I spent a wonderful 25 minutes last night in perfect solitude. Kye was in bed, Heidi was watching TV and so accompanied by my Andy Macnab book, I retired to the toilet. It was nearly 30 minutes of total relaxation as I read about Secret Agent Nick Stone and his adventures delivering some shock and awe by shooting Somali pirates in the face before having rumpy pumpy with 27 Latvians…………….James Bond, my arse.
Anyway, once I had finished delivering some shock and awe of my own, I left the bathroom feeling pretty good and two pounds lighter. I headed to the living room in hopes that just maybe I might get some rumpy pumpy. Kye was in bed, I had mostly clean underpants on and having already disposed of the previous night’s chili, there was little chance of me letting one rip during the throws of our love making which for some strange reason seems to put Heidi off.
Yep, all was looking good, the scene was set for seven minutes of fun. Except it wasn’t. Because when I entered the living room, I found my wife……..laying on the sofa…….crying floods of tears …………OVER A SODDING TV commercial. It was for a store called John Lewis which is a bit like Macy’s. And I don’t mean she was just crying a bit, nope, she was blubbering huge snotty tears and as Niagara Falls fell down her face, I felt so, so, sorry………..for me…………because I knew my chances of getting any rumpy pumpy tonight were the same as The Pope.
Now I had seen this commercial over the weekend and apparently the whole nation is crying …… well, everyone except me, that is. I wonder if it will make you shed a few tears. Let’s find out.
Time for today’s Q and A…….here we go.
Travlinguy asked:
Hi John,Please tell me about the people who hold the seminars on shopping and give out the tips on shopping for gems. Is the tanzanite pricing that good in Mexico? Do these people work for Carnival? Do they get commission on what people buy on the island? Thanks for your help.
John says:
Hello Travilnguy,I actually discussed this yesterday in the blog where I mentioned that we now have a new company we are working with who will provide the shopping ashore program. The stores we recommend do indeed pay a fee to be in the program. The young men and women who hold the shopping talks and sit on Promenade and answer the questions guests ask don’t work directly for Carnival but provide a service on our behalf. I have no idea how these individuals are paid or what, if any, commission they receive. The new company we are using is called On Board Media and we are very excited to welcome them to our ships. Please let me know if you have a follow up to this as I get the feeling you have other comments that maybe you wish to express and maybe concerns I can help you with.
Best wishes,
John
Benjamin Jaber asked:
So CCL has plummeted to new depths by allowing jeans in the steakhouses. I regularly eat at Grill 23 in Boston where I reside, one of the best steak restaurants in the world and where diners have a certain decorum and where jeans are not permitted. So imagine then, Mr. Heald, my horror whilst dining at Harry’s steakhouse on your Carnival Liberty ship when I saw men in jeans and women too. I asked the manageress why she allowed them in and was told that it was a new “company policy.” Hearing this, I declined our main course and my partner and I left. I have cruised three times with you and knowing this and seeing how your standards have slipped I shall be returning to Celebrity Cruise Lines. Note: I have sent a detailed letter to Mr. Arison your chairman of whom I am an acquaintance because he needs to know that his cruise company is rapidly going to attract a type of passenger who perhaps may be more at home at a Denny’s!
John says:
Hello Benjamin Jaber,Thanks for taking the time to write, Ben, and I am thinking that maybe you are not a regular reader of the blog as maybe you don’t know how utterly against dress codes I am. There is a place for elegant still, but only just as from what I have seen many like to dress up, eat their dinner and then change back into casual clothes as quickly as possible. Things have changed on land as well because in days gone by you couldn’t go anywhere without going home first to get changed. Restaurants would turn you away if you weren’t wearing a tie. Gentlemen were required to wear jackets. Shorts were for sports only. My dislike for dress codes comes from the time when in 1999 I was turned away from a restaurant I booked for a romantic dinner with Heidi because my trousers were made from corduroy. The money in pocket was as good as the man whose trousers were made by an Italian fashion house yet because I had corduroy trousers on, the maitre d’ thought I might be the sort of chap who might run off without paying or possibly get my thingy out and urinate on someone’s sautéed potatoes. And now we are letting our guests eat in the steakhouse wearing jeans. And respectfully, Ben, I have to ask, why not? Who says that to enjoy the company of your family and friends and to enjoy a fine porterhouse steak you need to be mummified in starch? I respect your point of view and obviously I hope you don’t spend your hard earned vacation time with another cruise line but at the same time I feel differently than you. It genuinely baffles me because if you reach a point in your existence where you leave what would have been a wonderful meal at our steakhouse then, well………maybe Carnival simply isn’t the right vacation choice for you and those are words I don’t think I have ever written on this blog before.
Best wishes.
John
Gerry Clarke asked:
John,Just got off the Liberty, yesterday a.m. We had a nice cruise. The CD Kirk was OK but he is not you. I believe you may have ruined us. We sailed with you last year on the Carnival Splendor, in September a few weeks before the fire. Both me and my wife agree that the service on the Splendor was exceptional, and that the service on the Carnival Liberty was just OK. The exception on the Liberty was our dining service, Margarette, she was amazing. Quick question– has Carnival changed their coffee? I love a nice cup of coffee and this trip the coffee was horrible (that is when it was available and the machine wasn’t being washed). The only coffee that was decent was from the Jardin Cafe where it had to be purchased. John, you do a great job, and I look forward to sailing with you again in the future.
Be well.
Gerry
John says:
Hello Gerry Clarke,Let’s start with the coffee. You know, I have sailed on P&O, Princess, Cunard and Costa and one of the things they all have in common is that the Lido deck free coffee is not exactly something that makes you go “mmmmmmm.” The same, of course, applies to Carnival’s coffee as well. I am a coffee snob and I will only drink coffee from the Coffee Cafe’s on Promenade deck which I personally think is better than Starbucks and the best coffee I have had on any ship was indeed on a Costa ship which, being Italian, should come as no surprise. Yes, you have to pay extra for these cups of crapafrapacino but they are exceptionally good. So why do these Lido cups of coffee not taste as good as they should? Is it the water, the coffee mix or a mixture of both? I don’t know but I do know that I think we have to try and do better and that’s why yesterday I posted your comment on Facebook and asked everyone for their opinions which, as you may have seen, nearly 400 others seemed, for the most part, to agree with you. I have since sent those comments to the beards, so thanks for bringing the subject up. I am glad you had a fun cruise and I hope one day we can cruise together again and chat over a decent cup of coffee. Let’s see what the beards can do.
Best wishes.
John
Dana Bland asked:
Was just on Carnival Pride for seven nights…serious language barrier with staff, many cannot understand or communicate with guests effectively, in Serenity section, towel attendant could not understand request for towel or that whirlpool temp was cool. I get this to some degree as my travel companion is from Iran, but still expect some level of understanding. Changed from late seating to YTD, attended first two nights when neither waiters introduced themselves and service was frigid and portions were doll-like, switched to Mermaid buffet which was mostly like slop with the exception of Friday, I think “lasagna” Florentine was served on buffet along with chicken parm. Breakfast buffet was reliable but same thing, most mornings, best thing about the cruise was our awesome room steward, Noel, we tipped extra as he anticipated our needs daily, and Serenity was awesome, likewise a very informative bar tender at the lobby on embarkation day. Half Moon Cay horseback riding excursion staff amazing while Grand Turk snorkel staff begged for tips which was tacky. Enjoyed vacation overall (have extremely stressful job in healthcare) but a lot of improvement needed in dining; both dining room and buffet. Cruise director Trevor was forced/annoying and the young lady at Liars was awful, spoke as if she had marbles in her mouth, had to leave, comedian on Tuesday night was a scream! Again, overall, great vacation but with the exception of a few; most crew appeared unhappy, not eager, and we could barely understand the Italian captain’s accent.
Cheers,
Dana.
John says:
Hello Dana Bland,You know some people still accuse me of only posting the shiny positive reviews here on the blog but that, of course, is nonsense as this proves. I was very surprised, Dana, by your comments as the Carnival Pride was voted the number one ship in the fleet for the month of October based on comments and review scores from the guest comment cards. I have sent your comments to the captain and the hotel director although I think the word “slop” is out of context to what we serve on the Lido Deck. I was very disappointed to read that you ate there because of the “frigid” service and that is simply not right and we will make sure the right people see this. I am glad to see you enjoyed your stateroom steward as well as other crew and that you had a fun cruise. Thanks for taking the time to write and if there is anything you think I can do for you, please do let me know.
