What will happen to the Splendor

[katlady]

Now that Carnival has pulled out of the Mexican Riviera. Where will they sail the Splendor to now? Has anyone heard anything?

[LucyR.]

On Wed. April 27th...Carnival will announce what the new ports will be for the Carnival Splendor.

Today at 5p.m. they announced not to stop in Mexican Ports.

I hope they chose the Pacific Northwest ports and visit Vancouver and then return back.

Another option would be Ensenada, Catalina, San Diego.

Some ships are considering Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, Quatemala.

I am booked on the Splendor for May 3rd. If they don't have the ports I want ....I will cancel and dispute the charge on my credit card.
I have already contacted my credit card company to make a complaint.
I want a full refund with no penalties.

[katlady]

Ensenada, Catalina, San Diego would be a waste of that ship's time. Plus Ensedada is still Mexico. Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, Quatemala would be interesting, but the ship won't fit through the Panama canal. The Pacific Northwest is probably the most likely. Please let us know what happens.

[Amber F]

They told the guests currently on the Splendor that they will be going to San Francisco. They stopped for four hours in Cabo today, to satisfy the Jones Act, no passengers were allowed to disembark, and are now headed back North. Looks like it will be six sea days and one day in San Francisco.

I have no idea what will happen to those sailing on May 3rd, as Carnival stated that they will not visit Mexican ports until after May 4th, at which time they will make a new decision whether to extend the ban.

[BennieDimas]

We are booked on the Splendor on May 3rd too.....waiting to find out more information.

[katlady]

Originally Posted by Amber F

They told the guests currently on the Splendor that they will be going to San Francisco. They stopped for four hours in Cabo today, to satisfy the Jones Act, no passengers were allowed to disembark, and are now headed back North. Looks like it will be six sea days and one day in San Francisco.

I have no idea what will happen to those sailing on May 3rd, as Carnival stated that they will not visit Mexican ports until after May 4th, at which time they will make a new decision whether to extend the ban.

I know a ton about San Francisco. I grew up in the bay area. If any May 3 people are viewing this here are some suggestions.

You could go to alcatraz Island, it you like an art town Sausalito is a short trip for SFO. I took an Alaskan Cruise out of San Francisco if you are up for a short walk Pier 39 (fishmen's wharf) is fun.

The Red and White fleet does bay tours. The other fleet that days bay tours is the blue and gold fleet. They might be a better bet. They have the Alcatraz and angel island tours as well as Sausalito. ]If you are interested in shopping that is Union Square. You can take BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) there are catch a cab. My favorite SFO restuarants are the Stinking Rose in North Beach (little Italy) . or Yank Sing for Dim Sum. Boudin's bakery is right at Pier 39 (fishmen's wharf) has the best sourdough in the city.

I hope that helps you guys, it's a bummer what happened. But you can still have a great time if you decide to take the cruise. BTW I'm not from San Francisco's tourist office, I just saw the news and thought I could help.

[buckybruce]

It's a cliche, but when life hands you lemons, make lemonade....

Being a first time cruiser, the ship for me is a destination. Our trip on May 18th on the Imagination will likely have Nassau substituted for Cozumel...no biggie to me, after four AI trips to Mexico, the novelty of Mexico has quite worn off. I've been to Nassau...I would prefer they change to Grand or Little Cayman, or even port in Jamaica, but no worries.

[spencercoop]

Originally Posted by LucyR.

On Wed. April 27th...Carnival will announce what the new ports will be for the Carnival Splendor.

Today at 5p.m. they announced not to stop in Mexican Ports.

I hope they chose the Pacific Northwest ports and visit Vancouver and then return back.

Another option would be Ensenada, Catalina, San Diego.

Some ships are considering Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, Quatemala.

I am booked on the Splendor for May 3rd. If they don't have the ports I want ....I will cancel and dispute the charge on my credit card.
I have already contacted my credit card company to make a complaint.
I want a full refund with no penalties.

You WILL NOT get a full refund from Carnival. It is clearly written in the contract that if you do not go to any ports all they have to give you is the port taxes back. The only option for you would be to reshedule to a different date if they let you.

I want to know how you think this is Carnival's fault. It is not like they are purposly missing this ports to may customers mad. They are skipping the ports for YOUR safety.

[SeaWench]

Also they said they are letting people move to diff dates. Move all your money to a different date. Why not just do that? Why cancel all together?

Like I said Carnival is darned if they do and darned if they don't. People will always find a reason to be mad.

[katlady]

Originally Posted by SeaWench

Also they said they are letting people move to diff dates. Move all your money to a different date. Why not just do that? Why cancel all together?

Like I said Carnival is darned if they do and darned if they don't. People will always find a reason to be mad.

I have heard that to. If I were booked on the May 3rd sailing. I would move to another sailing. I live 2 hours from San Francisco and 8 hours from Long Beach. So if I were booked (I'm not) I would have to drive 8 hours to cruise to a place 2 hours from my home. That just wouldn't make sense.

It's good of Carnival to allow people to move there date. The only problem is some people have non refundable flights booked and I'm not sure trip insurance covers this? Seems like it should, but if it doesn't then those people are struck with moving their cruise and losing the airfare. It's a bad deal for the cruise line and the people cruising.

[katlady]

Originally Posted by buckybruce

It's a cliche, but when life hands you lemons, make lemonade....

Being a first time cruiser, the ship for me is a destination. Our trip on May 18th on the Imagination will likely have Nassau substituted for Cozumel...no biggie to me, after four AI trips to Mexico, the novelty of Mexico has quite worn off. I've been to Nassau...I would prefer they change to Grand or Little Cayman, or even port in Jamaica, but no worries.

