Just Back from the Dream 10/29-11/5

[sunshine 229]

And I could find many posts at the Carnival forum, if I chose to, of Carnival not meeting those goals. Cruisers are not happy with the tiny compensation Carnival gives.

 

What does Carnival do upon a port cancellation/itinerary change?

 

Port Cancellation Policy

If Carnival Cruise Lines ("Carnival") has adequate notice prior to sailing that a vessel will deviate from the published itinerary, it will promptly upon making the itinerary change notify passengers of the change through their travel agents or directly, in the case of a direct booking ("the Notice"). The Notice shall offer passengers an opportunity to cancel their booking without penalty within 24 hours of the delivery of the Notice. Carnival shall not be liable to guests for any charges, fees or expenses paid or owed to third parties (such as air travel booked by a guest directly with an airline) in connection with a cancelled booking or substituted port. In the event a passenger does not cancel his or her cruise on a timely basis, no additional compensation for the itinerary change will be offered to the passenger at a later time.

In the event the itinerary change becomes necessary while the ship is at sea or when notice prior to sailing is not feasible, Carnival shall attempt to substitute an alternative port. Carnival shall promptly provide written notice of the itinerary change to the passengers as well as announcing the change in the Carnival Capers and via the public address system. No compensation shall be provided to passengers when an alternative port is offered.

If safety, scheduling or other concerns prevent the ship from calling on an alternative port, Carnival shall promptly provide written notice of the elimination of the scheduled port to the passengers as well as announcing the change in the Carnival Capers and via the public address system. The written notice shall also offer a shipboard credit of $20.00 (U.S.D.) per person to be reflected on the sail and sign account.

Nothing herein shall affect the passenger's ability to exercise the Vacation Guarantee on sailings where it applies.

 

NCL usually gives more than $20 per person. NCL offers some compensation even when it finds alternative ports. NCL also gives potential passengers more than a day when changing the port of depature. For example, upon changing the Sun's homeport from New Orleans to Houston, then to Miami, NCL gave over three full weeks for its customers to cancel. Carnival, according to this website, will gve just one day.

 

So, what Carnival is promising is already less than what NCL delivers.

 

Just a couple of quick comments.

From the above it appears that Carnival agrees to give notification of the change and then allow 24 hours after such notification. I seem to remember posters on this board who claimed that they were never notified by NCL despite the fact that they had booked with NCL directly.

 

I guess it is up to each individual to decide if they prefer to be notified and given only 24 hours to mke the decision, or to be left in the dark to find out for themselves but have a bigger window to decide about cancelling.

 

You say NCL 'usually' gives more than $20 but that doesn't help the people who were on the cruises and apparently were told they would receive no compensation. It is a strange thing about human nature but some how, the one thing most of us seem to dislike even more than getting no compensation, is to see people in a situation similar to ours getting compensated and then find ourselves in the group that has apparently been singled out to receive nothing.

 

Once again, it may be well within NCL's legal rights to pick and choose who they will compensate. I just don't think it is very smart policy to hand it out in such an uneven and apparently illogical manner.

[Chalker Guy]

I was on the NCL Sea last January with Captain Lars, who is now on the Dream. He runs a great ship, in my opinion. We are repeating the Jan. cruise this year on the Dream. NCL's website yesterday showed Roatan and Belize as the only ports for the 11/19 and 11/26 cruises, but the full normal itinerary beginning 12/3. They apparantly are counting on the engine problem being fixed by then. I hope they're right, but will have a great time regardless. A rare opportunity to see Veracruz and Uxmal would be awesome, though we too would miss the snorkeling opportunities, being from landlocked Nebraska. Has anyone used Star Tours in Belize recently for snorkel excursions?:)

[cruiser-dude]

Remember we are sailing on the NCL Dream, not the NCL Sun.

You posted information from the address I gave that made your point, but left out the one with the multiple itinerary changes that show substituted ports...

 

I did not post from carnival.com because we have no permission to do so.

NCL has offered no Dream passengers any opportunity to cancel with full refund. I just confirmed this by phone with TA. (Carnival does give notice of the change and gives you 24 hours to stay or go with full refund.)

NCL has not attempted to find other ports. (Carnival does and is.)

NCL removed web postings of their changed itineraries. (Carnival added these.)

I could go on, but them's just the facts - kept in context. ;)

[electricron]

Well, the Dream made it all the way to Roatan today. It'll easily make it to Belize City tomorrow.

So, it appears you will see two of your original ports, unless another storm brews up.

Cancun and Cosumel are closed anyways.

[bmuskie]

I came back from this same cruise and I too had a different experience from Miss S. We had wonderful service at every restaurant. The service was so good. They were on top of us with anything we needed and it almost felt like they were lingering over our shoulder waiting for us to need something. We went to either the four seasons, the terraces, or the trattoria restaurants for dinner every night. the times that we went to eat varried from 6:00, 7:30, 8:00, to even at 9:30 one night. The longest we waited was 0 minutes. I have no idea what others were doing and where they were "waiting" but we never had to wait for a table. They did seem to have problem keeping cups out next to the drink machines at the pizzeria and the buffet but not the small plastic mugs for coffee and tea. What amazed me most is how many stupid people on the ship couldn't seem to figure out that a mug holds ice and your drink too! I thought the ship was incredibly clean. I never saw anything that could be construed as dirty except for my plate when I was finished eating. :) The halls did smell at times. Some times they smelled like windex, others like carpet cleaner, sometimes it smelled like air freshener. Whenever it did smell, it always smelled to me like cleaning products. Our room stewards (yes there were 2) who took care of our inside cabin were both outstanding. they were more than helpful in getting us anything we needed such as extra towels and washcloths, rearranging our room the way we needed, making sure that the wine we had gotten for our room remained chilled etc. We got to talk to them on a couple of occassions and were as nice as can be. As for the internet cafe, I went in there every day and I never saw this female crew person that miss S talks about. Everytime I went in there was a male crew person who was very helpful. Maybe I kept getting lucky and got the good guy. The food was outstanding. I have been on quite a few cruises on mutiple different lines and this ranked up there as being one of the best. Not THE best but certainly better than most. I am opposite of miss S I have nothing but good things to say because my wife and I felt as though we were being treated like royalty. We always had things to do and had such a wonderful time. As a side note about the people on the cruise I found years ago that if you treat the people that work on the boat really well they will treat you like you own the ship. My wife and I both noticed many people that felt that they were the most important people on the boat and that everyone, including the other passengers, should serve them. We made sure though that this did not take away from our wonderful vacation.

[vette]

bmuskie,

 

Thanks so much for your upbeat review. It did my heart good to hear that you enjoyed the Dream as much as we are looking forward to enjoying her!

 

I can't wait till we board the ship and start our long-awaited vacation.

 

Vette

[kannruss]

Thanks nurse for your post - I have until 1/7/06 til my cruise on the Dream and yours made me feel better. Appreciate that - oh yeah and we're neighbors - I'm over here in Fort Worth!

[Don Haynes]

There is a news article at Cruise Critics above about the Dream's engine problems. Its worth reading, dated 11-10-05.....

 

They can and will make the repair at sea. Hopefully soon.....