We were suposed to be on the Liberty this week.
What I failed to mention is that we were sailing with another couple and their son. We cancelled because of the Hurricane Sandy/ cancelled school vacation situation. They pulled their son out of school and went on the cruise.
He called from St. Thomas yesterday.
And all I heard were the negatives.
At my suggestion they flew down to Miami the day before the cruise. I am so glad I did that . . .their flight was delayed 4 hours and one of their suitcases was temporarily lost ( note to self -- tell her to pack a bathing suit and some clothes in her carry-on next time, it will reduce panic if luggage gets misplaced.)
The weather wasn't good on their first sea day. They missed Half Moon Cay because the seas were too rough to tender.
He was doing laundry while he was talking to us, because they were going through clithes faster than he anticipated, and because son had a bad nosebleed one night.
And then there was the "tips" problem. Carnival automatically bills passengers for tips for the cabin steward and his staff, etc. It's one of the big topics over at Cruise Critic, and I am fairly certain it's mentioned in the cruise documents. I know we paid the tips when we sailed three years ago. It wasn't an issue for us.
Apparently our friends didn't link their Sail N Sign account to a credit or debit card, and deposited cash into the account instead. Sge ordered a drink at dinner and her card was declined. Seems the tips for all three of them were added to the account, thereby depleting the account. He swears he was never charged for tips when they sailed two years ago.
He did say they were having fun, that he loved St. Thomas. When he sailed two years ago he hated Jamaica because the locals were too aggressive in trying to sell souvenirs to tourists, but "St Thomas isn't like that, it's beautiful."
Really, all his did was moan and groan, and focus on the negative.
I hope the rest of their cruise is fun and problem- free.
