Carnival Triumph review-Employment Standards on board?

[NickCDN]

Flame away!

 

You cant get there from here....

 

We were a group of 5 staying in an inside cabin on deck 8 in room 8251. 2 adults 2 grandparents and 1 infant. We had no problems all staying in the same room. We are all previous cruisers on NCL Dawn.

We travelled from MCO to Port of Miami staying in Stuart, FL at the Ramada Inn Stuart. The Ramada Inn Stuart is half way from MCO to Port of Miami. It was an excellent property, and for only 74USD was an excellent value. We used Budget rental from MCO to Port of Miami. Would never use Budget again, as the downtown Miami location is in a ghetto location and was very hard to find a cab in this area to take us to the port.

We thought the initial look of the Carnival Triumph looked older and a bit tacky. I think old school Las Vegas hotels like the Sahara is how I would describe it. Not near as nice as the NCL Dawn. As the title of this review says, you can’t get there from here was the theme of the week on the Triumph. If you want to go anywhere on Deck 3, 4 (Where most bars, guest services, dining rooms are located) you need to go up to at least deck 5 to from fore to aft on this ship. Extremely annoying and time consuming especially because one of us couldn’t take the stairs due to her being in a stroller. You also have to remember that for the Paris dining room, every person is trying to use the aft elevator at the same time!!! You can only imagine how long the waits were. Not only that, perfectly able people would refuse the use the stairs and allow those with wheelchairs, strollers, people obviously unable to walk up/down stairs to use the elevators. Those in wheelchairs would push the button, the doors would open and the able bodied people would rush in leaving the wheelchair person without access to the elevator. This ship has very poor design!

TIP: Always push both the UP and DOWN buttons at the elevators and get on no matter what direction the elevators are going. Its your only chance to get to the dining room on the aft elevators.

Embarkation took about 1h20m and we arrived at 11am. I thought that was a riduclous amount of time, but was told this is actually normal. As only previously being on the NCL Dawn from Miami, which only took 20 minutes, so I thought the wait was a little long.

Stateroom was standard I guess. A far cry from the NCL Dawn staterooms we were in last year. The grout around the tile was starting the crack away and the shower curtain was not as nice as the glass door you get on NCL. The room had wear and tear, which is to be expected. Our room steward Rodney, was really bad. About 4 mornings, we did not have our room cleaned for some reason. Later in the week we learned Rodney was sick and they had not yet assigned his rooms to other stewards. After that, our room steward cleaned our room once a day while at Dinner. Poor management in this department.

Dining is where Carnival is better than NCL. I enjoyed having assigned dining team and feel David and Celedion were the best team on the ship. They were so good with my daughter throughout the cruise. If I could somehow hire Celedion as a nanny, I would love to bring him and his young child home to Canada. (More on this later). The main dining room food was much better than NCL. Speed of service was much better as well. I only had one dinner in the buffet due to my daughter having a melt down as we entered the dining room and did not want to interrupt others having dinner. The Buffet salad bar was excellent, but the hot choices were few compared to NCL. The Buffet lines at lunch are unreal. You have to wait 15-20 minutes just to get lunch. This whole area really needs to be redone. The Coney Island grill had good burgers and fires. The pizzeria was ok, but I would never pay for the pizza they serve. I thought the soft serve ice cream was excellent.

The Maitre D Ramesh, was annoying. They practically beg for tips for the Maitre D through the Capers, envelopes left in rooms for him, and at the disembarkation meeting. Why would I tip him? What did he do? He is management, and Carnival should be paying his FULL wage as management personnel. Who tips managers? I can see where this is heading. Soon the Maître D will be getting tipped out from the passengers automatically so Carnival can reduce his wage. Every penny given to him should have been given to the staff actually doing the work.

I found the activities on board all involved spending more money. From Bingo, to Art Auctions, Casino, wine tasting. The main shows involving the Triumph staff were like high school productions, but the shows with talent brought on the ship was good. NCL had far better entertainment as far as the main shows are concerned. We had Kevin and Caruso and some guy with a juggling act. Both were good.

