Carnival Cruise Lines
reviews and complaints

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My wife and I booked a trip for our 20th anniversary using a promotion that we received from the casino on a prior Carnival cruise. We upgraded the offer to a suite and the wife tried to pay the balance of the cruise at the time of booking, but the person she was talking to said it was customary to only pay a deposit and that the card would automatically be billed when the due date came. On May 28th my credit card information was hacked, and card had to be cancelled and a new one was reissued. Obviously when the next payment was due, it was not processed. We were not notified when this happened and never received any notification phone calls or texts until an email was sent out, on June 22nd. This email said that we had two days to respond or our reservation would be terminated. Ironically, we were on another Carnival cruise when it was sent and we did not receive it until this morning, June 26th. The wife immediately called Carnival and was told it was too late to still receive the offer. They informed her that an email was sent out on June 10th, but they were having issues with their emails and maybe that is why she didn't receive it. When asked why a phone call was not placed, she was told that was not normal procedure, although we have been contacted by the cruise line many times before for multiple reasons. However, we could still have the room for an additional fee...almost $4000. I would almost understand it if they already re-booked the room, but they have not. she has talked to absolutely everyone that she could, and has gotten nowhere. We love traveling on Carnival, but this issue has left a very bad impression on us and we obviously are very upset.

All we are asking for is the room we were offered for the price we agreed to. The suite is still available, I do not understand why this is so complicated. After all, we were using their service at the time they sent us the notification, which is why we couldn't immediately respond.

My name is Scott and I just booked a cruise for myself, fiancé and my 2 boys. After that as I have done with other cruise lines, I tried to purchase a premium drink pass. I tried to do this online, it would not let me purchase just one, it said I had to purchase 2. I then spoke with someone in customer service, explained to them that I only need one premium drink pass because my fiancée doesn't drink alcohol and she cant drink alcohol or soda because she just had a gastric sleeve operation. They said its their policy that if another adult is in my cabin, they have to charge me for two premium drink passes. So its their policy to rob people?I have no problem paying the $229.00 for myself, but I am not going to pay $229.00 for my fiancée to drink water and lemonade. The guy I spoke to on the phone said it was optional to purchase the drink package, its my option to purchase it for myself. Who in their right mind would spend an extra $229.00 for nothing. This is completely ridiculous and I have never had an issue like this with another cruise line.

Carnival Ecstasy – Eastern Caribbean
Port Charleston SC
Cruise Date May 29 – June 5

My husband and I just returned from what we could classify as a 2 star experience cruise remarking that this will probably be our last cruise with Carnival. Which is unfortunate. Our previous experiences on Carnival Fantasy and Legend have been good if not exceptional. We are not picky people or complainers and can have a good time just being out on the ocean watching the blue waters pass us by. Our very first cruise was with Fantasy when it first called Charleston SC its home port. Having never been on a cruise we really didn't know what to expect. Thankfully we had an experienced travel agent who guided us on what parts of the ship would be a better travel for sea novices like us. We booked an interior room and had the best time. We couldn't believe we hadn't done it before! The value we received for our money was tremendous in the fine dining as well as casual food, the guest care we received and those over-the-top treatment that actually had us feeling guilty for being gushed over so much. We were amazed at the amount of entertainment available on board and were never bored with our at sea days and even spent the port days mainly on the ship. Even though it was a large ship we managed to find places tucked away here or there where we felt completely alone to enjoy each other and the views. It was an amazing first cruise.

Our second cruise was on the Legend from the Tampa port. This was our first balcony room – and we were sold! We swore we would never cruise with anything other than a balcony room. There was just something about being able to wake up in the morning and step out on to the balcony and watch the sunrise and likewise experiencing the sunsets from your own room. Our service personnel were very attentive and we had the best time.

When we found out that Carnival was bringing the Ecstasy to Charleston and it had balconies – we had to book a trip. We had such good experiences on the last 2 cruises, we were counting down the days for about 3 months; we were so excited to get away again and experience a relaxing and exhilarating trip. It had been a hard couple of years and we had saved to pay for the trip. It was nice to board the ship knowing that it was all paid in full and we didn't have a financial weight over our head.

Then...the trip went downhill fast.

