Come out of the closet Carnival

[msstarr22]

WOW!! thank you everyone! I had at the same time sent a private message to John, but clearly this is the fastrack:D

Ok, so now I am hedging my bets on going ahead and booking that third B2B. I really dont mind if they pull smoking inside cabins, but its the balcony scenario which is a total deal breaker for us.

Being in the UK, it is a big concern. Celebrity total point blank refused to refund our deposits, our only option in the end, was to transfer deposits AT EXTRA CHARGE incidentally, to RCI, and there was limited choice of cruise as we already had our dates, travel plans etc in place.

For this to happen to us again...it would spell Nightmare!!

thank you everyone, and pass my thanks to john please!!!!!

Do hope he is on Freedom when we go, (tell him if his word stands, a pack of smoked salmon which we produce for Her Majesty, will be brought on board for him!!)

Ok..so now..how am I gonna pack for THREE cruises hahahaha!!

Laundry service on board or you have the option to take care of it yourself. I never overpack even for just a 7 day. Wash my necessities on a day that I set aside for me time, laundry and reading.

[michelle1836]

Why not post this on Johns FB if you want a quick answer? You know the Beards read all of it :D

 

I think she already did. he is aware of the OP

[Jacky01]

I think she already did. he is aware of the OP

 

Look at the time stamp? :D

[michelle1836]

Look at the time stamp? :D

 

time stamp on what? his facebook post?

[crewsweeper]

Aah. Gotta love the Pommies* and leftleggers*. Can't live without their L&B Silvers:)

And not to be denied as today's their "day" the paddies* and culchies* love their Players Black too!:)

 

*meant in non offensive manner

[Blondie008]

Laundry service on board or you have the option to take care of it yourself. I never overpack even for just a 7 day. Wash my necessities on a day that I set aside for me time, laundry and reading.

 

Yup, am thinking pack for the 8 day cruise, and repeat outfits. DH will want his kilt which weighs a tonne, so yeah, thats exactly what we will do :) and if anyone else is doing B2B, bet theyre doing the same so chances of "OH she had that on last week" are low :)

[Martini Mom]

On John's FB:

 

Morning Blondie 008. A British friend of mine sent me your comment from CC. We do care about British Carnival fans............I care especially, obviously. There are no plans..........repeat no plans to make any changes and I am here to help you if you have any concerns.............and I promise.............no blonde jokes.

As I am no...t a CC member can someone who is post this please...cheers

[Tapi]

I do not worry about a fire in a cabin....IF that was such a huge threat..it would have happened already.

.

 

 

It has...:( Click here:

 

[michelle1836]

On John's FB:

 

 

Morning Blondie 008. A British friend of mine sent me your comment from CC. We do care about British Carnival fans............I care especially, obviously. There are no plans..........repeat no plans to make any changes and I am here to help you if you have any concerns.............and I promise.............no blonde jokes.

As I am no...t a CC member can someone who is post this please...cheers

 

thanks for posting. seems OP's concern has been noted and answered

[DarthGrady]

OP I wouldn't worry much about it. I doubt CCL will make the same mistake twice. They tried to do a smoke free ship once (the Paradise when she was new) and it was a loser for them. Seems the same hedonists that like their smokes also account for a big portion of the booze and gambling. So Paradise's draconian smoking policy was quietly retired and the big "no smoking" signs on the sides of the ships got the white wash.

[halos]

I'm a blonde:rolleyes: tried to read thru it all but bit beyond me..

Yes, totally appreciate why we in the UK need insurance up front etc. My point however, is that ANY vacation company, who sells us a vacation, should not change their policies for the term of that brochure. We just dont have a leg to stand on.... I really dont mind any company, choosing whichever policy they wish - I just wish they would offer refunds if their changes affect the enjoyment of our vacation.

.

 

I don't disagree with you at all. My point was only that CCL does not hate UK cruisers.

My question is who do you take that up with??

You've had this issue with Celebrity/RCI, correct??

Is this something the cruise lines can go 'around'???? :confused: It would be easy to say, 'sure, they can do anythign they want'...and maybe they can. But I'm certainly not 100% sure of that.

[halos]

I can't see Carnival changing the policy concerning outside smoking (on balconies or open decks) but they will eventually evolve with the other major cruiselines and ban inside smoking.

 

 

Although it's highly unlikley, you should never say never...even in regard to outside smoking.

