We have two teenage daughters who have a little more social skills than to
have their face stuck to 'puter games. If our children were so ungrateful
to complain about video games on a cruise, we would not take them on a
cruise again. Not to mention they would be removed from all other
privileges that would earn them videogame privileges at home. A cruise is a
great opportunity to un-plug kids from a tv or a computer and to see the
world as it is.
Frank
wrote in message
news:1142964353.425232.56880@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com...
> My son (a 13 year old ["tweenage" in marketing terms]) contacted
> Carnival for teen related activities. Carnival faxed from another ship
> a recent teen schedule and roster of activities that included
> "Playstation 2" game play. When our tweenage boy got on board and found
> that only $0.25/per play old style (and I do mean "old") arcade games
> were available (as opposed to "current" generation multi-player
> "Playstation 2" games he really felt betrayed and "trapped". (Note PS2
> was released in March '2000, about the time the ship first launched;
> the PS1 had been out for several years before then. Who designs these
> ships?) Though he enjoyed some of the other activities (water slide and
> on shore excursions, for example) he still spent more than half of the
> trip holed up in our inside cabin watching the "movie of the day" ...
> which he could have done at home for a lot less $$$. His take on
> another "fun" ship cruise .... "you've got to be kidding .... not
> interested". [BTW, trivia and bingo are NOT tweenage activities ...]
>
> Carnival Victory should cut in half their arcade space and replace it
> with sets of multiplayer networked video games (maybe a couple of sets
> of Sony Playstations, and two sets of Microsoft xBoxes) They could sell
> a "fun video game" card for access to that section of the ship to
> "monetize" the investment and offer prizes for winners (one networked
> set of players trouncing another network set of players). If Carnnival
> really wanted to get "in play" they could offer a specialized satellite
> access to some of the world largest massively multiplayer role play
> (MMRP) games. For example "World of Warcraft" has 12 million players on
> line at any time. (Again, is anyone under the age of 30 at Carnival
> paying attention to tweenager amusement?!!)
>
> Shifting gears, my wife and daughter (21) enjoyed the trip considerably
> though our expectations were quit different. We just want time away
> from appointments and classes to eat well, relax and read (or in my
> case to "study" programming as a hobbyist using my laptop).
>
> My main frustration. After searching extensively I found only two
> places on the entire ship with access to 110v electrical receptacles
> (ship was made in Italy) and with a chair, table and view of the deck
> (from which to watch the parade of people, ports and ocean views) ....
> AND NEITHER of them were close enough to the internet cafe to obtain
> the ship's Wi-Fi network signal. As I progressed though the software
> tutorial every couple of hours I had to walk back to the internet cafe
> area before I could go on line to post questions, lookup answers,
> download sample code, find knowledgebase articles, etc. What a pain.
> Carnival really needs to place a couple of Wi-Fi repeaters (they're
> cheap; less than $100 each) near the front and back ends of the
> Lido/Promenade decks in order to "extend" the reach of the internet
> cafe.
>
> On the plus side the food and related service was fantastic, the cabin
> was quite serviceable, the steward and the cleaning folks did a
> sterling job. I as really impressed with their cheery greetings
> whenever we passed them in the halls. The extras (towel "animals",
> cookies, etc.) were nice. The selection of on shore excursions was
> extensive!
>
> The Jamaica excursion to the Gardens would have been three times better
> if the guide was more knowledgeable and brought a BULL HORN. What
> little he did say we seldom heard. (Thankfully the Reeves Video lady
> that accompanied us prompted the "guide" to mention numerous very
> interesting items.) Even so the experience was delightful, especially
> the bird area. (I snapped a picture of my wife with several parrots
> perched on her head and arms that is truly memorable). What a beautiful
> place.
>
> Three out of four of us would sail again on the Victory so that's not
> too bad a batting average.
>
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