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Tropical Storm Chantal Forces Carnival Ships to Alter Itineraries

Both Carnival Liberty and Carnival Victory Skip Ports Due to Tropical Storm

Carnival Liberty

The line says the 2,974-passenger Carnival Liberty today skipped a visit to St. Thomas due to the storm's approach and instead made a stop in San Juan, Puerto Rico that originally had been scheduled for Wednesday.

The Miami-based ship, which is on a seven-night Eastern Caribbean sailing that began on Saturday, and will visit Grand Turk on Wednesday - a day ahead of schedule, and will add a stop in Nassau, Bahamas on Friday.

Also altering course today was the 2,758-passenger Carnival Victory, which dropped a sea day to instead call in Nassau - a port it wasn't supposed to visit until Friday. In addition, the ship will flip-flop calls scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday in Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay, Bahamas. 

As of 2:00 pm AST, Chantal was 335 miles southeast of San Juan and moving to the west-northwest at 29 miles per hour. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 65 miles per hour.

The National Hurricane Center says Chantal is expected to strengthen over the next 24 hours as it heads towards the Dominican Republic. 

Forecasters expect that wind shear and interaction with the mountains of Hispaniola and Cuba then will cause the storm to weaken, and it is expected to be a tropical depression Friday while over the Bahamas.

Source: USA Today

Carnival Cruise Line Replaces CEO

In a move marking the end of an era and suggesting continuing upheaval at the world's largest cruise company, Carnival Corp. announced that Micky Arison, the son of company founder Ted Arison, is being replaced as CEO.

Arison, 63, had held the post since 1979, and will continue as chairman of the board. Arnold W. Donald, who has served on the company's board for the past 12 years, will assume the CEO title.

The news came on the same day that Carnival announced second quarter profits of $41 million, due largely to lower fuel and administrative costs. However, despite deep discounting, passenger traffic remains low, particularly on the flagship Carnival line.

The development follows a string of bad news for Carnival. 

Earlier this year, an engine room fire knocked out the Carnival Triumph's main power, leaving the 2,758-passenger ship dead in the Gulf of Mexico. Passengers described horrible conditions as the ship was towed to Mobile, Ala., and Arison, who owns the Miami Heat basketball team, was criticized for attending a game while the crisis was ongoing.

The following month, the company ended a voyage of the Carnival Dream early after the ship's backup emergency diesel generator failed. Carnival was forced to charter airplanes to fly the ship's 4,300 passengers back to Florida from the Caribbean island of St. Maarten.

And all this came after the sinking last year of the Carnival-owned Costa Concordia. The incident, which killed 32 people, dominated global headlines for weeks.

Continue Reading

Letter from Carnival President and CEO

Received this e-mail today from Carnival. Obviously this is not been the best couple of years for the Carnival Cruise Line brand, and they launched an operational review regarding all the recent incidents 

Dear Carnival Past Guest,

Our goal is to drive continual improvement across all aspects of our customer experience. To that end, we launched an operational review this February to learn all that we could from recent incidents and find new solutions. 

Today, we are announcing a fleet-wide enhancement program and will be investing more than $300 million to expand the availability of hotel services in the rare instance of a shipboard event that involves the loss of primary power. In addition, we will also reinforce key shipboard operating systems and add new technologies to further prevent a potential loss of primary power. 

Work is underway and you can learn more about these initiatives in this brief video. For more information, visit the Carnival News & Updates tab on Facebook.

It's important to note that all of our 24 vessels operate safely today, and have strong systems in place to prevent, detect and respond to emergency situations. We meet or exceed all current regulatory requirements and are committed to delivering our guests a safe, reliable and enjoyable vacation experience.

With our investment, we will introduce new technologies and enhance current systems to our fleet. 

Additionally, we are forming a new Safety & Reliability Review Board comprised of leading third party experts from organizations such as United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, as well as leading airlines and equipment manufacturers. The addition of external experts to our new Safety & Reliability Review Board will provide us with further expertise and perspective in support of our goal of continuing to drive constant improvement.