 

 

Here, smoking has already been banned on state beaches and state parks and I just read last week that they are trying to get it banned on town beaches as well....Every year the residents do a 'beach clean-up' and they have been picking up tons of cigarette butts and it has gotten so out of hand that the residents are trying to get legislation passed to ban smoking on the beaches altogether. The only reason this likely won't pass is that there is no way in heck they can enforce this law if they pass it.

 

I don't smoke, but I don't find the smoke on ships to be bothersome (that's because I don't go in the casino...)

However, the reality is that the restrictions for smokers are going to increase.

[Raven Days]

I wish they didnt allow smoking inside the cabins. I dont mind on the balcony or on open decks. The Casino is a given. There is NOT one casino I have ever been too (Ive been to a few :D) that wasnt smokey, so that doesnt bother me. I understand smoking in the bars...not a big deal either.

[pattyfresh]

Smoking anywhere on a cruise ship makes me a little bit concerned about it being a fire hazard... I always thought you could only smoke in certian bar/public areas... Shows how much I don't know!

[MissDiva1]

solo cruisers who booked in good faith ES, rules changed last July, and now the 200% price has to drop to get price drops.

 

When I booked the policy was $25 for a missed port, changed a couple of months before my cruise to taxes on the port fees only, about $60 less when we missed two ports.

 

... on and on. Just because this one policy affects you .... why would Carnival suddenly agree to not change policies on already booked cruises...they do it constantly.

 

Exactly! And I believe they have already changed policy on some ships out by the pool.......I believe it is the Splendor or Dream you can't smoke on the Lido deck. But you can smoke one deck up from the pool area...

[MissDiva1]

I'm a blonde:rolleyes: tried to read thru it all but bit beyond me..

Yes, totally appreciate why we in the UK need insurance up front etc. My point however, is that ANY vacation company, who sells us a vacation, should not change their policies for the term of that brochure. We just dont have a leg to stand on.... I really dont mind any company, choosing whichever policy they wish - I just wish they would offer refunds if their changes affect the enjoyment of our vacation.

Okay, lets say for talking's sake you are a non smoker. You book a vacation and pay out $1500 in deposits, as, at the time you booked, and the time you researched, all areas on your vacation were non smoking. A few months down the line, the company decide....ok, going to change that rule, lets make it now all areas are smoking... how would you feel about your $1500. I am not asking you whether or not smoking is important to you, it could be anything, from kids go free to theres gonna be a riotous rock band on board. Anything, which ultimately, for YOU personally, means a "total no go" for your vacation.

There is no allowance for that in the UK terms & conditions of booking. We pay our money, take our chances, and no going back. Our insurance wont pay out either on forfeited deposits.

We have to pay the travel agent, not one deposit, but a deposit for every sector of the cruise AND airfare..

I just wish they would introduce some kind of advance clause, which, if ships policy changes to a point which means you would rather not take the vacation, even some portion of the deposit was refunded.

Its never going to happen, and hence, why we havent cruised now for two years as we have been frightened to pay out again...

Just HOPING all goes well with this one, and according to the above, it does look like I have nothing to be concerned over..thankfully:D

There are some situations, where we can move deposits. Last year I booked a trip to Egypt, but changed my mind, I was able to move that deposit to another country but within the same tour operator, paid a small fee, but it was possible. But with a cruise, its a whole different ball game.

 

They are not taking smoking away from you. You are comparing all or nothing......a total different animal. Oh and please be aware that cruiselines do book groups on cruises without your knowledge that might bother you or not.......

[Blondie008]

They are not taking smoking away from you. You are comparing all or nothing......a total different animal. Oh and please be aware that cruiselines do book groups on cruises without your knowledge that might bother you or not.......

 

 

EH:eek:

[Blondie008]

They change the policies all the time on already booked cruises.

 

Dream on. If Carnival thinks they can push issues and cost their bottom line less ...thats the new policy.

 

 

I agree Firefly, I am mereley trying to weigh up my odds before standing to lose another deposit. FACT - in UK..if I put a deposit down on a cruise today, and change my mind tomorrow, even if the cruise is 18 months ahead, that deposit is history..I wont get it back.

According to the US site, full deposit is refundable. Aside I think (not entirely sure here) from ES deposits, I think there is some kind of condition on that.

Also, our deposits are a LOT more...

 

For others, please, this is not about smoking/non smoking, think theres enough debate about that.. this is about taking chances... and thanks to many on here, I THINK I am going to take my odds:)

Thanks for all your help!

