westview1

There was a couple that used to cruise Carnival a lot and I would see them at trivia with a notebook of the trivia questions and answers, they had the notebook in plain sight.  They would refer to their notebook with each question and would win every trivia they played.  There is no way the staff member running the trivia couldn't have seen this.  I play trivia for the fun of it and I don't care if I win or lose, but that pissed me off.  

5 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

The diamond event is going on in the restaurant.

I can hear Christine in there. She called it the platinum-diamond event and was quickly corrected by our very important diamond guests. I was going to turn diamond next year but decided to open up my bookings to all lines. I booked NCL for August which will push my diamond status back from 2024 to 2025 at least. And we’ll see. I was leaning RCL for the fall but haven’t booked anything yet. I’ll probably figure that out when I get back.

 
 

Don't want to upset the Diamond guests we have worked hard to earn that status  🙂   We have branched out to HAL since 2019, although we enjoy Carnival, it's nice to be on a different cruiseline.

Thanks for the updates, we will be on the Venezia in August and I have been looking for any information about the ship.

I was 47 on my 1st HAL cruise.  At the moment I am 3* but have cruises booked in October and November/December that will put me at 4*, I'm 57 which means it took me 10 years.  I do love the service and entertainment on HAL and love the Pinnacle class ships.

On 11/20/2021 at 6:54 AM, BamaMomRollTide said:

I found it odd (at least on Valor) that the “Indian vegetarian” selection is always the same.  Why not vary that?  I was hoping that they’d have Palak Paneer, but no.  It’s an easy dish to make and soooo good.  Whenever I go to Trader Joe’s I buy like 6 pkgs to have on hand.  

We haven't cruised since March 2020 (and that was HAL) but my husband was able to order off a menu for Indian vegetarian.  He had to ask the Maitre d about it and choose what he wanted for the next nights dinner.  It wasn't ideal, but it worked.  I'm not sure if they still do this though.

On 11/17/2021 at 9:51 AM, Djptcp said:

We are almost Diamond on Carnival and almost 4 star Mariners on Holland America. HAL has so many more perks for their loyalty members. I wish Carnival would give discounts at their specialty restaurants - we receive 25% off on HAL as 3 star Mariners and will receive 50% off when we reach 4 star Mariners. On HAL, for every $300 we spend onboard we receive one sail day. Wish Carnival did that. On HAL, we receive double sailing days when we book a suite which is most of the time. Wish Carnival did that, too. When you compare the two cruise lines, Carnival is pitifully lacking in loyalty perks.

We're working on our 3 star on HAL and are diamond on Carnival.  It may be that we're getting old, but we prefer HAL these days.  The newer ships with the Rolling Stone Rock Room and BB Kings Blues Club with live bands that they don't schedule at the same time is great. 

On 11/16/2021 at 10:01 PM, ScottsSweetie said:

I wish they would add a level between Platinum (at 75 days) and Diamond (at 200).

It is a big jump between the 2 levels.  I wish they would add another level after diamond as well. 

On 11/16/2021 at 11:11 AM, NauticalNeophyte said:

I only have 2 cruises under my belt, and a third booked in April, so not a lot of experience.  I do wish Carnival would expand the list if ports of call, or at least switch up the itineraries a bit even though I haven’t been to most of the islands.  I know there are technical and logistical reasons for the itineraries they have, but why must all 7 day cruises travel the same circuit if you’re passing other islands anyway?  I don’t know if that makes sense, but I’d like a mix-or-match approach, and a few more options for location. I guess that would shoot prices up though. 

I agree with your sentiment.  I have 35ish cruises with Carnival and over 50 when you count other cruise lines, they all seem to go to the same ports.  After a while it gets boring.  There are some that we don't mind returning to but there are also some we would rather not go to again. 

I thought that you may have meant Long Beach!  🙂

4 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

True.  But they still fill ships that cruise from Long Island, Baltimore, and New Orleans.  Even though they should have been able to start with those locations and required vaccinations, none of the cruise lines chose those places. The governors in those locations seemed to be in no hurry to open up those ports.

Just curious do you mean NYC and Bayonne, NJ?  There are no ships that sail from Long Island, unless you're counting Brooklyn, which is part of Long Island geographically but part of NYC.

I was surprised when they canceled our B2B2B2B on the Legend out of Dover in June in January.  We thought that they would wait until the last minute with these.  It may be the only exception to how Carnival has been canceling.  We were 99.9% sure that those cruises were going to be canceled, so we took some of the $ for the June 2021 sailings (we had paid in full with gift cards) and moved it to the Pride June 2022 out of Dover, with similar itineraries to replace them.  A week later the Legend was canceled.  We can't believe we called that correctly, but sometimes things work out.  Our issue is that when you pay with gift cards, you can only get a gift card back or re-book.  But we knew that, and are kicking the can down the line until they do start sailing again. 

42 minutes ago, evandbob said:

There's a story where a nurse in the Dakotas states she is dismayed by many of her ICU COVID patients who say she doesn't need PPE around them since they have lung cancer, pneumonia, flu, or anything but COVID.  Denial runs deep for some who say it's a hoax, or the virus will disappear after the election, or masks and distancing don't work, and the echo chamber they live in just reinforces their false beliefs.