My daughter was too young for Camp Carnival. They do set aside time everyday for those under 2 to play with toys but that is between 12-2! That is when pretty much EVERY under 2 has there naps, so that was in fact useless. After a couple days at sea we realized that no one followed the 'no swim diapers allowed' rules in the main pools and wading pool, so we then decided to take our non toilet trained daughter in the wading pool with the other 5 kids with swim diapers on.

The pool areas on the Triumph sort of smell like fried food! It’s not a pleasant smell either. It did not bother us much because we weren’t around the pools or anywhere outside except for the wading pool BECAUSE YOU CANT GET A SEAT AFTER 8AM! It’s amazing that the NCL Dawn had only one pool, yet there were always chairs available. Not on this boat. This was chair saving gone wild. For fun, I would walk by chairs and remove towels and turn them into the pool attendant (the one who exchanged towels) for fun. In all seriousness, all cruise lines need to enforce these rules! The best sight all week was a very large man (350-400lbs) lying by the pool with his cheeseburger and beer resting on his belly while he had a nap. It was quite hilarious!

In San Juan, we just walked around, while MIL and FIL took a guided tour. Not much to do as most shops are closed by 530-6pm in San Juan.

St Thomas, we arranged transportation through Air Force One Fun Tours to three beaches. Magens Bay, Sapphire and Coki Beach. I am not sure what the hype is for Magens Bay. It was nice, but Sapphire and Coki are much better for views and snorkeling. Coki was quite crowded, but if you want to see tropical fish, this is where you need to go.

St Marrten, we toured with Bernard’s, but got stuck with a third party cab operator because Bernard had overbooked his nice bus! Was not impressed. The day turned out good though. Orient Bay Beach was the nicest beach we went too this trip. Also went to Maho Beach and saw a 747 land and got jet blasted by a 737 and a 757. This was the best experience I had the entire cruise. I am a jet buff, and it was amazing to experience the jet blast of these monsters.

Disembarkation was quick. Getting the rental car was another story. Miami had a Marathon this past weekend and it went directly by the entrance to the Port of Miami. Who would allow this? There was traffic chaos and Hertz shuttles could not make it to the port. I hoped on an Alamo shuttle and booked a car with my IPhone (Thank god for the IPhone). In the end, we ended up paying less with Alamo and everything turned out great. Miami is ghetto and I think I am done with cruising from there. The day before we got off the boar 8 people were shot and killed by a masked gunman for no reason in downtown Miami. There are people sleeping all over the streets. It really is a dirty city.

Overall, we all decided we won’t cruise with Carnival again. There seemed to be a higher percentage of trash on this ship. It was probably because of the price, which is why we cruised this time around as well. It was only 300USD per person. I think we will spend more and got back to NCL or maybe try Princess. Also in our bathroom and near the wading pool, there always seems to be a mild sewage smell. I think it’s actually common with the Ficantari Ship Builders, as all the ships that come from them have sewage smell complaints. It was mild, but noticeable. We got what we paid for, nothing more, nothing less.

My last comment is about the employees. Isn’t it weird that all the kitchen staff, cooks, and room stewards are from poor countries? They work 14 hours a day, every day for 7-9 months at a time. Yes I know that when they go back to there countries they are well paid compared to those who work in there home country, but does that make it right to have to work all hours of the day? I would see my wait staff at 7am, then noon, then for Dinner, and then still see them after 10pm in the dining room cleaning up. If I hire someone from a poor country and pay them 20 dollars a day (14 hours everyday) to be my servant and they go back to there country and are rich because they make $15 more a day than people in there country (I am not saying they make $20 a day, just an example), does that make it right? Theses cruise companies should have to follow American labor laws if they are going to pick up passengers from American Ports! As stated by Ryan our CD, the owner/ceo of the company that runs Carnival, HAL, and Princess etc is worth 30 BILLION dollars! Could it be he made his fortune off the backs of people who are willing to work 14 hours a day for far far less pay than an american/canadian/european for 7-9 months at a time? With 3 hours a day TOTAL time off (in which they eat/shower/personal time). They schedule theses employees in these departments 7 hours of sleep time. They also like to call it a 2 month 'vacation' when in fact, they are off the boat for two months, but far from a vacation. They are NOT getting paid, which means it is not vacation. They also have to re apply for there jobs and get a new medical. Any type of medical problem, there contract is ended as Carnival doesn’t want to deal with or pay for there medical problems (This isn’t just a Carnival issue, it’s an industry issue) my assistant waiter (who should be the head waiter) asked what Canada was like. I told him, and you could just see the desperation in his eyes when I said if you work more than 44 hours a week, you get OT, and healthcare is for everyone with equal access etc. I just wish there was some way I could sponsor his family and bring them here. He would out work any waiter in any high end restaurant around here. Anyways, I don’t think NOT cruising in the answer to this because then they would have no job, but cruisers in general need to make it known that the labor standards on board need to be brought up to MINIMUM American standards!

