The SUSPENSE is killing me! Miracle...

[chesquinn]

There are six states in New England you left out Vermont

Sorry, but just a tiny geography lesson here. New York is not part of New England. Five states make up New England - Maine, NH, Conn., Mass. & Rhode Island. Now, even though I've lived in Florida for 21+ years, I still consider myself a Masshole - proudly. :eek: :D ;) I was born in Salem & have the broom to prove it!:eek:

[dolfinmusic]

Why are others posting that they did get daily updates?

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=16166048&postcount=2152

 

Because they are not complainers and made the best out of their cruise.

[disfan13]

But this storm did not change paths, it hung around a long time over T&C and south Bahamas, and then moved NW as predicted. The Miracle played chicken with the plan to call on Nassau and lost.

 

I think they'd have done better with the passengers saying "we tried, but it's going to be more days at sea". If they really said "we have a great third port planned" and then sprung Newport on a shipload of people cruising from New York, shame on them.

 

The comments about New Yorkers and New England pretty much guarantee this thread go poof today just like the last one.

 

In Carnival's defense - the storm DID indeed change paths. When the Miracle departed NYC on 8/29 the projected path was bringing Hannah over grand turk THEN south west not northwest. As it has been said numerous times these storms can and most do change their pats from one hour to the next.

[jimswims]

I have read on another thread that the passengers were given a letter stating that their ports may change when they got on-board the ship.

 

Getting information in writing that this may happen when you embark a vessel is good communication. It is appropriate and reasonable, given the nature of storms, that the actual ports may not be known on this sailing since the first port is usually on the third day.

 

I have never needed to do the vacation guarantee and I am unsure how it works but I did read the fine print on it. If a passenger received the letter and was unhappy with this, they would have had more than 2-3 days to notify the Purser with this and then get off in Freeport. Maybe I have this wrong. I have not heard of anyone trying to do this. I have heard plenty of people staying on-board, complaining, and trying to reduce tips and get something back.

[Feeeeg]

 

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.

 

 

I am going to get in trouble for this,,, but never, EVER,! again put New York in Any statement that has to do with New England.

 

First off, logistically speaking, New York is not part of New England, Second off the attitudes of the two areas are a world apart.

 

As far as the cruise, and communication, I think that the communication was decent, not great, the info however was not great. We were initially told that we were going to Fla and two ports in the Bahamas, then the second stop in bahamas was cancelled, cause it was Nassau and we were told that we could not make it there before the storm hit, and that they were trying to get a great third port for us to stop in, which ended up being in my backyard of Newport.

 

Don't get me wrong I enjoyed the entire time on the cruise, but In my honest opinion the guests were slighted into believing that there would be some sort of fabulous third stop (bermuda is on the way back from bahamas to ny), and instead we got newport, which I enjoy visiting,,,,, on my bike or in my car!!!!!

 

Taking tips away from the staff was a childish, selfish thing to do, by those who are obviously self entitled, and am not surprised in the least it was started by a lawyer from the big apple.

 

I was shocked a while back to think of a person on one of these boards, (i forget which one), that was livid about having a cruise changed back in august of 05, due to a hurricane, and was trying to demand money back, and that the people on that cruise ship were the only ones that matter because they had an awful week. And then I thought about all the people in the New Orleans area, whose entire lives were changed, not just their one week cruise, due to Hurricane Katrina. hmm.

 

In retrospect, I thought to myself as well when they announced the Itin change, that they were follish for sailing directly into the storm, and why not go behind it. Well begind it, is obviously lying H Ike. So maybe someone who runs a business as big as carnival, does know more about that type thing than, persay (spelling?) lawyers, and all of us other common folk!!!

 

I was away from work for an entire 11 days, and have not thought about work or anything of that matter since thursday the 28th.

 

I loved my vacation, I loved that fact that I was on a cruise ship for 8 days, I loved being taken care of by the crew and staff of the carnival miracle, I loved not having my cell phone ring, emails to answer, lawn work to be done, I loved that we came home safe and sound, I loved that I was with my wife for the entire time, and it was us time.

 

I will cruise with carnival again, it will not be during hurricane season in the caribbean..

[MrPete]

 

Don't get me wrong I enjoyed the entire time on the cruise, but In my honest opinion the guests were slighted into believing that there would be some sort of fabulous third stop (bermuda is on the way back from bahamas to ny), and instead we got newport.

 

I read this morning that the NCL Spirit got diverted from the Bahamas to Bermuda........and that there were angry passengers that wanted to go to Nassau! :rolleyes:

 

Only one pier currently in Bermuda.

[jimswims]

I read this morning that the NCL Spirit got diverted from the Bahamas to Bermuda........and that there were angry passengers that wanted to go to Nassau! :rolleyes:

 

Only one pier currently in Bermuda.

