Donh44

Can't help but notice John Heald posted lots of pictures of Cabo today, specifically all had Splendor in the photo. There was also an individual post asking if people have been on Splendor before. And he has, from time to time, used photos and random posts to hint at things like this.

 

Could this be a hint that Splendor is coming back? If so that seems like it would also mean another round of South America cruises.

 

Thoughts?

I don't know when or if the Splendor is coming back to the west coast. But, I am booked on the Splendor in September out of New York for 7 day sailing to New England/Canada. I know it will be in New York thru the fall, after that, I don't know.

What happens in your case if you had paid for airline tickets, does the cruiseline reimburse for the airfare? That has now made me question this because we usually fly to the port for departure.

Did you have Travel Insurance? Would that apply in a situation like this? I would think that it would.

Check out the latest Carnival Cruise Line news from Cruise Critic:

 

Carnival Cruise Line to Charge for Some Room Service

In all my years of cruising, I have never ordered room service. I don't get it when the food is free. Certainly not going to get it if I have to pay for it. Just get on the elevator and go up and get all you want.

Only live once and can't take the money with you! I'm not in my room often but when I am it definitely gets used. Just book the balcony and enjoy. How far out are you looking?

I mostly travel solo, so, for me, the cost would be prohibitive. However, if it were a cruise, say, to Alaska or thru the Panama Canal, where sitting on the balcony you could see something, then I would go for the balcony. Not worth it to me to just sit out there and see water. Another good time to have a balcony would be if you were to go to Bermuda and the ship is your hotel for two or three days then the balcony would be fantastic. Just my opinion. Every one has their reasons.

Thank you to each of you for the kind words and all the prayers. We are finally back home and thankfully my husband is making progress toward recovery from a very rough experience. We are very blessed. We got back on Feb 18th and my husband was finally back home on Feb 25th.

 

We sailed on Carnival Splendor out of Miami on 1/11/15. Kenny had a heart attack right after sitting down to dinner the very first night. We had ordered and introduced ourselves to our wait staff when he started to feel ill. We ended up going by wheelchair (one of the waiters RAN while pushing him in a wheelchair) to the infirmary where he received amazing care in a matter of minutes. The medical staff was professional and totally knew what they were doing. We were both very impressed. It was determined in short order that he needed to be evacuated and fast. We were heading to two days at sea before our first port so he wouldn't be able to get the care he was going to need on board. We were medi vac off the ship around midnight onto a smaller boat for a long, rough, and windy ride to Freeport. Carnival diverted the ship as close to Freeport as possible even though we were not scheduled to stop in the Bahamas. Once there we were taken to a local hospital so he could be stabilized. We were there for 12 hours and then we were medi vac by air ambulance to Ft Lauderdale to the Broward Heart Hospital which is a level 1 trama center.

While the stay in Freeport was brief and the staff was wonderful you do not want to be in the hospital there. Very old equipment and out dated technology to say the least. Thankfully we were able to get to Ft Lauderdale quickly. IF he had only had a heart attaqck we would have been home in less than a week. They did a heart catheraztion and put in 2 stinks and his heart was up and running fine.

 

Unfortunetly he aspirated on the medical flight (threw up into his own lungs) while he was strapped down upon take off and things went down hill fast. He developed aspiration pnemonia which is pretty serious by itself. When they treated the pnemonia it killed all of the good bacteria in his body and he developed C-Diff which is a serious infection in his gut. Over the course of the next two weeks his kidneys shut down, his bowels stopped working, and his colon stopped processing. He had respiratory failure and was on 100% breathing machine. His became septic and went into septic shock. He was on 24 hour a day kidney dialisis for 4 days and then had an additional three days of 4 hour a day dialisis. He was sedated for a total of 19 days and was delerious for a week after that. He had two main lines put in, was tubed twice and had to have a trach put in on day 18.

