DqALEX Posted January 10, 2007 #1 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Make sure you bring a cell phone. On the new years cruise on the way home the ship had to turn around and go towards San juan so a passenger could be air lifted off. I was about 11:00PM when I felt the ship do a hard turn. I went and looked at the monitor and saw the ship had turned back south. I went and asked the Purser if I needed to call the airline because I had seen we had turned back south. She told me no we would still be back on time it was a medical emg. The next morning I tried to look on the TV to see if we were going the right way and the channel was turned off. I had my son go up and look at the monitor to see. He called the cabin and told me that it also was turned off. I KNEW WE THAN HAD A PROBLEM. Than we got word that we were not going to be back untill 8PM that we all needed to call our airline. GOOD LUCK with that idea. The cabin phones cound not handle the volume of calls. The cell phone service kept going on and off. Later in the day we got word that the ship would not be in by 8PM but now the next day. People were very mad who changed there air now had to pay to change it again. My cell phone worked long enough to call the airline and the car service. The Cabin phones are a joke. When I did get a line out I could hear them they could not hear me. After 3 time of that I went back to my cell phone. My cell phone worked much better when I got a signal than the cabin phone. So our 8 day cruise turned into a 9 day. People who think its a dream come true? WAIT UNTILL IT HAPPENDS THAN TELL ME. Some people waited 4 hours to use the phone at the pursers desk. I would never leave without a cell phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stlrboo Posted January 10, 2007 #2 Share Posted January 10, 2007 I would be thrilled that I wasn't the person being airlifted from the ship, or taken back to port...:) Other than that, I'll bet you had a great cruise... :p We always have a cell phone 'just in case'.. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BND Posted January 10, 2007 #3 Share Posted January 10, 2007 So, for all those that complain about people bringing their cell phones aboard, obviously sometimes they come in handy. The problem with the cabin phones is they are really designed for calls onboard and not multiple calls on the satellite. You cannot blame anyone for what happened. Medical emergencies happen and we would all want the care of our families or ourselves to come first. It's just a tough situation and who could have predicted it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klfrodo Posted January 10, 2007 #4 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Happened to me while doing a land vacation in Ocho Rios Jamaica. Hurricane came thru and shut down Miami. No flights into or out of MIA for almost 2 days. 6 hours of phone calls, internet time, and lots of stress, then back to the beach to enjoy some sunshine and drinks. (By the way,,800#'s do not work outside the continental US) When traveling, be prepared. Stuck on a cruiseship or on a beach in Jamiaca is NOT the worse thing that can happen to you in life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chitown cruisers Posted January 10, 2007 #5 Share Posted January 10, 2007 I always have my phone with me and turn it off when I get onboard......what I'm concerned with is the possible charges from incomming calls being run up do to the new cellular service at sea, even though I won't be answering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BND Posted January 10, 2007 #6 Share Posted January 10, 2007 We just got our cellular bill that included our Glory cruise in Nov. I had a total of $9 in roaming charges, all from St Thomas. Our phone was off for just about all of the rest of the trip, but we did have it with us. It could be turned on at any time we needed it. I'm glad it's available just in case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klfrodo Posted January 10, 2007 #7 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Just had another thought. Just as the cabins phones were too busy to use, I doubt that the bandwidth of the cell service would be able to handle 1000 calls at one time either. Just as any other area hit by a natural disaster (floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc) it takes a while to get into or out of the affected area via cellular service mainly because of the system being loaded down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chitown cruisers Posted January 10, 2007 #8 Share Posted January 10, 2007 We just got our cellular bill that included our Glory cruise in Nov. I had a total of $9 in roaming charges, all from St Thomas. Our phone was off for just about all of the rest of the trip, but we did have it with us. It could be turned on at any time we needed it. I'm glad it's available just in case.I could deal with $9 knowing I had it with me "just in case"....thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jckvpa0 Posted January 10, 2007 #9 Share Posted January 10, 2007 I don't know anyone with a cell phone that wouldn't take them with them ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BND Posted January 10, 2007 #10 Share Posted January 10, 2007 We turned it on in St Thomas because it is a US territory and we knew we wouldn't be charged an exhorbitant amount because it's US cellular companies there. We never used when the ship was underway or in another port, but we could have if needed. It was definitely cheaper in St Thomas. We called family from Magan's bay while sitting on the beach in the sunshine and 85 degree weather knowing it was about 30 degrees cooler in VA.:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Is it just a Legend? Posted January 10, 2007 #11 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Interesting. Sounds stressful, but I totally would have been all about an extra day! (I was on the Legend just prior to you...) So, does this mean that the Legend's schedule is all set back for a day for the rest of the year? Or, did one cruise get shorted a day to get back on track? