HEAVEN DIDN’T NEED A HANDYMAN

It was almost cruise time, and we were very excited. Our cruise on the Liberty had just ended on March 10, and the inaugural voyage of the Carnival Breeze was right around the corner. We had never done an inaugural cruise before, they either didn’t sail at the right time for us, or we were already booked on another cruise when the inaugural was announced. This time we were lucky, we had prior commitments in Italy in May, and it looked like we would finish with those commitments by Memorial Day weekend. No need to twist my arm, Italy is our favorite country and Venice in particular is very special to us. The new Carnival ship would be launched on June 3, and it would be easy to stay in Venice and go on the cruise. We loved our cruise last year around Italy on the Magic, and we were anxious to repeat the great experience on the new Carnival Breeze.

By April 2012, we were enjoying pictures of our first great-grandchild born in February, and anticipating our  eighth grandchild, expected in June. In few short weeks we would be heading for Italy, and Fuzz was getting the house ready for the summer. Life was routine, uneventful, and  there were no problems on the horizon.

Then the unthinkable happened. Without warning, or any prior medical problems, Fuzz went from cleaning the garage to fighting for his life in an ICU. Suddenly our life was on hold, and I was being asked  how I felt about  no CPR orders, and if organ donation was something I would consider for my husband.  A massive blood clot had passed through his heart and was now in his lungs, partially blocking the main arteries to both lungs. One day blurred into the next, as he spent days in ICU. Complications set in, and he was rushed to a bigger medical center 3 hours away. Vascular surgery and clot busting followed in what became and endless nightmare. Our daughter’s wedding day came, and we waited in the hospital for pictures of the big wedding we were missing. Our son stepped up to walk his sister down the aisle. We were very lucky, and Fuzz recovered enough to go home, only to hemorrhage again due to blood thinners.  Rushed back to the hospital, Fuzz spent another week battling the complications; and it appeared our upcoming trip to Italy might not be possible.

Soon  our prayers were answered, and Fuzz made steady progress. He was determined that our trip to Italy would still happen, and he set out to recover his strength in a few short weeks. He had cheated the grim reaper, and he beat the odds, and our trip to Italy was back on the calendar.

Fuzz has some wonderful attributes, but things like cars, plumbing, and electrical work are not talents he possesses, and he is the first to admit it. He does however give it his best effort, and from that comes some very amusing  stories.  Thankfully, I now get a chance to write one of our amusing family stories, rather than his obituary.

Fuzz hates electrical work, he readily admits he knows little about it, and efforts to improve his skills over the years, have not been very successful.  For years we had a switch in the hall that was a 3 way switch to turn the hall light on, from separate locations. One of the switches by the front door  always got stuck halfway, and then would suddenly snap on or off after quite a delay. He always commented, “that switch in the hall is breaking, I am going to have to change that soon.”

Despite being broken, it actually worked for many years. One night Fuzz came up to bed and told me; “it happened, the switch just broke completely so the hall light doesn’t work.” He explained he would take the afternoon off 3 days later so he could spend a few hours fixing the switch, and taking the time to do it right.

The afternoon came and he assembled a small chair to lay out all the tools. Of course, I was needed there to help, someone has to hand the tools over, and hold the screws. Fuzz really hates electrical work, so he is already sweating and nervous. He carefully took the switch out to see what he would need. He confirmed that he needed a switch, so he got in the car and went to Walmart. He came home with the switch, and carefully installed it. He turned it on, and behold, it didn’t work. He inspected the other switch and decided that maybe the other switch needed to be replaced as well. He got back in the car and he made a second trip to Walmart.  He returned, installed the switch, and it still didn’t work.  He shook his head and slowly glanced at the ceiling. He decided that we have lived in the house for 30 years, and it is probably the fixture in the ceiling  that was to blame. The third trip to Walmart, yielded a new fixture for the ceiling. As he stood on a small ladder, sweat appeared on his brow as he carefully replaced the fixture. He handed me the old one, stopping to take the light bulb out, and put it the new fixture in the ceiling. He climbed down, turned on the switch, and it didn’t work.

Then I asked a simple question:

“Is that light bulb good?” I asked.

“Yes, of course, it was working fine until the switch broke.”

You really have to love my handyman husband.  An entire afternoon for the project, 3 trips to Walmart, 2 new switches, 1 ceiling light fixture, and if I had found this problem three days earlier, all I would have done was to change the light bulb.

We are now days from our wonderful cruise, and every minute we both stop to think how lucky we are to be together on another cruise. This one will be very special, the cruise that gave us and chance to reflect on how lucky we are to be still together enjoying each other. We feel blessed that God decided he really didn’t need a handyman after all.

Copyright  May 24, 2012      Rita Alexandrea

CARNIVAL PLAYERS CLUB – our final chapter

Fool me once, shame on you – Fool me twice, shame on me…

Our last cruise on the Carnival Destiny was not good in the casino. Besides being delegated to “poor relative status” with the Players Club, we also lost quite a bit of money playing games there. Since we maintained our faith in the Players Club, despite the disaster with our club entitlements, we continued to play in the casino on the second leg of the back to back on the Destiny. By doing that, we passed the threshold for club entitlements on our next cruise.

