Jellyfish21

We booked the Daniel Johnson monkey/ sloth center with day at banarama. The excursion was to take us to the DJ center, then we would go to the beach ( cost of chairs included)

Driver was Loren, he took us to Jungle Top, muttered something about it being better than the Daniel Johnson center and we were shown the restaurant where we could get drinks later and the zip lining. We held a couple of birds, two different monkeys( very depressing looking cages) and a sloth . Took about 25 minutes.

He took us to Banarama. He walked us over to a table  by bar and we told him we’d want pickup at 2:30

He NEVER gave us the wrist bands! Banarama called him, no answer. We had to pay $20 for something that was SUPPOSED to be included!

We waited and waited for him to pick us up.

We were in the parking lot at 3:30 looking for a cab when we saw him - he was 45 minutes late!. He claimed that Banarama ripped us off. We were at port when he said this and I told him we had a receipt for the chairs we paid for ( yes, we asked and got a receipt!) He asked for the receipt , said he would take it to the office , but sorry, I didn’t trust as I didn’t see any office .

I wouldn’t book through Viator again .

BTW, we’ve booked Banarama online at least five times in the past and every time the cab driver bought the bands and gave them to us.

Since this excursion stated that beach chairs/ facility access was included, I think it was reasonable to assume that he’d do the same .

4 hours ago, sidari said:

Have you actually asked if that is the case or are you just guessing at the figures ?

I’m going by memory on the Cuba port charges.

Guest relations desk told us the refund of our port fees is part of our $400obc.

Don’t think that they are giving 400obc, that’s misleading . That figure INCLUDES refund of Cuba port fees!!!

They have to refund that by law anyhow, but why not add that money to the “$400 obc” number to sound more generous?

Call it like it is- $260 obc plus refund of port fees.

Just arrived back from Jamaica , for getting off late ( we waited 1 hour to get off due to their system being down,that’s one hour less at our all inclusive)

We got paper saying because of that, we will $100 per cabin obc next cruise.

Seriously? Why would anyone want to sail MSc again?

all pools closed on day 1?

check

old, crowded ship?

check

give least amount of compensation for missing Cuba of all lines?

check

lousy food? 

Check

no electricity in cabin and part of ship for most of morning?

check

lost hour in Jamaica waiting in dark, hot line for one hour because no internet or electricity

check

most cruises have lobster and prime rib formal night, MSC Armpitia had small portion of mediocre “lobster “ravioli and “ beef tornedos”

No, not as good as a tail and a slice of prime rib, but it’s cheaper, and I’m sure someone will give an anecdote about they like it better.

Truly awful ship!

This morning we had no power in our room and half the ship.

Been waiting 50 minutes to get off in Jamaica .

They say internet is down! Instead of being at the all inclusive we paid for, we are standing in line staring at the dock!

Cancel if you can!

1 hour ago, Mattnvick said:

 

You just get the feeling Bea that MSC could (excuse my vulgarity) s**t bricks of gold and this person would find something negative about it.

They have already decided they hate MSC its a done deal. 

 

I get people are upset but to hate that much before you put a foot on the gangplank (ok not a gangplank  any more) 😉 is actually sad.

 

What is they say? a day at sea is better than a day at the office. Life is what you make it. 

Did you know that I:

1) booked this cruise last October?

2) booked the non refundable flights last November?

3) this barge commanded a premium because of Cuba? If I’m paying extra for filet mignon and are given hamburger, shouldn’t I get a reasonable refund?

3) MSC didn’t officially notify me of cancelling Cuba until last thurs night , three days before the sale date?

4) That even if I were to cancel right now , I’d only get back $400 plus port fees. Did you know that ? Did you?

Just because I’d rather spend four days in Jamaica , Mexico and Grand Cayman instead of losing $$$$ spent on airfare and cruise to have a pout, doesn’t mean I should be happy with it.

I paid for a first class air ticket that was later downgraded to coach with just a $50 refund , should I take it and go home or stay at the airport forever?

Sorry, but I’m  not some bright eye Cruise novice just happy to be on anything that floats. 

