Bahamas rears its ugly head

[sparks1093]

21 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I'm not even complaining about if the ship is already scheduled. I'm talking about I've booked it and thought I locked in the price. Idk about hotels. If i paid at the time i booked the hotel, i also cant imagine getting there and them saying i owed more. New bookings I can understand adding it. But not if you already are booked at a price you have in writing. 

 

 

and I get it, I'm in the minority and most say it's fine to add on charges after I book and it's too late to cancel. Lucky I only have 2 this year going there. Some out of florida I'm sure had many more affected.

 

The example above says royal shouldnt absorb 3500, if 3500 booked, but the ship wasnt all booked when this was added on, only affects those who booked ahead this year. Just my opinion. As noted above hits jan 1st this year. 

Before COVID they very well may have absorbed the cost, as I understand it many cruise companies did just that. But given the amount of debt that the cruise lines amassed during their shut down it doesn't really surprise me that they are changing past practice. No doubt one of the reasons they have it outlined in the contract.

[d9704011]

23 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

No doubt one of the reasons they have it outlined in the contract.

Sort of like the option to add adjustments for the cost of fuel.  Don't see that often as cruise lines have plenty of options around the price they pay (location where fuel is purchased) and how they may consume it, but it's there just the same.

[BlerkOne]

The Bahamas increased the passenger tax in July 2023. 

 

Carnival's ticket contract is more transparent than Royal. Just saying.

[CheckersMidwest]

For those worried about travel advisories. Have you looked at the US passport / travel site? There are advisories for just about everywhere! Different levels 1, 2, 3, etc. I'm going on an 8 day in May to Aruba, Dominican, & Curacao. Guess what? They're all on the list !

[d9704011]

4 minutes ago, CheckersMidwest said:

For those worried about travel advisories. Have you looked at the US passport / travel site? There are advisories for just about everywhere! Different levels 1, 2, 3, etc. I'm going on an 8 day in May to Aruba, Dominican, & Curacao. Guess what? They're all on the list !

Indeed.  Here is an excerpt from Travel Canada for the United States:

 

Crime

Petty crime

Petty crime, such as pickpocketing and purse snatching, occurs, particularly in urban centres and tourist locations.

• Don’t leave bags or valuables unattended in parked cars, especially rental vehicles, even in trunks
• Ensure that your belongings, including passports and other travel documents, are secure at all times

Violent crime

Within large urban areas, violent crime more commonly occurs in poor neighbourhoods, particularly from dusk to dawn. It often involves intoxication.  Incidents of violent crime are mainly carried out by gangs or members of organized crime groups but may also be perpetrated by lone individuals. Although violent crime rarely affects tourists:

• be mindful of your surroundings at all time
• verify official neighbourhood crime statistics before planning an outing
• if threatened by robbers, stay calm and don’t resist

Crime Data Explorer – Federal Bureau of Investigation

Gun violence

The rate of firearm possession in the US is high. It’s legal in many states for US citizens to openly carry firearms in public.

Incidences of mass shootings occur, resulting most often in casualties. Although tourists are rarely involved, there is a risk of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

Familiarize yourself on how to respond to an active shooter situation.

Active Shooter Event Quick Reference Guide - Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

Home break-ins

Canadians living in holiday homes have been the victims of break-ins and burglary.

Make sure you lock windows and doors securely at night and when you are away.

Common criminal strategies

Be on alert for robbery ploys targeting visitors.

Some criminals on highways target travellers leaving airports or other tourist destinations. They signal tourists to stop due to an issue with their vehicle. They then wait for the driver to pull over or exit the car before grabbing exposed valuables. Criminals may also throw items at the windshield, obscuring the view of the road and forcing the driver to pull over. 

If you’re the victim of such a ploy:

• avoid pulling over on the side of the road
• put on your hazard lights and slowly drive to a gas station, police station or other safe and populated area

[FTLCruiseGal]

1 hour ago, CheckersMidwest said:

For those worried about travel advisories. Have you looked at the US passport / travel site? There are advisories for just about everywhere! Different levels 1, 2, 3, etc. I'm going on an 8 day in May to Aruba, Dominican, & Curacao. Guess what? They're all on the list !

