Sunshine itinerary change. No Bermuda

[Boozebabe]

The same people that would complain about the change would also demand a full refund if they got the snot knocked out of them on the northern rout.

 

I do understand how not eing able to get to Bermuda would be a bummer, but you can't reason with the hurricane season. Oh and BTW:

 

The 735-foot cargo ship El Faro was en route to San Juan, Puerto Rico, when it was caught in the Category 4 storm that's battering the Bahamas, the Coast Guard said.

The Coast Guard Atlantic Area command center in Portsmouth, Virginia, said it received a satellite notification saying El Faro was overcome by the storm, lost propulsion and had taken on water.

 

So just try to enjoy your new ports and be glad you are not around where this ship was last heard from.

 

And 33 people were missing from that vessel.

[OCruisers]

Anyone watching the Bermuda webcam? Joaquin is approaching Bermuda and winds are getting stronger and stronger by the hour. its cranking up pretty fast since this morning. almost cant see the pier its raining so hard.

 

http://portbermudawebcam.com/

 

Tomorrow would not be a good time to be in Bermuda! :eek:

[mosaic_mom]

There have been news reports that the US Coast Guard found a 225 square mile debris field during their search but it isn't clear if it was from the El Faro or not. Very sad. Hope they find them safe somehow.

[liv789]

Well just got back from our exotic Bermuda ( I mean eastern carribean) cruise. Thank you Carnival for keeping us safe and weather was great. Wish someone had mentioned about the guarantee that if we were not happy you would fly us home at the first port. 25% cruise credit on a 2-8 day cruise (not Europe, holiday or Christmas) is nice but nobody I talked to thought it compensated them for the premium they paid for the exotic first ever Carnival cruise to Bermuda, they had booked and instead went to same place we all had gone many many times. We had almost 50 Diamonds on the cruise, average age was 66!!! You could of given us a free drink? Maybe 50% credit if we booked a Bermuda cruise? Most thought with the premium they paid they lost money with 25% for the cruise itinerary we went on which we could of booked for a whole lot less. Even a free shore excursion would have been nice. How much would it have cost. I heard 600 were no show? Staff handled changes well, not there fault.

[momof3cruisers]

Carnival is not at fault. You chose to sail during hurricane season. When you watched the storm approaching where your cruise would be, did you contact them for information.

[RuthlessBoss]

Well just got back from our exotic Bermuda ( I mean eastern carribean) cruise. Thank you Carnival for keeping us safe and weather was great. Wish someone had mentioned about the guarantee that if we were not happy you would fly us home at the first port. 25% cruise credit on a 2-8 day cruise (not Europe, holiday or Christmas) is nice but nobody I talked to thought it compensated them for the premium they paid for the exotic first ever Carnival cruise to Bermuda, they had booked and instead went to same place we all had gone many many times. We had almost 50 Diamonds on the cruise, average age was 66!!! You could of given us a free drink? Maybe 50% credit if we booked a Bermuda cruise? Most thought with the premium they paid they lost money with 25% for the cruise itinerary we went on which we could of booked for a whole lot less. Even a free shore excursion would have been nice. How much would it have cost. I heard 600 were no show? Staff handled changes well, not there fault.

 

Where did you get all this information? Really, average age 66, 50 diamonds, 600 no shows? Other than a great disappointment, you got a great alternate cruise from the change.

[ObstructedView2]

Well just got back from our exotic Bermuda ( I mean eastern carribean) cruise.

Wish someone had mentioned about the guarantee that if we were not happy you would fly us home at the first port.

If you would have performed a TEENIE TINY AMOUNT of RESEARCH ABOUT the cruise line that YOU BOOKED WITH, you would have located Carnivals Vacation Guarantee DIRECTLY ON THEIR WEBSITE...

 

Info located @:

http://www.carnival.com/about-carnival/vacation-guarantee.aspx

 

Additional Carnival Vacation Guarantee info @:

http://www.carnival.com/about-carnival/vacation-guarantee/faq.aspx

 

 

 

:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

 

 

 

[RuthlessBoss]

If you would have performed a TEENIE TINY AMOUNT of RESEARCH ABOUT the cruise line that YOU BOOKED WITH, you would have located Carnivals Vacation Guarantee DIRECTLY ON THEIR WEBSITE...

