lisalila

1 hour ago, bazzaw said:

Thanks for thta - what cruiseline was that ? P&O?

 
No problem. It was Carnival Splendor 22/3/20 cruise. Originally when I canceled by phone to Oz on Feb 5th they said 4-6 weeks for refund then covid happened and cruises were being cancelled. I emailed them on April 30th demanding to know why I’ve had to wait this long when others who canceled after me have already received their refund. 18 weeks later I finally got it today. 

2 hours ago, bazzaw said:

Are there any here who have received Cruise fare refunds (not refunds of prepaid tours, dinners, etc) through any other means than reimbursement to a credit card account?? I am thinking of those who booked probably through a TA and paid the cruise fare direct to the TA in some form. Apparently CUNARD in the UK is bypassing TA's by paying cheques direct to passengers. My TA is I am sure  operating on the belief that refunds will be paid to the TA for disbursement, which is apparently the usual  procedure whn a passenger cancels a cruise. 

I paid for my South Pacific cruise via direct deposit to the TA’s bank account and after waiting 18 weeks for the refund they emailed me yesterday to say it’s been processed and will take 3-5 business days to hit my bank account (same one I used to pay the cruise fare) but it was in my bank before 7am this morning. 

After 18 weeks I finally have confirmation today, after emailing them on April 30th demanding to know where it was, that I will receive my refund in 3-5 business days from that oz TA. I cancelled on feb 5th, before covid and for a non covid reason. Bloody ridiculous it’s taken this long but happy to finally be getting my money back. 

I have kidney failure, received a transplant oct 2017, I have done 3 cruises since (and 1 cruise with my first transplant in 2013 on the Carnival Imagination from Miami) so my immune system is pretty shot due to the nature of transplantation and the meds. 
 

I always wash my hands and use the sanitiser all over the ship especially when entering and exiting a eatery. In all of my cruises not once have I gotten sick, even on the last cruise where the cabins next door to us was quarantined for 3 days for “gastro like symptoms” I just made sure to wash and sanitise my hands every chance I got and not put my fingers in my mouth or near my eyes 🤷‍♀️

My fiancee and I did a 3 nighter on the Legend out of Melb back in March and we had elegant night on the first night and then Mexican night on the last night which was also the deck party. We also had dinner at Nouveau (which was on formal night) and they aren't strict at all with the dress code, just no open toed shoes or singlets allowed... saw 4 people get turned away and told to change their shoes while we were eating.

We decided to eat in the MDR on Mexican night as up until then we had been doing the buffet and wished we had just stuck to the buffet instead.. the food was overly bad, portion sizes were small, my fiancee ordered an item that said it "comes with tomato sauce" on the menu, he questioned where this tomato sauce was with our waiter and was told "oh no sir, you have to ASK for it" I pointed out that no, in fact the menu states it "comes with tomato sauce" it doesn't mention you have to 'ask' for it, maitre D came over and asked us what the issue was. I told her what was happening, she apologised and asked our waiter to bring the tomato sauce out, I said if your staff do not even know what is listed in the menu or what comes with the meal and what doesn't then how can we be sure we are getting what we ordered/asked for? She assured us that this was a small mistake on the waiters part and it doesn't happen "often"  but yeah, not very impressed especially considering how great the buffet was so we were shocked the MDR was even worse 🤷‍♀️

On the other hand the actual Mexican deck party was sooo much fun!!!! Lots of dancing.. and bad singing was done by everyone 😂 lots of good Mexican costumes too. I've been on 2 Carnival and 3 P&O cruises and can definitely say Carnival have the deck parties down pat IMO. 

I was really disappointed to see that an inside cabin on deck 3 for the Adelaide/Tassie cruise on March 15th was dearer than my midship extended balcony cabin on the Carnival Spirit next march and the Spirit cruise is 10 nights vs 8 for the Eclipse. They seem wayyyy over priced which is a shame as Melbourne is in DESPERATE need for a great ship like this. 

I’ve only ever done a 3-5 night cruise due to being on Dialysis and not being able to miss my treatments for longer than that but I’ve yet to experience any major issues on those cruises - I’ve ran into more rude parents and kids than anything else.

This cruise sounds like it was bit over the top and perhaps RCI should have told the passengers about it but it sounds like this family got exactly what they wanted: a free cruise 🤷*♀️

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My fiancee and I did 3 nighter back in March, we went to pick up our "boarding day photo" and one of the photographers was all "oh hey would you like a FREE photo shoot at sunset tomorrow night?" I asked how much "free free its all free!" "so we don't have to pay a cent? Nothing at all for the photos? how does that even work??" "no ma'am you do not have to pay at all, the whole experience is free" so we did it.. went to pick up the photos and was handed with the crazy prices of $600-$1200.. I said to him "well here's the situation: you said it was FREE, you never once mentioned a fee at all when I questioned you about it... I have $60 left on my cruise card.. if you want to make a sale right now what can we get for our $60?" he allowed me to choose three 8x10 print outs of our pics.

