Triumph's Five Day cruise to NOWHERE? 10-11-2010

[spacewoman]

I am with you on this one! I'd love a 7 day cruise to nowhere. The only reason I do ports is for my DH.

 

Me 3 and hubby makes 4:)

[firefly333]

I live in the real world. A world in which people make choices on how to spend their money, as you pointed out. And in the real world, if people aren't happy with the product they receive, they will CHOOSE to take their money elsewhere. On that note, to me, the OP was asking if they got a raw deal by having their cruise changed to just Key West and a 20% discount on a future cruise. I don't think that it was sufficient. I don't care what cruiselines used to do last year, 5 years ago, 10 years ago, in the 80s, 70s etc., in regards to these situations. All that matters is that I've spent thousands of dollars and did not receive the product I expected to receive.

 

I may be inexperienced when it comes to cruising, but I have much experience as a consumer. I completely understand what you're saying about the cruise contract and the fine print talk, and with all things considered, they should "feel lucky" that they even got the 20% credit. I just think that attitude is bad for business, and instead, the cruise line should "feel lucky" that people are choosing to spend money with them and not with a competitor or what have you.

 

So, if someone's expectations are unreasonable, such as they think the port should be guaranteed, or substituted, when it may not be possible on your cruise .. they should get a free cruise or what..20% isnt enough, but what is enough. People should read and know that ports are never guaranteed, you could miss them all. If you read on CC you know CCers always tell you, if the port is important, then you need to fly. A cruise is about a ship and getting out into the water somewhere, and may or may not get to the scheduled ports. Im not sure you get this part.

 

I do agree, that Carnival has been acting like who cares if pax are happy, you too can be replaced. They think there is a endless supply of new cruisers.

 

But in this case, I dont see a single complaint in your post that would warrant more $$$ back or off a future cruise is why Im questioning if you know much about cruising.

[DryCreek]

It's actually the Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886, and it requires a stop in a foreign port if the start and stop are different ports in the U.S.

"The Passenger Services Act, however, does not prohibit foreign-flagged ships departing from and returning to the same U.S. port or foreign-flagged ships departing from a U.S. port, visiting a foreign port, and then continuing to a second U.S. port."

So since a CTN does not transport passengers between two U.S. ports, it is not covered by this act. If a passenger leaves the ship in Key West and doesn't return to the origination port on the ship, that is transfer between two U.S. ports and a $300 fine would apply. It also allows for a passenger to be flown off the ship to a different port as long as the ship either visits a foreign port or continues back to the origination port without stopping such as in a cruise to nowhere.

 

Since they returned to the origination port, no violation of the Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886 took place.

 

I forgot about that part - makes sense to me now.

[jetskier]

I forgot about that part - makes sense to me now.

 

Even if the ship had to go to another port to dis-embark passengers without going to a foreign port, the cruiseline can request a one-time exemption from the act. Sometimes it is granted, sometimes not.

Dave

[Rok4u2]

The Guests on the Triumph came off the ship and went directly out the door. NO Customs for anyone. The total time to get over 3000 guests of the ship was 2:45 hours. If there were any problems it was with the ship's crew not the port staff.

[happy cruzer]

 

If I had reservations at COZ and I couldn't get there, I'd absolutely expect a refund.

 

Not that analogies are relevent, but weather caused a flight of mine to be late and forced me to miss the connecting flight. I received a 150% credit for the cost of my flight to use towards a future flight. Not that Carnival should've been handing out free cruises, but 20%? I can't imagine being the CEO of Carnival and saying "well, they still had a great time enjoying the ship". Rather, I'd be thinking that the weather caused these people's vacation to be ruined/changed/different from the what they paid for, what can I do for them to keep them coming back? 20%? HA!

 

Maybe this will shed light on my stance as a consumer, why even offer 20%?

 

the cruise contract clearly states what happens regarding ports (i.e not ports are guaranteed and no compensation given, you are buying room and board that starts in listed location and ends in the listed location). Just as air ticket contract clearly states what happens if there is an issue. That's what they live up to. Not customer expectations because those vary ALOT! Be sure to read the cruise contract to know what to expect. If you think you are entitled to more then you will have to negotiate it outside of a contract to support you. Good luck.

[Rocknsoul]

 

If I had reservations at COZ and I couldn't get there, I'd absolutely expect a refund.

 

Not that analogies are relevent, but weather caused a flight of mine to be late and forced me to miss the connecting flight. I received a 150% credit for the cost of my flight to use towards a future flight. Not that Carnival should've been handing out free cruises, but 20%? I can't imagine being the CEO of Carnival and saying "well, they still had a great time enjoying the ship". Rather, I'd be thinking that the weather caused these people's vacation to be ruined/changed/different from the what they paid for, what can I do for them to keep them coming back? 20%? HA!

 

Maybe this will shed light on my stance as a consumer, why even offer 20%?

 

It's not just Carnival; it's all the cruise lines. You have to consider how very often ships miss ports due to weather--it happens all the time. In addition, sometimes it's the port who determines whether a ship can stop there (if tendering is considered unsafe due to waves, etc.). If the cruiselines gave the kinds of refunds you're talking about every time a port was missed, they would lose a lot of money. The passengers are still fed, and in fact, more food is consumed on the ship on sea days than port days. Stewards have more to clean up when the passengers are on board all day.

 

Cruising is not flying. It's a whole different animal. So compensation for missing a flight shouldn't be compared to missing a port.

