Pre-Cruise Nightmare

[elainmir]

So we got an email last night that our port was closed due to TS Cindy but it shouldn't effect our cruise. I added the text alerts to my cell. I woke up to an email that I needed to print my boarding pass..no text updates from carnival and a 3 hour drive ahead of us..we set off about 7:50 ... rain,etc but we still made it by 11:15. I notice while waiting in line carnival sent me a text at 9:59. Sorry Carnival I was driving in horrible conditions and couldn't read the text you sent until I had arrived. Had you sent it several hours earlier then I could've adjusted my driving times. I had an 11 am check in but instead of a seemless process you say come back at by 1..so at 12:49 I navigate through your crazy traffic in Mobile back to the port. Where police tell is its now 1:15 to 1:30...:o I literally pullout and got to turn under the bridge and that cat starts letting cars in:confused:.... so now everyone and their dog has arrived y'all! We went to make a u turn and it took over an hour and a half to go 1/4 of a mile. People we jumping out of shuttle buses on the off ramp to throw their bodies in front of traffic so the shuttle could get in front of you:mad:. I am all about being kind but when you throw your obviously plastered butt in front of my car yelling STOP LET US IN... quite frankly I do not want to let you in...I want to tell you to go fly a kite and use you as my speed bump. But sanity prevailed on my part ...I decided I did not end up with a trashed hood ornament. I can say it took until after 3 pm to get on board. In port the staff did a much better job with priority folks this time..our line moved quick...we are very late leaving..still in port at 5:22.

[lizardhowson]

So a major weather event altered your cruise schedule (lots of others had their lives impacted also whether on vacation or not).

Those things do happen in life. :eek:

At least your cruise wasn't cancelled. I say you are fortunate to be aboard and to be going.

[bury me at sea]

Bless your heart for deciding on no new hood ornaments.

 

Hope you have a great cruise.

[evandbob]

Yes, ship happens!

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[bakersdozen12]

Just as an FYI: I'm sure they sent the text as soon as they knew that the embarkation would be delayed. So while you may have preferred to received the text much earlier, most likely that was not possible.

 

In any case, I hope you enjoy your cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[E@syPe@zy]

Glad to hear you made it on board. I thought for sure you were going to say that you got a text that the cruise was cancelled.

People act so crazy....just have to take a deep breath and be glad they are not related to you!?!

Here's hoping your cruise is a blast!

Have a nice drink and a good laugh!

[CruiseBride926]

Well if you didn't need a vacation before I'm sure you do now. Have a great time!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SadieN]

Couldn't someone else have read your texts? Did your travel buddy give their number for text alerts?

 

Hope the rest of your vacation is stress free! :)

[Kristi Williamson]

As much as I get what the other posters are saying, I totally understand your frustration OP. Every single person with a snarky reply would feel the exact same way and probably has. Hope things settle down and you're actually able to ENJOY vacation. Sorry about the initial bummers. They really do suck.

[A&Jfamily]

Sorry you ran into the "me first" crowd...it happens.

 

In the future, just for information, you can always delay your drive and arrive after your assigned window....gives a little bit more leeway for these obvious weather issues that happen this time of year. Welcome to hurricane season in the south....

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[riclop]

So we got an email last night that our port was closed due to TS Cindy but it shouldn't effect our cruise. I added the text alerts to my cell. I woke up to an email that I needed to print my boarding pass..no text updates from carnival and a 3 hour drive ahead of us..we set off about 7:50 ... rain,etc but we still made it by 11:15. I notice while waiting in line carnival sent me a text at 9:59. Sorry Carnival I was driving in horrible conditions and couldn't read the text you sent until I had arrived. Had you sent it several hours earlier then I could've adjusted my driving times. I had an 11 am check in but instead of a seemless process you say come back at by 1..so at 12:49 I navigate through your crazy traffic in Mobile back to the port. Where police tell is its now 1:15 to 1:30...:o I literally pullout and got to turn under the bridge and that cat starts letting cars in:confused:.... so now everyone and their dog has arrived y'all! We went to make a u turn and it took over an hour and a half to go 1/4 of a mile. People we jumping out of shuttle buses on the off ramp to throw their bodies in front of traffic so the shuttle could get in front of you:mad:. I am all about being kind but when you throw your obviously plastered butt in front of my car yelling STOP LET US IN... quite frankly I do not want to let you in...I want to tell you to go fly a kite and use you as my speed bump. But sanity prevailed on my part ...I decided I did not end up with a trashed hood ornament. I can say it took until after 3 pm to get on board. In port the staff did a much better job with priority folks this time..our line moved quick...we are very late leaving..still in port at 5:22.