[bguppies]

They are not taking smoking away from you. You are comparing all or nothing......a total different animal. Oh and please be aware that cruiselines do book groups on cruises without your knowledge that might bother you or not.......

 

The OP stated that they had no problem about smoking in the cabin.

If Carnival took that away, fine.

 

The concern was that they booked their balcony cabin to enjoy smoking on their balcony, as is currently allowed at the time of booking.

 

I totally agree that any fundamental change in a policy, like smoking, drinking, gambling, etc... that would adversley affect someone's enjoyment of their cruise, should be fully refundable.

 

Changes to minor policies like refunding port fees etc., as someone previously posted, in no way affect anyone's enjoyment of their cruise and have zero bearing in this discussion.

 

I only smoke cigars when I go on a cruise and I would certainly take my business elsewhere if carnival did away with smoking on my balcony.

(it is ridiculous enough doing away with cigar smoking in the cigar bars.:rolleyes:)

 

Bill

[mcwebber]

I am desperate to book a third cruise on to our existing two B2Bs, but all this talk of smoking on John healds page is making me wonder if change is on the horizon, and if it is, WHAT kind of changes? WE WOULD LIKE TO KNOW CARNIVAL!!! PLEASE give us some notice!

 

Why are you asking here and not on John's blog or on his Facebook page? I recall seeing him respond to someone that they have no plans to change the smoking policy in the near future. Why would you think you would get better info on this site than the site where you read it?

[MissDiva1]

The OP stated that they had no problem about smoking in the cabin.

If Carnival took that away, fine.

 

The concern was that they booked their balcony cabin to enjoy smoking on their balcony, as is currently allowed at the time of booking.

 

I totally agree that any fundamental change in a policy, like smoking, drinking, gambling, etc... that would adversley affect someone's enjoyment of their cruise, should be fully refundable.

 

Changes to minor policies like refunding port fees etc., as someone previously posted, in no way affect anyone's enjoyment of their cruise and have zero bearing in this discussion.

 

I only smoke cigars when I go on a cruise and I would certainly take my business elsewhere if carnival did away with smoking on my balcony.

(it is ridiculous enough doing away with cigar smoking in the cigar bars.:rolleyes:)

 

Bill

 

Who gets to choose what would be a minor or major affect of someones enjoyment? Someone who had a policy change of where they get to smoke would probably affect me the same way if the cruiselines chose to change my itinerary which I paid for in advance too.

Point is they can and will change policies from time to time. What is minor to you might be major to me and vise verse.

Oh and when we were on our last cruise it specifically stated in our fun times that cigars can only be smoked in the cigar lounge.

[mcwebber]

Who gets to choose what would be a minor or major affect of someones enjoyment? Someone who had a policy change of where they get to smoke would probably affect me the same way if the cruiselines chose to change my itinerary which I paid for in advance too.

 

Itinerary changes happen all the time. Anyone booking a cruise who thinks they're buying passage to a specific island is delusional. Changes to basic accommodations on a ship, such as basic policies regarding smoking, drinking, sex in the hot tub ;) etc. are rare and nobody should expect such a drastic change after they book a cruise regardless of what the cruise line says about whether deposits are refundable or not.

[MissDiva1]

Itinerary changes happen all the time. Anyone booking a cruise who thinks they're buying passage to a specific island is delusional. Changes to basic accommodations on a ship, such as basic policies regarding smoking, drinking, sex in the hot tub ;) etc. are rare and nobody should expect such a drastic change after they book a cruise regardless of what the cruise line says about whether deposits are refundable or not.

 

You missed my whole point.....but that's ok.

 

 

A drastic change would be to change to no smoking at all or no drinking at all.......it will never happen. But they do and can change where you smoke or where you drink. That would not qualify as drastic.

 

I will with hold the delusional jab.

[mcwebber]

You missed my whole point.....but that's ok.

 

 

A drastic change would be to change to no smoking at all or no drinking at all.......it will never happen. But they do and can change where you smoke or where you drink. That would not qualify as drastic.

 

If I was a smoker I would say banning it in cabins or balconies would be drastic. Even banning it in the nightclub or the other 1/2 the Lido deck would be drastic to a smoker.

[MissDiva1]

If I was a smoker I would say banning it in cabins or balconies would be drastic. Even banning it in the nightclub or the other 1/2 the Lido deck would be drastic to a smoker.

 

Drastic or inconvenienced:confused: