Refurbished Fantasy's 1st Cruise!!

[Rowan555]

According to the passengers on this ship that posted, the reason for the delay in boarding was due to computer problems........amongst many others........

 

The computers in the terminal were unable to communicate with the ship. This problem was resolved around 12:45, at which time check-in began. About 50 people made it through the checkpoint where you swipe your card and get your photo taken, and then the systems went down again for another 30 to 45 minutes. We boarded the ship at 1:30, just after the systems went back up. Our friends who were in the regular check in line boarded about 1:45.

[DolfanNY]

I was also on the Fantasy. I have 15 cruise under my belt, all on Carnival. This was by far the worst one. I was in a suite which was all redone. It was beautiful. The water on the ship did have a foul odor and at times was light brown. The smell of sewage was unbareable. In my cabin the frig was not plugged in and the protective plastic was not removed. As I was removing it after plugging it in, the door swung open and hit me in the nose causing a nice gash. Stickers on the tub were also not removed. Not a big deal. It does show that things were done in a rush. The staff in my opinion were very good except in the dining room. I was in the Jubilee late seating. The female assistant Maitre d needed a serious attitude adjustment. Every simple request was a major problem. Asked for a few fresh strawberries to go with the chocolate melting cake for dipping, she said no because all the paasengers would request strawberries. On every other cruise it has never been a problem. They changed our waiter after the 2nd night and it was a disaster. No appetizers, entrees or the wrong appetizers or entrees. Food was served warm not hot. It seemed like we had all assistant waiters in gold vests and no head waiter. I was also in the poker tournament. I am glad they didn't cancel the cruise, but they should have given advance notice as to the condition of the ship. I will be on the Splendor Nov 17th and I am still devoted Carnival cruiser. They should do something to make up for this.

[VolzCruiser]

Sorry to all who had such a bad experience on the Fantasy. Like another poster advised, I would advise the same thing. That is to write a well thought out letter to Carnival explaining the issues you had with the ship. You might not get any compensation but you will at least let them know about the problems you experienced.

[Kurbanfan]

Sorry to all who had such a bad experience on the Fantasy. Like another poster advised, I would advise the same thing. That is to write a well thought out letter to Carnival explaining the issues you had with the ship. You might not get any compensation but you will at least let them know about the problems you experienced.

 

Do you really think the cruiseline was clueless to what was going on:confused:

[halos]

Do you really think the cruiseline was clueless to what was going on:confused:

 

I'm sure they weren't clueless, but letters do help. Carnival should be told by the passengers in concise detail, why they were not happy with their cruise experience.

[jdk944]

According to the passengers on this ship that posted, the reason for the delay in boarding was due to computer problems........amongst many others........

 

In our travel documents from Carnival it states that the earliest time for check-in is 12:30. In addition the issue, as already mentioned was some type of continued computer glitches. However, that information was never shared with us that were waiting. It got to a point of Standing Room only in the terminal at one point. Eventually they came on and said we would be checking in soon but I am not aware that they ever announced to the group what the problem(s) were. Pretty much became the theme for this cruise. But this wasn't the MAIN ISSUE, it just added to everything that has been stated by a number of us and that isn't even the whole story.

[Rowan555]

I'm sure they weren't clueless, but letters do help. Carnival should be told by the passengers in concise detail, why they were not happy with their cruise experience.

 

I'm almost done with my letter!

[dottiespots]

I was also on the Fantasy that left last Saturday. Everything I have read so far is all true as I experienced it. Our flight didn't arrive into NO until after noon and we didn't reach the terminal until around 1:30. We boarded after the ship was to sail. I'm not saying that others didn't board prior to 1:30 but I can only testify as to my own experience. I made the most of it and had a good time but everything I've read so far is just as I experienced it all the way from embarkating to foul water, sewage smell, etc. This one didn't leave me with a warm fuzzy feeling.

[Chill Out]

OH NO!

