jamesboat

There is no charge if I were to book now and cancel before the cruise right?

Full refund?

The quote I got is insanely cheap for such a new ship ($2300 on a balcony) and I'm just wondering if there are going to be all sorts of fees I wasn't expecting once we get on. I know about tipping and that some meals can cost extra, but what else costs money on the ship?

Also wondering about the balcony. The quote we got is for category x. So my guess is we'll get one that has an obstruction. Are we better off just getting an inside cabin or is the balcony still worth it? If I'm sitting down can I still see the ocean?

I booked a balcony guarantee (x) 3 days ago and was assigned a D5 cabin (no obstruction). This is for Jan 14 sailing

The best strategy is to use incense once you are away from port (using the wifi plan of course). When the game detects you are far from any "known" area it will give you a mix of random and rare pokemon, versus at the dock where you will get mostly water type. The ship moves slow enough that you should be fine and not trigger the speed warning, especially if youre going between 2 nearby islands versus the first or last day at sea

Thats pretty standard for insurance...

Airlines are generally a burden you deal with on your way to something better. Youre with them for a couple of hours usually. If the flight is atrocious, whatever, nobody likes them anyway. Yeah, they took the free food away, but that food was never good in the first place.

Seriously, how often do you hear " I love United/Spirit/American, and I cant wait to fly them for my anniversary!"

Never. They're a utility.

Cruises are a week long experience. A memory that can last a lifetime. Most people are going to be a lot more picky when it comes to a 7 day cruise than a 2 hour flight. The food is part of the experience. You dilute that experience, and well, you can be sure I'll never book your experience again.

Incidentally, United had 2 years of cost cutting nickle and dining. Theyve under-performed the entire industry and had to bring in a new CEO which is attempting to win back customers by bringing back amenities that were taken away.

On a recent trip, the check-in period was 12-4pm.

It said "arrive after 3pm for a faster check in"

Many people take that advice....so 3pm is busy.

Id say arrive after 3:20pm in that case.

Note that arriving late, youll miss some things like the scavenger hunt.

As for being late.... I dont remember the exact times, but lets just say we had a problem in Rome and we were the last to board...

Thank you for writing that. Ship design is much different then some general contractor adding a ramp up a half flight of stairs.

To put it in perspective, ADA passed in 1990.

23 years ago.

Most US transit stations are not ADA accessible, even though the deadline was 1997 for retrofits (then changed). In NYC, for example, the nations busiest transit system barely has any elevators.

Many US sidewalks still lack basic ramps.

Dont expect cruising to be 100% accessible until every existing ship gets retired....so 2040+

I don't know how they could get away ... and be able to exclude handicapped passengers...

I'm not sure how ADA rules apply to an added feature.

They dont apply at all, its not an american ship!

IMPORTANT

Youll find on older version of the instructional pdf, and in posts on this board about an email address you can send proof to.

I spoke to someone at the revenue office today and was told those emails were discontinued for security reasons - they now only accept fax or real mail.

If you bought 100 shares yesterday, you are up $92.00 today !!!

Yup I have a feeling tuesday-wednesday were the bottom.

Im so glad this thread came up - this Sunday is two weeks before the cruise (ie, the deadline). Ill be submitting the proof tomorrow!

ejammer,

I havent read the entire thread because it frustrates me to no end to see people trip over themselves in an attempt to blame someone whos been wrongedso that they can feel some sick sense of satisfaction in knowing someone was screwed over. If the company has not apologized for THEIR mistake in misinforming you, and offered you compensation, I suggest you forward along your story to The Consumerist. Usually, the public shaming they provide is enough to persuade the company to correct their mistake.Theres been many happy ending where after those in the company who are smart enough to recognize what costumer service is, and how harming of the brand an incident like this can be, correct the mistake.

amuse1,

 

Thanks for the advice. I just purchased 100 shares.

 

Betty

For future reference youll find trade king has the cheapest commissions, but it takes a few days of setting up (verification, money transfer etc).

Today was probably a good day to buy.

