They did not give use a glass of champagne on the Emerald Princess, they gave us a bottle! We also won another bottle later at the past cruisers get together and another bottle with a trophy for winning a dance contest.
Just click our homepage address and near the bottom of the first page you can view YouTube videos of our last two New Year cruises: Keith & Rita's homepage
p.s., Yes they have been busy. Our latest granddaughter was born May 7.
__________________ "Sea" You, Keith & Rita Ann
Fast dancing is the second best form of exercise, slow dancing leads to the first!
Ok, now I'm really sad. You were on Princess. We were, too. Not one drop of champagne did we receive. I'd write a letter, but they wouldn't care. I'm going to miss not sailing on them this year, but we're giving Celebrity a try.
OK so you all had a WONDERFUL time on the Holiday.... I GET IT!!! I didn't.
I'm 39 and this was my 4th cruise, while it seems that most of you have at least 10-15+ cruises under your belt, which would indicate to me that you are of a different age group and are used to the older ships accomodations. This could explain our expectations, most things built/ made in 1985 are now obsolete (phones, cars, etc). I had a blast on every other cruise, the lack of being able to sleep cool and eat decent food was this trip's downfall. I know the ship is old, but is that an excuse for us sweating the whole time we were in our staterooms? Did any of you stop to think that Carnival may have stopped dumping money into this ship, b/c after all it is sold, so the mechanics/ plumbing/ HVAC/ food choices may have been placed on the counter behind the stove (not even on the back burner)?
I only mentioned that I was in the medical field and had no affiliation b/c it seemed that most of the responders were employed by travel agencies or Carnival, dare I infringe. It was not a brag or to give a medical "opinion".
I booked through Costco b/c I'm a member and got a great deal.
I'm not trying to attack any of you. I would appreciate that same sentiment.
it seemed that most of the responders were employed by travel agencies or Carnival
Hi Ray,
Just by way of information, I don't know of anyone who uses this board who works for Carnival. There are 2 or 3 travel agents who participate. Looking through the responses, I see one part time travel agent and one full time agent who responded, but none of the other posters is part of the travel industry.
I'm sorry that you had a bad cruise, but luckily, you know which cruise lines and ships are a better fit for you and will sail those in the future. There is not a single ship that has ever pleased every single passenger who ever sailed on it. We have had discussions here about new ships with exploding plumbing, faulty electrical systems that led to no air conditioning and sometimes, no propulsion. Sometimes it's a persistent problem, sometimes the luck of the draw of which sailing you happened to choose.
I have no doubt that you encountered the problems you did, and won't sail the Holiday again. I'm sure your next cruise will be as enjoyable as the first three were.
I can assure you no one on this site works for Carnival. We do have some Travel Agents. Most TA's will give you an honest an unbiased opinion. Just because they may disagree with you doesn't mean they are favoring any one cruise line.
Your complaint of no air conditioning is legitimate. Even an old ship should have working air conditioning. Passengers shouldn't have to be uncomfortable.
Through your own admission you said the food in the dining room for dinner and breakfast was first rate. Even World class. But yet, all you want to do is harp on the food at the buffet saying how awful it was. Why didn't you eat lunch in the dining room? On some port days the buffet is the only option for lunch. But you were on a 5-day cruise and the dining room couldn't have been closed everyday. I've been on 30 Carnival cruises and still have a hard time believing they only had hamburgers and hotdogs on the buffet. What I have seen on many cruises is hotdogs and hamburgers served in one grill location, and other hot foods and entrees served in another location. I actually knew someone once who went on a cruise and it took him several days before he realized there were other food options. Simply because he didn't look!!
Had you used a Travel Agent you could have been better prepared. Your not going to get unbiased advise booking direct with any cruise line. Their goal is to fill the ships. The majority of their reservation agents are very inexperienced.
Ray- No one is attacking you as a person. Please calm down and look at all of the responses as a whole.
Are you allowed to have a "bad" cruise? - Yes! I am sure if I had to deal with a cruise without A/C I would classify it as a bad cruise too. And NO ONE on this board is affiliated with Carnival with the possible exception of a couple of crew members that pop in once and a while. The defensive comments were because we didn't want one person's bad experience to cast a dark cloud over the ship. Is Carnival dumping a bunch of money into the Holiday right now? No, probably not. I wouldn't expect them do be doing so. But they would also not go without fixing the standard maintenance type items (like the HVAC). Odds are they needed parts which they didn't have on the ship and had to wait until they got back to port to get them.
I do agree with you on the buffet food... compared to the big ships, the buffet is lacking. Not that they don't try to provide you with a variety. They just have limited buffet space to do so in.
Your comments were more like someone insulting someones pet... you are going to get defensive comments back because while the pet may be old, they still love the pet.
Please don't take them too personally. You have to realize that we get a bunch of people that log in and post 1 scathing post about a "bad" cruise (that was really only bad because of silly nit picky things) and then we never hear of them again. We end up having to jump into those discussions and correct mis-information when we see it. We may have been a bit too fast in your case.
__________________
================================================== ========== Carnival Cruise Lines:
Fantasy 90, Celebration 95, Victory 05, Conquest 05, Spirit 6/06, Freedom 6/08, Holiday 7/08, Victory 6/09, Valor 9/09, Dream 6/10, Splendor 8/10,Conquest 8/11,Magic 11/11,Triumph 4/12,Spirit 7/12,Freedom 11/12, Triumph 2/13 - The fire cruise
NCL Dream October 2006, RCCL Mariner OTS June 2007
Your comments were more like someone insulting someones pet... you are going to get defensive comments back because while the pet may be old, they still love the pet.
...which would indicate to me that you are of a different age group and are used to the older ships accomodations
Bad assumption. Just because I am in my fifties doesn't mean I don't like new ships and accommodations. I happen to love the Freedom class ships of Royal Caribbean and will be previewing the all-new Celebrity Equinox next week. Age and cruise experience is inconsequential. Doing one's homework about a ship one has not cruised on is consequential.
I'll admit we probably got off on the wrong foot, but there is a reason. It is quite exasperating to have a first time user come to this forum and their first post is full of complaints. We've all seen it so much that many of us get weary of it. As was mentioned earlier in this thread - if you had dropped by before the cruise perhaps we could have educated you about the Holiday so you'd be better prepared. Instead we get the "after action" report when it is too late.
If anyone cares to look they will find numerous messages in this forum - including many from me and other staffers - which are critical of all the cruise lines. We are not a bunch of shills. We are about fair and accurate assessments and information.
For the record I am retired and never worked in the travel industry. I just happen to like cruises - so much so that, like all the other staff members, I volunteer my time to manage this forum. None of us gets a cent in compensation, from either the forum owner or the cruise lines.
Now, let's move forward. Enough has been said here. Many of us like the Holiday, you don't. Come November it will be a moot point.
I am familar with flamers coming in and stirring things up, not my intentions. I gave a complete unbiased, past cruiser review that was challenged.
Having read what I posted and then how it was downplayed, picked, shredded, washed, sanitized, folded and placed on the shelf, should anyone expect to get an honest, unbiased review here?
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