First, once in our room, of course, the first thing you do is head to balcony! Took the customary pictures of our room before it was “lived in”, unpacked and breathed a sigh of relief as our vacation was about to begin! We met our steward outside our door and he asked something about cleaning the room morning or night. Not exactly understanding, my husband said morning. The other cruises had cleaning in the morning and turn down at night. We just figured he was asking if we wanted it cleaned at night as well? As we were unpacking we realized we didn't have our Carnival robes in the armoire. You know, those bright white, uber comfy, “Wow! We are on a cruise!”, Carnival robes? Not there. So my husband caught the steward again and asked about the robes. We were told they were no longer provided unless we requested them. Of course we did and he did provide us with two. This was all within the first 20 mins on board. We should have realized this was just going to be a different type of cruise.

Undeterred, we shrugged it off to explore the ship as the ship to set sail. We couldn't figure out what was different – there just was something different. As we went from deck to deck we noticed the smoking first – in an abundance of areas. You couldn't escape it. We are not smokers and, to each his own, but it seemed like this ship in particular had an abundance of areas set for smokers. Which is great for the smokers, but the non-smokers have to pass through these areas to get from here to there. Not what I want to smell on my vacation, but understand that's just the way it is sometimes. Shrug it off again.

As we set sail we knew we had 2 days at sea so we walked the decks to get a feel for the lay of the ship. The ship itself seemed tired. It was as if it had one polish too many and couldn't look shiny and new any more even though it tried. As we walked the ship we would try to exchange pleasantries with the staff and were met with deadpan stares or nothing at all. Honestly, we felt like this was the last place these people wanted to be. And, we are not pretentious people. We don't like to be waited on hand and foot and would much prefer to not be gushed over but, wow, this was totally in a different lane of service. This was almost hostile. All of a sudden a cruise ship that used to be like staying at a fine hotel at sea had turned into a bottom rate hotel with a temperamental staff that hated where they were. It was just surreal and although we tried not to make a big deal out of it, it was painfully obvious that Carnival had either cut the staff in half to save money, or this particular crew was in a time-out over something. It was so obvious that after 5 days we began to even ask the crew what was the deal!

So, though we are probably the most low maintenance, easy going couple on that ship, we found ourselves regretting this cruise and swearing we would never cruise with Carnival again. Here are just a few points as to why:

FOOD SERVICES
Ecstasy had 2 dining rooms – Wind Star and Wind Song. One was for the assigned dining and one was for any time dining. We had made arrangements for Any Time Dining before we cruise, but, unbeknownst to us, we were switched back to early dining at a table for 10. Call us unsocial, but we are not that kind of cruise couple. We like to eat enjoying each other's company which was the reason why we selected any time dining. Our last experience on the Fantasy we were able to come into the dining room and request a table for 2. Not on the Ecstasy. In the Wind Song, where we were erroneously assigned, there were maybe 2 tables in total for two. At least that is what we saw. The Maitre D' could have cared less and was only concerned with our table for 10 which we didn't reserve nor wanted to be in. He sent us to the Wind Star for anytime dining. When we arrived there, there was already a line forming around the atrium balcony. We were told our table was assigned at the Wind Song and that is where we needed to eat – in a rather matter of fact way dismissing us and walking away.

We ate at the Lido deck the first night.

The second night was Cruise Elegant dining – an event we have no interest in as we are just simple people wanting a simple vacation.

We ate at the Lido the second night.

The third night we figured we would show up at 6 PM and be able to get a table for two at Wind Star. Apparently we weren't the only ones with this idea as when we turned the corner there were now two lines wrapping around the atrium balcony. We made our way to the front to ask how long would the wait be. We were told 45 mins. 45 mins to eat at a restaurant we paid for in advance. 45 minutes to wait for a restaurant that the only other solution would be the Lido deck once again. 45 minutes that were not guaranteed – it could be (and would be) longer. They were handing out those little beepers to let people know when their table was ready. It would be 45 minutes to wait to get the beeper and another 30-45 minutes to get a table.

The third night we ate on the Lido.

We were getting a little annoyed at this point! The fourth night the line was snaked again so we went up to the hostess and asked again how long. Same story. I then broke down and said I just wanted the molten chocolate cake – could we get that to go and eat in our room? (When you have been eating lido food and paying fine dining prices for it you get a little snarkey!) The poor thing took pity on us and left to see if she could at the very least get us a cake. We were met with another hostess to tell us it would be 20 mins. We sighed and said we would go eat at the Lido, again, and come back at 9 PM to get the cake. We returned at 9, sat at a table within arm distance to the next table and were rushed in and out. Hardly the fine dining experience we had hoped for. We vowed the next night we were going to eat dinner in that restaurant!

