CNN reporting another Carnival Ship having trouble (The Dream)

[reallyitsmema]

Here's a thread from another forum about the airlift underway:

 

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/5714232/1/#1

 

Looks like Carnival have contracted with Delta again; unknown at this point how many charter flights over how many days, as some pax would have been put on scheduled flights as well.

Yup, definitely Delta again. According to this article, some aren't flying out until Sunday.

 

http://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/8878--st-maarten-assists-stranded-cruise-ship-passengers.html

[dwjoe]

LOL. Thanks for the laugh.

[Tutankhamen]

It seems like the better stat would be % of sailings having major issues.

 

 

Agree 100%, that it would be a better stat. To much info for me to gather for something that is not work related. If someone wants to gather then info, I would be happy to give the percentages.

 

That said, anyway you slice it, 8% of the fleet will not be sailing next week as planned. 13% of the fleet has major issues,......at this point in time anyway.

[airmj2123]

The root problem is that Carnival is fundamentally unsafe to sail on. CCL minimizes the maintenance on their ships to save money and the underlying design of the ships have significant flaws.

 

I think unsafe might be a bad way to put it (cause of the no fatalities and what not). Then performing maintenance, finding problem, canceling cruise to fix problem (this seems SOOOO unsafe).

[Carol_Hill]

at last count there were at least 4 planes coming down from Atlanta to St. Martin, that is way more than the scheduled one flight on Delta's website.

 

to track inbound flights to St. Martin here is the link

 

http://www.flightstats.com/go/AirportTracker/airportTracker.do

 

Cudos to Carnival for taking care of their guests.

 

Heck, by the time you posted that, there was at least one plane that had already left St Maarten with pax! :) I posted several links to ST. Maarten newspaper this morning.

[dwjoe]

Passports:

 

Traveling abroad without a Passport, whether cruise line requires it or not, is stupid. I am willing to bet that those on the Dream without Passports will end up costing the tax payers money. Extra steps needed to process these people will cost extra money.

 

Get a passport. If you do not have one, you should be obligated to pay a fine if you find yourself in a foreign country and needing to fly into the USA.

 

I do not care for lecturing others for making their own passport decisions.

 

CCL will assume responsibility for coordinating any extra processing required by CBP.

 

For a fuller treatment of this topic see this thread.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1807725

[ibcnusoon]

They can "ruin" my cruise in St. Maartin any time they want. Inconvenienced? Yes.. Ruined? No.

 

How about the people on the next cruise, who have had their vacations crushed by Carnival, and the people on the next cruise after that, wondering if they are next to be axed.

 

Carnival needs to do a hell of alot more than throw discounts on future cruises and sending planes to get the people they are abandoning in St. Maarten.

[airmj2123]

Why do some here always seem to focus on those who are currently in this situation. Do they purposely forget those who are booked the following week?

 

Agreed March 16th cruise has way worse than current one... (even the voyages after that are in a bad position)

[wdwcoltsfan]

Do you really think they are on the beach? No they are waiting in long lines to try to figure out how to get home. It's not magic.

 

You are probably right about this. I can imagine there were many stressed people trying to figure out what they needed to do.

 

We were looking to book a cruise for this June right after the Triumph mess and we finally decided on the Liberty. I am now holding off on that booking. It's not because I don't like CCL--we have cruised with them several times. We don't have flexible dates and if something were to happen, it would be stressful. We wouldn't be hanging on the beach, we would be on the computer trying to get people to cover shifts and in line with customer service trying to figure out how to get home. I also don't want to have to worry about our ship being taken out of service right before we leave.

 

People like to compare ships to airlines, but I don't spend my entire vacation on a plane. If our flight is delayed, we still get to our destination. Our vacation isn't cancelled.

[sparks1093]

I am big enough to admit that I am wrong. They should not be charged a fine. They should just be charged a fee for having to go through a different process then anyone else that is flying in to the USA.

