kroozers

Until Carnival reverses the aft pool decision, we'll be done booking cruises. We leave Saturday on the Glory...which we booked prior to the change. We would never have booked without an adult only pool.

Does Carnival really think parents want to drop off their own kids in Camp Carnival just to go hang out with other peoples's kids?? Even Disney knows enough to offer an adults only pool on their ships!

We're booked next week on Glory, but I do believe that'll be our last cruise. We'll transition to all inclusive adult only resorts. Cruising is such a unique vacation, but without adequate places to escape to adult exclusive areas, it's just not something we'll continue to spend time and money on. If Carnival doesn't believe they'll suffer revenue losses from the many who are similar to us...best of luck to them.

Good to hear! I made sure to tell my PVP as well. Not that he can really do anything directly, but he is one of their top guys there so maybe he can let them know his clients aren't happy.

PVPs are Carnival's salesforce - I'm also in sales. Every sales staff attends endless meetings, where feedback from clients - or prospective clients is always shared. The more Carnival employees made aware of how bad a decision the aft pool call was the better the chances they reverse it. Everyone remembers when Coke changed their 100 year old recipe. It's the most famous decision reversal in business. They were compelled to re-think their decision. Carnival fouled this decision up completely. They failed to anticipate the reaction, and to ignore what their customers are telling them would be a huge mistake. Carnival will not be in our future vacation plans unless they reserve at least one pool for adults.

but we digress away from the pool discussion I guess, and, carnival breathes a sigh of relief as the masses lose focus......

I don't think they're relieved. An overwhelming majority of us are extremely disappointed with the pool decision. We're boarding the Glory in one week. We wouldn't have booked had we known they'd be allowing kids in every single pool on board...and if they don't change their policy, we'll be done with cruising for good. We've been going to adult only resorts instead of cruising...because there are just too few areas on a ship that are adult only. The pool decision was the last straw.

Many of us won't be back...When customers give up on a company...the company doesn't feel relieved.

They were throwing away so much food - we'd always take pictures, but never ate.

What I've heard from people who have specifically asked this question of bartenders on ships (pooled tips vs what they can keep) is that the 15% gratuity added to your Cheers program purchase up front is pooled. Any tips given on a an order you sign for are kept by the bartender who waits on you - this goes for cash tips or anything extra you write on the slip. We'll definitely find a favorite bartender at the bars we frequent and write a tip onto each Cheers slip.

I doubt it...again most of the cruisers on Carnival don't read these boards or john heald and aren't even aware of any pool issues. Most already assume all pools are family friendly.

 

Also, there are way less kids during the school times..thats almost 9 months of the year--becomes even less of an issue overall

John Heald has mentioned the polls and all the social media commentary around the aft pool change. He promised that he would be the mouthpiece for those concerned and would carry it forward to management. He said these things yesterday morning on his live feed. Polls have been submitted directly to Carnival, as have many letters and phone calls. My wife and I sail on the Glory in two weeks, and I'll voice my opinions there as well. Many of us will walk away from Carnival if this idiotic decision isn't reversed - they'll be forced to ignore what their customers are telling them about this, or to listen and act. To say that we're all just complaining to complain isn't accurate - we're being heard. Whether Carnival listens and acts is up to them.

What is the next step once this poll has run its course? How does it turn into something actionable?

 

Short of canceling a cruise and telling them the reason why I don't see how this poll will make any impact. OP is a smart person, perhaps she has a next step of the plan to communicate this.

John Heald addressed the polls on this and other social media sites, as well as all the different pages and threads on a live feed this morning. He said that he's aware of them, he's seen them and read enough of the comments to know that it's important to many people. He promised that he was our mouthpiece and promised he would carry it forward. From there, we'll all see whether Carnival chooses to listen to what's important to their loyal customers - or they bury their heads in the sand and serve their own vision. They'll lose a lot of cruisers forever if they fail to take notice.

Carnival does not listen to the overwhelming negative response to their change to the aft pools. It'll be adult only all-inclusive resorts from now on.

I am constantly amazed at what seems to be a big deal or no deal to the general cruise population. For me personally this whole thing is an amazing amount of drama over a nothing issue. The pools are not worth getting in, they are filled with cold seawater and they are tiny.

 

This...

It's really only possible for you to comment on what either is or is not a big deal to you. For others, this is a huge issue. Most people have limited time they are able to spend away from their jobs to enjoy a week of vacation...the same goes for the dollars involved to make it happen. My wife and I love staying at adult only all-inclusive resorts. Because my wife has never cruised before, we compromised based on the availability of the Serenity Deck and an adult only pool. Our cruise on the Glory is now a little over two weeks away, and on the heels of an announcement telling us one of the deciding factors on our vacation is gone in one brief message from John Heald.

We spend our time reading in the sun when on deck. Cold seawater in a tiny pool is a great thing...when the pool isn't full of children.

The response to the aft pool change has been overwhelmingly negative - not just on CC, but everywhere else on social media as well. The example of the smoking changes doesn't really fit this situation. Non-smokers were thrilled with those changes, and smoking is trending downward. Carnival just misjudged the reaction to this change, but I believe they will reconsider this one.

