Haljo1935

Yes, it can be done. Calling back to Ships Inventory or speaking to a Supervisor as @crystalspin suggested should get it done. I've had to go through those hoops, but have never been denied.. Good luck and enjoy your cruise!!

No TV statement, but here are portions of the final statement w/my name, OBC and cash deposits redacted. As you can see, there are no entries for grats.

I don't think I took a picture because I didn't have any billing issues, but I'll check. I know the pdf is posted, so I can pull it. I'll circle back.

This would be a slight inconvenience, but just to be sure you don't have any surprise charges resulting in a case to plead, you can request a crew appreciation change form. On the line where you enter the dollar figure you want the daily amount adjusted to, write in the previous rate that was in effect at the time you prepaid the grats. You'll write in the actual daily dollar amount not the words "previous Daily rate..." I'm sure you know that; just wanted to be super clear. 😃 😉 😏 That way, if they do post Daily charges and a credit, you'll at least see an adjustment to the rate you were expecting and your payment covers the charges in full. If they don't post, as was my experience, nothing changes.

Pre-paid grats for the Oct-Nov NS cruise I mentioned were not part of HIA or other package - I did not have HIA.

Highly recommend buying onboard. You can also ask in the spa about buying them or if you need the larger size.

What types of drinks? Water 💧 is absolutely acceptable and a "cooling station" with water is provided. I have seen people bring in their own water bottles. There is nothing posted indicating drinks are not allowed. This is the cooling station on K'dam from my visit last week.

Yes, they offer straight airport transfer or a tour of Miami or Everglades ending at Miami Airport. I have done all 3 of them.

This what I had in the blue bag in the top drawer of the desk last month on NS and this month on K'dam. I have long hair; they worked fine.

I've always been able to use the thermal pass on embarkation day, athough hours may be slightly altered. I have not been on Rotterdam, but would expect the policy to be the same across the fleet. Enjoy!!

Each cruise since discovering drink coupons are only limited by drink price ($11 max), I use them for a Strawberry Mojito. When I asked bartender if I could get something other than the Mariner Cocktail, he said "anything you want." So, I asked what he recommended for someone who likes fruity drinks but not coconut. He made me a strawberry 🍓 mojito and I've been getting them ever since. When I have a drink package, I save the coupons to use on cruises when I don’t have a package. I am not even asked to sign - just swap drink for coupon. Enjoy!!

So jolting after a cruise to see that first menu where EVERY item comes with a price😪 Thanks for bringing us along!

Inability to enjoy my 1st cup of ☕ (and 🥓) watching the sunrise and ending it w/a glass of wine at sunset each day was my biggest (really only) concern about having an inside cabin. Honestly, I did miss it; not gonna say I found other places to go instead, cuz I am not a get dressed at crack-thirty and leave my room kind of person. So, my days started a bit later than usual. I had my 1st cup while getting dressed then headed to breakfast to enjoy the morning views. I spent a lot of time in the library, the spa, the empty bars (Billboard Onboard has a sofa in a corner that was always available) and Crow's Nest enjoying the window views. As planned, rarely was I in the cabin during daylight hours. Safe travels, enjoy your cruise!

Not familiar w/the TOS passengers agree to when they bring an animal onboard, but I do hope it allows for a deep clean at pax expense. Accidents do happen and the next people using that cabin might have allergies.

I think the dogs being so openly taken to the GDC, the Lido and Seaview Pool area (and wherever else) was a big "up yours" (this is me being polite) by the passengers. My sighting of them at GDC and CC members reports of the Lido & Seaview Pool sightings were AFTER I saw them w/the crew escort and AFTER my meeting w/Rene. So, they were (IMO) snubbing Crew & fellow passengers and saying they were going where they pleased when they pleased and to heck w/policies. Rene told me the crewmember I saw (when the dog was walking w/nobody holding the leash) was from Housekeeping and was there to ensure the dogs were only going where they were allowed to go. Clearly, the passengers chose not to comply. As always, I appreciate your support.

Then that would be a whole new thing "slow cooker mash up" and we'd still need another day to honor slow cooker garlic mashed potatoes, lol.

