Let’s start with this very interesting comment from a guest who is currently sailing on the Carnival Destiny as sent to me by Gary Brierly, the cruise director…….who by the way is doing a fantastic job and is becoming a bit of a star. Anyway…………..have a read of this.
Guest: Mrs…………Ref: ______
Cabin: _____ Booking#: _____ Added-Changed: 02/16/10 – 02/16/10C—————Not any female officers
Guest came to the GSD to state that she was just coming from the Senior Officer presentation and that she was angry that there were no female officers. Guest claimed that this was sexist and that she would be writing to Carnival about this.
Let me have a think about this……is sexism alive in the cruise industry? Hold on, before I start typing this blog I need to turn off the Steven Segal movie I am watching, have a good scratch around my dangly bits and have a quick look at www.hotlatvianwomen.com.
Ok, now where was I…….oh yes…….sexism in the cruise industry……. well …….how about bollocks! Women haven’t just walked up the gangway ceiling they’ve taken over and furnished the Promenade Deck with lots of cushions and painted the smoke stack pink.
Well………….ummmm……….then again…………….actually………….no they haven’t.
I just had a look at our fleet wide senior officer list and you know what………. we don’t have any. The highest ranking senior officer we have are the nine female guest service managers. This means we have no female captains, staff captains, chief engineers, staff chief engineers, hotel directors, food and beverage managers or chief security officers. Now, we do have female doctors and two female housekeeping managers and of course we have four female CD’s plus a few metro sexual ones….. but that’s it……I wonder why?
Now, off the ships over at Carnival HQ things are a little different. The sales department is run by a woman. Then you have the second in charge of hotel operations who’s a woman as is the vice president of our Care Team who has long dark hair, big brown eyes and answers to the name of Vicky. And one of our top executives is a man Monday to Friday but at weekends he puts on a dress and make up and calls himself Loretta……so that counts as well doesn’t it?
I know many of the other cruise lines have top female executives, look at Seabourn and P&O for example. So as far as women in the cruise industry are concerned……all is well as it’s obvious they are jumping up and down on the genitals of anyone who happens to be a man. And this is good news because women have and continue to contribute much to the industry we all love. Plus it doesn’t hurt that one or two are really hot! ……… sorry ….. that was sexist.
So, the lady who complained is correct………….and it doesn’t look like we are going to change much in the future either. We have no female bridge or engine officers although we do have one lady in hotel director training at the moment and I should mention that one of our most successful hotel directors ever was Shahnaz Kashanipour who now works at Carnival HQ.
I understand that another cruise line does have a female captain though and that’s great to hear and I wonder if she will break the obvious male-dominated role and we will see more captains in skirts. Maybe one day we will have a female captain here at Carnival ………… maybe on the M/S Carnival Fantasy……….although once a month the boson is going to have to paint a “P” in front of M/S.
Time for today’s questions……….away we go.
Wyn Asked:
PLEASE REPLYDear John, in the comment section of your NOV. 19 blog, the third person down (Kathy) had a question regarding OBC for solo cruisers. You asked that any other single cruiser with the same problem let you know.
http://johnhealdsblog.com/2009/11/19/a-blog-on-the-metro/#comments
So here is my question in regard to that same issue: My son is cruising solo in a 4B cabin aboard the Carnival Liberty on February 27. The last price adjustment (he is booked Early Saver) gave him a price reduction down to $408 pp. This results in a cabin price of $878.63. With the special being run at that time, Carnival also offered $50 pp OBC.
Based upon the text above, it seems from this that my son should be getting $100 OBC credit rather than the $50.
I am booked thru a travel agent. She was very nice when I sent her the info, but when one of her representatives called Carnival, she was met with a “John Heald….never heard of him.” They were unwilling to give any additional OBC.
It is a small matter, but it seems that we may have a bit more OBC coming to our son’s cabin!!
Thanks, John…..I didn’t know where else to turn.
John Says:
Hello WynIt seems that the original posting from Kathy that you referred to has prompted others to contact me over this issue. And it seems that there are certain complications that may indeed make the assumption of the on board credit thingy a correct one. As you can tell I don’t know too much about it but I have sent this directly to our CARE team and I promise you will be receiving a call from someone very soon. Please let me know if you can that this has happened and the outcome.
Best wishes and I remain at your service.
Johncarold Asked:
John, Please RespondThank you sooo much for responding so quickly to my post. I honestly don’t know how you do it. DH and I are really looking forward to hopefully seeing you on our cruise. A few things have happened since my last post and unfortunately we are down to 10 in our group. But I wanted to tell you about Charlene Stockman our PVP with Carnival, canceling our son and daughter-in-laws reservation was one of the most difficult things I have had to do, and Charlene was such a big help, her professionalism and customer service is outstanding! I am just not sure who I should contact to send my Kudo’s on this very valuable customer service ambassador of Carnival.
You asked if there was anything we needed, well no, not really. Like many others it would be great if the 10 of us could sit together at dinner, but being a past cruiser, I know we will enjoy dinner time no matter how or where we sit. I will be checking with the Maître D (sp?) when we board. (This is another position with carnival that sure takes the heat; I can’t even imagine what they go through trying to make all guests happy with seating arrangements!) Thank You again for all that you do for us Carnival lovers.
Del & Carol 52 days and counting!
PS: If you have some free time and want to hide away you are welcome to come join my hubby for a cigar on the balcony.
John Says:
Hello Carol and DelIt is always nice to read words of praise about a Carnival employee and in this case a shoreside one at that. I will make sure that Charlene Stockman’s managers get to read your posting and I thank her also for her help with your concerns.
Please can you send me your cabin numbers and date of sailing and I will do my best to honour (spelt correctly) your dining request.
See you soon.
Best wishes
JohnGlen Asked:
Good Day John, (please reply)I do not know how you keep up with the “normal life” of a cruise director and then still have time to answer emails.
Our family, including my parents cruised last year on our first Carnival cruise on the Carnival Freedom. Since then our 10-year old daughter, Erika speaks of nothing else excepting cruising. She is counting down the days until we sail with you on the Carnival Dream on March 6. (37 days to go.) Her grandparents too are joining us, along with some good friends, a total of 10.
This year her 12-year old cousin Rachel will be cruising with us on her first cruise. Since they are in two different Camp Carnival age groups, do you think it is possible that Rachel could attend the younger 9-11 Camp, so that they can spend the time together? I am sure that between Camp Carnival and the water slides, we won’t see them very often. If there is anything additional that you can do to make it more special for the two girls we would sure appreciate it.
Also, I can’t remember but are their tables that seat 10 in the dining rooms? It sure would be nice if all in our party could be seated together.
We cannot wait until we board the ship for a delightful 7-day vacation. We look forward to meeting you. Thanks for all you do.
Glen
John Says:
Hello GlenWell I have good news and bad news. The good news is that we do indeed have tables for ten and I have asked the Maitre D Ante to try his best to make sure you and your family are accommodated. The bad news is that my hands are tied when it comes to the rules and regulations of Camp Carnival age groups. This is a very sensitive area and I know that it can sometimes be a bit disconcerting. However, the girls will both have fun I promise, one in Camp Carnival and the other in Circle C and of course they have the water park, the shows and so much more to look forward to.
I will be here to make sure you have the best time and please drop me a line when you are onboard so I can send the girls a little gift.
Best wishes to you all and see you soon.
JohnLexi Asked:
JohnI loved the Magic schedule. Is she going to have a transatlantic? If so will you be the CD? When will the fall CD schedule be out? Would love to do a cruise with you. I am tempted to do the Fantasy with you in May but have plans with my Mom for mother’s day later in the month.
Lexi
John Says:
Hello LexiThanks so much for those humbling words. I am very excited that Carnival is returning to Europe and on our new ship the Carnival Magic. I am going to be the CD for much of the time she is in Europe and that could quite possibly include the trans-Atlantic. We have yet to announce details on this but PA 007 our super spy is on the case to find out details on this and which lucky port she will call home. I will let you know as soon as I can and I hope we do get to sail with each other soon.
Best wishes to you and the family
JohnFraser Asked:
John Please Reply,John love the blog, you are hilarious as always. BTW talking to your self is normal at least that’s what I tell myself.