If the Armonia were sold with the itenary it has now , the only cruise cheaper would be a tire tube down a river.

I thought with the status matching to other cruise lines, MSC wanted to poach cruisers from other cruise lines to help build their North America business.

 We have gone on almost 40 cruises . The only reason we booked the Armonia ( which sounds like an old, over crowded barge of a ship) was to visit Cuba. In fact, I rationalized booking it by thinking we will be in port on five days.

Their offer of $400 credit is pathetic . It only reminds me that I should have booked with RCL.

I’ll board tomorrow , but I’ll never book MSC again, and tell friends and family too.

Yes, they don’t have to offer any compensation, but I can also never book them again as well.

So can we all assume you never buy a ticket to a live sporting event? You never buy a movie ticket, rent a movie or subscribe to Netflix or any other video/TV service? After all, you should not be giving athletes or actors even one penny since they make more than a surgeon using your logic. And then there are all those CEOs you are supporting by buying their companies products. But it is everyone’s decision to tip or not, to be generous or NOT.

Major athletes have a special skill, ceo’s have training to help make a corporation money, what special training or skill does a porter have? Is moving a bag two feet a skill?

Really?

You left out what a surgeon spends on staff and insurance.

I never said surgeon. Talking family practice.

Porter can be making $600 an hour in tips alone , money that is not taxed. My doc doesn’t make that .

Before tossing out your med bills, doctors have overhead they have to pay. And specialists have extra training.

What extra training does a porter have?

If there were two bins, one where you put luggage in yourself, and another next to it where you hand the luggage to a porter and puts it in and you hand him $10, which would anyone want?

Still have yet to hear someone explain why a person with maybe a high school diploma moving suitcases a foot should be paid more than a physician with 8+ years of college who might make a life saving decision for you.

No reason to tip them, none , zero nada.

For those who tip $3+ a bag, do you tip that much because:

1) you’re afraid if you don’t, your suitcases will end up in the ocean?

Or

2) because there deserve it and earn it?

If number 1, then it’s extortion, that’s not right, your fear is driving your decision .

If number 2, then how do you justify paying more to a non college person to move a couple of bags a couple feet than you pay your own doctor? On a minute for minute basis, you are paying more to a longshoreman than a doctor with 8+ years of college who can save your life. From the time you get to the port until the time you see the porter, you might have dragged your suitcases 1000’, but you feel you should pay that longshoreman $3+ per bag for the last two feet?

I don’t get that .

And for those who say that it’s a cruise costing thousands, why sweat a few dollars, that’s just plain dumb .

I’m very careful with my spending and don’t see a reason to be wasteful on vacation. I’ll be boarding the miracle tomorrow , my 33 Cruise. Being careful with a buck ( along with cc flipping)helps me travel often .

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wfmynews2.com/amp/article%3fsection=news&subsection=nation-world&headline=terrifying-stories-from-tourists-in-mexico-continue-a-year-after-mysterious-drowning&contentId=507-568152836

The most recent review I saw on this site under "reviews" is very negative. However, I think it was the writer who was very negative. I got the impression she was someone with anger issues who explodes over everything. She said that she got off the ship without her card and they wouldn't let her back on without a card. I have 33 cruises on different lines and have never seen any line let someone off without a card.

I think you'll be fine.

If you wish, we can. My question stands (emotion free I might add). If you really feel it is that bad than try something else.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Do you really think you are being clever by repeating the ergo decedo fallacy?

Pretty juvenile.

You are correct....well sort of. There are more a few on your list that are just not true. But let's not let the facts get in the way. If you really think things are so bad, there are other fish in the sea. Try something else. Happy cruising.

 

 

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Really? I posted some cutbacks that are not true? Care to point them out?

You make some good points, but I'm curious how do you think Carnival has been able to keep the cruise cost to the consumer at basically 1999 prices (according to you in previous post)?? Again I'm not trying to argumentative. I'm just trying to understand how that is possible without cuts in cost to the company.:confused:

Why are computers of today much cheaper and better than those made 20 years ago?