I planned on sharing what I was told by the crew members in my wrap up of the dog topic, but since you asked and I'm unsure if your questions are rhetorical in nature or if you're looking for answers from me, I'll offer this... I will never know what was actually done and if the passengers were placed on a "no sail" list. At this time, I also don't know if the Captain got involved. I only know what I was told and by whom, including what action they took that involved me and what action they told me they intended to take. Certainly the cabin stewards, which were the same ones I had until I was moved, knew there were barking dogs in one of the cabins they serviced. Heck, they could have been occupying 2 cabins, I don't know, did not ask and don't know if that would have been disclosed to me. I don't know if they made their supervisor, or anyone in their department, aware as I didn't ask; I eventually learned they'd been contacted by GS. I did not talk with the cabin stewards - ever - about the dogs; I kept my conversations to the Hotel Gen Mgr, Rene Tuinman, and GS Mgr, John. I suppose, had I been trying to build a case, I could have talked to the cabin stewards and other crew members, but my intent for engaging the hotel mngmt dept was to have the barking stop and keep the dogs out of my cabin. The purpose of my second contact was to have them keep animals away from food service areas. The Hotel Gen Mgr is a senior level position, listed on the "get to know the officers" section of the "service & information " tab on the TV. I believe he was the appropriate person to handle the situation, so that is who I requested to meet with. During our meeting, he mentioned John, GS Mgr, and that is who I spoke with the next time and who came to my cabin. So, here is what I was told by these two men and what happened next: As previously reported, Rene told me I was not the 1st passenger to mention the dogs, but I was the 1st to present documentation. Rene said he was in a sticky situation - that he could not disembark "them" (dogs or passengers?), but that he would have a stern conversation about the seriousness of the matter. He offered to move me to create distance from the dogs because my cabin was very close to theirs. That is when he mentioned John's name. Rene told me he would be reviewing the travel documents the passengers had submitted as well as submitting a report to Corporate (did not ask if that was HAL, CCL or both) recommending the animals not be allowed on future sailings. He also told me he would be looping John in on our conversation and I was welcome to talk to him any time. I did not see or hear the dogs in the hallway after I changed cabins; I was still on same deck and same side, but was now 1 elevator and a couple turns apart. I assume they used the aft elevator that is closest to their cabin (my new cabin was near mid elevator) so the move was a success regarding the noise (barking & loud instructions to the dogs). Check ✔ that one off. Next day, I called GS requesting Rene call me so I could report that at lunchtime I saw the dogs 🐕 at the Grand Dutch Cafe (I didn't tell GS the purpose of my call, only requested Rene call me or that they let me know what time I could meet w/him). I immediately received a call from John letting me know he'd been made aware of my request to speak with Rene and asked what I needed. I informed him about seeing the dogs at GDC and wanted to show him or Rene the pictures. He was knocking on my cabin door in less than 5 min. John began by apologizing that my cruise was being negatively impacted by negligent (his word) passengers. He said Rene had shared the details of our conversation as well as the pictures, so I didn't feel I needed to rehash any of that. I pointed to the lunch I'd brought back from GDC (which I'd not even had time to eat, that's how quickly all this happened) then showed him the pictures of the dogs I took while I was waiting for my food. He repeatedly apologized and told me 1) he had seen the documents the passengers had submitted for the dogs and they appeared to be legitimate, 2) he was offended on a personal level as he had worked for an organization that helped place service animals and this minimized the animals' value, 3) based on their appearance and behavior he did not consider these to be service animals and 4) he was angry the passengers were not returning his calls. John took pictures of some of the GDC pictures and said he would review security footage as well. He said he had left them several messages to call him and had now asked the cabin stewards to call him when the passengers were in their cabin planning to immediately go to the cabin when the stewards call. John also said that he was preparing a report for "home office" that would include all the pictures they had as well as his feedback. Thank you John; now to enjoy the awesome pea soup. Final night I got off ship to go into Ensenada. Officers and Sr Crew were waiting to greet passengers. John stepped out of line to let me know since our conversation they had been contacted by more passengers reporting additional dog sightings. He said he had reviewed the dogs' documents again and had finally been able to talk with the passengers. This time, he said the report he was preparing would recommend the passengers be banned from the entire CCL fleet so they could not sail on any Carnival owned ship and he hoped I would feel confident my next cruise would not be impacted by these dogs. The next morning outside CO, while heading from MDR to scan off the ship, I saw the passengers san dogs. In fairness, I don't know the process for debarking animals, so it may be that the dogs were removed apart from their humans and would re-join them landside. (?) I belive in both transparency and confidentiality; sometimes those are at odds and causes us to find ourselves in awkward situations, as I believe Rene was in when he said he was in a sticky situation. He had the additional difficulty of legal constraints. I get it. That's why I don't ask for or expect certain details. I trust that people holding certain positions/titles are there because they're capable of doing the jobs they've been entrusted to do. Hence, I wouldn't ask to speak to Captain about a dog, but trust the person I did talk with would loop him in. I don't ask for or expect to be told details of conversations or communications nor do I expect follow-up on outcome of said communication; I trust the appropriate level of communication necessary to remedy the situation continues until resolution. Naive? Maybe, but I have to trust the process until I have reason not to. So, as of today, I hope Rene and John have sent a report to HAL and CCL. I hope that report results in both the passengers and dogs 🐕 are on a "no sail" list. I also hope the people who reported on here that they saw the dogs and were going to contact HAL do so. I don't expect to hear from Rene, John or Captain Arnot that they sent a report, what it said or what Corp response was. I do hope that once HAL receives the report, someone will reach out to me. I am disappointed that neither Rene nor John contacted me as a simple follow up. I think that had I not gotten off the ship in Ensenada causing me to run into John, I would not have heard from him again. I will mention the situation in the post-cruise survey (if I get one) and will email both HAL and CCL with the intent of encouraging them to take a hard look at their onboard animal policy. At our final port, both Rene and John were in the receiving line that greeted passengers. Both greeted me and addressed me by name; that told me they remembered our conversations. Rene was furthest from the ship, closest to the gate. Guest Service Mgr John was 3rd closest to the ship Apologies if this didn't address what you wanted to know. Feel free to ask whatever it is you do want to know and I'll try to answer.

