The SUSPENSE is killing me! Miracle...

[lovesublime]

Sometimes the Captain just does not know where the ship will be directed.. There are other ships at sea also looking for safe harbor.

 

I am sorry your family event was ruined but it is irrelevant to the cruise. Sorry but it is, you booked passage on a cruise not transportation to the Virgin Islands.

 

I am still finding it odd that the Captain would make these announcements and the main sources we have are posters that signed up today-

I apologize for being so skeptical but we read so many one hit wonders that it does bring doubt to one's mind.

 

As far as what transpired with the itinerary being about money, Carnival is a business.. they are not a charity.. why should they lose money and supply their product? Its a compromise... I agree with an other poster that some obc should have been offered...

Good Luck on your next cruise.. safe sailings

 

That ship knew where that hurricane was headed. Everyone who watches the news knew. Carnival knew they would never make it to the Caribbean. What they did was deceitful. I don't care if Carnival makes money or not-that's their problem. If I pay $5000 for a Caribbean cruise, then I want a Caribbean cruise-there is no compromise. I don't pay out big money to 'compromise' with some business. For the record, we really like Carnival and have another cruise booked with them. It's just a shame the way they handled this though.

 

As for the Captain's snide announcements-I do believe it. More than one poster here has stated such, even if they are one hit wonders. These people really have no motive to register and post 'lies'.

[trock]

That ship knew where that hurricane was headed. Everyone who watches the news knew. Carnival knew they would never make it to the Caribbean. What they did was deceitful. I don't care if Carnival makes money or not-that's their problem. If I pay $5000 for a Caribbean cruise, then I want a Caribbean cruise-there is no compromise. I don't pay out big money to 'compromise' with some business. For the record, we really like Carnival and have another cruise booked with them. It's just a shame the way they handled this though.

 

As for the Captain's snide announcements-I do believe it. More than one poster here has stated such, even if they are one hit wonders. These people really have no motive to register and post 'lies'.

 

 

Everyone knew where the hurricane was headed? Yea right.. About 4pm today Ike was headed straight towards South Florida -about 30 minutes later it was headed straight towards NOLA.. :rolleyes:

 

If you pay $5G for a Caribbean cruise and you dont want compromise - hurricane season and perhaps cruising may not be for you

 

:rolleyes:

[KLLund]

It does seem that there are a lot of complaints about customer service .. but I find myself asking .. is this the cause of the "mutiny" or a response to the "mutiny"

Would it have been better for the Capt to state .. Corporate is working on securing us a dock somewhere ?

All in all.. there seems to be Much Ado about Not much in Hurricane season ..

[VillaHappy]

Because it was made on the intercom system for all to hear unfortunately!

 

Oh my gosh! :eek:

[trock]

It does seem that there are a lot of complaints about customer service .. but I find myself asking .. is this the cause of the "mutiny" or a response to the "mutiny"

 

Would it have been better for the Capt to state .. Corporate is working on securing us a dock somewhere ?

 

All in all.. there seems to be Much Ado about Not much in Hurricane season ..

 

 

Very well put;)

 

About 10 yrs ago my sister and her husband went to Puerto Rico for a weeks vacation in Sept... yep a hurricane was coming.. They and other guests of the hotel.. ( i will ask her which one) were booted from the hotel so that residents had a place to stay for the hurricane.. They slept in the airport for 2 or 3 days..

 

Wanna talk about poor customer service LOL.. least CCL tried to steer them to safety... :)

[sheri18]

well at least everyone is home safe and sound....maybe a little disgruntled.....but safe.....

 

I am sure Carnival did what they thougt best ....i am sure all the other cruise lines faced the same problems....

 

but i am sure better communications would have been the key.....

 

but any day on a hurrincane cruise is better than a day at home and work....

 

 

p.s. that is why we cruise in Feb......

[lovesublime]

Everyone knew where the hurricane was headed? Yea right.. About 4pm today Ike was headed straight towards South Florida -about 30 minutes later it was headed straight towards NOLA.. :rolleyes:

 

If you pay $5G for a Caribbean cruise and you dont want compromise - hurricane season and perhaps cruising may not be for you

 

:rolleyes:

 

 

I've never cruised during hurricane season.

[Kurbanfan]

I've never cruised during hurricane season.

