FUN TIMES suggestion to Carnival

[richfret]

Here is a suggestion to Carnival regarding the FUN TIMES. Instead of printing them each day and giving them the night before to each cabin, how about putting them on the computer and making them available several weeks before the cruise. That way we could view them and make plans accordingly like when to hold the Meet & Greet. The cruisers, in turn, could print them and make as many copies as necessary if they wanted to. This would eliminate considerable paper printing for Carnival. Some of the common data for each day could be printed once at the front and then there would be less pages to handle. It should reduce workload since instead of making and distributing the FUN TIMES daily, you would do it one time before the cruise. Any important changes to the main Fun Times could be listed on the Carnival Screens on the TV in each cabin. Of course you could put the all the FUN TIMES on the TV but then you could not print them and I like the idea of seeing the Fun Times prior to the cruise.

 

What do you think?

[bury me at sea]

I like the fun times as is. Allows for spontaneity and changes due to crew emergencies, weather, etc.

[Mom2sml]

I love the little tear off part. It's small and easy to use and fits nicely in my small pocket.

[SadieN]

The basic stuff stays the same--

Show times, tea, muster, towel folding, hairy chest contest, etc. Can always count on several trivia during sea days.

[riffatsea]

I don't see the point of needing to see every day activities of the cruise before the cruise starts? There is no real planning needed for anything. That is why these cruise vacations are so relaxing!!

[ferfoodle]

I think not.

 

What you are saying is we print out the fun times with our luggage tags and boarding passes and bring them with us. Novel theory, no doubt. But what happens when we get to port and have the next several days of our Eastern Caribbean cruise "planned" out only to have Hurricane Beavis change the itinerary to a Western Caribbean with completely different port days and times?

 

Okay, hurricanes don't happen often, but what if something else happens that changes several of the events on each days Funtimes? My guess: guest services gets bombarded with the "I am special" crowd demanding refunds because the only reason they booked this cruise was for the cooking demonstration that was cancelled or switched to a different time and they missed it.

 

Best to leave the Funtimes to the discretion of the Cruise Director for each voyage IMO.

[marshhawk]

they could send out a sample for us, cause you know we have all asked for past copies of the funtimes to help plan our cruises.....

[cynthe66]

For me that's part of the fun. I love to get back to our cabin and find the fun times, read it and get an idea of what we'll do the next day. We may not do what we set out to do but then again we're on vacation.

[katiel53]

This is the second thread in a week about why the Fun Times are printed. I think most of us like having them to peruse at night and then if something catches the eye, it can be highlighted or whatever.

 

I don't want to have to print out anything more on my computer and carry it to the port, so no, leave them as is please.

[Ehpride]

I see a few problems. 1. Not everyone uses a computer or has access to a printer. 2. Things happen. Cruises get diverted. Ports get missed. That necessitates changes to the schedule. I think having an electronic option is fine, but Carnival still needs to print them.

 

Personally, I'm not a fan of overly structured meet and greets. I find that a casual thing on embarkation day works well and then allows you to exchange info or make future plans if you want.

 

 

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[RuthlessBoss]

For me that's part of the fun. I love to get back to our cabin and find the fun times, read it and get an idea of what we'll do the next day. We may not do what we set out to do but then again we're on vacation.

 

I've often thought about why, oh why is it so important about seeing them in advance. Do these people have planning OCD? :eek:

[Terre]

No!! We've been through this on another thread. I love the tear off section and I'm not printing them out before I leave...too much paper...And why would I want to carry any more paper with me? I need that extra weight/space for shoes!

 

I've often thought about why, oh why is it so important about seeing them in advance. Do these people have planning OCD? :eek:

Yes, we do. Edited August 30, 2014 by Terre

[John Reid]

Can we do this again in about a week?

[Podna's]

Leave as is. For some reason I love coming in from dinner or the nights activities and finding that dang thing on my bed.

[Tapi]

I like the paper Fun Times, But I hate all the other papers that they shove with it.

 

Some cruise lines are moving to electronic daily bulletins, with iPads installed in all cabins, as well as electronic signage throughout the ship. If that's the path that all cruise lines will take in the future, maybe they can still make a limited number available in print at guest services instead of distributing them to ALL the cabins, for those of us that are still "old school"

 

 

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[Arizonagirl14]

Maybe they could offer guests an "opt out" of the printed versions. That way people who wants them still get them; those who prefer to download etc could do that. Just a suggestion for the more electronic times.

 

I would not object to having a PDF file on my IPad in advance. Everyone is different and maybe an optional way would be a nice compromise .

 

 

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[T. Advisor King]

they could send out a sample for us, cause you know we have all asked for past copies of the funtimes to help plan our cruises.....

 

 

Ha! I see those postings all the time. I never really thought about it, but I always assumed the requests were from passengers who had been on the cruise and forgot to keep them and wanted them as a memento. It never occurred to me that people wanted them for planning purposes.

