Fan Confiscated - Carnival still hasn't properly informed all of thier own!

[chickie_mite]

This is the fan in question:

 

 

 

This is the same fan my son and DIL took on their cruise 2 weeks ago, and they had absolutely no problems whatsoever boarding with it (on the Legend).

 

I totally understand the principle of the matter. Bravo.

[klmorg]

So Tom... they did NOT take your water you had in your checked luggage, right??

[nrdsb4]

If I am remembering John's blog correctly, he said that things like fans (because so many people do use them for "medical" reasons like surgical menopause) are suppose to be inspected and then only taken IF they are deemed unsafe.

 

 

I don't see why there would be a need to distinguish between surgically induced menopause and the garden variety menopause. Women who have night sweats and hot flashes typically need a fan at night, regardless of whether the cause of their misery is a hysterectomy or natural onset of menopause (perimenopause).

 

Seems really heavy handed to me, though I probably would have accepted the ship's offer of a fan. I would have grumbled about it, though.:cool:

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

To further distance (in the eyes of some) my priorities from others... like I need to do that MORE! :rolleyes:

 

After taking the short tender ride to HMC and enjoying the HEAT which everyone else was enjoying, we made our way to the buffet area despite taking a wrong turn or two due to lack of proper signage. We were starving at that point (amazing on a cruise, LOL)!:D

 

The first thing we discovered there were a lot of dedicated Carnival employees putting up with the same heat, though in full clothing - gotta hand it to them. One of the grill cooks looked like he was ready for battle: eye protection and a face mask as he fought with the flames and smoke from the grilled burgers.

 

The utensils offered there, in the line we were in at any rate, were all piled in bins and unwrapped - meaning that grabbing a fork/spoon/knife meant taking them all from a common stack. Yes, this was an outdoor buffet, but some standards of hygiene should still be observed.

 

Now to my cheeseburger... they had perhaps 3 large grills going and the burgers looked great (moist and juicy - with that great "cooked out" aroma filling the beach air). When I arrived near the end of the line and saw the pan that they were pulling burgers out of all that I saw were perhaps 5 shrunken dried thin hockey pucks. They had obviously been there for some time, perhaps having fresh ones thrown on top more than once. I asked if I could have one right off the grill. You would have thought that I had two heads (a language barrier might have played a role here as well). After a brief time I saw (who I think was) the Maitre d' for the upstairs of the Universe dining room walking behind him. I said "excuse me, would it be possible to get a fresh burger off of the grill instead of one of these dry ones over here (pointing to the pan)"? He said that those were the ones they they used. I asked again and said "can I have a fresh one from the grill, unless that's too much to ask". He said "let me see your plate" and took it over to the grill. I really think that he was taken aback by such a "special request". There he had the grill guy place a nice looking burger on my plate. He asked if I needed anything else, my reply was "well, some cheese and a bun would be great". I thanked him for his help and proceeded to head to our Cabana and enjoy the BEST burger of the cruise... a perfect medium-rare (we all know that WELL DONE is the traditional way you will get a burger onboard).

 

So - since everyone enjoys giving opinions... was that unreasonable .. to accept a dry (SORRY) burger so that you can just proceed through the mule line along with everyone else. Or to insist on a significantly better quality (the others would have been consumed for sustenance only, giving ZERO pleasure to the eating experience).. and in the process holding the line up for the 60 seconds or so this exchange took?

 

At the risk of sounding like I have worn many hats (I have), I was a broiler chef for two years... so I know a good burger from a sub-par one. Any of you out there enjoy the Triple Prime Cheddar Burger at Ruby Tuesday (RARE or otherwise)?

 

 

So Tom... they did NOT take your water you had in your checked luggage, right??

 

Not one bottle... LOL ;)

 

 

Tom

[tamirpr]

Thanks for the update, Tom!

 

I, too, would have been irritated. I think I will carry my fan on with me so as not to take any chances. AND print out THEIR policy.