Fast forward to our cruise on the Valor, a mere three weeks later, where we had high hopes that our treatment on the Destiny was an isolated incident. As I have done before, I called the Carnival Players Club to inquire about our Players Club gifts. As I explained the problems I had encountered on the Destiny, the apologies and promises spewed my way. “There will be no further problems,” the man said, and he informed me that this was not how the Players Club operated or treated their guests. Gullible as I am, I accepted this, responded with the proper customary etiquette, and then answered his questions regarding my upcoming cruise on the Valor. We were to get the “deluxe Bon Voyage package,” which we had always received up until the last cruise, and $100. The gifts would be in our stateroom upon arrival, and I was to see the casino host for the $100. The promises sounded familiar, and I tried not to dwell on what happened to me on the Destiny. Creeping into my consciousness, were prior complaints of similar problems I had heard from other cruisers, who now boycott the casino on Carnival ships, for the same reasons. Before hanging up, I requested that the man, who identified himself as Michael Bayona, Lead Carnival VIP coordinator, send me an email confirming our conversation. On the Destiny, I was told if I possessed such an email, there would be no problem, in other words, the fault was mine for not getting it in writing.

Could it happen again, despite the previous article I had written on the subject? Did the 300 plus responses I had to the article claiming identical problems with the Players Club, have any significance? Would I walk on the Valor, and in fact, be met with the same “poor relative status” as before? I wanted to believe that it was an isolated incident that would not be repeated; unfortunately my trust was a little premature. When we boarded the Carnival Valor, we did notice that the Bon Voyage package was not in our cabin. By nightfall, we knew that it would not be delivered, and like the Destiny, we were being forgotten. I wasn’t ready to find out that the promises I had been given by the Players Club, were in fact, empty promises. My mind wondered back to all those other people, the ones who had told me horror stories before the Destiny, and the 300 comments telling me never to trust the Players Club, that I received after writing the last article 3 weeks ago. I decided that the truth could wait until tomorrow, it was a 6 day cruise; why not feel special one more night before the enviable slap in the face of “poor relative status.”

I finally mustered up the courage to go down to the casino, figuring all will be well, and I could spend the evening being entertained in the casino. All was not well, and ironically the casino hosts I talked to, both studied at the “appease the guest, school of casino hosting,” the same school attended by the hosts on the Destiny. The same conversation, “don’t worry, all is well, I will send off and email and it will all be fixed by tomorrow,” occurred in this casino as well. While my name was on the “all important list,” what I was to receive was not listed. This time, I had the solution, the email confirmation sent to me by the Lead Carnival VIP coordinator, certainly that would fix everything, right? On the Destiny, it was my fault that I did not have this important proof; I had been told this would have immediately solved the problem. Well, the email didn’t immediately solve the problem on the Valor, as both casino hosts assured me that “all is well, and everything will be fine, but we still needed to send an email to the Players Club for confirmation.” I was then asked if I wanted a free drink, no thank you, spending the evening playing in the casino as I had planned, suddenly was not appealing.

So, let’s see, this is a vacation, and I am constantly told on the ship that I should relax and have fun, leave my worries at home. Why then, have I spent time on 2 different ships, not even 3 weeks apart, debating whether I am a valued guest on the ship or not? Obviously, I am not very valued in the casino, certainly I do not feel welcome enough that I would want to spend one more cent gambling there anymore. While Carnival cruises are overall wonderful vacations, they are teaching me that they really do not want me spending money on their casino.

It is becoming a “three strikes, you’re out,” issue for me.

Let’s recap:

Strike 1 - On the Carnival Magic transatlantic cruise, seat saving in the casino for friends left machines sit vacant while the people using the machines were elsewhere. The “in the bathroom” excuse meant that the casino employees sided with the seat savers and we walked out of the casino on day 4 of a 16 day cruise after the slot machines we wanted to play sat vacant, while their friends saved them. We never went back to the casino on the Magic, despite having earned 1500 points and free drinks for the rest of the cruise if we were in the casino.

Strike 2 - The Carnival Destiny back to back had me debating the gifts we were promised for 4 of the 5 days on the first cruise, finally allotting me the $75 promised after 4 frustrating days. Viewing this as an isolated event, I did use the casino extensively on the second 4 day part of our back to back cruise on the Destiny.

Strike 3 - The Carnival Valor, where again, the promised gifts never arrived and the $100 promised is now in limbo, awaiting emails. On the Destiny, we found out that the Players Club didn’t answer “important emails” for days at a time. It really seems like this will be the final chapter for us in the future in any casino on a Carnival ship. A nice relaxing time aboard a Carnival Fun Ship should never include the unfulfilled promises that are definitely occurring with their Carnival Players Club. Once upon a time, we spent very little in the casino; we knew nothing of the perks awarded to people who gambled for hours in the casino. It seems to me, that the more money, and time we spend in the casinos on Carnival ships, the more empty promises we are given. If I didn’t gamble enough to be given casino perks, I would never spend another frustrating day, or days in some cases, waiting for “royal” emails that would validate the promises I had been given.

