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Unplanned B2B on Ghost Ship Glory this past week


Woodfaerie
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This will be a long positing, my apologies for not being less wordy.

My original sailing left 9/2 on the Glory to the Eastern Caribbean which of course was changed to Western. We could not debark on 9/9 due to the POM being closed. The port opened up late 9/12 letting some off and then again the morning of 9/13 for the rest of the passengers who were supposed to get off on 9/9, unless you chose to stay on for the remaining 3 days accepting their special offer.

 

If we debarked, we faced living at MIA for at least 2 days because we couldn't get a flight out for 48 hours. There were NO hotel rooms to be found. Not an appealing option so we chose the Carnival option of staying on board for the extra 3 days for the cost of gratuities, port fees and taxes. There were NO charges for the time period of 9/9 - 9/13 because of port closures.

 

I guesstimate about 180 people who chose this option of B2B based on glancing at all of us who went back through immigration and got rebooked. I was told by an officer that there was a total of 470 passengers, yes 470 who were on the last leg of the journey, B2B included. Ships capacity is 2974. I am not a mathematician but that means only about 10% made it on board for the last leg of the original 7 day cruise departing 9/9 that got turned in to a 3 day Bahamas.

 

Ghost ship part: never in all my days did a cruise seem so surreal. Only one dining room was kept open with the majority of servers having nothing to do. Their staffs final "Leaving on a Cruise Ship" performance was sung to about 4 tables worth of guests with not one twirling napkin. I had hot tubs to myself, yes even including the Serenity deck, multiple times. I was in the midship pool with one other person multiple times. I was alone in the aft pool multiple times. Pixels had just a few sections with pictures. At times NO ONE was on the Promenade deck except for staff, I mean no one. Guys Burgers even shut down when they were scheduled to be open. (oh the horror). Room service? INSTANT.

 

What was the most intruiging part of being on the Glory ghost ship? THE CREW. OMG, they were so chill, so relaxed! We witnessed a crew member (cleaning floors) actually get a cup of coffee! It was awesome. We saw 2 crew members quietly holding hands. We saw an officer put his hand on his officer girlfriends buttocks, yes in plain sight. True fact! And she was doing a shimmy to the music. It was clearly visable that they were enjoying the absence of the masses. They gathered in mini groups around the ship, chatting socially which is a rare sight. Who would have thought that these hard working people can laugh! but they do! It was wonderful.

 

Few more facts: I (57, 18th cruise) was traveling with adult daughter (27, 7th cruise) and her friend (28, 2nd cruise) and adult granddaughter (19, 3rd cruise) I am self employed so this really did hit me hard financially, like really hard. I sailed for 4 days totally free and was charged a total of $140 for the last 3 day leg that we chose to stay on (vs being homeless at MIA) which was for gratuities, taxes and port fees. They split up our balcony room for the last 3 days into 2 separate balcony rooms. We had 4 cancelled flights and horrible internet connections through the Hub. Will we continue to cruise? Heck yeah! My B2B is now checked off my bucket list (but plan on one at some point that I have control over)

 

In conclusion: I am totally sensitive to all those who ended up with their cruises cancelled, drastically changed and inappropriately compensated. I am even more sensitive to the devastation of life and homes and livelyhood for so many affected by Irma. I was merely sharing an experience with other addicts who are in the room.

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Thank you for sharing this. I was on the Splendor that departed 9/3. We finally docked late 9/12 in Ft Lauderdale and were given the option to stay until 9/14 while docked since there were no flights or hotels available. I opted to stay and was thankful for the the ship when my Wednesday flight was cancelled. I was much more comfortable on the ship vs. sitting in the airport for 2 days.

 

There were less than 300 of us onboard the last day/night and I thought the same about the crew. It was so nice to see them finally relax! Our sailing had many complainers including a large group that was really tough for the crew to deal with sometimes. They busted their tails for 9 nights to try and make everyone happy. By nights 10 and 11 it was nice to see them get some much deserved rest.

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quote=firemanbobswife: The circumstances sure stunk, but that sounds like my kind of cruise! Did anyone get to upgrade to suites or nicer cabins?

 

no upgrades that I heard of. Originally, there were 4 of us in a balcony. They split us in to 2 balconies interestingly enough. I was near the end of my hallway and there was a suite at the end of the hall that was for sure empty. Oddly enough, I saw an inside room being cleaned and wondered, what the heck? Theres a kajillion balcony rooms open but maybe not everyone wants direct viewing of the ocean?

