Carnival Holiday/Mobile

[cruisetobeaches]

Other than the port issue, sounds like you had a decent time. Welcome back to the "Winter Thaw" in the midwest.:) Did you come over Hwy 98 to Hwy 55 in Jackson and take it home or did you take I-65 all the way? We are doing the Hwy 55 to 49 through Hattisburg then to Mobile. It should be about 10 hours from St Louis. Thanks again.

 

55 to 98 is the way we went down. Came back on 45 to 78 to I55. In the future, we will take the I55 to 98 route both ways.

 

My comments about the Jan 31 cruise:

 

This was by no means our first cruise, BTW

 

The missed port, even though I have been there several times, was a disapointment. Arriving in Cozumel that late and then leaving at noon the next day cancelled any beach plans. There were eight people with us that had never cruised before, so in our eyes this was a big let down. However, they still had a great time and intend on cruising again in the future.

 

The weather was quite cool when we left Mobile on the 31st and was still pretty cool the next day. The night we arrived in Cozumel, it rained although it had been sunny and warm up until that point. The next morning was sunny and warm with some scattered clouds. that evening, rain developed and the seas were quite rough. Our final day at sea was very cool ans not really suitable for sitting out on deck without a jacket. Our arrival day back in Mobile was also very cool, almost cold in the morning. (Remember, I'm from northern Illinois,, so cold to me is anything BELOW 40).

 

We also experienced delays when boarding. Upon arrival at the port around 11:00 AM, we were told the ship had arrived late and not to come back until 1:30 PM by an officer at the port. We should have hung around! When we came back we found ourselves in a horrible traffic mess and were almost the LAST on the ship. In fact, the muster drill was underway as we were boarding! We don't blame Carnival for this, but the port authority. Very poor traffic control.

 

I watched the news story being filmed from my cabin while waiting for our deck to be called to disembark and figured what it was about........

 

There were a lot of "bumps" along the way on this trip, but it did not "ruin our cruise". Service was excellent, especially three of the Lido deck bar waiters............Because of them, I one of the worst hangovers ever. ;);) No wonder they were able to call me by name everyday. Did I have fun? absolutley. It got to the point where we joked "What can happen next?" All in fun and we HAD FUN in SPITE of the mechanical problems, the missed port, and the weather :D

[Cruisin thru life]

Other than the port issue, sounds like you had a decent time. Welcome back to the "Winter Thaw" in the midwest.:) Did you come over Hwy 98 to Hwy 55 in Jackson and take it home or did you take I-65 all the way? We are doing the Hwy 55 to 49 through Hattisburg then to Mobile. It should be about 10 hours from St Louis. Thanks again.

 

We had a very nice time, thank you.

 

We took 55 to 78 in Memphis, around Tupelo MS, we took 45 to Mobile. 45 is part 4 lane part 2 lane, lil more scenic, and really was about same time frame as cutting over to the interstate.

 

If you proceed, I hope you don't have to deal with the fog we had in MO for the last hundred miles to the MO/AR boarder. That added a good hour to our travel time, and was nerve racking.

 

Good luck with your choices.:)

[ukbballfan]

I have a friend currently on the Holiday. They were told yesterday that Progresso would be cancelled and they would have Coz reduced from 8 hours to 5. They didn't leave Mobile until 1 A.M. this morning and now Coz has been cancelled and they're going to Progresso......here's her email ...

 

"Something was wrong with the propulsion system, but they have been having this problem for 3 weeks now, and knew it.. We didn't leave till 1 am this morning, so we lost a whole day, and now we're going to Progreso? I think they should have to do something to compensate us, but they are not wanting to. There's a petition going around here and we signed that, as they are refusing to do anything, so I guess we will be contacting an attorney. I will never sail Carnival cruise lines again...."

 

 

Now take into account its her first cruise but the mood of the ship sounds mutinous.

[cruisetobeaches]

 

 

Now take into account its her first cruise but the mood of the ship sounds mutinous.

