Why doesn't Carnival....

[A&Jfamily]

post the FunTimes for each sailing in advance - subject to change of course?

 

There are two types of people that we see very commonly on this board - the "hey it's my vacation and I am just gonna fly by the seat of my pants," and the rest, that are like me and are "planners." Now I understand you "flyers" don't get it and think we "planners" are nuts, but I hope you can accept that is just how we are wired and a "planned" vacation makes for a much more relaxing one for us. On a personal note, I have tried in many things to be a "flyer" and it is just not in my cards - if I do like my BFF and wait until 2 weeks before my kids birthday to schedule his party, they are full up for a month in either direction where as she makes one phone call and they have the exact date and time she wanted. It's just the way it is.

 

Now, back to my question...for all of those "planners' out there, it would be really nice have, in advance, not only and idea of what will be going on but when. I have cruised a fair amount as you can see from my signature below, and know what to expect on your average cruise. But how many new cruisers come on and ask such questions? And now that we are taking a Christmas cruise, and everything is "new," I would love not only to have an idea of things that will be scheduled (another poster has nicely provided a FB response he got about the nature of the activities) but when to expect them.

 

And yes, I know - things can change. Performers miss the port etc. But for me I would love it if I could plan more! Anyone feel my pain?

Edited December 4, 2015 by A&Jfamily

[cruzeluver]

I am something of a planner as well but not to the point that I need to know in advance exactly the date and time of the 60's trivia contest and if the ice carving will take pace on the first or second sea day. Its not as if the on board activities vary all that much.

[champagne123]

I am something of a planner as well but not to the point that I need to know in advance exactly the date and time of the 60's trivia contest and if the ice carving will take pace on the first or second sea day. Its not as if the on board activities vary all that much.

 

Ditto. I am a planner as far as research for the ports, but to know what I am doing on the ship for any particular time....would make me nuts. :D

[Elaine515]

I'm thinking one of the main reasons could be cost... Because things happen, i.e, missing a port or the comedian misses the ship etc they probably don't want to print out 3,000 fun times only to have to change it last minute...

 

And, of course, the Cruise Director could if he/she wants to, change things, add or delete at the last minute depending on what is going on on their ship that week...

[TomAceEsq]

My wife and I are also an amalgamation of both. We like to know what to expect onboard and at the ports, but we rarely plan out an entire day in advance.

 

That said, I'm always looking for recent FunTimes or Cruise Compass before we leave. It's nice to have a heads up at least.

[okgirl]

It would be impossible to update a database for a fleet of 24 ships that have differing lengths, ports of call, sea days on a weekly basis

 

I'm fine with taking a bit of time each evening after the Fun Times has been delivered to plan what I want to do the next day.

 

You might ask at Guest Services upon embarkation if they have already printed the Fun Times for the entire week and can you get an advance copy.

[happy traveler69]

what I would like to see is a list of themes on cruises. I have looked and looked, but don't see ahead of time that there's 70's/80's night, pirate night, etc.

I agree that a whole fun times guide is a bit extra, but to know that there's special themes onboard is reasonable

[riffatsea]

I am a planner too. I research the ports. I pack weeks ahead of time and my airline tix are booked months in advance.

I can understand wanting an idea of theme nights so you can have the right clothing but I can't understand needing to know about all the other possible activities on board the ship every minute of every day of the cruise.

Maybe there is a specific activity that concerns you that you can ask about???

I don't think you'll ever be able to know for sure even if you see previous Fun Times because things change for each cruise.

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

I can't even believe the "upsets" that would be caused by "planners" if things change from pre-posted fun times to actual events once the ship sails.

 

Hundreds of things can change a daily itinerary.

 

The fun part of vacations is that they are not controlled minute by minute. I have enough of that in my normal daily life,

Edited December 4, 2015 by Sweet Dutch Girl

[gfh77665]

I think A&J has a great idea. After cruising 3X, I think the FT's are fairly repetitious, as the basic schedule of events doesn't drastically change. As far as database management efforts are concerned, the FT's are already in some database somewhere, I am sure. It should be easy to open the "working" schedule (subject to change, of course) to the public on the Carnival site with minimal cost and minimal effort. Carnival could then spin it as service to their customers, and as an advertisement to attract prospective cruisers.

