angiegal

As sad as it is to say the lack of compassionate treatment towards your son would have been equally demonstrated at a water slide in your hometown. Because of our litigious society employees are told that accidents are all about the injury and not about the "mental health" associated with the accident. Anything, and I mean anything, said as a form of we're sorry can and is used against defendants over and over again in liability cases. That doesn't help those of us who "care" and who are helped by a little bit of human kindness during difficult times.

 

I would definitely write Carnival and "explain" the situation to them in precise unemotional analytical terms. Collect as many names, emails, and addresses as you can and CC them all on your letter. And if speaking to someone on the phone record time, date, names, positions, their locations etc. Also be precise what you want from Carnival whether it be compensation, another trip, and/or medical expenses. And only you and your grandson and his parents can make those determinations. Be sure and keep all paper work, xrays, lists of all medications and procedures and be patient.

 

If you do not get the results you would like then you have a choice as to whether you use Carnival's services again or to recommend them to any of your family, friends or acquaintances. Sometimes that is your only recourse.

I was just going to say the same thing about lack of compassion. It does suck! But, I was a nurse at a summer camp and one of my responsibilities was to communicate with parents and our insurance company in the event of an accident. I had an 8 hour class on what I could/could not say. Something as simple as "let me see what we can do to help you" was not allowed because it could be misconstrued. We had parent threaten to sue us over, among other things, a splinter and a homesick child. I had to testify in court one time (from that summer) and it was a teenage staff member who was injured when the diving board broke. He was 50 pounds over the weight limited posted on the board. Don't know what that has to do with this situation..... I ramble sometimes. I do agree that they could have done something to help you, even if it was to let you off the ship first but it seems since the vacation guarantee is being pushed so much now, guest services is of the "if you don't like it leave" mentality which isn't right at all!!

I'd go for room service breakfast. Also, if I remember correctly, there is asn option of kids eating with their groups for dinner. That would just leave lunch for the lido.

We will be on the pride in November so I've been looking :D. Most with FTTF seem to arrive at port around 11 and board 1130ish.

I have yet to see seatbelts in Nassau or Freeport

if brown gravy is available either at rotisserie or buffet, i get a small bowl of shredded cheese at salad bar, plate of french fries. Top fries with gravy then top with cheese. So good. Also for room service i get a caesars salad and a shrimp salad sandwich (it comes open faced) and dump the shrimp salad into the caesar. A lot less messy and very good. Breakfast, two pieces toast, hard fried egg from omelet station and a visit to the bacon police. Take it back to cabin and enjoy breakfast sandwich on balcony.

disco fries!! Yay!

Then pay the $25 per person as a convenience fee :rolleyes:

If you don't want to pay, just set up meeting times and locations, use a dry erase board in the cabin, and communicate! Many families and groups cruised without issue before cellphones :D

The lack of responses doesn't sound promising....

We've been to Freeport before but it was a longer day and we did a private excursion at Paradise Cove. This time around, I'm very hesitant to book anything private because of the time crunch. What can you do in Freeport at before noon!?!? Help!!

We just always park at the port in Baltimore. It's actually the cheapest cruise parking I've seen, at $105 for the week. We stayed at a hotel in glen burnie our first time on the Pride and the shuttle ride was so terrifying (zipping in and out of lanes, crossing highways with no signal, crammed 15 adults into a van with no seat belts, etc) so we refuse to do it again. Not to mention it's so cold in Baltimore to have to wait for a shuttle when you get off. I much prefer getting off, walking to my car, and being on my way.

Aside from our first cruise, we've never parked at the port! We've been fortunate enough to have family or friends that drop us off or in NY we took the train then taxi (no little ones then so no carseats). $105 is a lot less than I expected! I read in a review that it was $35-40 a day! :eek:

If you asked your mother or a teacher why you should remove your hat indoors, you would probably have gotten the, "Because I said so" response. Back in the day, manners were taught at home and in school. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case because many young mothers were never taught any manners to pass on to their children. No hats indoors, and it would be nice if the men wouldn't try to run women over to get on or off the elevator, and holding a door is still appreciated by many women.

 

It would be great if Carnival would offer an etiquette course - I am so sick of people using the wrong bread plate and forcing everyone at the table to in turn use the wrong one. Also, when you are leaving the table, but plan to return, you fold and put your napkin over the arm (or back if no arms) of your chair. Don't throw your dirty napkin on the table! Think Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman asking for instructions on the use of the utensils on a formal table setting. Our grandkids know, because the table gets set like that for birthday dinners, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Amazing how many successful adults arrive for a dinner party and have no clue which fork to use.

 

DH grew up in a family that did not emphasize manners and he had to do a crash course when he realized at company functions how out of step he was and that they were judging him by his lack of manners. Now, his are impeccable. We often give a book of etiquette as a graduation gift and have been told many times how grateful they were to receive it.

Good manners are meant to make others feel comfortable and to show them respect. Not to make them feel judged or beneath you. Perhaps you should actually read one of those etiquette books. I've attended several dinner parties in my day, many of them hosted by very successful people. I spent the evening engaging in interesting conversation and enjoying exquisite food. Never once did I waste my time watching to see who was using the wrong fork.

That looks like it might be our best option. Parking at the port is so pricey in Baltimore :D

Are there any shuttles or taxis in Baltimore that provide carseats? We'd like to leave our car and carseast at the hotel but don't want our 1 and as half year old in a van unrestrained. We have a large carseat that we'd rather not have to store on board as well.

I know this is a hot button topic but please no sanctimommy comments.