I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your loyalty to Carnival Cruise Lines. My goal as the leader of Carnival Cruise Lines is to improve everyday across all aspects of your experience with us. I want to assure you that we will do everything we can to continue to improve our product and provide you with a fun and memorable cruising experience.

Sincerely,


Gerry Cahill
President and CEO
Carnival Cruise Lines

Carnival Offers “Thomas the Tank Engine” Shore Excursion

Carnival is the only cruise line to offer this tour, which is sponsored by Ambassatours Gray Line, on the Aug. 5 and Aug. 10 five-day cruises. 

Carnival Cruise Lines is offering a shore excursion to a full-size replica of “Thomas the Tank Engine” during select Carnival Glory voyages that visit Saint John, New Brunswick, this summer. 

The excursion includes a 25-minute train ride along the Saint John waterfront aboard a full-size Thomas replica, a variety of Thomas & Friends-themed entertainment such as storytelling and videos, arts and crafts activities, an appearance by Sir Topham Hatt, temporary children’s tattoos, merchandise shops and more. 


The excursion also includes an all-day pass on hop-on, hop-off double-decker sightseeing buses.

“Thomas The Tank Engine” is the television star of “Thomas & Friends” books published in 145 countries and 30 languages.

Source: TravelPulse

Cruise Bill of Rights Proposed by NY Senator

Senator Charles Schumer, Democrat from New York said he is asking the cruise industry to voluntarily sign on to a list of guidelines, including the right to backup power if generators fail, along with the right to disembark a docked ship “if basic provisions cannot adequately be provided on board.”

Schumer's bill of rights would also include:

• The right to a full refund for a trip that is abruptly canceled due to mechanical failures
• The right to full time, on board professional medical attention in the event of a major health crisis
• The right to real-time information updates as to any adjustments in the travel plan of the ship in the event of a mechanical failure or emergency
• The right to a ship crew that is properly trained in emergency and evacuation procedures

He also called on the International Maritime Organization to investigate whether cruise lines are following existing guidelines, and whether existing standards are being enforced by countries where cruise ships that serve U.S. passengers are based.

“Cruise ships, in large part operating outside the bounds of United States enforcement, have become the wild west of the travel industry, and it’s time to rein them in before anyone else gets hurt,” Schumer said in a statement. “This bill of rights, based on work we’ve done with the airline industry, will ensure that passengers are not forced to live in third world conditions or put their lives at risk when they go on vacation.”

The senator's proposal is in response to the recent woes of Carnival Cruise Lines mechanical issues.

Latest response from Carnival Cruise Lines - Carnival Updates Status of Three Ships, Decries “Inaccurate” Media Reporting

Yet Another Carnival Ship Having Equipment Problems

Lately the world's largest cruise line is making headlines for "not sailing"  

Carnival is reporting The Legend is having equipment problems which is affecting the ships sailing speed.

While the ship made port calls in Cozumel, Costa Maya and Roatan, the last stop in Grand Cayman has been cancelled, and the ship is heading to the home port of Tampa.

Carnival reports the ship's safety systems and hotel services are all functioning normally.

Update to our last post . . . 
Received another text from our friends on the Carnival Dream. All is well in St Maarten - they enjoyed touring the island, hit the beach, and had an enjoyable dinner tonight. 

These equipment issues on older as well as Carnival's newer fleet are becoming rather suspect - and I am an avid cruiser. After hearing from our friends, I felt the media was hyping the situation with the Dream, but now all I can do is post the latest cruise news in regards to the cruise line.

Let's hope all goes well for the passengers on The Legend, and they arrive safely back in port.

Carnival Dream Still Docked in St Maarten

Rather than sailing out today, the Carnival Dream is still docked on the Dutch Caribbean island of St Maarten due to technical issues with its backup emergency generator. 

St Maarten was the last stop on the Caribbean cruise, and the ship was scheduled to leave port today, arriving back at Cape Canaveral, Florida on Saturday. 

I've read the media reports of over flowing toilets and unsanitary conditions on-board the ship, however I have friends on this cruise. I sent an e-mail, and here's the reply 

_______________________________________________________________________

What in the world?? This is the fourth e-mail with concerns about our cruise. Not sure what the media is reporting back home, but we are safe and sound! We have had a wonderful cruise, and when we arrived here in St Maarten they discovered a problem with the backup generator. 