 

When it was all said and done he spent 33 days in CVICU and an additional 6 days in a regular room. We had to have a medical transport home to Indiana (an RN went on a commerical flight with us) and he was on oxygen for the flight home. Once home he had to go to a rehab center to regain his balance enough to be home alone so I could go back to work. Last Thursday he was readmitted to our local hospital because he was feeling horrible after only a week or so home. He ended up being dehydrated and having a urinary tract infection as well as a stomach virus. He is home again as of yesterday and the virus will run it's course. He is on meds for the infection and hopefully he will start physical, occupational and cardiac rehab again next week.

We are praying he will make a full recovery in time. He lost so much muscle mass being sedated and in bed for 33 days that it is going to take time. He has a good attitude and wants to get better and get back to work so that is a huge part of the recovery process.

I feel very blessed that we received the amazing care in the infirmary, in Freeport as well as at Broward Hospital. I am afraid if we had been sent to a different hospital or had any other team of doctors he very well may not have made it thru it all. The team of doctors he had in Ft Lauderdale were nothing short of miracle workers with everything he was dealing with at once. They truly saved his life.

 

I had often wondered what kind of medical care you would get on a ship if you ever needed it? I now know they can do what needs to be done and they are amazing. We hope to sail the Splendor again (as of now we are booked to sail her to Canada/New England in September) and hope to have a chance to say thank you in person.

 

We were supposed to be on the Glory this week for a cruise but we had to cancel that one as he isn't strong enough yet to be on a cruise and I am out of vacation time due to being gone for almost 6 weeks while all of this was going on. We will sail again and it will be on Carnival. We will be lifetime supporters and customers after the way they took care of us in our most desperate time of need.

 

We always have sailed with travel insurance and like most people have considered not buying it a time or two just because we never used it in 25 previous cruises. All I can say is I am so thankfull we had it. The air flight from the Bahamas alone was almost 12K and every penny was covered by the insurance. I don't even know yet what all of the other things cost but quite a lot of it will be covered once I am able to get the claim sumitted. I was pleasently surprised to learn that the cruise insurance also will cover up to 10K of non covered medical costs after our regular insurance pays. We may have enough to cover most of our deductables and out of pocket costs. What a blessing it is that we spent that $90 per person just to be on the safe side!

 

Sorry this is so long but quite a few people asked how he was doing and what actually happened so I wanted to fill you all in. Thank you all again for the prayers, we felt them all the way to Florida. Safe travels :)

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So glad that everything worked out and that he is home and on the mend. What an ordeal and thank you for sharing that. It had to be a harrowing experience.

I am going to be on the Splendor on Sept 6 to New England/Canada. Hope to get to meet you and see that you are enjoying a well deserved cruise. Check out the Roll Call for 9/6/15 - Splendor and join us on there.

What is pvp? I booked directly through carnival. This is our base price. Does this mean I need to submit a form for the $15 difference? Does it matter how often we do this?

PVP - Personal Vacation Planner This would be the person that you booked your cruise thru at Carnival.

I apologize for asking a question that's obviously been asked before. I should have searched, I was just looking for more specific to me responses I guess. I thought a lot of times the vacation protection deals more with transfers from the plane to the ship and vice versa & I won't be dealing with any of that.

 

As for whether I'm "new" or a "lurker", I don't come on these boards 24/7/365. I come here when I book a cruise and want information. I've been a member here for over 5 years if that answers your question.

 

For those of you who actually answered my question and/or shared your experiences and input, thank you. I think I'll keep the protection, just to be on the safe side. Thanks.

You are smart for keeping the protection that you have. I would never take the risk of leaving the US without having coverage to get me back should an emergency come up. It could, literally, cost you thousands of dollars. I am acquainted with someone who took a land trip several years ago and landed in Italy. Within an hour he had a heart attack and was hospitalized in an Italian hospital and eventually had to be flown back here.

Right, I was looking for a video that's current. The video posted here is old...

That video is several years old. I had friends who were on the RCCL when it happened. Both ships were damaged but not to the point that they were incapacitated. They went in for repairs after the end of their cruise. I had a first hand account of the accident.