I absolutely hate conflict in my life, especially on vacation, and the last 3 cruises we have been on, all have involved poor treatment in the casino. Three strikes and you’re out……someone really smart must have said that, and chances are, they were a former member of the Carnival Players Club at sea. For me, the Carnival Valor is the final chapter. I shall retain my “poor relative status” on Carnival ships forever, and never again will I have to spend another frustrating day being patted on the head by casino hosts and told; “all will be well, I just have to send an email….check back tomorrow”

Copyright  February 27, 2012      Rita Alexandrea

CARNIVAL PLAYERS CLUB AND POOR RELATIVE STATUS

If you cruise Carnival or any of the other cruise lines, it is likely that you are familiar with the Players Club at sea. The Players Club administers the casinos on Carnival ships and well as other cruise lines and some land based casinos as well.  Like the Spa services onboard the cruise ships, they are actually run by an outside company with casino interests in several venues.  Since we cruise very often and like to spend time in the casino on the ships, we are automatically enrolled in the Players Club at sea. That’s right; put your sign and sail card in the machine, play the game, and “presto” you are the newest member of the Players Club. Gone are the days of paper buckets filled with coins, dirty hands, scooping out piles of winning coins, and standing by while an employee fills the coin cache so you can watch you winnings come flying out the coin chute below. Now all is done from the convenience of your Sign & Sail account, making it much easier to add money to a slot machine and gamble it away.

Like everyone else, we understand the “entertainment” value of the casino, and the fact that the entire mission of the casino is to remove money from your pocket and add it to theirs. Yes, there are occasional winnings to keep you dreaming about the forthcoming windfall with your name on it, but for the most part, you are paying money to be entertained. With your “Player’s Bank” connected to your Sign and Sail card, it is now much easier to spend a little more than you intended to every time you set foot in the casino.

Now that I have added the disclaimer of why we are no different than anyone else who loses money in the casino, we can honestly put in perspective why we are given “free gifts” and incentives to keep us coming back.  We are frequently invited to lose more money whenever we cruise on a Carnival ship.  It all starts with contacting the Players Club about 2 weeks prior to your next cruise. You listen to the menu and chose the option to speak with a live person. You will be promptly told that “your call in important to us, all the operators are assisting other customers and please stay on the line on for the next available operator, or call back later.”  After being told that a few times at 2-3 minute intervals, you wonder how different it would be if my call was “not important to them.” Finally, it is your turn and you give them your name, birth date and the booking number of your next cruise, and you are promptly put on hold again to listen to the music while you wait.  Since the cashless system has come into play, all the money you put into slot machines, which ones you played, how long you played, and what you won or lost is all there in the computer for evaluation of you net value to the Players Club. Alas, the operator comes back on and tells you what your value to them actually is.  Your value to them is in the form of “Bon Voyage packages.” For us, these consist of free large bottles of water, fruit baskets, drink and photo coupons and money added to your Players Club account by the casino host.  There are additional gifts I have been told, but we have never lost enough money to get anything more than the aforementioned gifts.  This process has always gone smoothly for us, despite some horror stories we have heard from other passengers about promises not kept by the casino host once they are on the ship.  Until our cruise on the Carnival Destiny, we have always been treated well and received the “free gifts”, which amount to; some bottled water, free drink coupons, a $15 photo coupon and a fruit basket costing hundreds of dollars, depending on how you chose to look at it.

As we boarded the Carnival Destiny for our 5 day and 4 day back to back cruises, we had been told by the Players club that we would be receiving the “deluxe Bon Voyage Package” in our cabin, one for the 5 day cruise and one for the 4 day cruise. In addition to that, I was eligible for $75 credit on my Players Club account from the casino host on the first leg of the back to back cruise only.  On the phone, they made sure I understood that the $75.00 was a “one time only” gift to be given at the beginning of the first leg of the cruise.  All I would have to do was to go see the casino host when the casino opened after the ship set sail.

Simple, what could possibly go wrong? Well, this is how we went from being Platinum cruisers with Carnival and valued members of the Carnival Players Club, to being treated like anonymous “grifters’, trying to pull a scam on the casino. We suddenly became the “poor relatives”, and like we had been told by other passengers in the past, all does not go well with the Players Club and its members on occasion.

SATURDAY – The first thing we noticed when we boarded the ship and went to our cabin, was that the “free gifts” from Players Club that were usually in our cabin, were not there. At the time, we just figured that they were still delivering the gifts to the cabins and ours had just not arrived yet. After we set sail and went to our early seating dinner at 6pm, we returned to our cabin to find that nothing from the Players Club had arrived. Since we had to see the casino host for the $75, we decided to inquire when we saw the casino host. We went and asked at the casino cage and the woman at the desk consulted the list of all “important players” and notified us that we were not on the “list”. We then asked to see the casino host who came out and informed us that this sometimes happens, and it was a matter of just emailing the Players Club to clear up the omission. We were told that the Players Club, “promptly emails back”, and that she was “going right now” to generate the email. We were also told to check back in the morning.