We will be flying instead of sailing back to Port Canaveral. Not sure when our flight leaves. Carnival offered us a free island tour, so we are taking advantage of more time in the sun. I have not seen any unsanitary conditions anywhere onboard. No worries here, wish we could stay even longer in St Maarten!
_______________________________________________________________________

Carnival is reporting all systems were functioning today, however the company decided to make flight arrangements for the passengers to return home by air. That was probably a good PR move after the Carnival Triumph fire last month.  

The Dream's March 16 voyage from Port Canaveral has been canceled, and passengers are being refunded, along with being offered a 25% refund off a future cruise and be able to purchase tickets at the same current rate.

Cruising For A Lawsuit

Former Senior cruise ship operator Jay Herring offers some insight . . . 

More on lawsuits from TravelPulse - Carnival Triumph Passengers File Lawsuits 

Carnival Cruise Lines is facing a number of lawsuits filed by passengers aboard the Carnival Triumph, which lost power in the Gulf of Mexico and was towed into Mobile, Ala., on Feb. 14. 

Miami-based maritime law firm Lipcon, Margulies, Alsina & Winkleman is seeking class-action status for its law suit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Miami on behalf of passengers who were on the ship, alleging that the conditions on-board endangered their health.

The suit also contends that Carnival Triumph should have headed for Progreso, Mexico, because it was closer and would have eased conditions faster. 

Carnival has said the ship drifted away from Progreso, and that plan was further complicated by the fact that 900 of the 3,000 passengers did not have U.S. passports.

But not everyone believes filing lawsuits is the best strategy for passengers in this case. Indeed, one of the cruise industry’s most strident critics, attorney Jim Walker of Miami, said he does not believe in filing such suits.

In a blog entry posted in 2010 after a similar incident on the Carnival Splendor, Walker wrote that in order to have a legitimate case for compensation, a cruise passenger has to suffer a personal injury. “Experiencing inconvenience and unpleasant circumstances does not constitute a personal injury unless there is a physical injury,” he wrote. “If you fall down a flight of stairs in the dark and break your hip, that’s a personal injury. But taking cold showers, smelling toilets that can’t be flushed, eating Spam sandwiches in the dark or other similar ‘cruise from hell’ stories are not compensable.”

In a more recent blog entry, Walker added that these “conclusions I reached two years ago apply to this latest Carnival debacle.” Carnival has already agreed to refund passengers’ fares and travel expenses, wiped out shipboard accounts, offered a free cruise and paid them $500 each. “So if you are foolish enough to file suit [in Miami], you simply will not do any better than what is already being offered now,” Walker wrote. “Plus you will incur legal expenses and travel expenses pursuing a case in Miami which you are certain to lose.”

 Source: By Theresa Norton Masek - TravelPulse 

Carnival Dispatches 3rd Tugboat To Assist Triumph

When Cruisin' Goes Wrong . . . Passengers report the top deck looks like a shanty town with tents made out of sheets, and mattresses everywhere. Food supplies have been low, and without working toilets passengers have been forced to use bags 

The ship is currently being towed to port in Mobile, Ala., and expected to arrive some time Thursday. A third tugboat was dispatched from Louisiana Wednesday to help the towing efforts.

Passenger with pre-existing medical condition was transferred to the Carnival Legend 

Carnival has reserved 1,500 hotel rooms for passengers in Mobile and New Orleans, along with 20 chartered flights which will transport passengers to Houston. Each passenger will also receive a full refund, future cruise credit, along with an additional $500 in compensation. 

Now Here's The Big Question - What's The Deal With The On-board Safety Systems? 

Cruise ships should have a high level of plant redundancy to prevent a total loss of power when a single engine catches fire - in other words - BACKUP!  

Half of the ships capacities should remain in tact after a single failure. It appears with the previous fire in 2010 on the Carnival Splendor, and this current situation on Triumph, engine and monitoring systems are not coping with multiple failures.  

What we know about the fire on Carnival Splendor is that two individual engine rooms shut down due to the fire, along with every backup electrical system - and this is a newer ship.   