I respectfully disagree. Most brick and mortar retail stores are in trouble because it's hard for them to compete with online stores. Sears/KMart are well behind other retailers in setting up a competitive online store. People don't like shopping in stores as much as they used to because they can sit at their computer, tablet or smart phone, do a search, comparison shop, purchase and have it delivered to their door without getting out of their PJ's. It's that simple.

 

FYI, the Concordia tragedy had nothing to do with cutting back on maintenance: it was a show-boating Captain who made a very poor decision and went too close to the shore way too fast.

We're going terribly off topic, but Kmart/Sears is a special case because the lack of any form of technology or store upgrade is a direct result of their shareholder policy.

Theyre in a manufactured death spiral.

-Almost all profits go out as dividends, with minimal investment to stores

-Minimal investment means lost customers (ugly, dirty stores)

-You cant profit without customers, so they close some stores (the worst performing), sell the real estate (theyre one of the few big box companies to own land) and use the one-off windfall to pad the budget (aka, next years profits)

Rinse and repeat.

The executives are content because this strategy ensures them 10+ years of money. The shareholders are content because theyre also getting a stable return (for the next decade at least). The big losers, of course, are the employees who get fired and the small towns who lose their anchor store.

Many articles have been written about this specific form of management, so youll have no trouble finding additional sources if youre so inclined.

Of course, Carnival has absolutely nothing to do with that. As I said, we've gone terribly off topic...

On topic, shares fell another 50 cents. I think its close to the bottom, Ill be buying and enjoying my credit, and hopefully profits.

They pay dividends because they are making money.

Its not that simple.

If revenue is 500, costs are what you make of it. You can pay high wages, buy the best food and have the best maintenance (R&D), have costs of 500 and offer zero dividends (zero profits). Of course, you would also go by the name "non-profit"!

Say you cut costs so you have revenue of 500 and costs of 400. What do you do with the 100? You can pay out dividends, give executive bonuses, put it in a rainy day fund, put it into R&D etc.

Its all a give and take. Companies with really high R&D tend to not give out dividends because thats where the money is going. You cant have it all. You cant pay out dividends AND have a high cash vault (apple) AND high R&D AND high..... you get the point.

I suggest reading up on Sears/Kmart. The reason theyre in such bad shape isnt as simple as "people dont like shopping there". People dont like shopping there because they invest almost nothing into their stores. Instead, they take that money, and pay high dividends.

Short term, the shareholders are happy, and the executive team is happy. Long term? Well, tell me how Sears/Kmart is doing in 2020....

Im just making the suggestion that Carnival seems to have been deferring maintenance. The money "saved" there is going elsewhere. It may be dividends, it may not be.

What problem are you referring to? What profits would change the Concordia incident? Are you suggesting that offering an OBC and dividends is the reason for the safety issues with the Triumph?

 

That's just silly. They do those things to encourage cruising. IF they have "slacked off on safety measures", that would be a management decision totally separate from OBC and dividends.

Im saying the corporate culture of short term profits to please investors inevitably leads to problems like deferred maintenance. This is not a problem exclusive to carnival, its a large by-product of our corporate capitalist system and is true for almost every public company.

If theyre giving out dividends its because theyre taking money from other places....either food, or maintenance or wages.

I say this as an observation, as I said previously, Im looking to buy shares before my cruise to take advantage of the perk,e specially now that prices are low due to the carnival incident.

So Ive been thinking about this thread....

I

So if we were to sell the stock today at $36 a share, that would mean we would get a total of $4425 on our investment or a 34% return. Wow. Where can you get anything like that?:p

.

Which is sort of the problem isnt it?

The cruise company, by putting short term investor profits first slacked off on safety measures (Concordia, Triumph) resulting in serious issues....

Should send the request in by two weeks before sailing in order to have sufficient time to process. You can include a copy of the purchase confirmation as proof of ownership.

 

You are expected to hold the stock at least until you do the cruise, but they have no way to check on that.

Thanks.

Ill do a little more due diligence on the stock in the next couple of days, but it doesnt seem like a bad deal at all.

Oh wow I had no idea.

Is there a timeline catch for this?

Ie, say I bought the 100 shares tomorrow for a March 16 cruise.

Would the credit apply? Or do you have to hold the stock for x amount of time?