I will apologize upfront – I haven’t read every single line in your blog, so if you’ve already answered this, I’m sorry…

I don’t understand why an upgrade to a spa cabin does not include the spa amenities. Right now, with price drops, I think I could upgrade to a 4S either free or with a small surcharge. But there is no real use for me to do that unless I get the amenities. Someone who is booking right now can get the spa cabin with amenties for about the same price as I paid for my lower cabin. (I’m guessing – I can’t find a 4S price online right now.) Because of work situations, we could not book early enuf for ES pricing, which means we are missing out on getting OBCs too.

We are regular Carnival cruisers, and will have a great vacation anyway… but I guess I just don’t understand the theory behind not giving the spa amenities to someone who watches the pricing and requests an upgrade.

Thanks for any comments!
marcia

Before I get to my problem I just want to tell you how much I appreciate all you do for us. I love your sense of humor and your honesty. You truly make my day when I read your blog. You have such a huge heart trying to help us in any way you can. I hope one day to get to sail with you once again. And as you know I hope that it will be one going to Europe.

I know how busy you are and since I have waited almost 4 months to tell you about this, I will understand if you do not get to me very quickly.

When we were on our Alaskan cruise last August we also went on a land trip through Holland America, booked through Carnival. The land trip was very nice and we enjoyed it very much but I and several others did have a problem which was very upsetting. Our first night we stayed in Anchorage. We were told to only pack a carry on suitcase for the next night and the rest of our luggage would be taken to Fairbanks where we would be staying for two nights. The next morning our bus took us to board the train to take us to Denali Park for the night. We were on the train for eight hours. When we got off the train Mike found his carry on but mine and several others were not there. There was one gentleman that had a wheelchair that was not there. All his medication was in the suitcase too. We were very upset as it was all we had. Our tour guide that we had through out the trip did a lot of calling and late that night found out the person that put all the luggage on the train did not open the last compartment where the rest of our luggage was. The luggage finally arrived at 1:00am. Holland America never apologized to us nor did our tour guide. They did not even contact us except to tell me the luggage would not be at Denali Park until 1:00am. The only person that apologized to me was the woman at the front desk and she did not know what I was talking about as nobody informed her that our luggage was missing.

I do not know if there is anything you can or even should do. But since Carnival uses Holland America; I thought you should know how they treat or do not treat their passengers.

Our cruise as I have told you; was wonderful and except for my missing luggage, our Alaskan trip was amazing. I would not have brought this to your attention except that I read one of your letters were someone had complained about the luggage handlers in Rome or lack there of.

I hope by the time you respond to this that you will be home once again with your girls. I can only imagine how much you must miss them.

Keep smiling John, you truly are one of the good guys.

My best to Heidi and Kye.

Hi there! I asked Chris Prideaux about posting a schedule of piano bar entertainers when I met him on the Blogger’s Cruise last February. At the time he said that they don’t publish an official schedule because of the contracts they have with the entertainers. There is no clause in their contracts that allows Carnival to use their names for promotional purposes. He also said that some of the entertainers don’t necessarily want it out there that they are playing on a ship.

I told him that most of the entertainers I am in touch with have absolutely no problem being on the list and quite a few of them update me on their schedules when they have them. He said he has no problem with a list like mine, because it’s unofficial, but he felt there might be problems doing an official one.

I think the other part of the problem is that the schedule often changes, someone needs to shorten their contract, or someone gets sick. It’s not always a guarantee (hence the disclaimer at the bottom of my list). And perhaps there is a fear that the official list might be seen as a guarantee.

Plus, they don’t always know 6 months ahead. The entertainer for the Carnival Dream inaugural didn’t get confirmed until about a month or two before. Alas, it’s one of the bigger issues for some of the folks I talk to, it’s hard to nail down a schedule in advance.

That being said I would LOVE it if they would publish a schedule on their site. I have also booked cruises based on who the piano bar entertainer is.

So yes, John it would be nice to have an official list!

Cheers,

Laura

Thank you for the bottle of wine. Why don’t you get on the plane with Toddles and meet us in Freeport? The bloggers on the ship would love it I am sure.

Cruise Ship Tycoon is a computer game that I bought for my girls a few years ago. It’s similar to Rollercoaster Tycoon, (which they really enjoyed), where you build a roller coaster theme park and then earn virtual $$ when the people go to the various areas of your park.

Even though my girls had been on quite a few cruises, I don’t think that Cruise Tycoon got as much playing time as Rollercoaster Tycoon.

If you google it, you will find some info, including a post from gamespot.com that says, “Jul 21, 2004 … Though pretty, this tycoon game flounders due to lackluster gameplay and a lack of variety.”

Another consideration is that since this is a relatively old game (5 years), it might not be compatible with your computer’s operating system, if you have a newer computer.

Hope this helps.

Laurie F.

What makes a good CD? I think a good CD needs the following qualities:

Charming
Available
Responsive
Nice
Intelligent
Vivacious
Agreeable
Lots of fun!

Carnival!

One more thing we have in common..Carnival Imagination was the first ship we ever sailed on and began our addiction to cruising..secondly..we became Platinum on the Imagination..This ship also holds a special place in my heart..I aboslutely LOVE the Serenity area…one of the best things Carnival created…keep up the good work and I sure hope your “arse” is feeling better soo..
Emmy

Thanks for all your hard work
Carla Strong (the Mom)