 

 

that could be interesting since we know that her cruise is a chartered cruise and is almost exclusive Christian women......................:eek::eek:

[bike1964]

Did they offer your friend a refund before they left? That is just plain wrong. I am going to call carnival and see if I can find out what's up?:confused:

[Cruisin thru life]

I have a friend currently on the Holiday. They were told yesterday that Progresso would be cancelled and they would have Coz reduced from 8 hours to 5. They didn't leave Mobile until 1 A.M. this morning and now Coz has been cancelled and they're going to Progresso......here's her email ...

 

"Something was wrong with the propulsion system, but they have been having this problem for 3 weeks now, and knew it.. We didn't leave till 1 am this morning, so we lost a whole day, and now we're going to Progreso? I think they should have to do something to compensate us, but they are not wanting to. There's a petition going around here and we signed that, as they are refusing to do anything, so I guess we will be contacting an attorney. I will never sail Carnival cruise lines again...."

 

 

Now take into account its her first cruise but the mood of the ship sounds mutinous.

 

Not to make jest of the situation, but during debarkation we were told by a Carnival employee that the sailing you are referring to was a fully chartered sailing of a christian women's group. Mutinous behavior from christian woman??? lol

 

In all seriousness though, I am not 100% sure, but I believe I had read that if a full day is missed you could be refunded the difference. Again I do not know this for sure.

[bike1964]

Not to make jest of the situation, but during debarkation we were told by a Carnival employee that the sailing you are referring to was a fully chartered sailing of a christian women's group. Mutinous behavior from christian woman??? lol

 

In all seriousness though, I am not 100% sure, but I believe I had read that if a full day is missed you could be refunded the difference. Again I do not know this for sure.

 

I just called Carnival and the agent told me that the ship left late today due to a "medical emergency".:rolleyes: It's going on the 4 day to Cozumel, and he claims that they were on schedule to make it there on time? He told me that they won't know about what will happen (if anything) on our sailing (2/9) until Sunday. Unfortunately, we leave on Sunday morning to drive to the port.

[ukbballfan]

Not to make jest of the situation, but during debarkation we were told by a Carnival employee that the sailing you are referring to was a fully chartered sailing of a christian women's group. Mutinous behavior from christian woman??? lol

 

In all seriousness though, I am not 100% sure, but I believe I had read that if a full day is missed you could be refunded the difference. Again I do not know this for sure.

 

Ya know what they say...

 

"Hell hath no fury like a Christian woman scorned"!

[luckycruzer]

got an upgrade from 1a to a 6D, Wine from the Head of hotelery, and the $20 port fee, plus a $10 Mexican port fee, ..and the $129 for cabin redux, fuel refund and sing supp. and the cabin was $238 paid b4 all this..so life was good. I was the 1st on board, and went to the pursers desk and just asked po-litely, if there was a pax who bailed, I would like to be upgraded if possible. Mirela told me not to unpack, and come back at 4pm..and was given the keys to E65, and was moved from my orig 1a cabin. I sail again on Holiday end of Feb, and await another adventure!

[mzloolue]

DH and I were on the same cruise.

We are calling it the Five Day Cruise to Nowhere

(Hey mikeatlamp, DH and I were the couple from Memphis that had breakfast with you that last morning.)

 

Okay, so we had fun on the cruise.

But we wanted to have fun.

 

And we have been to Progreso three times already, but we have done something different each time and were looking forward to our planned excursion.

 

In Cozumel we were additonally held up for half an hour getting off the ship as they were tying up Carnival Miracle right next door and the ropes crossed over the walkway.

We had some fun planned, but since there was not enough time, so we just took a cab to Paradise beach, sat there for an hour and then went right back to the ship.

Missing one port due to weather or some unforseen problem is one thing, but having only one port call and having it scheduled with such awkard time frames due to a previously known problem is not okay.

 

The thing is that Carnival knew there was a problem and they obviously had decided that passengers would not be informed.

 

We arrived at the port at 1:00 after traveling 6.5 hours and using two tanks of gas. Then we sat in the street in an extremely long line for almost two hours.

