What are you most upset about in the Cruise Industry?

[travelnap]

What I am most upset about with the cruise industry are that there are no ocean cruises leaving out of Minnesota, I have to fly to either the west coast or the east coast or the gulf of Mexico to take a cruise.  Also, I really hate when the cruise is over, they make you get off the ship, and then expect you to go home and live a normal life instead of having someone do everything for you.  How unfair is that?  LOL

 

Yes, there are have been many changes in the cruise industry through the years, but I think there have been changes in most aspects of our lives so we do have a choice.  We can enjoy our time and our lives or we can just complain about everything and say it was so much better in the past.  I would rather be happy and enjoy life, but that is just my choice.  But if you prefer to go through life looking at all the negative things in this world, well that is your choice.   

 

I am just thankful that I am still looking at the grass from the green side up and able to enjoy my time on this earth.

 

Happy Sailing.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Sure, it is possible to buy a car for $20,000 today - the same way you could buy a car for $20,000 twenty years ago —- but it sure won’t be the same sort of car.

 

well, I am pretty sure my $20K 2015 SUV has a lot more bells and whistles, and also safety features (far more important than bells and whistles) than my $20K 1993 sedan.

But no, they aren't the same sort of car. My 2015 is bigger and better.

[JMorris271]

25 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

 

 

well, I am pretty sure my $20K 2015 SUV has a lot more bells and whistles, and also safety features (far more important than bells and whistles) than my $20K 1993 sedan.

But no, they aren't the same sort of car. My 2015 is bigger and better.

I'll take the 1965 Mustang over any of them with no bells at $2,400..

Edited March 27, 2019 by JMorris271

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Just now, JMorris271 said:

I'll take the 1965 Mustang over any of them with no bells.

I transport my precious, so I'll take safety over bells and whistles.

[navybankerteacher]

2 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

 

 

well, I am pretty sure my $20K 2015 SUV has a lot more bells and whistles, and also safety features (far more important than bells and whistles) than my $20K 1993 sedan.

But no, they aren't the same sort of car. My 2015 is bigger and better.

I am inclined to doubt that $20,000 would buy as much of a 2015 SUV as $20,000 would have bought a 1993 SUV back then.

 

Better not to compare apples and turnips.

[navybankerteacher]

5 hours ago, travelnap said:

What I am most upset about with the cruise industry are that there are no ocean cruises leaving out of Minnesota, ...

 

  How unfair is that?  LOL

 

...

 

Happy Sailing.

How about all of us who live along the Atlantic coast who have to travel to the middle of the continent for a Mississippi cruise?

[MicCanberra]

The easy solution is for the cruise industry to subsidise the relocation of cruisers to live closer to the ports.

[caffeine_demon]

You'd think they'd discover the secret of instant teleportation wouldn't you?

[JMorris271]

It is not necessarily easy to get a city to allow a  cruise company to service a port.  Where I live in SC. , the  Charleston residents fought like crazy to keep Carnival out of the port for fear of loosing the cities old look, too many people coming in and out, traffic jams, the pollution caused by the ship and the loss of then sky view of the harbor for some that live on the battery . This was against the popular vote of the rest of the state that wanted to have access to a cruise without driving or flying to get to a ship.

After a ton of hearings and threats, Charleston decide eventually to allow Carnival and NCL to service the port but as I said, it wasn't easy..

Edited March 28, 2019 by JMorris271

[Velvetwater]

On 3/26/2019 at 10:30 PM, navybankerteacher said:

Are you trying to pretend that posting that cartoon was not as much a hijacking as a few paragraphs of polemics?

 

if you are ethically opposed to the business model, you should boycott the business — if you just prefer the UK approach to compensating service providers ...............

 

Ah.I see the cartoon worked. What a hoot.

 

Currently not booked in for cruise now you mention it. Currently starting to book a trans-siberian railway venture instead. I will probably drink some Shampanskoye if the mood suits ;). 

 

 

Edited March 28, 2019 by Velvetwater

[MicCanberra]

7 hours ago, caffeine_demon said:

You'd think they'd discover the secret of instant teleportation wouldn't you?

That would be real handy, just make sure the teleporter is fly free.

[happy cruzer]

Giant ships.

 

i like them for vacationing.  Small ships for travel and visiting unusual ports. Seems to be most new builds are giants.  Hopefully the small ships will stay around.

[Aulanis]

The thing that most upsets me in the Cruise Industry is the regional pricing and the opportunities made available to  US  & Canadian cruisers that are not available to cruisers in the UK and

probably the rest of the world.
Some examples are:
Cancel without penalty as long as it is before final payment.
Change booking to a different cruise without penalty
Change booking when a new promotion is introduced without having to
cancel - lose deposit and rebook.
Take up a price drop without  having to cancel - lose deposit and rebook.

IIRC they some lines did bring in something like " Non refundable Deposits"
for which  US clients could choose a lower base price
I believe that was to reduce the numbers booking several cruises then cancel  depending on

which one received the best perks or best price drop.

I thought that would mean a parallel system to that in the UK :Cancel your cruise and lose the deposit,  Is that what happens or does it mean Cancel your cruise and you can transfer the deposit to another cruise so not non -refundable at all?