 

I think it would be great for those who do want to plan. Personally, I think its fun to "fly by the seat of my pants" once aboard though, LOL.

[MarcelLucSell]

Before our most recent cruise, we reviewed past FunTimes that another reader had posted. We took notes of things to look out for, knowing things could change.

[Beeslilmama]

I like the OP's idea. I however did not know that the Fun Times was printed onboard the day before (see the new things that you learn on CC). That being said, I get that the labor intensity of having something prepopulated to view could be dramatic. But maybe as others have said, a daily idea? I have looked at other Fun times and my concern (being a planner) is missing out on something because it coincides with another desirable activity. But sometimes one or the other of those activities is repeated at some point, which if I had knowledge, then I could plan accordingly. So I do see things from both perspectives, but I still would like to plan.

[Tapi]

Just a suggestion, but just google Fun Times to get an idea of what you can expect. I know it's not what you're looking for, but at least you'll have a decent idea and can plan accordingly.

 

Having copies of the actual Fun Times for your specific sailing with specific times in advance seems far fetched since there are so many moving parts and everything is so subject to change until the last minute (I've been on sailings where the daily program was delivered the night before only to be replaced by a completely new one distributed in the morning).

 

I'm a planner too, and I can see myself going over Fun Times in advance as well to get an idea of what I want to do during the week, but I need to put that OCD aside and accept that I can't pre-plan with that level of accuracy when I'm going on a cruise.

Edited December 4, 2015 by Tapi

[A&Jfamily]

Ok first I guess I need to clarify - I am not "upset" about anything. And I have loved every cruise that we have been on and I have zero issue reading fun time the night before. But what I am running into is that there are no FunTimes that I can find for Christmas - especially since things are being stepped up a notch. I have planned a steakhouse dinner for my family Christmas Eve but those can take 2+ hours. I would hate to miss a Christmas show, the atrium snow or other such thing because we are having dinner. Christmas is a HUGE deal for me and we love the idea of trying a cruise now that the kids are older but for me it would be nice to know when the special events are.

 

I'm sorry if anyone feels this is stupid - please don't concern yourselves with my threads if you just want to insult.

[A&Jfamily]

And yes I understand things are subject to change - from the smallest - like a performer - to missing port entirely (don't sail with me - it happens all the time) so I get even my best made plans have to go out the window.

 

I simply can't find Christmas and Christmas Eve FunTimes to get a clue. So that is what prompted my post..

[wantocruisemore]

I'm a planner too but I think your suggestion would cause confusion if the updated versions were changed and would b more costly.

 

If I want to know specifics I just ask for recent Funtimes or do a search to find them.

[cruisinsly]

I am something of a planner as well but not to the point that I need to know in advance exactly the date and time of the 60's trivia contest and if the ice carving will take pace on the first or second sea day. Its not as if the on board activities vary all that much.

 

I am with you. I am a planner!! I like to look at them just to see what type of activities are going on, or what kind of sales they might have. But I know that it is not the exact when I go. If I had to start figuring out my days while on the ship - I would go crazy. I like for my vacation to have some spontaneity to it!!

[MarcelLucSell]

If it were me, I'd bump the Steakhouse Dinner to a night before or after and then just go with the flow if you feel like you might be missing out on other holiday activities.

[derek005]

AJ & Family,

 

I love seeing a Fun Times posted as well. Sometimes people post the most recently one and most times they don't. Some of these CC people love nothing better than to discourage people because they don't feel as though they have a legitimate question.

 

Keep on posting any question that you have and don't worry about what others have to say unless it is positive.

 

Derek

[KevInPitt]

Just a suggestion, but just google Fun Times to get an idea of what you can expect. I know it's not what you're looking for, but at least you'll have a decent idea and can plan accordingly.