 

Suites are extra work for the room stewards so maybe they took that in to consideration which is why I didn't get that suite at the end of my hallway! :D

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quote=firemanbobswife: The circumstances sure stunk, but that sounds like my kind of cruise! Did anyone get to upgrade to suites or nicer cabins?

 

no upgrades that I heard of. Originally, there were 4 of us in a balcony. They split us in to 2 balconies interestingly enough. I was near the end of my hallway and there was a suite at the end of the hall that was for sure empty. Oddly enough, I saw an inside room being cleaned and wondered, what the heck? Theres a kajillion balcony rooms open but maybe not everyone wants direct viewing of the ocean?

 

Suites are extra work for the room stewards so maybe they took that in to consideration which is why I didn't get that suite at the end of my hallway! :D

 

I would take a balcony for free especially if I might not have neighbors :). Maybe this would be the one time to go to GS and ask if there were any empty cabins I could upgrade to :').

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Sounds like you made the best of the situation! I know you said the financial impact on you, being self-employed, may hurt you in the end, but there also weren't many other options. I'm sure the things you saw, from the crew, would be kind of fun to see. They are always so "on point" for the most part, it's good that they were able to relax a bit too. You know they were going to be super busy again soon enough!

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Thank you for sharing this. I was on the Splendor that departed 9/3. We finally docked late 9/12 in Ft Lauderdale and were given the option to stay until 9/14 while docked since there were no flights or hotels available. I opted to stay and was thankful for the the ship when my Wednesday flight was cancelled. I was much more comfortable on the ship vs. sitting in the airport for 2 days.

 

There were less than 300 of us onboard the last day/night and I thought the same about the crew. It was so nice to see them finally relax! Our sailing had many complainers including a large group that was really tough for the crew to deal with sometimes. They busted their tails for 9 nights to try and make everyone happy. By nights 10 and 11 it was nice to see them get some much deserved rest.

 

go figure with only a handful of passengers and still the naysayers find their way in.......

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Sounds like you made the best of the situation! I know you said the financial impact on you, being self-employed, may hurt you in the end, but there also weren't many other options. I'm sure the things you saw, from the crew, would be kind of fun to see. They are always so "on point" for the most part, it's good that they were able to relax a bit too. You know they were going to be super busy again soon enough!

 

agree, my options were almost nil but you are right, so much was fun to observe and be a part of. If only the crew were able to be themselves all the time. Kind of sad when you think about it. I was chatting with my room steward and he said that most of them feel as if they are looked down upon by the passengers.

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go figure with only a handful of passengers and still the naysayers find their way in.......

 

Thankfully most of the complainers had already left the ship by that last night. :) There was a group of 500 on the Splendor sailing and they took over the aft pool every day, complained about everything, and according to the crew I spoke with - many removed all tips. :( The crew still handled it with smiles on their faces.

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agree, my options were almost nil but you are right, so much was fun to observe and be a part of. If only the crew were able to be themselves all the time. Kind of sad when you think about it. I was chatting with my room steward and he said that most of them feel as if they are looked down upon by the passengers.

 

That's sad, but I can see it. If the way their treated is similar to some of the entitled attitudes I read from people here, I get it. We always talk to our stewards and our waitstaff. We ask about them, if they ever get out to see things and what they saw if they did, etc... They all work so hard, they deserve a little time to relax too!

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We were on the 9/2 sailing as well. We left the ship Wednesday morning in Miami. Had we not lived in SWFL we totally would of stayed on but really needed to get home to assess the damage. We were very lucky and it was minimal.

 

Glad to hear that some of the crew got to relax. They all seemed a little more tired than usual on this cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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We were on the 9/2 sailing as well. We left the ship Wednesday morning in Miami. Had we not lived in SWFL we totally would of stayed on but really needed to get home to assess the damage. We were very lucky and it was minimal.

 

Glad to hear that some of the crew got to relax. They all seemed a little more tired than usual on this cruise.

 

Glad to hear that you had minimal damage.

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That's sad, but I can see it. If the way their treated is similar to some of the entitled attitudes I read from people here, I get it. We always talk to our stewards and our waitstaff. We ask about them, if they ever get out to see things and what they saw if they did, etc... They all work so hard, they deserve a little time to relax too!

 

Completely agree.

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