Carnival Paradise–Seminar at Sea
Seminar at Sea aboard the Carnival Paradise four day Catalina, Ensenada and a day at sea out of Long Beach lead by Kelly Balfour Business Development Manager from Oregon. Overall great experience well worth the time and money spent. Great ideas from Kelly as well as advice from some salted veteran travel agents are sure to make the seminar pay for itself. The following is meant more as a review of the experience than a summary of the training…
Monday: Arrived LAX from SFO about 10:30, Carnival Greyhound transfer to Long Beach, waited until about noon for bus. Arrived at port about 12:30. Long line at port. Went to the Queen Mary hotel and wandered around ship. The QM was a bit of a ghost ship midweek. Most shops and restaurants were open. No lines. Ate lunch at the Promenade Cafe. Clam Chowder was great. Pasta was salty. Line was down a bit by 2:30, but still took over an hour with line outside, line at counter, line for photos and line on gangway. Kelly suggested early check in at the Queen Mary available prior to 11:00 though supposedly was open until after noon that day. I realized later that if I had arranged my own transportation from the airport I could have checked in early and avoided a lot of waiting.
7:00 reception, met several agents and BDM. 8:00 dinner. Most agents had the later seating but some had chosen early and since they hadn’t responded to Kelly, they did not join the 8:00 main group.
Food in the main dining room was consistently tasty, but was rarely hot. I found it quite good, but a few others were very disappointed in the temperature of the food. Lunch was great in the dining room, but is available on the “fun day at sea.” If you want fresh omelettes in the morning, chose the Lido grill. Alternate dining options were on a strict schedule. Sometimes there was only pizza and room service. Hamburgers and sandwiches were often available. Other times there were buffets with a variety of options. Sushi when available was very popular.
I signed up for 1 hour Internet plan. Kiosks were slow. My laptop was slower. I gave up on connecting via wi fi and just used kiosks from e-mail… keeping messages short. First one hour plan came with 10 free minutes. Second time the manager of the internet lounge gave me an additional free hour, which was plenty of time for casual e-mail.
I opted for the soda card. I was a little surprised that the $5.50 per day “tax and gratuity will be included” meant a charge close to $28 for four days. Since the last day I didn’ t have the opportunity to use it at all, the cost comes to more that $9 per day used. That’s probably about the break even point for me and my soda consumption. I would have spent about that had I ordered and paid by the glass.
Key only cards are available from the purser. I had to get one when I locked my sign and sail card in the stateroom. I think you can have a restricted sign and sail card issued as well, which along with a soda card could be a good choice for kids, if you are concerned about members of your party charging too much on your credit card.
Tuesday: First day in Catalina was a free day. I was the 5th one off the ship grabbing the first tender at 8:05. My wait was less than 5 minutes. I wandered around town for about two and a half hours until my feet were sore. Great walks. People’s attitude about the fire was great. There was still some burning in the canyon, but the town of Avalon had been spared. The owner of a kayak shop said her kayaks in storage in the canyon were all lost, but now she had a great multicolored plastic sculpture which she intended to put on display. Signs all over town thanked the firemen, policemen and all who helped in the fire. Again, no wait for early 10:30 tender back to ship. Rode the water slide, sat in the Jacuzzi, had lunch and took a nap. Found the launderettes to iron shirts and got ready for formal night.
Launderettes are not on the deck plans but there is one across from E2 and another across from U152, I think. They are listed in the binder in the stateroom and marked by a sign in the hallway and on the doors. There are coin operated washers and dryers irons as well as ironing boards. Captain’s reception was ok. Formal night lobster and shrimp was great. Show was later on formal night and enjoyable.
Wednesday was an hour and a half training on groups followed by free time at port in Ensenada. I didn’t bother with money exchange. There was time for shore excursions, but I just took the $2 shuttle into town and figured it was as easy to walk back to town as wait for a shuttle and pay $1 for the return. I wandered for several blocks poking my head in a number of restaurants including some listed by Carnival such as “Papas and Beers.” Most places had drinks and chips on the table. I settled for El Charro, which had rotisserie chicken in the window and plenty of people eating. A soft drink, chips, salsa, guacamole and a plate ofchicken tacos with beans and rice came to a whopping $10. Bought a belt. Walked back to the ship and saved a buck.
Took a nap. Went to the gym. Got a massage. Spa was fine. Massage as good as some I’ve had back home, but hated the sales pitch for oils and lotions afterward. Dinner of short ribs was fantastic.
Dessert menu had some really good choices available every night including a melting chocolate cake that combines well with an order of ice cream. A variety of dessert options were available for purchase at the cafe. Many of the choices showed up on the dinner menu as well. Don’t be afraid to order the cheese plate as a course during your meal. The cheese also combines well with the fruit plate. Each night the at the end of the meal, the lights would dim and flash a bit and there would be a short presentation by the maitre d’.
There were 3 movie channels. Each channel had a movie that played continuously around the clock for 1 day. It was a little disconcerting when it was time to change to the next day’s movies. All the channels changed over to the new movie, whether or not the current playing of the movie had finished. Seemed to be two or three Carnival channels, so even if you miss the Captain’s reception or disembarkation talk, it was easy to catch up.
Main training was Thursday. Very informative. Kelly had a lot of advice on marketing, working with non-profits, reviewed ships and discussed move toward subdued decor and lighting away from neon and clashing bright colors. The onboard groups coordinator met with us for about a half hour answering questions.
One communication option was to have flyers delivered to group members at about 10 cents a copy plus $1 per delivery per stateroom. Group manifests could be requested with updated staterooms. Staffing a hospitality desk could provide a point of contact from group. Meeting space and equipment should be requested and arranged ahead of time. There were many meeting room options from small bars such as Rex or Leonardo, the Queen Mary Lounge for large groups or even the Normandie Theatre for half ship charters.
The seminar was well worth the time and money. Rather that try to summarize the whole training, let me encourage you to attend a seminar. I also got great advice from some of the old salted TAs in attendance about charging fees, upselling and diversifying revenue. The Seminar at Sea was a great way to network with other agents.
Friday–I chose to carry my own luggage out for disembarkation, waiting in the Internet Lounge where I was told to wait by the purser’s office the night before and was also listed in the disembarkation guidelines. Turns out the line was forming down the hallway. I may have disembarked a few minutes earlier had I known, but I still made the first transfer bus to LAX leaving port at 8:00am. Got in to LAX about 8:30.
Staff were courteous. Service great. Ship was clean. Oceanview stateroom was quiet and comfortable if somewhat spartan. Comfort beds and bedding were great. Plenty of hangers, closet space, towels racks and hooks for clothes.
Carnival vacation club is defunct but SeaMiles Credit Card was heavily promoted.
The 4 day mid-week voyage was tame. There were some heavy drinkers ordering double buckets of beer and such, but I didn’t come across anyone out of hand. The only hooting and hollering I found was in a few bars in Ensenada. My cabin (R32) was next to the quads section, but except for one short episode of a child crying on afternoon, I didn’t hear any of my neighbors. I slept fine each night until about 7am.