 

Please enlighten me to the process of admitting citizens into the USA without a passport at the airport? I have not been through this process, and will not be in the process as I choose to carry a Passport while outside the USA.

 

As far as I know they are going to go through the exact same process that they would have gone through at the port- they will present their travel documentation and their Customs declaration forms and then be on their way unless CBP decides to give them another look. The CBP officers will know when the flights land and undoubtedly the computers will have the names of the passengers flagged so the officers know who they are, too.

[RVman]

So you would approve if Delta Airlines cut back on their maintenance program to keep the cost of our flights down?

Who has cut back on their maintenance? The way I understand it, it was preventive maintenance that found the problem.

We did the same thing while serving in the US Navy It was called (PMS) Preventive Maintenance Systems. Believe me the finest fleet in the World had their problems as well, we had fires, saltwater pumped in fresh water, you name it, we had it.

Again, if you are not happy with the product you have the choice to shop elsewhere

[cruisinfanatic]

Well to those that complain about Carnival cutting back on maintenance, which I don't believe. Are you the same ones that complain about other lines costing more?

[ibcnusoon]

You're kidding, I hope!:rolleyes:

 

If Carnival really "cared about their guests" they would not have cut spending for...

 

Entertainment

Food

Past Guest Program

 

The big question now...

 

HAS CARNIVAL ALSO CUT SPENDING FOR MAINTENANCE AND TRAINING???

 

Of course they cut back on maintenance and training, otherwise you wouldn't have these ships breaking down. With the Dream, it's uncalled for that they don't have someone there to assist them in "fixing" the back-up generator.

 

So, every time we get on a Carnival cruise you better hope they don't need to pull over because there will be no one there to fix it!

[BeagleOne]

flightaware dot com is showing at least five departures for Orlando out of the St. Maarten airport (code TNCM), on Delta.

 

Interestingly, the flight numbers are the same numbers used by NFL teams that use Delta for their charters. I suppose Delta uses that range of numbers for all of their charter flights?

 

Boy, would I LOVE to be on Maho Beach today with my air band radio! If I had been on the Dream and given an option on which charter to take to Orlando, I'd have chosen the last one! :D

[Tutankhamen]

I do not care for lecturing others for making their own passport decisions.

 

CCL will assume responsibility for coordinating any extra processing required by CBP.

 

For a fuller treatment of this topic see this thread.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1807725

 

Few things, I very well could be wrong. Maybe, it will not cost the government one cent to accommodate those without passports.

 

You said CCL "will assume responsibility for coordinating any extra processing required by CBP.". Coordinating is a lot different then paying.

 

Again, I do not know but I tend to think that it will cost extra to process these people at the airport. Whether that tab will be picked up by CCL or the tax payer is not known to me. I looked at your link and didn't feel like reading 6 pages. Could you be more specific with directing me to a spot where I can see that this will not cost the government?

[1cat4jan]

Originally Posted by hannibal54

I can't believe anybody still uses a Commodore 64

I can't believe someone thinks there might be one in existence.

 

Sent using my Commodore 64

 

I am assuming that tagline was put in his signature in answer to the tagline that is generated when one uses their I-Pad to post. When you post using your I-Pad, it always says "sent from my I-Pad" -- We don't add that, Apple does it automatically - just like Tapatalk does.

 

This was not sent by my I-Pad - it's too hard to type long answers on my I-Pad. I prefer the old fashioned desktop. :D

[RVman]

Of course they cut back on maintenance and training, otherwise you wouldn't have these ships breaking down. With the Dream, it's uncalled for that they don't have someone there to assist them in "fixing" the back-up generator.

 

So, every time we get on a Carnival cruise you better hope they don't need to pull over because there will be no one there to fix it!

You are just assuming they don't have anyone onboard to fix it, do you know how big the emergency generator is?

[jsmeeker]

flightaware dot com is showing at least five departures for Orlando out of the St. Maarten airport (code TNCM), on Delta.

 

Interestingly, the flight numbers are the same numbers used by NFL teams that use Delta for their charters. I suppose Delta uses that range of numbers for all of their charter flights?

