Towel Critter

From a couple of threads on the Carnival board, they checked HMC yesterday. Carnival has announced that it's scheduled stop there tomorrow will not happen. Other than that, no specific info on HMC. Reports from other islands in the area describe relatively light damage.

 

I would expect HMC will be accepting ships again in the near future.

Thanks for the info. I hope HMC is "back in business" soon, as I'm scheduled to visit in late October. The cancellation could be due to something as simple as tender boats not yet being returned. Pure speculation on my part. At any rate, I'm glad damage in the area is minimal. I wish we could say the same for Haiti and other islands hard hit by Matthew.

Okay, it's been a few days. Any news at all concerning how much damage, if any, HMC suffered?

Just left that thread and all I could see was the three most current posts.:confused:

The policy only ALLOWS you to cover your out of pocket expenses that are not reimbursed by the cruise line. There is nothing to maximize.

 

The only thing to really look at is if you are offered something like a shortened cruise, you may be able (depending on your policy) to recoup any expenses that you incur in changing flights/hotels that Carnival does not offer to cover. You may come out slightly ahead if Carnival is also offering you a future discount in exchange for taking the cruise. You have to choose between that and just cancelling everything and letting the policy cover whatever Carnival doesn't cover.

 

In general, travel insurance policies are essentially secondary policies, they only cover what the original vendor does not offer to reimburse. You typically can't decline the vendor's refund and expect the policy to cover it instead.

22 days until the Glory from Port of Miami.

I was just thinking how congested the roads will be going south after the storm passes. It will be a nightmare. All those evacuees will be trying to get back home. I know I wouldn't want to get on a ship after this storm for a week or so. We sailed on the Fascination out of Norfolk several years ago. There had been a nor-easter storm and the ocean was so rough all along the coast. I seriously thought we would die the first night. About 10% of dining rooms had diners. Women could not wear high heels. They cancelled stage shows to protect the dancers, etc. etc. etc. On the return to port the seas were just as rough if not worse. Even the crew couldn't function from sea-sickness. I saw a dealer get "sick" on the black jack table. My husband nearly fell out of bed. Again that night very few were in the dining rooms. It's a wonder we ever got on another ship. So no more cruises for me during hurricane season.

And that's a problem with all cruise lines ,something that needs to change.

Carnival prides themselves as the family cruise line , where even the average income person will be able to cruise , $' price wise. Their not allowing you to cancel without penalty during Hurricanes without losing your money on most occasions. Sure you can buy insurance , but people that don't cant afford to donate an excess amount of cash to a cruise line. So they have to get there one way or another.

 

Dangerous , hell yes.

Edit: Okay, I just looked back at the current Carnival weather advisory and I was mistaken. Only guests on certain cruises are being allowed to cancel without penalty, apparently.

People are learning ;) If you cancel they keep your money, if Carnival cancels you get your money back . But I have read where there is a margin line where people have gotten their money back on occasion. If you cancel its Carnivals call.

I have a question for anyone who might be able to answer it. I'm not a part of the current situation, but what of those who are booked to cruise in the next couple of days? What if they do not cancel, try to make it to port, but fail? Will they be compensated at all by Carnival (assuming they are not insured by a travel insurance company)? I honestly don't know, but it seems in that case it might be best to cut their loses, make the call and cancel, in which case they will be refunded in full, plus get a possible credit toward a future cruise. I know it's a tough decision and I don't know for sure what I would do, but canceling seems on the surface the best choice. Thoughts anyone?

Best: Caramelized Lemon Custard with Basil Ice Cream (no longer being served. Sigh.)

Worst: a lobster tail that tasted like Clorox. Not saying it had Clorox in it, just that that is the best description I can come up with. Ordered a replacement and it was okay, though I'd sort of lost my appetite for lobster at that point.

Fortunately, I've tasted far more good dishes than bad on Carnival.

