goncruzn

This is good news because for my Med cruise next year I wanted to pick up a couple bottles of some good italian wines to take on the ship with me and have on my balcony and now I can hopefully be assured that they will not be taken from me! Yay!!

How did a post about comparing the inconsistancy of refunds go to name calling and contract quotes to telling people they deserve nothing?

 

SMH

I think everyone is just trying to point out that unless the cruise line did something deliberate to in some way inconvenience you purposely, any compensation you happen to receive should be considered a bonus. Life is so short and precious that I try to make a point of not complaining about what "freebies" I didn't receive, but instead concentrate on the things I do have. You were able to cruise in spite of the weather being so bad. Maybe you didn't make all your ports, but that can happen when cruising during hurricane season. You pretty much received what you paid for, and what you didn't receive, the cruiseline compensated for that by giving back port fees, pre-paid gratuities and money for the missed port(s). The passengers did deserve to be compensated for what they paid for and didn't receive (missed ports). After that, I would not expect anything additional. The fact that the cruiseline offered reduced rates on a future cruise despite the hurricane not being their fault, is in my opinion, a very nice gesture on their part, even if the percentages are not the same across the board.

The ships may all operate under the aegis of Carnival, but they are different ships leaving different ports traveling different distances, probably paying different fees for their homeports and functioning under different operating budgets. I would hazard a guess that some of that and more is taken into account when offering future reduced rate cruises.

Considering the loss of life that has happened as a result of this hurricane, I'm just happy that everyone is back home and safe and has the opportunity to cruise again if they so choose.

What amazes me more than anything is that someone would actually pay $75 to take a child to something like Chef's Table even if they are used to fine dining establishments at home. One of the biggest draws to it is the wine pairings and anyone under 21 cannot drink (technically) and therefore cannot fully appreciate the entire experience.

Although I have no kids of my own, I have no problem with them in nicer restaurants as long as they are well behaved. It amuses me when we go out to dinner with my 8 year old niece, how the server will look at my sister thinking she's going to order for her and my niece pipes up right away and gives her order with perfect clarity.

Deck - 9

Cabin # - 600

Class – D1

Front Starboard, Front Port, Back Starboard, Back Port,

Central Park, or Boardwalk - Front Starboard

Bed near?(balcony or bath) – Near balcony

Quiet Cabin – Quiet

Balcony View - Great view. Looking straight down on lifeboats, but since it is a hump cabin and higher up they really did not obstruct view.

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - If I remember correctly, it was larger than Freedom D1. There was room enough to put a lounger although we didn't bother with one.

Was wind a problem? No

Any specific problems with this cabin? No

Any other comments? Closet wasn't too hard to get to. There were sliding doors and it wasn't as convenient to get to the left side of the closet as it was the right, but overall no big deal. I wouldn't hesitate to book this cabin again. Neighbors were a little loud but you could only hear them when they were on their balcony. Luckily, each occurence was short lived. Make sure you know where you're going when you leave your room. It will save on walking because it was a longer trip to the aft elevators than it was the forward. Docked starboard in St. Thomas and Nassau. Port side in St. Maarten.

Glad to see someone other than myself was not impressed with Aruba. My DW loved it (we were cruising for her 50th birthday so it was a good thing ;) ) but I was not impressed at all. It seemed to me once you got away from the resort area, it was nothing but Aloe and cactus.

 

Tim

I'm also glad to see I'm not the only one who wasn't that impressed with Aruba. It's not that I dislike it, I would go back, I just thought there would be more to see and do than there was. You're right - once you leave the tourist area it's all desert and barren.