What an honor for Captain Casula, enjoy the next chapter.
Been a while since I posted but I have something I wanted to share.
I just spoke with a friend who just got off of the Dream last week (just before you got on it).
She told me the smoking was terrible, people were smoking everywhere on all open decks and hallways.
The smoking in the cabin next door which had adjoining doors was so bad they had to have the door taped and sealed shut. (Glad I am not the one smoker who is going into that cabin on the next cruise).
When she asked about allowing all the smoking, she was told it was because there were not enough bookings with limiting the smoking so much.
I Love Carnival and the product that is offered but I cannot understand the devotion to smoking. A land based hotel does not allow smoking, yet on a cruise where you can’t leave smoking is still allowed. Maybe it is time to make 1 side of the ship smoking and the other not (cabins and balconies included). BTW I believe less than 20% of the population now smokes, and I support their right to do so (I have enjoyed a few cigars from time to time), just not when they are affecting others ability to breath.
They were also very unhappy about the show lounge, only made 1 show, because of how many people vs. how many seats. I hope in the Magic and the “Thingy” this has been corrected and there have been seats added to the show lounge that can accommodate enough people to see the shows.
Now John I consider myself an open minded person and this is one person’s opinion, I really want to see the Dream myself; I just think it is now going to be very difficult to get my family to cruise on the Dream.
I look forward to what you have to say about the smoking issue and when Carnival will finally really limit the smoking on the ships.
Thank you for all you do John,
FraserJohn Says:
Hello FraserThank you for taking the time to write and there are quite a few issues you mentioned there so I will crack on with answering them. Let’s start with the smoking issue. Now, I can’t answer for what happened during your friend’s recent cruise on her Carnival Dream but I can assure you that I am very strict about announcing the areas which are non-smoking. I do this at the safety briefing through the emergency system so everyone gets to hear it.
I remind guests that smoking is strictly forbidden in guest corridors, lobbies, elevators and most of the public lounges. I then list the lounges where smoking is allowed and they are the piano bar, dance club and the port side of the Lanai. 90% of the casino is non-smoking and I can tell you that honestly……..the ship does not have the odor of cigarettes at all. We even canceled the cigar bar here as well and allow that only outside on the Lanai.
Now yes, we do allow smoking on the balconies and that’s a whole other issue but generally I think we have a balance at the moment that for the most part…..keeps smokers and non smokers happy…….or if not happy……..contented.
You know, we used to have a totally non smoking ship, the Carnival Paradise but of course that is no longer the case. It would be silly not to admit that the part of the problem with the non-smoking angle there were revenue implications involved. Group business was impacted as if a group had one smoker in the party they would book another ship. Plus, right or wrong, the bar and casino revenue was not what we would have hoped for. I know you questioned Carnival’s policies on this but seeing as no other cruise line has banned smoking completely from any ship, well, that tells us something doesn’t it.
We really have limited smoking here and I do not foresee a policy change in this area anytime soon either at Carnival or any other of the lines. But you should come here ……… 90% of the ship is non-smoking and that’s a fact.
The show lounge seats 1,500 people and we have two performances of both shows plus the 5 nightly comedy shows. Now I will admit that I have to do a better job in stopping people saving seats and I promise to give this my full attention.
Thank you so much for allowing me to address this subject and as always I invite other bloggers to write on this subject as well please.
I truly do hope that you will sail her………she really is a brilliant ship.
Best wishes
JohnRandall Ponik Asked:
John, please replyHow come you never responded to my December 14th post regarding the December 14th sailing of the Fantasy (which was my 15th cruise with a Carnival Company… and probably my last)?
John Says:
Hello Randall PonikI didn’t respond because I did not see the posting sir. Please can you take the time to resend it to me and I promise I will give it my immediate attention. Thanks so much and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Best wishes
JohnDock at the Bay Robert (attention John Heald) Asked:
What do I need to do in order for you to send my wife a gift when we sail on the Valor boat in March? There is lots of discussion on the boards as to what the free gift is. Some are saying its champagne and some state that’s its one of the plastic ship trophies.
Robert Barnstaple
John Says:
Hello Dock at the Bay RobertI would be happy to send your wife a gift so please write back to me with your sail date and stateroom number and I will make it so. As for what it is……well, it maybe one or both of the above or it may be a photo of me in Speedos lying on the beach in Cozumel. I won’t spoil the surprise by telling you which one I will send her.
Best wishes
Johncruisingeagle Asked:
Hi John, (Please respond)I would like to respond to the comment by Bernard and Loretta. This couple was disappointed that their tablemates drank excessively and they don’t drink, and that they felt there was nothing on the ship for non-gamblers, non-drinkers to do.
My family does not drink and we do not gamble. But we love to cruise on Carnival. Two of my children have cruised for their honeymoon. Most recently our daughter and son-in-law on the Carnival Triumph. My husband and I will be taking our ninth cruise on Carnival on June 5th on the Carnival Triumph. We love getting away and relaxing. We love the food. We love not having to clean and cook for a week. We do go to the shows. They are very good. We normally do not go to the “uncensored” R rated comedy shows but it doesn’t bother me that others do. I choose not to but I still have a wonderful cruise. I would cruise more often if I had the time and money.
A cruise is a wonderful vacation, even for non-drinkers, non-gamblers who are Christians. I have never felt like I had to compromise my beliefs in order to have fun on a cruise. Counting down the days until June 5 and I get to cruise again.
Hope all is going well for you.
CindyJohn Says:
Hello CindyThere is very little I can say to that except thank you so very much for giving the perfect example of how Carnival appeals to guests of all walks of life and how they can have the most wonderful vacation ever here on the fun for all cruise ships of Carnival.
I appreciate your support so very much.
best wishes
JohnDBA Asked:
Hey John, (You can reply if you like)You wanted to know about blogs:
As you know, my blog was started because of a combination of the Holland America Blog (formerly the Eurodam News blog) and also the personal touch you put on it as “one employee of…”
I have also branched out… have a Twitter Feed linked to my Facebook page, an average of 7-8 posts a week, recently celebrated my blog’s first birthday with over 86,000 hits and 400+ posts.
I also post on Cruise Critic in the HAL Forums where my blog has achieved “sticky” status for being frequently used, and to date I have had over 1150 replies on that thread and more than 66,000 visits. I answer anything and everything I can when folks have questions about HAL policies, procedures, itineraries, rooms, etc. My colleagues consider me to be walking/talking deck plans. (Can you tell I like my job at Holland America Line?)
I even have a sort link for interactions I’ve had with you:
http://www.dutchbyassociation.com/search/label/John%20Heald
(And I’ve since dropped the “blogspot” in my website as I purchased the Dutch By Association domain.)
So yes, you could say I have a blog.
The accomplishments I’ve made in the previous year are astounding, especially considering people have to discover me through Cruise Critic, word of mouth or on Facebook and/or Twitter. Since I’m not operating the blog in an official capacity the blog is not mentioned on Best Blogs at Sea or the HAL Website.
Here’s to many more hits for both of us. Happy belated birthday as well my friend!
Best,
DBAJohn Says:
Hello DBAI wanted to take the time to congratulate you on the continuing success of your blog and website. I have seen it myself and the photos and details that you place there show your love for the brilliant Holland America Line. I hope by reading this post that many of my blogging faithful will pop on over to your site and have a look for themselves. I wish you continuing success.
Best wishes
JohnRonRythm Asked:
Hello John ( Please reply)I was on the wonderful Carnival Splendor for New Year’s Eve and had a great time. As usual, Carnival’s people are the best. There is one thing I’d like to comment on and I hope you’ll pass it on. The lounge entertainers, instead of being in one place for the cruise were moved around each night. One night Jeff would be in the casino the next night he’d be back in the Cool lounge and the salsa band would be in the casino. The next night everyone would be moved again to new locations. This was just plain a pain. Even the Capers had it wrong and Goose, the CD had trouble keeping track of it, announcing one thing and having to correct it. It was like your favorite TV show was on a different channel at a different time every night. Plus since these are musical acts, the sound set up for each would have to be re-done every night, so they didn’t sound right to start the night, until the sound tech could make her way to that venue to re-adjust the EQ and levels. Please tell me this is just an experiment (that’s a failure) and when I’m on my cruise in July it will be back to keeping them in one place.