 

I did not look at the King's Wharf schedule but the NCL Dawn was doing the Bermuda run for the summer but beginning this past week were scheduled to go to NE/Canada. This made space for the NCL Spirit.

 

St. George has the NCL Majesty and NCL Dream there and this port can only fit the smaller and shorter ships anyway. The Miracle would have been too big for St. George and for Hamilton.

[cruisinfanatic]

 

Don't get me wrong I enjoyed the entire time on the cruise, but In my honest opinion the guests were slighted into believing that there would be some sort of fabulous third stop (bermuda is on the way back from bahamas to ny), and instead we got newport, which I enjoy visiting,,,,, on my bike or in my car!!!!!

Bermuda isn't really on the way back. To go there and spend the day would have taken much longer.

[Rallytime1975]

But how did they KNOW it wasn't going to change paths?

 

I am sailing the miracle 1 week from Today, but serious....why would carnival even take a chance to get close to the hurricane and the waters of the storm. Do you knw how much damage can happen to the ship, passangers, crew, the stuff on the ship.

 

I don't understand people thinking about this.....I know this has been said but now i wished that they would have taken you all to your orginal ports so we wouldn't have to hear all this whinning....... I would love to hear the posts if they did take you to the orginal ports.

 

I imagine that you all are human and like the articale said that there were over 300 people upset, put your self in that postion and i would like to see how you handled that stress. I know how my employees get after handling 2-3 anry customers in a day, imagine 300+ in less than acouple of hours.

 

I do agree it could have been handled differently, but the captain has ALOT of stress, he has to worry about his ship, his company, his staff, his passangers. Imagine that stress alone, now with all the IDIOTS that were pissed about getting away from the hurricane.

 

I can't stand reading this post anymore...it amazes me what poeple are saying about something that could have killed 3000+ people and then imagine the stress that carnival would have had...about 10,000 angry people that there family memebers were killed and WHY DIDN"T THEY MOVE AWAY FROM THE STORM....

 

STOP AND GROW UP!~ (NOT TO THE QUOTE PERSON, JUST TO ALL UN RESONABLE PEOPLE ON THIS BOARD)

 

But this storm did not change paths, it hung around a long time over T&C and south Bahamas, and then moved NW as predicted. The Miracle played chicken with the plan to call on Nassau and lost.

 

I think they'd have done better with the passengers saying "we tried, but it's going to be more days at sea". If they really said "we have a great third port planned" and then sprung Newport on a shipload of people cruising from New York, shame on them.

 

The comments about New Yorkers and New England pretty much guarantee this thread go poof today just like the last one.

[Cyber Kat]

That ship knew where that hurricane was headed. Everyone who watches the news knew. Carnival knew they would never make it to the Caribbean.

 

I just want to address this part of the post. No one - not even NOAA's hurricane experts can truly predict where a hurricane is going to go. Each storm has a mind of it's own.

 

We had a vacation planned from last year for Bermuda in July this year. As the date drew close, Bertha popped up on the horizon. At one point before we left it was a Cat 3 headed straight for Bermuda's south shore. We could have canceled and gotten part of our money back, but we had been so looking forward to it, we took our chances and went anyway.

 

Well, Bertha kept us guessing from Tuesday until Sunday. It was a Cat 1, a Cat 2, a Tropical storm, back to a Hurricane again. It was going to pass to the west, then the east, then the west again. It was going to hit - take your pick - Thursday night, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

 

We could have gone out to the airport with hundreds, maybe thousands of others and tried to book an earlier flight off, but we didn't. We spoke with the manager of the cottage, who assured us that if there was any danger, we could stay with her on a safer part of the island. We already knew that Bermuda's building codes have required, for some time, that structures be built to withstand 150mph winds, so we stayed.

 

We rolled the dice, and took a chance, and the gamble paid off - we had 10 days of beautiful weather and one day of rain and wind as Bertha passed to the east as a bare minimum TS.

 

So you really can't tell with a hurricane. We could have been huddled with our hosts during a Cat 3 storm - you just never know.

 

I can't speak for the customer service quality, because I wasn't onboard the Miracle, but neither the line, nor the Captain could know for sure where the storm would go. I'm guessing that they were making decisions (as we were in Bermuda) on an hour by hour basis, and at the same time trying to give the passengers a good cruise, while keeping them safe, and trying to not lose money. That's a hell of a balancing act to pull off!

[dan40]

Do the cruiselines, NHC, or anybody really KNOW where a storm is going?

Should the Captain cater to the silly and ignorant whims of passengers when there is even a POSSIBILITY that the ship is in danger.

Do the dummy pax know that cruise ships, even the mega, mega ships of today are built with shallow draft FLAT bottoms so they can access the shallow harbors of Caribbean ports. Ocean going ships are built with deep draft V bottoms to cope with the open oceans.

