Would like to hear from fellow 12/30 Holday cruisers

Well first off, I'd like to say "thanks" to my fellow cruiser's, "Sharon Temple", "scarr1908" and "jas1555". You guy's have done a great job expressing our displeasure with this cruise.

We had a 11:40 a.m. flight out of Mobile for Monday morning but, since we were docked way late, missed our flight and couldn't get out of Mobile till 4:20p.m. on Tuesday.

Thanks, "powriel" (my wonderful sister-in-law) for letting you all know our situation with this ship still continued even after finally docking. It was pretty touch and go there for awhile, didn't know if the pilot was even going to be permitted to land in Cedar Rapids, Iowa till around 11:20p.m. He thought we might have to fly back to Minneapolis for the night, which would have even been a worse situation for us since the storm was heading that way.

I've never been so glad to finally be home in my life. My husband and I have cruised before, that's why we chose one for our two teens, who haven't. My husband and I have also seen the ocean, beautiful beaches, warm weather when it's cold back here and snorkeled before, all which our teens have not.

We simply couldn't enjoy just the cruise part of our vacation due to Carnival's non-commital way of handeling things. If I had known that we would be offered a full refund plus being reimbursed for our airfare (we wouldn't have ventured to Mobile, if not for the cruise ship) then I certainly would have taken them up on it. As it was, we felt we had to take the cruise (just to make good use of our airfare)

I would love to hear from someone who cruised just before us and also from someone cruising right now.

Also, would my fellow cruiser's please e-mail me? I'd like to hear how you've come out of this and if you think there's any hope for anything from Carnival.

Thanks!

kimdales@hotmail.com

Nando

I feel so bad for you!!

Here is an article from the Mobile newspaper that might be of great interest to you.

http://www.al.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-11/1104964777245940.xml&storylist=alabamanews

Thanks, "MyImagination"

I'm hoping that articles like these will help our situation. I just got off the phone with c.c.'s guest relations. It still stands that they only feel that $100 on board credit is good enough plus, I found out that Carnival will not compensate us for missing our flight! They will only help those that booked their airfare through them. When I told her that we could not book through them and had to book on our own, she kinda had a "oh well" response and said we'd have to take it all up with our travel insurance booked through Northwest. As far as I'm concerned, N.W. should not be billed for anything, Carnival should. Plus, if I didn't purchase ANY insurance, I'd be totally screwed!

This just keeps getting worse and worse.

Kim

Waiting To Hear From Anyone Who Came Off The Holiday On 12/30/04

Anyone?????????

Nando, there are SEVERAL threads that have several people that were on the ship, most are on the first couple of pages.... they have listed their account of their experiences, etc.

, I found out that Carnival will not compensate us for missing our flight! They will only help those that booked their airfare through them.

I am sorry for your cruise troubles but I was under the impression that you were not to book flights before 1pm and it is printed in the brochure.

Steve

PS.Are you sure CCL was going to cover airfare for those that decided to cancel?

Well Actually The Book Does Say They Recommend That You Don't Book Flights Before 2 P.m. But It's Not Mandatory. We Figured Mobile Airport Wasn't That Big (which It Wasn't) And We'd Have Plenty Of Time To Get There (also Figuring On Getting There By 8:00 A.m.)

Also, I Did Ask Carnival That If We Had Chosen Not To Sail, Would They Have Covered Our Airfare And They Said "no".

Nando, sorry things are not getting better... I know this situation has been unsettling. Sorry about the flight also... although I think 11:40 is early... we have twice gotten off the ship after 10:30. Even if you get to port at 8:00, the ship still has to clear customs, and that can take some time. We went against Carnival's recommendations and against our past experience this time and booked an 11:45 flight :eek: ... and I am a wreck about it.... but there is a flight out 2 hours later, so I am hoping that if we miss the original, we can get on the second one... still kicking myself for booking that flight! I'm just hoping nobody tries anything stupid and customs clears the ship early!!!!!! DANGIT!!!!!