We will be cruising from Baltimore in November with an 18 month old. We would like to leave our car and carseast at the hotel and take a shuttle to the port. However, in my experience, shuttles tend to be vans with no carseats. Can anyone recommend a shuttle service that HAS carseats available? Or some kind of as suggestion short of hubby drops me and kids off at port then returns car to hotel and takes shuttle to port then reverse at the end of the cruise? TIA

Thanks! I didn't even know the scented bags existed :D

Aloha Essiesmom :D

 

WOW! I didn't know such a cruise existed. Must cost a small fortune for this cruise for 5 people 38, 38, 9, 7, 4, unless kids are half price. I can't even begin to imagine the total for a 7 day cruise.

 

What about the gratuities? Like on our RCI cruise in Sept. the "voluntary/mandatory" gratuities are $12.95pp/day so on our 9 day cruise for two it's $233.10 in gratuities. If it's the same amount for the kids, the daily family rate for 5 is $64.75 in tips, $453.25 for a 7 day cruise. Plus port fees & taxes.

 

When our 3 were those ages, we were socking away everything we could for their college educations. As it is now, our last is 23yo & the land grant college he attends is over $16,000/year in resident tuition alone plus room & board & books, etc. & this is undergraduate school. I hope he doesn't tell us he want to go to graduate school (btw, he works part-time for his spending money). Graduate school will be cutting into our cruise/retirement moneys.

 

Might I also suggest that you get a babysitter & just the two of you take a short cruise first to get a real idea what a cruise is like. The babysitter has got to cost less than the fare for the 3 kids.

 

Aloha :D

Any vacation for a family of five will come with a good price tag! Have you been to an amusement park or a zoo lately? You're easily looking at a few hundred dollars a day at many of those places. Second, if you do some research and/or work with a good travel agent, you can find great deals! We take shorter cruises, look at the off season, and limit what we spend on board and on shore excursions. And we always tip above the automatic gratuities. We've worked hard and saved for our children's education. Our oldest will begin his freshman year of college in September and his first semester is completely paid for, including room and board, thanks to scholarships and our 18 years of saving and investing. No grants and no loans needed. But, I'm not sure what that has to do with a family vacation. :rolleyes:

To the OP, our older two kids had their first cruises at 10 and 12. It has been consistently what they've asked to do every year since then. I was unsure of cruising, so we booked a 3 day from Port Canaveral and drove from Ohio to FL over 4 days with stops at parks, roadside attractions, etc., then spent the night before the cruise in Orlando. Our kids loved the children's programming and the family time we had. Our family always has breakfast and dinner together. We also have set family times (a show, mini golf, dive in movie) each day. While there kids are at their club or with friends, we planned parent time, too. Our only port we as Nassau and we went to Junkanoo beach which was free (it is much nicer now than it was then but we still had a great time!) and the strawmarket. Our second cruise was out of NY to Canada. We lived in New York so getting there was super cheap and our daughter was a huge Titanic fan so it was a no brainer. We liked it so much, we went back the next year and took my parents :) Our oldest chose not to go with us this November because he wants to spend that week with his girlfriends family (we won't bring girlfriend on the cruise) but our youngest will have his first cruise at 18 months :) There's a family cruise board on here I encourage you to check out :)

So, what do you do with diapers onboard? Regular trash? Do they provide little bags? We will be on Carnival if that helps :)

I am surprised they aren't included in auto tips. I overtip in restaurants now and usually clean up the majority of the mess my little guy makes myself! :rolleyes:

I've only looked at sailing Carnival, NCL and RC but from what I was told, the "infant in arms" is children under 6 months old and those three lines won't let you sail with a child under 6 months old. Any child booked is counted the same as adults regarding occupancy in cabins and lifeboats. At least on the three lines I mentioned that was consistently what I was told. The size limits on portacribs, etc, tends to be a lot smaller than most realize. We were at a Double Tree Inn when my son was 9 months old. He was too big (according to the safety info) for the crib they brought us. When I called the front desk, there said it was good for children up to 3 years old. After some discussion, someone came up and looked at the sticker on the crib and just said, "well...... I don't know what to say". We had a pack n play in the trunk and used that for the night. They comped our room.

No, they are full price. Disney asks for ages bevcasuse the limit the number of kids in each age group. Carnival does ask for birthdate. I assume they get the age from that if they need it. I have seen lines offer kids sale free, but whenever we looked to book them, it costs more for the adults. I just look at it as buying the room not paying per person.

Pool noodle under the fitted sheet of the sofa bed???? It worked for my oldest when he was a toddler but thought he was "too big" for a rail.

We love over the door shoe organizers! They can hold so much! Also a cheap dry erase board for message instead of post its for us. I've been known to "misplace" post its. And a pop up hamper for dirty clothes. It also helped us to bring more than one swimsuit per person because they never seem to dry! Our family has done four in a balcony and four in an inside. Our biggest problem was my son's overuse of Axe :rolleyes:

I'm looking forward to Carnival with an 18 month old because of Suess at Sea. Also, we plan to buy an inflatable bath tub to put in the shower since we won't be in as suite :) I have no experience with Princess though :cool: ETA: there is a cute review written from a 2 1/2 year olds perspective of the Carnival Pride. I know its a different ship, but it answered a lot of my questions. It's recent and on the Carnival forum

I love the over the door shoe organizers! We put post it notes, sunscreen, hairbrush, and everything in between in there! This trip will be our first with baby so disposable place mats, bibs, etc and a wrap to carry him :)

Our first cruise we, a family of four, were seated with a couple who were taking a second honeymoon and left their children with grandparents. The mom cried her way through the first dinner and kept saying how much she missed her children. Her husband was just annoyed by her crying and kept ordering drinks. We didn't see them again. Otherwise our experience with dinner has been great! We did encounter an odd family that couldn't stop insulting each other once at tea. The daughter's name was Princess. She showed her driver's license to everyone to prove it. Her mom called her a liar. The conversation just went downhill from there.