Thanks for bringing us all back to the original topic.  It did so way off course.

[lazydayz]

On 2/9/2024 at 3:32 PM, Butterbean1000 said:

Because we are a litigious society.   We are always trying to blame someone else for our own actions.  Now I am not saying these women are at fault.  If anything at all, being a little too trusting, maybe.  But they did not deserve what happened to them.  The people at fault are the low life bottom feeders who perpetrated the crime.

 

And their employer, if they are indeed employees of the resort. 

[CoasterGuy]

5 hours ago, CheckersMidwest said:

For those worried about travel advisories. Have you looked at the US passport / travel site? There are advisories for just about everywhere! Different levels 1, 2, 3, etc. I'm going on an 8 day in May to Aruba, Dominican, & Curacao. Guess what? They're all on the list !

 

All countries are level 1 at a minimum, which means exercise normal caution. 

[mz-s]

7 minutes ago, CoasterGuy said:

 

All countries are level 1 at a minimum, which means exercise normal caution. 

 

The problem with warnings is everything has one. 

[BlerkOne]

5 hours ago, CheckersMidwest said:

For those worried about travel advisories. Have you looked at the US passport / travel site? There are advisories for just about everywhere! Different levels 1, 2, 3, etc. I'm going on an 8 day in May to Aruba, Dominican, & Curacao. Guess what? They're all on the list !

If they rated the US it would get an F-.

[Joebucks]

Another day, another unfortunately occurrence that is sensationalized because the word cruise can be found in this story. This can and does happen in any US city. However, it won't make the same headlines as big scary boat! No one told me this could happen!

Edited February 13 by Joebucks

[DallasGuy75219]

13 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I'm not even complaining about if the ship is already scheduled. I'm talking about I've booked it and thought I locked in the price. Idk about hotels. If i paid at the time i booked the hotel, i also cant imagine getting there and them saying i owed more. New bookings I can understand adding it. But not if you already are booked at a price you have in writing. 

 

 

and I get it, I'm in the minority and most say it's fine to add on charges after I book and it's too late to cancel. Lucky I only have 2 this year going there. Some out of florida I'm sure had many more affected.

 

The example above says royal shouldnt absorb 3500, if 3500 booked, but the ship wasnt all booked when this was added on, only affects those who booked ahead this year. Just my opinion. As noted above hits jan 1st this year. 

Yeah we get it, you've said it 3 times already.  If you don't like it, you should probably stop booking because the contract of carriage says they can pass the increased port fees on to you even after you booked and paid in full.  But complaining on here isn't going to do a thing to change it.

Edited February 13 by DallasGuy75219

[ontheweb]

14 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

If they rated the US it would get an F-.

Since they give ratings on a scale of 1-5, that would be a quite interesting rating. 🤦‍♂️

[Incognito1]

On 2/12/2024 at 6:54 PM, BlerkOne said:

If they rated the US it would get an F-.

Port cities on the list of the most violent cities in the US:

Baltimore (#2), New Orleans (#7), Miami (#12), Charleston (#14), Norfolk (#43)

 

Outside of some large cities, the US is pretty safe.

[drvmywifecrzy]

I wouldn't be surprised if Carnival puts some reserves on their books for this incident.

[BlerkOne]

2 hours ago, Incognito1 said:

Port cities on the list of the most violent cities in the US:

Baltimore (#2), New Orleans (#7), Miami (#12), Charleston (#14), Norfolk (#43)

 

Outside of some large cities, the US is pretty safe.

80% of the US population lives in cities. I don't consider the cities on your list to be large, nor for the list to be current. Cities like New York and Los Angeles are large.

[BlerkOne]

2 hours ago, drvmywifecrzy said:

I wouldn't be surprised if Carnival puts some reserves on their books for this incident.