SUNDAY – (24 hours after boarding) A day at sea and the casino was open from early morning. I participated in the slot tournament in the afternoon and checked with the casino host who was running the slot tournament about the status of my inquiry. She recognized me and told me she just emailed them “this morning” (not last night), but because it was a weekend, it was possible that I would not have an answer until Monday morning. I was assured all would be cleared up shortly.

MONDAY – (48 hours after boarding) Today was Ocho Rios and we stayed on the ship. There were no messages for us from the Players Club all day. In the evening, we went to the casino and played a few hours after dinner. Afterwards, since I had heard nothing, I again inquired at the casino cage. I was told that the casino host was there but she was not answering her page and could I come back later. I instead told her I would wait, as it was already after 9pm. Another host arrived, a man this time, and I explained my problem and what had transpired so far. While I was talking to him, the lady arrived and they both spoke to me. I was told “not to worry”, and again the excuse of “embarkation day being a weekend” was offered. I brought up the fact that today was now Monday evening, and I was told that they get many emails and it would take time for them to get to mine.  I was assured they would send notification to my cabin as soon as they heard.

TUESDAY – (72 hours after boarding) Today, we are in Grand Cayman, and we stayed onboard so I could write. Still there has been no word from the casino, and our “poor relative, not valued player” status remains. Tonight we went to the casino to inquire again, since no one actually communicates with us otherwise. Tomorrow is the last day of the cruise, and the casino host has basically mumbled something about getting us a bottle of wine to have with dinner tomorrow, and “maybe some strawberries in our cabin.” It is all they can do, we are told.

So basically we have gone from appreciated Carnival Players club patrons to pesty passengers, a roll we do not like. Finally, after giving up on the entire venture, we got a call from “Anthony” at 9:45 pm at night, telling us he managed to authorize at least our $75 Players club credit and he is working on our package for the second leg of our cruise.  The authorization apparently came from a senior host on another ship, and not the Players Club itself which seems to have completely neglected to read the emails being sent from the ship.

I guess in this day of instant communications, and complete tracking of everything I do in the casino, I would think that they would also answer emails from the ship pertaining to omission complaints from the guests they hope to keep gambling in their casinos.  After this back to back on the Destiny, I am anxious to see how this works on our future cruises.  Hopefully, publicizing our own plight with the Players Club will somehow spare another guest “poor relative status” in a Carnival ship casino.

 

Copyright  January 31, 2012      Rita Alexandrea

Desperate plea from a sinking ship….

Over the years, message boards have often existed for the sole reason of selling us something.  Be it a site for owners of RV’s, boats, ATV’s, sporting equipment, houses, condos or vacation homes, the forum is there for you to exchange ideas with unknown salesmen infiltrating the group, and posing as just another human on the other end of a keyboard.  Cruise message boards have been no different, but with the popularity of family cruising, the cruise message board has become a cut throat business. Existing freely for many years under the guise of  a group of people who all like to cruise, free enterprise and social media have made it easier to do research into a message board’s true intension and loyalties.  No one minds some revenue to the person who maintains the message board interface and makes sure it functions properly, they are providing a service that is time consuming and should be compensated. They also keep the site from becomes clogged with people looking to exploit their good fortune in finding a place where there are more potential customers with every post.  The line is crossed when they feel they are so big that they can control everyone who posts on the site and mold them into robot posters who do their selling for them.

Like the sovereign nations of history, there is always the problem of the people who have minds of their own, and start to question what they are getting in exchange for their tax money.  How different was the historical French revolution from the people who question what their online presence is helping to promote? When I visit a website, and post a comment or message on their site, who is benefiting from my patronage?  Anyone who joins facebook, plays their games, “likes” another page representing a product, or service and pulls their friends into the fold, is supporting facebook.  We all understand that, and facebook does give you ability to join and support pages that do send you to outside sites. In other words, they are smart enough to realize that by  ”allowing” you the freedom to leave “their” site without retribution, they give the illusion that they “share well with others”. We all know this, like much of the etiquette we have to use in our society when we really do not feel so gracious, people are more likely to seek out your company if they know things will maintain a pleasant course, regardless of the topic discussed. Facebook has this policy down to a science, and that is what has made it so popular.  In the past, many of the cruise message boards have allowed people to link to their facebook pages and pictures, and set up facebook chats that they can’t provide to their members.  An extension of the cruise message board roll calls, has over the last couple of years, also spawned a corresponding facebook page. This allowed people to use both, and better get to know their fellow cruisers. Since people rarely use their real name on message boards, the facebook link gave you the ability to get to know each other and to friend each other in the facebook format.  This way you could friend people with similar interests other than cruising, and you could discuss those things on facebook, without posting them on a cruise message board that saves your posts forever and refuses to ever remove them. Anyone can read public message boards, and your relatives bout with cancer that you felt you needed to vent about with one or two of your cruise friends, now has public worldwide distribution.  We have all been on roll calls where, as time passes, and people become closer, topics stray from cruising. Facebook has alleviated some of this, as these private discussions can now be shared through facebook. This has stopped pages of posts to weed through on the message board of family illness, pets, children’s report cards, and parenting advice.  In other words, the two roll calls complimented each other and allowed both to grow.  Like allied nations, they give up some of their hold on their people, to share resources and support each other in time of crisis. People with the ability to visit other places and relocate, often come home anyway. What happened to the nations too afraid to expose their people to a possibly better or different culture?  What happened to the nations that isolated themselves throughout history and kept complete control of their people? Look back in history and you will find that the people found a way to escape, except due to the retribution, they rejected their nation and never went home.