There are plenty of adult only all-inclusive resorts around the Caribbean - Sandals is way overpriced, but there are plenty of other options. The only reason we have a cruise planned on the Glory this month is that the adults only resort we normally visit in May is closed for remodeling. It'll be my wife's first cruise ever, and the adult only areas on the ship were a big consideration when we booked. The adult only pool was a factor, and we'd have just found a different resort had we known each pool was kid friendly. We'd never consider a resort that allowed children - but cruising has always been such an amazing vacation that I wanted my wife to experience it.

Terrible decision by Carnival. We have a Glory cruise coming up this month that may well be my last with Carnival. We rarely cruise at all anymore - we instead have enjoyed adult only all-inclusive vacations. As much as we love cruising, with the kids now grown, vacationing with other people's kids isn't what we're looking for...and with Carnival close to making the entire ship family and kid friendly, they've apparently chosen their preferred demographic.

You'll be perfectly fine up there...have fun!!

I'll only book using Carnival's website. We compare many itineraries, ships, prices and dates...and it'd be impossible to do that with a PVP or TA. Carnival's website is incredibly easy to navigate and book through. Not only that...when I made the mistake of asking a PVP who called a question about the Cheers package...he smelled a possible sale and I receiving daily voice mails and emails pressuring us to book. We were weeks away from deciding whether we'd book a cruise or all-inclusive resort vacation.

In December, we had friends who booked an ATV excursion in Punta Cana. This was not cruise related - we were at an all-inclusive resort, and the excursion was booked through the resort...but I'd guess it was similar. They were completely covered in mud - they just threw their clothes away. The cruise excursions may or may not be similar...but it's something to keep in mind. They did have fun though!! The only reason we didn't go with was...I have an ATV at home...and my wife is a bit of a princess and wouldn't have dealt with the mud very well!!

These threads always bring out the "I'm afraid to lose my passport" entourage. :cool:

 

Our passports always go with us, whether cruising or on a non-US land vacation.

I just don't understand some folks unrealistic theft phobias but their cabin safe must be awful full with their passports, watches, phones, cameras, wedding rings & other jewelry, pictures of their kids, grandkids, and every other thing they own that they are afraid to use for it's intended purpose.

I don't have a passport theft phobia. I'm just confident I won't miss the ship's departure...so there's no reason to bring them along. I'd just rather not deal with them while enjoying a port day...which always involves a ton of swimming in the ocean. Even if the odds of theft or loss of a passport are smaller...missing the ship is a smaller chance.

I guess I'd flip your opening statement around and say that these threads always bring out the "I'm afraid I'll miss the ship" entourage.

Folks may think we're crazy, but, being that it's our vacation and all, we want to not worry about ANYTHING. We buy both Cheers AND Bon Voyage for the cabin. We always take the leftover cabin liquor home (FL so it's easy) and enjoy a drink in our cabin on the balcony, getting ready for dinner, etc and at the same time, don't worry about our S&S drinking while out of the cabin. We love that coffees and milkshakes, sodas and waters are now included in Cheers and figure we've "made" our break even every cruise, even though we never hit the 15 drink max. Definitely worth it to us, as we don't worry about liking a drink or not, what our S&S total is and we've made sure it's paid for ahead of the cruise. It's vacation and it's all good!:D

Us too!! We will be doing the same thing next month!!

Ours stay in our cabin's safe. That decision is based on the fact that we feel the risk of losing the passports or having them stolen while in port is greater than us missing the ship's departure time...and needing the passport to arrange travel to another port. There are times when in port that we both may be swimming in the ocean, with our bag some distance away strapped to a beach chair...the last thing I want in that bag are our passports!!

I zip tie the zipper on our bag shut, and then zip tie the bag itself to a beach chair within sight of where we're swimming. That's secure enough to stop someone from going through the bag or grabbing it before I could be on top of him.

We've always just booked online - it's so much easier than on the phone with a PVP!! I made the mistake of picking up a call from a PVP as we were searching for a cruise to book. I asked him a question or two about the Cheers program and he just kept me talking and pretty soon he had keyed in a hold on a cabin for us- without asking. For the next two weeks, I got an e-mail and several phone messages every day - and I was unable to cancel the hold on a cruise we weren't interested in on my own. We wound up deciding on and booking a late April Glory cruise online - which is the only way I'll ever book. I know some love to use PVPs, but I find that I know more about the cruise we want then they do!! They're a pain in the neck!!

I think the food in the MDR is amazing!! If being a foodie means disliking good food...I'm thrilled not to be one!!

Thanks for posting those!! We're under two months from our sailing!!

Many islands have locally produced beers that aren't exported. Take a look at the ones listed at this link: https://www.everythingresorts.com/blog/19-official-caribbean-beer-brands.html

Amstel Bright is my favorite island beer!! It's not exported outside of Dutch islands...I've checked!!

This is a timely and helpful thread...we have a cruise on the Glory coming up, and have been debating this topic. Reading others' experiences and opinions definitely helps. Even though there are other threads a person could search for and read, new info is helpful (like the change in price for FTTF). More and newer info is always a good thing!!

Any comments on Tom Riccio?