sparks1093

Carnival's don't expire.

This is the only benefit that I can see since any winnings would be equally distributed (or should be). I can only imagine how long it took for 142 people to play.

Each line is going to handle the "filling the ship" issue differently and that is what you are looking for, discounted prices because they are trying to fill the ship with those last remaining cabins. How much of a discount you will receive will also vary. I've seen steeper discounts on the longer cruises within the final payment window, but I've only looked at possibly booking 2 to 3 months before the cruise. The only way to judge how good of a deal you are getting is to look at the same ship/itinerary 6 months to a year prior to the cruise you are considering. Most lines allow you to do a faux booking so that allows you to do an apples to apples comparison.

There needs to be a bit of redundancy in shipboard jobs, at least by cross training people to perform a different function, because if someone gets sick the ship can't just contact a temp agency to fill their role. The cruise lines invest a lot of time and money in recruiting and training these folks. They wouldn't do that if the positions weren't contributing to the bottom line, especially in these post-COVID lean days.

This may be a restriction imposed by your TA.

We're on the MG in April on the same itinerary, thanks for the review. Did you eat anything at the beach club in San Juan.

Prehaps the question is incomplete. Maybe it would be better to ask "is the cruise director necessary for you to enjoy your cruise?". That too is subjective and many would say no, he or she isn't necessary. I would be in that category with the clarification that a good CD has made the cruise a bit better by being engaging and entertaining. The not so good ones I just tune out.

There has always been a difference between a passenger canceling and a cruise line allowing cancelation with no penalty because of a significant change.

Because people look at things differently and do things differently. I would cancel if DW couldn't go but not anyone else if we were a group. As for calling out there is a thing called honor that some people have. It's also possible that she's maxed out the number of times she can call out. It may even be something that wasn't considered but since the cancelation has been started it's probably too late.

Would the position exist if they weren't necessary?

To be clear the only travel insurance that might help is cancel for any reason or cancel for work reasons, and the latter may not cover the entire party, just the passenger who can't go. Each policy is different and folks need to read the fine print. CFAR usually only provides 75% back but again, read the policy.

This is why I said "many" and not all. I have made many mistakes in my life, even when I should have known better or being irresponsible. That allows me to feel sympathy toward the OP. It doesn't mean that I feel that the company is wrong or that there is any need to make the OP whole or that the OPs reaction is warranted. Sympathy doesn't require any of that. But I can sympathize with him. ETA- just looked up the difference between sympathy and empathy so perhaps empathy might be the better word choice.

Unless you also have over 4 decades of experience with maritime engine systems, similar to what the person you are debating with has, then your opinion means nothing.

Except Carnival doesn't own all of the Honda Accords. Other cruise lines own them too.

And with the Hub App you can order room service either to your cabin or to any spot on the ship. On our last cruise we wanted some pizza but didn't want to stand in line for it, so we found a spot by Alchemy and ordered it through the App. Still had to wait but we weren't standing, and it was worth the small fee. (And while beverages may be ordered from the bar through room service those aren't covered by Cheers.)

You could try to find out on social media.

It may not come through in the comments but I think many of us do empathize with the disappointment, to lose out on a cruise is bad enough and then to be hit with the penalties is a hard pill to swallow. I also know that comments like "we will never consider booking Carnival again", as normal as that reaction may be to the situation, doesn't sit well with others, either. Especially when it's for an industry wide practice such as this.

Sorry you are only finding this out now. I presume that you've at least some sailings under your belt and even a cursory reading of the terms and conditions show the penalties quite clearly that start after the final payment date. As mentioned this is common across all cruise lines (I don't believe that it is simply limited to the main stream lines) so if you are otherwise happy with Carnival leaving them will not get you a different result.

And you miss the point, if there was a design flaw in the azipods themselves the other ships would also have the same issue, not just these three ships.

And only those three ships have those particular azipods? Doubtful.

Could be just a defective part, if it's the same part at all. In order for it to be a defect in design every azipod of a similar make and model would need to be similarly affected.

I believe they are required by law to provide such notifications. As nice as it might be for a cruise line to do the same they are under no obligation. As a passenger I don't really care that much what the reason is because it isn't going to change the outcome at all. (And FWIW until the law was changed requiring the airlines to provide such information, as I recall they didn't.)

The sticking point seems to be that you aren't getting an early check in online and AFAIK that is normal, but when you print out your boarding pass and luggage tags they should both indicate Platinum and you should receive priority boarding at the port.

The subject line is confusing.

This reminds of a story that I heard once. A plane was at the gate getting ready to take-off when the pilot made the announcement "ladies and gentlemen, the whatchamacallit on this plane is not working and I will not fly it until it is fixed, so we won't be taking off on time". About an hour and a half later the passengers are herded back onto the plane and they get ready to take off. One of the passengers asks a cabin attendant "did they get the whatchamacallit fixed?". "Oh, goodness no, there isn't one available. They found a pilot that would fly without it."