Carnival Liberty Evacuation

[Jimmy Geegitz]

Man I wish I was on that sailing. A free vacation plus 50% off the next. Luckyducks.

[caribill]

A week in SJ sounds great to me; but if it doesn't to you, non-refundable flights can often be changed for a small fee. Maybe you could fly to another cruise port instead?

 

You obviously have not tried to change a non-refundable flight recently.

 

Not only is the change fee not small (often is close to the price of what you paid for the flight), but you will pay the current fare for what you switch to, not the low fare you booked months ago.

 

A couple of years ago I had to change plans for a flight that cost $194.

 

Between the change fee and the current airfare difference, the airline wanted about $550 for the change.

[Honolulu Blue]

Just had a thought.

I do not have facebook or I would do it myself.

But can somebody from here send a note to JOHN Heald. I think Mme President should set up a meeting with our OP and thank him for everything he has done for the "outside world"............ just a thought.

.

Also....... glad to here that ASept 13th and future cruises are "good to go".

 

Taking your second point first, I'm not at all certain that the 9/13 and future cruises will actually go. I think they think, given what they know, that they can pull it off, but things can change in a hurry.

 

As for your first point, I don't have a Facebook account, so I can only read Mr. Heald's posts and can't communicate with him directly there. However, I'm sure there are people here with a FB account and I encourage them to do what you asked. Pauley's done a great job and I can't thank him enough.

Edited September 9, 2015 by Honolulu Blue

[jimbo5544]

At least this is progress for Carnival. Not so sure I believe them 100%, but at least it's info saying they've addressed the 9/13 cruise.

 

I do hope they are correct for everyone that is being affected.

 

I am sure that he would not say it if it were not true. Happy cruising.

[PortSideCruzan]

 

 

Hi Paulydm :)

 

Thank you so much for bringing (real time) FACTS to all of us here on Cruise Critic!!!!

 

At this point, we are not able to disembark in St Thomas.

 

As far as activities and services, with the exception of the Fun Shops, everything else is open.

 

Guests who are flying out today will be informed by 12:00 pm. Carnival will fly approximately 800 passengers today.

 

All other guests will not fly out today and will be able to go ashore as soon as clearance is received. Those going ashore today must be back on board by 7:00 pm.

[retiredgram]

At this point, we are not able to disembark in St Thomas. As far as activities and services, with the exception of the Fun Shops, everything else is open. Guests who are flying out today will be informed by 12:00 pm. Carnival will fly approximately 800 passengers today. All other guests will not fly out today and will be able to go ashore as soon as clearance is received. Those going ashore today must be back on board by 7:00 pm.

 

Thanks for the update.

 

Have you ever thought about becoming a News Reporter. :D You have done an outstanding job keeping everyone informed.

[jimbo5544]

You hit the nail on the head right there!

 

It's a known problem. It didn't just show up the day before the 9/13 cruise. And since they don't have spare ships laying around, we all know a cancellation is really their only option.

 

Several years ago when the FAA grounded certain types of aircraft for mandatory inspections, the airlines took massive cancellations. They didn't sit around and cancel one flight at a time....they took out several days of flights. It's called preplanning.

 

What is a known problem?

[caribill]

Latest update on John Heald's (social media) page:

 

"For those of you who have been asking me I am very happy to tell you that the Carnival Liberty’s next cruise departing this Sunday is indeed scheduled to operate as normal.

Cheers and have a brilliant time"

 

Schedules can change.

 

Several days ago the Liberty was not scheduled to be in St. Thomas today.

[gone_cruisin]

I am sure that he would not say it if it were not true. Happy cruising.

 

 

You know posters are going blame/curse JH if this falls thru. He has an awful job.

 

I got what I was looking for. Up to this point, no one had been told the status of 9/13.

[RuthlessBoss]

He said those flying out today will know by noon. Those still onboard will be able to go ashore later.

 

I saw the edited post after I was responded so nothing corresponded. The post had said 500 to get off, and no one was disembarking.

[gone_cruisin]

What is a known problem?

 

 

Don't read into the way you are trying,

 

All I was saying is that if they canceled the cruise on 9/12, Liberty's fire problem had been "known" for 6 days. It wasn't a surprise that happened the morning of.