[MonaCK]

Sorry you didn't have a good time - we are able to have a good time, pretty much no matter where we are. Were there problems getting elevators? yes - probably some of the worst times we've had on a ship. But we eventually got one. We don't have children, so I can't compare your experience there. And we always managed to find a seat when we wanted to find one, though it might not have been right by the pool.

 

Hope your next vacation was a better one. It was very nice to meet you, your wife, and your completely adorable daughter at the meet and greet, however :)

[NCTribeFan]

Does NCL pay their employees differently or have them work drastically different hours? I mean, everything else on NCL sounds like it's so much better than Carnival! :rolleyes:

 

Sorry you didn't have a good time. Hope you at least enjoyed Papa Bear in St Thomas.

 

I rarely tip the Maitre D', but many people do. They mention this because the auto tips don't include anything. They're just informing you that IF you want to him the Maitre D', you may do so using the envelopes they provide.

 

What sort of free activities does NCL offer during the day while on board? I don't participate in much of anything, as I use the sea days to relax, and use the port days for tours/excursions.

 

I think ALL ships should have handicapped-only access elevators. I'm sure they could build that into the design. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

 

I always take the stairs, but who the heck are you to tell people whether they should or shouldn't?

 

Oh, never mind. Just go sail NCL again. You know, that's the ONLY cruiseline that I have absolutely NO interest in ever trying. Just don't know why, but I don't.

[Crusin6]

Flame away!

 

You cant get there from here....

 

We were a group of 5 staying in an inside cabin on deck 8 in room 8251. 2 adults 2 grandparents and 1 infant. We had no problems all staying in the same room. We are all previous cruisers on NCL Dawn.

 

We travelled from MCO to Port of Miami staying in Stuart, FL at the Ramada Inn Stuart. The Ramada Inn Stuart is half way from MCO to Port of Miami. It was an excellent property, and for only 74USD was an excellent value. We used Budget rental from MCO to Port of Miami. Would never use Budget again, as the downtown Miami location is in a ghetto location and was very hard to find a cab in this area to take us to the port.

 

We thought the initial look of the Carnival Triumph looked older and a bit tacky. I think old school Las Vegas hotels like the Sahara is how I would describe it. Not near as nice as the NCL Dawn. As the title of this review says, you can’t get there from here was the theme of the week on the Triumph. If you want to go anywhere on Deck 3, 4 (Where most bars, guest services, dining rooms are located) you need to go up to at least deck 5 to from fore to aft on this ship. Extremely annoying and time consuming especially because one of us couldn’t take the stairs due to her being in a stroller. You also have to remember that for the Paris dining room, every person is trying to use the aft elevator at the same time!!! You can only imagine how long the waits were. Not only that, perfectly able people would refuse the use the stairs and allow those with wheelchairs, strollers, people obviously unable to walk up/down stairs to use the elevators. Those in wheelchairs would push the button, the doors would open and the able bodied people would rush in leaving the wheelchair person without access to the elevator. This ship has very poor design!

 

TIP: Always push both the UP and DOWN buttons at the elevators and get on no matter what direction the elevators are going. Its your only chance to get to the dining room on the aft elevators.