In the survey they sent me I made a good mention of all of this to carnival and said if you get told something is free even after enquiring about it then get told oh no you have to pay for it then there is something seriously wrong with that staff members customer service skills. The photographer was great and I love the pics we got but he lead us to believe it was all free then threw the outrageous prices at us AFTER we had seen all the gorgeous pictures.

I went to the US in 2013 after a Kidney Transplant, at the time I was on over 30 tablets a day (including Oxycodone), lots of medication boxes I had to take with me and no one from Australia nor the US on leaving or entering either Country was even remotely interested in my medications. I had all my original packaging in my carry on, 2 dr letters, the scripts and I carried enough for a months visit just in case, I asked both border securities if they wanted to look at my medicines and they said "not interested" then waved me through. I had a lot more 'interaction' from the Miami security than the LAX security.. they thought my small bottle of baby powder was Cocaine :')

I have a low immune system (kidney failure / was on dialysis up to 6 weeks ago when I got a transplant) and I've done 3 P&O cruises, 1 Carnival cruise (which I did in 2013 when I had a kidney transplant), not once have I ever gotten sick because as soon as I board I sanitise, as soon as I get into my cabin I wipe it all down with antibacterial wipes ESPECIALLY the bathroom (ewww), every time I see a hand sanitiser I use it regardless where I am or what I am doing, wash my hands regularly, don't use hands to press buttons or open doors (especially public toilets/bathrooms), don't eat with my hands, always use a knife and fork no matter what I am eating -- I don't care if I look "ridiculous" it is about my health and safety so what others think abot me eating a burger with a knife and fork doesn't concern me at all.

I was on the Jewel last November when a small gastro outbreak happened, people in the two cabins next door to us got sick, no one from my party of 7 did.... because we sanitise and wash our hands like mad people.

Lisalila, Best of everything to you. My husband has recently begun dialysis (peritoneal) after having had a transplant that lasted almost 20 years. During those years with the transplant, we enjoyed many cruises--several of them long, Panama Canal and transatlantic. Just wanted to give some support and best wishes for your transplant. they can last many years and I'm sure yours will, too. You will love the freedom the transplanted kidney provides. We sure do miss our kidney but are grateful for all those years we had. And...we have a 14 day Carnival cruise planned for Jan 18. Like you said, we will just bring ALL our supplies with us!! Again, best of everything to you.

Thank you Retcol, good luck to your husband during his Dialysis journey. 20 years is definitely amazing! right now I am aiming for 1 then 2 then 3 etc.. this is my second transplant so I know what to expect and all that, my first one only lasted 2.5 years but it was a great 2.5 year break from Dialysis. I managed to do a 2 week trip over to the US and do a cruise to the Bahamas plus visit DisneyWorld and Universal. Hopefully this time around the little kidney decides to stick around for much much longer :)

I was on Home Heamo so can't travel with my machine, I first did PD but wasn't dialysing properly on it and after 6 cases of Peritonitis in a year they decided that maybe my body just didn't like the tubing :( so I was switched and felt 1000% better on heamo which is what it is all about at the end of the day although there were definitely times I had wished I was still on PD - travelling and everything is just so much easier on PD. In the end before my transplant I was dialysing at home 4 nights a week for 6-7 hours a run so I was getting pretty good blood and fluid clearances.

Good luck with your cruise and I hope your husband get's another transplant ASAP so you can enjoy life once again!

Retcol, my advice is to carry on the dialysis solutions yourself. My dad's first cruise after going on PD was a problem. Between the solutions being delivered and the muster drill his supplies were nowhere to be found. We followed the procedure given to us from Carnival and Baxter. He had to get off the ship for our Panama cruise. I got off with him. We caught up with the ship in Panama.

Ok, my apologies for going a little off topic.

Wow that is awful!! I do think carrying the supplies on yourself (or at least a day or two worth) is the best idea, it's like medications or anything you HAVE to have that first day/night - you wouldn't check them in if you needed them that night or something. Hopefully the cruise was still enjoyable despite the fiasco start?

