nealstuber

Wonder how many times they miss X-mas at RCI...because that shows up suddenly too....:rolleyes::eek:

 

Terrible management!:mad:

It really not at all like Christmas which is at a fixed time and “always available”.

It’s a lot more like scheduling time off for a necessary but flexible medical procedure. If you knew your were going to undergo knee replacement in a couple of years, would you schedule the time off then or wait until things were scheduled.

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The two back to backs we’ve done have been 5day/4day and 5day/5day.

In both cases we started off seeing a great deal on a 5 day on a ship that was new to us in driving distance.

Within a few weeks, we had buyers remorse because we came to the realization that 5 days just wasn’t enough.

Both times when we went back, the 2nd leg ended up being cheaper and in one case the price of our original leg had gone down a bit and we got OBC to boot!

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It's not Carnivals responsibility to make sure that private excursion companys makes money. As far as Carnival's "mission statement" goes, that should be the mission statement of every company, whether they admit it or not.. If a business doesn't make a profit how do they stay in business?

It’s not Carnival’s responsibility to make sure private tour operators make money, but it is their responsibility to let paying passengers know in advance that they are not getting what they expected when they expected it.

Sure, the contract says they can change at anytime for any reason, but it is customary and expected that passengers don’t wake up in Cozumel Tuesday morning when they thought they were going to be at sea and at Jamaica the next day.

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Would you pay $100 to enter a restaurant and then another $38 per person to eat there? All those that think that they are just paying $38 per person each for the steakhouse are wrong. that's esentially what you're doing when you forget you already paid cruise fare to be fed. You paid XX amount to be fed each day in cruise fare and now you pay $38 more on top of that for the Steakhouse ...... Ask yourself what you really paid per person and I'll tell you it isn't $38. People have a right to be crabby about any price increases. The easy choice is not to go and not to pay.

I agree it’s more than $38 but it’s not $138.

We’re regularly paying about $1000 each for a 7 day Balcony cabin- of that $300 is a charge to upgrade from a basic inside and I think looking at the lowest priced cabin is a fair way to look at this since Main dining, shows, other meals and other included entertainment are included.

So let’s say we’re paying $100 for an inside cabin and all the other included stuff.

I realize a cruise ship inside cabin is now where near as nice as a $129 hotel room, but we’re also getting transportation to 3 or 4 tropical destinations and the inside cabin is nicer than any airline seat.

So I think it’s fair to say the inside cabin is worth $65 of the $100 per day fare. I won’t count breakfast, as that usually comes with the room. But lunch a a decent buffet: probably $15 maybe a little less but there’s other snacks all day long so I’m thinking we’re up to $80, just in the room and non dinner food. The playlist shows and the comedy club? Let’s call that the price a a movie ticket and popcorn. I’ve already gotten my $100 Worth and I haven’t even touched some of the other freebies (water slides) that come with the bargain that is cruising.

So let me ask you this: if you already had $125 worth of value for your $100, might you put that extra $25 towards $38 to get a better meal for a net $13?

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We love late seating as the pool is not over-crowded during early seating. Embark day and during early seating are about the only time we frequent the pool.

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Too bad it often takes a natural disaster for people to band together to help one another.

People with special needs are helped every time they avail themselves of special services. These special services are paid for by all, most of whom do not need the services and it does not take a natural disaster for us to happily do so.

Your post and OPs illustrate why many on this board are irked. The help that is given is not recognized as help, but rather an expectation or even a human right.

What used to be recognized as a kindness is now something for folks to complain about when it is not rendered as expected, regardless of circumstance.

And those who recognize this shift have no humanity.

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No dress code for breakfast and lunch, other than if you are wearing a bathing suit, they would like you to wear a cover up.

Not so. On Vision last year I was wearing a sleeveless T shirt for a comfortable drive home on debark day. I was denied entry for breakfast at the MDR. Of course everything else was packed on shore so we did the buffet.

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Ship will probably be decorated for Christmas, but in our experience the only special events, outside of a cruise on Christmas, will be sales at the ships stores - that aren’t really sales.

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For us it’s not that spot, but that time.

Have a nice breakfast at the hotel that will hold you over till they announce the rooms are open for all.

Then the buffet is wide open.

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I was also on the Bermuda Cruise that diverted. The 25% that Carnival is offering is really the approximate difference between the two different itineraries. We had an inside cabin and it was approximately a 20% difference in costs. However they only refunded $20.01for the supposed difference in government tax/port charges. I couldn't check until i got home to look up my email. We paid $178 in Gov/Port charges for the Bermuda cruise, and the going rate for the itinerary we ended up on was $127. $51 - $20 = $31 per person in Carnival profits. ~2200 people on board, means They made about $68,000 for our inconvenience. They did give us $49 for the missed port, Freeport, though. So, while they still made out pretty well, at least the net difference is less than what it originally was. Basically Carnival only gave us the approximate difference for the basic cruise fare/ tax charges, and offered nothing for our inconvenience. That turned out to be the third time on that itinerary for us, and we would have never booked it for a third time.

