Why Does Carnival Still Print" Fun Times"

[cruzincindy1977]

Oh PULEEEEZE! Part of the fun of being on a ship is going to your cabin each night after turn down and finding, along with the towel animal, the FUNTIMES for the following day and reading through it and planning. I would be most disappointed if the cruiselines did away with this. The FUNTIMES also make a good souvenir.

 

 

I agree!

 

 

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[arubanut]

Me! But I do own a computer. I just like tearing off the little section with everything listed to carry around. I do not want to keep up with a phone all day and checking that for events...the paper is quicker.

 

 

 

 

Ditto! Just off the Freedom...

 

That is what we did all week...

 

 

 

 

[Terre]

Ditto! Just off the Freedom...

 

That is what we did all week...

 

Dang! I tried to click the Like button, but couldn't find it. :D

[cruzincindy1977]

If anyone kept a recent fun times from the fantasy would you post it please?

 

 

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[erocrobro]

On our recent Liberty cruise we accessed the free Carnival site using the ships wifi quite often. There is so much potential there, but the Fun a Times seemed to be very generic, didn't include all activities and weren't updated very often. Our itinerary changed several times over the course of the week due to a tropical storm and completely new Fun Times and Camp Carnival schedules had to be printed every time. If this had been done electronically, many trees could have been saved. I was also completely horrified by the amount of pictures that were destroyed at the end of the sailing. That absolutely needs to be done electronically. Also if they spread kiosks around the ship, it would greatly reduce the congestion in that area.

 

 

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[Podna's]

On our recent Liberty cruise we accessed the free Carnival site using the ships wifi quite often. There is so much potential there, but the Fun a Times seemed to be very generic, didn't include all activities and weren't updated very often. Our itinerary changed several times over the course of the week due to a tropical storm and completely new Fun Times and Camp Carnival schedules had to be printed every time. If this had been done electronically, many trees could have been saved. I was also completely horrified by the amount of pictures that were destroyed at the end of the sailing. That absolutely needs to be done electronically. Also if they spread kiosks around the ship, it would greatly reduce the congestion in that area.

 

 

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I agree with the pictures. Amazing what goes to waste. But as for the fun times, gotta keep them. Everyone uses them and like almost everyone on this thread has stated, it's an exciting part of the Carnival experience.

[Mutumbojimbo]

If they didn't print the Funtimes, I wouldn't be able to make my (soon to be) patented Funnel Hats!!

[BenjiRodney]

As someone who manages a call center team, the last thing I want to do is play with technology on a cruise. It is a week to get away from the phone, pc, tablet.

[losijon]

As someone who manages a call center team, the last thing I want to do is play with technology on a cruise. It is a week to get away from the phone, pc, tablet.

 

 

 

 

and as someone who works in a call center environment (not just talking on phones)and after months of getting yelled at by people who don't want to play by the rules....

 

I agree with you 1 million percent :)

[LandlockedCruiser01]

and as someone who works in a call center environment (not just talking on phones)and after months of getting yelled at by people who don't want to play by the rules....

 

I agree with you 1 million percent :)

As someone who works in IT, and fixes computers and sets up iPhone apps for accessing e-mail through a VPN, I agree with you 10,000,000 percent. Heck, I took up cruising specifically so my employer can't reach me on vacation. (They want everyone to be reachable 24/7, only they won't pay for shore-to-ship calls.) Who could have thought cruising would turn into something I do by choice, rather than necessity.

Edited August 29, 2014 by LandlockedCruiser01

[ReneeFLL]

Oh PULEEEEZE! Part of the fun of being on a ship is going to your cabin each night after turn down and finding, along with the towel animal, the FUNTIMES for the following day and reading through it and planning. I would be most disappointed if the cruiselines did away with this. The FUNTIMES also make a good souvenir.

 

Completely agree.

[losijon]

As someone who works in IT, and fixes computers and sets up iPhone apps for accessing e-mail through a VPN, I agree with you 10,000,000 percent. Heck, I took up cruising specifically so my employer can't reach me on vacation. (They want everyone to be reachable 24/7, only they won't pay for shore-to-ship calls.) Who could have thought cruising would turn into something I do by choice, rather than necessity.

 

 

 

 

I hear ya!! Happy cruising to you!!

 

 

.....................................................

Carnival Pride 7 day Mexican Riviera: September 2008

 

Carnival Inspiration 4 day Mexican Riviera: September 2013

 

Carnival Miracle 15 day Hawaii: coming October 2015

[ancfun]

Keep printing the FT's. In fact, subscribe to your local newspaper. Sitting down and reading a paper can be very relaxing. There are some of us that still work in the paper industry and need to keep our jobs so we can keep cruising!

[pe4all]

I have no interest in carrying my cell phone around with me on a cruise. As soon as I board, it goes into the safe in the "off" setting! I cruise to escape the world. I know if my dh had his cell with him, he would be itching to call his often several times a day to see if it was still standing without him! Love the FunTimes - but can do without all the photos that are wasted at the end of each cruise. NCL scans your card, and you can digitally find your photos on board. Much better, imho.