 

LOL! I think the only ones that do are the ones that cruise just for the ship or the rookie cruisers.........or the ones that hate their work and are hoping to get a extra day off:D

[cruisecruisecruise1234567]

. I don't know how many of my fellow travelers have mentioned that Carnival offers a Satisfaction Guarantee - if you aren't enjoying your trip, you can depart at your first non-US port, and they will pay for your ticket home. The Captain deliberately hinted at an interesting third port and only mentioned that it would be Newport after we had left our ONLY non-US port. The change in itinerary was also announced after we had been at sea for a day. If either of these announcements had been made in a more timely fashion, I could have made different choices. If the change in itinerary (from Caribbean to Florida-Bahamas) had been mentioned as a possible detour before departure, I would have seriously considered activating my travel insurance options. If I had known we were going to Newport, I would definitely have disembarked in Freeport and gotten back at least HALF of my cruise ticket price as well as a free plane ticket home. It is hard not to suspect that these two announcements were TIMED to avoid wholesale departures.

 

.

 

There you have it. Timed so no one used the guarantee.

This would have costed them a fortune.

 

So who is worse? The people removing tips or the cruiseline for screwing people out of the guarantee option?

[patrice1]

I guess I'm just flabbergasted by people's expectations of a cruise. It's a ship, folks, & moves if the weather's bad. :cool: Now, you could be on a land vacation, in Key West, for instance, and be told last night that you have to leave tomorrow because Ike's coming. (true) And...where you go is up to you. We refunded your 3 hotel days you didn't use & you can find another place up the mainland to go to - sorta like everyone else evacuating. :o Oh, and while the airport will stay open a few days till the winds pick up, all the hotels are closed and there are no more rental cars, so how you get there may be a problem. 'Course, you an always hang out at the airport till a flight becomes available. That little restuarant & bar - the Conch Flyer - is great.:rolleyes:

Or...you could be on a cruise and go to a different port.:eek:

[dan40]

I am sick of hearing woe is me stories from horse's patuts that are so self centered they are stone ignorant of the world around them. They spent thousands of dollars without any knowledge of the product. Either product, the cruise itself or the Elvis fiasco. The cruise contract says you get a boat ride, nothing else. Evidently the Elvis thing said, "We take way too much of your money and give you next to nothing."

They wail, "Why didn't Carnival do this or that or go here or go there." Like ANY cruiseline can make unilateral decisions about changing ports.

Who is involved when there is a change in a port.

Carnival's mgmt and ALL the Carnival ships in the general area are involved. So shouldn't they decide what to do?

Well the mgmt and ALL the ships of every other line are also involved. And small freighters that may need to hide from a storm too.

And the Gov't. of the scheduled port and the port authority there, and the various vendors there, and the Coast Guard there, and the USCG. And all the other ships supposed to go there. Then run the list for all the possible replacement ports, Gov'ts., PA's, vendors, other lines WITH RESERVED DOCKING space, and the CG and the USCG.

And maybe choice one cannot be arranged, and the same for choice two, and maybe even choice three. So where they end up going could be the fourth choice, or even further down the list.

It is not the ships Captain flipping a coin to decide where to sail, many laws and agencies of many countries are involved.

But the self-centered wailers don't care, they are "special!"

 

 

You can't cure stupid.

 

Dan

[Kurbanfan]

Well the mgmt and ALL the ships of every other line are also involved. And small freighters that may need to hide from a storm too.

And the Gov't. of the scheduled port and the port authority there, and the various vendors there, and the Coast Guard there, and the USCG. And all the other ships supposed to go there. Then run the list for all the possible replacement ports, Gov'ts., PA's, vendors, other lines WITH RESERVED DOCKING space, and the CG and the USCG.

And maybe choice one cannot be arranged, and the same for choice two, and maybe even choice three. So where they end up going could be the fourth choice, or even further down the list.

It is not the ships Captain flipping a coin to decide where to sail, many laws and agencies of many countries are involved.

But the self-centered wailers don't care, they are "special!"

 

 

 

And I bet they have no communication problems:D

 

(tell us how you really feel Dan:D )

[DizzyDallasDi]

I am sick of hearing woe is me stories from horse's patuts that are so self centered they are stone ignorant of the world around them. They spent thousands of dollars without any knowledge of the product. Either product, the cruise itself or the Elvis fiasco. The cruise contract says you get a boat ride, nothing else. Evidently the Elvis thing said, "We take way too much of your money and give you next to nothing."

They wail, "Why didn't Carnival do this or that or go here or go there." Like ANY cruiseline can make unilateral decisions about changing ports.

