Silly me, I imagined the poor passengers would be taken straight away to a hotel IN Mobile! Maybe there are not enough available rooms in Mobile. The bus trips sound just terrible. I bet some people rent cars and drive themselves to wherever they want to go. I could not be captive on a bus. Bet Carnival won't reimburse the passengers for their rental cars and hotel rooms they book on their own.
I haven't sailed on
Carnival since the late '80s, but I'm sure that they already have contracts with hotels in New Orleans and Houston since those are port cities where pre/post-passengers frequently stay. DH and I mostly sail with
Princess, and they offer pre/post-cruise accommodations that are not always the most convenient to the port or in nice areas where there are shops, restaurants, etc.
Carnival most likely has their own flight program where they make your flight arrangements that might offer somewhat lower fares than booking on your own, through a TA or online service, but passengers are usually scheduled on flights that aren't convenient, i.e. non-stops. Similarly to
Princess, Carnival probably also has pre-arranged bus transportation in its port cities to shuttle passengers to/from airport/hotel to ship.
I'm wondering now how long it will take for these passengers to receive their refunds and $500 bonus check. I wouldn't hold my breath
as it could take several weeks or even months. :moo:
I suspect that many passengers opted out of
Carnival's transportation and hotel accommodations and stayed in Mobile. I also doubt that all passengers will use
Carnival's pre-scheduled flights if they can get home quicker or more expeditiously from
Mobile.