 

Info located @:

http://www.carnival.com/about-carnival/vacation-guarantee.aspx

 

Additional Carnival Vacation Guarantee info @:

http://www.carnival.com/about-carnival/vacation-guarantee/faq.aspx

 

 

 

:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

 

 

 

 

I guess she never reads contracts because according to an old post they are diamond.;)

[mangokey]

Where did you get all this information? Really, average age 66, 50 diamonds, 600 no shows? Other than a great disappointment, you got a great alternate cruise from the change.

Well put LIV789! My thoughts exactly - I just got off this cruise yesterday and feel the same way you do. Easy for those that were not on board to pontificate about how great Carnival handled it but they could have done more. Absolutely no doubt that Carnival made the correct decision in changing itinerary due to the storm and I have no issue with that at all. No issue either with the ports they took us too (except I've done them a gazillion times before but have never been to Bermuda). The cruise director herself on the morning of disembarkation announced over the PA system that there were over 600 Platinum and Diamond members on this cruise so "priority" disembarkation would be slower than normal. In other words there were a LOT of experienced Carnival cruisers on this ship - presumably because it's one of the very few cruises that go to Bermuda from a Florida port. That was my ONLY reason for taking it. We were not offered an option to cancel and get a refund when we checked in. Prior to arrival at the port we had no indication of the changed itinerary. Carnival, like other cruise lines, will have this situation covered in their T&C's but they obviously felt the disruption was worth something or they wouldn't have offered a 25% off a future cruise but this is the main reason for my discontent. 25% is not enough! Why? Simple - we paid for a Bermuda cruise and got an Eastern Caribbean one which can be had for a whole lot less than what we paid! Carnival need to offer a larger discount to those that sailed so we can book the same cruise they are offering in May 2016 for the price of an Eastern Caribbean cruise. Do that and this Platinum member may sail with you again!

[liv789]

True there were a lot of seasoned cruisers taking a chance during hurricane season. For those who did not sail, pretend you rented a luxury car for a special occasion. After you went to pick it up, they drove up in a pick up truck. Rental company explained, due to act of nature, lots of rain and only safe vehicle was this truck but due to the inconvients they would give you a 25% discount, next time you rented with them. They kept you safe, gave you a vehicle (not worth what you had already paid though) and a nice credit for next time. That is our problem and yes there 110% satisfaction guarantee would have worked, but this had never happened before, and I did not think of it till later. If it had been mentioned I would of taken advantage of it, my fault. I know the Diamond numbers since I am one, and heard about average age and would not be surprised since it looked like a Holland American cruise with the number of walkers, etc.

[KCpumkin]

I would embrace the change if a hurricane was coming. My question is if you have your typical travelers insurance; wouldn't it typically refund your cruise payment because of the change due to weather?

[zdcatc12]

You all agreed to a contract with CCL and they honored it. In that contract, they state that they can change the itinerary at any time; that is what they did, they didn't have to give you a credit for a future cruise, that was above and beyond what was required of them. I have cruised during hurricane season knowing that there was a chance that the itinerary could change, that was the risk that I took. It could have been worse, you could have been on the RCCL Bermuda cruise cruise that did New England and Canada instead!

[RuthlessBoss]

Apparantly Carnival is making a mistake compensating cruisers for a less than perfect cruises. It seems the passengers are now expecting a cruise, it's amenities, and what not, but now expect full refunds on top of that. Sorry you guys had such a "rotten" cruise to the eastern Caribbean. Perhaps you should have had cancel for any reason insurance.:rolleyes:

[JohnSpo]

Over the years I have had ports I really wanted to go to canceled due to the weather. Carnival refunded the port charges but I never received anything else. I still had a great time and I would never think of canceling my cruise for a missed port.

 

Booking a cruise, especially a Journey cruise is not a small purchase. It is the responsibility of the customer to know the terms/conditions and the guarantees. It is a quick call to customer service or a search on their web site.

 

Do you think Carnival is really going to make an on board ship announcement about the guarantee. A business is not going to to that but they don't hide it either.

 

I don't rely on Carnival or any other company to inform me of their guarantees. I do my research to be an informed consumer.