Best wishes.
John
Freed & Jean Dietrich asked:
Hi John,We cruised with you four yrs ago on the Carnival Freedom. Getting ready to go on cruise #30 with Carnival. Just love it. CD’s and their staff are just great.
John says:
Hello Fred & Jean Dietrich,
Thank you so very much for your tremendous loyalty and I hope cruise number 30 was the best yet. I also hope that we get to sail together very soon. Thanks so much for the kind words.
Best wishes to you both.
John
Jim Meyers asked:
Please forward to the proper managers.
We sailed on the Carnival Spirit departing Los Angeles on 9/23/11. The dining room staff; Team Leader Bosco, Assistant Team Leader Donny and Trainee Bojan did an outstanding job waiting on us. They made us feel at home and valued as a guest each time we ate with them. Bosco and Donny were very knowledgeable about the food menus and readily answered questions and made appropriate suggestions. They were prompt in serving us and always brought us exactly what we had asked for. The service they provided should make Carnival proud of these three employees. They truly uphold the Carnival tradition of outstanding service. Trina and I have been on five cruises and always had a great dining experience. By far, this was the best service we have had provided to us anywhere.
John says:
Hello Jim Myers,I have sent your comments to the vice president in charge of the Spirit-class ships who will add his words of praise before sending them to the vessel. Thank you so much for taking the time to write them and I hope that we will see you again on one of our ships very soon. I am very proud of the crew you mentioned and they will be so proud to see their names here as well. Thank you once again.
Best wishes.
John
Leslie Henry-Mellor asked:
Good Morning John,We just returned from the Carnival Legend cruise of 9/25 to 10/2 and wanted to share my comments and experience. To put it in perspective, my husband and I have cruised 23 times, 21 on the Carnival. This was our 5th cruise on the Carnival Legend. We spent our last two on the Carnival Dream and were really looking forward to a smaller ship again.
The crew was fabulous as they usually are, all very friendly and seemingly genuinely concerned that we enjoy our cruise. I would like to mention a few that were outstanding.
First was Eko our room steward. He was fabulous. I would leave a note each morning for anything special we would need such as items needing pressed, taking our laundry, or leaving an extra bucket of ice to put our wine in, and was never disappointed. He knew our names and always greeted us as we came and went no matter how busy he seemed to be.
Another I would like to recognize is Monica at the service desk. We had difficulty with the interactive TV and could not access it. She promptly sent a technician who gave us another remote control. That didn’t solve the issue so she said she would send a technician to review the entire system but couldn’t tell me when that might be. I told her I would go to the dining room to review the menu for the night. She insisted instead that she would read me the menu. She called again two minutes later apologizing that she had mistakenly read the “old menu” and then read the current one. That is service above and beyond in my opinion.
We had anytime dining and for the first two nights our service was adequate but not outstanding. The prime rib has really gotten thin, by the way.
The server promised to return with au jus and horseradish and never did. I went to the hostess station to request it and by that time the prime rib was very cold. On the third night we were seated in Cid’s section. He was very outgoing and energetic. The service was outstanding and the food was served hot and without a wait. Of course, we requested him each night after that.
We were delighted as we usually are to see familiar faces that we had seen on previous cruises in the casino. Most had been promoted. They all remembered us from our previous trips we had been on even remembering which ship. We, of course, lost our money but we enjoyed the staff and the casino very much as we always do.
Last but not least, I need to give a big thank you to your Head Chef Panda. We participated at The Chef’s Table again this trip and the menu was the same as it had been on the Carnival Dream. We also had a fabulous meal on the Carnival Dream but Panda was more outgoing than the previous chef making this a wonderful night. The food alone is enough to get me to pay the additional charge as it is truly five stars. Panda’s concern that we were enjoying our experience and his interaction made it that much more memorable.
I don’t want to end on a sour note as we truly enjoyed our cruise, but I do have one thing to complain about that really upset my normally easy going husband. As a cigar smoker yourself, I think you will understand.
We have no problem with the changes in the smoking policies. We always book a balcony and try to be courteous of our neighbors. As you know, though, in the Fun Times it also lists Satchmo’s Lounge as an area where one can smoke cigars. My husband left the casino for a bit to go to Satchmo’s to enjoy a cigar. It wasn’t just any cigar but a full bodied cigar he had spent $23 on in the last port. He lit his cigar and had been enjoying it for five minutes when a person from the spa came in and informed him that they would be presenting a “wellness” seminar and he would have to put out his cigar. John, you know that you can’t just relight a good cigar and still get the same enjoyment so of course this was very upsetting.
Nowhere in the Fun Times under the smoking policy does it mention that there would be an exception to the smoking policy in case of an event. Why they would even hold a health related event in one of the few areas of the ship that smelled of smoke is beyond me to begin with.
Maybe you could question the thought process of those on the Carnival Legend as I am sure those interested in “wellness” didn’t enjoy the smelly lounge any more than my husband appreciated putting out his fine cigar. At the very least, the policy stated in the Fun Times should be amended to indicate exceptions. Seeing my husband upset, I did mention the incident to the service desk and they asked for my room number. I thought that my husband would get a form of apology of some sort but we were never contacted. So we are back home for the first day post cruise doing the dreaded things like unpacking and getting ready for work tomorrow. Please thank all involved for our wonderful vacation.
Darrell and Leslie
John says:
Hello Leslie Henry-Mellor,Very simply, let me say this. If we are going to advertise a smoking lounge then that is exactly what it has to be. The end. I will promise you here and now that this will be addressed and that I will make sure that this stops immediately and I apologise sincerely to you and your husband and his fine cigar. I am very glad that you had fun and that the cruise was a success despite our mistake and I will make sure the ship also sees your words of praise. Thank you once again for sailing with us and as you can probably tell, things like this make me quite upset. Best wishes to you both.
JohnPS – Please keep reading as I have some breaking news for you re this and thank you again for telling me about this situation.
Launa Solomon asked:
John,My parents received six chocolate covered strawberries from you as a gift for their 50th wedding anniversary and yet I read on your Facebook that other passengers had gotten 12 chocolate covered strawberries and wondered why my parents had not warranted the same?
John says:
Hello Launa Solomon,All I can say is that I send a request to my colleagues on the ship and they send what I ask of them. Sometimes I specify how many strawberries and sometimes I forget and therefore they send the standard amount which is six. I am sorry that you feel slighted by this but really you shouldn’t and I do hope that your parents had a wonderful anniversary cruise.
Best wishes to all.
John
Paula Whipple asked:
My second cruise on Carnival was fantastic! The trouble started when my husband left my wallet in the room safe…100 miles up the road! Yikes…I could not contact anyone…Guest services/lost and found could not be reached until Monday morning…That was the 19th of September…well it seems my wallet went on another cruise…but No ONE could tell me if my wallet was even in the safe or its whereabouts…every time I called, I got the same runaround…As of yesterday, I learned that there is a container with items tagged and bagged from the week of my cruise on The Legend now in Miami…Could they tell me if my wallet was in the container?…of course not…It seems that when I am on the ship it is all about customer service and happiness…but when you get off, Heaven Forbid You Leave ANYTHING behind! The crazy thing is I knew where my item was and only my husband’s credit card or ship security could open the safe…I would be sleeping better if they would have at least contacted me and said they had opened the safe and my wallet was now bagged and tagged….but as of this time I have no idea what the “item” was they found and bagged and tagged in our room…No, Carnival has not once contacted me about the process of what is even happening. The week we were on the cruise we had friends who booked us on a Carnival cruise out of Charleston next Sept….part of me wonders if I will get my wallet back before then???? I know it was my mistake not to check in my purse before we got off the ship. Carnival needs to rethink its policy when a returning and an already booked for ANOTHER cruise customer has a problem…like leaving behind her wallet in the room safe. I hope they do not charge me for the second trip my wallet took!
John says:
Hello Paula Whipple,I am sorry that this happened, Paula, and I am surprised as in recent months the comments about our customer service team have been glowing. It seems though that we need to improve our lost and found procedures and rest assured I have sent this to the shoreside team so they can investigate and contact you accordingly and I apologise that this level of service has not been offered to you so far. I know I am late in answering this but someone will be in touch. I hope you had a great cruise and I am here should you need anything.
Best wishes.
John
That’s all for today…………….quite the collection, wasn’t it?