Blame the weather.

[bingomamma19]

So we got an email last night that our port was closed due to TS Cindy but it shouldn't effect our cruise. I added the text alerts to my cell. I woke up to an email that I needed to print my boarding pass..no text updates from carnival and a 3 hour drive ahead of us..we set off about 7:50 ... rain,etc but we still made it by 11:15. I notice while waiting in line carnival sent me a text at 9:59. Sorry Carnival I was driving in horrible conditions and couldn't read the text you sent until I had arrived. Had you sent it several hours earlier then I could've adjusted my driving times. I had an 11 am check in but instead of a seemless process you say come back at by 1..so at 12:49 I navigate through your crazy traffic in Mobile back to the port. Where police tell is its now 1:15 to 1:30...:o I literally pullout and got to turn under the bridge and that cat starts letting cars in:confused:.... so now everyone and their dog has arrived y'all! We went to make a u turn and it took over an hour and a half to go 1/4 of a mile. People we jumping out of shuttle buses on the off ramp to throw their bodies in front of traffic so the shuttle could get in front of you:mad:. I am all about being kind but when you throw your obviously plastered butt in front of my car yelling STOP LET US IN... quite frankly I do not want to let you in...I want to tell you to go fly a kite and use you as my speed bump. But sanity prevailed on my part ...I decided I did not end up with a trashed hood ornament. I can say it took until after 3 pm to get on board. In port the staff did a much better job with priority folks this time..our line moved quick...we are very late leaving..still in port at 5:22.

 

 

Not really a nightmare at all....I assume you had been aware of this storm before this morning. Just a bump in the road to your cruise.

 

Hopefully you are happy for the rest of the cruise.

[EGM112]

Yep things happen. On our cruise in January our cruise was delayed for a day due to fog. Waited all day Saturday then had to find hotel. Didnt get to board Sunday untill after 7pm. Sure glad we had fttf as we got to skip long lines and board as soon as we had our sign and sail cards. We missed one port but had a wonderful cruise anyway.:D

[DaisyandMoe010]

My DH and I were booked on the Pride this past October during Hurricane Matthew. I am certain we were provided with updates as soon as they made their decisions. They avoid making a rash change in the event the weather takes a turn for the best. Our cruise went to NYC, stayed overnight and then we cruised back and forth in the Ocean for 6 days. We never got off the ship again during that cruise until it was time to go home. We were safe, the captain made the right calls and we still had the best time ever. I sure hope that this doesn't damper your vacation. Try and make the best of it.

[rjl1977]

I'm sure all those people that lost something or someone due to the storm truly feel sorry for your cruise being delayed a few hours.

[ray98]

LOL....such an outrage. Someone should've made that tropical storm turn the other way.

[Havingfun2010]

I don't think the poster was complaining about the storm, and I'm sure the text was just a small piece of the total piece. What most are failing to read is that the passengers getting on the ship, were out of control before they even got on the ship. It's a shame, but the overall post just reminds people that on Carnival, it's my vacation, and you are getting in my way of having a good ole time, so move over, I'm important!!!!!!!! (by the way, the priority line moved fast.....see what I mean?)

[E@syPe@zy]

I don't think the poster was complaining about the storm, and I'm sure the text was just a small piece of the total piece. What most are failing to read is that the passengers getting on the ship, were out of control before they even got on the ship. It's a shame, but the overall post just reminds people that on Carnival, it's my vacation, and you are getting in my way of having a good ole time, so move over, I'm important!!!!!!!! (by the way, the priority line moved fast.....see what I mean?)

 

You must have missed her opening statement,

"So we got an email last night that our port was closed due to TS Cindy but it shouldn't effect our cruise."