 

Embarkation took about 1h20m and we arrived at 11am. I thought that was a riduclous amount of time, but was told this is actually normal. As only previously being on the NCL Dawn from Miami, which only took 20 minutes, so I thought the wait was a little long.

 

Stateroom was standard I guess. A far cry from the NCL Dawn staterooms we were in last year. The grout around the tile was starting the crack away and the shower curtain was not as nice as the glass door you get on NCL. The room had wear and tear, which is to be expected. Our room steward Rodney, was really bad. About 4 mornings, we did not have our room cleaned for some reason. Later in the week we learned Rodney was sick and they had not yet assigned his rooms to other stewards. After that, our room steward cleaned our room once a day while at Dinner. Poor management in this department.

 

Dining is where Carnival is better than NCL. I enjoyed having assigned dining team and feel David and Celedion were the best team on the ship. They were so good with my daughter throughout the cruise. If I could somehow hire Celedion as a nanny, I would love to bring him and his young child home to Canada. (More on this later). The main dining room food was much better than NCL. Speed of service was much better as well. I only had one dinner in the buffet due to my daughter having a melt down as we entered the dining room and did not want to interrupt others having dinner. The Buffet salad bar was excellent, but the hot choices were few compared to NCL. The Buffet lines at lunch are unreal. You have to wait 15-20 minutes just to get lunch. This whole area really needs to be redone. The Coney Island grill had good burgers and fires. The pizzeria was ok, but I would never pay for the pizza they serve. I thought the soft serve ice cream was excellent.

 

The Maitre D Ramesh, was annoying. They practically beg for tips for the Maitre D through the Capers, envelopes left in rooms for him, and at the disembarkation meeting. Why would I tip him? What did he do? He is management, and Carnival should be paying his FULL wage as management personnel. Who tips managers? I can see where this is heading. Soon the Maître D will be getting tipped out from the passengers automatically so Carnival can reduce his wage. Every penny given to him should have been given to the staff actually doing the work.

 

I found the activities on board all involved spending more money. From Bingo, to Art Auctions, Casino, wine tasting. The main shows involving the Triumph staff were like high school productions, but the shows with talent brought on the ship was good. NCL had far better entertainment as far as the main shows are concerned. We had Kevin and Caruso and some guy with a juggling act. Both were good.

 

My daughter was too young for Camp Carnival. They do set aside time everyday for those under 2 to play with toys but that is between 12-2! That is when pretty much EVERY under 2 has there naps, so that was in fact useless. After a couple days at sea we realized that no one followed the 'no swim diapers allowed' rules in the main pools and wading pool, so we then decided to take our non toilet trained daughter in the wading pool with the other 5 kids with swim diapers on.

 

The pool areas on the Triumph sort of smell like fried food! It’s not a pleasant smell either. It did not bother us much because we weren’t around the pools or anywhere outside except for the wading pool BECAUSE YOU CANT GET A SEAT AFTER 8AM! It’s amazing that the NCL Dawn had only one pool, yet there were always chairs available. Not on this boat. This was chair saving gone wild. For fun, I would walk by chairs and remove towels and turn them into the pool attendant (the one who exchanged towels) for fun. In all seriousness, all cruise lines need to enforce these rules! The best sight all week was a very large man (350-400lbs) lying by the pool with his cheeseburger and beer resting on his belly while he had a nap. It was quite hilarious!

 

In San Juan, we just walked around, while MIL and FIL took a guided tour. Not much to do as most shops are closed by 530-6pm in San Juan.

 

St Thomas, we arranged transportation through Air Force One Fun Tours to three beaches. Magens Bay, Sapphire and Coki Beach. I am not sure what the hype is for Magens Bay. It was nice, but Sapphire and Coki are much better for views and snorkeling. Coki was quite crowded, but if you want to see tropical fish, this is where you need to go.

 

St Marrten, we toured with Bernard’s, but got stuck with a third party cab operator because Bernard had overbooked his nice bus! Was not impressed. The day turned out good though. Orient Bay Beach was the nicest beach we went too this trip. Also went to Maho Beach and saw a 747 land and got jet blasted by a 737 and a 757. This was the best experience I had the entire cruise. I am a jet buff, and it was amazing to experience the jet blast of these monsters.