As many of my British bloggers will tell you, Americans are brilliant at customer service, while the British are mostly absolutely not. One of the reasons for this is because in the UK, complaints are so rare as we don’t like conflict. I don’t mean in a French run for the hills kind of way but in a, oh, my steak wasn’t cooked right but I won’t complain, we just won’t come here again scenario. I know Americans and to a lesser extent Canadians think of us British as polite people who, when not queuing politely or reading Charles Dickens, are drinking tea with our little fingers raised in the air. Obviously, this is bollocks but……….we are very polite and complaining to a Brit is as foreign as deodorant is to the Frenchies.
Anyway, I recently stayed in the Intercontinental in Miami as you know and before I left last week I completed the comment card that was left on the desk next to the overpriced room service menu……………$19.95 for a burger and fries………my arse. Normally, I ignore it but this last time I had reason to complete it because I had three days of back to back problems and being too British to kick up a fuss face to face I decided to write it down. My TV had not worked for two days of my stay. The air conditioning sounded like an F16 Jet taking off and one of the days my room wasn’t cleaned at all. Anyway, I filled the comment card out and thought little else about it until I opened my emails this morning to discover that the next time I stay there I will be upgraded and have a complimentary meal for two at their restaurant. The matter was resolved without a single angry word being exchanged.
This leads me onto the review card and I know some of you are still frustrated at not getting one. Just to clarify for our new blog readers that the current system has approximately 40% of the guests from each cruise receiving an online card. These guests are randomly picked by Mr. Dell and are sent to some of those who have checked the “yes” box where it asks on the booking form about “do you want to receive electronic mail, etc.” I still wish we would have an online survey available for everyone and using your booking number that you could log on and complete the form and I will continue to mention this to the beards.
These days though things are different and the last time I mentioned this to the beards they kindly reminded me that not only do they take great interest in what you say on the review cards but that they also take just as much interest in what is said on the social media sites.
We now have a team monitoring the following.
These are the four places where this team reads what you are saying and what you are talking about and so obviously I encourage you to use these sites to express your opinions and to tell us about your cruise and how much fun it was. So our social media sites have become as important as the review cards although it is the review cards that provide us with the ratings, the scores that each ship receives for its customer service and here are the top five ships for the month of November:
1. Carnival Valor
2. Carnival Liberty
3. Carnival Conquest
4. Carnival Imagination
5. Carnival Freedom
Interesting that the Carnival Liberty is pushing close to the top now that she has her Fun Ship 2.0 upgrades plus it will be interesting to see how Carnival Magic does in December as she is already a huge hit in Texas.
Yesterday on the blog I received some feedback about the smoking policy on the Carnival Liberty. For those of you who have been in prison and have no idea what I am talking about, let me just quickly remind you that we are testing a new system in which the RedFrog Rum bar and the surrounding area has been designated non-smoking. As you may be aware, the new smoking regulations start December 1st but do not include the removal of smoking areas on Lido Deck 9 on any of the ships outside of the Carnival Liberty where the test continues for a few more weeks. No, yesterday I received another comment that there was nowhere for smokers to sit outside and have a cigarette or indeed a cigar. They had the aft mid lounge to smoke in but outside things were far from comfortable. On land, the ban by bars and restaurants on smoking and having to stand outside like a naughty dog every time you want a smoke, has caused many to give up. Smoking has become like a Masonic lodge. We have our secret signs. Our equivalent of trick handshakes. We use tricks and nods and winks to establish a bond with other smokers then huddle around the lone ashtray with our band of brothers and sisters. And that’s how it was on the Carnival Liberty and that upset me a bit. So after a quick call to a beard, we have changed this as you will see from these photos.
So now we have comfortable chairs and tables and constant up keep of ash trays and cigar ash trays as well. There will also be dedicated bar service to the RedFrog Rum Bar and the BlueIguana Tequila Bar. I know it’s not the same as smoking at the bar, I realise that but in today’s climate, it offers a place to sit and smoke outside as well as the places we still have inside. I know non-smokers understandably would prefer us to smoke outside and so we must provide smokers with a comfortable environment for them to do so. That’s why the Dream class and the Lanai is so perfect. Anyway, the balance to find a happy ground for non smokers and smokers alike continues but I have to be honest, of course, and say that this is never ever going to be easy and we will never make everyone happy when it comes to smoking.
You may have also read a comment above from Leslie about us holding an activity in the smoking lounge, a spa wellness activity no less which is like holding a Weight Watchers meeting at a KFC. Ridiculous. Anyway, another example of instant reaction thanks to your comments here as shown by this e mail from the Carnival Legend hotel director.
Hello Mr. J
It is not a nice comment at all, we will move the spa activities to another lounge, as this is the only indoor cigar smoking lounge on SP-class ships… Thank you for sending the comments.
Regards,
Guna
Hotel Director, Carnival Legend
Carnival Cruise Lines
He is right and we shouldn’t force non-smokers to attend an activity in a smoking lounge and we shouldn’t ask smokers to stop smoking there so we can hold the activity. This policy has been sent to all the ships. Next on my list and based on your comments, is to improve the coffee on Lido, that’s on my call sheet today…………………..vacation, my arse.
Obviously, I am a smoker, I smoke cigars and have done so for 15 years now and the smoking ban here in the UK makes it impossible for me to smoke one anywhere outside of my garden or in my car. Now I know I should give up, I really do but I don’t drink, I don’t cheat on my wife, I don’t own an Aston Martin and I don’t have any hobbies although apparently dog walking is on the horizon. So what do I do to relax? Well, when I am on the ship, I watch the odd movie or I make fun of Calvyn. But mostly I go and sit outside the RedFrog Pub or somewhere and smoke a cigar. I am not saying I am any better than any other crew member because I am absolutely not. But after 25 years at sea and to stop me from going insane and to allow me to sit with guests and chat, I smoke a cigar. I shouldn’t………but I do.
Here though it’s different. I have a very small circle of friends and none of them smoke. That never used to be a problem and I remember the days when I would pop round to a friend’s house or go to a dinner party and as the spotted dick was served, the host would place an ashtray in front of me. Those days are gone and even when you are allowed to smoke, there’s a sense still that you shouldn’t– that if you do, you’ll be the only one. Lighting up a cigar at someone’s house is a bit like whipping your thingy out and asking someone to measure it.
I have no will power, I can’t give up. The idea of walking past a cigar shop with nothing but my head to stop me going inside and buying a beautifully rolled Opus X is as ridiculous as placing a naked supermodel in front of Tiger Woods.
Anyway, I got way off subject there and the point I was trying to say was that even if you don’t get a review card, please use the four sites I mentioned above to express your views, wishes and opinions because Gerry and his band of beards are truly listening to what you say…………. and of course so am I.
Goodnight.
Your friend,
John
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.
Thank you for all you do. It is nice to see people who still care about customer service and making them feel special. Bless you
Didn’t bring a tear to my eyes and I’m very sentimental.
Glad your enjoying your time home with your family.
Merry Christmas to you all.
So sorry John, but not a hint of a tear at the advert.
Thankfully we are not sailing on Liberty. Banning smoking at the Red Frog which is outdoors is just ridiculous! As for the “comfortable” area pictured above..oh JOhn..where on earth is the ambience here! If these changes are going to come to all the ships, then sadly, our cruise in January could well be our first and our last with Carnival. Right now, I am too scared to take a risk on booking another cruise in 2012 with Carnival due to these ever moving goal posts. No problem to US cruisers, who can cancel up until final payment without penalty. For we UK cruisers, once we put that HUGE deposit down, thats it, we lose deposits if we cancel. I wish the beards would make decisions and stick to those decisions at time of brochure going to print, and keep those policies until end of brochure period.
Rant over
Launa: This has to be a joke, right? Please please tell me this is a joke, Who would not write John and thank him for his kindness for sending something to your parents but instead complain about the NUMBER???? There is an on line service to send gifts to people on board which is what I do for family celebrating something. I would hate to buy you a birthday gift. Then Benjamin, another one that has to be a joke. If you are enjoying dinner with your partner why in the world would you even notice or CARE what I am wearing. You have to be joking that you would leave a perfectly good steak!!!!!! John is right, Carnival might not be for you, not sure how you can be that much of a snob to not understand that clothes don’t make a man (or women)
Thank you Gail! At last a voice of reason. I too was beginning to wonder about these people. Not a hint of politeness or reasonablity on either part! I wish you were right about them being jokes, but alas, I am afraid these are very REAL. We shall hope we cruise together in the future and NOT with them! Yours, Jodi:)
Need some help – posted this on facebook too. Carnival Dream – December 17th. 8 of us have early dining, 5 have late. We would really like all of us to have early dining since young children are involved. Is there anyone I can send an email to, on the ship, that can look into this before we sail since we are such a big group? Thanks
I’m impressed at the quick turnaround on the smoking lounge issue — I’m glad for the smoking changes, but agree with you completely that if an area is designated smoking, it shouldn’t be taken away.
