jstrutton

OK, here is our real-world scenario.  We were on the Miracle in Feb going to Hawaii and in the middle of the Pacific.  Sitting on deck when my wife's phone rang.  It was a normal call from our daughter using her normal T-Mobile phone number (not WhatsApp).  Her phone was on Airplane mode, but wi-fi calling was not turned off.  They talked for 17 minutes and when we got home, there was $125 bill from T-Mobile for that one phone call.

Called T-Mobile to see how this happened and what they could do.  They said that each ship has a cell phone tower on them and periodically cell phone calls can go through them.  However, when cell phones use this service, the cruise line charges $6.99 per minute.  So, the charge is actually something Carnival (or any cruise line) charged the cell service and obviously they just charge it back to the customer.  

Called T-Mobile and the good news is that T-Mobile cut 75% of the bill off since this was the first time this had happened and also, we are new customers.  The rep told me to avoid this we needed to turn on airplane mode but also turn off Wi-Fi calling and to just use data calling services like WhatsApp.  

On 2/4/2022 at 10:24 PM, auburn77 said:

Was there reduced capacity or was it a full ship?

We were on that first Carnival cruise back to Hawaii.  Really enjoyed it.  I talked with the Guest Service rep one early morning.  She told me that this Hawaii cruise 9 Jan was actually pretty much sold out 2 weeks prior to the cruise.  Then within the last 2 weeks prior they were massive cancellation.  She didn't have any information but most of us can guess due to COVID restrictions and testing. At the end, the ship was only about 55% capacity (1200 out of 2200).  It was really nice that we could get an elevator anytime and get around the ship without too much hassle from crowds.  

On 1/24/2022 at 9:37 AM, auburn77 said:

Are any ports tendered and were you talking about the covid testing at the pier or on the ship before arriving at Hawaii having a long line?

Thanks for your replies 

The only tender port is Kona and they drop you off right in town. Walk around, take hop on/off bus or just whatever you want.  
 

The COVID tests were on board on Tuesday for us.  We got their early (900)  but the later folks had to wait around for several hours to complete the testing.

No Issues, just got off the Miracle on 23 January.  Overall a good cruise.  They could have done a few things better but overall OK.  The room stewards and the dining room staff were outstanding.  Also, all the crew were very polite and did a great job.  We were asked on one of the last night for their al fresco outside dining (Lido deck).  We agreed but really didn't care for it much, my steak was badly overcooked but still the service was OK.  Just prefer the main dining service.  We got the value internet package and it was good.  My wife was about to watch a few of her shows via Youtube and it works good.  We shared one package and just switched off when the other needed to use it.  For the $$, it was well worth it. 

Excursion:  The luaus in Honolulu were not as good as advertised.  The Paradise Cove is not 6 hours long, it was more like 4.5 hours.  The show was just OK, but the food was not good.  Their BBQ was probably the saltiest pork I have ever had.  Anyone should consider booking independently if they want this excursion. Carnival sold it for around $240 pp but if you go to the Paradise Cove website you can get it for much cheaper including transportation .  The other Luau wasn't much better I heard.  It poured rain over at their and was a disaster.  Luckily for us it didn't rain, but be warned that if it rains there is no where to go for protection.  Other excursions like the road to Hana was well worth it.  

Georgia (cruise director) was very good. 

Hated the COVID testing but really can't do anything about that.  Highly recommend going early as possible, the lines took up to 2 hours to complete the process.  

Wished they had gotten to Ensenada earlier so we could have spend more time there.  

Any specific questions, let me know

We were wondering a similar situation. We are a B2B2B in Europe next year. We got the carnival insurance and I called them for clarification if one of us came up positive between the second and third cruise.  They told me we would be covered under the medical piece as long as we provided doctor test results and any medical orders.  So we would eventually get reimbursed for a hotel bill in London up to 10k (I think that was the limit but would have to double check).  But at least we had a piece of mind that we would be covered with something.  
 

Hope it never happens to us or anyone else

3 hours ago, Bgcruising said:

You might want to check in on the status of your cruise. I've had one from London changed to an all UK cruise.