 

Disembarkation was quick. Getting the rental car was another story. Miami had a Marathon this past weekend and it went directly by the entrance to the Port of Miami. Who would allow this? There was traffic chaos and Hertz shuttles could not make it to the port. I hoped on an Alamo shuttle and booked a car with my IPhone (Thank god for the IPhone). In the end, we ended up paying less with Alamo and everything turned out great. Miami is ghetto and I think I am done with cruising from there. The day before we got off the boar 8 people were shot and killed by a masked gunman for no reason in downtown Miami. There are people sleeping all over the streets. It really is a dirty city.

 

Overall, we all decided we won’t cruise with Carnival again. There seemed to be a higher percentage of trash on this ship. It was probably because of the price, which is why we cruised this time around as well. It was only 300USD per person. I think we will spend more and got back to NCL or maybe try Princess. Also in our bathroom and near the wading pool, there always seems to be a mild sewage smell. I think it’s actually common with the Ficantari Ship Builders, as all the ships that come from them have sewage smell complaints. It was mild, but noticeable. We got what we paid for, nothing more, nothing less.

 

My last comment is about the employees. Isn’t it weird that all the kitchen staff, cooks, and room stewards are from poor countries? They work 14 hours a day, every day for 7-9 months at a time. Yes I know that when they go back to there countries they are well paid compared to those who work in there home country, but does that make it right to have to work all hours of the day? I would see my wait staff at 7am, then noon, then for Dinner, and then still see them after 10pm in the dining room cleaning up. If I hire someone from a poor country and pay them 20 dollars a day (14 hours everyday) to be my servant and they go back to there country and are rich because they make $15 more a day than people in there country (I am not saying they make $20 a day, just an example), does that make it right? Theses cruise companies should have to follow American labor laws if they are going to pick up passengers from American Ports! As stated by Ryan our CD, the owner/ceo of the company that runs Carnival, HAL, and Princess etc is worth 30 BILLION dollars! Could it be he made his fortune off the backs of people who are willing to work 14 hours a day for far far less pay than an american/canadian/european for 7-9 months at a time? With 3 hours a day TOTAL time off (in which they eat/shower/personal time). They schedule theses employees in these departments 7 hours of sleep time. They also like to call it a 2 month 'vacation' when in fact, they are off the boat for two months, but far from a vacation. They are NOT getting paid, which means it is not vacation. They also have to re apply for there jobs and get a new medical. Any type of medical problem, there contract is ended as Carnival doesn’t want to deal with or pay for there medical problems (This isn’t just a Carnival issue, it’s an industry issue) my assistant waiter (who should be the head waiter) asked what Canada was like. I told him, and you could just see the desperation in his eyes when I said if you work more than 44 hours a week, you get OT, and healthcare is for everyone with equal access etc. I just wish there was some way I could sponsor his family and bring them here. He would out work any waiter in any high end restaurant around here. Anyways, I don’t think NOT cruising in the answer to this because then they would have no job, but cruisers in general need to make it known that the labor standards on board need to be brought up to MINIMUM American standards!

 

One can see by your rambling on that you are still hyped from the travel logistics so ..........

I am going to make a suggestion here....while you do not make mention of it..........I think you should have just taken this trip with you and DH and DD and booked an OV or a balcony.

 

 

We always travel with our 4 dd's and get 2 ov's....the space is needed as well as the 2 bathrooms. never in a million years would I travel in the close quarters that you 5 did...no matter what the savings were. I cannot even imagine how difficult (read:horrible) it must have been in your cabin.

 

 

Carnival is an excellent line, well priced and very well done, IMHO.

 

I hope the other posters do not flame you but rather feel your pain for realistically had you done 2 cabins and maybe, just maybe,gone with just dh and dd, you would have had a great trip.