 

Boy, would I LOVE to be on Maho Beach today with my air band radio! If I had been on the Dream and given an option on which charter to take to Orlando, I'd have chosen the last one! :D

 

yes.. airlines have flight number ranges for charter flights, ferry flights, etc.

[Seago2]

Be a grown up. Get a passport.

 

That said, US passports should be free. They cost way too much. $135 for the privilege of entering one's own country is ridiculous.

[cmhatter]

I'mwaiting ffor the folks who said they would love to be stuck there for two days to respond

 

Or the ones who think the whole boat is on the beach.

[Tutankhamen]

Be a grown up. Get a passport.

 

That said, US passports should be free. They cost way too much. $135 for the privilege of entering one's own country is ridiculous.

 

Agree!!

[Carol_Hill]

Do you really think they are on the beach? No they are waiting in long lines to try to figure out how to get home. It's not magic.

 

I posted several links from the ST. Maarten newspaper this morning. Carnival has chartered 20 jets to get them back to the US. Several jets have already left SXM for Orlando. Others won't be leaving until Sunday, so I would assume maybe those people ARE on the beach.

 

http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/36738-pjia-to-assist-stranded-cruise-ship-passengers.html

 

http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/36737-carnival-ship-stuck-in-st-maarten.html

 

http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/36709-carnival-dream-cruise-ship-stuck-in-st-maarten-with-generator-problem.html

 

http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/36732-william-visits-celebrity-dream-pledges-governments-assistance-.html

[Cyber Kat]

When flying into the US, those are not acceptable forms of ID. That's my whole point. They should have to go through additional screening like anyone else presenting themselves at our borders without the required ID

 

Why? Because you think so?

 

Apparently, Carnival and the US immigration department have come to an agreement on this. Carnival has all the passenger manifests with the information the passengers filled out before they left, additional photo IDs of all the passengers (I ASSume that they will check S&S cards sometime before boarding the planes) and those without passports have their birth certificates and their photo IDs/driver's licenses. IIRC the photo ID has to be a government issued ID - which are getting much more difficult to obtain. I would think the US immigration people will collect the manifests and check them against their databases before the passengers can return to US soil and I'm sure anyone who doesn't check out WILL be detained. It's going to take a couple of days to move that many people.

 

FWIW - I have a passport and have had one for a long time. I don't quite get why someone would be so vehemently opposed to having one, as some seem to be.

 

That said, it was MUCH easier to get the passport than it was to get my NJ driver's license. For the passport, all I needed was my birth certificate, marriage license, the 2 photos and a check for the fee. To get my NJ driver's license, I needed my passport (or like 3-4 other proofs of ID), my marriage license, a utility bill to confirm my address, a bank statement - and I forget how many other things. You do have to prove that you are in the US legally - they check.

 

It's got seals and holograms and probably an RFID chip - it's actually more proof of who I am than my passport - not for border crossing, but I wouldn't be surprised if one day, that's all you'll need for ID is one of these driver's licenses.

[Warm Breezes]

Be a grown up. Get a passport.

 

That said, US passports should be free. They cost way too much. $135 for the privilege of entering one's own country is ridiculous.

 

I am a grown up capable of making my own informed decisions based on my travel needs and my level of risk taking. I don't need any lectures from some over-bearing poster telling me what I need to do...the government gives US citizens a choice on closed loop cruises. If you don't like it, then that is your problem...take it up with those who make the laws and not those who follow them.

[CRUZBUDS]

Cudos to carnival for having a ship that breaks down in port, essentially ruins the last two days of the cruise and does what they absolutely have to do and fly their guest home?

 

Right...

 

That's right...... Celebrity tends to just leave passengers where the breakdown happens. Google the Century propeller problem in the Med a couple of years ago. The passengers were debarked in a small town in France and from there they were on there own. No airport and the trains were on strike. No hotels no vouchers, no nothing.

 

Nobody takes care of their passengers like Carnival :)