that are not registered in the United States. They lack the same Minimum Wage, Health Care, and Working Conditions rights that you and I enjoy as citizens. By every measure they are exploited labor. Janitorial and cleaning staff average about $500 per month. A waiter can make $1,000 per month. They usually work seven days a week. They sleep below decks in bunk bed accommodations but the major cruis elines are good advertisers so we see little int he way of investigative reporting on this issue.
On the other side of the Atlantic, London s Channel 4 sent a reporter undercover to work for five weeks aboard the Celebrity Eclipse. Celebrity, it should be noted, is the most upscale of the mass market thailand discount hotel lines and the Eclipse is a new generation ship, so conditions are marginally better than what crew might face on less upscale competitors.
The on-air expose reported that the lowest paid on board workers were receiving about $600 per month or about $2.00 per hour with no gratuities. Most crew members were working seven days a week for six or eight months. Workers are often forced, it was reported, to pay expensive fees to the recruitment thailand discount hotel agencies in their home country that allowed them to obtain thailand discount hotel their job.
Over five weeks, he earned $375 an hour and he was expected to work sixteen hours each day. This was less than the recruitment agency he used had promised. A story in the Daily Telegraph pointed out that he was charges $700 by the recruitment agency to buy his uniform, get a visa, and take out compulsory medical coverage. He started his work heavily in debt.
The documentary report pointed out, in some detail, exactly why cruise ships flag their ships in certain countries. The Celebrity Eclipse is registered in Malta. There can be no other justification for such registry other than the fact that neither US or British Employment laws apply in Malta. Cruise ships flag their ships to evade minimum wage requirements and other forms of worker protections.
thailand discount hotel There were areas the story did not have time to investigate. The treatment of workers who are injured ont he job, for example, and their access to US hospitals. Cruise lines will often require that an injured worker be flown home rather thailand discount hotel than arrange for the best possible treatment available.
And what do the cruise lines respond. thailand discount hotel They respond in much the same way that Mitt Romney responds to questions about his tax dodges in Grand Cayman and other tax havens. It is all technically within the law.
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Q Reading about these cruise lines that register out of the United States and pay no taxes? Are they really non-American companies and why are we supporting them with our business. What is really going on here?
A -  If you look at the five largest cruise lines operating in the United States, you will find that they are all registered in foreign countries including thailand discount hotel the Bahamas, Panama, thailand discount hotel and Liberia. By foreign-flagging , cruise lines avoid paying the kinds of taxes they would pay if they were US-based corporations. They also do not have to observe our labor laws or even many of our domestic safety requirements.  The practice is referred to as flags of convenience.
The hard truth is that cruise labor is much like migrant labor unless thailand discount hotel it continues, prices for the product will soar. The Hotel and Tour industries thailand discount hotel wonder why their major competitor is allowed to skirt so many US laws in order to maintain the present pricing levels. James Walker, a prominent maritime attorney, writing for CNN.com, claims that cleaners aboard Royal Caribbean ships are paid as little as $156.25 a week with no prospect of tips . If the larger cruise ships were registered in the United States, employed unionized labor, and followed current US labor laws, the entire pricing model of the cruise industry would collapse and, it is likely, thailand discount hotel so would large portions of the industry.
Q Spent several hours on this site last night and had to drop you a line. Great stuff. Here s my specific question. I am a  consultant in the chemical industry and I fly, out of my home in Denver all over Europe. I work alone, with a part-time secretary thailand discount hotel and we do all of our own air arrangements. thailand discount hotel I have had numerous flight cancellations and delays at O Hare and I just want to try avoiding it if I can. If you were me, which airports that have non-stop flights to Europe would be best for connections? Wish you had more on airline strategies and less on cruise line ratings.
thailand discount hotel A Thanks for the advice. We won t take it, but thanks anyway. Your question does, we think, have a specific answer. Our air people feel that you might limit your connections to three first-choice options, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Charlotte, and Detroit. All three have enviable connection stats.
Q My husband and I are going overseas for the first time this April on a tour arranged through our church in Boise. It is a group tour and we have to get to New York on our own to get on a Delta Airlines flight. thailand discount hotel My question is how much time do you think we need between flights. Our travel agent says two hours and we found a flight that gives us  a little less, one hour and fifty minutes. Our agent wants to book it but we thought we should run it past you first. Any advice would be appreciated.  I just want everything to go right.
A We disagree with your agent. Do not book the flight. With the current sequestration budget cuts, TSA staff at a number thailand discount hotel of US Airports, but most particularly New York s JFK, O Hare, and Atlanta, will be cut by as much as 30%. We are now advising all of our clients to allow a minimum outbound international connection time in those three airports of three hours.
We want everything to go right also. While you are waiting, have a Nathan s Hot Dog in the terminal. You probably can t get one in Boise. Have a terrific trip and make sure to carry copies of the picture page of your passport along with a sheet that has photocopies of the front and back sides of your credit card. Be safe.
Q After watching CNN and other interviews with the poor folks getting off the Carnival Triumph , I really wonder if we ever will take that first cruise. So let s see why travel truth is still, as far as I can see, recommending cruising. Given the honesty of your answers to other questions, I wonder how you respond to your bread and butter? This is not meant in any mean-spirited way. We read the site, enjoy it, and are really curious.
A Fair enough. We don t recommend cruising we recommend the top ten-rated cruise lines. We don t recommend hotels , we recommend certain hotels that meet our stringest standards. We have never booked guests on a Carnival Cruise. The one essential rule that the consumer somehow thinks  does not apply to travel is you get what you pay for . This is a critical mistake . We don t sell Holiday Inn or Motel 6.
Q We work full time and have just nine or ten nights to spend in Italy. We love hiking, exploring, and really good food. Could the Amalfi Coast work in that time frame and how would we set it up in terms of hotels thailand discount hotel and air. We are in our fifties and we like good hotels that are romantic. Will our travel agent make dinner reservations for us and can her recommendations be trusted?
A There is a lot of question there. We would fly into Rome and then train down to Naples. thailand discount hotel You would be met in Naples and then brought to your hotel. Our recommendation for ten days is to stay in two hotels. You should look first at Le Siranuse in Positano and the Hotel Caruso in Ravello. Both are truly memorable. There is some public transportation and the hotels can arrange for a private thailand discount hotel driver when necessary. Try not to do this trip between June 15th and the 20th of September. Late May and the first week in October are great times to go.  We think there is enough of interest to fill ten days and you can hike the lesser-known villages in the crux of the hills. thailand discount hotel We have discussed these in response to a previous question. Finally, you might want to check out the travel agent s culinary creds before committing thailand discount hotel to her recommendations. There is a simple test to find out how much your travel consultant knows about food. Ask them the difference between an Osteria, a Trattoria, and a Ristoranti. thailand discount hotel Follow that up by asking them to name the best restaurant in the best hotel in Hong Kong.(Gaddi s in the Peninsula) This was once a question we would pose to those  interviewing for a position at our firm.
It is a bit much to expect your agent to have personal knowledge of the best new restaurants worldwide. If you work with an agency that is a member of one of the major consortiums they will have on-site offices in Italy. The On-site office will be able to handle reservations for dinner through the agent. The best agents trend to be affiliated with one of the following consortium groups: American Express, Ensemble, Signature, and Virtuoso.
Q - We have been following the story, now on the New York Times second and third page, of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. I am writing this on February 8th and I wo