 

Good for you for sticking up for yourself.

[halos]

...i don't think consistancy is asking to much.

 

exactly!

[Cool Waters]

Hi Tom,

 

I just got off the pride and my fan was not confiscated. I carried it in my checked bags and didn't have any problems. There seems to be no consistency. :rolleyes:

[Chirpbird]

:eek:EEEk - it's David (200 posts) taking on Goliath (>11,000) posts. Tom, I can tell by your banter on this board that you are a reasonable, lively person.

 

However, I stand by my perception of your intent. To me, and solely to me, your post is a little self-gratifying (i.e., gloatful --is that a word?) "Look at me, I took on the big, bad cruise line and I won." It is also very disparaging of the service the customer representative supplied to you. (As in, "WHY oh WHY would any guest need to play this "game"...." Also, the point where even when he shows you a separate reference that could completely outlaw fans, you "...told him it was, of course, intentionally vague thus allowing them to take anything....") Or, it could be due to your repeated use of CAPITAL LETTERS and bold red text.

 

Let the "Beat up on Chirpbird's perceptions" begin. :D

[Chirpbird]

Do you often make perceptions about strangers on an internet message board? Weird. :confused:

Well, of course I do. Just like you're making perceptions about me based on my postings.

[Bookworm29]

Well, of course I do. Just like you're making perceptions about me based on my postings.

 

I perceive nothing about you. :confused:

[PaulMedik]

..........

 

However, I stand by my perception of your intent. ................

 

 

Let the "Beat up on Chirpbird's perceptions" begin. :D

 

 

 

Chirpbird,

 

Pardon me, but didn't you just prove Tom's point by standing up for what you believe in? ;) That's how I preceive it anyhow. :D

[LRene]

Well before this post goes to never-never land, let me just say "BRAVO, TOM!"

 

This is not about gloat, prestige, # of cruises etc. It's about Carnival's constant ridiculous rules and then their failure to enforce them or remain consistant regarding them.

 

Take for instance, all the infants in the pool in diapers while the sign saying NO BABIES IN DIAPERS hangs above their head. I've met the environmental officer on the ship over that one more than once.

 

It's about so-and-so not being able to put their water in their luggage but the next person can and does. And so on and so on.....

 

I wanted to invoke the vacation guarantee once and the crew at the info desk had no idea what I was talking about! :eek: All I had asked (for 2 days) was that they turn CNN back on so we could see where we were in relation to THREE hurricanes and where our HOME was in relation to the same. After getting no news, we decided to just come home and quit worrying about it and asked to invoke the vacation guarantee. Magically, CNN and CNN in Espanol were turned on again.

 

There is no training of employees/crew when a new policy or procedure is implemented. Clearly, if there were, your fan would never have been touched.

 

Me AND MY BATTERY OPERATED FAN will be boarding the Triumph next Saturday and trying to take it away will result in a tug-o-war. The real threat to anyone is ME without sleep for 7 days!! Now that's dangerous.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

...

Let the "Beat up on Chirpbird's perceptions" begin. :D

 

No -- this Goliath prefers to take on, not David but, the Kraken (Carnival) --- just kidding! Sorry, I just watched Clash of the Titans (the new one) the night before we left last weekend, though I don't possess the head of Medusa to pull off such a gargantuan feat! :D

 

Don't let your 200 or so post count dissuade you from keeping at it (I don't think you will), as ALL OF US on here at one time were (gasp) FIRST TIME posters! :o

 

Tom

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

...I don't think consistancy is asking to much.

 

exactly!

 

Well.. they ARE consistent in that they are unpredictable, so... :D

 

Tom

[happy cruzin]

Well.. they ARE consistent in that they are unpredictable, so... :D

 

Tom

 

 

ROTFLMAO......sad, but VERY true!!

[bcs819]

I went to guest relations and since the Platinum line was occupied by a person with a BLUE S&S card being helped (surprise, surprise)

Tom

 

Out of curiosity im wondering what you mean by surprise surprise....

