Carnival Legend DELAYED due to fog

[belkin]

Originally Posted by camarodrivenrs

I dont think the Captain thought of screwing the passengers either on board or waiting. I think more likely he is sailing under orders from corporate and probably not advised to speed up. Ships that size use a lot more fuel at top speed than at a slower cruising speed. A LOT of money was saved by not burning the extra fuel and just giving people $40.00. Just my 2 cents

I dont think the Captain did anything wrong. He is the Captain and he gets to decide how fast the ship goes for the conditions. No back seat driving here

I just dont see where the money savings comes in though. The ship holds 2680 x $40 = $107,200. ?? Also I am sure there were many other expenses related to the ships late arrival.

[Bella Dean]

Originally Posted by elgato2

We were on the 12/9 sailing..and were one of THOSE people sitting at the Port of Tampa all day.
I, too was feeling sorry for those on board that missed flights etc...
I will post a review about the cruise tomorrow..(too tired tonight)
Since we live only one hour away..we COULD have spent a leaisurely day at home with our out-of-town friends..got the info from CCL etc...BUT...
One word to the wise...we thought we'd be smart and save $50+ by using an off-site lot.. It was reserved and paid for in advance, when I contacted them about when to proceed to the port, I was told we still had to arrive by 11:30am (no one knew at that point just how late the ship would be)..so we spent the day at Channelside with no car, and as the hours dragged by, that $50 saved seemed less and less important.
Next time we will pay the extra $$ for the parking garage..lesson learned.
It was a great cruise BTW!

What off site did you use? We will be sailing 1/12/13, I opted for off site parking, and now I am rethinking? Called (premier) they said they always know when ships are late, and would need a call from me to adjust my reservation, and would have night crew to run shuttle?

Thinking of canceling and using parking at port. Any suggestions
Pam

[DGP1111]

Originally Posted by Bella Dean

. . .I opted for off site parking, and now I am rethinking? Called (premier) they said they always know when ships are late . . .

Premier Parking in Tampa is possibly one of the single-worst decisions I've made on any cruise, relative to pre-planning. It was a total cluster from start to finish, and their drivers will readily admit the operation is a mess.

Good luck with any decision you make regarding this.

.

[PCHENG]

A lot of conspiracy theories going on here.

I was on the NCL Dawn sailing for 12/09/2012. During the cocktail recption I asked the Dawn's captain about the Legend and he said the Dawn was quite lucky because the port closed 15 or 20 minutes after the ship entered. Being that it was dark and foggy, the ships would maintain greater clearance and sail at more conservative speeds, and the Legend just didn't make it into port in time.

So I don't believe for a moment that the captain of the Legend or that Carnival is trying to screw the passengers on purpose to save money. They played it safe, which is what I would have wanted them to do, especially after what happened with the Concordia.

[belkin]

Originally Posted by PCHENG

A lot of conspiracy theories going on here.

I was on the NCL Dawn sailing for 12/09/2012. During the cocktail recption I asked the Dawn's captain about the Legend and he said the Dawn was quite lucky because the port closed 15 or 20 minutes after the ship entered. Being that it was dark and foggy, the ships would maintain greater clearance and sail at more conservative speeds, and the Legend just didn't make it into port in time.

So I don't believe for a moment that the captain of the Legend or that Carnival is trying to screw the passengers on purpose to save money. They played it safe, which is what I would have wanted them to do, especially after what happened with the Concordia.

Thank you so much for posting this. I think some people just like drama and negativity and enjoy coming to this site to create it.

The Captain repeatedly apologized to us.

He was the "driver" and I am sure he did what the circumstances warranted at time time based on our location and other things specific to the ship.

I would think that after the Costa incident all of the Captains were updated in regards to safety and procedures etc... Not that they didnt already take their job seriously, but I bet that incident was a real eye opener. I would much rather they error on the side of caution.

[Bella Dean]

Originally Posted by DGP1111

Premier Parking in Tampa is possibly one of the single-worst decisions I've made on any cruise, relative to pre-planning. It was a total cluster from start to finish, and their drivers will readily admit the operation is a mess.

Good luck with any decision you make regarding this.

.

DGP111,
Thanks for the feedback, decision made. Will completed refund request this evening, and pay the additional $ will be well worth it, to avoid issues. I hate issues, which could be preventable.!
Pam

[yankee46]

Premiere parking is an excellent choice they do know what ships are in and who will be late because they contact the Port. I also checked with the Port this week when I heard of the fog. As for confusion there were two ships in and a third no one knew when would return. So you had people coming and going at strange times. The lot was at capacity because of cars from the last cruises this weeks passengers added more especially the Legend passengers. This lot is an excellent value and there employees are great on info.

[tandemcruzr]

Originally Posted by Sparky2

When we sailed on the Legend last year, the ship was late getting in from the previous cruise due to a mechanical problem or something like that. Nothing to do with weather.

The lady who was in charge of our group was in constant contact with the port. We did not go back as soon as the ship was boarding. She waited till we were able to go back with a very short line. I think it was around 2PM.

We got on the ship much later that we would have preferred, but it was much better than waiting outside in the sun.

We were on that cruise too. We were at the Hyatt Place. Got a text msg from CCl. Hotel let us stay in room til 1:30 PM. Shuttle drivers kept the front desk posted on what was going on at the port and put us on the 2:30 PM shuttle. When we got to the port, we got right on and had a late lunch on Lido.

[salsanacho]

Does the Tampa port authority provide real time info on the status of the port online or by phone?

[elgato2]

We used Capital parking and were very pleased with the courteous staff.
I'm sure, had they known just how late the Legend would be, they would have let us come later..but when we called in the early am they didn't know any more than we did. We just followed directions.
What I meant by 'lesson learned'..had we parked at the port garage, we could have retrieved our car and gone home for 7 hrs or found something else to do for the day...oh well...
I'm sure at some point Capital sent their staff home midday just to have them come back later..no point in having them sit around all day and then have to pay overtime to work them til 11pm...

[smc0320]

Originally Posted by camarodrivenrs

I dont think the Captain thought of screwing the passengers either on board or waiting. I think more likely he is sailing under orders from corporate and probably not advised to speed up. Ships that size use a lot more fuel at top speed than at a slower cruising speed. A LOT of money was saved by not burning the extra fuel and just giving people $40.00. Just my 2 cents

$40 x 2,000 passengers
+ OT for all the port/dockworkers
+ having staff on the ship doing double work
doesn't add up that it was cheaper to sit at sea idling for a day