Can’t imagine that happening.  The Pride is going TA in the spring and spending all summer in Europe and med.  What cruise line changed to all UK?

Thanks, I’m thinking the same as we would definitely be stuck in London under quarantine till we tested negative. Couldn’t fly back to US (or anywhere else for that matter) and couldn’t take the second or third leg of our B2B2B.  
 

I’ve asked our carnival PVP but haven't gotten an answer yet hopefully soon.  Still have plenty of time but just planning for a worst case scenario

We will be doing a B2B2B in Europe next year.  We purchased the Carnival insurance with our cruise as well.  I know that all the cruise line do COVID testing between the B2B cruise at least 1 day before your last day.  My question is what happens if somehow one of us comes up positive.  Oviously, they will not let us continue with the second or even the third cruise, but we couldn't fly home (US) either.  I asume we would have to quarantine in a local hotel.  Granted this is a worst case nightmare, but what if any would the Carnival insurance pick up and assist with.  Also, wondering if we need additional insurance in the event something like this happens.  

Any advice is welcome and appreciated.

Jay

Amazing enough, right after I posted my last comment, I got a confirmation email from Carnival about the flight.  They paid AA so it now shows confirmed on AA and I was able to chane seats.  So, it appears they pay out around 30 days prior to our embarkation.  

Thanks all

Thanks for the info. The return flight is actually on 23 Jan 2022 which is about 45 days out. So I was figuring on giving them till 30 days to do something, then start hassling them.  
 

jay

We booked our return air through the carnival fly app on their website. The price was a little cheaper than I would have gotten from the airlines.  However this was over 2 months ago and the ticket still shows on American Airlines as pending.  I’ve called my PVP at carnival that we booked the cruise with to find out what is going on.  She said that everything is confirmed and we have seat assignments. She is right in one sense but when I called AA to try and change seats they say they can’t do anything till the flight is confirmed (in other words AA is paid from carnival). 
 

AA rep said that the cruise are always late on paying (confirming) tickets.  But my concern is that Carnival won’t pay AA till the very end and then we get stuck with some seats we don’t want.  I have status with AA so it allows me to upgrade to better seats.  
 

Anyone else run into this problem?

Thanks in advance 

Jay

Thinking about getting the internet package for our upcoming cruise.  What is the major differences between the social, value and premium packages?  We are thinking about watching some YouTube videos but don’t know if it is worth the premium package.  I would imagine regardless of package purchased that your device will connect the same WiFi system.  Given my preference ! I would be happy paying for the value package as long as we can get decent service.  My issue would be if we paid for the premium and it didn’t work correctly then I would be very happy and I’m sure we probably couldn’t get a refund from carnival. 
 

any thought would be appreciated. 
 

jay

All,  thanks for the feedback.  I'm agreeing that the 115 flight is better than taking a chance with the earlier flight.  Just gives us more non-stress time.  

As far as checking flight from LGB, that don't have any flight in the noonish timeframe that connects us back to the East Coast. 

Jay

We are on the Carnival Miracle from LAX to Hawaii in January.  Supposedly they dock at 0800 on Sunday but was wondering what the earliest I can safely get a flight from LAX.  There is a 1135 Delta flight and also a 115 Delta flight; would prefer the earlier one but just not sure.   We are planning to just take Uber or taxi directly from the dock to LAX.  Would think traffic won't be too bad on a Sunday morning but never been in the part of the country before so not sure.  

Any feedback would be appreciated. 

Jay

3 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

Very simply, Bermuda at present is not opening the Travel Authorization application process until 5 days before any cruise's departure.

Thanks. Does anyone knows whether it is $75 per person or for each passenger?

Just sent email to the Bermuda website on the page and asked the question asking what is really required. Will post if and when they reply

jay

25 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Crystal definitely mentions the TA in their protocols:

https://online.fliphtml5.com/gwsfl/zsni/#p=1

 

The last page of that has most of the info copied from Bermuda's site, but there is also mention of it at the very beginning on Page 4 and elsewhere.

25 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Crystal definitely mentions the TA in their protocols:

https://online.fliphtml5.com/gwsfl/zsni/#p=1

 

The last page of that has most of the info copied from Bermuda's site, but there is also mention of it at the very beginning on Page 4 and elsewhere.