.

 

Pretty much this. The activities are pretty much the same monotonous ones repeated over and over.

 

If you're concerned about missing an activity because of a steakhouse reservation, skip it. There will always be some activity scheduled at whatever time you plan to be in the Steakhouse and you'll just have to be OK with missing it.

[Cuizer2]

post the FunTimes for each sailing in advance - subject to change of course?

 

There are two types of people that we see very commonly on this board - the "hey it's my vacation and I am just gonna fly by the seat of my pants," and the rest, that are like me and are "planners." Now I understand you "flyers" don't get it and think we "planners" are nuts, but I hope you can accept that is just how we are wired and a "planned" vacation makes for a much more relaxing one for us. On a personal note, I have tried in many things to be a "flyer" and it is just not in my cards - if I do like my BFF and wait until 2 weeks before my kids birthday to schedule his party, they are full up for a month in either direction where as she makes one phone call and they have the exact date and time she wanted. It's just the way it is.

 

Now, back to my question...for all of those "planners' out there, it would be really nice have, in advance, not only and idea of what will be going on but when. I have cruised a fair amount as you can see from my signature below, and know what to expect on your average cruise. But how many new cruisers come on and ask such questions? And now that we are taking a Christmas cruise, and everything is "new," I would love not only to have an idea of things that will be scheduled (another poster has nicely provided a FB response he got about the nature of the activities) but when to expect them.

 

And yes, I know - things can change. Performers miss the port etc. But for me I would love it if I could plan more! Anyone feel my pain?

 

How far in advance do you expect Carnival to provide this information? One week? One month? Three months?

 

How far in advance do you think Carnival finalizes everything? And what happens when the cruise director changes or the hotel director (the cruise director's supervisor) changes. Do you expect everyone to know what they are going to do before they even board the ship?

 

And then what is Carnival to do with the FunTimes? Do you expect Carnival to email them to 50,000 different people every week? Are you going to volunteer to type in all those email addresses? What about the people who Carnival does not have email addresses for (such as people without computers or people who booked through a travel agent).

 

And then, what if things change and the passengers are not happy about it. Then what? More riots in the lobby? More mutinies?

 

You are just going to have to learn that sometimes you just have to go with the flow. You cannot pre-program every minute of every day weeks or months in advance.

[silvercrikhix]

I can understand your wanting to see the Christmas Fun Times in advance.

In planning stages I also seek out Fun Times for the Itinerary or Ports or Ship I am interested in.

Since you are having a hard time finding Christmas ones, could you please post them when you return from your cruise?

I'd love to see them too, even just to get an idea of special activities :D

 

Please ignore the negative comments on CC, it takes all kinds, unfortunetaly.

But, surely you can see that having the FT in advance just won't/can't happen.

Enjoy your Christmas week cruise! We are trying our first New Years cruise!

[vwrestler171]

Because some people won't read the "subject to change" and get upset when something is moved or removed. It's just like ports, but when a port is changed for whatever reason, you get people complaining about it.

[berrieh]

I think it's ridiculous to ask that they do what you've mentioned OP because there'd be no "subject to change" about it and I don't think they plan that far ahead, simply; they deal with the variables in front of them as they put together the same regular things with them in mind. They do this very near-up for a variety of reasons I understand.

 

What I do wish and think is reasonable is if I didn't have to post for or scour for recent Funtimes for a ship/itinerary and if they were just routinely posted online (like if I could see the last 10 or so Fun Times for each ship and it was automated). I think this is especially reasonable to ask if they have digital FT available ON said ship. If ships start posting Funtimes through the Hub, I'm not sure why they can't just export them to Carnival.com.

[dogbert's mom]

I'm a planner and have my excursions booked well in advance and I think the reason I like to cruise is that I'm force to relax on sea days and take it as it comes. I found cruising on the Allure of the Sea very stressful because you had to reserve seats for all your shows and then the weather canceled shows so I had to rearrange our plans. Don't ever want to have to do that again.