In the 2001 movie, "Moulin Rouge", the name of the groundbreaking show for the famous Parisian nightclub was "Spectacular! Spectacular!" That's also the name given to the three-deck-high main showroom of the new Carnival Splendor, and they're the best words we (Mr. Makarma) can use to help describe this beautiful cruise ship.
Last week, we had the opportunity to spend two nights onboard this incredible "Fun Ship" which will be sailing year-round seven-night cruises to the Mexican Riviera. If the last part of that sentence sounds vaguely familiar, it's because the Carnival Splendor is the second of two mega-ships to enter that market this year.
Ya see......the newest and largest ships usually ply Caribbean waters, as that region typically allows for the most varied itineraries and, as such, the greatest overall number of customers to a cruise line. Plans for the Carnival Splendor were that she was going to be based out of Fort Lauderdale for the foreseeable future. A sudden burst of competitiveness among the industry's two biggest players, however, meant that the Splendor's stay in Fort Lauderdale would be cut short, and she'd be sent "the long way" (around South America) to her new home port of Long Beach. Florida's loss is most definitely California's gain. (Lest you Floridians get upset with us, please let us remind you that the still-under-construction Carnival Dream will be calling Port Canaveral home starting later this year.)
The Carnival Splendor is a unique addition to the company's fleet. That's because she wasn't originally planned to be a Carnival ship but, rather, a sister ship to the Costa Concordia and Costa Serena. (Both Costa Cruise Lines and Carnival Cruise Lines operate under the same corporate umbrella.) Though Splendor will be very familiar (and comfortable) to those who have already sailed one of Carnival's Conquest-class ships, it also benefits by the larger spa and children's facilities presently found on its almost-sisters. You've likely seen the Carnival Splendor if you've had the opportunity to catch any of Carnival's current series of television ads starring improvisational comedian and "Fun Director" Matt Fisher.
We were very impressed by our short stay onboard. We found the food, entertainment, accommodations and service to be as good as, if not better then, that found on other members of the Carnival fleet, and superior to that of the company's mainstream competition. Most impressive to us was the ship's "Lido" dining options which, beyond the typical fare, included rotisserie, tandoori and deli stations, along with the ever-popular 24-hour pizzeria. Quantity is nothing without quality, however, but even here, Carnival more than excelled.
We experienced several examples of "above-and-beyond" customer service, but one really stood out. Shortly after we checked-in and found our cabin, we had a minor request for our cabin steward. The crew member we stopped in the hallway turned out to not be the one assigned to our particular cabin block. In situations such as this on other cruise lines, we'd either be politely reminded that our cabin steward would be in the area shortly, or we'd instead be asked to contact him or her via a telephone call to the front desk or to a paging system. Well, none of this was the case with the particular employee we had the pleasure of finding; not only did he ask us what assistance we needed, he said he'd relay the message to the cabin steward. We didn't even have the opportunity to think about our request again as, a very short time later, it was honored. That, our friends, is what customer service is all about.
Spectacular, Spectacular indeed.
Return to Makarma Travel Home Page: http://www.makarmatravel.com/
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
And what did YOU do this weekend?
No sushi again this weekend, but all is still well. First, we (Mr. Makarma) will have three opportunities this coming week to get our mercury levels back to where they belong. Second, what we did in place of consuming various raw fish and rice combinations was something much finer.
As we've noted in the past, we attend a lot of tourism-related events. Most of these functions are held during the week, in the evenings. They're generally good opportunities to learn about a new vendor or destination, but they do usually take place after a long (sometimes, really long) day behind the desk.
We were recently invited by Tourism Queensland to attend a half-day seminar on a Saturday. Not only that, the training portion was going to be followed by a "Closing Celebration." Enough said; we're there.
The function was one of the better ones we've attended. Several of the finalists from "The Best Job In The World" contest gave presentations on why they should be the temporary caretaker of an exotic island paradise. (If you're not familiar with this contest, you may want to search the websites of one of the 24-hour news channels or, alternately, drop us a line.) Following those presentations (we already have our favorite to win), we had the opportunity to meet with a number of excellent suppliers.
Now, the closing celebration was the kind of happy chaos which we clearly like - an evening at the local dueling piano bar. Well, the image of the shy Australian was clearly broken that night. ;-)
We, on the other hand, added to our professional resume. We fully expect to be signing a major recording contract soon. (You had to be there...... )
Return to Makarma Travel Home Page: http://www.makarmatravel.com/
As we've noted in the past, we attend a lot of tourism-related events. Most of these functions are held during the week, in the evenings. They're generally good opportunities to learn about a new vendor or destination, but they do usually take place after a long (sometimes, really long) day behind the desk.