Agreed, but when you go the Bermuda website you get the below which indicates to come back later. So not sure what the crystal ships are doing about this.  Can’t get the TA for cruise even if I wanted to

just odd and confusing.  We’ve cruises a lot but I can’t imagine any new cruise having to deal with this

jay

One problem is that to get the travel authorization requires another $75.  Don’t care about that but hopefully the cruise line specifically carnival will forward what we need to do.  Otherwise there will be a lot of people on board without TA and not very happy.  
 

When I read about the crystal cruise it was taking care of the COVID test before they arrive but there was no mention of the TA that seems be required. Also the Bermuda website when you try to do the TA asks for sail date but it is grayed out and says come back later

pretty confusing. We are also on the 14 November cruise from Baltimore. We will getting our COVID test on Friday before driving up or use the emed kits

jay

Does anyone have one of the daily program from the latest cruises in Italy?  Thanks

Our final update. This morning got email from Costco visa that our dispute with MSC had been resolved in our favor and the credits are now permanent.  All this from our 16 and 31 March cruise cancellation. We disputed it back in June and technically they had till 12 August to say something. Obviously MSC just agreed with it and we didn’t have to provide any documentation to support our claim
 

my recommendation for anyone waiting for long refund is to dispute it with your credit card company and le5 them deal with MSC

Good luck to the remaining ones waiting for refunds 

jay

Update from our situation which seems very similar to everyone else.  Our cruises were cancelled in March and we submitted requests for refunds on 16 March and 31 March.  Only response we EVER got was the standard email that our refund would be processed in 60 days.  Gave them their time, called several times and got canned answers but still no refund.  About mid-June, we had enough so processed a Visa chargeback.  They immediately applied a temporary credit back to our account and contacted MSC.  MSC has until 18 August to do something otherwise it will be become permanent.  Can't imagine how they would dispute it but who knows, we will see in 3 weeks.  We really like MSC but refuse to throw more $$ at them until this is resolved.  

Just to give people some perspective on people's frustration with MSC, we are on day 108 from the day we submitted our refund request (16 March).  We have the confirmation email that indicated that we would be paid back in 60 days (LOL-right).  Another refund timeline is at 93 days.  This is the primary reason that we submitted a Visa dispute case several weeks ago.  Almost immediately, Visa issued an temporary credit which will become permanent on or before 12 Aug.  But at least I have some resolution in my eyes.  If MSC gets off their butts and issues us a refund before this time, then I'll just cancel the dispute.  

4 hours ago, APDMOM said:

Just curious to know... what were the cruise dates?

March 23 from Miami (submitted refund request on 16 March). The second one was 10 May From Hamburg (submitted refund on 31 March). As noted we haven’t received anything from MSC except for the automated refund email which indicated we would get our refund within 60 days.  

All, well I'm done with MSC refund circus.  I gave them fair time and patience.  I submitted for our refund on 16 March and 31 March on two separate cruises.  As of today, it has been 91 days and no words except when I called and was given some random excuses.  I officially filed a dispute on our credit card for a reversal of charges for both cruises.  That should happen in the next two billing cycles (which might be 2 months), but even at that it will still probably beat MSC.  And if MSC happens to get off their butts and post my refund, then I can easily just cancel my dispute.  Either way, I feel like we get some resolution instead of just checking our credit card every day and hoping. 

Good luck to all the others.

16 hours ago, GatorMomInNC said:

I cancelled my June cruise for a full refund on March 2nd.  Been given so many different stories by MSC (via my TA) that I can't keep track.  Still no refund.  Paid in full last year.  100 days and counting.  

I feel your pain.  We're still waiting since 16 March for one cruise and 31 March for another.  Once you call up, I feel they must have a script to pick which excuse from now.  Was told we would have one by the end of the week and nothing.  The other one told asked me was the Visa number correct.  I would feel better if they would just tell everyone the truth then we could at least see the end.  In the interim, we are all just checking our credit card accounts daily to see if their credits show up.  Shame on you MSC!!!