Thank you both, the kidney is going really well right now, very blessed that such a thing as deceased donor transplants exists for people like me who do not have a living donor option :)

Hopefully the Kidney is still kicking on in 2019 and I can go - my fiancé and I had one booked on Voyager OtS March ‘15 but had to cancel it as was still on Dialysis so while I am excited I still have that fear in the back of my head of the kidney failing how ever it’s better to have something booked just in case than not have it booked and wished you had! But first.. Carnival Legend in March :)

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I was on Dialysis (home heamo) up until 5 weeks ago when I got my transplant, I didn't stop that from allowing me to cruise at all. Granted I'm in Australia and maximum cruise nights I did was 5 nights from Sydney - Hobart and back and didn't 'need' Dialysis during the cruise (which is why I only did short ones) but I Dialysed the night before we left for 8 hours, got off at 2.30/3am and flew to Sydney on the 6am flight the morning of the Cruise. Cruising on Dialysis is very easy if you're willing to forgo the longer cruises otherwise you do need to plan well in advance. DAS is crazy expensive, one cruise I looked at on RCI for 10 nighter to the Pacific Islands was $4,000 for an INSIDE - I could do at bare minimum seven 3-5 night cruises around Australia for that price :o I've also gone away to visit my best friend in Brisbane for 3 nights when I did in centre Dialysis, Dialysed Friday, came back Monday and Dialysed that afternoon. Not too hard at all. I'd Dialyse in Mexico in a HEARTBEAT if it meant I could cruise there!!!!!! Mexico isn't a 3rd world without good healthcare, they do have people on Dialysis.. I know some actually and they're all still alive and kicking :rolleyes: You should see the Pacific Islands if you want to see 'bare necessities' ;)

Anyone on Dialysis reading this: don't let Dialysis stop you from living life and doing what you love... I've done a 3 nighter on P&O Pacific Pearl, 2 nighter on P&O Pacific Eden, 5 nighter on P&O Pacific Jewel and off on a 3 nighter in March on Carnival Legend. Last fortnight I booked my first 10 night cruise to the South Pacific Islands on the Carnival Spirit for $1600pp...if my new kidney fails before that time comes I'll just cancel and book some short cruises. I love Cruising and Dialysis won't ever stop me from doing what I love :D:D

Also it depends WHICH Dialysis you're on - if you are on PD you can take your PD supplies with you on most cruise lines; you just need to contact them and ask!

I've been on Dialysis for the last 4 years so short cruises were my only way to cruise and I love them; I've always had fun, always made friends on board, never had a bad experience and even though they were all out to sea and back except 1 trip to Tasmania they were still fabulous cruises. I've been on P&O Pearl (which was the 5 ships celebration and was so amazing and fun!), Eden (2 nighter to melb) and Jewel and while the Eden had some issues (some leakage here and there but it wasn't long after she joined the fleet) we still had a fantastic time on her and enjoyed ourselves. I didn't think much of the Jewel in comparison to the Pearl (so far its been my fav P&O ship so was sad to see her leave) but the trip to Tassie on her was a great trip, can't fault them at all. For a quick holiday a short cruise is fantastic and there's plenty of activities to do.

P&O do actually have some long cruises from Melbourne as will Carnival next year.

I'm booked for a 3 nighter in March, sad I didn't know it wasn't upgraded like the Spirit before I booked but I saw a post by them on the Carnival AU FB page that it is getting guy's burgers, iguana(sorry not sure how to spell it) place, alchemy bar and something else I can't remember, they'll post the rest of the info closer to dry dock.

Is it really true theres no outdoor TV screen on the main deck?? :o Laying on the deck chair watching the screen is one of my fav things to do on a cruise :(

I was in last cabin at the back on the Pearl deck 10 which has a similar layout to the Jewel, while we did feel the engines shudder a tiny bit we hardly felt her rocking back there but at night time the little rocking we did feel was nice to rock you to sleep... back is definitely better than the front in terms of movement, especially when you're going through rough seas like Bass Straight :rolleyes:

You're 2 decks below Oasis which is just a quick trip down the back stairs - it is like you're own private entry ;) above waterfront so there shouldn't be too much noise. To pay for an OV and get a decent window cabin for less than $400 is great!!

That's lovely. Congratulations.:)

How wonderful. Congratulations on your engagement..:D

Thank you both! Was definitely a nice surprise :D Now the uhh 'fun' of planning a wedding on limited funds :rolleyes:

I got engaged on my Jewel cruise to Tassie at the end of November (total surprise), we had dinner in Salt Grill and the chef came out to congratulate us with a chocolate cake that was soooo yummy and rich it took us 2 days to eat it lol. Next morning after breakfast we got back to our cabin, there was a "CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR ENGAGEMENT!" sign on our door with a few blue and white balloons, in our cabin was a bottle of wine with a note from our two room stewards saying "Congratulations on your engagement, we hope your future is full of happiness and love" which was a huge surprise but so so nice of them! :D

Not Ovation related but when we were waiting to board our flight from Avalon to Sydney last month for our P&O Jewel cruise to tassie, there was this lady in line who was going on the same cruise as us so we got talking about ships, how many we've done, what we've done etc, I made the comment that I was bummed because my fiancé and I had to cancel our cruise on Voyager in March due to me landing back on Dialysis in 2014, she turned around and said that she didn't really like Explorer OTS as they had confined/locked her to her cabin for gastro, she got annoyed because it was her "only chance" to see the ice show so she "broke out" of her cabin and went to the ice show, the crew were looking everywhere for her on the ship :eek: and when they finally found her she got into a lot of trouble. Her and her partner/travel party were laughing about it though as if it was funny.