Who is involved when there is a change in a port.

Carnival's mgmt and ALL the Carnival ships in the general area are involved. So shouldn't they decide what to do?

Well the mgmt and ALL the ships of every other line are also involved. And small freighters that may need to hide from a storm too.

And the Gov't. of the scheduled port and the port authority there, and the various vendors there, and the Coast Guard there, and the USCG. And all the other ships supposed to go there. Then run the list for all the possible replacement ports, Gov'ts., PA's, vendors, other lines WITH RESERVED DOCKING space, and the CG and the USCG.

And maybe choice one cannot be arranged, and the same for choice two, and maybe even choice three. So where they end up going could be the fourth choice, or even further down the list.

It is not the ships Captain flipping a coin to decide where to sail, many laws and agencies of many countries are involved.

But the self-centered wailers don't care, they are "special!"

 

 

You can't cure stupid.

 

Dan

 

What a breath of fresh air to finally read a post in this string based on sound reasoning and a good sense of reality. Whew!! I hope the majority of pax on my next cruise are all like Dan. :D

 

Diane

[dan40]

What a breath of fresh air to finally read a post in this string based on sound reasoning and a good sense of reality. Whew!! I hope the majority of pax on my next cruise are all like Dan. :D

 

Diane

 

You need to seek help, stat!:D

 

Thank you.

Dan

[VillaHappy]

I guess I'm just flabbergasted by people's expectations of a cruise. It's a ship, folks, & moves if the weather's bad. :cool: Now, you could be on a land vacation, in Key West, for instance, and be told last night that you have to leave tomorrow because Ike's coming. (true) And...where you go is up to you. We refunded your 3 hotel days you didn't use & you can find another place up the mainland to go to - sorta like everyone else evacuating. :o Oh, and while the airport will stay open a few days till the winds pick up, all the hotels are closed and there are no more rental cars, so how you get there may be a problem. 'Course, you an always hang out at the airport till a flight becomes available. That little restuarant & bar - the Conch Flyer - is great.:rolleyes:

 

Or...you could be on a cruise and go to a different port.:eek:

 

That's a good point. I'd rather be at sea! :)

[dan40]

 

(tell us how you really feel Dan:D )

 

 

Its a secret"

 

Dan

[NoobCroozer]

I am sick of hearing woe is me stories from horse's patuts that are so self centered they are stone ignorant of the world around them. They spent thousands of dollars without any knowledge of the product. Either product, the cruise itself or the Elvis fiasco. The cruise contract says you get a boat ride, nothing else. Evidently the Elvis thing said, "We take way too much of your money and give you next to nothing."

They wail, "Why didn't Carnival do this or that or go here or go there." Like ANY cruiseline can make unilateral decisions about changing ports.

Who is involved when there is a change in a port.

Carnival's mgmt and ALL the Carnival ships in the general area are involved. So shouldn't they decide what to do?

Well the mgmt and ALL the ships of every other line are also involved. And small freighters that may need to hide from a storm too.

And the Gov't. of the scheduled port and the port authority there, and the various vendors there, and the Coast Guard there, and the USCG. And all the other ships supposed to go there. Then run the list for all the possible replacement ports, Gov'ts., PA's, vendors, other lines WITH RESERVED DOCKING space, and the CG and the USCG.

And maybe choice one cannot be arranged, and the same for choice two, and maybe even choice three. So where they end up going could be the fourth choice, or even further down the list.

It is not the ships Captain flipping a coin to decide where to sail, many laws and agencies of many countries are involved.

But the self-centered wailers don't care, they are "special!"

 

 

You can't cure stupid.

 

Dan

 

 

Probably the best, all around logical response to the unfortunate incident.

Bravo!

[UnclePatNTampa]

I don't know how many of my fellow travelers have mentioned that Carnival offers a Satisfaction Guarantee - if you aren't enjoying your trip, you can depart at your first non-US port, and they will pay for your ticket home.......I will never travel with Carnival again.

 

SexyMax, I suggest you reread the guarantee. You have to declare you're not happy before you get to the first port of call and depart the ship at the first non-US port of call.

 

 

Carnival - "If you are not completely satisfied with your cruise vacation experience, all you need to do is notify us before arrival at the first port of call and you must debark at your ship's first non-U.S. port of call. Carnival will refund the unused portion of your cruise fare and pay your flight back."