History repeats itself and I can’t think that the heavy handed warning that appeared on a cruise message board today will have its desired effect. Carefully worded as to disguise the true threatening nature of this notice, the dictators who tried to seize and seduce  nations, come to my mind.

We love Facebook just as much as you do, but effective immediately we will no longer allow the promotion of Facebook groups created for specific cruise line sailings on our ROLL CALLs.

Without going into too much detail, we feel this is in the best interest of members who enjoy participating on ********** ROLL CALLS.

If you currently have any Facebook groups listed in your online signature, please remove them.

Finally, thank you for your anticipated cooperation.

History has proven that demise gets more imminent when isolation policies are established, this has been true of nations throughout history. I’d like to share the thoughts that occured as I read this notice this morning.

We love Facebook ….we are losing a lot of revenue, and we are being pressured by our advertisers

 …just as much as you do, but effective immediately we will no longer allow the promotion of Facebook groups created for specific cruise line sailings on our ROLL CALLs.…our site is unable to compete with Facebook due to people going there for the ability to communicate free from censorship, to chat in real time and actually use links to enhance their cruise planning that we cannot stealthy control, as to direct people ONLY to OUR sponsored sites

Without going into too much detail, …..boring you with the facts you would need to realize that this message board is really an ad agency for our sponsors

we feel this is in the best interest of members who enjoy participating on ********** ROLL CALLS.….and might not realize that Facebook interface is far more useful in cruise planning

If you currently have any Facebook groups listed in your online signature, please remove them….or we will remove them for you, as there is no individual opinions allowed here, unless you put OUR opinions in your own words and post them for OUR benefit in your signature…

Finally, thank you for your anticipated cooperation.…because if you do NOT cooperate we will sanction you, suspend you, ban you,AND TAKE YOUR FIRST BORN CHILD!!

Questions/comments can be sent to me at community@*********.com….BUT THEY WILL NOT BE ANSWERED OR RESPONDED TO AND YOU WILL BE BANNED FOR QUESTIONING THE WISDOM OF THE BOARD MANAGEMENT

This gives me a choice, as it really says I must choose where to place my loyalty, and indirectly, my tax money. Let’s see, should I chose the site that “allows me” to mention another site and is not threatened by me discussing sites other than their own, or should I chose the site that threatens me for even mentioning that other sites are available to enhance my vacation?  Let me think back to history and decide which nation of the past I would have wanted to live in.  Do I want freedom and democracy, or do I want dictators with severe consequences for even wondering if there are places to live that would more fit my needs?

The proclamation has been made and I am being told I can no longer use both sites for my cruise planning. They are forcing their will on the people and with poorly veiled threats, forcing you to edit out any evidence that there might be any other roll call in existence. It is the online version of standing in front of the executioner with one last chance to save you neck by signed an alliance and loyalty to the King of the Kingdom. In the past, many people thought that freedom was worth losing their life over.  In honor of those very people, I have made my personal choice.  That is why facebook is so popular, and their cruise roll calls so much better.

copyright December 10, 2011     Rita Alexandrea

In search of Capndinghy

With two “guideline reminders”, plus one more today, signed All the best three times, I found myself wandering around cyberspace looking for Capndinghy’s (boy it’s a big ocean) Magic TA review.  It seems I have plenty of company, as cyber versions of ourselves search in vain for the talented Capndinghy’s review.

Notice of the post’s removal is front and center on another guideline reminder of mine.  I believe I barely escaped suspension for mentioning it again on the thread that now boasts many “Where is Capndinghy?” messages.  All we knew was that he was suspended by overzealous message board hosts on a message board that gets less popular as the week progresses. Actually that is not true, as people arrive for the purpose of enjoying more of his whimsical review, they find it stalled in suspension mode as Capndinghy serves out his 7 day suspension.  The views of that thread have increased into the thousands since the Capn was suspended. There are even some posts telling of his suspension that actually remain. Over the last 2 days, many people received NastyGrams from saying just that, but I suppose you can’t suspend everyone if you want to have a message board left, after all, you have banished the Man in the Funny Hats, and suspended the increasing popular Capndinghy. Those very same hosts depend on their message board sponsored groups for free travel for themselves on Carnival ships, as well as the fact that it  owned by a very large travel company.  As they suspend more people, and send out NastyGrams that make people think twice about continuing on their a site, they might want to clean house themselves.

My user page is  literally starting to seem like the principal’s office in grade school. The NastyGrams remain forever, making a site that is supposed to be a happy place for looking forward to your cruise vacation, much less inviting. We are adults, we have been told, slapped, punished and wished “All the best” for the alleged infractions, why do I have to look at them every time I use the site?  The truth is, I don’t have to look at them ever again if I leave the site and seek out another site to do my cruise planning.