I am on the side of all of you!!! I have done six solo cruises and I truly wish Carnival would give double credit for those solo sailings, I would have an additional 41 days and be around the 140 days mark to get me to Diamond....

 

Perhaps the new CEO of Carnival will correct that if we speak up

My last 3 cruises have been solo. Might be a good idea if the solo travelers started sending letters to the CEO and expressing that concern of getting double days since we are paying double fare. They might consider it since they don't give us anything else for it.

When I open fare viewer I get an error message that unable to pull up ship said date. Is anyone else having this problem? Thanks

I just checked FareViewer yesterday for a cruise and had no problem.

We were on the NCL Epic and like you, we were very very disappointed for all the same reasons. We got off the Epic and right onto CCL.....what a difference.

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Staff: CCL has far more staff visible at all times. They are far friendlier and go out of their way to "please"....not so on Epic.

 

Dining: We encountered not only slow service on Epic, but rude service and awful food. Even when being "nickled and dimed" to death in their "for fee" restaurants the food was way below the level of the MDR free food on CCL. As for pizza, NCL's was horrible, we much prefer CCL's. However, one change that you should know about is that the pizza place no longer serves Caesar salads (boo hoo - we loved that too) with the chicken grilled on it.

 

Ship: The Epic was claustrophobic to us, narrow tight halls, mini sized cabins compared to CCL. We upgraded to what NCL called a "mini suite" to just get a balcony cabin the same size as a standard balcony on CCL. It seemed on Epic that they squeezed as many cabins into that ship to have over 4000 pax..very few windows, and an awful almost "non lobby" lobby.

 

Entertainment: Although Epic had Blue Man Group, Cirque Dinner Theatre (for a fee), 2nd City....we found that once you saw those shows there was

very little else to do. Epic had a comedy room that was far too small for a ship that size.....we were actually bored many evenings....but rarely are we bored on a CCL ship.

 

Room Service: Still free 24/7 on CCL....Epic "nickled and dimed" their pax...so we never used their room service ever.

 

Overall, if you were happy as a passenger in the past on CCL, you will still much prefer it to the NCL Epic experience for sure. Even with some changes to the menu, entertainment etc...CCL is a far more passenger friendly cruise lines with more to do for FREE (included in your fare).

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AMEN to all of that. I sailed solo on the Epic and was bored stiff in the evenings. Small selection of lounges. Lobby? What lobby? Also no deck to walk around the ship.

I just completed my last minute booking sailing on 11/22/14 on Sunshine so...

3 days "left"!

Too many. 288 as of today. Might have to do something about that. Living in Florida gives me the opportunity of some short 3 & 4 days cruises.

Where's Bermuda?

 

It's been almost 14 years since they called on the island in season.

I asked a Carnival rep some time ago about Bermuda cruises and was told that the cost for them to berth there was exorbitant. Hence they are only going there once this year, I believe. I would think that it would be a popular destination. I know that I want to go there.

We are booked with early saver and I see that the price has dropped below what we originally paid. I am unable to get in touch with our PVP. What other way can I get the new price? I am trying to look on the Carnival site to see what to do but am uncessful.

I just went thru that exact same thing today. I booked a cruise several weeks ago. I did a mock reservation and saw that the price had dropped $40.00. I submitted the reduction request form but never got an answer. Found out today that the price drop was for a different category cabin. It can be a bit confusing. I have a phone number for Guest Solutions and they were very helpful in explaining it to me and told me that if I ever see a price drop again to call them and they would be happy to walk me thru it and, possibly, submit the form for me. Here is the phone number: 1-800-819-3902 ext77788. Good luck.

The way I have $1 and $5 bills for the cruise is that I "hoard" cash all year. At the end of each week when I get cash for the following, I put what I have leftover from the previous week in an envelope. I always have enough cash for tips, and the casino as well as being able to pay off our onboard expenses while onboard. I also save change and take it to the change machine at the credit union where the coin counter is free.