Again, cutbacks are not made to keep prices down, they are done to increase profit.

Wages have stayed pretty stable too. With th exception of beef prices, food hasn’t increased much.

Larger ships are cheaper to operate than smaller ones. Newer ships are also more fuel efficient too.

Getting back to prices, cut backs have nothing to do with pricing .

Profit is a big piece of it. However, it's not the be-all, end-all guiding principle of expense decisions. To not constantly evaluate ROIC would make you a horrible business owner. Especially on a business as large and intricate as cruising. How many businesses today operate the exact same as they did 20 years ago? Heck, how about even 5 years ago? Those who live in "the way things used to be," would never, ever succeed in business.

 

If they really wanted to boost profit, they could eliminate food being included as one example. However, that is something that has proven to have value. There are many other competitors out there to steal Carnival's lunch if "cutbacks" were really watering down the product. Yet, Carnival still attracts the most customers. Yet, their market value is bigger than all of their biggest competitors, combined. So what some deem as "cutbacks" the market has largely determined to not be of top-importance. There are premium cruise lines to cater to all of your needs like not having to ask for robes, french butter, mints, etc. Supply and Demand has told us most people don't make their travel decisions on all of the nonsense.

 

Personally, my favorite thing to do on a Carnival Cruise besides the normal food, drink, and enjoying the atmosphere, is the Punchliner. Even a few years ago, that was not there. If they wanted to "cutback everything for profit" it would not be there. However, it has proven to be a big attraction and even sells them more drinks. . Eliminating things that don't make sense in the grand scheme DOES keep prices lower. You invest your money where you get a return. Remove it where it doesn't. Simple economics. Right?

Again,wrong and wrong.

CCL has had comedy for decades, long before “punchliner”!

They’d have a comedian perform , then tell the audience that he’d be doing an adult “Spicey” show later. And get this- sometimes it was in the main show room so you wouldn’t have to stand.

And, they don’t eliminate things to keep prices lower, that’s just plain dumb. C’mon, you know it is, just think about .

You walk into the reservations dept. They tell you that they have proprietary software that tracks sales. If they are trending above in sales volume, they raise the price . If they are trending below benchmark, they lower. They tell you that they want to sell these rooms for as much as possible , that if they could , they’d sell for $3k if the market could bear it.

The goal is for rooms to sell for as much as possible, but for the ship to sail with 100% occupancy. This is basic micro Econ 101 .

Then you, the new hire says “ why don’t we cut back on stuff that don’t make sense to me and cut prices ? The boss tells you that lower cabin sale prices lead to lower profits and tells you that you’re fired .

Still don’t believe this is how business works?

Next time any cruise line releases their quarterly report , note how they always mention whether cabin prices are heading up or down.

So I guess the question is: do you want the price to stay low or do you want to pay for more amenities? You indicated you are paying the same price that you did 19 years ago with inflation factored in. I know I'm not paying the same price for the gas in my car. Or for that fact, I'm not paying the same for a new car. Or a home or anything else. Something has to give.

You are comparing apples and oranges- how can you compare apples and oranges???

Gasoline is a commodity - the gasoline of 19 years ago is no different than the gasoline you get now. On the other hand, the cruise is not just a service to transport you to an island, it includes other services, like hotel,dining and entertainment. Those things HAVE been cutback.

Would I be willing to pay extra to get those things back? Yes I would . But not an extra $10,000. Over the last 20 years, we have also seen some things decrease in cost, like produce and salaries for some employees ( this is all adjusted for inflation) . We have also seen fixed costs reduced by going to bigger ships which have economies of scale.

One problem is that there are not enough cruise lines for competition , it is an oligopoly, with basically three cruise companies ( carnival Corp and their brands) rcl and ncl owning the market.

I sailed on the Elation back in ‘99 with my family of four for $2300 to MR out of SoCal.Adjusted for inflation, that’s $3500 in today’s money.

It costs about $3500 for same room, same itenery this summer!

What’s changed?

Professional entertainers replaced with Hasbro junk.