 

There is a special line for Platinum cruisers. Someone with a blue card is a first time Cruiser. They should have been in the regular line.

[rhorhorho]

:)

 

Just so you know the dangers Linda... a battery could leak acid, that acid could then eat through the floor, all the way to the hull of the ship, causing it to sink... just so you know! ;)

 

:D

 

Tom

 

Tom pleeasse don't give them any ideas. I can just see - "Carnival took my batteries, but sold them on-board for $15.00 for 2 D cells".:eek:

 

By the way, even if Tom was being snobby, which I didn't sense, he's just tired of some of the less than stellar changes occurring lately.:)

[DGP1111]

:eek:EEEk - it's David (200 posts) taking on Goliath (>11,000) posts. Tom, I can tell by your banter on this board that you are a reasonable, lively person.

 

However, I stand by my perception of your intent. To me, and solely to me, your post is a little self-gratifying (i.e., gloatful --is that a word?) "Look at me, I took on the big, bad cruise line and I won." It is also very disparaging of the service the customer representative supplied to you. (As in, "WHY oh WHY would any guest need to play this "game"...." Also, the point where even when he shows you a separate reference that could completely outlaw fans, you "...told him it was, of course, intentionally vague thus allowing them to take anything....") Or, it could be due to your repeated use of CAPITAL LETTERS and bold red text.

 

Let the "Beat up on Chirpbird's perceptions" begin. :D

 

Hi, Chirpbird!!

I don't know you and certainly have zero intentions of any sort of "beat up". Everyone gets to post opinions on these board, and you have just as much right as anyone. Happy cruising in your future. :)

 

That being said . . .

I was on this exact same sailing as Tom-n-Cheryl on Carnival Destiny. I was also on the sailing prior to them as well. Those first four days were superb, and I even made a trip by the Guest Services desk to tell them how much I respected the job they were personally doing.

 

As I told several arriving for my second sailing, it appears a meteor or something hit that ship when it returned back to Miami (9/6), causing any department charged with making quick rational decisions to be suddenly off the Doofus charts.

 

The Guest Services Manager (formerly Chief Purser), Ramune Bovo, was finishing her contract and leaving on vacation. Amazingly, she was in her own clothes, off-duty, and still on a radio running the operation with magnificence, prior to walking off the ship behind our back-to-back group.

She was replaced by Jorge, who (prior to his CCL contract) was possibly the Mayor of Idiot City. He was the polar opposite of Ramune in every way posisble. Before Tom-n-Cheryl even arrived onboard the ship, several of us had already experienced our own personal unfortunate challenges with Guest Services on Monday.

 

Here we have an extremely vital part of the onboard passenger experience being (seemingly) run by a nitwit. Yes he was brand new to the ship, but certain guest operations and common sense thinking are the same fleetwide.

The Guest Service buffoonery didn't start or end with Tom's fan situation. There was (unfortunately) much more to come for others as well.

 

I went back to the original post and didn't personally find Tom's words unfair or 'disparaging of the service'. Perhaps he felt he didn't have to be, figuring I would eventually come along and actually say the diparaging words on purpose. :)

 

Will be posting some 'stories' and pictures later about the nine days at sea. Again, there are numerous fantastic and splendiferous things happening in multiple areas of Carnival Destiny. Some equal to the best in the fleet. The Guest Service department doesn't even make it on my 'Bad' list. Those last five days (at least to me and some others) they were Pathetic. :(

[picklebongo]

Why do so many people do this? Somebody comes here and shares his/her experience and then others berate them for how they handled a situation?

 

I too would have demanded my fan back and would have been cool and calm in the face of it. When you have right on your side, there's no need to escalate the situation. This fan was clearly not a hazard and though some of you may think discontinuing cruising a line is an over the top reaction, to me it isn't.

 

Perhaps if more people did this we would see more consistency.