 

That is why I'm not convinced we can reach the 80 to 85% inoculation level that Dr Fauci thinks is necessary to contain this virus.  We have those who are anti vaxxers, we have those who say coronavirus is a hoax, and there are those just skeptical of a new vaccine and will wait a while to see what happens to those who get the vax right away.

 

Put them all together, and it probably makes up 40 to 45% of Americans, if not more.

I saw that story.  There are a lot of people who believe this is all a hoax.  The ones who said that it would be over by Election Day - how's it looking now?  

We had an outbreak in my area from a wedding that had 90 people attend, 30 people later tested positive for Covid-19.  The state liquor authority came down on the venue (a country club) hard, they had their liquor license suspended.  

On 11/16/2020 at 2:50 PM, Radiioman46 said:

Don't need to wait on vax's, since we do have treatments that work. Those medical supplies could be stored on each ship too. Be less expensive than going bankrupt in my humble opinion. 

I've spent 3 days in a ships infirmary (Nieuw Staatendam - one of HALs newest ships).  They have very basic supplies and equipment.  I don't think they would be able to keep up with an outbreak, even with an investment into the equipment.

32 minutes ago, xDisconnections said:

Yes- the previous post outlining the details of the Oct 24 date are referencing the Navigator of the Seas in PortMiami. Both cruise lines are direct competitors... if they both weren’t planning on launching around the same time, they could lose valuable market share and potentially risk an entire audience.

 

Food and perishables are easy. Have you ever worked with the provider Carnival uses: Sysco. Although usually it’s next day, I’ll suggest two days just in case they need to cover more distance from multiple locations. Have you ever been to Restaurant Depot?

 

How were the staff and crew onboard these ships getting into the country for service calls done in the US in the beginning with the border closed? They’ll be fine — just charter flights to Barbados or Curacao and no longer provide shore leave on turnaround day.

I've been to Restaurant Depot and I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that they will need more than what Restaurant Depot can supply.  

So, what you are saying is fly the crew to Barbados or Curacao and have them meet the ship there?  Do you think that the CDC might meet the ship when it arrives in Miami any other Florida port and test them?

  I was on the Nieuw Staatendam in March 2020(the last sailing before they all shut down), 2/3 of the ship had disembarked when they halted the process because someone had passed away on the ship.  We were not allowed off until it was determined that the person did not die of Covid-19, we had to wait an extra  8 hours to disembark.  Then we drove home and quarantined for 2 weeks, just in case.  About 10 days into our 14 day quarantine we received an email from HAL that a passenger from our sailing had contracted the virus.  We were fine, but imagine if the virus spread?   A friend of ours was on the  Coral Princess that was stuck at sea for awhile.  She doesn't speak highly of the experience.  

1 minute ago, xDisconnections said:

They seem to think that because Carnival says that. Why should we have any reason to doubt Carnival? Have they been known to be deceitful and act in poor faith all in an effort to secure deposits, final payments and hold onto them a bit longer to process refunds to others?

 

The letters of employment from Royal were dated 10/4 and 10/7. I think Royal is getting ready to get their team back together for the crew only trial runs they plan on doing and have already secured dockage in the cruise terminals. In addition, they also were granted approval from the Port of Singapore to resume on December 1 for short 3/4 night cruises.

 

What other things do you believe are in the way? We can review them on a point by point basis to find a reasonable way to accommodate the need as quickly as possible. When you have an entire team dedicated to logistics, it isn’t so difficult for career minded professionals to figure them out.

Well, since we are on the Carnival board and the letters are from Royal, let's start there.  Just because Royal is doing this, doesn't mean that Carnival is also.  The cruises you are speaking of are leaving from Singapore, did they mention any U.S. home ports?  Carnival doesn't sail from Singapore on a regular basis.  

They need to get food on board, any perishables will have to be ordered and stocked.  This would be like getting ready for an inaugural.  They aren't replenishing, they are stocking.  I'm sure they have liquor in a secure warehouse somewhere ready to go, but what about bread, dairy, fruit, vegetable and meats?  It's not like they can order those things and have them sitting around for an unspecified time waiting to be loaded. They would have to be in a refrigerated warehouse do we know of the availability of these warehouses?

But they really need the people, if the staff and crew have problems getting into the U.S. then what?

2 minutes ago, xDisconnections said:

 

Again- how do you know the cruise operator hasn’t already started this process quietly without a public announcement? We have seen leaked employment letters from oncoming crew with the Navigator of the Seas due to board the ship on Oct 24 in Miami and those from Quantum due to board on Nov 7.

 

Just because they didn’t publicize their logistical operations for their consumers doesn’t mean they didn’t start the process. It’s a limited number of ships with a very limited number of crew. It isn’t that hard to staff them, transport them, quarantine them, training refreshments, trial runs and loading up provisions. They can do all of these items right now under the No Sail Order but prefer not to burn unnecessary funds on labor and perishable goods.

I didn't say they weren't doing so, I said that we can't expect them to be up and ready in a short amount of time.  There are people that seem to think that because cruising will be allowed on November 1 that the cruise companies will be able to set sail with no issues.  