Good luck with getting resolution on all of this :o

Why would they have to clear customs after 5 days circling in the gulf? How inept are they that they sail 60 miles and are late returning??

Because the ship wouldn't go. We know that usually when we dock on the final a.m., we're basically there before daybreak. Of course, we were up that early because you have to get ready, eat, yada yada yada before disembarking at around 9-9:30 or so. Usually customs holds you up. However, we were all wondering about customs. We knew customs was for those who had been out of country, and we hadn't. They still gave us customs forms to fill out. ?!??! Anyway, my husband was up early looking out the porthole expecting to see land. And to what did his wondering eyes appear?? Water. Long story short, since the ship couldn't hardly go forward, we had to be pushed in by a tow. It took a very long time. Of course, they told us it was because of fog that we couldn't dock. The fog, what there was of it, was lifted by 8:00.

I felt sympathy for those who stayed up late the night before and then got up early to disembark. They could have stayed in bed for several more hours. Felt bad too for staff, cause they couldn't clean till everyone left their cabins.

Nando,

I've heard a couple of things today. First, the Holiday didn't cruise out yesterday. Heard that from someone in AL. She said that a local DJ was to be on board yesterday's cruise and it was canceled. So where is the Holiday?

Second, I unfortunately went to the cruise news daily website and got mad all over again. Seems the group right after us was offered $100 credit since the itinerary was changed and they were only going to Key West. Turns out they went to Cozumel, according to the info. So they paid less, went to Coz, and got $100. Boy, were we scre##ed!! I'll be calling cust. service again in the morning.

Nando,

I'm sorry that you had such a bad experience on your first cruise out of Mobile. Living here in Mobile, we of course hope you want make it your last. We are hopeing that Carnival is going to put another ship here sometime around the end of this year and those people who are turned off by Holiday will consider Mobile again. I hesitate to tell you this since you had such a bad cruise, but my wife and I were on the cruise just after yours and had a wonderful time. We were with another couple and we all agreed that if the ship was not going to make a port call we would not go. They told us that the ship could make enough speed to make Key West but not Mexico, so we decided to go. Carnival also had some technicians onboard from Italy who were able to make repairs to increase the ship's speed enough to go to Cozumel and we returned on time Sat. morning.

I have not heard anything about the Holiday not sailing yesterday as stated by Sharon, but the crew did tell us that the ship was going to have to be drydocked sometime to finish the need repairs. All I can say was that they the crew was preparing the ship for the next cruise when we left the ship and they were loading new supplies.

Nando,

 

I'm sorry that you had such a bad experience on your first cruise out of Mobile. Living here in Mobile, we of course hope you want make it your last. We are hopeing that Carnival is going to put another ship here sometime around the end of this year and those people who are turned off by Holiday will consider Mobile again. I hesitate to tell you this since you had such a bad cruise, but my wife and I were on the cruise just after yours and had a wonderful time. We were with another couple and we all agreed that if the ship was not going to make a port call we would not go. They told us that the ship could make enough speed to make Key West but not Mexico, so we decided to go. Carnival also had some technicians onboard from Italy who were able to make repairs to increase the ship's speed enough to go to Cozumel and we returned on time Sat. morning.

 

I have not heard anything about the Holiday not sailing yesterday as stated by Sharon, but the crew did tell us that the ship was going to have to be drydocked sometime to finish the need repairs. All I can say was that they the crew was preparing the ship for the next cruise when we left the ship and they were loading new supplies.

Glad you had a nice time. Someone on another thread said their kids were on the cruise that left yesterday headed to Mexico.

Thanks all for your words of encouragement. I hope we're not boring you all with our Holiday complaints

Richcrow: I'm glad to hear you had a nice cruise (sure wish we did, lol). Actually, I loved all the staff, very nice people, can't complain at all.