 

Most people like cruising out of Baltimore because they can drive and park, not having to deal with Air Travel. There is a significant size of the US population within easy driving distance of Baltimore. This leads me to ask, when is the next 5 day cruise out of Baltimore?

 

Remember, they gave away one 5 day cruise to the woman who won the bingo game. She is from Maryland. By the Way, the question about the next 5 day cruise out of Baltimore (on a Carnival ship) is a trick question. Check it out!

When you have the cruise for free, it’s a lot more palatable to pony up for air. With Galveston a 6hr Drive, and NOLA a 10hr Drive, the last time we flew for a cruise was five years ago when we were using a free cruise cert we won playing bingo.

18 month’s is plenty of time to find a 6 day window for work vacation and with that much notice very easy to find good air.

And gee, how bout driving to NY or Charleston to do something different?

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You’re kind of selfish in anybody’s world if you think the cruise is only about your comfort and the heck with the other 4000 passengers. We share this world; we don’t own it. The lounge isn’t yours; it’s the cruise lines and it’s there for all passengers to enjoy.

 

 

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The other 4000 passengers don’t all want to sit on a deck chair by the pool. If someone wants to go to the gym all morning long, good for them there are plenty who don’t , same with the trivia, piano bar, and everything else that’s included in the cruise fare but not designed to handle 4000 people.

If somebody wants to ride the water slide all day, thus making the line a little longer for those who just want to do it once, that does not make them a slide hog.

I do think it would be great if all of the lines installed some cubbies near the pool. We go to the pool deck to enjoy the pool. We have to put our stuff someplace, so it’s usually a single chair near the pool. When we feel like laying out we’ll be on our balcony - the ocean view is much better there.

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we will find out maybe in January or February.

 

 

I wont be surprised if it is Carnival Victory ship after they sunshine that ship.

Just as Triumph and Victory started their inaugural seasons in NYC. While Carnival may not keep their new ships their very long, over the years they have been very good about giving New Yorkers the opportunity to sail on their newest ships without having to fly.

As others have stated, maybe NCL has done a better job on the new ship in New York front over the past 15 years, but RCL only recently put a new ship in New York, Celebrity has had the aged Summit in Bermuda runs for eons, and you don’t see new ships from Princess or Hal or MSC ever in NY.

So I don’t understand why some are saying Carnival is treating NY cruisers like second class cruisers.

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We always pack a few disposable plastic containers and to-go coffee cups.

Nothing better than a breakfast taco from Blue Iguana on the balcony.

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Hate to break this to you but you will not have the variety of itineraries with an Oasis class ship that you had with Liberty. You will lose Grand Cayman and Belize as port stops as rhete is no tendering off Oasis class ships.

That’s a real good point, I wonder what they’re gonna do about that. Cayman is perfectly situated between Jamaica and Coz on the Central Itinerary, and I don’t think the O class ships call at Progresso on the Western itineraries (along with Belize). Really just 4 Oasis friendly ports in reach from Galveston...

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This news, while very welcome, gives us a first world problem:

We just crossed the threshold for a free cruise with our BOA MasterCard and were planning to use it to do something besides sailing out of Galveston on the Liberty. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that, just done it three times).

So I was all geared up to pay for air to sail on Allure, but with an O class coming to Galveston soon that seems silly.

So then I was thinking we’d do an S class ship with X but redemption levels for X are much higher.

So now I don’t know what to do.

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Maybe cruise lines are just hiring the wrong people for deck patrol. Suggest they recruit retired NYC meter maids. They'll closely enforce the rules and compared to the crap they heard on the job anything an angry chair hog has to say is definitely minor league.

They don’t have to go all the way to NYC to find crew like that. They just need to repurpose the guys who used to charge us for bottled water and mini bar items we did not drink.

I know some have said it’s bad on all cruise lines, but we’ve found on celebrity and Princess, where there are not water slides, rock walls and every other manner of contraptions hogging up the top deck, that there are available deck chairs because there is more open deck space and more pools.

I guess that means this really is not the big deal it’s made out to be on this board. If passengers on the whole were content with pools and deck chairs, RCCL would not be investing so heavily in things that take space for them away.

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The OP doesn’t run a business where she promises services to those in need in exchange for fare! Why should she be the understanding party??! She paid the cruise line, thus her expectations... seems pretty simple to me.

 

 

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There are no “promises” just a contract and it’s loaded with protections for the cruiseline, especially in special situations.

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Ok, so the jumper was the cause.

Does that remove all responsibility from the cruise line to do their best and try to accommodate people, especially with mobility issues.

 

Do the cruise lines not practice for emergency issues ( why the muster drills).

This is not the first time there were delays or last and it was not the first jumper or the last.

NCL was not the cause, but they are supposed to be the solution, or is every emergency supposed to play out as it will.

 

Personally I have never had a bad cruise with NCL, a few unfriendly staff and somehow always at customer service and not during a complaint as I have never complained about anything, but just some routine questions, another drink and I move on, not worth upsetting yourself over minor things.