We were recently invited by Tourism Queensland to attend a half-day seminar on a Saturday. Not only that, the training portion was going to be followed by a "Closing Celebration." Enough said; we're there.
The function was one of the better ones we've attended. Several of the finalists from "The Best Job In The World" contest gave presentations on why they should be the temporary caretaker of an exotic island paradise. (If you're not familiar with this contest, you may want to search the websites of one of the 24-hour news channels or, alternately, drop us a line.) Following those presentations (we already have our favorite to win), we had the opportunity to meet with a number of excellent suppliers.
Now, the closing celebration was the kind of happy chaos which we clearly like - an evening at the local dueling piano bar. Well, the image of the shy Australian was clearly broken that night. ;-)
We, on the other hand, added to our professional resume. We fully expect to be signing a major recording contract soon. (You had to be there...... )
Return to Makarma Travel Home Page: http://www.makarmatravel.com/
Sunday, March 15, 2009
What reminds you of where you've been?
O.K., here's the deal......it's Monday morning GMT and time to update the TravelBlog. The problem, however, is that we (Mr. Makarma) didn't have the opportunity to go to top-secret sushi bar this weekend. This creates two problems - we get cranky, and our creative juices just aren't what they should be.
How to get out of this funk? Well, we do what many people do - open the refrigerator and take a look-see inside. What do we find? Well, nothing less than a perfectly chilled bottle of Red Stripe. Just looking at this beauty instantly transports us to the beaches of Montego Bay and, suddenly, all is well yet again.
What reminds you of where you've been? Is it that pair of shoes you bought in Spain, the bottle of inexpensive (yet outstanding) wine you brought back from France, the case of Nutella you purchased in Italy? Could it instead be the now-empty bottle of Vermont maple syrup, the cruise line polo shirt, or the silly key chain you purchased in Seattle?
Whatever it is for you, we hope it continues to remind you both of the great times you've had, and of the ones you have yet to experience.
Return to Makarma Travel Home Page: http://www.makarmatravel.com/
How to get out of this funk? Well, we do what many people do - open the refrigerator and take a look-see inside. What do we find? Well, nothing less than a perfectly chilled bottle of Red Stripe. Just looking at this beauty instantly transports us to the beaches of Montego Bay and, suddenly, all is well yet again.
What reminds you of where you've been? Is it that pair of shoes you bought in Spain, the bottle of inexpensive (yet outstanding) wine you brought back from France, the case of Nutella you purchased in Italy? Could it instead be the now-empty bottle of Vermont maple syrup, the cruise line polo shirt, or the silly key chain you purchased in Seattle?
Whatever it is for you, we hope it continues to remind you both of the great times you've had, and of the ones you have yet to experience.
Return to Makarma Travel Home Page: http://www.makarmatravel.com/
Sunday, March 08, 2009
What's better, bad advice or no advice?
Earlier today, we (Mr. Makarma) were again reminded of why it's so important to provide the best possible information when customers trust us with their hard earned travel dollars. We were reading a daily travel blog for a major newspaper. Someone made the comment that, even though she's requested an early dinner seating on five cruises, the request was only granted once.
Various pieces of advice were given to this person; two were good, one was questionable and one was downright ridiculous. In our humble opinion......
GOOD - Use a cruise-oriented travel agent.
GOOD - Book early.
QUESTIONABLE - Book a cruise line that has an open seating policy. (This is not always practical. Some open seating arrangements are on smaller high-end cruise lines that may not be sailing where/when you want to sail. Other lines may not have as good a reputation for food, or could be very busy during the early part of the "open seating" period.)
DOWNRIGHT RIDICULOUS - The author of a famous series of cruise guides mentioned that one might want to withhold final payment until the desired seating was confirmed. Oh...brother. The one thing withholding final payment might bring about is a cancellation of your booking, and the very possible loss of your deposit. (We do, by the way, question a lot of what this particular author writes.)
A third GOOD recommendation the Q&A neglected to mention? Speak to the Maitre D' as soon as possible on the day of sailing. In every case we're aware of, the Maitre D' has posted hours (check the daily onboard schedule) where dining-related issues can be addressed. It's quite likely that the person above could have had her wish for early seating granted, possibly five out of five times, by talking to the wonderful wizards in charge of the dining room.
As one Maitre D' told us after we made what we thought was a complicated request...Nothing is impossible.