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nybumpkin Posted January 10, 2007 #12 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Our 7-day turned into an 8-day on Conquest, but we did have a cell phone. It took a while before we were able to get a signal, but once we did we changed flights fairly easily. We also purchased some time in the internet cafe, got the information we needed to change our flights off the web, and e-mailed anyone who needed to know we were delayed. (Mainly the office - sorry, folks, we're still on vacation;) ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiling Cruiser Posted January 10, 2007 #13 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Check with your cell phone company before you go. Some companies offer discount plans that can be initiated for a month or two. The plan can reduce the per minute rates for your out of country use. If you take your cell phone, but never turn it on, you will only incur the monthly fee (approx. $5.00). With or without a discount plan, if you turn on your phone while out of the country, and you have international capabilities, you will pay a per minute rate for any calls or voicemail messages (even if you don't check your voicemail!) Never use your cell phone as an alarm clock. During a true emergency you probably won't worry about charges as much as you will worry about contacting your loved ones or your transportation. Carry the phone, use it wisely, and have a great sail. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unfolding Posted January 10, 2007 #14 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Thanks for the warning. I'm bringing my cell phone, and went to Verizon's website to call and get the I-dial feature turned on my phone at no extra charge. The charge per minute though, is $2.49, it's only a 12-mile radius from a land tower, and I don't know if the cell phone tower on board is more expensive. I'm only going to use it for emergencies anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Tom-n-Cheryl Posted January 10, 2007 #15 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Make sure you bring a cell phone. On the new years cruise on the way home the ship had to turn around and go towards San juan so a passenger could be air lifted off. I was about 11:00PM when I felt the ship do a hard turn. I went and looked at the monitor and saw the ship had turned back south. I went and asked the Purser if I needed to call the airline because I had seen we had turned back south. She told me no we would still be back on time it was a medical emg. The next morning I tried to look on the TV to see if we were going the right way and the channel was turned off. I had my son go up and look at the monitor to see. He called the cabin and told me that it also was turned off. I KNEW WE THAN HAD A PROBLEM. Than we got word that we were not going to be back untill 8PM that we all needed to call our airline. GOOD LUCK with that idea. The cabin phones cound not handle the volume of calls. The cell phone service kept going on and off. Later in the day we got word that the ship would not be in by 8PM but now the next day. People were very mad who changed there air now had to pay to change it again. My cell phone worked long enough to call the airline and the car service. The Cabin phones are a joke. When I did get a line out I could hear them they could not hear me. After 3 time of that I went back to my cell phone. My cell phone worked much better when I got a signal than the cabin phone. So our 8 day cruise turned into a 9 day. People who think its a dream come true? WAIT UNTILL IT HAPPENDS THAN TELL ME. Some people waited 4 hours to use the phone at the pursers desk. I would never leave without a cell phone. I am right there with you Alex - UNPLANNED "extra" time on a ship is no vacation. When we sailed the Miracle out of Tampa we felt the effects of Hurricane Cindy on the way down, and did not get back in port until close to midnight due to Hurricane Dennis on the way back. That extra day and evening was not fun - and not just due to the weather, but the lack of planned activities, since our arrival time kept changing throughout the day! In our case, they should have brought us in early - ahead of the storm. It was obvious to anyone who could get online and see the storms proposed track that there was going to be a conflict with our paths. In my case, I blame Carnival for not having the balls to make the tough PROACTIVE decision to bring the ship in a day early, and avoid A LOT of confusion. I know what you mean about sensing undisclosed trouble when a channel suddenly goes dark... LOL. "What they don't know won't hurt them" is their approach there... :rolleyes: We took our cell phone on our most recent sailing, and it worked great (nice to have!) On the Legend in November it did not work because I was not dialing correctly. This time I ignored the international dialing instructions I was given by Verizon to use on the ship! Fun (extra) SEA DAY: (Not) Happy Campers waiting for their ship to come in! Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DqALEX Posted January 10, 2007 Author #16 Share Posted January 10, 2007 I am right there with you Alex - UNPLANNED "extra" time on a ship is no vacation. When we sailed the Miracle out of Tampa we felt the effects of Hurricane Cindy on the way down, and did not get back in port until close to midnight due to Hurricane Dennis on the way back. That extra day and evening was not fun - and not just due to the weather, but the lack of planned activities, since our arrival time kept changing throughout the day! In our case, they should have brought us in early - ahead of the storm. It was obvious to anyone who could get online and see the storms proposed track that there was going to be a conflict with our paths. In my case, I blame Carnival for not having the balls to make the tough PROACTIVE decision to bring the ship in a day early, and avoid A LOT of confusion. I know what you mean about sensing undisclosed trouble when a channel suddenly goes dark... LOL. "What they don't know won't hurt them" is their approach there... :rolleyes: We took our cell phone on our most recent sailing, and it worked great (nice to have!) On the Legend in November it did not work because I was not dialing correctly. This time I ignored the international dialing instructions I was given by Verizon to use on the ship! Fun (extra) SEA DAY: (Not) Happy Campers waiting for their ship to come in! Tom Tom on the extra day is was very quiet on the ship. Not like the other days. it was a great cruise. New Years on a ship with family you can't go wrong. The poor people whio were going afterwards lost a day. there 8 day turned into a 7 day. I tried to post a full honest review twice on the review board and got it sent back. I guess they don't want to hear the truth. The good and the bad just the good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurbanfan Posted January 10, 2007 #17 Share Posted January 10, 2007 I tried to post a full honest review twice on the review board and got it sent back. I guess they don't want to hear the truth. The good and the bad just the good. Really? That's interesting........