 

Travelling back to Canada in the freezing cold and with winter gear that you needed to get home must have been a disaster as well. Lugging the stroller and the in laws on the plane and the rest of the logistics must have thrown you over the edge.

 

Relax and rethink your future travel plans and do try Carnival again.

 

However, if you are truly just hard to please, maybe a beach vacation with childcare is better for you......and get 2 rooms! Or better yet, leave the in laws at home.

 

No one is being forced to work on the ships...they do it by choice...do not worry about the employees.

[MonaCK]

And to comment a little bit further - I guess I am one of those "able bodied" people who used the elevators a little more than the stairs this trip. Since I have two blown out knees and do not negotiate stairs well, I chose to use the elevators rather than the stairs for my navigation purposes. So sorry if I offended you in any way. Also, you could have gone thorough the London Dining Room once it opened in order to get to the Paris dining room, at least on the 4th level. I don't know about the 3rd level.

 

Again - we had a good time - but we have a good time no matter where we go.

 

The best sight all week was a very large man (350-400lbs) lying by the pool with his cheeseburger and beer resting on his belly while he had a nap. It was quite hilarious!

 

I'm sure. quite hilarious. Sorry if we can't all be skinny in this world.

[NickCDN]

Hi mona,

 

I had an ok time. I review what I thought was good and bad. You and your husband are very good singers!

 

NCTribefan,

 

The employee issue is a cruise industry issue as I stated.

 

Nick

[pnjkeith]

NCL better than carnival? Reason their cruise sucked! 4 adult 1baby all in the same room!

[astropilot]

WOW!!! Did you enjoy anything on this cruise? Maybe you should give up cruising, or at the very least go back to NCL.:rolleyes:

[gill_boo]

I dunno what ship you got on, but we were on the Triumph in October and it was one of the best cruises I have ever done. Perhaps you should re-evaluate your standards, you are on vacation, relax and stop sweating the small stuff. Anyone who is looking at the Triumph for a future cruise, disregard this nitpickers review, we had a fabulous time.

[MonaCK]

Hi mona,

 

I had an ok time. I review what I thought was good and bad. You and your husband are very good singers!

 

NCTribefan,

 

The employee issue is a cruise industry issue as I stated.

 

Nick

 

Nick: Thanks for that. As I stated - - good luck on your future cruises. DH and I are pretty much confirmed carnival cruisers, so I doubt that our paths will cross much in the future.

[kelz66]

 

Overall, we all decided we won’t cruise with Carnival again. There seemed to be a higher percentage of trash on this ship. It was probably because of the price, which is why we cruised this time around as well. It was only 300USD per person. I think we will spend more and got back to NCL or maybe try Princess.

 

 

So....are you saying you had something common with the "trash" on the ship? *****....:eek:

 

As for the workers...do you know what they are paid?

 

How do you know they are not being payed the american minimum hourly wage?

 

:confused:

[jonesbk]

"There seemed to be a higher percentage of trash on this ship."

Glad you think so highly of everyone........

[Vanessa L]

I think if they brought the employment standards up to US level you would no longer see $300pp cruises. Minimum wage in the US is $6.55. Anything over 40 hours per week would be time and a half. No way you would see $300pp cruises anymore. Further, none of the employees that work for Carnival are forced to be there. No one is holding a gun to their head. In addition, I suspect that word of mouth (if not the employee contract itself) has let many in the 3rd world countries know exactly what the working conditions are on a ship and yet many sign up anyway. Why? Because they can make a ton more money than they could in their own countries. I'm sorry, but I don't have any sympathy for these workers because they "are worked to death". They are there voluntarily. Don't want to work yourself stupid on a ship--don't apply. I also think that the US work standards have spoiled us to what is "normal". I have a dear friend who is from the UK but works in Japan. "Normal" work days for them are about 14-16 hours. And he is a program developer, not a blue collar worker. It is just the culture over there. Like the folks on the cruise ships, he can elect to leave if he chooses. But he stays because he likes the country and likes what he does. Also, he is young, 32. When he gets in his 40s he may decide that a 14-16 hour work day sucks. It's all what you get used to.