Live bands replaced with recordings

Elaborated productions replaced with playlist

No more rum swizzle Party

No more cocktail party

No more repeater party

No water color print

Less quality food in mdr- filet mignon replaced with ???

No more assigned server for all three meals

No more free galley tour

No more free stuff from kids club ( like helium balloons and t shirts)

No more free espresso in mdr

Butter imported from France replaced with butter flavored product

Free fresh orange juice

Bringing aboard beverages ( including alcohol) was allowed.

Andes mints left on pillow.

Now, I know there will be someone who will pick on one or more of this and poo poo it by saying they don’t care about the mints or color print, etc. Thats missing the point. Fact is that these were all once included, now they are gone.

I will say that the captains cocktail party was second to the lifeboat drill as the most widely attended event and you’d be hard pressed to argue that its discontinuation was anything other than a cutback intended to increase profit.

They have done lots of cutbacks . I listed them earlier. They have even done cutbacks to the perks what platinum gets. Oh that’s right, you only have six cruises, you wouldn’t know.

. CCL does NOT do cutbacks to “keep prices down”. This is oft repeated claim said by those who have no idea of what micro economics is and think CCL is run like a lemonade stand.

CCL ( like every other cruise line) tries to get top dollar for every cabin . That’s why you’ll see rooms costing double during high demand times. Every cutback is done for one reason - to increase profit.

The thing with straws is to make a cutback politically correct . Note how there is no mention of CCL switching to more expensive paper straws?

I think the mints went awar around ‘02, not sure.

They used to have what tasted like rebranded

Andes chocolate mints. These were replaced with the little blue foil chocolate squares. The quality of these got bad as last I remembered, they tasted like that chocolate flavored candy product that sell around Easter. I think they downgraded the quality around the same time they stopped offering free espresso in the mdr.

People wouldn’t eat them because they were awful.

Princess used to have good choc, they had milk and dark choc, but I think they got rid of it or downgraded it.

He never said anything about being emotionally drained . There are studies that show that eating high fat foods can lead to short term fatigue and constrict blood vessels . I feel same way after eating something like a burger from Five Guys.

I think what the poster is referring to is how the unnecessarily high fat level of the burger made him feel.

I went on a very luxurious cruise years ago that had:

Fresh oj in the buffet, prime rib served twice in the buffet, imported french butter for your bread, three different free cocktail parties, activity bags/helium balloons for children as they boarded the ship, full bands for the shows, three different entertainers that were flown in at ports to entertain, assigned wait staff that even at breakfast and lunch, would serve you.

This was on the CCL Elation back in '99.

My plat perks are ok, but the cruise experience I got back then was far superior.For the curious, I was on a four day sailing on the Ecstacy and was told that was the last ship in the fleet to still have assigned servers for all three meals. I use CCL only when I want a cheap cruise that goes to some ports I want to see. The RCL mega ships are awesome, but they go to the same old same old ports.

The one cruise line that offers a little more of what I like about CCL and a little less of what I don't like about CCL is Princess. I just wish they had regular summer cruises.

It’s all micro Econ here. It’s a cruise line , not a lemon aid stand. Prices aren’t set with the goal to make a set profit, they are market driven. Rooms go for what the market will pay. There might be cruises in the fall where they are losing money, then there’s periods like xmas where they more than make up.

FTTF prices are up because the market will pay.

There is nothing wrong or crooked about it; it’s how business works.

If they find that they can sell them at $300, they will!

No sense in leaving money in the table .

Btw, CCL corporation will release earnings next week.

I don’t get all the complaining . You are getting basically most of the stuff they’d give if you were platinum for a low price.

In the past , you’d have to have at least 10 cruises to get it.

Anyone who was platinum when FTTF came out noticed how their perk was diluted. Where there was no wait at the front desk, now there was a small wait. Guaranteed reservations became “ preferred”.

And so on.

A common thread is how much do CCL perks mean to you. Funny how people who are plat will post that they mean nothing,yet there are so many more posts about how to buy FTTF - it’s all sort of comical .