It’s been a while since the Q&A has gotten my blood boiling, but I can’t believe Launa had the audacity to complain that there weren’t “enough” free strawberries. Next time, send ZERO to the inconsiderate folks.
Smokers don’t want a bathroom to go read a book like you. Smokers want to be able to enjoy the OUTSIDE Lido entertainment, food and sights WHILE enjoying their cigarettes. Smokers don’t what to jump up and run upstairs to have a quick smoke they want to sit enjoy the meal from the buffet, that they CAN’T eat inside, watch whats going on and be able to smoke.
Oh and by the way I can see all the ashes blowing off the smokes and out of the ashtrays and falling down on the people and food below. You do know there is wind up there.
There is/was a covered area right where it should be on the Lido deck starboard side. Outside yet covered.
On the next ships put the food on one side and the bars and fun on the smoking side.
They can still have the Red and the Blue. The blue forward and the Red aft on the lido instead of port and starboard. The food side will still get bar service from both bars right to their tables while the smokers and their friends will just have to walk all the way over to the other side of the ship to get their food and carry it back.
John, thank you for your response to Ben. And I write that as someone who never has, and never will, wear jeans in the steakhouse – or the dining room, for that matter. I’m just not comfortable doing so. But I certainly have never had my meal ruined by what someone else wore to dinner (tank tops on hairy men excepted
). Many years ago, my dad – then a young, unmarried engineer living in a big city – went into a major department store, wearing a tee shirt and jeans, to purchase a present for his mom. He went to the fine china section, where the clerk looked down her nose at him and said, “the cheaper items are over there,” motioning to the everyday section. Dad proceeded to choose one of the most expensive pieces of crystal they had and brought it over to another clerk. The first clerk flew over, insisting that Dad was her customer. The two clerks got into an argument and a manager was called. Dad explained to the manager that the first clerk had directed him elsewhere – and the manager dismissed the first clerk on the spot. All by way of saying, you can’t judge people by what they wear.
John, thanks for the awesome Blog. I have to say I agree with your comments to the people who walked out of the steakhouse because someone wore jeans. I used to work as a waitress when my children were babies. There was this man who looked like he was a bum, and would come in everyday to eat. People would look at him as if he should not be in there. I would treat him as nice as I would any other customer. About 6 months later I heard his story. He had lost his wife and children to an awful accident, and even though he had millions of dollars in the bank, the loss of his family rendered him unable of dealing with real life. About a year later he began treatment and if fine now. The point of the story I tell is that people should not judge others by how they dress. The people who do not wish to have contact with others because of how they look or dress many times are missing out on meeting some wonderful people. Thanks for standing up for someone Else’s right to dress how they see fit to dress. My husband and I hope to one day sit with you in the smoking section, have a drink, and just enjoy your company. You are such a treasure to so many people.
Launa Solomon….please go to John’s fb page from yesterday and see all of the hundreds of comments about your selfish, inconsiderate and stupid comment about the strawbwperries! What a nerve you have!!
John:
I am not a smoker…..but to properly accommodate smokers on the deck above Lido, there should be a covered area…just like on they had on the Starboard side of Lido.
The comfortable chairs and tables and bar service is certainly a good start….but Carnival needs to go just a bit further, IMHO.
It should be comfortable, covered and convenient.
I know adding a covered area on the Liberty (now that the 2.0 Fun conversion is done) may not be possible BUT it is certainly something that should be added when the other ships do in for their 2.0 Fun conversions.
Linda (Mom of your friend DJ)
There is/was a covered area right where it should be on the Lido deck starboard side. Outside yet covered.
On the next ships put the food on one side and the bars and fun on the smoking side.
Carnival can still have the Red Frog and the Blue Iguana. The blue forward and the Red aft on the lido instead of port and starboard. The food side will still get bar service from both bars right to their tables while the smokers and their friends will just have to walk all the way over to the other side of the ship to get their food and carry it back.
Ah John, I feel awful to go on about the smoking when I know you are trying so hard to make the terrible thing they are doing on Liberty acceptable…but since as you say they are reading then I must comment the truth which is after all these years of sailing only CCL I will stop when this goes fleetwide which apparently is what they have plotted all along
Much less to announce earlier changes effective tomorrow and then stick this one in, thank GOD I am not boarding Liberty this Sunday!! Miracle is still fairly divided on Lido so we can smoke AND enjoy all the fun on Lido…however I will be pushing to know about Breeze as I have booked a B2B when she comes to the US and I will not go if it is as Liberty is now. 
Love you John, sorry to be causing you heartburn, shame on those beards!!! -_-
John,
I find it interesting that only 40% of passengers get comment/review emails. I have sailed 8 times and have gotten one every time. I do however also post my trip reviews on Funville and usually send one to you via the blog. Mainly I do reviews on Funville (and to you) because I feel there are things that aren’t addressed on the comment/review cards. Anyway John, another great blog and oh…I guess I’m a horrible person because the commercial didn’t make me cry at all.
Well, I just got a invitation to a survey, and I thought it was kind of funny, since the last Carnival cruise I was on was in May this year. Kind of late….well, anyway, I went to the survey and they asked what year I was born. I put the truth “before 1950.” Immediately I was whisked out of the survey to a sales page.
NO. THANK. YOU. Carnival, you want my money, but you don’t want my opinion? The least you could have done was let me finish the survey. I would never have known you weren’t interested – you could have just discarded it quietly.
I’ll pass, thanks, on spending more money with Carnival.
Benjamin Jaber, I don’t ever eat at the kind of restaurants that you eat at. Most people don’t. I would guess that 90% of the people on the cruise ship don’t eat at places like that. You better look for a very small ship that only serves rich people that think you have to have a $1,000 suite to enjoy dinner. I do dress up on elegant night. My son even wore a tux on our last cruise, but I can’t tell you what anybody around us had on. I didn’t care. I was on vacation, on a cruise and eating great food.
Dana Bland, “portions were doll-like”???? I have never left the MDR feeling hungary. I usually wish I was hungary so I could order more the great food. Maybe you and Mr. Jaber should get together for dinner.
John, I agree with your response to Ben. I do not understand how what others wear to dinner, ruins their dinner. They should maybe spend more time concentrating on the one they are with instead of those around you. Ben, Steaks are a staple of a Cowboy diet, and guess what, cowboys wear jeans.
There is another way to leave feedback through the Carnival Web Site: http://www.carnival.com/core/contactus.aspx?icid=CC_Footer_89
I used this before. I clicked Already sailed, then chose Cruise Feedback, completed the reamining fields, then left my feedback. I’m surprised he did not mention this way. Since they stopped the comment cards and I have not received an email request, this is how I have been leaving my feedback for the past three cruises.
Hey John
Great Blog as usual! I think it is great that the social media sites are helping making informed decisions. Sometimes technology is wonderful.
I do have one more comment but I want to give a little background first. I work in law enforcement and at one point in my career I worked in the 911 call center. I had a lady call me once on 911 stating that her husband was in the living room screaming and yelling and breaking things. After getting the usual information like name and address and description I asked the caller if her husband was using any sort of drugs or alcohol and her answer was, “No honey he is just stuck on stupid”.
I think your strawberry counter Launa is just that – stuck on stupid! The wonderful thing about folks that are stuck on stupid is – we that aren’t don’t have to pay attention to them and isn’t that wonderful!
Take care John!
This is absolutely priceless!! Just made my day! Thanks for sharing this story!
I totally disagree with what Dana Bland said. We sailed on the Pride in October, and we thought the food was great. None of it was served cold, it was always at the proper temperature. Besides the fact that the wait staff is glad to substitute anything you’re not happy with. Unless this person eats at the Ritz every night or has Martha Stewart cooking for them on a daily basis, I don’t understand why they didn’t like the food. Also, we think the crew is great, never ran into a language problem with any of the staff. Even though they come from different countries, everyone seems to speak and/or understand English just fine, and they’re incredibly friendly and helpful. By the way, that was our second time on the Pride and hopefully in the future we’ll sail on it again. Regards!
I too sailed on the Pride in October, and thought the food was awesome. Crew was great and even the CD Trevor was so genuine and nice. Funny, he did not do the Liars Club (I was actually there for that). 5 Stars for the Carnival Pride and Crew.