The suspended Capndighy AKA Chuck

Capndinghy AKA King Chuck of the Guttersnipes AKA Chuck Carmichael, retired airline pilot for American Airlines, is doing just that.  It didn’t take long to find his continued review, reproduced in its entirety on a family run cruise message board.  Armed with my new user name and password, in seconds I was there enjoying Capndinghys (boy it’s a big ocean) review. Settling in comfortably on a new cruise message board, are the disciplined, suspended and banished members of the old “big brother” message board. The nice part is the format is very similar, and the learning curve hardly noticeable. It will be nice to open up my user page and not be punched in the face by the demerits sitting there forever and a day. I won’t have to wade through pages of message board host’s group cruises, looking for the actual conversations about cruising by the real members of the board, who are barred from including their cruise roll calls on the main page.  Sometimes it is nice though, I have to admit I purposely check the list of message board host cruises to make sure we stay clear of those particular cruises. They are the main reason we will never go on a John Heald bloggers cruise in the future. As I have said before, not all bloggers are created equal, and groups within the bloggers group itself, completely overshadow individual cruisers, making it a very disappointing cruise if your purpose was the cruise with John Heald.  We find our enjoyment is much better when he is a CD on a cruise and not completely engulfed by groups that surround him and prevent other bloggers from participating. So I suppose, that message board will still be of some value as a way to  avoid cruising with message board host groups that are recognized quickly by their narcissistic, entitlement behavior on the ship.

So now I am faced with my very first post on the new message board where I have found the popular Capndinghy. As I look at my new user page, devoid of demerits, it is hard to find the words that really convey my feelings regarding a new site to plan our cruises.  After much thought, I came up with this:

Rita

CT Junior

Join Date: Nov 2011

Location: New York

Cruises Completed: 20-24

Fav. Cruise Line:
Carnival

Posts: 1

Status: Online

---

Enjoying the review and the “surroundings”. My first post……….I’m HOME!!!! Rita

So where is this new message board where Capndinghy has made himself at home to continue his review without attack?

Here it is…..shh, don’t tell anybody…

http://www.cruisingtalk.com/index.php?referrerid=15834

copyright December 2, 2011      Rita Alexandrea

You’ve got Mail…..a NastyGram

You have received a Guideline Reminder at ********* Message Boards.

Reason:
——-
Discussion of Board Management/Post Removals – Removed

Removed.
——-

Original Post:

Quote:

Totally agree. Facebook is the future as it is truly people who are cruising minus all the restrictions based on the fact that ***** is a big travel agency, hence the selective editing/banning etc. Many of us moved to facebook so we could plan things and share ideas, something impossible on the ***** with the restrictions in place. We could post pictures, and links which are not allowed here – making roll calls on this site somewhat useless for actual planning.

**** also gives access to anyone to read the thread out of context, without meeting the people involved or actually being on the ship. That is followed by posting replies based on assumption of what transpired. If they used multiple ID’s (common practice), it will also appear as if there are 10 people agreeing with their opinion.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation,

All the best,
********* Message Boards

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This is apparently “censorship week” on the internet with multiple victims, including myself.  I received the above “guideline reminder” in the form of a message on a cruise message board site.  There to enjoy the whimsical writing of a certain Capndinghy in the form of a review from the transatlantic sailing of the Magic, I managed to run into the collective dragnet that swooped up poor Capndinghy, and halted his review pending a 7 day suspension. The fragments of the review remain, awaiting the return of the suspended Capndinghy. The rest of us only posted comments about the removal of some of the material from the review, and asked the reason for the removal. ASKING is a violation in itself, according to the moderators. Thou shall not inquire, request an explanation or comment on a decision in any way or discuss the management of the board, as my above NastyGram attests.

“All the best” - Am I wrong to consider this a mockery?

Does the IRS sign your audit notice with the same best wishes? Does the cop sign your speeding ticket  - Love and Affection – Officer Bob?

“All the best?”     It would probably be amusing if it did not imply that the balance of power in this NastyGram is not slanted in your favor.  It does however convey the condescending nature of the management of this particular message board.

Lucky for us, as I noted in the comment that was censored, there are much better sites for sharing cruise information and meeting your fellow cruisers out there. With the mounting number of cruise message board victims, the other sites are enjoying a surge in popularity.

Lucky for us, captdingy was graciously offered information on another cruise message board without such heavy handed tactics, where he can finish his great review without censorship. Abandoning ship is a metaphor for finding ourselves another cruise message board to use for sharing information and having a good time.

Misery really does love company and I apparently have enough company.  Little by little, the victims censored by the message board came limping over to facebook where they can live in peace and freedom.  Volunteer hosts granted power over others is a scary proposition.  Doling out guideline reminders by the handful yesterday, NastyGrams arrived along with the evidence of multiple missing entries in Capndinghy’s review. Entire threads also disappeared as the heavy hand of censorship came pounding down.  One can only look back into history to similar examples of censorship at the hands of the tyrants of the past to see the similarities.  Many of the other victims of yesterdays dragnet only questioned the people who were judging the material based on tidbits of information they gathered from several sources, they were not  on the cruise.  Attempts to correct the information others were interjecting into the review, were the first ones crushed by the gigantic thread eraser.  Then came the suspension of poor Capndinghy, as he transversed the walk of shame for politely defending his review. Sitting comfortably among friends, he started his review again in the free land of facebook.