Enjoy
RonJohn Says:
Hello RonThis is a very interesting comment indeed. I know that we started to rotate the musicians and bands around the ship last year to provide more people with a chance to see and enjoy them. This especially applies to the Lido Deck where we were trying to give as much variety as possible up there. This is the first time I have seen a comment like this and I wonder if others feel the same? I apologize that the Carnival Capers were wrong; there is no excuse for that. I will copy this to the folks in entertainment at Carnival HQ and this is a great forum for others to express their opinions on this subject.
I am so glad you had such a wonderful time.
Best wishes to you and the family
Johngrizel robertson Asked:
John. Please reply when you have the time.I would love to convey my best wishes to Captain Casula who was captain on my BtoB cruises on Victory in May/June 2009. One of my passions about cruising is watching the bridge crew safely berth the ships in ports of call & so I have always selected a balcony cabin immediately above & behind the bridge to enable me observe the maneuvers required to dock a giant vessel (I used to do the same when on Stenna ferries from Stranraer to Larne but by hanging over the side as there were no staterooms). Throughout the duration of my 14 days on C Victory in 2009, I was on my balcony by sunrise/departure viewing our approach/departure to & from the island ports & watching the pilots approach/depart safely to & from the ship & the hive of activity on the port side of the bridge.
Cpt Casula docked the ship with “the hands of a midwife & the feet of a ballet dancer”, an expression described to me by the Police A1 driving instructor who steered me to the accolade of being named the top Scottish Police Civilian Driver in Roadcraft & equated his quotation to someone who is extremely capable of handling a vehicle or vessel without causing any danger or discomfort to his/her passengers or other users of transport systems that he/she might meet en route.
John, Cpt Casula is a handsome man who deserves a well earned long vacation without the stress of satellite navigation aids, dependence on metrological data & men with forked beards that, quite frankly, have never lived in the real world of human interaction or the global cooling that we have experienced in the UK since mid-December 2009.
I still await confirmation that I have secured my selected cruise & stateroom on Magic in August 2011. It was impossible to book on my PC from home in the UK as everything kept freezing on me & I had to resort to contacting my travel consultant in Winnipeg, Canada to do the needful for me.
However, God willing, I will be on Victory on 16 May for 14 days for a fun filled energetic trip that will refresh my body & mind.
In conclusion, I have told you on several occasions directly or via Ralph Valente that I love all the staff on all the ships, in particular the ones who carry out seemingly menial jobs but are more highly qualified, educationally, than the majority of passengers & you or me.
My regards to Heidi, Kye & you & I do hope that your Internet connection with Southend-on-Sea is working well. With any luck, I shall meet you in Europe in 2011.
Grizel
John Says:
Hello GrizelThis is an absolutely fabulous way to end today’s Q&A session. Your true words of kindness for Captain Casula were a joy to read. I hope you do not mind but I have sent them on to our recently retired and much missed Captain and I am sure you will be receiving his personal thanks soon.
I hope that we can be together next year on the Carnival Magic. To sail the beautiful waters of Europe would be sensational and if I can do anything to help make that so please let me know.
Best wishes to you and all your family.
John
That’s all for today. Those questions were posted on the 27th of January. Thanks to all of you for the wonderful comments, please keep them coming and may I kindly remind you that if you need me to answer a question or assist you with anything that your mark your comment “John, please reply.”
I know many of you love to follow the building of a new ship and therefore I know you will continue to enjoy Holland America’s coverage of their new ship the Niew Amsterdam which can be found on: http://www.hollandamericablog.com/2010/02/18/nieuw-amsterdam-feb-18-2010/
I am not sure of the date of the delivery but as I have never been to an inaugural of a Holland America vessel maybe I will be able to see this ship christened and report back to you all here on the blog thingy.
Carnival Fascination just returned from her dry dock and as well as the internal changes and upgrades she of course received new balcony cabins like some of her other Fantasy class sisters. Here are two photos sent to me by Jaime from the Carnival Pride which was docked next to the Carnival Fascination in Nassau today.
Now Jaime also has one of my youngest blog readers onboard who drew this picture.
Now Craig, that’s a great drawing and if you were on my ship I would give you $100 and a Playstation 3 game for that brilliant drawing. I am sure Jaime will do the same and not try to palm you off with a cheap fake gold trophy.
Thanks Craig and have a fun cruise.
We have close to 1,000 kids on this week and I have to say that where as usual I would be saying “it feels like we have close to 1,000 kids onboard” …….here on your Carnival Dream, it really doesn’t. I have mentioned before I think what a great idea it was to place the Club O2 and the Circle C clubs off the promenade deck and instead put them on deck 4. This way you don’t see the kids as much and there are not groups of them hanging outside the teen areas as on other ships. Not that the kids hanging around was doing any harm it’s just that on the Dream class their facilities are superb and they are as I said, out of eye and ear shot of the rest of the guests.
It is always superb to meet the kids and often they are as enthusiastic about cruising and about Carnival as their Mums and Dads……..and in some cases sometimes more so. Have a look at this letter I received for my Morning Show.
So, he doesn’t care about his driving license but he does want his Platinum card as soon as possible. When I spoke to him he could name every Carnival ship, in order of age and he named every captain and cruise director he had sailed with so far and…….he went on to tell me the cabin numbers of all his cruises. Now considering when I was his age I had problems remembering where I lived let alone all those details about his cruises is quite remarkable. But then again……when I was his age the only vacation I went on was a camping holiday during which I had to poo into a bucket. Yet here is Tanner at 11 years old already on his way to 10 cruises. When I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up he had no hesitation in telling me……”He wants to be a Cruise Director for Carnival.”
I told him he should follow his dream……..but be prepared to become fat and poor and have hemorrhoids……..but he didn’t care…………he wants to be a cruise director…….. and you know what………….I bet his dream will come true.
So after the two glorious days of weather we have had in St. Thomas and St. Maarten today is a grey as the hairs on my bottom. Plus we have high winds again which seems to have been all too common place these past few weeks. The wind though has resulted in the inevitable.
From: DREAM HOUSEKEEPING
Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 9:31 AM
To: DREAM HOUSEKEEPING; DREAM GUEST SERVICES
Cc: DREAM HOUSEKEEPING MANAGER; DREAM GUEST SERVICES MANAGER; DREAM GUEST SERVICES SUPERVISOR; DREAM ROOM SERVICE; DREAM SAFETY OFFICER; DREAM BRIDGE; DREAM HOTEL DIRECTOR; DREAM CRUISE DIRECTOR; DREAM STAFF CAPTAIN; DREAM ASSISTANT CRUISE DIRECTOR; DREAM YOUTH DIRECTOR; DREAM CHIEF SECURITY; DREAM ASSISTANT YOUTH DIRECTORSubject: “Twister & Drainpipe” slide is closed.
Good Morning to All,
Please, be advised that big slide is closed due to strong wind (41.9 mph) until further notice. “Racers” and Kids slides – open.
Regards
Olena Ginzhelyuk
That prompted this comment
Guest: Ms ———- Ref: _______
Cabin: ____ Booking#: ______ Added-Changed: 02/17/10 – 02/17/10C - UPSET AT WATERSLIDE BEING CLOSED
Guest was very angry at the slide being closed and said that her three children had nothing to do. Guest demanded that she receive compensation because the reason she had chosen the Dream was because of the slides. Guest refused GSA’s offer to go through the Camp Carnival and Circle C program. Meeting with GSM arranged for 2:00pm.
Now one thing more than anything else jumps out at me from that comment……. it’s CARNIVAL Dream…….not Dream. Honestly, I am fighting a losing battle here in getting everyone to call the ship by her full name. And it’s not just here but across the fleet that people are dropping the Carnival. As for the lady …….well I have tried to call her but so far there has been no answer. I don’t know how high the slide is but I do know that as I write to you at 11:48am we have 45 knots of wind on the bow and that means that closing the high slides is absolutely the right thing to do. I must admit though it is frustrating as the Twister and DrainPipe slides are incredibly popular and with the recent high winds they are closed more often than we would like. The racing slides are open though.
