Jamericannn

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Our waiter on Fascination said this was his last trip with CCL because he is retiring. After 10 years. From my point of view the crew isn't paid well, from their point of view they are. Their point of view is the important one in that equation.

agree 100% (You always have very good responses)

My mom's birthday is in mid-April...but she only has the last week of March and first of April off. We were looking at a short cruise that leaves on March 30th and gets back April 3rd.

 

Would there be more college kids or younger kids on the boat? Has anyone ever cruised this week? Was it too crowded?

My mom's birthday is April 7th. I wanted to take her on a cruise for her birthday but because of prices and more crowds at the pools due to spring break at that time, I booked the cruise towards the end of the month. My mom love to be in the water so I had to book close to her birthday when it will be less crowded.

Is that reviewer going to stop buying goods made in China, India or other countries where prevailing wages are lower than the US? Good luck with that.

Maybe the reviewer is rich :D

For what it's worth, I had a conversation with our waiter on one cruise a while back. He stated he had been working on cruises for twenty years, mostly Carnival associated lines. He loved the job and very clearly explained that his wife and children in the Philippines lived in a beautiful home and were considered well off by their standards. So based on those statements, no, I have no concerns. I don't think anyone would stay on a job like theirs for 20 years if it was so bad.

 

The thing I find is even here at home you can find people working for the same company, doing exactly the same work that feel completely different about their job, their pay and their treatment. Some love it, some hate it. Some feel taken advantage of and others think they are treated well.

Good points. I want to reiterate that I am not taking any sides here. I just thought I should ask the other cruisers the question to get their views. I was surprised to read that someone will not go on a cruise again for those reasons mentioned above. As for me, the only things that will stop me from cruising is time and money.

Jamericannn, where did you get this erroneous information, they are paid by position, not where they come from. No ships from CCL are registered in the U.S.

It is not my information. Just a review I read and from a couple youtube videos I saw. I just posted the link to the review

They are doing fine. If the reviewer traveled to 85% of the world they could draw the same conclusion. Sounds like more of a person with an agenda to me. Link to review ?

 

 

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Here is the link to the review http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=553943

I have never noticed an employee /staff with a chain and ball attached to their leg ;)

lol. Got you. I was going to include that point in the initial post but I totally forgot. No one is forced to work on the ship so they all have choices. I can argue both way of the discussion.

How do you know they are underpaid? If, for example, they are getting what they would make normally for an hourly wage (not even counting the tips) how is that underpaid? There's a lot more to it than just saying they are treated "poorly". What's the cost of living where they are from? How much do they actually make in a year? Is it over the average worker in their country? I'm not claiming to know the answer to any of those questions without doing research, just saying it's not that simple of a question. I can say that most of the workers I've met and have talked to are doing quite well.

My questions were based on the reviews and also some youtube videos I've watched. Having said that, I do not agree with your analogy when you compare it to what they would have make in their country. They are not working in their country so that should not be basis.

If you own a business, would you pay people from poor areas different from you would pay people from the richer areas? would the state they come from determine how much they should get paid?

I always book balcony on lido [emoji16]

 

 

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I always book interior on Lido. haha

Great review. Thank you.

I just read a review where the cruiser say he/she had a wonderful cruise but will never cruise again. His/her reason was because after talking to many of the workers he/she was disappointed a the way carnival treated them. Many of these workers are from poor countries. The cruise line pays the workers according to what they would get paid in their country. For example, a worker from Philippines (as most cruise lines workers are) would get $2 - $4 per hour and would work long hours.

1. Do you guys think this is ethical? Should the cruise lines pay the workers American wages seeing the ships are operating from American ports?

2. Knowing that if the pay for the workers raise so will the prices to cruise or they will limit things that are "free", should we care that the workers are underpaid?

Thoughts....

So you know the deal get up early and get a chair ohhhhhh you don't want to get up early? So basically you just want to show up and there be a chair for you?

 

 

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Lido deck rooms is the way to go. You can get there fast that way.

Another thing to note... Carnival prices are usually the cheapest of the major cruise lines. many people know that so at Spring Break time many college kids will flock towards Carnival. This will increase the demand which will impact the price. The rooms are limited at that time so they can pretty much raise the prices knowing that the rooms will still be sold out.

I wanted to do a spring break cruise but figure the prices would be cheaper a couple weeks later. That is why I chose 4/22

This is the first video I have watched of the elation. It looks pretty nice. Thank you.

Same Itinerary - Same Length - Same Time - Same embarkment port. Carnival always seem to be the cheapest. Make sure you are comparing apples for apples.

If I found another cruise line that was less expensive than CCL I would book it in a heart beat. We're booking the Pride in February 2018 because it's hundreds less than anything else (and only $100 more than it was when we cruised on her in 2012). Could have taken NCL out of NYC for $1100 more I suppose but being on a newer ship doesn't attract us and having "free" stuff that we wouldn't buy in the first place isn't a selling point for us (but even if we did buy drink packages we could buy a better package on CCL and still end up saving money).

 

But like I said, if we find a cruise line is less expensive then we'd book it in a heart beat.

I agree with you. CCL always seem to be the cheapest whenever I am lookin g for a cruise. MSC have kids sail free and 2 for 1 sales at times which is pretty cheap. When I talk about expensive I would be referring to Disney. That's expensive.

I am on the lookout for a July 2018 cruise

Of all the ships that I have sailed on the Dream is my second favorite by a small margin, all the rest tied for first...

The Dream must be a really nice ship. It is you second favorite and you have sailed her 4 times. I just want to sail her at least once.

Thanks for attaching the link to the video! I just watched and now wishing I was back on her. Deck 5 is really nice too. They have color changing lights along the promenade heading toward the back of the ship and those floors are always polished, so you can see the reflections of the lights.

 

We haven't been on Breeze yet, but from pictures I have seen, I think I'd love her as well. Again, thank you for the link. I've bookmarked it. :D

:) Not a problem at all. It is a nice video.

Thank You. I will take a look now.

If you arrive before your check in time you will not be allowed in to the terminal. When we cruised out of NOLA in March our check in time was 12:30 to 1:00. We got to the terminal parking garage a little after 12 and after paying, checking our luggage and getting parked we were walking in the terminal about 12:35.

 

And remember it is your check in time not boarding time. Boarding had already started and our rooms were ready by the time we were all checked in (there were 8 of us) but that may not always be the case.

I believe you will be allowed to check in earlier than the time if you are a priority customer (Platinum, FTTF etc).

No. we will be driving our mini van

 

 

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That's a lot of mileage and devaluing of the vehicle.

Well everyone has an opinion so here is mine. First the list of ships I have been on; Celebration, Sensation, Fantasy, Fascination, Glory Dream and Sunshine.

 

My favorite was the Dream, especially the atrium area. I call it subdued neon.

 

My least favorite was the Sunshine, I just got off of her last week. Just plain ugly and not very clean looking. All the Atrium lacked was 1970's green shag carpet. Ugliest ship so far. But I will say the Sunrise dining room was very nice looking, the rest of the ship not so much.

How do you rank the Glory amongst those you've sailed on?

Maybe in the cabins or hallways but the carpets by the elevator banks and entryways were just replaced with more updated carpet. The carpet in the cabin hallways is in desperate need of replacement. Guess we will just have to wait and see

I assume they will keep those newer ones. As you said maybe it's the carpets by the hallways. What about the ones in the rooms? Were those replaced too?