 

That does seem a little over-the-top and I am definitely a "planner". But I guess everyone is different and not everyone gets a wall map of their destination for their cabin wall and plots the ship's course during the cruise.

 

As for the question at hand, the only thing I really ever use the fun times for is knowing when to disembark and when I have to be back on port days. I also enter the emergency contact information for each port into my phone. That said, I don't think an electronic version would be very convenient. People carry the thing around with them to know when to go to bingo or whatever. They circle and highlight things of interest. That would be kind of hard if the info was posted on display stations around the ship.

Edited August 31, 2014 by T. Advisor King

[richfret]

Looks like most of the responses have been to maintain the current system which surprises me but seems to be the prevailing view. I was surprised, however, that many of the responses ignored my suggestion to put important changes, revisions or cancellations on the Carnival television. Once programmed, that would be easy to do.

 

Oh well, I still plan to continue cruising whether the FUN TIMES appear on my pillow, the television or an APP on my I-Phone (You know that will be coming - just a matter of time).

[cruzincindy1977]

Here is a suggestion to Carnival regarding the FUN TIMES. Instead of printing them each day and giving them the night before to each cabin, how about putting them on the computer and making them available several weeks before the cruise. That way we could view them and make plans accordingly like when to hold the Meet & Greet. The cruisers, in turn, could print them and make as many copies as necessary if they wanted to. This would eliminate considerable paper printing for Carnival. Some of the common data for each day could be printed once at the front and then there would be less pages to handle. It should reduce workload since instead of making and distributing the FUN TIMES daily, you would do it one time before the cruise. Any important changes to the main Fun Times could be listed on the Carnival Screens on the TV in each cabin. Of course you could put the all the FUN TIMES on the TV but then you could not print them and I like the idea of seeing the Fun Times prior to the cruise.

 

 

 

What do you think?

 

 

Awesome idea! U really should email carnival about that.

 

 

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[Ehpride]

One thing I love about cruising is that my phone goes in the safe and I am cut off. While I wouldn't mind downloading fun times to my phone for memory/keepsake reasons, I doubt I would really use it on the ship. The tear off paper works just fine for me.

 

I would love to see them do something with the photo process though. A reasonably priced cd of all my pictures without having to wade through everyone else's prints would be great.

 

 

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[cruzincindy1977]

Awesome idea! U really should email carnival about that.

 

 

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Ok I take that back. After reading other posts I agree with a lot of them. Leave as is.

 

 

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[T. Advisor King]

One thing I love about cruising is that my phone goes in the safe and I am cut off. ...

 

 

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I think you could still turn off your cellular and data and just leave the Wi-Fi on. If Carnival added the Fun Times to its "free" portion of the site, you could access it and still remain "cut off".

 

That said, there are still those who travel (and in some cases live) without mobile connectivity. So I wouldn't want to entirely abandon them. Maybe passengers could opt in or Carnival could even leave stacks of copies in conspicuous places for passengers to pick up if they want one.

Edited August 31, 2014 by T. Advisor King

[lyannea]

I think you could still turn off your cellular and data and just leave the Wi-Fi on. If Carnival added the Fun Times to its "free" portion of the site, you could access it and still remain "cut off".

 

That said, there are still those who travel (and in some cases live) without mobile connectivity. So I wouldn't want to entirely abandon them. Maybe passengers could opt in or Carnival could even leave stacks of copies in conspicuous places for passengers to pick up if they want one.

 

Not to sound critical. If the fun times works for you the way it is, that's perfectly fine. Having the fun times available prior to the cruise, FOR SOME, would be advantageous.

 

Personally, I would relax MORE, if I can plan a few things ahead of time. It doesn't mean that I would thumb my nose at those who relish in getting it the night before and plan accordingly, with or without your highlighter,lol.

 

Not sure why it can't be done both ways.

As an example, our roll call is planning a meet and greet and has changed the time a few times Though I'd love to go, I BELIEVE it's at the same time as the food demo, which I don't want to miss and want to get there early.

Having a copy of the fun times would help in this instance.

 

Of course, activities and events are subject to change.

[SadieN]

I think you could still turn off your cellular and data and just leave the Wi-Fi on. If Carnival added the Fun Times to its "free" portion of the site, you could access it and still remain "cut off".

 

 

 

That said, there are still those who travel (and in some cases live) without mobile connectivity. So I wouldn't want to entirely abandon them. Maybe passengers could opt in or Carnival could even leave stacks of copies in conspicuous places for passengers to pick up if they want one.

 

 

IIRC parts of the FunTimes are on the free section. But it takes forever to load. Much easier to pull the paper out of a pocket.

[ready2cruzagain]

I like it the way it is. Not everyone has a cell phone believe it or not. Also, as another poster stated, there are changes when a port is missed and the Fun Times would be different.

Edited August 31, 2014 by ready2cruzagain