 

I must say though if this same thread had been posted by the "average" cc'er, stating the same experience, I think they would have been lamblasted to no end. Just my thoughts obviously.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

...

I must say though if this same thread had been posted by the "average" cc'er, stating the same experience, I think they would have been lamblasted to no end. Just my thoughts obviously.

 

What I have seen is that, and this is not fact based - just casual observation, when someone with a low post count comes on with something "borderline" or beyond, that those with higher counts tend to chime in negatively. When someone with a higher post count does the same, it is often those with lower counts on the attack.

 

There are plenty of exceptions!

 

Tom

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Hi, Chirpbird!!

I don't know you and certainly have zero intentions of any sort of "beat up". Everyone gets to post opinions on these board, and you have just as much right as anyone. Happy cruising in your future. :)

 

That being said . . .

I was on this exact same sailing as Tom-n-Cheryl on Carnival Destiny. I was also on the sailing prior to them as well. Those first four days were superb, and I even made a trip by the Guest Services desk to tell them how much I respected the job they were personally doing.

 

As I told several arriving for my second sailing, it appears a meteor or something hit that ship when it returned back to Miami (9/6), causing any department charged with making quick rational decisions to be suddenly off the Doofus charts.

 

The Guest Services Manager (formerly Chief Purser), Ramune Bovo, was finishing her contract and leaving on vacation. Amazingly, she was in her own clothes, off-duty, and still on a radio running the operation with magnificence, prior to walking off the ship behind our back-to-back group.

She was replaced by Jorge, who (prior to his CCL contract) was possibly the Mayor of Idiot City. He was the polar opposite of Ramune in every way posisble. Before Tom-n-Cheryl even arrived onboard the ship, several of us had already experienced our own personal unfortunate challenges with Guest Services on Monday.

 

Here we have an extremely vital part of the onboard passenger experience being (seemingly) run by a nitwit. Yes he was brand new to the ship, but certain guest operations and common sense thinking are the same fleetwide.

The Guest Service buffoonery didn't start or end with Tom's fan situation. There was (unfortunately) much more to come for others as well.

 

I went back to the original post and didn't personally find Tom's words unfair or 'disparaging of the service'. Perhaps he felt he didn't have to be, figuring I would eventually come along and actually say the diparaging words on purpose. :)

 

Will be posting some 'stories' and pictures later about the nine days at sea. Again, there are numerous fantastic and splendiferous things happening in multiple areas of Carnival Destiny. Some equal to the best in the fleet. The Guest Service department doesn't even make it on my 'Bad' list. Those last five days (at least to me and some others) they were Pathetic. :(

 

Don - I am REALLY looking forward to seeing your tales (some of which are "off the charts") in a mini-review! :D

 

Tom

[LHP]

Don - I am REALLY looking forward to seeing your tales (some of which are "off the charts") in a mini-review! :D

 

Tom

 

One in particular comes to mind...... :eek:

[BeccaBecca1713]

Tom,

Thanks so much for your post! And thanks to the several posters who mentioned putting these gray area items in carry-on. I would go postal if they took my curling irons! I plan to buy brand new ones for the cruise, still in the box, so they can't accuse me of frayed cords, etc... Naturally, my hair frizzes up like an unkempt afro. If I didn't have my irons, I'd never leave my room!:eek:

[big_duck]

I must say though if this same thread had been posted by the "average" cc'er, stating the same experience, I think they would have been lamblasted to no end. Just my thoughts obviously.

 

It's called a track record. Tom's is pretty good.

[dec2007w3boys]

What I have seen is that, and this is not fact based - just casual observation, when someone with a low post count comes on with something "borderline" or beyond, that those with higher counts tend to chime in negatively. When someone with a higher post count does the same, it is often those with lower counts on the attack.

 

There are plenty of exceptions!

 

Tom

 

Excellent observation and I think this one post should be a sticky at the top of the CC boards.