lack of "HOLIDAY"

[Traveler353]

The OP just made an accurate and truthful post about the Holiday and immediately the natives run to her rescue. The Holiday is a sorry excuse for a cruise ship and finally we can say good riddance in November.

 

An interesting read is "Cheap: The High Cost Of Discount Culture." The Holiday does offer cheap cruises but the result is a subpar cruise experience. For your cheap fare you often end up disappointed and longing for a real cruise.

 

I wouldn't sail on the Holiday again if the cruise was free. That tug is truly not even worth a dime. Never have I felt like steerage class than the Holiday.

 

I am "elated" however that the Elation is coming to Mobile. Its about time Mobile got a ship worthy to be homeported in that fine city. Bringing the Holiday to Mobile showed what Carnival thought of Mobile in the beggining and that dilapidated old scow was both an insult and embarrasement to the city of Mobile.

 

Don't hold back. Tell us what you really think.

[itchin2cruz]

lol, I've been gone from this board for awhile and it's nice to know Mr. Grumpy KYTransplant is still here. :eek:

[Cruzman]

The OP just made an accurate and truthful post about the Holiday and immediately the natives run to her rescue. The Holiday is a sorry excuse for a cruise ship and finally we can say good riddance in November.

An interesting read is "Cheap: The High Cost Of Discount Culture." The Holiday does offer cheap cruises but the result is a subpar cruise experience. For your cheap fare you often end up disappointed and longing for a real cruise.

I wouldn't sail on the Holiday again if the cruise was free. That tug is truly not even worth a dime. Never have I felt like steerage class than the Holiday.

I am "elated" however that the Elation is coming to Mobile. Its about time Mobile got a ship worthy to be homeported in that fine city. Bringing the Holiday to Mobile showed what Carnival thought of Mobile in the beggining and that dilapidated old scow was both an insult and embarrasement to the city of Mobile.

 

KY jelly finally shows up!

[cruisincountrygirl]

Just got in from Mobile Alabama debarked from the H/s Holiday. Be glad this tug is retiring. There is a vast lack of public restrooms, when you do get to use one, the are often dirty and smell really bad(we found we could walk to our room, use the restrooma and go back to what we were doing) and the lines were really long. There was a odor of raw sewage in our room, the a/c was not working properly, and we had problems with our lights. We realized after reporting this a time or two, nothing would be doe about it. There was a distinct odor of trash throughout the hallways. The pool area was extremely crowded, usually without enough seating or longe chairs for all. The photo staff seemed very rude to me, most of the time. they did not have time to answer any questions, could have cared less about your pictures. The food at the Wharf was better that was expected. The high light of the cruise was our dining expeerience. The maitre'de was excellent. The dining room staff was the best.

This poor boat is wore out and so seems the crew. I hope the ship taking its place, is in better shape and has a staff that is more exuberant.

The port at Cozumel was not that great, there was way to much construction going on. The venders were very pushy. It was not the experience we were looking for.

We we saw were we were ported at Calica, we just stayed on the boat. It was a docking area for cargo ships!!! You would have had to take a cab for $13.00 about a mile or so to do anything. there was a few tents set up for souveniers. THere are a lot of deceptive advertising practices used to entice you to take their cruises. All in all on a scale from 1 to 10, I would have rated this about a 4.5 to 5 at most.

 

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your trip. I actually thought Calica was my favorite port on our sailing. I enjoyed Cozumel and will be glad to go back, but we had a wonderful time in Calica. Playa del Carmen is only about 10 minutes away (and yes, about $15 by cab), but afforded us a day of relaxing beauty, shopping, great food, and entertainment. It wasn't as busy as Cozumel, and I think the people were nicer. There were also some things right by the boat when we were ready to re-board, so we were able to pick up last minute things we might have skipped somewhere else.

 

We didn't experience any of the odor problems, but I have read posts from other people who did. It was our first cruise, and maybe I was in a honeymoon phase with this ship, but we cruised with people who had been on it several times and were sorry to see the old girl go.

 

Maybe you'll have better luck with your next cruise.:cool:

[patattack]

My 4th Carnival cruise was on the Holiday. Having just sailed the Carnival Glory, yes the Holiday was much smaller and older and we could tell right away. The brown water in the cabin and the odor were also experienced. The crew was outstanding and very friendly. The dining room experience was awesome. Food was great along with the entertainment. The Holiday is not the Carnival Splendor which I cruised on in April, but I definitely enjoyed my cruise and the port of Cozumel.