I’d still like a review card. I have posted on yourFB page. The comment disappears and I know no more than I did.
Elizabeth your comment does not disappear. Go to the top of the page on the right(your right) side, next to John Heald’s name you will see a link that says Everyone. Click on it. You will see your comments as you posted them, and everybody elses that initiated dialog on one topic or another. You may have to scroll to find what you wrote, when you hit the bottom of a page, look to your left (screens right, just under the last comment there will be another link that says Older Posts. click on that and keeprepeating process with focus and eyes open. You’ll find it.
As a frequent visitor to Boston to visit my son, i’ve had the opportunity to go to Grill 23 and this man is totally wrong, Dress Jeans are allowed. This man is just another troll and by looking at his wording he uses a lot of different names to degrade Carnival
John said “Anyway, I recently stayed in the Intercontinental in Miami as you know and before I left last week I completed the comment card that was left on the desk next to the overpriced room service menu……………$19.95 for a burger and fries………my arse.”
John, you did good! We stayed at the Grosvenor Hotel in London and ordered a Room Service breakfast. We knew it was expensive (29 pounds was how it was listed, but NOT listed as 29 pounds EACH). When we received the statement we had paid $112.00 USD! $19.95 would have been a relief
!
Thanks for the table and chairs, but I kinda laughed when I saw how many there were. Not going to be nearly enough but some are better than none. Going to pack a rain jacket for my next cruise just in case. Thanks for all you do! Fresh brewed coffee and fresh brewed iced tea is the only way to go.
LOL John, I’m on the Freedom on Dec 17. I would like to have “two” strawberries please.
I plan to smoke in the marked smoking areas, so if someone is bothered by that, bugger off, you have the whole rest of the ship.
I plan to drink coffee and will try not to complain. I just need caffeine.
I plan to eat in the DR and the buffett and promise not to “slop” it anywhere.
I don’t plan to take any jeans on the cruise but I will be wearing flip flops. I have dressy ones for evening.
I loved the video and think Heidi was right!
Most of all I plan to have a wonderful time with my family.
Thank you for keeping us posted. I hope to sail with you again one day soon.
Char
Seriously??? THE NUMBER OF STRAWBERRIES? ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? OH GOOD LORD!!!!! DID YOU COMPLAIN ABOUT A PRE BOILED EGG TOO??? Whats next the number of ice cubes in your stateroom bucket??
WOW JUST WOW!!
John how do you not bang your head against the wall??
Big Fans As Allways,
Frank and Bridie
I think he does.
I know I would!:) Jodi
LOL well, I’m not in prison, but I will admit that I must have missed the blog or post or whatever that mentioned that the smoking that was allowed at the red frog OUTDOOR rum bar when it first opened is no longer allowed, more than likely because some non smoker squealed loud enough to the right person, maybe. Not sure, like I said, I missed that memo. I will look around when I have the time, unless someone can enlighten me here. I guess the bandaid of ‘delivering’ the same drinks the normal folk get to the barbarians with a smoke in hand is Carnivals way of saying, we are trying. I would feel so out of place, that I would not even THINK of sitting there, in time out. How humiliating.
Joanne: I have not been on the Liberty since the new 2.0 Fun …but the best I understand it…it isn’t the Red Frog Pub that is the issue…it is the new Guy’s Gourmet Burger joint …..
on the OLD Lido’s…the same food was served on both sides…so IF you wanted the same food, you did not have to go to the smoking section (ie Children)
On the Liberty, if folks (including Children) want a hamburger…they must go to the smoking side of Lido and of course with more than 1,000 kids (1,800 on the Magic last week)….that can not be allowed.
That is why smoking was moved from Lido to one deck up.
The good news is that I know Carnival will address this issue and provide a workable solution for smokers on the deck above.
It may take awhile on the Liberty, since it just had the 2.0 conversion… but all the rest of the 2.0 conversions can be tweeked to add a comfortable, covered solution to smokers on the deck above Lido.
The food is NOT the same on both sides. One side had the grill the other was different. People even then had to come to the grill, smoking side to get hamburgers and hot dogs for there kids so what’s the difference now. In the morning they may both have the same breakfast.
I am a smoker but I agree with the non-smokers point of view. i don’t like other peoples smoke in my face. But I’m addicted and its legal and I just need to know where i can smoke. Spent twenty years in the military, i can follow the rules. Just need some lido deck, a bar, and part of the casino and I’m good. The non-smokers can have the rest of the ship. Love cruising with carnival. have number 17 booked on the Conquest in March, Spa deck, balcony. And I know this is a non-smoking deck. Thats OK. Just need a place to go to get my nicotine level up once in a while. We have a constant ocean breeze after all. Love Carnival, Appreciate john.
Very well said my friend. If nothing else we can follow direction. I do hate it when the rules change in the middle of the party though.
I know you will love the Cloud 9 Spa amenities.
As for the smoking, might I suggest the Kr-808 E Cigarette. I know people are going to think I own stock in the E Cig company but I assure you I do not.
I recommended it to my sister (after reading glowing reports from smokers on Cruise Critic~ and as we know, they don’t like anything~lol) and she loves it.
She started using it for convenience and now it is all she uses. And the cost is about $2 a pack. Now she warns that you must have a fully charged battery. (apparently that is key) And she alwasy warns not to try the ones you buy a convenience stores…they are not as good.
Anyway, just an idea….because I predict that soon, E-cigs will be allowed in 90% of the ship area (inside and out)….
Enjoy the Spa!!
John, I was aghast when we had a meal at Murano on Celebrity in April and two guys walked in wearing jeans and t shirts. Benjamin will have to look beyond Celebrity to avoid the jeans at dinner. Also, I left a fairly expensive item on one of your ships, called within 3 hours and it was never found. The ship was sailing with crew only from NY to FL. There was no reason that item jacket should have not been returned to me. I chalked it up to an expensive lesson learned but still regret only getting to wear that sweater once.
John,I am the one that gave you the spam at the meet and greet at Willie Gs before the Maroon 5 concert. My wife sent you the idea of the Carnival antenna ball.
Please pass along to the the beards.
This cruise on the Magic out of Galveston was our (me, wife and son) first Platinum Cruise and it was an absolutly fantastic cruise. Going to be hard to have a better one.
Just a few notes. The Magic is a beautiful ship, colors are good, beds are comfortable but the HVAC seems to be lacking. Our stateroom could have been cooler and the showrooms and bars got hot when full, and this was not the hottest time of the year. The food was up to par with all of the 9 other cruises we have made. The steakhouse was exceptional. Go there hungry. The coffee on this trip was terrible, according to wife, Im a tea drinker myself. The waiter we had (cant remember his name) and his assistants worked there arses (your word) off the entire cruise. The kitchen seemed to be slow. We had a bit of a floor show in the Southern Lights dinning room on the first night at sea, hope the Maître d’ will be ok. The steakhouse was absolutly fantastic. The Red Frog Pub was the absolutly best place on the ship. Carnival has hit it out of the park with this place. Mbollo from West Africa, in the Pub, makes the best Mojito on the boat. He should give some of the other bartenders lessons. Mike Archer (hi Mike)(bit of a joke) was just great in the Pub and he needs a great big GREAT JOB from me and the beards along the Mbollo. I think we hurt mike on the first night at sea. Not used to all of the Texans on board I guess. I managed to get my picture on the WALL in the Pub on the first night at sea. Mbollo started the pix on the wall on the TA and continued for the first trip out of Galveston. Mbollo said it will continue and I think it is a great thing. Gives me another great story to tell. They swept me out of the Pub at 1:45 am on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Mike was in the Atrium on Thursday and the Pub was not quite the same. The room steward, Rudy, took very good care of the room and always had everything in order just as I expected and took care to find our lost laundry. The water slides are great. My wife is booked for an all girl cruise on the Magic in Feb. Looking forward to my next one, hope to be in May, to do some of the things I missed on this one.
So, what is the warranty on an aft thruster? Twelve months or twelve thousand sea miles? Sorry to have missed Costa Maya, but made the best of things in Progresso. Hope Carnival can get the damb thing fixed.
Hope you, your family and everyone at Carnival have a MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR.
James
Bear, is that you? If so, thanks again for holding our table one night.
We were on the Miracle a few weeks back and the Fascination in October. We were told by several Crew members on both those Ships that all indoor smoking (including the Casino) will be banned and further restriction to outdoor smoking as well.
