Holiday Update

[Rocky Top]

Sorry if this is posted twice, but I know some of you are interested since you are also booked this month on the Holiday. Hope this helps.

 

Passengers mostly praise Holiday trip

Ship that served as hurricane shelter avoids complaints that followed first trip

Friday, April 07, 2006

By BRENDAN KIRBY

Staff Reporter

The Carnival ship Holiday appears to have solved the problems that marred its first journey after serving as a hurricane shelter, according to comments from passengers who traveled on the ship's cruise that ended Thursday.

Most passengers interviewed after the ship returned to port in Mobile said that they had a terrific time on the five-day cruise, with only a few minor complaints.

Linda Kennedy, who lives in the Tuscaloosa County town of Northport, said she was disappointed with the ports of call on the Mexican cruise and believed the ship could have provided better entertainment. But she had a good experience, overall.

"The service and attention were fantastic, and the room was great," she said.

Kennedy said that ship facilities seemed to be in good working order, although she added that the water pressure in her cabin dipped toward the end of the cruise.

"It worked pretty good until the end," she said.

The Holiday was one of three Carnival Cruise Lines ships chartered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to house Hurricane Katrina evacuees last summer. The controversial $236 million deal also included the Sensation and the Ecstasy.

When it returned to service after a renovation, passengers complained of toilets in public rest rooms that did not flush properly and a lack of running water in some cabins. Others reported brown water in their cabins and said they were disturbed by loud power tools as crews worked to fix broken hot tubs.

Carnival officials acknowledged the plumbing problems and vowed to have them corrected. They also explained that the two hot tubs could not be installed during the 20-day, multimillion-dollar refurbishment because some parts arrived late. So crews had to finish the project during the cruise.

"Generally speaking, based on the reports I've seen that have come in from the ship, I think this voyage went very well," said Jennifer de la Cruz, a spokeswoman for the Miami-based cruise line. "On any cruise, you're going to have individual complaints about this and that."

De la Cruz said she is confident Carnival has corrected the problems associated with the first cruise. She said the most recent cruise arrived about two hours late to its first port in Costa Maya due to weather and sea conditions but stayed later to make up the difference.

Built in 1985, the 1,452-passenger Holiday is Carnival's oldest and smallest ship. It sails from Mobile on four- and five-day cruises to the western Caribbean.

[Wennfred]

Thats awesome News and Im sure within a Month time they will have the Holiday in Top working shape.

[Yazoo cruiser]

is what we have been wanting to hear.Great news.

[LHP]

I always felt Carnival would jump through hoops to get everything "right" as soon as possible. Some of these folks were first time cruisers and you know Carnival did not want to lose future passengers.

 

Now what I would like to see is Carnival go back to those folks on the first sailing (especially if they took the time to write a letter) and make up for Carnival error. There is no excuse for plumbing in cabins not working.

 

I am not saying a free cruise, but some refunds of actual cash back in their hands would go a long way. You aren't going to please everyone, but I do think it would show some corporate integrity. (That goes for the first sailing on the Sensation as well.)

 

IMHO, that is what I would do as CEO.

[bonniemari]

I was on that sailing and I do remember seeing the crew work on the hot tubs but never heard any noise from it. I didn't hear anything about plumbing problems in cabins and the plumbing in our cabin worked fine. I also remember seeing some out of service signs on a couple on the public restrooms.

 

Being the first cruise after drydock and FEMA I did expect some problems but I was surprised that we did not experience any problems.

[LHP]

I was on that sailing and I do remember seeing the crew work on the hot tubs but never heard any noise from it. I didn't hear anything about plumbing problems in cabins and the plumbing in our cabin worked fine. I also remember seeing some out of service signs on a couple on the public restrooms.

 

Being the first cruise after drydock and FEMA I did expect some problems but I was surprised that we did not experience any problems.

 

Bonnie: That is good to hear. Your review was so positive, I was thinking it wasn't the first week back in service. To hear others on various boards, I thought "the sky was falling". Glad your experience was a good one.

[rangerdog]

Thanks for the update, RockyTop!;)