I would.

[DallasGuy75219]

2 hours ago, drvmywifecrzy said:

I wouldn't be surprised if Carnival puts some reserves on their books for this incident.

The GAAP criteria for recording a contingent liability are that it's probable a loss has been incurred and the amount of the loss is reasonably estimable.  As the women went to the resort on their own, not on a Carnival excursion, it's not likely a loss has been incurred, therefore there's no contingent liability to accrue.

[staceyglow]

nm

Edited February 18 by staceyglow

[staceyglow]

33 minutes ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

The GAAP criteria for recording a contingent liability are that it's probable a loss has been incurred and the amount of the loss is reasonably estimable.  As the women went to the resort on their own, not on a Carnival excursion, it's not likely a loss has been incurred, therefore there's no contingent liability to accrue.

 

And it would have to be a material amount, which it would not be compared to Carnival Corp's total revenue.

[Incognito1]

5 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

80% of the US population lives in cities. I don't consider the cities on your list to be large, nor for the list to be current. Cities like New York and Los Angeles are large.

It's from 2023.  But your point is well taken.  I'd assume that NYC is now in the top 10 (no source, just an assumption.)

[DallasGuy75219]

On 2/12/2024 at 8:00 AM, mz-s said:

The Bahamas and Nassau knows for example that there are very few ports that can accommodate the super ships that the mainstream lines are building these days. Nassau is one of the few. And The Bahamas has most of the private island destinations. Perfect Day isn't going anywhere, even if this extra tax doubles in cost. If the ships leave Nassau behind because of the tax there's not many other places they can stop, especially not all those ships all at once.

Plus there's no other foreign countries that the 3 night cruises from Florida can get to overnight.  Looks like the next closest ports are in Turks & Caicos, Haiti, and Dominica Republic.  Those are a full day sail from South Florida, so at that point your 4-night cruise has a single port. None of those ports can take as many ships as Nassau, and the only developed port in Haiti is RC's Labadee.

 

Between that and all the private island investment in the Bahamas (plus Celebration Key being built now), the Bahamas really have the cruise lines by the you-know-whats, at least under their current operating model, and they're starting to play their cards as if they know it.

[mz-s]

6 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

Plus there's no other foreign countries that the 3 night cruises from Florida can get to overnight.  Looks like the next closest ports are in Turks & Caicos, Haiti, and Dominica Republic.  Those are a full day sail from South Florida, so at that point your 4-night cruise has a single port. None of those ports can take as many ships as Nassau, and the only developed port in Haiti is RC's Labadee.

 

Between that and all the private island investment in the Bahamas (plus Celebration Key being built now), the Bahamas really have the cruise lines by the you-know-whats, at least under their current operating model, and they're starting to play their cards as if they know it.

 

Frankly, it's good for the Bahamas. While they shouldn't be greedy - they should get their fair share of the revenue generated by them. Frankly, would Carnival or Royal Caribbean as we know them today even exist if it were not for Nassau?

[aborgman]

14 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

80% of the US population lives in cities. I don't consider the cities on your list to be large, nor for the list to be current. Cities like New York and Los Angeles are large.

 

 

New York is very large.

New York also has a much, much, much lower crime rate than a lot of cities in the USA.

 

Carnival US cruise ports ranked by total crime rate:

 

#1) Baltimore    6997.68
#2) San Francisco    6917.4
#3) Mobile    6217.02
#4) Orlando    6206.38
#5) Seattle    5911.99
#6) New Orleans    5375.57
#7) Galveston(Houston)    5252.08
#8) Miami    4750.89
#9) Norfolk    4308.09
#10) Jacksonville    4168.73
#11) Los Angeles    3332.52
#12) Charleston    2300
#13) Tampa    2218.24
#14) NYC    1987.49

 

 

 

[aborgman]

9 hours ago, Incognito1 said:

  I'd assume that NYC is now in the top 10 (no source, just an assumption.)

 

Not even close.

 

NYC isn't even in the top 50.