Never say Never...

[Patdmoose]

First off - I am one of Bob Dickinson's 5% of "really grumpy" displaced cruisers from the FEMA episode. (Does anyone REALLY thinks that the number could be as low as 5%??)

Off of the soapbox and back to the post:

We had a group of 8 (4 cabins) booked on the 9/25 Elation. I wrote my 'mad' letter to Carnival saying that we would not be sailing with them again. This was mainly because of the escalating prices for replacement cruises during the same time frame, and the fact that Carnival was making no effort to inform us of the cancellation or offering any help in rebooking. ANY mention to them of the dissatisfaction with their response resulted in the canned speech about 'Be thankful it was not you...'

Six of the eight in our group decided not to rebook at this time due to the high prices, and changed their vacation plans. I decided to watch the prices to see if their would be cancellations from the many displaced Gulf Coast cruisers. Now that the cruise is only a week away, the prices are starting to drop, and there are plenty of cabins available. We booked an IS guarantee this past Wednesday for the same price (with the $100 credit) as we had paid for an outside on the Elation. This is all we had asked for in the first place. Just get us on the ship for the same price that we had aready paid. I feel bad for the many who booked at the $100-200+ per person premiums that were being charged on the holiday weekend when this all started. Our price has already gone down an additional $30/person. I asked our online TA to see if CCL will offer any additional credits, but I am not holding my breath.

[Bunkie103]

Pat, glad to see you are able to cruise after all. Not sure how I would react if this had happened to me. Basically, we're all thankful "it's not us", but human emotion comes in to play, and I think I honestly would be disappointed if my cruise were cancelled. (that's probably flame worthy material). Have a wonderful time, too bad your group didn't hang in there! :rolleyes:

[Patdmoose]

Bunkie103

Thanks for the kind words.

My wife and I are going to enjoy a quiet & peaceful week. We have had as many as 21 other friends and family go with us in the past, so this will be a new expierience.

BTW - If anyone wants to buy a collectible - I have 6 extra T-shirts that I had purchased for our group. They are lime green Hanes Beefy Ts with our logo and 'Our Friends and Family Cruise V

Carnival Elation

September 2005'

silk screened on them. Nah, just kidding - I will give them to our friends/family who could make the trip.