Eric Holen

This is an open letter to Gerry Cahill, the CEO, and John Heald, Senior Cruise Director, for Carnival Cruise Lines.

Yvette, my wonderful wife of almost 15 years, and I are getting ready to embark on our 8^th Carnival cruise.  However, unless Carnival Cruise Line corrects some, in my opinion, very basic issues, there may not be a 10^th, 15^th or 20^th Carnival cruise.

Something in the Water

It doesn’t matter how many times I think about visiting the gym while on the cruise, it seems that I gain a little weight.  I am almost positive that Carnival puts something in the water that causes me to gain a little weight.  I can assure you it’s not my fault.  I am careful at the breakfast buffet, morning brunch, lunch buffet, afternoon snack, multiple course dinner, 24 hour pizzeria, and free room service.  So I know it’s not me.  It must be something that Carnival puts in the water that causes me to gain a little weight every cruise.

Room Service, To the Extreme

Yvette and I have stayed in several hotels and even a resort.  Carnival’s habit of cleaning your room twice a day is taking it to the extreme.  I am used to someone coming in and cleaning our room once a day.  But the twice a day service that we get on Carnival Cruise Lines is just downright excessive.  The pair of dirty socks on our bedroom floor has not moved for two days.  But if we had been on a Carnival Cruise ship, they would have magically been transported somewhere.

Rumpy Pumpy, Lack Thereof

One of Yvette’s chief complaints with any of our cruises is the lack of let’s say marital relations.  It seems that with all of the onboard activities and shore excursions that I am often too exhausted to do anything but sleep in our cabin.  This is certainly having some impact to our marital bliss.  Here we go on a wonderful cruise and then . . . nothing.  Carnival really needs to look at cutting back on the fun activities so I have some energy left at night, when it counts.

Tuck In Service

I hear that on some other major cruise lines, which I will not mention here, have an option to have your children tucked in at night by some costumed character.  Where is this service for adults on Carnival Cruise Lines?  Having visited the bridge on a Behind the Fun tour in December 2010, I know that there are some handsome Italian officers available to tuck in my wife at night.  While they are tucking in my wife, why can’t I get one of those showgirls to tuck me in?  A tuck-in service would go a long way to compete with those other lines.

So, Gerry Cahill and John Heald, if you expect us to book our 10^th, 15^th or 20^th cruises, you need to correct these very basic issues with your service

Yesterday, I checked us in, using Facebook Places, to Railroad Bar-B-Que for their all-you-can-eat catfish. I hadn’t given it much thought, since I had checked Yvette and I into other restaurants in the past. I shared with Yvette that one of her Facebook friends had already “liked” the check-in. That’s when Yvette commented that she was concerned with others who might see my check-in.

Yvette has been going to Elite BodyWorks for the last three months. Three days a week, she gets an intensive workbook from Kaci or Stephanie, her torturers trainers. They have been working to help Yvette’s overall health and reduce her insulin intake, by working with her on diet and exercise. Yvette was concerned that they might see my post about where we were eating.

So as a disclaimer, whenever I check Yvette and me into a restaurant, anyone who is monitoring should know that Yvette always eats the healthiest items on the menu. That includes the occasional Tuesday when Yvette demands begs asks, I drag her to dollar scoop Tuesdays at Baskin-Robbins.

On a side note, the catfish on Railroad Bar-B-Que tasted great, the sides not so much. However, it was on the expensive side and we aren’t likely to go there again.

I need to preface the title of this post by saying that except for the actions of two individuals, I was pleased with the service U-Haul provided.

In February, in the week preceding Presidents’ Day, Yvette drove to El Paso to visit family and prepare her mom, Elisa, for moving back to Kyle to live with us.  Due to work obligations, I flew in a couple days later.

Elisa had arranged to rent an auto transport through a local U-Haul neighborhood dealer.  She worked out all of the details and arranged to pay over $300 cash when we picked up the trailer.

A couple days later, Yvette and I went to pick up the auto transport.  Elisa would arrive separately, so we waited around for a few minutes.  When she hadn’t arrived, Yvette and I offered to pay for the trailer with our debit card.  First Red Flag.  The owner said that if we paid with a debit card, then he would have to rewrite the entire contract and remove the cash discount.  Since Yvette’s mom was paying for the rental, we declined and waited.

When Elisa arrived, she handed over the cash to the owner and signed the contract.  Then the owner printed up the U-Haul receipt.  Second Red Flag.  The receipt showed that rental was over $120 less than the contract amount and that she would be refunded the difference.  Then the owner gave her a second hand written receipt showing that he had kept the extra money as his commission.

At the time, Elisa didn’t think much of the transaction.  She gave me the contract and receipts since I would be pulling the auto transport.

The trip back to Kyle was uneventful.  The day after we arrived, I returned the auto transport to a full-service U-Haul location.  I showed the two receipts to the U-Haul representatives who agreed with me that there was a problem.