Even Rome fell thinking itself invincible, and so as the internet grows and the people decide what sites they wish to spend their time on, some sites will implode and fall. Likely it will be the sites banning and suspending members,  like the talented Capndinghy and Man in the funny hats, that suffer and die. After all, the people following these popular characters will leave the site in search of their favorite fellow cruisers on a competing message board.

Now to find those two characters and think up another user name and password for the new message board.   I don’t think there will be anyone left on the old Ancient Rome message board, plus who wants to be sentenced to death by over zealous message board hosts.

copyright    November 29, 2011         Rita Alexandrea

Carnival Magic Transatlantic – cruising with invisible people

MOVE YOUR FEET – LOSE YOUR SEAT
The expression above ran our household for many years. Saved seats were not allowed, there was no discussion or exceptions, the rule applied in all situations and it applied to everyone. There were no invisible people occupying the seats; when you were not there, an empty chair was just that – an empty chair. Your possessions did not represent you when you were indeed somewhere else.
Carnival has that rule in theory; but it doesn’t really exist when you find yourself in the company of invisible people. On crowded ships, you expect some long lines and waiting in them becomes part of the routine. The people in line can been clearly seen, all shifting from side to side as the line shuffles forward and it finally becomes your turn at the front of the line. The frustrating times on cruise ships occur when you are surrounded by “invisible people”. You cannot see these people, but they are there. The empty lounge chair on the deck, the seat in the theater, the place at the table on the lido deck or the empty chair in front of a slot machine – they all “appear” empty to the naked eye, but they are in fact occupied by the “invisible” people.
On a beautiful day at sea on a ship, the deck is often filled with invisible people. That’s right, all those lounge chairs that appear vacant are really occupied. Their presence is known only by looking carefully at the chairs. Invisible people often have with them, a towel, a book, a lone flip flop, or are empty, but tied together with a towel to other chairs. You can only see the objects, but in reality, the invisible people are actually sitting there enjoying their prime piece of real estate surrounding the pool. Right under signs that declare seat saving against the rules, rows and rows of empty lounge chairs exist, with the possessions of the invisible people prominently displayed. The signs above remind people that possessions left for 30 minutes or more will be collected, making the lounge chair available for an actual passenger to enjoy. Do the Carnival employees ever actually free up that prime real estate for the people you can actually see? After all, it is their rule posted on signs and published in every daily paper on the ship. The answer is no, not only do they not remove the invisible person’s possessions, they will not side with the people who get frustrated, move the articles themselves and sit down. In reality, many of those “invisible people” are actually still asleep, eating a leisurely meal somewhere else on the ship, gone back to their cabin to change clothes, or are at the gym doing their daily workout. The idea being that they will have a chair saved when they finally return. Many times, they don’t even leave possessions on the chair, and instead leave one member of their party ready to duke it out with anyone who comes within 5 feet of the 10 chairs they have saved for “other people in their party.” It should be easy, get a Carnival employee to enforce the ship’s rule against seat saving. Unfortunately, they almost always side with the “invisible people” occupying the chair, even if it has been hours since anyone actually sat there. The people who are arrogant enough to save seats in this fashion, already know that the excuse “in the bathroom” is a free pass to holding an empty chair for invisible people. They know that Carnival employees always side with the people “in the bathroom.” The name “chair hogs” has been applied to this widespread problem on cruise ships.
On the transatlantic voyage of the Carnival Magic, the multiple sea days on the crossing really make the problem of saving seats around the ship a major problem. Luckily, I cruise to write so finding a quiet place with my computer is not a problem. I am rarely in search of a piece of prime real estate, so the invisible people around the ship are rarely in places I want to sit. Unfortunately, during writing breaks, my husband and I have gone in search of some of the multiple sources of entertainment available on the ship, that is where we have encountered the “invisible people”.
In one 24 hour period on the Carnival Magic TA, we were turned away from every entertainment and food venue we tried to attend. Thank goodness for our assigned seat in the dining room at 6:00pm. That was the only place we did not encounter someone telling us we could not sit in an empty seat due to someone else saving it. The first problem occurred at the lunch meal, where we wandered around with our filled plates, unable to find a seat. All the tables were occupied, many by people, not eating but playing cards, dominoes or reading a book. We ended up finally returning to our cabin to eat our lunch. The next problem occurred in the theater. After looking in and seeing many seats available, we went in search of a seat. Every time we sat down somewhere, we were quickly told someone was sitting there. The “invisible person” was always “in the bathroom.” That is an excuse frequent cruisers who save seats know Carnival will always accept. The amusing thing was despite the 50-60 empty seats we were told were occupied by people “in the bathroom”, the bathrooms were empty. In theory there should be 50-60 people in the bathroom. I guess the invisible people in the seats are also invisible when they are in the bathroom. Unable to find a seat, and with the fact that my husband would not be able to stand that long, we left – another venue unavailable to passengers on the ship. Saved seats assure that one person can save seats for many of their friends pursuing other activities throughout the ship, and the seats will be available minutes before the show starts. Sometimes the people never make it to the show and the saved seats go empty.