I was gobsmacked, my brother said to her and this is why people get sick because of people like you and she went right off at him :roll eyes: I said to her no he's right, did you even THINK about the people with low immune systems/who get sick easily? Think about the staff? Think about all the poor tourists who might have spent their holidays confined to a cabin/hotel room because you were selfish and didn't stay in your cabin? She called us all a bunch of nasty names I won't repeat and then said she hopes we miss the ship. We ended up sitting right behind her at white bay while waiting to board, I really wanted to walk over to her and slap her across the face...as someone who has a low immune system it made my blood boil hearing her story! :mad: Thankfully I practice hand washing and sanitising like a crazy monster so I've never gotten sick on a ship before but man it's amazing how selfish people are.

That's a real shame! My partner and I (as well as my cousin and his wife) went to Salt Grill on the Jewel on Nov 30th and all 3 meals we had were amazing, we don't usually dine out so was well worth the $49 charge to us. I had the lamb chops with the mint sauce and I could have easily had another 2 or 3 plates of it :D My partner also proposed to me after dessert :o and the chef gave us a cake with congratulations on it which we took back to our cabin and ate the next day as we were SO full from our meal but I would definitely dine there again, loved our food and the service was great. Shame you had such a bad run with it.

I've cruised twice before with P&O (and next one on Tuesday), I usually only do $200-$300, not sure if there is indeed a minimum but my brother said he only put $100 on his card back in February with no issues.

I can only do 3/4 night cruises at the moment due to being on Kidney Dialysis 4x a week and I like them, they're a lot of fun, we had the bianco white party the second night and then the "formal" night the 3rd night where they had photo backdrop sets up around the ship where a photographer takes your pic and you have the option of buying them from the photo store, you could dress up to go into the main dining room as well but it's all optional on P&O.

Haven't done a F&W cruise but from what I've seen you have to pay extra to enjoy those events and need to be quick to get in as they sell out quickly. We usually do "classic" cruises so have the usual activities of Bingo, theatre shows, movies on the top deck, comedian/hypnotist and generally just laying about the ship doing nothing at all. It's the best type of holiday if you're after that "lay around do nothing, be waited on day and night, no washing, cleaning or dishes to do while witnessing breathtaking sunrise/sunsets at sea" type of holiday :)

I've been on the Pearl and Eden and both times I've put $200 onto my S&S card, no credit card required for "back up" and at the end of the cruise I've gotten the remainder back with no hassles at all. Was a very simple procedure; the hard part was waiting in line at reception.

I'm not sure about other cruise lines but P&O also give you a "credit" on your cards so you don't have to put money into them straight away, I think it might be $20 or so - I was able to buy a glass of coke and a bottle of alcohol for my partner both times from Charlies Bar (and some other bar on Eden) before I put money on my card later that night, the cost of those items just came off what I had put on if it was above the $20 or what ever it is P&O give you. Cash is the way to go IMO, have heard too many horror stories about credit card holds on their FB page.

My brother went to a info night on tuesday night here in Melbourne with Carnival and Cruise About and they said that they were looking to have a Carnival ship home port in Melbourne for 2018. They also said that they want to have one here permanently but the the port needs to be upgraded which they are in the middle of discussing with the port and the government about getting it done so hopefully something can be done and we can get a ship down here for good :)

Thank you so much for your honest and comprehensive feedback.

 

Do you mind if I ask - I was hoping to also visit Angelos on the first night. Did you need to make a booking when you first got onboard?

No problem, she is a nice ship and has potential to be great if they work out the issues. My cousin has sailed on a few p&o cruises and said he can see they've lowered their standards but since this was my 2nd cruise (well 3rd if you count the one on Carnival US in 2013) I'm not too fussy haha. Repeat customers might have found more issues.. I wasn't really 'looking' but noticed the ones that stuck out like a sore thumb.

No we didn't end up booking as one of our party members only had thongs with her and no other shoes so we ended up going to the waterfront instead. You do need to book in for it though and there's a desk between the two restaurants.