 

Pat

[beachbum6264]

What took you so long to reply.............:confused::p:rolleyes:

 

I was thinking the same thing! As soon as I read the OP's post, I knew KY would show up! Another 1/2 empty. I for one will miss the Holiday, there is something special about that size ship - best service ever. It's the only ship I've been on twice, and wish I could manage one more before she leaves (if it wasn't for that darned knee replacement surgery in 8 more days .... :mad:)

[jetwet1]

I'm another one that will miss her, many a drunken (but fun and peaceful) night was spent onboard her.

 

While missing a lot of the amenities that we have all come to expect, the ship does have a certain charm to her.

 

As it hasn't been posted already, this is what she will look like after her refit for Ibero, scroll down and look at the pictures, she should come out looking very nice, well except for the hull art.

 

http://www.iberocruceros.com/GrandHoliday/index.html

[KY Transplant]

Good Morning Friends!

 

Yes, I am still here and lovable as ever. Why there isn't a grumpy bone in my body.:) Maybe I should change my user ID to Harry Truman. I never give the Holiday hell. I just tell the truth and some thinks its hell..LOL. :D

 

I'm sorry I almost let a good Holiday thread get by me but my "Holiday Detector" that senses a Holiday thread here needs batteries and it was just by luck that I happen to stumble along. I do have a life, you know!;)

 

People, get off of your billfold and spring for a quality cruise. If you do you will never sail the Holiday again...even if she did stick around. My cruise on the Holiday was 5 days of my life totally wasted...so don't waste yours.

 

I can't imagine how some of you stand the stench and squalor on that old tug...Yep..I know...she is cheap and conviently located. I guess any one will do anything for money even if they do have to sail the Holiday if they can save a buck.

 

Thats just my opinion but I know some of you will say I hide under a rock or I'm just a tube of KY Jelly. Bring on the abuse. I'm a big boy I can take it. Just wanted to say I love you all anyway!:D

 

Bye...until the next Holiday thread! LOL

 

Yours in Cruising,

 

KY Jelly...err Transplant. Sorry.

[halos]

Just got in from Mobile Alabama debarked from the H/s Holiday. Be glad this tug is retiring. There is a vast lack of public restrooms, when you do get to use one, the are often dirty and smell really bad(we found we could walk to our room, use the restrooma and go back to what we were doing) and the lines were really long. There was a odor of raw sewage in our room, the a/c was not working properly, and we had problems with our lights. We realized after reporting this a time or two, nothing would be doe about it. There was a distinct odor of trash throughout the hallways. The pool area was extremely crowded, usually without enough seating or longe chairs for all. The photo staff seemed very rude to me, most of the time. they did not have time to answer any questions, could have cared less about your pictures. The food at the Wharf was better that was expected. The high light of the cruise was our dining expeerience. The maitre'de was excellent. The dining room staff was the best.

This poor boat is wore out and so seems the crew. I hope the ship taking its place, is in better shape and has a staff that is more exuberant.

The port at Cozumel was not that great, there was way to much construction going on. The venders were very pushy. It was not the experience we were looking for.

We we saw were we were ported at Calica, we just stayed on the boat. It was a docking area for cargo ships!!! You would have had to take a cab for $13.00 about a mile or so to do anything. there was a few tents set up for souveniers. THere are a lot of deceptive advertising practices used to entice you to take their cruises. All in all on a scale from 1 to 10, I would have rated this about a 4.5 to 5 at most.

 

This was your first cruise??? :confused: I certainly hope it was...

 

Aside from the ship, let's start with your comments about the ports. What you saw at the ports (cargo ships) is what you will find at most ports....that's what ports are for ;) In the future, before embarking on any travel...cruise or land, you should really do some investigative homework to find out what best ways to see things. When taking a cruise, there are few ports that offer enough that a tour or taxi isn't necessary...very few. When taking a cruise, looking at excursions for the port stops is a must. You can book them through the cruise line or independently. If you want to wander by yourself, you are definitely going to have to at least hire some form of transportation taxi/shuttle whatever, to get you out of the port area and farther into the island (or country) to actually SEE something.

Cozumel is rated by most posters here as one of the absolute most fun....how utterly sad that you missed out.

 

The ship...yeah, the Holiday is VERY old. Again, if you'd have looked into this before booking it, you'd have known. The same way you discovered Cruise Critic after your cruise, is they way you should have found it prior to.