The weather has once again forced us to cancel the barbecue and that’s frustrating as well. I have therefore promoted the brunch and I will pop on down there to see what’s happening once I have finished this blog thingy.
Apart from that, all is well. The bedtime story was fun last night and the audience really laughed out loud and overall I think it’s been an OK week. However, there is one topic that I really need your help with.
Here is the subject.
From: DREAM GUEST SERVICES
Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 8:57 AM
To: DREAM CRUISE DIRECTOR
Cc: DREAM GUEST SERVICES; DREAM GUEST SERVICES MANAGER; DREAM GUEST SERVICES SUPERVISORSubject: Cabin ____ – Slamming doors
Good morning John,
Please see below comments received from the guest. Would it be possible to ask our guests during one of your talks or shows to be more considerate and keep quiet especially during late hours as their fellow guests might be having a rest? The guest insisted on taking some action as the noise of slamming balcony and cabin doors is extremely loud and disturbing. Guest wants the people who are doing it warned and action taken.
C – _____ – SLAMMING DOORS
Gst called to report loud from above. As per Gst kids were jumping and screaming above. FS verify and there was no noise present. Above the cabin are no cabins with kids. Guest wants a security guard patrolling his cabin area throughout the night
Now, I already make safety announcements through the cruise about not running and being considerate to your fellow guests but I am not sure what else I can do. We did have a security officer patrol the area and he found no problems there but obviously this guest is upset and that’s not good. I did make the announcement as requested again this morning and hopefully this will help. Here is my question though. Is there anything else I can do here and is it worth saying that “kids will be kids?” What’s your view on this?
I seem to have been talking about kids a lot this blog and so it continues. I was impressed with Tanner’s desire to be a cruise director and although at age 11 that is what he wants now …………I am sure once he is older his ambitions will change.
When I was Tanner’s age I wanted to be a police officer tearing around in my red sports car with the big white stripe down the front like Starsky and Hutch shooting criminals with my big gun. Obviously that would never have happened because I lived in the UK and police drive Ford Escorts and as they don’t carry guns the only way I could have stopped the bad guy from stealing something would have been to threaten him with a good nipple flicking.
Anyway, as I got older I wanted to be a vet, a spy, a soldier, a long distance truck driver and then back to being a police officer again. My mates were the same. They wanted to be a stockbroker, a pilot, a lawyer and one guy I went to school with called Jeffery Grace wanted to be a dancer and despite the verbal pounding he took from Shane Ibrahim and the other school bullies, he did in fact become a dancer for the English National Ballet.
Now obviously even back then my mates and I and I all had rock star fantasies but they involved singing into our sisters hairbrushes in the privacy of the bathroom. I remember my sister Suedrip getting quite mad at me one day as she was busy looking for her hairbrush only to find me singing into it, in my underpants, doing my best David Coverdale (Whitesnake lead singer) impression.
But it was only a dream then and one that none of us kids honestly believed would be a dream that could come true and so we never took it seriously.
Fast forward to today and bloody hell……what a difference. Kids today don’t only want to become famous actors or pop stars instead of doctors or lawyers it’s that they want to be these things even if there isn’t a tiny hint that they actually have any talent. You only have to look at the evidence of the American Idol auditions to prove that statement to be true.
Last night at the talent show I had a Mum and Dad so, so mad at me. They wanted ……. strike that……….they demanded that their 12 year old daughter sing in the adult talent show. I have been through this before and I think mentioned it on the blog about “Stage Mums” and how they push their kids into believing that they WILL be famous one day.
Anyway, I didn’t give in. I couldn’t. We have close to 1,000 kids onboard and how can I let one and not the rest. This 12 year could be the next Mariah Carey or the next Lady Gargar or she could just be a 12 year old with a pleasant voice. Her parents believe that she is destined for stardom and that I am an evil bastard for not allowing her to reach her destiny by singing in the talent show. Of course I know have Kye and I wonder what I will be like when she tells me she wants to be a model or an actress.
We think we’re being kind, loving and supportive when we tell our children they can be anything they dream of being, but it’s not exactly telling them the truth, is it? Maybe she will love cruising so much that she will become Carnival Cruise Lines’ first lady captain or maybe she will just stay home and look after her old Dad who by then will be performing the Bedtime Story at the retirement center. I will still be writing my blog though even when I am very old.
Here is what the blog will look like when I am 80 years old.
Good Morning
I peed at 7 am
I pooed at 8 am
I got out of bed at 9 am.
Goodnight
Your friend in Depends
ummm……bugger…..what’s my name?
Look, friends — there are a few things you should remember before you comment. The space below is for you to post your comments about the post I've just written above. If it is something that's unrelated, please use the Ask John tab above. Now, while I may not be able to reply to your comment below, I do sit in my underpants almost every morning and read everything that is here. So feel free to comment on the comments and then if someone wants to comment on the comment to the comment then go ahead as well. Please be courteous unless the poster is French...........then you can say whatever you want.
Suggestion for John
John, I agree with your decision not to allow the young girl to sing in the talent show. As you said, if you let one you would have had to let any others that wanted to sing.
What do you think about this suggestion If you have a time open in the lounge or any place that has a stage, consider having a talent show just for the children. It doesn’t have to be at night, sometime during the day on a sea day. Just a thought that might make the stage mummies happy.
Cya you and the family in 2 more days
Carolyn and Don
Ahhhh… the joys of irate passengers. I’m glad it’s you and not me, my friend. I do have to say that there have been a number of comments about slamming doors on our Carnival Dream. I didn’ t notice any but then I’m used to jet noise. Oh well…
I don’t think I can count the number of times that you’ve had to deal with stage mums. What a pain in the posterior. Best of luck getting her on your side.
God love Tanner! If I was his age and had any sort of talent at all I would want to be a cruise director, too! Bugger.
Regarding the senior officers… aren’t they all Italian… trained… schooled in some of the finest nautical academies in the world? Have any women applied there? That may well be part of the solution.
All my best to the Stephanies, Heidi and, of course, Kye!!!
Ciao!
Host Mach
Mach – Sorry for the delayed response, but we just returned from a wonderful cruise on Conquest. You’re absolutely right about the number of women in maritime academies – our son’s class, which started at 291, had only 36 women in that number. And that’s in a US school.
HA… her kids have nothing to do…RUBBISH I say… We have been cruising with Carnival since my youngest (who will be 16 tomorrow) was in my belly and the oldest one was 3.
Since then we have added 6 more kids to the family (nieces and nephews) and we are now a Carnival Cruising Family. Plently of times the slides have been closed and my kids have NEVER complained that they had nothing to do….
PLEASE give me a break….
And you can tell Tanner (or he can read it here) that both of my daughters also had their Platinum Cards before they had their drivers license… Very Cool huh….
Hello John, (Please Reply)
We, my husband and I have been on 15 Carnival cruises. We cruised with you on the Carnival Freedom in Europe in 2007. We did a back to back which included the TA cruise. You had to leave before the crossing and Todd & Norja took over your duties. They did a fine job, but at the same time we were very disappointed and sorry for the circumstances that required your leaving. We have been unable to cruise lately, due to surgeries on both my hands and then losing 2 of my brothers within 10 weeks.
But, we are ready to cruise again now, and have booked back to back cruises on Carnival Freedom again for April 10 thru April 24, 2010. My question is, can you tell me who the CD will be on our cruise? I wish it was you
10 weeks time.
Good evening John. I have three things to comment on.
1) A while back to asked us to please give the name of Carnival ship the respect they deserved by saying their full name, examples, Carnival Dream, Carnival Freedom, Carnival Valor, you know what I mean. Until that time I was saying their name by their second name, the Dream, The Freedom etc. Thanks to you, I give the name of the ships as they should be given. People unfortunately are just lazy. Maybe if they hear it enough they will eventually say it the proper way.
It’s very easy people, It’s the CARNIVAL DREAM, the CARNIVAL FREEDOM, the CARNIVAL VALOR, etc.