 

This situation however was not minor and obviously NCL did not handle it well, and I don’t get some people on this forum how they will repeatedly nitpick the OP to find some fault and prove that NCL was faultless in everything even though they were not there and did not experience a thing.

 

I am not that naive to think that any cruise line is completely faultless all the time, and don’t have such loyalty to any.

 

Sorry that the OP had such a bad experience, only she knows how she feels and why she feels she wasn’t treated well, and has every right to choose not to travel with them again.

 

I have yet to have a bad enough experience with any cruise line to stop me from booking a vacation, but I can’t say the same with airlines and there are several that I will never fly with again.

What do muster drills have to do with how a man overboard situation is handled????? I’ve never seen a muster drill where part of it was making sure the wheel chair pushers are ready to haul the next bunch on the ship after the emergency.

I’m sure they have procedures for what to do, but how long it takes is function of many circumstances. Same with how long it takes to investigate the issue once in port.

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How do I check that

 

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Google: Cruise ship schedule for ....

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I am far from a newbie..this will be my 17th cruise and my 4th from Galveston in September..so I'm well aware that it's hurricane season and that it could rain everyday. I have been extremely fortunate to have had great weather on every cruise. So my question is, what has been your experience with programming etc. if it rains everyday?

While we have not been subject to bad weather everyday, our experience is that the on board entertainment seldom changes with the weather or most other things that impact itinerary.

This goes for all of the lines we’ve sailed, one noteworthy exception was on RCCL out of Galveston when Grand Cayman got washed out on Thanksgiving. The CD and his staff threw a spur of the moment Cowboys football party in studio B that was most memorable.

But when the weather is poor it’s an opportunity to do the things on the schedule you’ve never done and sometimes that ends up being a pleasant surprise.

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Just seen a report on TV about air quality on cruise ships. Seems that levels of pollution on some cruise ships' decks are worse than in the world's most polluted cities.

 

 

One cruise ship can emit as much particulate matter as a million cars in a day. Air on the deck downwind of, and directly next to the ship's funnels, had 84,000 ultra-fine particulates per cubic centimetre. Directly next to the funnels on the deck, the numbers rocketed to 144,000 with a peak at 226,000. (n)(n)

 

These are levels that you would expect to see in the most polluted cities in the world like Shanghai, Delhi and so on. These particulates are harmful for health and the environment.

 

 

This came to me as a shock. Always thought being in the middle of the ocean on a cruise ship was very healthy

 

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/pollution-cruise-ships-po-oceana-higher-piccadilly-circus-channel-4-dispatches-a7821911.html

 

https://en.nabu.de/news/2017/21870.html

 

https://www.ship-technology.com/features/polluted-cruises-bad-air-quality-ships/

 

From the first article you cited:

It’s a residual product from the refining industry, so after the refiners have produced the petrol and diesel we put in our cars, they’re left with what is essentially a waste product.

What would you have the refineries do with the waste that is currently burned in the middle of the ocean?

If it wasn’t getting burned at sea for a profit, it would be burned on land for a cost.

Comparing the air quality of 30,000 swift foot area of a ship to a random area of a city is laughable. 30 cruise ships to all the cars in England? 30 ships is roughly 40% of the total industry -while the UK has about 3.5% of the worlds cars.

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We much prefer Breeze to Magic, but the two Saints itinerary would have us on Magic - everything else being equal.

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I would never put kids that young in a separate room even if it was connecting .Wait until they are older .

Do your kids sleep in your room at home too?

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Let me be clear that the DSC does not confuse me nor do I resent it, in fact on all my cruises (16+) I always include extra cash tips over and above to reward exceptional service that I have always received. I just wish that these hard working staff will get all they deserve

As others have stated, I prefer not to pay for services I will not receive for many months. We also extra tip, but would prefer not to pay a higher insurance premium for a service we would not receive if we cancelled.

The ship and all other associated fixed costs have to be paid for by the cruiseline before I sail, so I’m fine paying for them before I sail. But the crew does not get paid until weeks after I sail so why should the cruiseline get to hold my money any sooner.

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This has nothing to do with NCL. Until you are on the ship the port itself is the agency providing the service.

Our limited experience with wheelchair assistance is that a crew member from the ship comes on shore to assist with the wheel chair.

It is possible that those same people had to be questioned and where therefore behind on their regular duties. Or they could have been part of the rescue effort and behind on their work (and rest) schedule.

The ship has finite resources which are optimized to provide value during normal operations. When something big goes wrong, there just aren’t enough people to do everything the way it’s normally done and it takes a while for the system to recover.

I understand that OP expects empathy and her point that we can’t understand her situation unless we’ve been through it. Conversely, I think OP could should be a more understanding too; unless she has been responsible for dealing with a passenger overboard and it’s aftermath, she can’t possibly understand the difficulties and challenges the crew faced prior and during her arrival.

I think people react badly when someone with special needs expects their needs to be met at all times when they show little sympathy for others dealing with special circumstances.

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