[pghsteelerfan]

Schedules can change.

 

Several days ago the Liberty was not scheduled to be in St. Thomas today.

 

We're "cautiously optimistic" but aware that something else could come up. We do have a back up plan in case. I also just notified DH, at work, NOT to cancel the hotel reservations in PR we've made for the week as our back up plan just yet. I believe we have till 9/17.

[jimbo5544]

Don't read into the way you are trying,

 

All I was saying is that if they canceled the cruise on 9/12, Liberty's fire problem had been "known" for 6 days. It wasn't a surprise that happened the morning of.

 

OK, did not understand. Enjoy your cruise, I am sure you must feel better.

[IMSAILING]

For anyone who is worried about Sundays cruise - The Embassy Suites in San Juan has rooms available for $129

. You get a hot breakfast and a managers cocktail reception at 5:00 p.m. We stayed there a few years ago post cruise. It's a 5 min walk to the beach and the beach is gorgeous. We have stayed in other hotels as well but I can't recall the names. There are some lovely boutique hotels in Old San Juan. None of these are all inclusive.

[jimbo5544]

You know posters are going blame/curse JH if this falls thru. He has an awful job.

 

I got what I was looking for. Up to this point, no one had been told the status of 9/13.

 

As the cruise line spokesperson, he sometimes tells things on his blog (granted to keep interest up) that end up being ....at best only partially true (not true in this case), because things do change. John is a great guy, the real deal and trust me when I say this (although I know there are some here do dislike him), he is one of Carnival's best assets. If you ever get the chance, have a conversation with him, he will tell you he has the best job.

[ANGELSwithANGLES]

Nope just seen them in these situations in the past.

 

Mistake #1: with a new president at the helm, Carnival had a perfect opportunity to show they are/have changed the PR nightmares that have plagued them since Cahill took over, and rodent into the ground ever since the Triumph debacle (as Arison did with the Concordia disaster.

 

Instead, she was doing photo ops in Italy with John Heald.

 

Mistake 2: the communications coming out of Carnival was so slow. Info was actually being dispersed by a customer. And not only delays in then getting the word out, the mob culture over on JH and CCL was doubting the words reposted over there, and those posting that info were being called all kinds of nasty names.

 

Mistake 3: telling passengers that they could stay on board through Sunday, as the ship was going to be going back to San Juan, before anyone even stated the ship was seaworthy. With a refund and 50% off a future cruise, that would have been my biggest disappointment. Not everyone is sitting back salivating on what compensation they may or may not be getting. Sme just simply want a vacation.

 

Mistake 4: Csrnival still seems to have problems with preventative care. Although it's still premature, when your main business is moving a vessel, that vessel should be in top top shape. At least we didn't have a repeat of the Splendor, where it turned out the manual for the fire retardant equipment didnt match the equipment.

[lilmizz]

We don't vacation In or on any of those things.

 

And a beach day at home costs me $7 per person. What's it costing these passengers? $100 for the same sand and water?

 

Again always haters. My point is that carival could not help that this happened. And look at what they r doing for the passengers. Yes ppl r upset but hey deal with it with a refund and 50 percent off a future cruise. Stay in san juan. Just saying these things happen. It sucks but they r getting their money back

[pauleydm]

New update. The 12:00 letter that informs those who will depart today has been delayed. Because of this, we are still not able to disembark in St Thomas.

[declansdad]

So basically in your opinion, screw PR? They've got a business to run and who cares if it upsets their customers!

 

Ever notice how airline offer free changes to itineraries when hurricanes or snow storms are expected? Maybe they should just say screw it, "run their business" and let the passengers deal with it. Don't offer any reaccommodations, and let them show up to the airport for the scheduled flight......if it flies.

 

 

Didn't say Screw PR, I said they are giving you a realistic option. A cruise line is not an airline. An airline offers multiple departures and can more easily deal with the cancellation of a flight or the rescheduling on several due to weather. A cruise line cannot offer that same type of accommodation.

 

As for airlines letting people show up at the airport before making changes, that happens all the time.

 

I think at this point your best bet would be to cancel this cruise yourself. It would seem if it is not perfect, you are not going to be happy.