[cathalane]

Carnival is really not for everyone... and that's fine. Maybe if there is ever another really good deal, the OP will try Carnival again - newer ships have better layouts and the room steward issue is a fluke I think.

 

As for labor issues, if you research, you'll see that the OP is right about it not being an american minimum wage. The staff really work for tips and they work very hard. Unfortunately, since these ships are not registered in the US, they aren't required to adhere to our laws. Just like a t-shirt manufactured in China doesn't have to pay their employees an american standard of wage, eventhough the consumer is american. I think NCL has a ship registered in the US that does a Hawaiin cruise - I think they may have better labor laws on that ship (OP: might be something that you would like especially since you already like NCL).

 

Anyway, good luck on your next cruise...

[serene56]

Triumph 1999

Norweign Dawn 2003.

 

Huge difference in the age of the ships here. I try hard not to compare my cruises with each other when I cruise.

 

We cruised with 5 of us in an inside cabin- me and 4 kids ages 13 thru 19.

Had the bestest time-- been on 13 since that first cruise-- didnt put 5 of us in one cabin again thats for sure.

 

As for the employees-- they know what they are doing. Many cruise crews are on repeat voyages--if it was as bad as you are descibing I dont think the workers will be doing it.

What you need to remember is Americans will never do what those people do--

[Hurricane Girl]

Sorry you had such a bad time on your trip.

We were on Triumph this past May and had a GREAT time!!! BEST cruise for us to date!!!

I know Triumph went into drydock in Sept. so I wouldn't think she should be that worn down yet. :confused: As for the workers...don't forget to total all of the auto. tips in that they receive and the extra tips they recieve. I have actually had many tell me they make good money because of the tips.

[nschurr]

I think we will spend more and got back to NCL or maybe try Princess.

 

 

 

Please not Princess!!!

[A&Jfamily]

I agree that the room arrangements could not have been good. When we travel with my mom, we put her across the hall with our 2 kids and get a balcony for ourselves.;)

 

I am a little worried that I won't be happy with the OV we have on the Fascination for DH and the kids in March...looks to be a smaller room (ie no couch) and no balcony for me to escape on in the evenings. But, I keep reminding myself that if I did not get the OV on this ship, I would not be cruising at all!!!

 

Love that 1/2 full glass!:D

[bobsfamily]

NickCDN - Did you take a chill pill before you wrote that? I mean why don't you express yourself some more.

 

YOU have a major problem and it has nothing to do with Carnival and her ships/people... it has to do with where you head is and putting FIVE in an inside room. HOW ST#@D.

[Kurbanfan]

Op the crew do get days off, because we have partied with lots of them on beaches thruout our cruising years. Alot of them will work double shifts because they want to......

Our bartender on the Elation (David from Jamaica) has been working with Carnival for 10 years now......don't think he would if they worked him to death.......

There are a couple of Carnival ships I will never sail on again, but I also have had some great ships with Carnival........

You cannot determine a whole cruiseline by one ship.......

Good luck!

BTW Princess was wonderful for us........

[Les68pony]

Hello Nick and family. It was nice meeting your family at the meet and greet. Those of us that met you relize the amount of peope you had in your room was not an issue with your cruise. We got back together and discussed the cruise on the last sea day and we discovered there was a large group of people on board that thought they had chartered the boat for themself and were very demanding on the staff too. We found there were many rude people on this one and inconsiderate.

 

Unfortunately the elevators have always been an issue and understandably so, especially when there are so many people coming out of an event and only 6 elevators to move them. I can see where someone with a wheelchair or stroller would have a hard time because unless you are right in front of the one that opens everyone pushes there way in front of you. They even do that when there is only a few people waiting too. Guess they don't think the polite/ consideration rule applies to them.

 

We had a couple of nights in the dinning room that the service was very slow (45 minutes after ordering before we got our appetizers) and had we been on land at a paying resturant we would have walked out, but we didn't have anyplace to be, so we just had another drink and people watched.

 

It was a weird trip all around (was it a full moon) because even at the airports we traveled in on the way home the atmosphere was hostile and rude.