[adriennerm]

As someone who works in IT, and fixes computers and sets up iPhone apps for accessing e-mail through a VPN, I agree with you 10,000,000 percent. Heck, I took up cruising specifically so my employer can't reach me on vacation. (They want everyone to be reachable 24/7, only they won't pay for shore-to-ship calls.) Who could have thought cruising would turn into something I do by choice, rather than necessity.

 

LOL, I thought I was the only one who took cruises so their boss could not contact them:p. I am with you all the way. I do not want to walk around with a tablet or phone on vacation. Please keep printing the Fun Times.

[Retired_to_Cruise]

Evanbob...thanks for reading my entire post....my point was the technology exists today that be modified for use on a future cruise to implant a chip onto a S&S card with the Fun Times info...you would not need an electronic device (phone, tablet etc.) to access it....the technology exists today in other fields...if you have a history of a heart condition...travel international (example South Africa) and need an emergency bypass operation, the medical team in SA, in theory could scan your medical insurance card with the chip implanted on it, and know where your stents were inserted or what medications you are allergic or send an alert to your heart doctor

 

Cruise lines should be following the leads of airlines in terms of technology and understanding how comfortable our children and grandchildren (future cruisers) are with technology and going paperless....how many times on these boards are cruisers wanting

copies of past Fun Times, info which could be on your S&S card

 

With the next generation state of the art vessels coming online, cruiselines could offer the option..would you like to continue to receive your Fun Times on paper, placed on your bed by your cabin steward on his nightly turn down or would you like it sent to your S&S card

 

Cruising tradionalist (of which I count myself in that group) don't always easily embrace changes in our cruising rituals...read older posts on these boards when cruiselines introduce something new or changes (dress codes, anytime dining, pre paid tips, Carnival "Live" etc)

 

My OP just asked if the technology existed that could have application to our onboard experience

 

If it is carried via a chip in your S&S card, there will need to be, contrary to what you say, some way to display/present the information that is carried there or available through the technology. If you cannot access it, you cannot use it. Unless you are suggesting that all you would have to do is hold the card to your forehead, like Karnack the Magnificent, and you would just know what is inside.

[Djptcp]

DH and I don't text, tweet, do apps, or have cell phones, tablets, Kindles, etc. etc. We enjoy returning to our cabin in the evening and reading our PAPER copy of the daily newsletter. DH cuts off the list of daily activities and carries it with him all day. We wouldn't trade our luddite existence for anything. We are also saving our eyes by not looking at screens all day and after 37 years of marriage, we still enjoy talking to each other face to face.

[LMaxwell]

Right before muster phones go off and in the safe for the week. We are in our 30's and both have smart phones, both have tablets, both have personal and work laptops. I have no desire to use the electronics on a cruise. The paper is fast and simple for reference, easy to carry, and quick to grab a copy if you forgot it. I do not want to see the paper daily planners replaced.

[Casco Bay Kid]

Yea I want to stand in line at a kiosk to see what's coming up next. Not printing FT is a bad idea.

 

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[JudyOh]

i don't carry my phone around the ship but i love that nifty little tear part of the fun times to carry around.

 

agree!!!!!:d

[CruiseKittyFL]

Keep printing the fun times but stop wasting massive amounts of photo paper and switch to electronic photo viewing booths. I can always personally recycle the fun times.

[vtoria98]

I happen to like the OP's idea. I hate having to carry around paper or remember what time activities start. I would love to have a kiosk that was accurate with the fun times. I used the fun hub a few times on the breeze and it wasn't near accurate.

 

 

I like the idea. They have kiosks to check your S&S now, why not have the fun times available on those too? Or just scrolling on certain screens on the ship, like they do the ships position and the map.

 

I hate all that paper that i am constantly throwing away, and or sifting through to make sure i am looking at the right day.

 

The OP wasnt talking about having to carry electronics around with you all the time. which would be good for carnival since to use an app you need to buy their wifi......

[LMaxwell]

Sounds like you mean the interactive boards like on Royal Caribbean; basically large screen TV's with touch screens that you can pull up a map, directions, the list of that days events, menus for that day, etc. These are located in the elevator lobbys. Still not a replacement for the paper, IMO, but very useful.

[Rowan555]

Sounds like you mean the interactive boards like on Royal Caribbean; basically large screen TV's with touch screens that you can pull up a map, directions, the list of that days events, menus for that day, etc. These are located in the elevator lobbys. Still not a replacement for the paper, IMO, but very useful.

 

I saw some photos from the NCL Jewel which had large touchscreens all around the ship for viewing the schedule, dining options, etc - I would love Carnival to implement this as well. I do find the tear-out section of the Fun Times helpful, but I often forget to bring it with me - the screens would be so convenient.

[LandlockedCruiser01]

LOL, I thought I was the only one who took cruises so their boss could not contact them:p. I am with you all the way. I do not want to walk around with a tablet or phone on vacation. Please keep printing the Fun Times.

Thanks for backing me up. One thing that not everyone realizes is that cruising is an escape from reality, a fantasyland. The kind of place where if someone mentions your employer's name, your response would be "what's that?".

 

Smartphone apps bring cruising closer to the modern-day reality, which makes cruising less special. And what's the point of cruising, if Lumberg can reach you on the ship, with yet another demand to send in the daily TPS Report? With the cover sheet in place, in PDF format, of course. (dark humor there)

Edited September 6, 2014 by LandlockedCruiser01