I just had to comment on your post. I NEVER spend $1.00 bills. At the end of every day I drop any $1.00 bills in a large coffee can. You would be blown away at the end of the month of how many that you have. These are never used for anything except for my vacation wherever I am going. I have had plenty of disposable cash for several cruises and even this past spring on the trip to England.

Looking at booking Canada New England on the Splendour and whatre your thoughts on the ship and doing this inteneray and does the ship sail out of NYC or NJ? So if you fly into NYC and we want to do a pre cruise in NY and stay at Times Square, and how far is it from Times Square to the cruise terminal?

 

 

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I am booked on the Splendor for Sept 2015 for NE/Canada. I have taken this same cruise before but on the Victory. The ship sails out of New York. The port is not far from Times Square. Of the cruises that I have taken so far, this is the best cruise that I have taken. The ports od call are great and it is a beautiful part of our country. You will love it. Hopefully others will comment on your other concerns.

Check the rates, just submitted my early saver form for my December cruise. Fingers crossed because this will pay for our cruise plus...a little.

 

 

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I booked a cruise to New England/Canada last Tuesday and on Monday of this week the price dropped $40.00 for my reservation. I was so surprised that there was a drop already. Already completed my price reduction request form. Cruise isn't until Sept 2015. Maybe more drops ahead.

My wife and I recently returned from the October 5, 2014 sailing of the Carnival Valor out of San Juan. Prior to the cruise, I read a lot of reviews here that were very helpful and informative. I figured that I'd try my own hand at writing a review to pass along our experience and help others relive their experience or get excited about their coming cruise.

 

First, a little about us. This was our third cruise - all on Carnival. We took our honeymoon in October of 2012 on the Victory, so this was our second cruise on this itinerary. In 2012, Superstorm Sandy was happening, so our last port of call into St. Maarten was canceled due to sea swells. Last October, we cruised on the Pride out of Baltimore to Port Canaveral, Freeport, and Nassau. we had a good time on that cruise, but our honeymoon cruise on the Victory and this itinerary drew us back. There is just something incredibly majestic about the beaches of the Southern Caribbean and we LOVED the ports on this itinerary.

 

My wife and I are pretty laid back and really enjoy cruising. We are not complainers and try to see the best of every situation. We have absolutely loved every Carnival cruise and ship that we've been on. We began planning for this cruise in November of 2013, so we almost had a full year of planning and excitement prior to sailing. We have always had a balcony cabin and love being able to be out there as much as we can. This year, we invited some close friends of ours to come along for the cruise and they booked an inside cabin across the hall from us.

 

I will be posting more details as time permits, but here is the youtube video I made from our trip. The video is 17 minutes long and I am not a professional video taker or editor. :)

 

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Very nice job. Loved the combination of photos and videos. Friends of mine took that same cruise on the day that you got back and they loved it. Congrats on a very nice video review.

No offense, your friend sounds like a stuck up b*&ch :p

 

CCL and HAL are two very different lines. As they should be! They have the same owners and as such target two different markets.

 

Personally, I'd never book a HAL cruise at this point in my life. Don't care for small ships, don't like being overly formal, don't like having an average age that high, prefer having more to do on board.

 

I wouldn't take it personally, I'd remind them "to each their own" and tell them to enjoy their floating retirement home ;) I had clients who tried HAL once and their comment when they returned was that "the average age on board was deceased" lol so if we're making sweeping accusations, I'm just gonna throw that out there!

Loved your response and right on the mark. Sounds to me like that particular person feels that CCL is not good enough for them.

I remember when Carnival used to get 110% on their inspection scores.

Further sign of how the cut backs have ruined this company !

Never sailing with them again until they allowing smoking on the balconies

and reduce the price of the all you can drink package.

 

 

;)

Oh well

We went out of Jacksonville last December but I can't remember how cold it was. This time our kids will be with us & they will want to use the slides. We will be going to the Bahamas. I'm guessing it will be pretty warm there.