2) As far as the waterslides being closed, people have to realize that the slides, oops, the waterslides are out in open where the wind in buffet it even if the wind is weak but if a heavy wind which can even have harder gusts that could affect it. It’s as you say safer for the gusts who are usually children. The guests who whine and complain about anything any time will just have
to accept and get over it. This idea of compensation is pathetic. My goodness, YOU are on a beautiful cruise and we always hope for perfection but we have to accept REALITY.
3) Stage Moms and Dads get over it. It’s important as parents to give our children our support and love at all time and God knows it they will need it in the future but to embarrass them by trying to shove them in front of adults who may not agree with you and then have that poor child run off that stage a mess them, maybe for ever if not being a true parent.
This one really bothers me John because you have mentioned so many times that it amazes me how some parents who think they are doing good but don’t realize the danger that they could me doing.
I hope that soon they will understand and get a touch of reality.
My wife and I helped our children as much as we could, but when the time came they chose what they wanted to do and we supported them fully and with our love.
Say a large HI to Heidi and that beautiful sweet daughter of yours.
Paul F. Pietrangelo
John, One thing I have found works wonders for us on cruises are ear plugs. Now I know some may think that is a silly answer. but it is amazing how much they cut down on noise and help us to sleep on a cruise. So to answer your noise/door slaming question….Ear Plugs!
Big Fans as Allways,
Frank and Bridie
John, please reply
My husband and I took our first Carnival cruise on the Pride January 24th (my fourth cruise overall). I found your blog last summer and have enjoyed it immensely; it made the cruising experience more personal. I want you to know that I think Carnival is doing a great job, there were a few glitches in the cruise, but on the whole our experience was top notch. I especially want to mention our waiter, Igor. He is a tremendous asset to Carnival and a very hard worker (as is most of the crew). After speaking with him numerous times, I asked about whether he had been with other cruise lines. He mentioned that he started with Royal and switched to Carnival. I asked why he switched and he said that Carnival treats their employees much better. Thinking about it, I feel the wait staff on Royal seemed to have an element of tension that is missing from Carnival employees. Very impressive.
There are a few suggestions that I will offer that will improve your product. We took the Behind the Scenes Tour; it is one of the highlights of our trip. It was informative, fascinating and very in-depth; almost every question we could pose was answered by Kat (not sure if that is correct spelling, she trains employees). The one problem I experienced was that in certain areas one cannot hear what is being said, for instance in the main galley, the waste management area, and the laundry. Even though we were a small group of eleven, the noise masked what was being said. I know it was not just me, as in these areas no one asked any questions because we did not know what was said. In all the other areas the officials would be peppered with questions. My suggestion is to start using a tour audio system like they use on European river cruises. Each person has a personal headset and a portable receiver that allows one to hear the speaker’s comments no matter where one is standing. The person conducting the tour could hand over their headset to the person speaking and it would then be a simple matter for all to hear what is being said without trying to shout over the background noise.
Another suggestion is to notify the passengers that rough seas are ahead and encourage them to go to medical to get pills. Our first and second day out were very rough and a lot of people were sick. As you know, once you are sick the pills aren’t going to help and it might have encouraged more to avoid the problem if they were informed of rough seas ahead. We took our pills when we boarded and continued them for a couple of days; we were fine and enjoyed the drama of a cruise ship that actually felt like it was sailing.
This was also an interesting cruise to compare to the ones taken out of Florida. Cruising out of Baltimore was quite different. It seemed to be a much older crowd and I am going to bet that ¾ of the passengers drove to the port. Carnival probably has a much more accurate accounting of the difference in what is seen on the Pride. But I want to suggest that a brand new market should be explored, that is cruising in the Great Lakes. Granted you could only do this from May to October, but with the soft markets that Alaska and the west coast are experiencing, this is a great opportunity to cash in on virgin territory. Think of the draw you could have pulling in people from the entire Midwest that do not have to fly to take the cruise. Looking at the response the Pride has from the East coast, I think you could really cash in on this opportunity. Since tankers can come through the seaway and travel all the way to Chicago, I assume that a smaller cruise ship could access this area. And there are numerous ports that would have wonderful excursions. The only question in my mind is whether there would be dock areas suitable to a cruise ship. Just to mention a few areas to visit, there is Mackinaw Island, the Soo Locks, Chicago itself, Traverse City, incredible scenery in Lake Superior, Milwaukee, there is a great variety of things to do and places to see in all of the Great Lakes. I bring this idea to you as you genuinely care about the company and seem to be open minded to ideas.
Anyways, thank you so much for all the hard work you and all the cruise directors do. Way to go Carnival!
Julie
John, (please reply). As always great blog. I am a smoker and very conscious of where I smoke. I do not smoke in the cabin and only where designated. I make sure that I am not smoking around areas that I should not be. I know that Carnival is making the smoking area in the casino a lot smaller but believe me, I will be in the smoking area and have received the grief from someone who have come over to that area to play and they are upset because someone next to them is smoking. It does get me riled up but I am not afraid to say that 85% of the casino is non-smoking, this is my area and I can have a cigarette if I wish.
What I think is funny, many people do complain about the smoke and that is there right, but every cruise I am on, I bet you that I got through a pack of cigarettes from people who do not smoke, but want one. How funny is tha? I think that Carnival does a great job with the smoking. I have seen many of the employees coming up to people asking them to move to the designated smoking areas and I am fine with that but at times, the smoking area are pretty crowded as there may be 1 – 2 smokers in the group but all of their new found friends are hanging out.
Obviously, Carnival has figured it out that if you have a non-smoking ship, it may not sell out and that is a loss of revenue.
Thanks for letting me comment.
John, How could you mention Suedrip today without even saying Happy Birthday to her. She will get even with you once she gets back to the UK.
Happy Birthday Suzanne. John is jealous that you got the looks and the brains and all he got was a ……um……… crooked tooth.
BIG Ed
Oh, John! – asking us to respond about kids…you’ve opened the Pandora Box for sure! We have children, have cruised 10+ times with Carnival, that being said… one of the ONLY things that’s been a negative for us on our Carnival cruises is the behavior of kids on the ships and the lack of security enforcing any rules regarding their behavior. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to sit in a hot tub with several kids snorkeling between my legs, or monopolizing the elevators to the point where we have intervened for elderly couples so they could actually get on the elevator. I’ve had countless breakfast orders removed from my door by kids running in the hallways…Don’t misunderstand – I understand kids are kids and I agree, However, when parents are nowhere to be seen – I question the lack of concern by security. I’ve seen security be approached by various guests for help with kids – the response is usually – it’s their cruise too. Yep it is, but just like the concept of “freedom” my rights go only go as far as to not infringe upon yours. While many aspects of Carnival have greatly improved since we began cruising in 1998 (like food, service, and ship features) there has been a marked decline in maintaining control over the kids when not in the presence of their parents..
John – there is not much you can do to prevent the slamming doors. There are always going to be a few people who are oblivious to others – and the impact that their actions have on them. Short of Carnival retrofitting all the doors to have automatic (slow) closing hardware – it’s truly a gamble. You never know who will be in the cabin next to you. In our ~45 Carnival cruises, only a handful of times have we encountered similar BAD neighbors. Even IF the doors were not a problem, there are always going to be a few LOUD or SCREAMING people also!
Thanks for pointing out the Bedtime Story was last night. That would be St. Maarten night. I had previously asked you which night it typically occurs so that I would finally get to enjoy it. We will be onboard for your next eastern sailing, and have dinner in Chef’s Art on Wednesday at 7PM. I trust we will be out in time to enjoy it — one show only I assume? (Others on here feel free to reply to this, as John won’t be able to until long after we are off the ship!)
See you on 2/27… I hope you are able to make it to the Cruise Critic Meet-n-Greet that’s been set up!!
Thanks,
Tom
Hi John,
I don’t think there’s anything else you can do, as you did make the announcements not only about not running, but also about being thoughtful towards other guests. However, I also do not think it is correct to announce that “kids will be kids.” Yes, kids of all ages like to play and have fun, however disturbing other guests late at night is rude and uncalled for.