 

I'm traveling on Fantasy and I was hoping that the dry-dock would be an attribute, rather than a big problem.

 

Was the serenity deck finished? Did anyone stay on Main or Upper deck? Was the carpeting finshed by the time you guys got off the ship?

 

I've been on Holiday twice, and was hoping for a better trip on Fantasy. The Holiday has good staff and it's small and friendly, but brown water & showing its age is something you just kinda expect and work around.

[Chill Out]

One more thing - write those letters. I hope Carnival does the right thing and offer some sort of significant compensation.

[DolfanNY]

Serenity deck was finished but no nice new wooden lounge chairs. They had metal lounge chairs. Wooden chairs are coming.

[glrounds]

I had the same kind of experience but in the opposite. It was the last cruise before the ship went into drydock. It was the worst cruise I ever went on and we were not happy. Several areas of the ship were closed and they were doing work on the deck around the pool. The ship was all torn up. The cruise was on RC. I know how you feel but they want the ship back in service as soon as possible to bring in the money. I will never book a cruise within a few weeks before or after a drydock and I dont think I would go on an inaguaral cruise.

 

Same for me . . . :D Things go wrong when time is so critical. Materials aren't delivered in time, tradesmen underestimate the time to perform their work, Murphy's Law rules.

 

"Nothing is as easy as it looks, everything takes twice as long as you figured, and if anything can go wrong, it will, at the worst possible time". :rolleyes:

[dpomes]

My nephew was on this cruise, also. When he told me everything that happened (esp. the water slide!! :eek:), I thought maybe he was exaggerating. In fact I got on the boards to see what others had experienced. Sure enough, no exaggeration.

 

I feel bad for him and his wife because it was their first cruise. :rolleyes: Hopefully, they'll give cruising another try.

[halos]

when does the ship get back this week? I am dying to hear from this week's passengers that things were a bit better. :o

[Rowan555]

when does the ship get back this week? I am dying to hear from this week's passengers that things were a bit better. :o

 

They should be back Monday morning. I'm anxious to hear about it as well. I just sent probably the longest letter Carnival has ever received. I know you need to keep it "short and sweet" but my GOODNESS there was just too much to say! I sent it to Guest Relations and to all the pertinent higher-ups. I do hope to receive a reply, as these issues are significant and worthy of a response.

[pzerba]

when does the ship get back this week? I am dying to hear from this week's passengers that things were a bit better. :o

 

We've talked some of our friends into joining us on her next sailing (10/13/08)

 

This will be their inaugural cruise, and boy am I nervous. Hopefully they have the majority of the work done; we've tried our best to give them decent expectations, but that was based on a "completed" ship - *gulp*

 

We did the first sailing of the Elation out of dry dock a couple of years ago and in that case everything was virtually complete; I hope I haven't wrongly figured a couple of shakedown cruises should work the kinks out...

 

Wish us luck!!

[Rowan555]

We've talked some of our friends into joining us on her next sailing (10/13/08)

 

This will be their inaugural cruise, and boy am I nervous. Hopefully they have the majority of the work done; we've tried our best to give them decent expectations, but that was based on a "completed" ship - *gulp*

 

 

 

 

I REALLY think most of the issues will be resolved by then. If it's true that they're refurbishing the staterooms bit by bit, that won't be done, but IMO that's not a huge deal.

[COMBOY]

How do I find out if my cruise is coming off of dry-dock or not? I'm new to all of this and have a cruise booked on Carnival Fantasy out of New Orleans on June 4, 2009. Can someone tell me if this is an okay time?

 

A group of 6 ladies are going for our 40th B-day and we are soooo excited!