Yep, along with the cutbacks there have been some definite improvements. Like you, OP, I lament the sharp decline of entertainment in the theatre, not only the orchestra, but a full compliment of dancers/singers, and fly-in acts as well. I miss some other things too, but I'm still cruising mostly with Carnival, and as long as the cutbacks don't start outnumbering the improvements, and as long as the price seems in line with what is being offered, will continue to do so. I'm neither a rose colored glasses wearing cheerleader, nor a Carnival basher. I try to be objective about products I spend my money on. And objectively, Carnival remains, at least for now, a good value. Carnival has been my favorite line over the years among those I've tried. I'm hoping that doesn't change.

Not to be to dramatic, but I urge those travelling to the Caribbean on any of the boats to rethink your decisions. My brother Bill was being me this will be the deadliest hurricane since Katrina. It is so big and destructive, they are looking at catagorying it at a Cat 6. Would be a first. Please, if you decide to go against my advice, make sure you have your life vests with you at all times!

I was cruising during Katrina. I never even had to use an umbrella, much less a life jacket. Folks, as others have already said, Carnival WILL keep their ships, and thus you, far away from any risk of damage. Matthew is large, but it does not, nor will it, encompass the entire Caribbean at the same instant.

Most of your questions have been answered, but I'll toss in my two cents on the beds, since that is subjective and you may get contradictory answers, as I'm sure you expect with a question about something as subjective as mattress comfort. To me, the beds are comfortable on the Glory, as they are on all Carnival ships I've sailed. I prefer Carnival's mattresses to any other cruise line's I've sailed. I still wake up with a backache, as I often do at home, but not nearly as bad as with some other cruise line's beds. I find Carnival's sheets, pillows, and pillowcases acceptable as well.

As the previous poster stated, there is a certain amount of risk in allowing Carnival to choose your cabin location. And I don't know what the statistics say (wish I did), but we have gambled on this mode of booking four times out of about a dozen cruises and have ended up with acceptable to great rooms three of the four times. For example, our upcoming October cruise was booked this way. We were assigned a balcony cabin on Panorama deck, about half way between mid-ship and forward. There are cabins above us, so noise won't be an issue. There is no obstruction. It may not be the single best location, but it is more than acceptable. I'm pleased. The one bad cabin we got was all the way forward. The ceiling on the balcony was sloped steeply, making one end of the small balcony very tight and claustrophobic. But this didn't ruin our cruise for us. One bad (and to be honest, nowhere on a cruise ship is a terrible place to be) cabin out of four times aren't bad odds at all.

I can't imagine that phone calls and pressure sales results in a lot of sold cruises. I mean, most folks can only cruise periodically and only at certain times of the year and only when finances allow it. It seems like these calls would have a very, very low success rate. In addition, the incessant calls after visiting the Carnival website results in many avoiding the site. It seems they have more to lose, than to gain from it. But perhaps not, since they continue doing it for some reason.

This is one reason I handle everything myself nowadays. Ours used to drive us crazy. The last time he called I told him I could NOT book a cruise right now, nor did I desire to, because my mother was dying - which was true. While I wasn't rude, nor did I raise my voice, I was pretty stern. The thing was, this was the second call since she had been hospitalized. I guess he finally got it. He has not called since, thank goodness. Hopefully, I'll never get another call from a Carnival salesperson. It's been over two years now.

Sailing on Imagination in March and need to know how long we can stay on ship before disembarking? Our flights leave later in the evening.

As for which insurance company to us, that's debatable, but we've had good experiences with both Travel Safe and Travel Guard. Both refunded our money, Travel Guard twice, and Travel Safe once. I will say that Travel Safe was a little more reasonable in the amount of medical records requested, which made the process easier and faster. This is the reason we switched to them and have used them to cover our upcoming cruise. Both are less expensive and have better coverage than the Carnival insurance.