Clair
John,
We have just booked a cruise on the Glory for May 16th, 2010. It has been some time since I have sailed with Carnival, and to be honest I have read some pretty bad reviewws (with some good ones mixed in), but I wanted to give it a try. What do you suggest to make sure we are not disappointed?
Thanks,
Ryan
I have sailed on Glory 2 times and both times were great.Of all the Carnival ships i have been on this was the best!I will be sailing on Dream in September and hope it as great as the Glory.
John….
Please respond.
What kind of Lobster is served in the Steakhouse? Is it different if it’s serve as an entree or part of the surf and turf.
Specifically, is it cold water/warm water, Maine or otherwise, depending on the dish?
Thanks!
I don’t think you are ever going to be able to “do something” about the guests that are discourteous on a ship – whether it is slamming doors, being loud in the hallways at night, etc. If these people aren’t smart enough at the time they do this stuff to realize they are disturbing people, they aren’t going to listen to your announcements and think to themselves, “Gee, maybe I’m doing that and should be careful not to disturb my fellow guests”. I firmly believe that we are becoming a “me” society. It’s all about “me”. I was on the Carnival Dream’s January 23rd sailing and couldn’t believe the behavior of some of the guests on board. There was the night there were 2 fights in the Show Theater over seat saving that involved elderly people arguing with each other. Wow! And many people in electric scooters that kept running into people. I saw guests shoving other guests at the sale tables outside of the Gift Shop. It was unbelievable. I saw 2 older gentlemen arguing over a slot machine about who had waited the longest to play a particular machine when it was vacated by another passenger. If it wasn’t so pathetic, it was almost entertaining. I had a great time that week, but I was very disturbed by alot of passenger behavior I witnessed. Do I think Carnival could be better about the chair hogs at the pool and seat saving in the lounges? Absolutely. But, when it comes to running down hallways shouting, or slamming doors, etc., this isn’t going to be corrected by a reminder in the Capers or making an overhead announcement. These people are either just fundamentally self-centered or oblivious to how their behavior is affecting other guests. Just my opinion………..
John,
First off, what time did this guest report loud noise? Let’s face it, after a long day at a port, or even a long day at see on the kiddie slides/pool/buffett lines/putt putt…on our cruise I can’t remember seeing a kid out of their cabin past 10:00. Were these adults trying to sleep at 10:00 pm? If so, they should really reconsider cruising, or at LEAST reconsider Carnival. As much as it pains me to say that, there are other lines out there that be a better choice. The slamming doors guest complaint I can understand, especially if it is a strong winded night. But kids…that’s a risk you take on Carnival. And I must admit, on our cruise (Jan. 30th), some of the shenanigans the kids pulled cracked me up. There’s nothing funnier than a hormonal 14 year old boy trying to flirt with a 40+something crew member that barely spoke English.
Cheers,
Paul DeJonckheere
John, IMHO, you are right kids will be kids and yes I do think this was handled right. It appears to me Carnival did everything possible to determine the validity of the complaint, from that point on there is not much more you can do, that is except perhaps provide the guest with earplugs. Have a great day and enjoy Heidi and Kye.
We were on the New Year’s Eve cruise on the Carnival Dream and did not find smoking a problem. We are non smokers and very sensitive to smoke. The casino was great and smoke was never an issue. When on the Lido deck all one has to do is stay on the non smoking side – no problem! Really, all people need to do is use a little common sense.
Children running and shouting in the halls can be a problem but what in the world can the ship do about it? If the parents won’t control their children, there’s not much to do. Maybe someone could get the names of the rowdy ones and then request the parents help. This probably wouldn’t work, but it’s a thought.
Jeri Green
Thanks for your willingness to share Carnival ships with us smokers. I pledge to only smoke in smoking allowed areas.
BIG ED
John: I hope this is the right way to reach you, as the site does not make it clear to me. My husband and I are celebrating our 30th anniversary this year with our first cruise on the Carnival Pride in April. I have had so much fun planning the cruise, I know I’m going to love cruising! My DH last “cruised” aboard a gray ship with the U. S. Navy, and would love for us to take the behind-the-scenes tour that includes the bridge, galley, showroom, etc. The problem is that I cannot find any information about this tour on the Carnival web site. From chatters I found that it cost $95 per person. Could you give me information about how to sign up for it and when? Thank you for all you do and for this wonderful blog thingy. -Barbara
…and I will still be reading. ummm…where were my glasses again?
hello john! ahhh, slamming doors. a sore subject with me for sure. when we were on the lovely beautiful carnival dream a few weeks ago we were in a beautiful suite with a bunch of monkeys next door to us that slammed their balcony door 8192 times if they did it once. and at all hours of the day and night. sigh. the only flaw in an otherwise perfect cruise. certainly not carnival’s fault, but people, please have some consideration of other guests. you can easily keep the door from slamming. it’s not hard to do. try it!
smiles, bonnie and prince charlie
John (please reply if you care to):
Loved the blog, as always! There are a few things I wanted to chime in on:
First, to Glen (who asked about his 12-year-old niece participating in Camp Carnival with his 10-year-old daughter): Talk with the Camp Carnival counselors about this on your first day aboard. They may be able to give you an idea or two about how to make something work. We have had luck with this approach in the past.
Second, I wanted to add my vote in favor of having cabins and balconies on one side of the ship designated as non-smoking. On several of our past cruises, there have been nearby cabins whose occupants insisted on smoking on the balconies. In some instances, these cabins were several cabins away (or on another deck), but the air flow along the ship’s side carried the smoke to us and made the balcony quite unpleasant. If smoking were restricted to one side of the ship or the other, then there would be plenty of available cabins for each preference, and there would be an incentive for those having a preference to book earlier in order to guarantee that preference.
Third, I see that even the blog thingy here takes the short-cut of not mentioning Carnival as part of the name of each ship. Just look at the CD schedule – I don’t think the word Carnival appears anywhere on the page!
Tanner isn’t the only one wanting his Platinum status. We are sailing on the Miracle on 3/28, and our three kids will be on their 9th cruise (all with CCL, of course). They will be 13, 11 and 11 (yes, they are twins) when we sail, and they have been complaining for years that they want Platinum status. After this sailing, they will have it!
Speaking of our upcoming cruise, can you tell us something about the CD (Josh Waitzman) that we’re scheduled to have? Also, is there any chance that Al Ernst might be one of the fly-on entertainers? This will be our 14th cruise and we have yet to see him aboard…
Unfortunately, we were unable to get connecting cabins for this cruise (we couldn’t book sooner because of potential work conflicts). We don’t feel comfortable having the kids in a cabin that’s not connected with ours as we have two occasional sleep-walkers, so we will be in separate cabins for the week. Too bad you won’t be our CD. We had you for our honeymoon (Ecstasy ’93) and our second cruise (Sensation ’94), and haven’t been able to sail with you since
.
Now it’s time for my shameless groveling. As my wife & I are Platinum (we had the nerve to take 5 cruises without our kids, so we beat ‘em to that status
), we will get our requested dining time. There’s only one dining room, so we’re set there, too. In order to make this the perfect vacation, please arrange for the following: a. perfect weather for the entire week, b. no lines (especially for the mongolian wok and our preferred seating area on Lido deck), and c. unlimited free casino gambling, shore excursions, drinks and steak house dining. In anticipation that you will not fulfill at least one of these, please consider this my formal request for a full refund and complimentary future cruises (with upgrades).
All kidding aside, I’d love it if you would leave a little something for my wife to let her know that she is everything to me (she’ll be in cabin 1228).
Thanks for everything you do for us readers. Your humor (spelled correctly, at least according to my spell checker) and insights give us a Carnival “fix” between sailings!
Rick H.
My wife and I were on the CARNIVAL Dream in January. We had a wonderful trip. The smoking parts of the ship were a bit of a problem. Better than other ships, but still a problem. The piano bar was always smoking, which meant that you needed to swim your way through the dense fog to see the piano bar and take 3 showers afterwards to rid yourself of the foul smell. Maybe there could be a couple of nights with no smoking in the piano bar for the rest of us? On our cruise there was smoking on the port side of the Lido deck, which always seemed to be the side with the view.