Early December in Jax should be fine unless there is a specific weather system. Jan & Feb are more unpredictable. Lived in Fl for 26 years and my kids have been swimming in the neighbor's pool on Christmas Eve. Usually, if there is a cold spell, the northern part of the country is really freezing.

I was on the Pride just 10 days ago and it was NOT included.

 

The link you provided does say it is though...strange!

I didn't see anywhere where Bingo is included. I took it as indicating that Bingo is available.

Can't say definitively, but I think your hat is ok too.

 

I wear baseball hats every day, and don't ever remember being asked to take it off.

I was taught at a very early age at home and at school that a man should remove his hat when entering a building. It is a courtesy. Seeing a man sitting at a table having a meal with a hat on is not appropriate.

If you have asked your self this question when offered the opportunity to obtain this card while cruising I can say YES~! We use this card for everyday purchases and while it may not rack up the points as fast as some of the more advanced cards do it's provided us with some really good cruising points. You earn double points on all Carnival related purchases. I opt to get a statement credit when we turn our points into cash. I prefer being able to earn the additional double credits for all on board purchases by using my card for our S&S account.

 

I also learned that this card also extends the manufacture warranty on some products. My Ipad stopped working and I was beyond the initial one year warranty period. Someone suggested I check my credit card company to see if they extend the warranty for an additional year. Sure enough they do offer that as a benefit. When I contacted them they provided all the necessary info for the benefit process. It was the easiest process I have ever completed. I couldn't have asked for anything easier. I have the check on my desk for my replacement Ipad.

 

Yes, there are cards that offer quarterly points bonuses but for me those tend to limit the amount that they allow and often times I forget which card is offering what. I'm so glad I use this card as my primary card!

I have one and love it. Have never used any of the points yet but will be using them for OBC on the next cruises.

We were on the Fascination 5 nights out of Jacksonville to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. I will not write a full informational review since we honestly didn't do much!! We slept late, ate anytime dining, and played in the casino most of the time. But that is exactly what we went to do and it was a wonderful cruise.

 

1. Embarkation - arrived about 11:15 and advised to park in the lot and hail a porter as there was a backup in the "drop your luggage and then park" line. That worked fine. I am Platinum and in an ES Suite so we had Priority luggage delivery. (not sure which gave us the perk, but it was a mighty fine perk.)

They had just begun boarding about 11:30 so we boarded as soon as we checked in the VIP lounge. I couldn't hear the announcements as to whom boarded first. The lady who checked us in asked if we had been ill in the last 48 hours, and of all things, she asked me (71 yrs old!!!!) if I were pregnant!!!! I said I knew I had gained a little weight but not that much and why did she ask!!!! She said if I were pregnant she would need a note from my doctor! Let's just hope she was trying to be cute......

2. We dropped off our carry ons in the cabin which was ready and went straight to the Lido for lunch. We were one of the first there. I took a little of a lot and wasted most of it as I didn't think it was good. Food is subjective. With that said, I did enjoy anything made to order such as pizza, sandwiches, and hamburgers. I am not a fan of buffet food anyway, and I understand how many people love it. I just like my food "hot out of the pot" and that was not to be on the regular buffet line...

3. We returned to the cabin after lunch and our luggage was there! It was so nice to be able to unpack after which meant the beginning of our vacation because I hate to unpack. The hanging space in the suite was tight in the walk in closet, but there were more than enough drawers to share and the length of the cabin was counter space. The bathroom was adequate with fantastic water pressure in the shower. Arvin, our steward, was the best I have had on any cruise, and we have been on many cruise lines on many cruises so that is saying a lot.

4. Beds - There has been discussion on this forum on his subject. I found the bed hard and uncomfortable. My husband found the bed fine. So there you go! Subjective again. I think best beds are on Holland America and the next best are on Celebrity. I used to like Carnival beds but they are not the same.