[jpm1973]

My partner has a co-worker on the Liberty now and this is his and his wife's first cruise. I've been wondering how they're reacting to the change in their vacation plans and how they feel Carnival has handled everything. He sent my partner an email last night and at that point there was still the possibility of sailing back to San Juan and staying on board for the rest of the week, which he was quite happy about. Now of course they will be coming home early but it seems that his view of how the situation has been handled is positive. In his words: "Carnival is doing a great job of working through this despite many people making their lives very difficult."

 

Just another view from a first-time cruiser on board.

[KatieCharlotte]

JH's post specifically said "scheduled to" not "will," which gives him and Carnival wiggle room if the repairs take longer. They would be stupid to promise anything at this point. But it seems like Carnival would not have him reassure passengers at all unless they believed there was a decent chance the cruise will still sail.

[declansdad]

Ugh because it's the right thing to do and they will have a lot less angry people who are able to make other arrangements. When I worked at a restaurant and someone's steak fell on the floor, I went and told them "I'm so sorry, it will take another 30 minutes- what would you like to do". You don't just let them sit there for 30 minutes, then bring it out and say "well you got the steak so what's your problem?!" Obviously this is a much larger and different scale but everyone likes being kept up to date as soon as possible to change their plans. Even if the cruise line does lose out, the decent customer service would win them back over like it has for OP.

 

 

People are being kept up to date. They are being told that the cruise is still going as scheduled. What do you want them to say? "We are working on fixing the problem and if all goes to plan, we will be able to set sail again on the 13th. If it doesn't go to plan, we will have to look at other options." Is that what you are looking for?

[pamrose228]

Just curious but what happens if something like this occurs on a TA especially when you're on day 3 of a 5 day crossing. Asking because I'm on the Vista TA and just wondering.

[jimbo5544]

Mistake #1: with a new president at the helm, Carnival had a perfect opportunity to show they are/have changed the PR nightmares that have plagued them since Cahill took over, and rodent into the ground ever since the Triumph debacle (as Arison did with the Concordia disaster.

 

Instead, she was doing photo ops in Italy with John Heald.

 

Mistake 2: the communications coming out of Carnival was so slow. Info was actually being dispersed by a customer. And not only delays in then getting the word out, the mob culture over on JH and CCL was doubting the words reposted over there, and those posting that info were being called all kinds of nasty names.

 

Mistake 3: telling passengers that they could stay on board through Sunday, as the ship was going to be going back to San Juan, before anyone even stated the ship was seaworthy. With a refund and 50% off a future cruise, that would have been my biggest disappointment. Not everyone is sitting back salivating on what compensation they may or may not be getting. Sme just simply want a vacation.

 

Mistake 4: Csrnival still seems to have problems with preventative care. Although it's still premature, when your main business is moving a vessel, that vessel should be in top top shape. At least we didn't have a repeat of the Splendor, where it turned out the manual for the fire retardant equipment didnt match the equipment.

 

I wont go into a debate but feel the need to correct your inaccuracies (there are many but ;))

1. Where Christine Duffy is has no relation to what gets done, same can be said for Cahill before and Mickey (on a grander scale). BTW, she was already in Italy. There is not PR issue there at all (it's not her job to do anything with what happened). As a matter of fact, if you can recall, Cahill greeted people individually as they came off of the Splendor and the Triumph.

2. Information comes out when it can. It they were quick to shoot, with anything inaccurate, some here (we don't have to look to far to see who:confused:) would be bashing them for doing just that. The way to handle problems is in a controlled manner...which they did...when the facts are known. Mob culture....really?

3. I have no idea what you point is in 3, is it just a ramble?

4. Do you any facts on their preventative care? Do you know of any issues brought up that were not handled correctly? Did the manual on the Splendor cause anything to happen?

 

In order to cut to the chase, the answer to all of your items (in number 4) is no. Easy to sit back and throw stones.....harder to back it up.;)

 

We don't need a tirade back and forth and we can move on.

 

Edited September 9, 2015 by jimbo5544

[Carol_Hill]

paulydm--Thanks so much for keeping everyone informed! You are really going above and beyond!!I hope you are able to stay on the ship until Friday and enjoy your time in STT.