Really, when you grab something to eat you have to fight for a place to sit. Wouldn’t it be nice if you didn’t have to brave the “smoking” side just to eat? Also, why not put the smoking section up one deck since putting it below makes that space smokey anyway?
The terminal at Port Canaveral was horrible. It took nearly 2 hours to get through security! Maybe that wouldn’t normally be so bad, but at this terminal security is at the door. That means 2 hours of waiting outside. It was 34 degrees and raining! For 2 hours! Once through security, everything went smoothly.
Despite the couple of negatives, we had a wonderful time. The ship was beautiful and the staff was friendly. We loved Serenity and the water slides. Todd, our cruise director, did an excellent job.
We absolutely loved Honduras and cannot wait to visit again.
Hi John
Just a quick note (one for Heidi) my son alex (20 years old) just home from work and i was reading him the story about the guy being saved at sea and alex wanted to see the pics and as i was scrolling down he says ‘ whos that’ pics of heidi and he said ‘wow’ john did alright there!!
Mx
John:
First I would like to comment on RonRythm’s post about moving the musical entertainment around.
We have been on several cruises since this was implemented and I have to say that (just from the complaints I heard) I don’t think it is working.
As a musician (albeit an old one), sound is very important.
1. It is difficult to achieve the best sound when tweaking it over several nights in the SAME spot. I can not imagine how difficult it is when changing constantly. So the entertainers are probably not being given the chance to provide their best sound.
2. There are some styles of music that sound better in certain locations. For example, karaoke sounded much better in the back lounge than it did in the small side lounge or in the Plaza.
3. Wear and tear on the equipment AND the entertainers. I know one karaoke host who currently has back issues due to lifting the monitors to change locations, carrying all the books and disks (for the
For Carnival to spend as much money as they did for the Ethermedia digitial system, it really surprised me to see it being so abused. It is a computer. Every time someone has to roll and shake it around…it is going to do damage. Not counting the plugging and unplugging of the connectors.
This does not take into account the abuse to the equipment that the entertainers own personally. And the time (and strain on their bodies) as they set up and break down.
4. Venues (not designed to hold the numbers who attend) are stuffed with cruisers while larger venues (for bands not as well attended) are playing to half empty lounges. This makes it uncomfortable for the cruisers who can’t get in to hear and see the entertainers they want to.
5. Most importantly, even though Carnival made the tear offs convenient….most cruisers do not carry their Capers with them. They arrive at a lounge where their favorite act was last night….only to find another band or karaoke there.
They are not going to go all the way back to their cabin to get their Caper. So they end up from wandering around or asking someone (who may or may not know)…especially if the Caper was wrong . (which also happened to us several times).
The bottom line is that this decision is a guarantee that Carnival cruisers are not getting the best sound, the equipment is getting abused and the cruisers are getting confused.
Dedicated lounges would solve all of that.
Linda ( Mom of your friend ~ who won’t come hear Mom sing in karaoke~ DJ)
John
First let Barb and I say Hello and Best Wishes to Heidi and Kye.
Now, as far as your question about noise. The only thing that might help would be to put dampers on the doors. When we did our 30 days on the Carnival Dream we did notice a few rude guest that would just let their door slam shut at all times of the day. Other than that we didn’t notice anything else.
Is there any word on the Bloggers cruise for 2010? We are trying to make plans for fall and are hoping to be able to make the bloggers cruise this year.
We can’t wait to sail with you on the Carnival Magic, so we need this bloggers cruise.
Dear John,
It seems like once again that the parents are on vacation from being parents. There is nothing for you to do but make an announcement and hope that the parents do their job as parents. Why are the kids not supervised? Because Mom & Dad are too busy getting hammered in one of the lounges. They feel that their children are perfect and nobody can tell them any different. They would never do anything wrong.
I can just imagine the Blogger’s Cruise #242. We will be meeting in the forward lounge for prune juice and bingo, followed by a nap. Later the waterslides and pools will be closed due to a prune juice related accident, followed by a nap. John will be performing the bedtime story but this time it will be from his bed. Tomorrow will be the walker races on Lido deck followed by a nap. It will still be a great cruise, followed by yet another nap.
Lookin forward to it.
The Cruzin2some
James & Nancy Enslow
John:
While smoking is not allowed in the hallways, some smoking guests have been known to “prop” their cabin door open, while they smoke, so that their cabin does not become filled with the waste.
Hence, smoking in the hallways…….
On our Miracle cruise in 2006, our hallway looked like a fog machine 24/7…which we had to walk through to get to our cabin.
According to Frommer’s, apparently there is still one cruise line that is totally smoke free.
http://www.frommers.com/articles/5872.html
While I do not believe smoke free to be practical, this is the 21st Century and the harm to innocent individuals (especially children) by 2nd hand smoke is well documented. If Carnival is going to promote itself as a “family cruise line”, then common sense dictates that children can not be exposed to smoke on the ship. Especially on the Fantasy class where a lit cigarette and a child’s face are in such close quarters. I have stopped several close calls myself on the Fantasy where a person was drinking at the “casino bar” with a lit cigarette in their hand by their side…. as a child (who was running and not paying attention) almost ran face first into it. Also the casino has machines with smokers sitting (or standing) right next to the Promenade. So smoke is not the only issue. A child being burned is another issue.
Smoking is legal and as such, an individual has the right in our country to harm themselves. However, just like alcohol is legal, individuals do not have the right to harm someone else (which is why drinking and driving is not allowed).
I think the electronic cigarettes (while perhaps not perfect) is a suitable solution….as I am confident that technology in that area will get better and better with time. That would be a win win situation for everyone.
I was also very surprised to read in my POST OP care instructions (that I was given after surgery)
not to smoke while I recovered AND not to be around 2nd hand smoke. Since both would hinder my healing process.
As far as kids are concerned…. sadly, this is exactly why we do not cruise when school is out. Having raised two boys who know how to behave, I have little patience for “breeders” who do not care what kind of hellun they are unleashing into this world.
My two boys are not perfect (and I am glad they are not…because that would mean I am delusional)…but they do have the basic manners required in life and RESPECT for others.
I would suggest a curfew, but sadly that would just mean the poor souls in the next cabin would have to deal with kids that act like idiots next to them.
Having spent a lot of time in the passengers area, I have seen my share of kids jumping from the Upper bunks, screaming at the top of their lungs, trashing cabins….with no parents in sight.
Hence, why we only cruise while children are safely locked in school.
THANK YOU for saying no to the Stage Parents.
Camp Carnival has their own talent show.
One of the things I love about karaoke is that there is usually a family hour……but the rest of the night, adults get to enjoy karaoke without having to babysit someone else’s kids.
John, these are issues that will never be resolved 100%. But since it is a ship where folks are contained (and just can’t leave)….we appreciate the “powers that be” who listen to us (their loyal customers) as we give our suggestions….for the sole purpose that our next cruise will be the best it can be.
The Fascination looks WONDERFUL. After we have completed all the Carnival ships….we look forward to sailing on those ships which have been updated since we sailed on them….to sail on the new and improved version.
Linda (Mom of your friend DJ)
Hi John, please reply,
I am ecstatic to say that we have just booked our 10th and finally platinum cruise on the Carnival Triumph for April 10.
I have a question for you. One of my favorite things to do on a cruise is to sit in the hot tub and enjoy a refreshing and relaxing adult beverage. Carnival sadly does not allow this, however, even though the “something of the seas” and your sister line Princess will happily serve you there. Can you tell me why they have this policy? It seems like it would be beneficial to Carnival to change it as well. Anything you can do to get them to re-consider?
Thanks for your help. I love your blog thingy.
John, (please reply)
When we were on the Carnival Dream with you on the Bloggers Cruise, we noticed that the port side was the smoking side. On all of the other Carnival ships we have been on (11) the Starboard side was the smoking side. We nonsmokers, sat down on the Str’bd side and noticed the ashtrays and wondered if different class of ships would have the smoking side switched? We didn’t have a problem with it as we moved to the other side to read and people watch.