Had you been armed with real information and suggestions, you'd be a lot more content right now and you wouldn't have tossed your money away. Take that as a lesson and make sure to dig a little more in the future before spending your $$ and hard earned vacation time.

[JRock59]

OK we knew he'd show up but that's OK gives us a laugh for the day. :D Wonder what he'll find to put done when she's gone? :rolleyes: I's rather have any small ship than the big new Mega Liners but that's me............to each his own. :) Happy Columbus Day to all!

[osiebosie]

OP, try other ships.

 

I, too, am glad to see Holiday leave. Now I'll try Mobile again. Our worst cruise ever, and I mean ever, was on the Holiday. She had propulsion problems and we ended up cruising 60 miles off of the coast in January for five days in lousy, cold weather. The staff was wonderful, as was the food. But, say what you will, people don't really cruise just for being on the ship unless they book a "cruise to nowhere". If the ports weren't important, they wouldn't have those fabulous pictures in the literature. So don't give me I'd rather be taking a bad cruise than working. We actually wanted off of the ship.

 

However, a couple of years later we gave Carnival a try again and had another fabulous cruise with them. So don't give up on Carnival.

 

Bye, Holiday.

 

Say

[L_T]

I remember when Mobile was begging for a cruise ship - any cruise ship, and was thrilled to get the Holiday. That city has been around for a while and I think it would take a lot more than the Holiday to insult Mobile, she isn't that sensitive.:D

 

The Holiday is a good old ship and provides an opportunity for low cost cruising for a lot of folks. I remember when we went on it for under $50 a day out of NO and it was packed with a great bunch of locals who knew when the bargain cruises were running. Too bad they messed up the top deck forward...

[Monkeythyme]

I usually get a small whiff which is why I learned to leave the seat down. Even on the Conquest. The worst time was on the Fantasy after drydock but that was a problem with the system not putting the vapors overboard. It was like hitting a wall when you exited the elevator.

 

Dave

We cruised on Fascination September 14-19. A friend who had just returned before we left warned us to take Lysol to combat the sewer smell, so we did. As it turned out, there was none in the aft section where we were, but the forward port side of upper and empress smelled pretty bad. We referred to that area as the "poop deck".:D A couple we traveled with were on the port side, but they were on the Riviera deck and had no problems. It was the first time we had ever encountered "the odor" while at sea, and in three cruises on Holiday we have not encountered it. It's a roll of the dice, I guess.

[KY Transplant]

OK we knew he'd show up but that's OK gives us a laugh for the day. :D Wonder what he'll find to put done when she's gone? :rolleyes: I's rather have any small ship than the big new Mega Liners but that's me............to each his own. :) Happy Columbus Day to all!

 

 

I may not find anything to put down after the Holiday leaves.

You can bet I'll be checking out the Elation and if she is worthy of cruising on I'll sing her praises from the rafters...but if she is less than desirable I'll let you know. I have read reviews of the Elation and so far so good...but then again the Bubba mentality that has only sailed in a Jon boat before the Holiday thinks the Holiday is like the Queen Elizabeth. We'll see.

[cruiserbryce]

seems that there have been many guests that have enjoyed their trips on Holiday. I think this may be a little bit of an expectation thing. Holiday is quite older obviously andf their facilities and layout seem to reflect that. Certainly something that should be taken into consideration when booking a trip on her. They can just produce pubic facilities without taking from something else

[futaba951]

They can just produce pubic facilities without taking from something else

 

I just learned something new today. Thanks. :D

[KimtheCruiser]

And we prefer Calica to Progreso - as for the "pushy" vendors, we spent a delightful afternoon chatting with the bartender at the little bar at the end. And the tiles that the man and his wife paint with their fingernails - so pretty. We watched him paint a beach scene on a dime!

[Cruzman]

Good Morning Friends!

 

Yes, I am still here and lovable as ever. Why there isn't a grumpy bone in my body.:) Maybe I should change my user ID to Harry Truman. I never give the Holiday hell. I just tell the truth and some thinks its hell..LOL. :D

 

I'm sorry I almost let a good Holiday thread get by me but my "Holiday Detector" that senses a Holiday thread here needs batteries and it was just by luck that I happen to stumble along. I do have a life, you know!;)

 

People, get off of your billfold and spring for a quality cruise. If you do you will never sail the Holiday again...even if she did stick around. My cruise on the Holiday was 5 days of my life totally wasted...so don't waste yours.