We've gone the balcony guarantee route four times now and have been assigned acceptable to good locations three of the four times. On our upcoming cruise we were assigned a balcony cabin on Panorama deck, slightly forward, no obstruction, cabins above us. It is near the elevators, which some don't like, but we try to get near elevators even when we choose our location, so we are pleased with our assignment. We've never experienced a noise problem when doing so. As for timing of assignment, in all four instances we have purchased a balcony guarantee, our rooms were assigned no later than one month before sailing. Not saying that will always be the case, but based on our experiences I have to assume not being assigned until the day of the cruise is uncommon.

Always get it. After having to cancel three cruises in two years, it was money well spent. Unless each traveler is young, each traveler's parents are young, and all grandparents are young, it is well worth the cost. Even if all involved are young and healthy, things can still happen, both pre-cruise and even worse, during the cruise.

I was midway through typing it into IMDB then it hit me lol.

Heald slipped one in there on us, "John in a Thong" 3D. I think I'll be too busy that night to see a movie. ;-)

you capitalized the word "LABELED", like that is a bad thing....yet you LABELED me as insensitive. Based on what? an admitted extrovert? If someone is direct or an extrovert, they have to be insensitive? :confused:

No, extroverts are not in general insensitive. Some are, just as some introverts are insensitive. But in my experience, the people who like to think of themselves as "direct" ARE generally insensitive. Being right trumps being considerate for them. Putting their infallible opinions out there trumps being considerate. I've known a few "direct" folks. Maybe it isn't the case 100% of the time, but life experience tells me it's a safe assumption. When someone demonstrates otherwise to me, I'll stop assuming it.

Towel, there are plenty of offensive words in the English language. I do not think "Bubbler" or "Firstie" (yes, that is my word, I am thinking of patenting it and selling to Carnival :p) qualify on the "offensive" list. So lets not go overboard. Now this is where someone can take what I am about to say next as rude and I don't mean it that way, so I will apologize upfront if you are sensitive and get offended. I don't look at it being rude, just direct....You tell me how I should construct my posts and tell me what I should and should not say. I don't tell you how to write your posts, I would ask for the same consideration from you....we good?

I would disagree that using the word ignorant is derogatory....If I used the word "stupid" or called you an "idiot", I would agree that would be derogatory. I said ignorant in that since you are an introvert, you are indeed "ignorant" to the ways of an extrovert....Being biased displays an unfair prejudice against something. I would think that would be more derogatory than ignorant....Being fair, YOU were the one who brought up Introvert vs Extrovert, not me. You took the conversation there. I was talking about "Bubblers", to which I did explain can be comprised of Extroverts and Introverts....Its a very accepting group in that it has all types, none of whom want to associate with anyone :D

I do not think at all that I am ignorant of extroversion. I am not, as most are not, 100% introverted (I'm sure you know this, just as you know most extroverts are not 100% extroverted). I'm quite capable of extroversion and have pretty good people skills. I think where the terms introverted and extroverted come into play is in which one feels the most comfort with and which requires less energy. Extroversion for me requires a conscious effort and requires a good bit of energy. I'm good with it for periods of time, but then have to recharge my batteries... alone, or in the company of close friends. This is why when on vacation I prefer just the company of my wife. She is similar and fortunately we are a very happily married couple that enjoys each other's company. This is why we prefer to dine alone. For us, vacations are about US as a couple and not about meeting others and making new friends. Some are just the opposite and that is perfectly okay.

Anyway, I'm not trying to pick a fight. Your term "bubbler" offended me, so I responded to your post. Perhaps you don't use such labels to denigrate. I couldn't say. But labels easily get one into trouble. I avoid them at all costs, especially when tone and body language can't be called upon to give context or intent. Perhaps you should pause and reconsider before you use labels, regardless of your intent. The term introverts sounds much more pleasant than "bubblers," Introversion sounds much more pleasant than "bubble mentality." It seems to me that anytime "__________ mentality" is used, regardless of what fills the blank, there is almost always questionable intent behind its use.

How is it an extrovert can be a "bubbler?" I'm genuinely curious. The two terms seem mutually exclusive. Please elaborate, and I apologize if you already have done so earlier in this thread. I'm new to this thread and may have missed it.

That's all.