gone_cruisin

Like many posters on here - I am not a big drinker even though the bf probably could get his money worth our of the package.

We are doing the Vista TA and seeing how many days at sea we will be, and the fact that on a few occasions I was able to order 6-7 drinks at the Alchemy bar ($9.95 a piece)....I think this time we will buy the package.

$750 a person is big pill to swallow, but I can see that bill could easily be higher if we don't watch it. I'll just load up on milkshakes and sodas on off days.

Thank you. At least I now know not to go looking for it.

Hi everyone!

We are about to become first time cruisers on Holland America on May 4th. We bought the cruise during the Explore 4 promotion and got the SBP. I have read everything about the program.

The only question I have is.....does this Explore 4 promo/SBP show anywhere on our cruise documents or on out sign in? I have seen nothing in my reservation (but I am not very familiar with the website).

I am in the process of finalizing our documents and I do not see any reference to our purchase. Is there something I should be looking for in our documents?

I also noticed that my reservation will still allow me to buy the SBP in gifts and indulgences. This has me wondering if I don't have the package anymore.

Help! :confused::confused:

Thanks

Has anyone from the 9/20 sailing received any correspondence? I think I read the 9/13 sailing got an email?

We haven't received anything.

Excited for you guys. Enjoy the rest of your cruise!

Nice summary of what has been posted in this thread.

Obviously you didn't read it. The article stated that power, ac was lost. At no time anywhere on this post or any Carnival announcement was that mentioned. Not to say that the newspaper article got their information correct, but I figured this board would like to see it.

Scheduled is the key word, not operate.

Ha ha ha - "scheduled" is a great word. I'm "scheduled" to go to work tomorrow, but I reserve the right to change that at any time.

The V.I. local news info:

http://virginislandsdailynews.com/news/cruise-ship-stuck-in-st-thomas-a-second-day-1.1939580

ragethjj23, not positive, but pretty sure we'll still be going to Barbados as other passengers embark/disembark there. Itinerary could be altered otherwise but nothing has been said by Carnival yet.

Keep forgetting about Barbados passengers.

It would be one port I would gladly give up.

Wouldn't be happy with a modified itinerary. Nope. Not after planing this for over a year and a half.

They may change to something better?

St. Thomas, St. Maarten, St. Croix, Tortola are all within a floating distance away.

They are still reassuring us it's on......

JH Facebook

Lots of you are asking me for assurance that the Carnival Liberty will sail on Sunday as planned........yes she will so have a brilliant time

Cheers"

True it's impossible to know what the full contingency plan is at this point.

If the ship can't sail at full power they might decide to go to various alternatives for those sailing 9/13 and onward.

That's what I'm wondering. A modified sailing wouldn't be bad. I told the family when booking this cruise, because it's hurricane season, don't book for the itinerary...book for the ship/room.

These are 40 minute flights one way. I, too, presume they will turn around once their passengers are offloaded.

That's about right. 10 minutes to taxi out, 20 minutes flight time, 10 minutes to taxi in.

Agreed. I saw that the National flight was coming from Sanford.

 

 

 

What's puzzling is that John Heald mentioned 6 flights, and so far only two are scheduled in the system.

Editing to add more info: The flights show up on flight aware once the flight plans are filed with Air Traffic Control. Obviously the company has not filed the other legs yet (most likely the later departures)

With the combination of 757-200, 737-800, and MD-83, I have to guess they're AA planes. They have a decent sized hub in SJU, so it makes sense.

 

They're likely not seating anybody in First Class, which would account for the fewer number of seats than expected. If they use the F cabin they'd need an extra flight attendant.

It's not American - as an employee, I can confirm that.

It appears Carnival is getting better at dealing with this disasters, but they are still falling short on the communication factor.

When cruise passengers have to read from social media, the flight schedule....something's not right.

I know there are lessons to be learned from each disaster, I would hope the next big lesson is to beef up the communication team.

24 hour communication/representatives made available thru Twitter, FB and any other media outlet (no it's not manned 24 hours right now)

What is a known problem?

Don't read into the way you are trying,

All I was saying is that if they canceled the cruise on 9/12, Liberty's fire problem had been "known" for 6 days. It wasn't a surprise that happened the morning of.

I am sure that he would not say it if it were not true. Happy cruising.

You know posters are going blame/curse JH if this falls thru. He has an awful job.

I got what I was looking for. Up to this point, no one had been told the status of 9/13.

Latest update on John Heald's (social media) page:

 

 

 

"For those of you who have been asking me I am very happy to tell you that the Carnival Liberty’s next cruise departing this Sunday is indeed scheduled to operate as normal.

 

Cheers and have a brilliant time"

At least this is progress for Carnival. Not so sure I believe them 100%, but at least it's info saying they've addressed the 9/13 cruise.

I do hope they are correct for everyone that is being affected.

No, guests will disembark based on when their flight is scheduled.

Ok, so it is staying until Friday?!

what is your suggestion?

Allow people booked on 9/13 cruise to be able to make changes. Rebook at a later date? Another sailing?

 

 

This, however, ISN'T weather or an act outside company control. It is a Carnival mechanical issue.

You hit the nail on the head right there!

It's a known problem. It didn't just show up the day before the 9/13 cruise. And since they don't have spare ships laying around, we all know a cancellation is really their only option.

Several years ago when the FAA grounded certain types of aircraft for mandatory inspections, the airlines took massive cancellations. They didn't sit around and cancel one flight at a time....they took out several days of flights. It's called preplanning.

Carnival is giving you a realistic option, they are telling you that at this point the sailing will still occur.

 

They are running a business and they are not going to cancel a cruise leaving on Sunday if there is still the possibility that they will be able to operate that cruise. Why would they cancel now and lose that revenue only to make the repair and have the ship sit for a week?

So basically in your opinion, screw PR? They've got a business to run and who cares if it upsets their customers!

Ever notice how airline offer free changes to itineraries when hurricanes or snow storms are expected? Maybe they should just say screw it, "run their business" and let the passengers deal with it. Don't offer any reaccommodations, and let them show up to the airport for the scheduled flight......if it flies.

How can Carnival say they will or not be sailing? The right part replacement might be a quick fix so why jump the gun and cancel before they try the fix?

And if it's not? At what point do you stop getting people's hopes up? When do you realistically throw the towel in and say it's over?

3 days before the cruise? 1 day? How about as they show up at the pier the morning of?

This isn't like the airlines where they can keep delaying. Even the airlines are obligated to reaccommodate passengers on others flights. In this case, we are just being told, so sorry. Here's a refund, and a discount off a future cruise.

I'm not asking for money. I merely want the courtesy of a realistic option.

@gone_cruisin We are in the same boat as you. I've been to PR several times and my husband has no interest in going there (we are on the 9/13). Also there are no all inclusives in PR so the hotels that I just looked at came to the SAME price as my cruise yet I'd end up spending an extra $500+ on food and drinks. No thank you, we'll stay home. We have insurance and flexible vacation time so we can reschedule later in fall.

I wish you luck! I've been rallying carnival to release the info about the September 13th cruise, but I keep getting the standard response. As of this time, it is still scheduled to sail.

I'm crossing my fingers a week is enough time to fix the ship for our 20th cruise, but I'm not holding my breath.