We were told this is to begin in January. The one crew member mentioned that after the Miracle goes in for drydock in January that is when it will begin on the Miracle. A few crew members on the Fascination told us the same thing.
Is this true? You mentioned a big announcement for January 5th. Is this the big announcement?
If this is true then John Heald lied directly to me. I beleive him before I believe rumormongers. And I have printed his answers to me …just in case the Beards try to make a liar out of him, leaving him red-faced, apologetic and steaming.
This is not true.
I think crew members are getting their “definitions” of indoors confused ….
It is true that December 1st, you can no longer smoke in the cabins. And while that is indoors, that does not mean all of the indoors…just the cabin.
There is still designated indoor smoking areas in the casino and the disco.
As for outdoors…there is still one side of the ship where smoking is allowed.
Usually STARBOARD, but PORT on the Dream and Magic, so just check your Fun Times. The designated smoking areas are always listed every day. They do not change the entire cruise.
Re Jeans in steakhouse. Personally I love dressing up, and so does my husband. We live i really awful fish working clothes, and on vacation, we adore getting dressed up. Being in the food industry, we respect restaurants and dress fittingly. HOWEVER!!! I have zero problem what so ever with anyone dressing in what makes he/she comfortable! If I spent my life in suits every day, I may well on vacation wanna kick off and relax in Jeans. I do get pissed at people who say “ooh..yo celebrating something special” (which we often get as we are so well dressed)..that bugs me..”Hmm no..we just like dressing up”!. BUT..come on..this guy who left his main course..whats all that about? Hate to tell him, but having cruised with Celebrity numerous times, yup…there’s jeans on there too mate.. I have a very famous actor who on TV, looks shit hot, a big british TV star. He comes into our visitor centre and bistro often as he has a hideaway cottage in our area. He is unshaven, scruffy, and wants nothing more than peace and quiet..far from the hot sexy guy he is on TV. He is absolutely lovely, well mannered, and treats our staff wonderfully. Its an old saying but “Do not judge a book by its cover”. HOW on earth could someone else in a restaurant in jeans put you off your food. Vest with hairy armpits – yes.. flip flops with grotty feet..puts me off..but come on..JEANS!!! I might be sitting in my Versace dress and Jimmy Choos, but for sure, wont stop me chatting to a happy person in jeans! What a small mind you must have my friend.. how sad and pathetic! John, great reply!!!!
Hello John, I wasn’t going to say anything about the outdoor smoking rules, but, an observation that I made to my wife on the Carnival Fantasy cruise this past July, I shall make to you today. We sat by the Lido deck pool on the Port side of the ship. No problem getting a table. The bar on that side was always staffed by a bar tender. We took that side to sit, as we had our grandsons with us. Not to far from the pool, and no smoking. Now, from there you could see the starboard side bar. Wow, packed all the time and with at least 2 bar tenders tending to the fellowship of smokers who where downing all sorts of drinks. Now, I say this, because it is true. You could take a nap on the port side bar, but the smoking side bar was hopping. Now, if the beards do indeed read this, and beards like to evaluate the numbers, I would bet that the smoking bar produces more onboard revenue for my favorite cruise line. So, if a grandparent like me can make such an observation, why can’t the beards? Lido bars are outside, blue and red ones, so what would be the problem of one of them smoking. I bet that is the one with the higher totals at the end of the day. Thank you for the fun blog thingy, Dave
I’m glad to see Carnival is trying to improve the situation on deck 10 for smokers. Now can we work on the e-cig thing? I love my smoking friends but I don’t want to be forced into the smoking areas to use my e-cig (I quit smoking 2 1/2 years ago and it’s just asinine to force those of us who have quit inhaling smoke back into “smoking” areas.
Hello John:
I was happy to discover that the Lido Coffee on Carnival Magic was good. Both regular and unleaded. The other ships for the most part had coffee on Lido that was closer to dishwater than java. So there is hope for your crusade against bad coffee. Good Luck
Also the ice tea from the machines on Carnival Magic was pretty good if you put about an inch of water in the cup to weaken the tea. One day, the machines were putting out ice tea that was good without the water. You could tell by the color, instead of deep brown, it came out tea colored. Then they “fixed” the machines and back to the concentrate. Then, back to the good blend and it stayed for the rest of the cruise. So, if however the machine was made to use a little less concentrate can be disseminated through out the fleet, you will be in tall cotton.
I believe you will fix this John, good luck with your quest.
Your friend,
Bill Heck
G’day John, it was with more than mild amusement that I read Benjamin Jaber’s comments regarding the wearing of jeans in the steakhouse. Mr. Jaber was in shock that the wearing of such inferior clothing was allowed. Of course, I don’t know where Mr. Jaber lives, but may I recommend to him that he stay in the area in which he lives and stay off Carnival? High and mighty folks like Jaber are what often ruin things for the rest of the cruisers. The Jabers of the world are the ones who will complain because their food is too cold, or too well done, or not cooked enough. They’ll complain because the weather forecast was for cloudy and 45 and he awoke to sunny and 65. How dare that forecaster lead him astray? I don’t know whether to feel anger or sorrow for Mr. Jaber. He obviously needs an attitude adjustment after his Denny’s comment. Could I be so bold to ask him what is wrong with Denny’s? I recently ate a late dinner in a Denny’s on the Strip in Las Vegas. I had a wonderful ribeye steak with garlic mashed and fresh veggies. The steak was perfectly prepared and the potatos were great. My cost at Denny’s? $9.95. Mr. Jaber ought to try it sometime. He might want to think about coming down off his throne. I don’t care how much money Jaber makes or where he buys his clothing. He’s no better than the rest of us. Get over yourself, Mr. Jaber and enjoy life. It’s too short to crab over a pair of levi’s.
I just don’t get it. If I want to dress up to go to the steakhouse I will. But I won’t care much what other people are wearing (unless they are in bathing suits dripping all around, shirtless or such). People wearing jeans won’t make my steak taste bad or change how I enjoy a nice dinner away from the crowd of Lido or even the main dining room.
Well said – I fight the dress code thing every time we cruise. It’s my vacation and I’m here to be comfortable and relaxed. I will look clean and respectible, but you won’t find us all gussied up in sequins and tuxes even on formal nights.
I would appreciate an email regarding this answer, I have been on 12 cruises with carnival and now see that you cannot smoke on the Lido Deck around the red Frog. who cares about the Red Frog!!! I just want to know is all smoking going to be allowed on the Lido desk (smoking side) or is it going to be stopped. I will be going on the Dream next trip and want to know before I book AMY MORE CRUISES WITH CARNIVAL. I may just find a all inclusive resort and not worry about Carnival’s smoking policy. By the way I DO NOT SMOKE BUT MY SPOUSE DOES AND I way going to pay for My son and further dau-in law for a wedding present on the Charleston run but now I have to change that also. PLEASE LET ME KNOW AS soon as possible before I make any bookings. thanks John for your Help as always u do a wonderful job. Hope I will not have to stop my cruises.
John,
Glad they made the smoking area more comfortable but as you can see it is open to the elements. The Lido deck is the only outdoor space in which you can smoke and still be protected from the wind and possible rain. So therefore the policy still sucks
As for Launa: You are an ungrateful toad.
I usually cry for all kinds of things and although that was a sweet commerical I didnt find myself tearing up. Thanks for sharing!
Hi John
I absolutely love reading your blog, you are hilarious! My daughter and I are sailing on the Triumph on December 10th, it’s her 20th birthday and first cruise ever, can we have a little something special for her waiting in our room? We are already making plans to make this a annual event in December with carnival! We are both very excited as we don’t always get a chance to vacation. Thanks in advance, hope this is possible! Oh by the way our cabin number is 6318.
The comment about the onboard shopping hosts really intrigued me in that I bought some tanzanite in Cabo from DI which as it turns out was a really good price. I have had no problems with DI, but this is always a BUYER BEWARE scenario. I did a Google search for customer reviews of DI and found most to not be favorable at all. So while I really don’t care what establishments of shopping hosts get in kickbacks from these stores, I do think BUYERS need to educate themselves about the products they are buying – especially when it comes to Jewelry. BUYER BEWARE.
John,
Really a few tables and chairs that’s all you can do for the smokers on the Liberty? Smokers deserve a covered area to sit where they can still enjoy all of the fun of the ship. Last time we cruised on the Destiny I was happy to sit on Lido deck at night and enjoy whatever activity they had out there and smoke. Now smokers have been pushed farther away where there is nothing going on to watch or enjoy and if it rains then I guess we just have to deal with getting wet. My family is getting ready to book what I hope will be another Carnival cruise, we were very excited about all the new 2.0 upgrades but it seems that the upgrades and pushed the smokers out.