 

Having once worked for a cruise line (not Carnival) cruise line never publicly publish when a cruise ship is going into wet/dry dock. Cruise line employees know when a dry/wet dock is scheduled as it on the internal master calendar for that ship so you could call the cruise line to see, but they don't necessary have to tell you. Dry/Wet dock in generally are scheduled in the Spring/Fall and usually between cruise seasons if the ship repositions for a different trade market (i.e. Alaska/Caribbean or Europe/Caribbean), but could happen at any time and can be for a few days to several weeks depending what they plan to do. Major refit like the one mentioned by the OP thread can sometime take longer than scheduled. Rather than cancel the entire voyage and upset everyone, they will continue to sail with a load of passenger and continue finishing up the refit trying to make it non intrusive on the passenger, but sometime this isn't always possible. Clearly if you were inconvenienced by the work done on board you should write a letter to customer relations and if your concerns are legitimate then the cruise line should give you some compensation. They want you to be happy and come back. Some passenger are more inconvenience than others. I personally would never book a cruise either prior or after a dry/wet dock. You can check to see if there is a cruise directly prior and end on your sailing date or another starts when your finished. If not call the cruise line and see what going on. In the case of FortyParty there is a May 30 to Jun 4 sailing and a June 8 sailing on the Carnival Fantasy so you should be fine for your June 4th sailing. Hope this helps!

[pzerba]

Things I would love to see completed

 

SERENITY, including working hot tubs and the nice loungers

 

Waterworks running correctly and cleanly.

 

Decent water pressure! One of life simpler pleasure had always been the high pressures showers that I've been used to on all other Carnival ships...

 

Prefer decent drinking water, and the sewage smell I could do without.

 

Other than that, as long as they have beer and food - we should be good!!

[bonniemari]

when does the ship get back this week? I am dying to hear from this week's passengers that things were a bit better. :o

 

Hopefully LHP will be back home by Monday afternoon and will give us an update. I don't think I remember her posting to CC while she was on a ship so looks like Monday before we hear from her.

 

As I posted in another post-I had a feeling the first sailing after drydock would be a disaster when I read that the Italian crew had been sent home because of problems with their work visa and an inexperienced American crew was going to be doing the work.

[halos]

We've talked some of our friends into joining us on her next sailing (10/13/08)

 

This will be their inaugural cruise, and boy am I nervous.

 

Wish us luck!!

 

THAT is the exact reason I am a little freaked out at the moment. I have the same scenerio.

I SWEAR I will never talk people into cruising EVER again. It's too stressful. I know I am ok when things are not perfect, and I love cruising enough to overlook a bad cruise if it should happen to me...but not everyone is like that and I'm afraid this couple falls into that category.

 

I do wish you luck, from the bottom of my heart because I know where you are coming from. :)

[halos]

Hopefully LHP will be back home by Monday afternoon and will give us an update. I don't think I remember her posting to CC while she was on a ship so looks like Monday before we hear from her.

 

As I posted in another post-I had a feeling the first sailing after drydock would be a disaster when I read that the Italian crew had been sent home because of problems with their work visa and an inexperienced American crew was going to be doing the work.

 

Excellent!! Someone we know and trust to give an objective review on this sailing. That's perfect!!

 

LOL...I hope they get the Italian crew back for goodness sake!!! ;)

[VacaRequester]

They should be back Monday morning. I'm anxious to hear about it as well. I just sent probably the longest letter Carnival has ever received. I know you need to keep it "short and sweet" but my GOODNESS there was just too much to say! I sent it to Guest Relations and to all the pertinent higher-ups. I do hope to receive a reply, as these issues are significant and worthy of a response.

 

Rowan555 is was nice to meet you and your husband! Can you point me in the direction of the email addresses for sending comments? I'd like to let them know how I felt as well, instead of venting in these forums.

[okgirl]

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience. It's not typical of Carnival, at least not in my 15 cruises.

[Rowan555]

Rowan555 is was nice to meet you and your husband! Can you point me in the direction of the email addresses for sending comments? I'd like to let them know how I felt as well, instead of venting in these forums.

 

I sent mine to grelations@carnival.com - in the past they have always replied to my emails, so this is the one I use.

 

Good meeting you as well!

 

Susan