Hi John – I have my best friends, Mary and Tom Peterson sailing this week on the Carnival Dream. It would be nice of you to greet them, if you get the chance. Alas we are not with them because, as I’m sure you know, Vince is no longer in the piano bar.
I hope you will find the time to read the letter sent to Carnival offices, from the party involved in the situation during the New Years cruise. Because of a passenger requesting a bartender to break the rules, a paranoid bartender and an over zealous security caused a certain crew member mega trouble.. I wonder if Carnival would have many staff left if security alcohol tested all its’ crew and
officers.
The party (guests) involved in the incident will try to reach you via this blog – as they were not satisfied with the response to their letter from Carnival. They felt their New Years holiday cruise was completely ruined by Carnival over-reacting to this incident. They feel horrible about the certain crew member getting in trouble.
Again – have a wonderful week – wish the situation was different – but greet Mary and Tom Peterson for us if you get the chance.
thanks
Carla Strong (the Mom)
for Carolyn and Don…
Camp Carnival does have a Kids Talent Show. They allow kids to perform individually and then sometimes the Counselors plan a group show such as the kids singing a song or performing a dance. It has always been during the day in the small lounge. Unfortunately not a huge turnout but the kids always seem to love it…And they are so much fun to watch…
John,
Reply requested.
I just read through your response to a smoking concern and just don’t know what to say.
Here is part of your response:
We really have limited smoking here and I do not foresee a policy change in this area anytime soon either at Carnival or any other of the lines.
This statement send a message to me – cruise elsewhere.
Smoking in the cabins, on the balconies, in the piano bars, in the disco, in the sports bar, in the casino. Do you really consider that limited smoking?
As far as other lines’ policies Disney only allows smoking outside in the open air. Although their policy is extreme and is not a good comparison (based on business models), there are other lines with more restrictive smoking policies that could be compared to Carnival.
It really is not fair that non-smoking guests who do not want to subject themselves to nasty and scientifically proven hazardous second hand smoke should not be able to enjoy all of the venues on the ship, including the very quite often unique experience of the piano bars.
I would be happy with smoke free Piano Bars.
I would also hope that while Carnival is building new ships they make an effort to do something to increase ventilation in the piano bars as well as the other indoor areas where smoking is permitted.
Ever think of an open air venue for a Piano Bar?
I am quite confidant that I can find another line with a smoking policy that is more fair to non-smokers.
I do hope that Carnival can find a better balance because as time goes on more and more people will become intolerant to all that smoke!
RE: Kids on board.
I cruised for the first time ever last July on Carnival Triumph. I was very nervous that the kids would be overrunning the boat. Hardly saw them! Never heard them from my cabin. I cruised again in November on Carnival Elation and had the same experience. Yes, I believe many kids have no social manners, but that comes from the parents lack of same. Wouldn’t it be nice to offer a course on-board in “social manners” for adults and children. Teach how to make polite conversation, manners, some conversational tactics. Maybe disguise it as for the kids, but include the parents. Probably have to have a more enticing title. When you relate awkward or uncomfortable situations or even comments and letters, I do admire how you turn a phrase quite deftly trying to get out of them. It’s a great skill! Probably take more than one class to pass that particular skill on.
John, I like the part were we can now reply to comments and help you when bloggers have a problem that we can answer. When your off on the weekends if the comments were updated MORE often us bloggers could answer a lot of the questions others have.
BIG Ed
Dear John:
HELP! HELP! HELP! I have been away from this blog for two weeks and when I returned to do catch-up today, was I SURPRISED!!! The blog seemed to shrink in size of print. Take pity on us older fogeys who are having trouble with the smaller print. What happened??? Was it broke???
john,
gotta say something about the new blog format and the fonts.
please loose this layout its really hard to read
Thanks
Bill
We are very upset about the fact that the Blue Lagoon is closed to public on thursday’s and sunday’s. It cost’s $45.00 for an all day pass to the general public every day except thursday and sunday. We are ariving to Nasau on a thursday. We called the blue lagoon and where told we could still go, but we had to book it through carnival. The cost is doubled and the time is only 4.5 hours. So much for an in-expensive day for me and my family.
John please reply:
My nephew has worked for your cruise line for 9 years as a sound tech. He told me to write with our problem.
We have been on several of your cruises in the past and loved them. we are trying to get a group together for the 7 night cruise to the western carib. July 31,2010. We would like to take of daughter, son in law and our 1st granddaughter (she will be 20 months old). My daughter and son in law have not been on any kind of vacation since they got married 5years ago. Our problem is that the cruise line wants to charge us close to $700 for the baby !!! We feel that this is a very large price to pay considering that she will be bringing her own food, can’t go to the shows, can’t use the kids vacilaties or day care ! so what is that they are charging for ???!!! We really all want to go on this cruise but feel it’s not a fair deal . I hope that you can help us with this problem. We don’t want to think of Carnival as a rip off since my nephew will be sailing on the ship the Pride that is leaving from the port in our home town ( Baltimore) and we would love to sail on that ship also in the near future . Thank you for your help
John,
In regards to the noise complaints of children I would like to share a situation I encountered on my Carnival Valor cruise the last week of September 2009. Now I am leaving on my 22nd Carnival cruise this Thursday (Feb 25) on the Carnival Triumph. I have been cruising with Carnival since before the Carnival Holiday went into service and have seen it all and I take everything in stride and never let things get my feathers ruffled. I always make the best of my cruise and have never complained or ever given any department a bad mark on a comment card regardless of my experience. I am almost 40 now and having been divorced for almost ten years I enjoy my vacation time. On this cruise, I had a balcony room and the last night of the cruise, I had four ladies meeting me at my cabin at about 2 in the morning for a cocktail on my balcony and a sort of farewell to our vacation. These ladies ranged in age from around 30 to mid 30′s. These were not teenagers or college age girls nor were any of them drunk. Well they beat me to my cabin by about 5 minutes and were waiting outside my cabin when I arrived. Shortly thereafter security knocked on my cabin door to inform me of a noise complaint from the hallway outside my cabin. He told me which cabin had made the complaint after I talked very politely with him and he found out how many cruises I had taken with Carnival. I thanked him for his concerns and even invited him into my cabin which he did and met all four of the ladies. Another security officer arrived about ten minutes later of a noise complaint and he informed me it was from the same cabin that had made the first complaint. Now to the good part. It was a cabin across the hall and an INSIDE cabin about two cabins down from mine. This couple did not speak English and had three children who had been a total terror the entire cruise. You would hear them all during the day and evening, their children running wild in the halls and would park their strollers (Yes Plural) outside their cabin at all times. We would have to navigate around them like a mine field to get down the hallway. None of my neighbors or myself complained one time about any of this. It just goes to show how rude and inconsiderate people can be. There is no possible way they could have heard my guests or myself on the balcony when the second complaint call was placed. The next morning before debarkation, I spoke with my neighbors on each side who were in the balcony rooms and neither one heard a peep (as we were not being loud whatsoever). I know there are legitimate reasons for complaining about noise but I know it is very difficult for the security staff because of their duty to check on each complaint while many are unfounded as in my case.
Thanks for your great Blog John, and hope Heidi and Kye are having a wondering vacation with you.
Talk to you soon..Scott
Hi John, (please reply)
John I hope this gets to you, if so I would like to see if you can help me please. My wife & I also my parents are sailing on the Freedom on May 8th on a 8 day western cruise. My wife and I did this cruise last year and we enjoyed it so much we are doing it again, as well as my parents to celebrate there 60th wedding aniv. This will be there 1st cruise and for us it will be our 7th. Our question is on the past 5 cruises we have had awful seating in the diining room and we have asked in the past to change but it never happen. I would love to sit by a window since we are dinning early so my parents can enjoy this trip and not be stuck in some cubby hole. We have asked our pvp but she said only she can put a request in and she said for me to email you since I read your blog everyday.
Our room number 8448 a aft wrap the only way to travel and hooked for the past 2 cruises and my parents are next to us in room 8442. I sure hope you can help in some way we dont mind sitting with others just not in a cubby hole where they cant see anything and enjoy there 60th and 1st cruise ever.
Thanks alot,
Alan M.
Hey could I use some of the information here in this blog if I provide a link back to your site?