I would really appreciate if you or Carnival would post a list of each ship and all of the areas where we are specifically aloud to smoke as I know some ships are very different from others.
Regarding Benjamin Jaber’s comment about dress codes and CCLs attracting a le Denny’s crown, I got one thing to say – don’t let your state room door hit you in the arse as you disembark.
Hey Launa Solomon – You’re complaining about STRAWBERRIES!?!?!
IF I MAY SUGGEST THE FOLK START READING THE CRITIQUES ON CRUISE CRITIC AS WELL. THERE HAVE BEEN QUITE A FEW SCATHING REVIEWS ON THE MAGIC RECENTLY. HOPEFULLY YALL CAN STRAIGHTEN THAT SHIP OUT BEFORE WE SAIL ON IT NEW YEARS DAY.
Cruise Critics have scathing remarks? No, Not really!?!?!
I am a member and must say there are many grumpy people on those boards and couldn’t find a nice thing if it hit them smack in the face!
I have read some really great comments about the Magic and I’m excited that I’ll be on board on the 11th to see it all for myself. Then, you can read some remarks on the Cruise Critic boards….and actually believe them!
Shoo! pest
FLOYD – Are you being serious? There were nasty remarks made by people at CC about a Carnival ship? Really? You must be joking? I can’t even believe it! WOW how SHOCKING is this – N O T – Saying that there are nasty comments being made at CC about anything Carnival is about as ordinary as saying that the Pope lives at the Vatican – come back when you have some real news like – “CC CRITICS OF CARNIVAL FINALLY SEE THE LIGHT AS THEY PULL THEIR HEADS OUT OF THEIR ARSES” Now that would be news!
John,
Obviously Mr. Jaber is not from Texas. We have lived in Texas for 21 years and noticed that formal Texas attire is jeans, shirt, tie, cowboy boots and hat. Today it is still the dress for any occasion. What difference does it make as long as you are with the one you love and are celebrating a special occasion or just enjoying a great steak.
Thank you for all you do. We have sailed with Carnival over 14 times and are preparing to leave Sat 3 Dec for the Panama Canal. We first sailed with you on the, then new, Liberty in the Med in 2006. We thoroughly enjoyed every day and laugh so hard we nearly pee our pants every time we watch the video of the skit. Keep up the good work.
Bob and Phyllis Avella
Great blog today John – very entertaining as always. We have booked our 12th Carnival cruise on the Liberty January 21, 2012. I just wanted to respond about the comment cards – When I received them on board, I ALWAYS spent a lot of time filling them out and giving kudos to those who had made my cruise special. I have never received one electronically and really wish Carnival would listen and find a way to get them to everyone. I will try to use facebook or the blog to review my next cruise, but it would be better to do it when names and events are fresh in my mind. Thanks
Hi John
Please respond.
Most guys don’t shop, they buy. Find it and BUY it. That’s it. Travlinguy is probably in it for the ‘benefits’ like every other guy dragged thru the stores buy his other half, the half that shops. I am really fortunate, my wife hates shopping. Don’t get me wrong, I put a bunch of green in her hand or my plastic card with the shiny V and she’ll be driving down the street before the front door closes, but this is usually only when she has a quest, the work Christmas party this Friday, or the cruise coming up in 16 days Whoot-Whoot !! .
I am really glad you left the shopping tour talks to the pros and let the Carnival Entertainment Staff stay in their realm, good call.
A Cruise Critic group has assembled on a thread called “Welcome to Cali cruise 12/17/11” and the discussion has come up about a meet and greet and I recall a post on your blog about their being a scheduled M&G on embarkation day or the following day, if it is a sea day, mentioned also of the Fun Times placement of the M&G. Could you pass along to Stephanie M please. And one more thing , do you have any clue for the CD-Magic-4-15-2012. ?
Dan
Love your blog, as always, John.
Would just like to comment on the comment card some people receive via email. We did receive one after our first cruise. However, we are currently sailing on the Legend and have had difficulty getting email from Carnival before we sailed. No shore excursion confirmation, no info. from the special needs desk, even thoughI know both of these were sent. Could you please look into Carnival’s internet issues? It is frustrating knowing something is supposed to be emailed to you, but never receiving anything. Thank you.
Mr. Heald,
I’m cruising in 2013 with CCL and being the studious shopper I read the multiple cruise sites daily to ensure that I mad the correct decision. I have to say after reading this blog today the I have 100% made the correct choice. My respect for you and the company has increased because of you! The turning point was your comments to Mr. Ben Jaber. Thank you for what you do and I hope to one day meet you and request strawberries be sent to my wife on a cruise (give us six or twenty-four I don’t care).
Really those are the places I get to smoke??In the wind…rain…what is WRONG with the way it is?…I hear people who don`t smoke…it is my habit…I do not want to polute their air…but this is just crazy.
I spend over 4k on my cruise…can just as easy spend that in Mexico…but I choose to spend with Carnival…I know I am not alone here…i have no issue NOT smoking in the cabin…never do…I do on my balcony…if this persists…well May will be my last and I will just order my booze and spend the whole time on my balcony…not at your bars…not in the casino…fine with me…CCL is pushing me away…so guess I will take my business elsewhere.
I feel the same way. I have been taking CCL for the past 4 years. January will be my last because of the restrictions. I always take a balcony so I don’t have objection to not smoking in room, but if there is no smoking in the Casino (except for a small section) they will not see me again.
Some of y’all may remember the hubby saying go for it on that dream cruise next September. I will probably book it but not till after Jan 5th. Something fishy is going on here. I live 20 miles for Port Canaveral and have 3 cruise lines to choose from. 120 miles from Ft Lauderdale with many more to choose from. I love CCL and I hope they don’t let me down on this.
JoHN!!! NOOOOOO I did NOT cry at that commerical!!! WHAT was there to cry about??? Tell Heidi to watch the new TARGET commericals!!! With the tall blonde lady! Soooo funny!! She takes a handful of Christmas cards that you can record messages on and sings Christmas carol on each and then plays them all in the aisle!!! That’ll give her a laugh!
Are the beards so incompetent that they fail to realize you don’t put a gourmet burger bar on the same area as the smoking area?
The deck 10 smoking area is a joke, right? Has anyone in management been up there? The ashes and ashtrays will be flying all over and I would hate to be the one down stream.
There are two simple solutions to the 2.0 Lido non-smoking policy. Move Guy’s Burger’s to the Port (non-smoking) side on most Lido decks or make the Starboard side of the Lido deck the smoking side. It’s that simple.
It’s time for management to quit shot gunning the smoking issue and step up and address everyone’s needs.
Launa, it,s a shame you cant beraciouse enough to just say thanks….
John, yesterday you tried to get the “beards” to modify smoking on the Liberty. You were unsuccessful. The Liberty and the Fantasy class ships are now on my list of unfriendly. One of the reasons Carnival has been able to be so successful over the past several years is that they worked a balance between the smokers and anti smokers. My first “ship experience” was 1964. My first Carnival was 2004. When my other cruise line went anti smoking in 2005, I switched to all Carnival in 2006 and have sailed 13 times since then with Carnival. I like many other smokers whom I have spoken with also switched to Carnival from other cruise lines because Carnival was smoker friendly and different from the other cruise lines. The anti-smoking fanatics yell, scream, and will never be pleased. The smokers on the other hand usually vote with their feet. Even though I have not been to Las Vegas or the Atlantis Casino in 6 years, I still get offers to “come on back”. When Celebrity Cruise line stopped smoking in the casino, I stopped sailing with them. In 2011, I spent 34 wonderful “sea nights” on Carnival ships (Legend, Dream, Miracle and Magic). In 2012, I only have one cruise booked. Finally give me the raw data and I will prove any point. Whoever the anti-smoking “beard” is, he will not stop until he destroys my Carnival Stock. Thank you for trying!
John,
Spent Thanksgiving on Liberty, my 15th cruise and had a great time. Loved the new changes and truely enjoyed the new comedians and Guys Burger Bar. Best hamburgers I have had on Carnival. That commercial you posted did not make me cry it made me laugh at your comment about the severed rabbits head. But that is my personality.
I know you hate this subject already, but I am curious of the smoking status in the piano bar.