[love my grandkids]

Well put LIV789! My thoughts exactly - I just got off this cruise yesterday and feel the same way you do. Easy for those that were not on board to pontificate about how great Carnival handled it but they could have done more. Absolutely no doubt that Carnival made the correct decision in changing itinerary due to the storm and I have no issue with that at all. No issue either with the ports they took us too (except I've done them a gazillion times before but have never been to Bermuda). The cruise director herself on the morning of disembarkation announced over the PA system that there were over 600 Platinum and Diamond members on this cruise so "priority" disembarkation would be slower than normal. In other words there were a LOT of experienced Carnival cruisers on this ship - presumably because it's one of the very few cruises that go to Bermuda from a Florida port. That was my ONLY reason for taking it. We were not offered an option to cancel and get a refund when we checked in. Prior to arrival at the port we had no indication of the changed itinerary. Carnival, like other cruise lines, will have this situation covered in their T&C's but they obviously felt the disruption was worth something or they wouldn't have offered a 25% off a future cruise but this is the main reason for my discontent. 25% is not enough! Why? Simple - we paid for a Bermuda cruise and got an Eastern Caribbean one which can be had for a whole lot less than what we paid! Carnival need to offer a larger discount to those that sailed so we can book the same cruise they are offering in May 2016 for the price of an Eastern Caribbean cruise. Do that and this Platinum member may sail with you again!

 

We were on the Glory last week and were joined in three points by the Sunshine. Only lost HMC due to the storm and completely understand the change. Supposedly damage done to their faciities caused this change.

 

Carnival made the right decision to move the cruise to the Caribbean.

 

However if we paid substantially more for a Bermuda cruise and wound up with a very common Caribbean one would not be happy with only 25% either.

 

The price difference alone between the two itineraries would probably be more than 25% before the sailing.

 

We were in GT this past Thursday and didnt see any evidence of storm damage.

[liv789]

You are all right, we have all missed ports, no problem. As off 8:30 am when I left the house, Carnival was still monitoring the situation. Itinerary change was announced in the lobby at 11:30, never did get an e-mail or notification from Carnival even though they have all my contacts. Some guest were concerned families thought they were headed to Bermuda. We have sailed over fifty times on many of the cruise lines. All I am saying is the atmosphere on this cruise was was completely different then, just missing a port. Guess you needed to be there.

[kteachcruiser52]

We were on the Glory last week and were joined in three points by the Sunshine. Only lost HMC due to the storm and completely understand the change. Supposedly damage done to their faciities caused this change.

 

Carnival made the right decision to move the cruise to the Caribbean.

 

However if we paid substantially more for a Bermuda cruise and wound up with a very common Caribbean one would not be happy with only 25% either.

 

The price difference alone between the two itineraries would probably be more than 25% before the sailing.

 

We were in GT this past Thursday and didnt see any evidence of storm damage.

 

 

I honestly don't see a huge price difference. We are booked on the Splendor going to Bermuda on October 23rd. Our 7th floor 8B balcony cabin price for 2 people was $904 pp. ($129 pp per day) When I looked at a 8 day cruise on the Conquest on November 14 going to St. Kitts, St.Martin, San Juan, and Grand Turk the price for an 8B balcony was $939 pp- $117 pp per day. The Bermuda cruise is costing me $12 pp per day more than a Caribbean cruise.

 

Will I be disappointed if we do not get to go to Bermuda? Yes However, I would be happy with 25% off of a future cruise, especially since they do not need to give me anything at all. (I have been to all those Caribbean islands, too.)

Edited October 11, 2015 by kteachcruiser52

[love my grandkids]

I honestly don't see a huge price difference. We are booked on the Splendor going to Bermuda on October 23rd. Our 7th floor 8B balcony cabin price for 2 people was $904 pp. ($129 pp per day) When I looked at a 8 day cruise on the Conquest on November 14 going to St. Kitts, St.Martin, San Juan, and Grand Turk the price for an 8B balcony was $939 pp- $117 pp per day. The Bermuda cruise is costing me $12 pp per day more than a Caribbean cruise.

 

Will I be disappointed if we do not get to go to Bermuda? Yes However, I would be happy with 25% off of a future cruise, especially since they do not need to give me anything at all. (I have been to all those Caribbean islands, too.)

 

When we went to Bermuda about 4 years ago it was much higher than a previous 8 day caribbean and figured it would still be much higher.

 

If that is the difference than 25% is fine.