5. Platinum gift was ceramic travel mug.

6. Dinner - we had Anytime Dining and it worked great. We asked for a table for 2 the first night, and we were so happy with the location of the table and the waitstaff that we requested the same each night and never had a problem getting the same each night. We arrived between 7 and 7:30 each night and only had to wait once. It was nice that they gave you a buzzer so that you could walk around the ship until buzzed. Really nice! Food is subjective as well. Both of us found the food to be good to good+. Not excellent, but good. We were pleased.

The only service I found indifferent was at the Sea Day brunch. These guys didn't seem to care about anything! But the Eggs Benedict were good+!!!!

7. Elegant night - FIRST TIME EVER OBSERVATION A family of 5 were ahead of us in the line into the dining room and were obviously not dressed elegantly...(I'm one of those who does not care about what one wears; I just follow the rules and am a happy camper) The Maitre 'd said quietly to the father "This is elegant nigh and you will have to change before being served in the dining room!" They left immediately. So for those of you who wonder if the rule is upheld, it was in this case. There were many men in sport shirts, no tie, and no coat but looked very nice.

8. Tour - We signed up for the Behind the Scenes Tour which we enjoyed very much. It was $55 person and did not disappoint.

9. Little Stirrup Cay - We rented a clam shell on line, and in my opinion, it is the best way to enjoy this island if you want peace and quiet. We have been to Half Moon Cay and get a cabana each time which is great, but the location of the cabanas on LSC is awful in my opinion. A tram took us to the other side of the island to the clam shells (about 15 total) There is an attendant who brings glasses, water, ice and a bottle of champagne. The sand is soft and white and the view of the ocean is beautiful, and it is so peaceful. A tram will take you to the lunch buffet and transport you back if you want to eat on the island. We did not so I can't comment on the (subjective) food. The tram also transports you back to the tenders. We were very happy with this $50 purchase and felt it was well worth the money.

10. Nassau - we just went to our favorite "shack" there for lunch and our favorite dish - Conch salad, and it did not disappoint. McKenzies at the base of the bridge from Paradise Island.

11. COMPLAINT There is only one!!! Each evening about midnight when I was through making donations in the casino , I took a walk on the Lido. On the way from the Casino on deck 9 to the lido on deck 10, I was almost knocked down by running, screaming children racing to see who could get to the top of the stairs first. I honestly felt unsafe. This happened the two nights I did this. Children were running everywhere....packs of children. "Carnival, listen to me! Post someone in the evening at the stairs to control the running children. An accident is about to happen! Think liability!"

12. Debarkation What a breeze!!!! We received the letter to report to the Sensation Dining Room at 9:30 and someone would escort us off after the self debarkation people were through. We arrived about 9:15 and Platinum and Diamond were asked to sit in one area and FTTF people were seated in another area. About 9:50 they dismissed Diamond and Platinum. Two elevators were reserved and the attendant took us from Deck 8 to deck 3 to disembark. In the luggage room there were many porters waiting to help (get one even if you don't need help as they have a special line to get out) , pulled our luggage, followed porter to the customs line that had no one waiting and off we went to the parking lot with the porter. He packed our car and we were leaving at 10:05. Now that is fast, hassle free and the best ever!!!! (The two customs lines for people without porters were about 20 people long.....not too bad but not as good as no waiting!)

13. Our cruise was better than expected. We did exactly what we wanted to do which is the way a cruise should be. I can't comment on any other activities on the ship, but I am happy to answer any questions you think I might have the answers to. I appreciate this board as it has helped me for many years. Hopefully, I have help some of you trying to make decisions before your cruise.

Great review. Loved it. I was on the Fascination the week before you and got off on the morning of the 25th. We "rocked & rolled" because of the storm at sea. I was wondering how the seas were when you went out. They were pretty high when we came into Jax at 7:00AM. I thought of you guys all day and wondering how you made out. My cruise was a 4 nighter to The Bahamas and I never left the ship. Nice and relaxing. Had no complaints.