We are cruising again on Feb 4th on your Liberty and we love the piano bar but we quit smoking 5 years ago. My husband is an entertainer but says the smoke makes it hard to sing while in close quarters. We will continue to cruise with Carnival but were curious about the new rules.
Thank you!
Arlene
I just started reading John’s blog again about 2 months ago. Can’t wait to sail with him again next year on the Breeze. It’s been too long. Glad to be back reading his stuff. The thing is I can’t believe the comments/request/demands (I could go on) most of the time!!!
I don’t know if anyone has started it yet but how about a “Stuck on Stupid” list or “People Please” list?
I would say start with:
“We only got 6 FREE strawberries”
“I couldn’t believe they wouldn’t let my son ride his skateboard on deck”
“The doctor on board wouldn’t take my cast off”
I”m sure you all have read plenty more that belong here!! A list like this could turn out to be a fun read when you are having one of those days…………….
Thanks so much for your reply John. I commented three months ago so had already forgotten I had commented as now we are preparing for our next cruise in Janruary 28th on the Carnival Liberty.
Rest assured we will adhere to the smoking policies put in place even after we booked this cruise, providing Carnival will respect the policies as well.
My husband was delighted to hear that my comment was addressed as this was truely the only low point of our cruise. We cruise at least twice a year and having sailed Carnival, Princess, and Royal Carribean, Carnival is our line of choice. (even if Carnival owns one of the other lines)
Thanks for all you do and for being the voice of your loyal Carnival guests. I have never had much interaction with CD’s on our previous cruises but for you, I am sure we would really make an exception. Perhaps someday yiou and my husbnd can enjoy a good cigar together.
John, it was a pleasure to meet you on the Carnival Magic during her first cruise out of Galveston. The wife and I were with the group with Norm and “Snoozeman”. My wife and I are still somewhat upset that we did not get to go to Costa Maya and only got a small “token” of a room credit for the port change. This does not discourage us though as we are heartily considering the “Bloggers’ Cruise” next year from Galveston. The Carnival Magic is a beautiful vessel and we did enjoy all of the services that we experienced.
Regarding Paula Whipple’s statement about leaving possessions behind, we have left items behind on two separate occasions in Galveston and were able to get right back with the delightful Carnival representatives and received our left behind possessions. I suppose Paula just had a terrible run of bad luck.
Again, thanks for your service and your insight and I hope that the Carnival Magic has those blasted thrusters fixed by our next cruise!
Hello John!
Just came back from a wonderfull cruise on the Freedom and would like to, again, thanks the incredible wait staff we have .
A huge and big thank you to Florence, Iketut and Fredy!, we were at table 226 for almost every night and wait for that wait staff every single night, no wonder how long the wait was. A special Thank you for Ivon as well, the funniest and warmest hostess we have met
Can’t wait to be back !
I just got off the Liberty last week and although “no smoking” signs are posted on deck 9 around Guys’ Burger Joint, Burrito Place, Red Frog Rum Bar, etc, people are smoking like the signs don’t exist. I’m somewhat of a photo geek with my extra long and huge…um…lens and I’ve got multiple pictures (quite ironic, I thought) of people smoking in different situations with multiple “no smoking” signs clearly visible within mere inches of the smoker. Same goes for the casino. I got a picture of a guy with a no smoking sign within arms reach, both sides of him, puffing away.
Another note, perhaps during the safety briefing before leaving port the instructions could be a little louder? There is one point when the instructions specifically mention to not flick ashes overboard from balconies, but I don’t think people could hear over the ongoing conversations between passengers. On our cruise, I was burnt twice and got a mouthful of ashes once from our neighbors just upwind from us flicking thier ashes. Granted, it was pretty windy so the entire “cherry” came off the cigarette, one landed between my toes, and the other on my arm, but it was quite painful. I also ruined a white shirt by leaning on the balcony railing and the ashes that were coating the railing grey line across the front of my shirt.
Just a couple of suggestions.
Hello. I am trying to find out where I should send a complaint that will actually be taken seriously? Just got of the Carnival Ecstasty and am so dissapointed that I am thinking of not sailing with Carnival again! I have an entire laundry list of complaints and really, I am not usually the type to complain! (Five Carnival cruises and two Royal Caribbean and this is the first time anything was bothersome enough to WANT to be heard!) Some of the issues I had were because of the vacation planner, others were problems encountered on the ship and could not be resolved and led to a very miserable cruise experience. To make a long story short, (yeah, I know, too late! LOL) WHERE or to WHOM should my concerns be best directed?
Thanks in advance for your help or suggestions. I enjoy reading your blog.
Hello John!
I was reading some old things about Carnival and discovered that Carnival had an airline at a time. I was just curious about why Carnival decided to open an airline to take people to the caribbean when their ships are much more FUN
Hi John,
About the smoking policy, I cannot enjoy the casino because of the amount of smoke in the air.
There are rarely enough smoke-free machines for everyone who wants to play, but this was especially true on the Ecstasy.
There are only about 20 slot machines that are smoke-free. The huge problem though, is that the smoking machines were literally less than 15 feet away from the “smoke free” area. The smokers could have sat next to us because it felt like they were.
I know that some people like to smoke, but forcing those who want to waste our money at slot machines to have it blown into our face is both annoying and disrespectful. It is also bad for everyone’s health, even those around them, so I would love to see the smoking slots limited and clearly seperate from the non-smoking ones.
I enjoyed the cruise, but the amount of smoke in the casino gave me headaches and my clothing smells like smoke.
Thank You!
Just a word…Me and my wife just came back from our trip on the Triumph. Everything was great, from the room stewards to the bar staff and the dining room waiters, This was not our first cruise and it definitely won’t be our last.
That was a great commercial. Yeah rabbit head pet cat maybe lol
I realize that this blog was written quite a while ago and may be way to late for you to read now but I did have a couple of comments … For one thing, about the dress code relaxation: We are Platinum cruisers so this is not our first rodeo. We love to cruise and have enjoyed everyone of them, even if there were little things that were not perfect, we over look the small stuff. Our last cruise was different. Carnival cannot do anything about the weather and have never held it against them when the seas are too rough or they have to make port adjustments, or any other adjustments they had to make, but this last time was one that taught us a lesson. We usually bring an extra bag of dress up clothes. We enjoy the dressing up for dinner and more than that, we enjoy the dressed up pictures. All of our previous cruises we spent between $250 and $300 on pictures alone. We buy them all, even if they are cheesy! But no more. We will not be bringing that extra bag or any dress clothes for that matter. We will be dining in our casual clothing even on dress up nights. We were on the Ecstasy last year when the disembarked up on a heavy equipment parking lot after we had been fogged in for 2 days out at sea. We had to manage our own luggage, the lines were miles long just trying to get on a bus that would take us back to the Galveston port. There were the Ecstasy’s passengers loading and unloading, AND the Conquest’s passengers loading and unloading. A rough estimate was 10,000 people there including all their luggage. One of our group could not manage his own luggage so we had to manhandle his and ours. Nightmarish! No more bringing any more luggage than what we can handle ourselves, by ourselves. After talking about this for some time, our group has agreed that those folks who travel light and never dress up have the right idea. Whether they learned the hard way, as we did or not, they made us see the light and I will never deride them for not dressing for dinner ever again.
And that brings me to my next point. Since I will be saving $250 or $300 on pictures this next cruise on the Magic in February, I can afford to smoke in my stateroom. When we booked our reservations a YEAR in advance, I specifically asked about smoking on the Magic and was told that they policy on the Magic would be the same as on all Carnival ships. We did book a cove balcony, thank goodness. We are smokers. We don’t mind smoking in designated areas, but we want to know in advance the policy. We don’t go places where smoking is not allowed and we don’t stay in hotels that are smoke free. We loved Las Vegas for that reason. My husband has decided to forgo his gambling to make up for the extra cost to smoke in our room and instead of booking an excursion thru Carnival (that are more expensive), we have booked with an independent provider in each port. This is the first time we have not booked an excursion thru the ship for each port.
Anyway, smokers are finding it harder. We will find ways to even it out. We will take more vacations to Las Vegas, etc. in the future rather than making our main getaway a cruise close to home in Galveston.
Was disappointed to read Carnival’s new smoking policies, including no smoking staterooms. This will be my third Carnival cruise in just over a year and very likely my last. My upcoming cruise was booked last March, an ocean view room. At additional cost, I have upgraded to a balcony room. If I had any inclination my room would be nonsmoking, I would not have booked. I do not stay in nonsmoking hotels and will be happy to take my business elsewhere, where smokers are welcome.