Are the STUPID complaining pax aware that just 3 or 4 years age a Windjammer or Barefoot cruise ship dropped its pax in port then took off to get the ship to a safer place. The storm turned, that boat sunk, that crew is DEAD. ALL dead.

MaMa Nature is a serious bitxx and she doesn't give a witt about "communications."

 

Dan

[Feeeeg]

Bermuda isn't really on the way back. To go there and spend the day would have taken much longer.

BUt

 

Ok I understand that it is not directly enroute, but we spent from 7 am til 7 pm in Newport, how far away is newport from NY, and we had over 13 hours to get there!!

 

Again, dont get me wrong,,, the cruise was fabulous, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, the crew was fabulous, I think captain Volpi did a marvelous job. I thought his announcments were done properly, and my self did not hear anything about him saying "suckers" over the P/A.

 

But when they made the announcement that they were cancelling our first Bahamas stop of Nassau and thay they were making the first bahamas stop Freeport, and they were working on a wonderful third port, most of us did not expect newport.

[dan40]

UGH

I have my central air on 67 and its still not cool enough... its gross outside!

 

Only going to get worse later on...

 

 

I too can not wait to hear about this week's sailing:)

 

When you're HOT, you're HOT!!

 

And thanx for the pic. I finally figured out how to move it around.

Spyder Dan

[UnclePatNTampa]

But when they made the announcement that they were cancelling our first Bahamas stop of Nassau and thay they were making the first bahamas stop Freeport, and they were working on a wonderful third port, most of us did not expect newport.

 

Maybe, just maybe, Bermuda or a similar port is what they were working on when they made that announcement. But because other ships where also trying to find alternative ports and commercial ships were trying to find safe havens, their "preferred" ports were not available and Newport was about all that was available.

 

As a poster said earlier, it's not just where THIS ship could dock, there are dozens of other cruise ships and commercial ships at sea that have to go somewhere; as well government red tape from the US government to the foreign port.

 

We've been diverted from a port that had been destroyed during a hurricane and from another port that refused us docking rights because they feared a terrorist attack from someone on the ship. It happens and we make the most of it. Adults have to act like adults and accept life as it's given to you.

 

We have a tendancy to only look at our circumstances and forget there are many others in the same "boat" (forgive my pun). All I really ask of the captain and crew is to keep me safe and we land where we land. Granted I make excursion reservations for things I want to see and but life is an adventure and sometimes a curve ball is thrown your way. There's always something to see at the "new" port that I have not seen before.

 

After open heart, a triple bypass and a heart attack, I promise you a missed port is not that important in the grand scheme of things!

[dan40]

BUt

 

Ok I understand that it is not directly enroute, but we spent from 7 am til 7 pm in Newport, how far away is newport from NY, and we had over 13 hours to get there!!

 

Again, dont get me wrong,,, the cruise was fabulous, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, the crew was fabulous, I think captain Volpi did a marvelous job. I thought his announcments were done properly, and my self did not hear anything about him saying "suckers" over the P/A.

 

But when they made the announcement that they were cancelling our first Bahamas stop of Nassau and thay they were making the first bahamas stop Freeport, and they were working on a wonderful third port, most of us did not expect newport.

 

In the past I have read about complaints that cruiselines do not do many Bermuda cruises just to keep the price high. Same answer would apply in this case. The country of Bermuda is VERY restrictive on the number of ships it allows to visit. I doubt they would even consider bring an "alternative" port in a non-emergency.

I'd not be surprised that a ship home ported in the north would get LAST choice at alternative southern ports. "We're full up, go back where you came from." is the likely message they received by many ports.

And I cruise during hurricane season all the time [more than 50% of cruisers do since the season is 6/1 thru 11/30 {6 of the 12 months}] and have lost cruise days, cruise ports, and all and any choices. Speaking of Bermuda, we missed a scheduled stop there due to a storm, not a hurricane, just a storm. A storm with 40 foot waves that closed the country to all traffic, sea or air.

 

Go to Google Earth, find a ship on any ocean. A ship is less than nothing to an angry ocean.

 

Dan

 

Dan

[wentworth]

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.

 

 

Did you remove your tips from your S & S account? Do not understand

why. Are you saying your room steward and assistant along with your

dining staff did not give you good service?

[bluefintuna]

Indeed the hurricane did turn and sink the Fantome. All the crew was lost and this four masted schooner had a seasoned captain at the helm. This was an awesome ship that we had the pleasure of seeing in port not long before this happened. It was Hurricane Mitch that spelled it's doom.

[EdCMH]

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.

