cofgren

We booked with Galveston Express. Our flight was delayed by 2 hours and so we missed our shuttle. We called Galveston Express to apprise them of our situation and I was told to go to a specific area of the airport and get picked up. No worries. We get there and no shuttle. We call again, now we are told the shuttle left 45 minutes earlier. Hmmmm.OK, So we used an Uber. If was roughly the same cost, maybe 5.00 more. Not sure. So the cruise was awesome. Galveston was great. I get home thinking pretty soon I will see the refund on my bank account. Well that doesn't happen even after 2 weeks. So I email and call to no avail. Finally I go on Facebook and private message. Finally a response. Only to hear that there will be no refund and I should use my trip insurance. Eventually they agreed to use the funds as a future use, like I would ever use them again. Please, Galveston Express tell me if I left anything off or if any of this is not accurate.

Don't use Galveston Express. They don't do refunds.

8 hours ago, mslhb said:

How will I get a refund when I paid with Carnival gift cards? We are booked on the Panorama in May. I’m mentally preparing for the cruise to be cancelled. This is the first cruise I made payments with carnival gift cards. I even prepaid the gratuities with a gift card. Today I clicked the “cancel gratuities” button partly to see what happens. They disappeared but I got no email or other notification of how I would be refunded. Will they send me a gift card in the mail or via email? We are looking to rebook something in 2021 so I’m not concerned if the process takes awhile but I would like the refund at some point and in some form.

I purchased shore excursions via gift card last year and had to cancel the cruise due to Hurricane Dorian. I received a refund a few weeks later in the mail.

Do they carry Foster's on the Mariner of the Seas and if they do what does it cost.

We sailed on the Liberty on January 15th and thought it was a beautiful ship. I posted a review on our trip. This was my 1st review after sailing 26 times because of all the bad comments I read previous to my sailing. The crew is friendly and hard working (1 rude 1).

The food was great, our cabin was great. The ship overall was clean and fresh. Only 2 negatives being the embarkation was long and tedious and so was the Coast Guard drill or whatever it's called. They both sucked and need to be more than just tweaked. Awesome trip all-round.

We sailed on January15th and the food was great. It seems all Carnival ships and the others as well serve about the same. Not 5 star or even close. But good. We tried the seafood place on deck 9 and had lobster, very good. Guys is always great. They have a burrito place also on deck 9 . They have excellent shrimp there, just have them load the burrito with them, Awesome. The sandwich shop makes a great Reuben sandwich.

We also enjoyed the Cove balcony. It was on the Dream. Close to the ocean, sometimes it got wet. Really cool.

Foster's Oilcan was 8.75 including gratuity.

Here's a link to my husband's review from our 7/5/14 sailing:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=258462

 

We were on that cruise. Simply awesome. That was our 20th cruise and it was one of the best. No complaints what so ever.Getting on was fast. Getting off even faster. The crew were friendly for the most part and always helpful.Towards the end , kids playing with the elevator buttons constantly became annoying. Certain guest with no elevator manners also became annoying. So, OK. Maybe 2 complaints.The food was good. The entertainment was great.The ship was simple to navigate.The casino,well, never mind that. But simply a wonderful cruise.

So excited I made a mistake! It's 7/19!!! :D

 

I feel ya. We are 7/5!!!

Uhhh. Lots. Housekeeping (that make up the room), front desk, concierge services, valet if we use it. :rolleyes::D And also luggage service , bell keeps.

 

Wow,good for you. Good for you.

I'll never understand this. Why would you have let this go one more than one day? I would have immediately asked to speak to the Exec. Housekeeper and remedied the issue on the spot.

 

I don't reduce tips for poor service, I address the poor service with management. I won't "punish" for sub-par service, I will get quality service and then reward it.

 

As for why we don't "tip" all 2000 crew? Not all crew are in tipped positions (some are paid a higher salary because they are not tipped). Those that are in tipped positions, are all tipped - and that is spread throughout the passenger base.

 

We went to customer service daily and was told they would fix the problem. It went on deaf ears.The entire crew comment was sarcasim.When you stay at a hotel how many of the staff do you tip (gratuity).

Donna, it seems to be mostly the way that you are choosing to think about this. Just modify your thinking a little bit. Think: This is part of the price of my cruise.

 

You can even have your travel agent add them to your invoice before you cruise, or if you booked directly, you can call Royal Caribbean and have them added to the bill.

 

Then it IS wrapped up in the price of your cruise.

 

Problem solved.

 

:)

 

Modify your thinking a little bit. Are you crazy. Why not give every crew member a tip (gratuity). There is around 2000 of them. I'm sure they all work very hard.When we cruised Hawaii a few years ago our room attendant never cleaned our room. He never brought us towels. We went to the pool and got towels. We set our plates outside the room. The rest of the crew were awesome, but yet he received a tip (gratuity).Please, Really.

We've been there twice. It is safe. A beautiful island, much to do and plenty happening. We have been all over and never felt uneasy.

We cruised Hawaii a few years ago and prepaid our tips (required on Norwegian ).Our cabin steward never once cleaned our room or did anything. Every day we called to complain, with no results. We went to the pool area to get towels. The dishes from our cabin stacked up outside of our cabin. We kept complaining and nothing. At the conclusion of our cruise this waste of space steward got his tip. NEVER AGAIN.

