Keep up the good work!

Hi John,

Very hilarious description about the hot sauce! I feel your pain…but not to that extent. What to do with it? Easy, float it away from Bermuda and let the Bermuda Triangle take care of it.

Just a quick note, my girlfriend & I were on the Oct 15th sailing on the Carnival Dream and also noticed a “smell” in the passageway, and we were up on Deck 12 (port side). For a little while, it was even noticible in the stateroom, so we opened the balcony door to “air it out”. Just a minor inconvenience and in no way affected our fantastic Med cruise. I agree with the above poster, seems like a drainage/plumbing design issue. I’m sure Carnival will get it corrected soon. For awhile, I thought it may have been Funship Freddy passing gas…

Just an idea (pls pass to Terry) – why doesn’t Carnival compete more with NCL in Hawaii? I understand the Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA) and as such, why NCL has the U.S. flagged Pride of America, so the ship doesn’t have to leave Hawaiin waters. Here’s my idea- Carnival bases a Spirit-class ship out of Honolulu and buys into Fannin Island (or similar) and builds it up as a destination (e.g. HMC, Grand Turk). Then, the Carnival _____ could sail the Hawaiian Islands, with a sail to Fannin to stay in compliance with the PVSA. I think such a run would be VERY popular and would be highly competitive against the higher-cost-to-operate (U.S. crew/wages) Pride of America. This way, Carnival could do 7, 8, 9 day cruises, where many working Americans cannot get the leave to do the current 12-day cruise plus any additional stay pre or post cruise. Just an idea…

Lastly, I’ve included Jeanne & my blog address above. Pls feel free to take a gander…we created & posted it while on the Carnival Dream in the Med.

Ciao!

Marty & Jeanne

Thank you so much for your help in setting up the Cruise Critic’s meet and greet for the October 31 sailing of the Carnival Glory. We had a wonderful time, and once again, the Carnival Glory did not disappoint ( I just hate they are moving her to Miami!). I had also mentioned to you I would miss Butch, but you assured me we would love Ryan. Now I am saying – “Butch who?” Seriously, Ryan is a wonderful cruise director who is going to go places with Carnival! He made a wonderful cruise even better!

One other something – John, you could really tell Carnival’s commitment to being friendly to the guests! Very seldom did we pass a staff member that they didn’t smile and say “hello”. We had to go to Guest Relations regarding a lost suitcase and they couldn’t have been nicer! (and found the suitcase!). Carnival was great before – it is even better now! It IS like coming home!

Hello John (please reply if you like),

I’m glad Carnival chose to refurbish the Fantasy class ships, because you sure don’t do retirements very well. I just got home from “celebrating” the last holiday of the Holiday. I was incredibly disappointed in the way you and Carnival chose to send off the ship that has sailed under your flag longer than any other and helped build the Carnival we know today.

First we were told you’d be joining us, but that didn’t work out what with the big plans for Dream. Disappointing, but understandable. Then our cruise director, Tori, cut and run at Calica. I’m sure she had a good reason, but it felt a little like she was abandoning ship. My kids wondered what happened to the “Woo-Hoo” (they had sailed the Holiday with Tori before and always returned the Woo-Hoo). There were no past guest pins available – even for purchase. There wasn’t a single Holiday souvenir left – key chain, shot glass, spoon, snow globe, fridge magnet – nothing.

There were a few “Holiday’s Final Voyage” photos for sale, including a number of pictures and postcards of a FANTASY-class ship that they PHOTO-SHOPPED the “Holiday” moniker on! I know Carnival has to make a buck, but that’s just low! I’m not sure which upsets me more… That Carnival thinks so little of us that they intentionally sold us fakes, or that I actually bought a few of them…

Most disappointing is that there was no fanfare at all. There was no retirement party… No final send off from Cozumel or Calica (which I thought was tradition in the maritime world). The whole cruise was very somber… Lacking the usual exuberance and energy… Bordering on depressing.

I certainly wasn’t the only person who felt this way. I spoke with a lot of frequent cruisers who had similar observations. To the bean counters, maybe this was just another cruise, but to a lot of us, this was a cause for celebration and reflection. It’s a shame Carnival felt differently.

I’ve already got two more Carnival cruises booked. I’m sure they’ll be great, and I’ll give Carnival the benefit of the doubt that this just fell under the radar because of the fanfare over the Dream.

Best Regards,
Ken, Jackie, and kids

P.S. Want to buy a limited edition photo of the Carnival Fantaday? Holisy?

I’ve tried socialnetworking@ carnival, but no response, and I don’t want to book YET, I’m just looking at pricing, so I don’t need to talk to a PVP. I have my own agent.

HERE”S MY PROBLEM….

I’m trying to look at pricing for the Fascination for December 2010…family vacation with 15 members! The problem is: Carnival’s website doesn’t show balconies for that time of year. I know she is going through her facelift in January 2010, (according to the press release on Carnival’s corporate website, AND they said she would be open to bookings, but she isn’t).
Can you help me out? Or let me know when it should be on the website so I can check prices?

THANKS!!!
Lisa

In September of 2009 I sailed on Carnival Valor to the Western Caribbean. I booked a cruise sponsored tour for Belize at the recommendation of carnival’s agents with them stressing that privately operated tours are not safe. I chose to pay roughly twice the amount of a private tour because my number one concern is safety.

As my case records will indicate, I was severely injured on this tour. As I was walking across a wooden rope bride (which was approximately 40 feet above a ravine and river), the planks gave way and I fell half way through it, trapping my leg. The broken plank showed termite damage proving that an inspection of the safety of this bridge had obviously not been done. Had my 11 year old son been on that part of the bridge when this happened (he was just feet behind me) he would have died seeing that he would have plummeted through the broken bridge altogether.

Included are some pictures of my leg and foot…..the most recent one showing the condition of my foot just yesterday. I also included one picture of my (normal) opposite foot as a comparison. I am still under doctor’s care, and have had to call in sick at work due to my continued inability to use my left leg.

I am appalled that the only response I have received from carnival to date is a generic letter stating “We are sorry for your injuries, but hope you enjoyed your cruise regardless and that you will choose to sail with us again”. I see no accountability from a cruise line who purports to keep it’s passengers safe and absolutely no effort on Carnival’s part to cover medical bills or set things right.

Maud Christine Tanner

And I guess you already know this now, but NEVER try to relief the spicy burning in your mouth by drinking water or water-based liquids. All it does is spread the fire around.

Laura