I like garlic mashed potatoes 🥔 😋 The Harlem Globetrotters are talented and entertaining. I saw this during a recent tour of The Missouri Not been to today's port. Currently 43° headed to sunny 61°, wet & chilly 45° next weekend. Today is unpacking and finishing the LIVE review I did on my K'dam Hawaii cruise. There was a disappointing situation re dogs 🐕 onboard that I want to alert both HAL and CCL offices to, so I will also be drafting that communication. Prayers and positive thoughts for all.

Bon Voyage @kochleffel🚢

Deck 2 starboard between Rolling Stone and World Stage

Tomorrow I'll fill you in on the part of the Pearl Harbor excursion that might help you have a better experience. I did book through the ship, so it was a HAL excursion. I know your cruise will be fabulous - K'dam is a great ship w/a wonderful crew. The GDC is a fabulous guilty pleasure.🧡

Nice - congrats!

Thanks, Jim, for jumping back in & mentioning the bathroom light. I completely forgot to mention it. There wasn't a night light, but it was switched so the automatically light came on when the door was opened and went off when the door was closed. Kinda harsh on your eyes when you make a middle of the night trip, but maybe better than being in the dark.

Thanks - it was an uneventful flight (yay) and look who I had in my row. Maddie was a great example of a dedicated worker and it was a very pleasant surprise to share the row with her after this particular cruise. I too hope some of the crew was able to enjoy some time in Ensenada. There was a receiving line in uniform meeting us when we got off, which is where I ran into John, GSMgr, and had the final talk about the dogs.

I do not believe they were presented as emotional support dogs - after meeting with 2 different high level crew members, I believe the passengers misrepresented the animals to HAL and had found a way to get documents that would support their "story." I hope when time permits, you're able to read the thread. And hope your whale watching was a success!!