Sharon: I wasn't aware that we were being towed in!?!? What's up with that!? Yes, I did hear that the group after us were told they were only going as far as Key West, but made it to Cozumel. My family and I were secretly hoping that would have been the case for us too.

I WONDER WHERE THE HOLIDAY IS TOO...........

When we were coming in, there was a huge tug behind us. I say he towed (pushed, basically) us in, another passenger said we were being guided. I know tows guide the big ships, but way way out in the bay? I could be wrong here, but we've never had a tow help us in for a couple of hours.

I'm glad for the last group that made it to Coz with Richcrow. I'm jealous, too. I was sure hoping on our cruise that they would announce we'd be able to make it after all. Richcrow, I was feeling pretty bad for our room stewards and table staff. They hadn't had any breaks at all, not even between the two groups getting off and on. Was your service okay? Was morale better?

More on the towing:

It was said that with the prop. broke we couldn't go in a straight line (don't you love this nautical talk) so the tow was guiding and pushing us in. That's what I heard.

The tug was in fact being towed by the Holiday. It was there to aid in steering because the channel is so narrow through Mobile Bay. The ship was not being pushed in any way. I was on this cruise also and my experiences were no better than yours. The port was closed Monday morning due to fog, so I don't put any blame on Carnival for this. If you looked around early Monday AM, there was 6 other ships around us, also waiting for the port to open. However, the 96 hours prior to this, I think Carnival should do something. The attorney in Montgomery is about the only hope, and maybe Carnival will realize they need to make an effort of good faith to the passengers of this cruise. I have vented enough about it, and just hope for the best. Its one trip I will never forget.

I didn't realize that about the tow. Rumors did abound on that ship and I've tried to piece fact from fiction. Did you know you can reach the attorney at bland4law@aol.com. I don't know what she can do, but, like you, I'm hoping something. I'm ready to start looking for my next cruise vacation, get away from this bad memory.

Ooh, I must go watch desperate housewives...

Why would they have to clear customs after 5 days circling in the gulf? How inept are they that they sail 60 miles and are late returning??

If you stop to think about it, it is pretty obvious why they would have to clear customs. Since the ship was in international waters, the ship's stores would have been selling duty free merchandise, some of which likely would have been subject to declaration and duties.

Interestingly enough, when we disembarked, customs was there telling us they didn't need to see anything at all. We were free to leave, just leave...

That is how customs has been when we get off... however, that is a different process from that of the ship actually clearing customs, which happens prior to any passengers getting off the ship. The fog seemed awfully bad that morning... so I am sure that had alot to do with the ship coming in late...

We also did pay sales tax in the "duty free" shops onboard. Gal in there said they'd have to tax us 3%.

Glad to have it cleared up about possibly being towed in. Thought that was going to be another can of worms to deal with, lol!

yeah, Nando, I heard that about the gift shop. I didn't go in there; they got me in the casino. Wonder why the 3%?

temple1017@aol.com

When we were coming in, there was a huge tug behind us. I say he towed (pushed, basically) us in, another passenger said we were being guided. I know tows guide the big ships, but way way out in the bay? I could be wrong here, but we've never had a tow help us in for a couple of hours.

 

I'm glad for the last group that made it to Coz with Richcrow. I'm jealous, too. I was sure hoping on our cruise that they would announce we'd be able to make it after all. Richcrow, I was feeling pretty bad for our room stewards and table staff. They hadn't had any breaks at all, not even between the two groups getting off and on. Was your service okay? Was morale better?

Our service was as good as we have ever had on Carnival. We did feel sorry for our wait staff in the Fore Winds dining room. They did a super job, but were losing income because of the people who cancelled (I heard 500). Our waiter had 7 diners at the earlier dining and 8 at the late dining. He would normally have a total of 16, so we tipped a little extra. Morale was great with the crew and really picked up with the passengers when they announced we were going to Cozumel.