 

I can't imagine how some of you stand the stench and squalor on that old tug...Yep..I know...she is cheap and conviently located. I guess any one will do anything for money even if they do have to sail the Holiday if they can save a buck.

 

Thats just my opinion but I know some of you will say I hide under a rock or I'm just a tube of KY Jelly. Bring on the abuse. I'm a big boy I can take it. Just wanted to say I love you all anyway!:D

 

Bye...until the next Holiday thread! LOL

 

Yours in Cruising,

 

KY Jelly...err Transplant. Sorry.

 

Yep, it's all over for ya KY. The Holiday's last sailing with Carnival happens in 3 weeks. The old bucket of bolts over ridden with overall clad, belching, farting clientele will all be just an unpleasant memory for you. What will you do now?

[Monkeythyme]

Even though I like the Holiday, I understand those who don't. However, about this business of "cheap"; I have seen times when Holiday was the cheapest ride available, and I have seen other times when several others had her beat on price. I even saw a 5-day on Celebrity out of Miami once for $199 when Holiday was $279 for the same week. The Fantasy class ships that sail out of Miami and Ft. Lauderdale usually are the cheapest.

The #1 reason I have chosen Holiday 3 times is Mobile. I would rather take a Holiday or Fantasy class ship out of Mobile than a Conquest class out of Miami even if the price were the same. For me, there's more to the cruise than the ship.

[KY Transplant]

Yep, it's all over for ya KY. The Holiday's last sailing with Carnival happens in 3 weeks. The old bucket of bolts over ridden with overall clad, belching, farting clientele will all be just an unpleasant memory for you. What will you do now?

 

 

Well Cruzman, like any long running show such as Andy Griffith or Gunsmoke must finally come to and end. Gee, I now I know how Johnny Carson felt on his last Tonight show. :(

But one thing for certain I'll be one of the first to sail the Elation when she arrives in Mobile...and as usual I will give my honest unbiased opinion. Maybe I'll be loved and revered for my praises of the Elation or if not, you can still call me KY Jelly and Jetskier can still say I crawl under a rock.

Maybe the three of us can do what the President, the cop and the professor did. Sit down on the Elation, have a beer and work things out.

Ya reckon?

[Monkeythyme]

I am "elated" however that the Elation is coming to Mobile. Its about time Mobile got a ship worthy to be homeported in that fine city.

Whoa, Nelly! What about Fantasy? She will be in Mobile for a short while before elation, with completed upgrades including the waterworks. Elation will actually be a step backward, even though she has a more advanced propulsion system.

Since Mobile has the misfortune to have a good shipyard capable of upgrading and refurbing Carnival's fleet, those of us who love the Mobile port will just have to make do with "fixer-uppers". Elation will probably move on too as soon as her upgrades are complete.

[KY Transplant]

Whoa, Nelly! What about Fantasy?

 

 

Any ship that is decorated like a garbage dump...no way.

I'll wait for the Elation.

[jetskier]

Maybe the three of us can do what the President, the cop and the professor did. Sit down on the Elation, have a beer and work things out.

 

Ya reckon?

 

The Elation is a step down from the Fantasy. The upgrades on the Fantasy gives her an entirely different feel and atmosphere especially around the main pool. (if you look at my cruise count, I have been on both ships)

 

I dont go looking for things to complain about when I am onboard a ship. I go to have a good time. Heck, the ship can sink and I will still find something good about the situation.

 

Sort of like my traffic accident in Cozumel when the taxi totaled my rental car. It could have been the worse experiance of my life or I could look at the bright side. I wasnt hurt too badly, I got out of the police station in time to make it back to the ship, saw a beautiful sunset as the tender went back to the ship and told the social host we had fun on the Cozumel Demolition Derby excursion. Where for $85, I got to wreck a new rental car and got a free two hour tour of the police station.

 

It all depends on how you want to channel your energies. I go for the positive outlook instead of your negative outlook.

Dave

[Monkeythyme]

Any ship that is decorated like a garbage dump...no way.

 

I'll wait for the Elation.

I resemble that remark....or at least my house does.:D

[itchin2cruz]

What I don't understand KY is that you have complained just as much about the redneck people that cruise on the Holiday as you have the ship itself. So what is going to make your cruise any more enjoyable if they just replace her with a different ship? The same "redneck" people are going to be sailing out of mobile. Yes, I have a right to say redneck because I am one! (born and raised in Alabama and transplanted to Tennessee) :D