 

 

No where do I read that you can decide to leave the ship anytime you want and expect Carnival to pay your way home. I suggest your next vacation as a safari in New Hampshire to watch the leaves turn color.

 

Folks like you are the reason I don't vacation in New York. Most people from New England, New York in particular, do nothing but complain and expect the world to revolve around themselves. I have been on 4 Carnival cruises, far less than many others on this board but, I have NEVER encountered any of the problems I've been hearing. The problems I have encountered have been with the passengers not the crew! I've found the crew to be top notch with nothing more than a desire to make us happy. As far as I'm concerned, I'll be sailing Carnival as long as there are ships in the water.

 

 

 

 

That ship knew where that hurricane was headed. Everyone who watches the news knew. Carnival knew they would never make it to the Caribbean. What they did was deceitful. I don't care if Carnival makes money or not-that's their problem. If I pay $5000 for a Caribbean cruise, then I want a Caribbean cruise-there is no compromise. I don't pay out big money to 'compromise' with some business. For the record, we really like Carnival and have another cruise booked with them. It's just a shame the way they handled this though.

 

I've lived in Texas, Louisiana and now in Florida. Your "Location" says you live in Texas, if that's true, you above many others on this board should know that hurricanes are unpredictable and NO ONE knows where they are going. Ike is a prime example. Just a couple days ago we expected to take a direct hit threatening all departures from South Florida. Now it looks like it's headed to New Orleans again. Who knows, tomorrow it may be Houston.

 

Your contract with Carnival says ports of calls are subject to change without notice and substituted with another port. You are NOT guarantied a "Caribbean" cruise and they state that very clearly. No contract violation I can tell. I suggest your next vacation as a safari there in Texas.

[mexipat]

There you have it. Timed so no one used the guarantee.

This would have costed them a fortune.

 

So who is worse? The people removing tips or the cruiseline for screwing people out of the guarantee option?

 

There is no worse. One doesn't justify the other.

[disfan13]

A couple of points.. When the ship set sail Hannah was projected to head south - away from the cruise path. It changed and did so rather quickly. It makes sense that the itinerary changed.

 

EVERYONE is saying not to cruise in Hurricane season.... No one at least on this thread is not complaining about port changes - they are complaining about customer service and communication. It seems that the CCL die hards simply will not believe that miscommunication could occur.

 

I can't say - I wasn't there however I have to believe that this situatuion could have been handled better - with communication.

 

Being profitable has nothing to do with what happened here, it sounds like they made these decisions after anyone could take advantae of the guarantee - this is also disturbing. There had to have been some warning / clue that the ship would be redirected.

 

I sail the miracle next week and am hoping for no issues with the weather.

[Kurbanfan]

 

 

 

Folks like you are the reason I don't vacation in New York. Most people from New England, New York in particular, do nothing but complain and expect the world to revolve around themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh my:eek: :eek:

 

 

EVERYONE is saying not to cruise in Hurricane season.... No one at least on this thread is not complaining about port changes - they are complaining about customer service and communication. It seems that the CCL die hards simply will not believe that miscommunication could occur.

 

I can't say - I wasn't there however I have to believe that this situatuion could have been handled better - with communication.

 

 

That's what I read;) And agree!

[jaja]

Quote:

Originally Posted by disfan13

EVERYONE is saying not to cruise in Hurricane season.... No one at least on this thread is not complaining about port changes - they are complaining about customer service and communication. It seems that the CCL die hards simply will not believe that miscommunication could occur.

 

I can't say - I wasn't there however I have to believe that this situatuion could have been handled better - with communication.

 

 

 

Amen ! Communication is key...and IF it was not there-then the senior staff (and Carnival) was not helping the situation at all !

(as I said in another thread--the pulled one!)...Knowledge is power and ignorance is not bliss..

[Crusin6]

Just back from the Miracle. We were not angry about the itinerary change. The problem was a COMPLETE lack of communication, very dismissive response from the Captain, receiving information TOO LATE to make changes, and a very truculent response from some staff.

 

Please stop responding that people know what they're getting when they travel during hurricane season! We were not upset that they took steps to keep us safe - we were upset that they did it in a very secretive haphazard way. I know that Carnival is announcing that they let us know all sorts of info, but that is a little inaccurate.

 

Here is what I have posted elsewhere:

For those of you who weren't on this voyage from hell, please don't comment until you find out WHY people were upset.