Something else that's questionable? Makarma Travel is now on Twitter. It wasn't enough that we were one of the travel industry's earliest adopters of this internet thing, we followed that with this uber-sexy TravelBlog. Now, we throw up random notes throughout the day. Recent topics we've opined about include our favorite of the new Carnival ads ("New Ship Smell") and our thoughts about the exterior design of another company's under-construction ship. Join us, or miss out on all the action:
http://twitter.com/MakarmaTravel
Return to Makarma Travel Home Page: http://www.makarmatravel.com/
Various pieces of advice were given to this person; two were good, one was questionable and one was downright ridiculous. In our humble opinion......
GOOD - Use a cruise-oriented travel agent.
GOOD - Book early.
QUESTIONABLE - Book a cruise line that has an open seating policy. (This is not always practical. Some open seating arrangements are on smaller high-end cruise lines that may not be sailing where/when you want to sail. Other lines may not have as good a reputation for food, or could be very busy during the early part of the "open seating" period.)
DOWNRIGHT RIDICULOUS - The author of a famous series of cruise guides mentioned that one might want to withhold final payment until the desired seating was confirmed. Oh...brother. The one thing withholding final payment might bring about is a cancellation of your booking, and the very possible loss of your deposit. (We do, by the way, question a lot of what this particular author writes.)
A third GOOD recommendation the Q&A neglected to mention? Speak to the Maitre D' as soon as possible on the day of sailing. In every case we're aware of, the Maitre D' has posted hours (check the daily onboard schedule) where dining-related issues can be addressed. It's quite likely that the person above could have had her wish for early seating granted, possibly five out of five times, by talking to the wonderful wizards in charge of the dining room.
As one Maitre D' told us after we made what we thought was a complicated request...Nothing is impossible.
Something else that's questionable? Makarma Travel is now on Twitter. It wasn't enough that we were one of the travel industry's earliest adopters of this internet thing, we followed that with this uber-sexy TravelBlog. Now, we throw up random notes throughout the day. Recent topics we've opined about include our favorite of the new Carnival ads ("New Ship Smell") and our thoughts about the exterior design of another company's under-construction ship. Join us, or miss out on all the action:
http://twitter.com/MakarmaTravel
Return to Makarma Travel Home Page: http://www.makarmatravel.com/
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Don't leave home without them
As we've (Mr. Makarma) noted in our recent musings, two ships have set sail (actually, one's already here) around South America toward their new West Coast home ports. In both cases, some passengers were left behind, either canceling their trips outright or catching up with the ship at a later date.
Why did this happen? It happened because these vacationers arrived for their cruise without all the required documentation - in this case, tourist visas for one of the stops along the way.
While the importance of having a U.S. Passport is necessarily stressed for most foreign travel, it's also important to note that more is required by certain countries. Almost without exception, simply choosing to remain onboard the ship is not an option; if you don't have the proper documentation, and the ship pulls into port, some law has likely been violated. That's not something a cruise line (or an airline) wants to see happen. That's why some passengers on their way to a dream vacation recently made a side trip to a consulate and dealt with the expense of a one-way flight to catch up with the ship.
Always, ALWAYS, check the documentation requirements for any foreign vacation. There are a number of resources for this information; among them, the internet, travel agencies, tourism boards and consulates. Be certain of the information you're given. The ultimate responsibility to ensure you're ready for a trip is yours; a little preparation in advance will go a long way toward smooth sailing (or flying).
Return to the Makarma Travel Home Page: http://www.makarmatravel.com/
Why did this happen? It happened because these vacationers arrived for their cruise without all the required documentation - in this case, tourist visas for one of the stops along the way.
While the importance of having a U.S. Passport is necessarily stressed for most foreign travel, it's also important to note that more is required by certain countries. Almost without exception, simply choosing to remain onboard the ship is not an option; if you don't have the proper documentation, and the ship pulls into port, some law has likely been violated. That's not something a cruise line (or an airline) wants to see happen. That's why some passengers on their way to a dream vacation recently made a side trip to a consulate and dealt with the expense of a one-way flight to catch up with the ship.
Always, ALWAYS, check the documentation requirements for any foreign vacation. There are a number of resources for this information; among them, the internet, travel agencies, tourism boards and consulates. Be certain of the information you're given. The ultimate responsibility to ensure you're ready for a trip is yours; a little preparation in advance will go a long way toward smooth sailing (or flying).
Return to the Makarma Travel Home Page: http://www.makarmatravel.com/
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