Our last encounter with invisible people was in the casino. We had seen the scams in the casino going on since day 2 of the cruise. One group of five women all gambled on one woman’s card until she achieved 1500 points. That milestone is the point at which Carnival gives free drinks to the card holder for the duration of the cruise in the casino. After that day, the five women could be found sitting very close together. They very slowly played penny machines at the bare minimum to pass the time at the machine. The woman with the free drink card ordered drinks and promptly passed them to the other four women who were also feeding the penny slot machines at the slowest rate possible. That meant that they no longer had to really play the machine, they could sit together drinking for free while they threw a bit of money in from time to time to justify sitting at the slot machine. I took a break from writing to play in the slot tournament that I enjoy, but always lose. This was the second slot tournament of the cruise and during the first one, as we waited, we saw the “invisible slot machine players.” Since there are many rounds played in the qualifying slot tournament, each lasting  5 minutes, seat savers held other slot machines while their friend played a qualifying round and then returned to their regular slot machine that had sat vacant for 5 minutes. Then the other person would go play and their seat would be saved as well. Since this is clearly not allowed, it was quite frustrating for the people waiting to play a particular machine.
There was one machine that I enjoyed playing during my writing breaks and despite losing enough money myself to qualify for the free drink program, I continued to play the machine much to Carnival’s benefit. Unable to play due to others using the machine, I was happy to see that the machine was vacated when a woman left the machine to play a round of the slot tournament. As I began to sit down to play the machine, the women sitting at the next machine said “my sister is sitting there.” Of course, the machine was not being used and the seat was empty which means no money is being made at that machine from Carnival’s point of view. No problem, a casino employee would certainly clear up the problem and explain that seat saving of slot machines was not allowed. I then recognized the 4 of the 5 women from the drink scam. As they stared me down and told me their sister went to the bathroom, they pointed out her card in the vacant machine. The casino employee then appeared and I asked to use the vacant machine. Did he rule in my favor or in the favor of the “invisible sister” who I had seen walk over to play her round of the slot tournament? Would the machine sit empty and unused until she came back to join the other 4 in the drink scam. Would I, the stupid slot player who had already collected 4000 points in a few days in losses in the casino, get to loss some more money at the machine? The woman promptly played the “in the bathroom card” one more time and the casino employee told me that the machine was being used by the “invisible sister” and I could not use it.
So despite cruising 6 or 7 times a year on Carnival ships, on this TA cruise we had been unable to eat our meal on the Lido deck, unable to use the deck loungers, unable to see the show and unable to use a machine in the casino due to the presence of “invisible people.” Since I had been in the habit of taking my writing breaks in the casino on sea days, and I am a poor gambler who loses a lot of money to Carnival’s benefit, the decision by that casino employee was a costly one for Carnival. The 4000 points I earned in losses the first few days of the cruise, probably would have been repeated every few days for the duration of the cruise, adding quite a bit of revenue for Carnival. Instead, after being chased from the slot machine, I chose to boycott the casino for the rest of the trip, which was a total of 10 days that I would not be playing a slot machine in the casino. I also skipped the last slot tournament of the cruise, something I never would have done. That saved a lot of money from our set aside “casino budget”, as my husband boycotted the casino as well.
I decided to take my future breaks from writing in the gym, where at no cost to me, and no revenue for Carnival, my sign and sail card, sat unused in my pocket while I burned “calories consumed” on a machine instead of money. The four ladies and her “invisible sister” continued to be seen in the casino, drinking away and throwing enough pennies in the machine to justify being there. Our usual trip at the end of the cruise to tip the casino staff was also cancelled, as after 10 days of bypassing the casino, the staff there was a distant memory.
MOVE YOUR FEET – LOSE YOUR SEAT, might be a much fairer way to operate the venues on a cruise ship. Writing, relaxing and historical research is my main reason for cruising and that can still be enjoyed at no further cost to me. Not a great business benefit for Carnival, but why waste time attempting to attend events listed in the Funtimes paper or announced over the PA system. These things are for the “invisible passengers”, not the real passengers. We will now make our own fun, relax and leave our sign and sail account devoid of any purchases. Let the “invisible people” be the ones who spend the money on the cruise ship, after all in a dispute, we have now learned, the Carnival employees will always side with the “invisible people” in the bathrooms.
Despite all, we had a wonderful, but rocky time on the Carnival Magic. The storms at sea during the crossing were actually quite spectacular, and my historical sailings during the 1700’s in my books just came together as I sat and watched the storms, safe in the fact that it was a 2011 ship and not a 1700’s sailing ship.
Now if they could finally conquer the “invisible people” problem on the transatlantic crossings, that would definitely be a big plus for the joy of sailing across the sea.

copyright    November 10, 2011          Rita Alexandrea