 

We were informed of the problem with the same hand out that was printed in the linked article in the thread opening post. And we received that hand out as we entered the parking structure.

 

We were not given a realistic option to change plans as we had already spent time, money, and a precious vacation day getting to Mobile. (DH has to use a vacation day to be off on Saturday)

 

Someone said that we had the option to cancel and that is probably true but there was no mention of that by any Carnival representative.

 

And they know that once people travel to the port most don't want to turn around and go back home.

 

But a lot of people were upset.

 

And the poor folks at the Purser's desk received a lot of punishment as Carnival had stuck them out there to deal with really unhappy folks.

I met the purser in the hallway on that last morning and told her that the people in her department were the friendlier and more helpful than on our previous cruises.(We had a missing bag and a billing problem this trip) The folks at the Purser's desk on Holiday were exceptional.

 

The Purser said that hearing something good almost made her cry (and she did tear up just a bit) as she and her people had been having some really bad days dealing with the mess and unhappiness.

[Mr.Clean]

Just curious....

 

Does anyone know which cruise (date) the propulsion problems began?

 

Thanks Vicki

Started on the night of January 21. I was on that cruise and we were 3 hours late getting back to Mobile as a result. First time I was ever happier getting off a boat, than getting on it. What a hunk of junk! The crew was the best, and deserve better. Flea Market of cruises? That's rather flattering. How about the Salvage (Junk) Yard of cruises?

[cruisetobeaches]

there was also quite a line at the Purser's desk when it was announced how late we would be getting into Mobile. A lot of airline calls were being made. I had stopped down to get a $100 bill changed. made a prompt U turn when I saw the line and had it done at the casino. Was nice to make that last trip to the casino to visit my lost money.......................:rolleyes:

[bike1964]

Well, I am going to call Carnival again Sunday morning before we leave and see if they have any updates. I am going to be seriously upset if we drive to the port, waste gas, food, and pay for a hotel room only to be told that we are only going to one port, and given the option to cancel. This will be my 5th sailing on the Holiday, and trust me it's not because we like the ship. It's a cheap way to get to Mexico for a couple of days and do some snorkeling/diving. If we go to Progrosso!!, I mean Progresso;), I won't be a happy camper.:mad:

[ocntscha]

I don't think you need to worry much about making it to Progresso if your booked on Holiday after March 8. Prior to then..??

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=920256&p=17996703

[angela76]

Any word if they have the problem fixed??

[bike1964]

Any word if they have the problem fixed??

 

Not sure? No one seems to know. Not even Carnival?:(

[Crusinoars]

Other than the port issue, sounds like you had a decent time. Welcome back to the "Winter Thaw" in the midwest.:) Did you come over Hwy 98 to Hwy 55 in Jackson and take it home or did you take I-65 all the way? We are doing the Hwy 55 to 49 through Hattisburg then to Mobile. It should be about 10 hours from St Louis. Thanks again.

 

Hi there, We relocated to FL from STL about 1 1/2 years ago but still make trips back to the midwest. The route we like best is going thru Jackson, Hattisburg, you will also go thru MaGee, on to Mobile before we enter Florida. You will be pushing it pretty hard to make it within 10 hours. I would say with stops for gas and eats, you might want to allow yourself 11 to 12. Then if you arrive a bit earlier it will give you a bit more time to relax and get ready to enjoy your cruise. We are 1 hour from Mobile and have sometimes made it in just over 10. I also think that Mobile is on CST which helps. That means you won't lose an hour on the clock.

 

Drive safe and enjoy your cruise.

[bike1964]

Does anyone have any further info concerning the engine propulsion problems the Holiday is experiencing? We are supposed to sail on Monday, and I am trying to see if they have the problems corrected. The last few sailings have been missing ports and having delayed embarkation/debarkation. Thanks for any further info.

[ukbballfan]

The last email I received from my friend onboard didn't mention anything about being late getting back. Of course she was busy complaining about only going to Progresso... where someone tried to sell her their kid!