The crew may have letters of employment, but until they are on the ship ready to work, it is only a letter.  There are other things at work here.  The letter is a stepping stone, not the entire path.

48 minutes ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

Carnival stated it would take 30 days to have a ship ready to sail.

30 days to get everything up and running seems reasonable to me.  I just don't see them being able to do it any sooner.  

I understand everyones eagerness to start cruising again, but have you thought of the logistics of getting staff and crew back on board?  The individuals that are from the U.S. and Canada may be able to get to the ships, but what about the ones from the Philippines, Eastern Europe, United Kingdom?  How easy will it be to transport them to the ships, (it took months to repatriate some of the crew to begin with)?  How many of them have found other work in the interim?   

I don't want to be the Debbie Downer here, and I know there are people that are excited with the prospect of cruising again, but it's not as if they can wave a magic wand and get things up and running by November.  

On 9/11/2020 at 7:13 PM, firefly333 said:

So it says to pick a time. Can someone explain how to do this a year out. My cruise is sept 11, 2021. Exactly a year from today. Has anyone more than 90 days out been able to pick a time?

 

Vista, sept 11, 2021.

I got the same e-mail for a cruise 540 days out.  I think they are trying to keep us interested.  

On 8/27/2020 at 12:37 PM, Radiioman46 said:

I don't have a clue who all the CD's I've sailed with over the past 25 or 30 years. Is there a way I can enter in the dates and ships to lookup who the CD was? Just curious now.....

You're not the only one.  I usually don't pay attention to the CD but Matt was a step above the others.  The fact that he showed up at the Alchemy Bar one night and bought everyone there a drink probably helps my opinion of him.  😃

3 hours ago, MRVEGAS711 said:

Do these men and women qualify for unemployment or are they subject to Panama's rules? The cruise industry is going to lose a lot of talent regardless.

Interesting question, I have a friend who is a flight attendant and lives in Florida.  But since her home base was NJ, she was able to claim unemployment from NJ.  With Matt being a British citizen, I'm sure there are different rules and obstacles for him.  If he is paid out of the corporate office in Miami, he might qualify for Florida unemployment which isn't a large payout and the system is abysmal.  

1 hour ago, xDisconnections said:

Rumor has it in the comments section of that video, he accepted a position with Virgin. It’s just in the comments and I don’t follow shiny teeth dude so I’m unsure of the accuracy regarding that statement. It’s just what someone noted.

 

His comment was there to part ways on good terms and leave the door open for future opportunities.

 

My opinion though: this is a loss for Carnival. He seemed to be an ideal candidate as Heald’s replacement. Sailed with him once while he was an ACD on the Victory and I thought he did a fine job.

Matt was the best, we had him as our CD on the Vista Med and TA and the Horizon TA. 

I can see him working for Virgin Cruises, he definitely fits in with their employee culture.  He's young, personable and sexy a perfect fit for Virgin.

1 hour ago, fyree39 said:

We've been on Carnival, Princess, Royal, HAL and Crystal. Crystal is our absolute favorite, but HAL comes a close second (DH might put HAL first, but we had a Neptune suite, so he's biased). Then Royal, then Carnival, then Princess. I just found Princess to be a little dull. The shows in the atrium always bugged me because of the people that would save a table at 6 o'clock in the morning and park there until 10 pm at night. I guess there's just this mindset with the mass market crowd that they MUST HAVE these seats, loungers, tables, whatever and NO ONE ELSE can have them. Maybe it's on all the lines, but I haven't seen it as much as I have on Carnival, RCI and Princess.

I agree with you regarding HAL.  We have 35 cruises with Carnival and also sail Princess, Royal & NCL.  We have cruised on Celebrity a few times as well.

HAL has a great product.  We enjoy the shows (especially the Rolling Stone Rock and BB King Blues shows).  The ships are well maintained and the staff is wonderful.  We like their itineraries, they do more than the Caribbean.  Do they cost more than Carnival?  Mainly, yes but you can find good deals on HAL.  

Sorry, once we disembarked at 4:15 yesterday, we picked up our car and drove home. 

Overall, Holland America did a great job and the crew couldn't have been more gracious.  The Captain and his staff did a great job of keeping us informed and kept everything positive. 

My DH (westview1900) and I are on board and I can confirm the 4:00 pm update and that they are treating us well with food and free drinks.  They are showing movies on the big screen.   We live in West Palm Beach and our car is at a site away from the port.  But we can get in our car and drive home when we are released.  I feel bad for those with flights and anyone who has a job to get back to. 

10 hours ago, DebJ14 said:

We're Diamond on both lines.  At this point we book whichever cruise line has the best price for a well located balcony within the date range and itinerary we want to sail.  We have 5 future cruises booked and RCCL is leading the pack with better prices on 3 of our upcoming cruises.  

We're diamond on Carnival and 14 days until we're diamond on Royal and we're kind of the same way.  We look for itinerary and price and then decide what cabin we are booking.  Most of our cruises are on Carnival though.  All on the Legend (TA, Norway, Med & TA) - which is my favorite class of ship.