Unlike the newer Splendor, the The Triumph is one of the older ships (launched in 1999) in Carnival's fleet, and is based in Galveston sailing 4-5 day trips to the Caribbean. 

Mechanical Issues On Triumph Last Month

While it is not known what caused the fire abroad The Triumph, was is known is that the ship was having issues prior to this cruise. 

The ship was due to depart mid day from Galveston on January 28, and was delayed until about 8:00 p.m. due to propulsion issues. Due to the delay passengers did not make the Cozumel port, and were given a $50 credit.  

Carnival Cancels Triumph's Next 12 Sailings 

Carnival has cancelled Triumph's next 12 trips, in addition to the two that were already canceled. It promised refunds to those who have booked voyages on the ship through April 13.

Passengers have reported over flowing toilets and sewage running down walls and halls. Carnival can sanitize and replace carpets and furnishings, but will those previously booked pick this particular ship when it resurfaces? 

Or perhaps the cruise line will sell it off to somewhere in Europe, where it will be renamed and continue sailing. That's what happens to older ships that can still be salvaged - they live again under a new name and company.  



Related links

Mobile, Alabama Prepares For Carnival Triumph Arrival As Cruise Ship Is Towed To Gulf Coast

Triumph Out of Commission

Carnival CEO says his company trying to make passengers as comfortable as possible

Carnival Victory Launches Year-Round Short Cruises from Miami

Carnival Cruise Lines’ Carnival Victory arrived at Port Miami the morning of Feb. 4 and kicked off its new year-round schedule of four- and five-day cruises to the Caribbean and Bahamas. 

Four-Day “long weekend” cruises depart Thursdays and call at Key West and Cozumel. 

Five-Day cruises that depart Mondays visit Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos, Half Moon Cay and Nassau. 

Another Five-Day itinerary departs Saturdays and visits Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios. 

The Victory replaces Carnival Destiny, which departed Miami the afternoon of Feb. 4 on an 18-day trans-Atlantic crossing that will end Feb. 22 in Venice, Italy, and the vessel will undergo a $155 million renovation. 

Carnival Destiny will emerge from the 49-day dry dock with a new name, Carnival Sunshine, and new restaurants, bars and entertainment.

By Theresa Norton Masek via TravelPulse

Carnival Triumph Dead In Water Off Coast of Mexico

The 14-year old ship is basically going nowhere, and is operating on emergency generator power after a fire Sunday in one of the diesel generators killed its propulsion. 

The fire was quickly put out by an automatic fire extinguishing system, and none of the 4,229 passengers or crew are said to be in any danger. 

“The cause of the fire is still to be determined,” said Carnival spokesman Vance Guliksen. In a brief news release, Guliksen said “there were no casualties to guests or crew.”

Carnival says tugboats are en route to the Carnival Triumph to tow it to Progreso, Mexico so that passengers can get off, but the process will take three days. The vessel is expected to arrive in Progreso on Wednesday afternoon, the line says.

All cruise passengers will be flown back to the United States and will be fully refunded. Carnival will cover any additional transportation expenses, and passengers will also receive a free future cruise.

According to Carnival, some basic auxiliary power has been restored, cabin toilets are working on part of the ship and some elevators are operational. The dining areas are serving hot coffee and limited hot food.

More updated news at USA Today Cruise Log

New Carnival Breeze

See why Carnival BreezeTM was awarded Cruise Critic's Best New Ship 2012. 

Now sailing from Miami. New features include a multi-dimensional Thrill Theater, family fun at Hasbro, The Game Show, RedFrog Rum Bar, and so much more!

Check it out!

New Way to Share the Fun of a Carnival Cruise

The perfect gift for holidays, birthdays and any special occasion!

• Good for any amount between $10 and $2,000
• Redeemable toward bookings and/or purchases on board
• Available digitally and by mail

http://www.carnivalgiftcards.com/

RCI Launches New All-Inclusive Beverage Packages

Royal Caribbean International has introduced two new beverage packages, joining other lines that offer similar inclusive deals. 

The Classic Beverage Package costs $45 per guest, per day, for beer, house wines by the glass, non-alcoholic cocktails, fountain soda and juices.