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurbanfan Posted January 10, 2007 #18 Share Posted January 10, 2007 double post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurbanfan Posted January 10, 2007 #19 Share Posted January 10, 2007 oops! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Tom-n-Cheryl Posted January 10, 2007 #20 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Tom on the extra day is was very quiet on the ship. Not like the other days. it was a great cruise. New Years on a ship with family you can't go wrong. The poor people whio were going afterwards lost a day. there 8 day turned into a 7 day. The people following our sailing did not board until 8 AM the next morning - giving them a 6 day cruise. They were given all sorts of hotel credit as well as onboard credit. We were given nothing - I suppose because they felt generous giving us the extra day...:rolleyes: Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LornaT Posted January 10, 2007 #21 Share Posted January 10, 2007 I was on this cruise also and had troubles with both the "house" phones and getting a decent signal out on my cellphone ............. finally did get our on the "house" phone - 4 calls totally about 1 hour total in duration and was not charged for any of the Ship-to-Shore calls. The medical staff on board decided this passenger needed to have medical treatment ashore as soon as possible, we were closest to the Bahama's but the Coast Gaurd would not Airlift from there and insisted that Legend come back to Puerto Rico for the airlift (about 7:00 am right over my cabin ...... thought the deck lounges being moved in the mornings was loud ........ NOT! So it was by order of the U. S. Coast Guard that we had to go back to Puerto Ric Legend did intend to dock at 8:00 pm but Port Everglades said they wouldn't have anyone available to handle luggage, so then only Self-debarking passengers going to be allowed to get off, then Customs/Immigration said "nope" we aren't going to be there for anyone getting off at 8:00 pm .......... so that's when the decision (by Carnival in Miami) to dock on Thursday morning happened, no pier crew and no Customs/Immigration means no one gets off the ship. Talked to some folks at the Amerisuites on Thursday morning (after getting off the ship) that were due to board on Wednesday and they said that Carnival paid for the extra night at the hotel, was posting a 15% refund/OBC on the cost of their cruise and giving them all a 20% voucher for a future sailing. I heard from my CVS at Carnival that the ship did skip Belize. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nybumpkin Posted January 11, 2007 #22 Share Posted January 11, 2007 I am right there with you Alex - UNPLANNED "extra" time on a ship is no vacation. When we sailed the Miracle out of Tampa we felt the effects of Hurricane Cindy on the way down, and did not get back in port until close to midnight due to Hurricane Dennis on the way back. That extra day and evening was not fun - and not just due to the weather, but the lack of planned activities, since our arrival time kept changing throughout the day! In our case, they should have brought us in early - ahead of the storm. It was obvious to anyone who could get online and see the storms proposed track that there was going to be a conflict with our paths. In my case, I blame Carnival for not having the balls to make the tough PROACTIVE decision to bring the ship in a day early, and avoid A LOT of confusion.Tom Tom, We were on the Conquest at the same time (I have some great photos of Miracle arriving in Cozumel) and it's amazing what a world of difference there was between the two cruises. After we skipped Grand Cayman and headed straight to Cozumel, there was an announcement that there was a good chance Conquest would be delayed in returning to New Orleans and pax needing to return on time might want to consider disembarking at Cozumel and flying home. The day after Cozumel (supposed to be our "last fun day at sea"), the captain announced during the disembarcation meeting that the Mississippi was closed and we would definitely not return on time. They also advised us that although we probably would dock around one or two in the morning, we would not disembark until 8 in the morning. That, coupled with the CD's great job putting together an extra day's worth of activities, made all the difference. At least we knew what was happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy555 Posted January 11, 2007 #23 Share Posted January 11, 2007 HI DQAlex, I was on the same sailing as you. I always take my cell phone with me. I keep it turned off and only have it in case of emergency. I had my air through Carnival so they did take care of the arrangements for us. Originally they had us flying out at 6pm and arriving in Newark after midnight out of Miami. Later on our flight was change again to a direct flight leaving at noon. We were very lucky. I did have to call home to let work and family know what was going on and also to cancel our pick-up at the airport (we would have been charged as no - shows). I really didn't know what to expect so we went to the disembarkation talk. We hav been to so many but didn't know how Carnival would handle the situation. They only said that you would be getting information that afternoon in the stateroom. I just wish they would have stated that if you booked air through Carnival they will take care of it and if you didn't book through Carnival they should have let the passengers know what they could/couldn't do for them. Other than that we had a fantastic cruise and enjoyed the extra sea day. It was very sad for that family with the emergency. I hope he is doing well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw4jg1mg2eg1 Posted January 11, 2007 #24 Share Posted January 11, 2007 dqAlex..CC will move all reviews to the new MEMBERS REVIEWS (I think that's what it's called) board. They started this just recently. I hope your next cruise is better.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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