The Carribean is quite a bit different from the West Coast. Out of the Carribean there are choices. They could go Caymans, Jamaica or Bahamas (all beach ports). In the West Coast the beaches are in Mexico. So what can they do now go to Canada? The last time I was there the beaches weren't that great in Vancouver. Remember the Jones act requires an internatonal port. To bad Hawaii is so far away.

[bobsfamily]

[quote="katlady"]

Originally Posted by buckybruce

Remember the Jones act requires an internatonal port. To bad Hawaii is so far away.

I just read that they are suspending the act for the duration of the "problem"

[katlady]

[quote="bobsfamily"]

Originally Posted by katlady

I just read that they are suspending the act for the duration of the "problem"

That's good!! They should move the splendor to Hawaii for 7 day trips until this is over. Or Alaska/Pacific Northwest. Problem is I don't know the distance things are from each other. It's seems Vancouver is closer to San Fransciso than Long Beach. So can the ship do Seattle, Washington; Astoria, Oregon; and San Francisco with each time to get back to Long Beach? What about Victoria British Columbia is that to far? I know they could do Catalina, San Diego, and San Francisco in that time. To bad mendocino ca, or Santa Barabara don't have cruise terminals. Those would be cool stops.

[katlady]

Originally Posted by katlady

I know a ton about San Francisco. I grew up in the bay area. If any May 3 people are viewing this here are some suggestions.

You could go to alcatraz Island, it you like an art town Sausalito is a short trip for SFO. I took an Alaskan Cruise out of San Francisco if you are up for a short walk Pier 39 (fishmen's wharf) is fun.

The Red and White fleet does bay tours. The other fleet that days bay tours is the blue and gold fleet. They might be a better bet. They have the Alcatraz and angel island tours as well as Sausalito. ]If you are interested in shopping that is Union Square. You can take BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) there are catch a cab. My favorite SFO restuarants are the Stinking Rose in North Beach (little Italy) . or Yank Sing for Dim Sum. Boudin's bakery is right at Pier 39 (fishmen's wharf) has the best sourdough in the city.

I hope that helps you guys, it's a bummer what happened. But you can still have a great time if you decide to take the cruise. BTW I'm not from San Francisco's tourist office, I just saw the news and thought I could help.

Oh I thought of something else people can do in San Francisco. I was trying to find Blue Whales and sometimes they are spotted near San Francisco near the Farallon islands Different places do Whale Watching trips. Humpbacks are more common then the Blue Whales.

[green_rd]

It might make more sense to change the home port (temporarily) to SF, that gives more port options than continuing to sail out of Long Beach. Plus there is not much airfare difference between LA & SF, but adding that long trip to Hawaii really changes the cost in both money & time of your vacation.

[CA Cruiser]

Not sure what the Splendor is doing but it might follow the Mariner OS. We are booked for 5/24 and are now going to San Fran, Victoria, BC (foreign port) and Seattle. We probably are the only ones happy about it. We booked for the ship only having done Mexico many times and it isn't that great. We were planning to stay on board and let DS/DIL do their thing while we took care of GD but now we are doing the Pacific Coastal ports. We have never been to Seattle but have done the other ports and loved them.

Anyway, RCI is letting anyone cancel or rebook with no penalties, even offering OBC for rebookings. For those of us staying, we are getting $350 OBC per cabin and a nice discount on a future Mexico cruise. I don't think Carnival would do just one foreign port and the rest sea days. Good luck to those booked, I am sure Carnival will take care of you.

[ferrangi]

Boy I would love it, if the port changed to SF and the Splendor to us up north.
I live 45 min from SF and I did the Riviera last year and the 4 day encinada cruise the year before....
Of course I hope all is cleared up by the time I sail in September... but if it wasn't....

[katlady]

We have an answer to the original question. The May 3 cruise is going to Victoria, Seattle, and San Francisco. This is the same thing Royal is doing. I think Carnival made the best decision they could. Without Mexico it's hard to go to "beach" ports. They are also giving the passengers $75 per person of ship board credit. People currently booked can cancel and rebook another cruise without being charged a penalty. No refunds will be issued. It was interesting to see how the cruiselines handled this. I think they did a good job.

[Phil&Liz]

Originally Posted by spencercoop

You WILL NOT get a full refund from Carnival. It is clearly written in the contract that if you do not go to any ports all they have to give you is the port taxes back. The only option for you would be to reshedule to a different date if they let you.

True...From todays blog...
"Guests who do not wish to sail on a modified itinerary may opt to receive a refund in the form of a future cruise credit equal to the full amount paid for the voyage. The credit may be applied to an alternate sailing departing through the end of 2010. Compensation for missed ports/altered itineraries (where applicable) for guests who sail varies by itinerary.

With four and five-day cruises from Galveston and New Orleans that are being converted to seven-day voyages, those guests may opt to receive their refund in the form of a future cruise credit or money back.

For cruises departing after May 4, an update will be provided in the near future. Guests are encouraged to check carnival.com periodically for further updates."

Phil & Liz

[ferrangi]

Originally Posted by katlady

We have an answer to the original question. The May 3 cruise is going to Victoria, Seattle, and San Francisco. This is the same thing Royal is doing. I think Carnival made the best decision they could. Without Mexico it's hard to go to "beach" ports. They are also giving the passengers $75 per person of ship board credit. People currently booked can cancel and rebook another cruise without being charged a penalty. No refunds will be issued. It was interesting to see how the cruiselines handled this. I think they did a good job.

I don't know too much about this stuff, but I think they did a good job too.
Of course it's not my cruise (yet) that's been altered.