The Premium Beverage Package costs $55 per guest, per day, and includes beverages in Classic Package - as well as frozen drinks and all cocktails including premium brands. Both package prices include service charges.

Beverage packages are available for purchase on all seven-night or longer sailings and must be purchased on the first day. Guests choosing either package also must purchase the package for guests 21 years old or older sailing in the same stateroom. Packages are currently available on 13 ships and will be available on the remaining ships with seven-night or longer itineraries by early 2013.

The move follows similar programs offered by Carnival Cruise Lines and Norwegian Cruise Line. Carnival launched the program as a test but has rapidly expanded it to eight ships. The “Cheers!” all-inclusive beverage package is now available on Carnival Splendor, Carnival Breeze, Carnival Dream, Carnival Victory, Carnival Valor, Carnival Liberty, Carnival Conquest and Carnival Legend.

The Cheers Package costs $42.95 per person, per day, plus a 15% gratuity, includes a variety of wine, beer and spirits, along with sodas and non-alcoholic frozen cocktails throughout the voyage. All wines by the glass, beer and individual cocktails priced $10 and lower are available within the program.

Norwegian is testing an all-inclusive drink package on Norwegian Sun, Norwegian Gem and Norwegian Jade. The package costs $49 per person per day, plus gratuity.

SOURCE: TravelPulse

Carnival Introduces Gift Card Program

Carnival Gift Cards can be used to pay for a cruise, on-board purchases - and a great way to assist couples with a honeymoon cruise. 

The gift cards will be available in denominations of $10 - $1,000, and are NOT re-loadable.

You can place an order for up to 5 Gift Cards in one payment transaction, and can redeem multiple Gift Cards per transaction. The Gift Cards can be purchased online as well as on-board cruise ships.

Carnival announced the website would be up and running December 5th launch - and the site is up now, check it out! http://www.carnivalgiftcards.com/

National Cruise Week - Free Upgrades From Carnival

They say nothing in life is free ... except upgrades!

During National Cruise Vacation Week (October 21- October 27), the term "free" is being thrown around quite a bit.

FREE upgrades for past guest cruisers when you book during the world's largest cruise sale.

Low Past Guest Rates - Free Upgrades* (up to two categories) - 50% reduced deposits
 
Check it out!

Carnival Victory 2013 Horror Film Theme Cruise

Sailing Holloween Week 2013 from Miami to Nassau, Half Moon Cay and Freeport

Carnival Cruise Lines’ Carnival Victory has been chartered to host a theme cruise for fans of horror films.

The “Ship Of Fear: A Horror Cruise,” is scheduled to depart Miami on Oct. 28, 2013.

Scheduled to attend are directors and actors from films including “Child’s Play,” “Candyman,” “Phantasm,” “Fright Night,” “The Lost Boys,” “Gremlins,” “Friday the 13th,” “The Howling,” “Pet Sematary” and more.

Also scheduled to perform are Alice Cooper, Dee Snider, Corey Feldman and Truth Movement. Rates start at $729 per person when booked by Dec. 31.

Cruise details at http://www.shipoffear.com/

Source: TravelPulse

Pinterest Contest WIN A Carnival Caribbean Cruise

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a Pinterest board full of pictures is worth a 7 Day Cruise for 2 to the Caribbean!

Start Pinning!

Carnival Cruise Check In At Miami Airport

Along with just announcing fees for early embarkation, Carnival is now offering cruise passenger check in at the Miami airport. 

Cruise passengers can now get their Sail & Sign and boarding cards at the Miami airport on the day of sailing from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Once passengers retrieve their luggage at baggage claim, they will be directed to the check in counter to receive "Airport Express" boarding cards. Sail & Sign cards will also be available at the airport. If you want to use cash for the Sail & Sign deposit, just stop by a cruise terminal check-in counter, or use an on-board Sail & Sign kiosk.

Most cruisers purchase round trip transfers between the airport and pier when paying for their cruise. For those passengers who did not purchase transfers, they will have the option to buy transfers during the airport check in process.

Once you arrive at the pier, passengers will be directed to the Airport Express security lane for a photo ID check, along with the Sail & Sign check.