 

You would have been upset if the Captain had told you that you were going to Newport before you left Freeport. People need to read their docs. before they get upset. In order to use the vacation guarantee you have to notify them BEFORE your arrival at the FIRST port of call and you must debark at yours ship's first non-US port of call.

[mexipat]

I'm new here and I appreciate all the useful information I've gotten on these boards. However, I don't understand why some people have to jump all over folks who may well have a reasonable complaint. Example-several posters have siad they understand the port changes and did not wthhold the tps but felt there was a lack of communication. That is not unreasonalbe but a few of the veterans on this board don't seem to think any criticism of Carnival is acceptable.

[arizdback]

 

I have never needed to do the vacation guarantee and I am unsure how it works but I did read the fine print on it. If a passenger received the letter and was unhappy with this, they would have had more than 2-3 days to notify the Purser with this and then get off in Freeport. Maybe I have this wrong. I have not heard of anyone trying to do this. I have heard plenty of people staying on-board, complaining, and trying to reduce tips and get something back.

 

I'm still really confused about what really happened on this sailing but there are a few things that I'm pretty sure did happen from reading posts on this and other boards.

1. I do think that the captain knew they were going to be going to RI before they arrived in the first foreign port.

2. I do think that the the main office told the captain to float the "very special third port" balloon to head off a mass exodus at the next port. (I can't say that I blame them. This would be a logistical nightmare)

3. I do think that the Carnival fanboys on here will never admit it, but Carnival (and other lines I'm sure) does play games when they know it could adversely effect their bottom line. There are numerous stories before the guarantee policy of Carnival telling passengers about port changes as the ship sails away from the pier even though they knew well in advance about the changes. (Nobody drinks in an empty cabin)

 

Just stating what I think about all this. Personally I won't let it change my desire to sail Carnival again.

[wizzart]

This is my first time doing this, but I fell compelled to write after cruising on 8/29/08 aboard the Miracle. I have been cruising on Carnival for the past 15 years and have noticed a decline in serivce. Overall I had a good time, I was travelling with family so we made the best out of our situation, while I was very happy that safety was the number 1 concern and we had to be diverted I felt that Carnival should have done someting to compensate. Living in MA, I have visited Newport RI on several occasion and while I have enjoyed visiting, it is not someplace I would go on a cruise ship. The cost of the cruising is also determine by the destination and I felt Carnival should have done something, onboard credit, etc. I also felt the captain's comments were inappropriate under the circumstances and I don't beleive it helped the situation any. I did not remove the gratuity as I received great service from my cabin steward as well as from the dinning room, and was dissappointed by those who did, but will contact Carnival directly to voice my concerns. Bottom line I think Carnival looks out for Carnival. Anyway, I noticed Newport, RI as one of the port aboard Carnival Miracle on April 16, 2009. Were we guinea pigs?

 

Not sure if I will cruise on Carnival again, but if I do, it won't be during hurricane season. As I indicated, I would not want to be in storm and totally understand the need to change ports, but customer satisfaction should have been taken into account as well.

[disfan13]

Anyway, I noticed Newport, RI as one of the port aboard Carnival Miracle on April 16, 2009. Were we guinea pigs?

 

Not sure if I will cruise on Carnival again, but if I do, it won't be during hurricane season. As I indicated, I would not want to be in storm and totally understand the need to change ports, but customer satisfaction should have been taken into account as well.

 

Carnival's website showed that there 2008 Bermuda cruise visited RI in April.

 

Glad you made tehbest of your family vacation ;)

[golfadj]

From reading these boards one should never expect to criticize Carnival without getting lots of criticism back. Carnival will never do anything wrong according to many of these posts.

 

Obviously the Capt did his job by not going anywhere near the hurricane and the people who withhold tips are jerks.

 

However the Capt is in a leadership position and should have held meetings in a lounge or other public venue to explain what is going on.

 

The CD staff who have the benefit of English as a first language should be all over the ship doing the same thing.

 

It would appear that the ships officers overlooked doing this and made the problem worse.

 

The purser staff should remember that their customers are the reason they have jobs. I have gotten some very strange answers from purser dept employees over the years.

 

Something similar happened to me on another ship I was on several years ago and the ship officers held public meetings and were all over the ship talking to passengers.

 

It is called turning a negative into a positive.

 

BTW I am sure that senior management of Carnival will review this situation and make some changes in their policies of dealing with passengers to prevent this type of thing in the future.

 

Golfadj

[partycruiser27]

And i just thought work was going to be boring this morning.:p Well the work is boring, but this thread alone has kept me entertained for a while. :D

[MrPete]

Anyway, I noticed Newport, RI as one of the port aboard Carnival Miracle on April 16, 2009. Were we guinea pigs?

 

 

The Miracle, and previously the Legend, calls on Newport once a year as part of the annual Bermuda cruise, unfortunately in April.