A couple days later, I called U-Haul’s toll-free customer service number.  The wonderful customer service representative spent almost 20 minutes taking down all of the details of the transaction, admitting that something was not right, and apologizing for the behavior of the neighborhood dealer.  After that transaction, I felt that the issue would be resolved.  The call ended with the representative telling me that someone would follow up on the investigation.

Two days later, I received a voicemail from the El Paso area representative for U-Haul.  He didn’t leave his last name, or even identify his title.  I found out he was the area representative after I called him back.  The one conversation I had with him went something like this “Mr. Holen, I understand you had a problem with one our dealers. . . The amount she paid was correct . . . I am following up with the dealer.”

It has been almost a month and I have not heard back from the U-Haul El Paso area representative since that one call.

The auto transport worked just fine.  The staff at the Austin U-Haul drop off location provided good service.  The U-Haul customer service representative who took my initial complaint over concerns that my 64 year old Hispanic mother-in-law had been taken advantage of was wonderful.

However, the El Paso neighborhood dealer and the U-Haul El Paso area representative who seemed to discount my complaint overshadowed the entire transaction and my view of U-Haul as a company we can trust.

It’s been just over a week since Yvette and I returned from our 7th cruise, this one aboard the Carnival Ecstasy. I hope to provide a review of the cruise later, but in this post I am going to share my experience taking the “Behind the Fun” guided ship tour.

The tour is relatively new, just 18 months old. I first had and missed the opportunity to take the tour on last year’s cruise. Unfortunately, I forgot about the tour until I saw the group forming up to start and by then it was too late. Due to the nature of the tour and the areas we visit, the group is limited to just 16 people. This year I left nothing to chance and booked it just after we embarked. The tour cost $55 per person and occurred on the last sea day. Yvette chose not to go and instead spent the time relaxing.

The tour met at 9:30 AM in the Explorer’s Club library on deck 8 – Atlantic. They had coffee and pastry waiting for us as well as our honorary team member all access badges. I had some coffee, but skipped the pastry. The tour was conducted by the ship’s training manager. In her position, she is responsible for all general training activities across the ship including: new crew orientation, safety, language, customer service and management. After a brief orientation, they confiscated all cameras and cell phones, for those who had not read that they were not allowed on the tour. Then a security officer passed a hand scanner over us to verify that we were not hiding anything. He left, but would join up with the tour later and escort us through two highly sensitive and secure areas.

From the library, we headed to the Blue Sapphire lounge where the dance captain walked and talked us through the stage and the women’s dressing room. Regrettably there were no women getting dressed at the time. From there, we headed through the Wind Star dining room into the galley. It was interesting to pass by people eating breakfast and were probably wondering where the group was headed.

Yvette and I had taken the galley tour a few years ago when it was offered to everyone. They have since stopped doing the large tour to reduce the chance of spreading any illness through the galley. In this tour I learned that everything is electric (no flame) for safety, which includes the grills. While many cold items like salads are prepared in advanced, hot items are prepared when they are ordered. This made me feel a little guilty, but just for a second, knowing that I sometimes customized my dinner. Carnival is rolling out a computerized ordering system, like those found in land-based restaurants, but the Carnival Ecstasy didn’t have it yet. This means that the team waiters have to get from the tables to the galley to turn in the food orders.

After the galley, we headed off to see the food stores including a walk-in refrigerator, walk-in freezer and the liquor storage locker. While they have a machine that peels potatoes, all of the other fruits and vegetables are peeled by hand. I also found out that except for milk and eggs, almost all of the food is shipped in from Miami which helps with quality control as well as reducing costs.

Next we headed off to the laundry to see the large washers, dryers and folding machines. We started using the long crew corridor that stretches the length of the ship to get to the different areas. I think our guide referred to it as the I-5. We also saw the crew training center/computer lab. Except for the portals looking out to the water, it was similar to a land-based training center, even having several familiar management books on the shelves. I learned that every single crew member has to know how to launch one of the life rafts and is subject to quizzing by the U.S. Coast Guard.

We took a brief break in the one of the crew dining rooms where we were told that new wait staff learn the ropes in the crew dining rooms before moving on to the Lido restaurant and then finally getting to serve in the main dining rooms. At some point we also met the environmental officer who discussed ship recycling and waste management. We also saw the marshalling area where supplies and luggage are brought on the ship.

The security officer joined back up with us and we headed to the engine control room, which was behind two different secured doors and covered by video cameras. This by far was my favorite part of the trip, due in part to the Chief Engineer who enthusiastically discussed engine operations. The Carnival Ecstasy has six generators, four large and two small. When in port, one generator can power the entire ship, but for safety a second generator is always on standby. The engine control room had a large floor to ceiling display board that monitored every aspect of the ship’s operations and power production and usage. The Chief Engineer also talked about propulsion and how we had to change docks in Cozumel because even at full power the ship had struggled against the wind.