 

We have noticed that since Carnival has got a new president of the company things have changed, and not many for the better. It may also be a sign of time and will be effecting others too shortly. We have only cruised with Carnival, so I can't compare to other lines, and now that we are platnium members, I don't know if we will go on another line (like priority boarding and debarkation too much).

[Wolfie48]

Does NCL pay their employees differently or have them work drastically different hours? I mean, everything else on NCL sounds like it's so much better than Carnival! :rolleyes:

 

Sorry you didn't have a good time. Hope you at least enjoyed Papa Bear in St Thomas.

 

I rarely tip the Maitre D', but many people do. They mention this because the auto tips don't include anything. They're just informing you that IF you want to him the Maitre D', you may do so using the envelopes they provide.

 

DW and I only tip the Maitre D if he does something for us, such as changing our table or dinner time.

 

I always take the stairs, but who the heck are you to tell people whether they should or shouldn't?

 

Oh, never mind. Just go sail NCL again. You know, that's the ONLY cruiseline that I have absolutely NO interest in ever trying. Just don't know why, but I don't.

 

OP is another of those WORLD REVOLVES AROUND ME people. Because others had kids with swim diapers in the wading pool they did too. I'm guessing thats not the only rule they broke?

[thunderbaycruiser]

The staff on Carnival are paid next to nothing (this is from talking with the staff on several cruises). However, they make good money from the tips that are automatically charged to our sail and sign cards. And yes, many return time and again... we have even had the pleasure of meeting some of the same staff, a year or two later, on a different ship!

Yes, they work very hard during their contract. Many often fly home for an extended break (month or two) between contracts.

Because the staff work sooooo hard to make our cruises so memorable, it really irks me when someone has one bad experience during a cruise and requests that their tips be reduced on their sail and sign account. This only ends up punishing the hard working staff!!

[CWcruisers]

Carnival is really not for everyone... and that's fine. Maybe if there is ever another really good deal, the OP will try Carnival again - newer ships have better layouts and the room steward issue is a fluke I think.

 

As for labor issues, if you research, you'll see that the OP is right about it not being an american minimum wage. The staff really work for tips and they work very hard. Unfortunately, since these ships are not registered in the US, they aren't required to adhere to our laws. Just like a t-shirt manufactured in China doesn't have to pay their employees an american standard of wage, eventhough the consumer is american. I think NCL has a ship registered in the US that does a Hawaiin cruise - I think they may have better labor laws on that ship (OP: might be something that you would like especially since you already like NCL)

 

I've been on NCL's Hawaii cruise. The ship is staffed with Americans who do not share the same work ethic as the foreign crew members. Service was slow, you could never eat in the dining room as a result of the slow service, there was no incentive to do a good job because if they don't like their job, they just quit and get off at the next port. Trust me, let's keep employing the folks from the poor countries that need the money.

[bobsfamily]

Carnival is really not for everyone... and that's fine. Maybe if there is ever another really good deal, the OP will try Carnival again - newer ships have better layouts and the room steward issue is a fluke I think.

 

As for labor issues, if you research, you'll see that the OP is right about it not being an american minimum wage. The staff really work for tips and they work very hard. Unfortunately, since these ships are not registered in the US, they aren't required to adhere to our laws. Just like a t-shirt manufactured in China doesn't have to pay their employees an american standard of wage, eventhough the consumer is american. I think NCL has a ship registered in the US that does a Hawaiin cruise - I think they may have better labor laws on that ship (OP: might be something that you would like especially since you already like NCL)

 

I've been on NCL's Hawaii cruise. The ship is staffed with Americans who do not share the same work ethic as the foreign crew members. Service was slow, you could never eat in the dining room as a result of the slow service, there was no incentive to do a good job because if they don't like their job, they just quit and get off at the next port. Trust me, let's keep employing the folks from the poor countries that need the money.

 

The Hawaii cruise was canceled... saw one of the NCL ships in Nassau 2 weeks ago... with not being able to have a casino (never left US waters) and being "american" standards and pay the ship lost money - even with higher charges for cabins.