I find having recent copies of the Cruise Compass to be very helpful for planning. Thank you to everyone who previously posted copies over the past couple of months.

 

Here are copies of the Cruise Compass from my recently completed Western sailing on Oasis.

 

I hope they are helpful.

 

Thanks. They are very helpful.

Were you past the final payment date in both instances?

 

If so that's pretty rare.

 

Bill

 

We were only a month away both times from sailing. It didn't seem to be unusual at all to the cruise lines at the time. They were quite cordial about the situation each time. They said just rebook at a later time with a cruise date price that is similar to the one we had. One was originally set for December and we sailed the next December. The next was for August and we sailed in April. If we were being treated differently than anyone else we weren't aware of it.

Hi,

 

Thanks everyone for being such a great resource!

 

I just found out that I won't be able to go for my Alaska cruise because of medical emergency :-(

It's past cancellation, cruise leaves on May 16 (19 days). I know I can cancel now and get 25% back but I am wondering if there is anything else I can do - like sell the cruise to someone else at a discounted price?

 

If anyone has experience with it please let me know!

Thanks!

 

I have twice before changed the dates of my cruise. You just rebook for another time, ours have been the following year. We booked at a time where we could book at a similar rate. If it is higher then you pay the difference.

I've been there twice with my children and enjoyed it immensely. It's a short walk from the pier. Takes about 30 to 35 minutes to see the entire museum if you read everything. Good souvenir shop too. if you can get to Fort Charlotte too the history really comes together.

 

Ditto that.

Couldn't agree more..Ocho Rios was the worst. Aggressive pushy rude vendors. cab driver/drug dealers. Nassau was great compared to there. We were there last Nov and just took a cab to Atlantis and hung out. Walking around the shops was ok too. Straw Market was a dump. My cruise next month has a stop there but I think I will just stay on the ship and have my pick of pool chairs...lol...

 

I have been to Nassau and Ocho Rios many times. Many other Caribbean Islands as well. Sure at first it is daunting, but this isn't a Disney attraction. These people are living their lives and we are just there observing. See it for what it is. The straw market for example is awesome to go through. Yes, If you are an American and used to your malls. Sure it's a dump.

We have fun every time we go there. We always find something really cool to bring back. And yes in Ocho Rios they are aggressive. But if you firmly say no they will stop. It is not difficult. My grandchildren have been on many cruises with me and they are pros at negotiating with the locals. They stopped being intimidated by them long ago.Just enjoy these island nations for what they are and for what they are not.

only simple minded people

 

 

Really ?! You're an ass !

[quote name='waterbug123']Likewise, we have never purchased insurance for a cruise vacation, and an outbreak of noro won't change our minds about that.



I have taken over 20 cruises and at least an equal number of land-based vacations in the past 10 years. I have never purchased travel insurance for these and have never had to cancel a trip so have never needed insurance. I look at it like this: If something came up and I had to cancel, fine- I may be out the cost of the cruise. But in the grand scheme of things, I have saved far more than the cost of a single cruise by not buying travel insurance 40+ times. Yes, I have insurance on my home, because suddenly being out several hundred thousand dollars at once WOULD be a burden. But being out $1000 or $2000 for a single cruise would be disappointing but would not materially affect my ability to go on with life.
YES, I realize I am taking a risk. I have weighed that risk and decided that [U]for me[/U], it is worth it and I'm willing and able to accept the cost consequences if it doesn't pan out. I don't criticize anyone else for getting insurance though, and if I planned a really long or expensive trip I would probably consider it for myself. To each his own in that regard.

Oh, and I assure you that if something happens and I can't go on my cruise next month, you will not hear me on hear bitching and moaning about needing insurance that I didn't buy![/QUOTE]

I will have to agree on this . Even though the vast majority will not. My 1st cruise ,yes. After that,no.This year will be #20.

We have been to Nassau at least a dozen times, maybe more. The 1st time we were somewhat apprehensive about going ashore. With the message boards sounding the alarm about the dangers on Nassau.But after sailing overnight and waking to this beautiful island we decided, what the heck. Good decision. After you get past the rough exterior they are just very nice and good people.Yes, they are aggressive. But all you have to do is stand your ground and firmly say NO. It's easy. My grandchildren now have been on many trips to Nassau with us since and are now pros at negotiating with them. They have no fears there. My wife was trying to negotiate a price on Cuban cigars with a big burly looking Bahamian and after agreeing on a price she handed him a one hundred dollar bill. I was shocked that she did that and he said he didn't have change but would return with it shortly. I told my wife lets go because he was never coming back. But we waited. And after a long few minutes he returned with our money. I never forgot that. Stay on ship if you want. I means less crowded streets for those of us that enjoy being in Nassau.

I am referring to a restaurant, not the boat. Dolphin almandine provides a great meal.

 

Yes, I knew what you were saying. We're not really big on eating fish. Occasionally, but not often. We just like catching those rascals.

Very good; and, you might think about dolphin. Here in SWFL there are a couple of restaurants which will cook your catch, together with sides for a nominal cost. I am sure that there may be some in your area.

 

They won't cook our catch. Any thing we catch will live to see another day.We are only going to torment them slightly and then let them go.