[MillieOK]

The Guests on the Triumph came off the ship and went directly out the door. NO Customs for anyone. The total time to get over 3000 guests of the ship was 2:45 hours. If there were any problems it was with the ship's crew not the port staff.

 

My problems were with the port staff. As we were getting off they were giving us conflicting information about whether we needed our customs forms and where to go. Two employees in particular were shouting at people who were in line to put away their passports (why did they care what we held in our hands. After they said it once, no need for the "I said, you need to put away your passports!") They were creating a bottleneck as we were trying to exit the building as well. A woman in a Carnival shirt stopped the man in front of us and asked where he was going, asked me for details about where our hotel was located, and also asked the person behind us where his hotel was before she let us proceed to the taxi line (I assume this happened to more than just the three of us- that's all I could actually observe, though). Also, they were incredibly rude to us, both before and after the cruise.

 

Here's a link to my review of this cruise, if anybody is interested.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=73710

[jimjamxx]

The Guests on the Triumph came off the ship and went directly out the door. NO Customs for anyone. The total time to get over 3000 guests of the ship was 2:45 hours. If there were any problems it was with the ship's crew not the port staff.

 

In case you all don't know this poster (Robert) he works at the port. He is a real nice guy, I have have the pleasure to sail with him on the Fantasy in the past.

 

I would, personally, take his word over others.

 

JimmyJames

[pamelab]

20% off the next cruise? That is a complete slap in the face. I'm curious as to what world some people live in where they would be happy with 20% off your next multi-thousand dollar vacation AFTER having one multi-thousand dollar vacation ruined? They should at least offer 50% off the next cruise + OBC, BOGO + OBC, bring a guest for free + OBC, something much better than 20%. Being sticklers to the fine print, buy beware bs is TERRIBLE for business. Especially when the customer didn't do anything wrong. Obviously, 50% may not be enough, and to many it probably isn't. However, considering prices deviate by percentages close to 20% on a weekly basis, 20% isn't much.

 

 

Don't you guys wish we had good relations with Cuba? Could've easily visited Key West and Cuba.

 

 

I wish I still had "the fine print" but I threw mine in the trash. I was on this cruise too. There was fine print at the bottom of our letter, some of which I remember is it is good on a 2-5 day cruise only, must be used by October 12th of next year, and it will not be taken off the total price. I think it was before taxes and fees, etc. which doesn't make a $3000 cruise with 20% off sound so good.

 

I know our family will not be able to go on another cruise next year. When we go on another cruise, we want it to be a 7 day cruise, so this 20% off would not help us.

 

We were a family of 5 and only got back around $24 for missing the ports we thought we were going to, but I'm glad we atleast were able to go to Key West. I would have loved to have been able to go to Half Moon Key also. They had plenty of warning we were not going to Mexico.

 

I do not think Carnival should allow passengers to take off their tips b/c they are mad at missing ports. This doesn't hurt Carnival in any way, but hurts the hard working employees that work 10 - 12 hours each day that took care of us.

[B&R626]

It took all of 3 days to pick a cruise to use our 20% off on! For those of you asking about the form, our PVP offered to take care of it for us.

 

We had a great time last week. We are ready to go again in January!

[CruisinChris412]

firefly, happy cruzer and rocknsoul, I completely get what you're saying about missed ports. But this wasn't a missed port or two (well yes two). This was the entire cruise.. rescheduled to just Key West.

 

Firefly, as far as about what you and other CCers say cruising should be about. I can't imagine spending upwards to $10,000 to go on a Mediterranean cruise stopping in Rome, Venice, Athens and Alexandria and not getting to see any of those and saying "well I got to enjoy the boat". I do not agree that what you believe cruising is what cruising should be to everybody. Similarly, I can't imagine going on a 120 day World Cruise just to spent that time on a boat.

As far as drawing the line, I would draw the line at a free cruise credit up to what they spent for the cruise. Not 20% towards a future 5 day, but $X towards any future cruise.

 

Rocknsoul, some statistics would be interesting! As I've said, I can't imagine giving much more if circumstances causes the cruise ship to miss a port or two or even more depending on the length of the cruise. Again, I wouldn't be taking this stance if that were the case. But we're talking about the entire vacation changed, and it was changed in such a way that I do not even think it was remotely comparable.

[firefly333]

firefly, happy cruzer and rocknsoul, I completely get what you're saying about missed ports. But this wasn't a missed port or two (well yes two). This was the entire cruise.. rescheduled to just Key West.

 

Firefly, as far as about what you and other CCers say cruising should be about.

 

As far as drawing the line, I would draw the line at a free cruise credit up to what they spent for the cruise. Not 20% towards a future 5 day, but $X towards any future cruise. But we're talking about the entire vacation changed, and it was changed in such a way that I do not even think it was remotely comparable.

 

I think you are misunderstanding, because I am not saying this is what cruising should be about. Im saying this is how it is. You choose a low cost hurricane priced cruise. (surely you noticed it was cheaper than other times of the year?) YOU took the chance of booking during hurricane season. It was a risk YOU took.... knowing since it was hurricane season you might miss any or all of your ports.

 

You think you have a complaint, Carnival did away with the 150% for solos, and I refuse to pay 200% and my sister just got married, so I doubt either of us will use the 20% off. I had one for Princess that I forfeited too from something that happened.

 

The 20% off a future cruise is just about worthless to me, as I dont plan on booking any more Carnival. I probably will have my sister be a no show on two Elation cruises coming up, already fully paid for for the 20% doesnt help. ... and I have 20% off a 7 day for both of us .. probably wasted.