 

Veteran cruisers were not angry that we were re-routed - that is expected and safe practice. We are angry about the customer service (or lack thereof) in the way that we were provided with information. I haven't seen all the posts or stories about this, so I have no idea how calm and cogent people are being about explaining what happened to us.

 

In my particular case, the time and destination was dictated by a family event. We were traveling to celebrate the birthday (only comes in September) of an elderly relative who is afraid to fly (leaves out a flight) and who was born in the US Virgin Islands (we had to take a shot at St. Thomas).

 

I say take a shot, because we did acknowledge the possibility of hurricanes causing a change in itinerary. I don't know how many of my fellow travelers have mentioned that Carnival offers a Satisfaction Guarantee - if you aren't enjoying your trip, you can depart at your first non-US port, and they will pay for your ticket home. The Captain deliberately hinted at an interesting third port and only mentioned that it would be Newport after we had left our ONLY non-US port. The change in itinerary was also announced after we had been at sea for a day. If either of these announcements had been made in a more timely fashion, I could have made different choices. If the change in itinerary (from Caribbean to Florida-Bahamas) had been mentioned as a possible detour before departure, I would have seriously considered activating my travel insurance options. If I had known we were going to Newport, I would definitely have disembarked in Freeport and gotten back at least HALF of my cruise ticket price as well as a free plane ticket home. It is hard not to suspect that these two announcements were TIMED to avoid wholesale departures.

 

Furthermore, the customer service response to the passengers' disappointment was ludicrous. To make an announcement chiding the passengers for being disappointed because "you have had 8 days of room and board, 8 days of entertainment, and 3 ports. That is what you paid for." is almost guranteed to foment sullenness and rebellion. I understand that the customer "mutiny" mentioned above got most of the attention, but that was a small group of passengers, and I don't believe anyone became violent or seriously disorderly. The increased security patrols in response were gratuitous and insulting to the well-behaved passengers.

 

I agree that withdrawing the tips hurts only hard-working underpaid staff. That's why we tipped those who gave us good service directly. But the difference in our experience between Carnival and the Holland America Noordam last year was night and day. I will never travel with Carnival again.

Can you imagine just how long you would have been stuck in Freeport before they flew you back? If I were the company I don't think I would rush you on a non stop to New York. It is usually the best choice to stay with the ship.

 

When we were on the hurricane Frances Disney 7 day turned 11 day cruise in 2004, Disney gave folks the option of getting off in Galveston, a port that was added in order to restock the ship for the extra days btw, I was told that 600 left the ship. You should have seen them scrambling to get off. They must have all been due in surgery the next day (brain surgeons, all of them):D One man left his wife and 2 kids and took his cell phone with him. Now it was the Saturday of Labor Day weekend and we returned the following Tuesday to a different disembark port as Canaveral was damaged.

 

So what happened? We had 11 days of great weather, did not have to worry about a way to get home from Galveston as we stayed with the ship, it was Labor Day weekend so who cared and the insurance covered any extra costs we had. Very few extra expenses, btw. Jetblue was waiting for all of its return flight passengers with extra flights etc. All the airport were shut so absolutely nobody was flying that weekend.

 

We only got updates every 24 hours and each time it was either an extra day or port and no one knew where we would eventually end up. Yes, DCL passengers did get testy and DCL crew wer always courteous but what I am trying to say in a very longwinded way is that for goodness sakes, it was not the end of the world, you had a decent trip.:confused:

 

 

Finally, of course we tipped the crew for an 11 day trip not a 7 day one.

[ready2bcruzn]

I understand everyone on board wondering what changes were being made. I do...but in all honesty, what difference did it make?? Unless they were telling you that the cruise was being cut short what was that information going to do for you? After you found out what the new itinerary was, did it actually CHANGE anything?

 

We sail Carnival cruises every year during hurricane season because our anniversary is in Sept. We have sailed around hurricanes and through a tropical storm. We have had our itinerary changed more than once. We know we're taking the chance with that time of year and to us it's a risk worth taking. With us the ports are secondary. I'll go anywhere as long as I get there by ship. If there's somewhere I that feel I simply must not miss I do not book it in the fall.

 

I hope the staff of the Miracle is back to normal by the time we sail next month and I hope the posts of damage to the ship aren't true. That would really be a shame. I also wonder if any of the trouble makers will be asked not to cruise Carnival again...they CAN do that if they want! Sounds like that lawyer that started it all should be!

[missabbi]

check it out

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=840402

 

The link took me to nowhere!! :(