We have real  non-refundable deposits but the cruise price does not appear  to be any lower for us.

At a lower level  with MSC  & possibly Costa  Free bottled water is provided with dinner  for US cruisers but not for UK cruisers  ( because  we are used to paying for bottled water!!!) Not sure where they got that idea,  and no you  cant ask for a glass of  tap water.
In the UK if you eat in a restaurant that sells alcohol you can demand a glass of water - sometimes it is tap water sometimes they pour it from a bottle.
MSC Fantastica bookings used to have 10 drink (alcoholic) vouchers as part

of the package  - Included for US cruisers but not for UK cruisers.
( no reason given for that!)

No real reason is given for the differences  though it is often cited we have etter consumer protection though no-one has ever said what that means.
Maybe if booking through an agent but  cant see how that is pertinant if booking direct with the cruise line.

I would agree that these might be considered trivial gripes and no it doesnt really spoil our cruising enjoyment  but you did ask.  😛

In fact if we had never joined Cruise Critic we would never have seen the  endless annoying { when not applicable} discussions in roll calls on whether to take  3 for free , take a price drop Sip & Sail, etc.etc.

Edited April 1, 2019 by Aulanis

[iancal]

We live in Canada.  We get NA pricing and T's and C's whether we book in Canada or stateside.

 

We do however price our cruises with cruise line offices and TA's in other countries.  Works for us since we usually purchase inside the final payment window so re-faring is not an issue.

 

Last cruise we booked on RCI was booked directly by calling RCI in Australia.  We saw the pricing on some Australian TA sites.  My understanding is that some cruise line try to stop this price shopping but I do not think that this is the case with Celebrity, RCI, Azamara, or Pulmantur.

 

Net, net....we saved over 30 percent on the price our NA TA quoted simply by booking with RCI Australia.  Did they care?  No.  Did they know that we were Canadian when we booked?  Absolutely, they pulled up our Diamond status and gave us the extra $200 discount for booking a balcony cabin.

 

My sister booked her Baltic cruise with a UK TA a few years ago.  Why?   15 percent less than the best net price she could get in North America.   As as aside, for land trip, we have had a CSR for Co-Op travel in the UK call us back in Canada with a price on a land trip.  It was considerably less expensive, adjusted for currency,  booking in the UK than it was booking in Canada.  Fortunately we have a UK address that we can use.

Edited April 1, 2019 by iancal

[navybankerteacher]

On 3/28/2019 at 4:12 PM, Velvetwater said:

 

Ah.I see the cartoon worked. What a hoot.

 

Currently not booked in for cruise now you mention it. Currently starting to book a trans-siberian railway venture instead. I will probably drink some Shampanskoye if the mood suits ;). 

 

 

And you are more comfortable with the way personal rights are regarded in Russia than by cruise lines’ employee relations — with people who compete for those jobs?

[NantahalaCruiser]

On 3/25/2019 at 4:49 PM, Itchy&Scratchy said:

what I am upset about is that they refuse to sail out of Atlanta. It's a shame, truly. 

What? No Chattahoochee River cruises?

 

[Velvetwater]

On 4/1/2019 at 11:49 PM, navybankerteacher said:

And you are more comfortable with the way personal rights are regarded in Russia than by cruise lines’ employee relations — with people who compete for those jobs?

 

Your attempts at 'one-upping' are getting rather bizarre. This amuses me somewhat.

 

 

[navybankerteacher]

2 hours ago, Velvetwater said:

 

Your attempts at 'one-upping' are getting rather bizarre. This amuses me somewhat.

 

 

I am not interested in “one-upping” - merely commenting on the absurdity of demeaning cruise line employee relations - while having no apparent problem with state sponsored abuse of citizens:  that is NOT particularly amusing.

[Velvetwater]

On 4/3/2019 at 11:23 PM, navybankerteacher said:

I am not interested in “one-upping” - merely commenting on the absurdity of demeaning cruise line employee relations - while having no apparent problem with state sponsored abuse of citizens:  that is NOT particularly amusing.

 

Case and point right there.

 

The way you try to pedantically  'connect the dots' in order to shoot down various CC members is the amusing part of your posts.

 

It's a good job this thread has stopped so I shall do the same.

[navybankerteacher]

20 minutes ago, Velvetwater said:

 

Case and point right there.

 

The way you try to pedantically  'connect the dots' in order to shoot down various CC members is the amusing part of your posts.

 

It's a good job this thread has stopped so I shall do the same.

“Case and point right there” —- perhaps the ultimate exercise in pedantry.

 

You do seem to have an (unamusing) extraordinary interest in having the last word.

 

Let’s REALLY let this discourse end.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

On 4/3/2019 at 2:13 AM, NantahalaCruiser said:

What? No Chattahoochee River cruises?

 

in Roswell this river is about waist deep... Maybe, a canoe?

[NantahalaCruiser]

4 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

in Roswell this river is about waist deep... Maybe, a canoe?

My old company used to have a raft float party on the Chattahoochee every year. A lot of giant squirt guns! And of course beer!