We headed up to the bridge where one of the officers, not the Captain, walked us through bridge operations including the control stations, radar, and communications. He is the one in uniform just to the left of the control station in the picture. Then the Captain joined us, answered a few more questions and we took a group picture. The security officer was with us again on the bridge.

Finally we wound through the bow of ship and through the crew bar before finishing up at the Neon piano bar. We finished off by taking a short survey, turning in our access badges, but collecting a “Behind the Fun” baseball cap, rubber wrist band and lanyard. The picture was delivered to our cabins that evening.

I like operations and seeing how things function; the tour did not disappoint. I will likely take the tour again when Yvette and I sail on a different and bigger ship.

Behind the Fun tour group photo on the Carnival Ecstasy Bridge in Dec 2010

Yvette and I have been tent campers for almost 12 years now.  For the last few years, we have gone tent camping with a great group of friends two or more times a year.  However, as we get older, the thought of camping in a trailer starts to sound like a better option.  We had been looking at different trailers, but then started to wonder whether trailer camping would be as fun as tent camping.  So we decided to rent a trailer and try it out a few times before making a purchase decision.

While looking through Craig’s List, we came across a couple who are trying to sell their trailer, but were renting it in the interim.  The only downside is that they would only set it up on one of three parks around Granger Lake outside of Taylor, Texas.  After giving it a few seconds thought, Yvette and I decided to try out the rental.

Out of the three parks that were available, we ended up selecting Taylor Park because it had several hiking trails and two old bridges.

On Friday (Mar 5), we packed up all of our camping equipment, except our tent, and drove north towards Taylor.  For lunch, we stopped at Louie Mueller Barbeque in Taylor.  A friend from the Kyle Fire Department had recommended the location.  We walked in, grabbed some menus and sat down.  That was the clue to the “waitress” that we had never been there before.  She directed us to the counter so that we could get in line.  We were just in time because by the time we got our food, the line stretched to the door.  While the BBQ was very tender, it wasn’t our favorite because it lacked flavor.  In addition, their sauce did not add much.

After lunch, Yvette and continued our drive through Taylor to the Taylor Park campground in Granger.  We checked in at the gate then drove to our site. The site that we selected had a great view of the lake as well as quick access to the trails.

At exactly 2:00 PM as scheduled, David, the trailer’s owner, drove up with a 28 foot 5th wheel camping trailer.  We were impressed.  Not only was it big, but the inside and outside looked great.  David had the trailer setup in less than 30 minutes and then walked us through, explaining the features.

Once David drove away, Yvette and I proceeded to unpack our SUV and move into the trailer.  Once we were moved in, Yvette and I took a walking tour of the campgrounds.

We walked down one of the feeder trailers that led directly from our site to the walking trail.  From there, we explored the beach and then Hoxie Bridge, one of two old bridges in the park.

After making a full walking trip around the park, we returned to our camping trailer to settle in for dinner.  After a dinner of fajitas, we stepped outside and sat around a camp fire, one of the first that we had to build ourselves.  In the past, we had left campfire building in the capable hands of our friend Dallas, so it was a challenge and learning experience for us.  When it got too cold, we returned to the trailer, played some games, and crawled into our warm bed.

On Saturday morning, I got up before Yvette and baked, not fried, hash browns in the oven while cooking eggs on the stove.  We spent the day relaxing, reading outside while listening to the sounds of nature, playing games, and watching some movies.  Then we took a drive around Taylor and Granger, and even stopped at Granger Dam. 

In the afternoon, I took a 90 minute hike along the Comanche Bluff Trail, which included a view of the Friendship Bridge, the second of the two older bridges in the park.  I had to cut the hike short when I ran into a lot of mud.  On my next trip, I hope to hike the entire 3.2 miles one way.  For dinner, Yvette baked steaks because we forgot to buy charcoal.

The next morning, I fixed Yvette some “camping” French toast, which means that it was regular French toast without our sugar-free syrup, which we did not pack.  Following breakfast, we played some more games and then started packing and cleaning up.  At 2:00 PM sharp, David showed up to pick up the trailer.

Yvette and I agreed that while we are not giving up tent camping, we love trailer camping.  Waking up in a comfortable bed versus and air mattress that had lost some pressure in the night was nice.  Getting up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night without having to put on sneakers was also a benefit.  Given the March weather, it was nice to being able to enjoy the campgrounds and then retreat to the warm trailer when it either started raining a little or got colder.

We are already planning another camping trailer trip in April for our anniversary.  What’s interesting is that renting the trailer had an unintended revelation.  Renting a trailer seems like it might be a lot less expensive then actually buying and maintaining our own trailer.  We’ll have to see if that affects our purchasing decision.