Most people would understand that the port would be closed until further notification. Which means that you are going to have to wait for further instructions for boarding.

[luv2trvlnow]

You must have missed her opening statement,

"So we got an email last night that our port was closed due to TS Cindy but it shouldn't effect our cruise."

Most people would understand that the port would be closed until further notification. Which means that you are going to have to wait for further instructions for boarding.

Yes that is true. But Carnival is not noted for being good at communications whenever there is a hiccup. If there is a delay they don't seem to communicate with the cruisers very well. Just reading this forum had shown that has happened many times in the past. I understand things can happen, but Carnival and most cruise lines do a poor job on getting information out. It's not that there is a problem but rather the way they handle the problem that causes the most complaints.

[EGM112]

Yes that is true. But Carnival is not noted for being good at communications whenever there is a hiccup. If there is a delay they don't seem to communicate with the cruisers very well. Just reading this forum had shown that has happened many times in the past. I understand things can happen, but Carnival and most cruise lines do a poor job on getting information out. It's not that there is a problem but rather the way they handle the problem that causes the most complaints.

I Dissagree when delayed by fog we received a lot of updates by text and email.

[seafoy]

Wow....that driving and traffic situation sounded like nightmare! Glad you finally made it onboard...hopefully you have the cheers package...lol! Have a great trip!

[E@syPe@zy]

Yes that is true. But Carnival is not noted for being good at communications whenever there is a hiccup. If there is a delay they don't seem to communicate with the cruisers very well. Just reading this forum had shown that has happened many times in the past. I understand things can happen, but Carnival and most cruise lines do a poor job on getting information out. It's not that there is a problem but rather the way they handle the problem that causes the most complaints.

Carnival and all the other cruise lines have to wait for Port Authorities to notify them before they can notify their passengers. I think we sometimes like to blame the cruise line when something goes wrong at the Port. When you have a tropical storm coming through, then I think you can expect delays and even cancellations. In the OP's situation, I understand her distress, but probably should have been preparing for some difficulty or delays or both. It's all about "Attitude". I think she was doing fine, until the Port Authorities told her the port was still closed and would not open for at least another half hour and as soon as she gets out of line, they open it up. To be honest the guy that told her that was probably told to tell everyone that until the green light was given. It just happened at the very wrong time for the OP. And then it got crazy. I get it. But I know from personal experience, that it can be a whole lot worse.

I'm just happy for the OP and family that they got on board safely and were able to take their cruise. That's all that counts in the long run of things. :)

[elainmir]

You know it is true and I was NOT thinking about it at the time but Carnival does have to wait for Port Authority to give them info...it was truly the frustration of the whole day and the attitudes of some of the "me first" crowd. I truly did vent in my original post. We did end up having a FANTASTIC cruise...we met some really great people...one guy named Bob who looked just like Robin Williams...Mr. Steve and his wife...and my favorite Carnival employee ever... Takudzwa ..a Casino Technician who was working when it was just me and hubby in the casino early one one morning. You meet the most fascinating people sometimes. We became fast friends and are looking forward to our next cruise ...thanks for letting me vent my frustrations in my original post

[E@syPe@zy]

You know it is true and I was NOT thinking about it at the time but Carnival does have to wait for Port Authority to give them info...it was truly the frustration of the whole day and the attitudes of some of the "me first" crowd. I truly did vent in my original post. We did end up having a FANTASTIC cruise...we met some really great people...one guy named Bob who looked just like Robin Williams...Mr. Steve and his wife...and my favorite Carnival employee ever... Takudzwa ..a Casino Technician who was working when it was just me and hubby in the casino early one one morning. You meet the most fascinating people sometimes. We became fast friends and are looking forward to our next cruise ...thanks for letting me vent my frustrations in my original post

Oh....so glad to hear you had a wonderful cruise! Embarkation day is a tough day, no matter what. I think we are all exhausted from getting everything ready for vacation and our patience level is low to begin with. So glad you let us know how everything turned out.:halo:

[DaisyandMoe010]

I Dissagree when delayed by fog we received a lot of updates by text and email.

 

I disagree as well. We were well informed of all the changes that were made when ALL of our ports were cancelled due to the weather. I think they handled it very very well.