The fifth night we waited until about 8:30 to head to the hostess at the Wind Star. Received our beeper. Waited in the “City Lights Promenade” until our beeper went off and eagerly went to our dining table. We remarked about how things must be getting better because it seemed like a light night to which the hostess remarked that it was odd especially since it was an elegant dining night! My husband and I looked at each other in our casual dining clothes and then looked around at everyone else's casual dining clothes and thought, well, at least they didn't turn us away! It would have been an empty restaurant.

By this time, whenever I saw someone with a beeper I would inquire how long they had been waiting and how many times were they able to eat in the Wind Star. The level of discontent on this ship was palatable. People were waiting at least 30 minutes and some up to 2 hours to eat. Some, like us, gave up all together and just took the Lido as their dining assignment. I couldn't help but wonder if all these people were waiting to eat at the Wind Star, what were they doing with all those big tables at the Wind Song that possibly people like us were supposed to be eating. All I could envision was a table for 10 and 4 people seated eating their fine dinner fare. Could it be possible? And if so, why on earth would they not break those tables down and give more space to the any time dining crowd as it was painfully obvious that was the dining preference?

I wish I could say that our dinner, when we were finally able to eat in the dining room, was worth it, however, when your foregoing experience is filled with frustration and angst, even a good meal doesn't wash it all away. The meal was good. Definitely not worth the trouble or the wait. It was good, OK. We've had better; we have had worse. Let's put it this way - if I had to wait for 2 hours to get in to this restaurant, and had the meal we had (which is so unforgettable that I don't even know what we had), I would definitely not return and definitely would tell my friends not to go. But, I am on a ship. I have 2 options of fine dining and both options I would rate below average. We ate at the Lido deck the next 2 nights. It seemed that if you wanted to get in to the any time dining you had to go when there was a performance or show going on elsewhere on the ship. Miss the show and you could eat the fine dining. Since there were only 2 nights with “shows”, that left the opportunity scarce for most passengers.

As we spent so much time on the Lido, let me make a complaint there too. While the food was good the cleaning left much to be desired. Again, we are not fussy people. But every time, EVERY TIME, we went to eat anywhere on the Lido deck there were multiple tables needing to be bussed, especially on the outside decks. Each time we sat outside to eat, I would have to clear a table to sit down and eat. We would pile it on another table and wait to see how long it would take to get cleared. Now, we don't mind clearing and bussing our own tables, but that's not what we are paying for. I didn't mind doing it once or twice. Helping out, I told myself. They are just busy. But the whole 7 days was a bit much. Busy? No. Perhaps understaffed – or worse, just uncaring. We finally had to tell someone who looked like they were in authority and they sent someone to clear the tables on the deck. Once.

ENTERTAINMENT
The entertainment side of this cruise was equally as disappointing as the dining. It was one of the things the Carnival had going for it. There was always something to do. This cruise, however, appeared to be a low cut rate ship with low rated entertainment. Not only that, but most of the “better” entertainment shows we were used to, were all late at night past 10 and only 2. We did enjoy the Memorial Day presentation, however, there were staff running around, playing tricks on each other near the back closet where we were sitting which we found not only annoying but extremely disrespectful to what was going on in the venue. The really odd thing about that particular show was the staff that was standing in the back. When we sat down the girl remarked at how we were different than the other guest. We were pleasant and smiling she said, not like the other guests. At first I thought that odd until I really began to look at the other guest. There were many people on this ship that were not happy. Here we thought we were alone in our disappointment, but we were in the silent majority. We were just trying to not let it get to us and ruin our vacation. We never thought we would ever have a bad trip and it not be due to bad weather! This was just a bad bad trip.

The lack of quality entertainment left people wandering around a ship with nothing to do. In hindsight I truly believe this was done on purpose. If the masses have nothing to occupy their time, idle time turns into idle activities – drinking and gambling. We never noticed before, perhaps because we had other things to occupy us, perhaps because we just aren't entertained with drinking and gambling, but it definitely appeared that was what most people on this cruise resorted to doing to pacify their boredom. And, of course, Carnival seemed all too willing to accommodate them. If you weren't shopping carnival shops, you were drinking carnival drinks or your were gambling on carnival machines or playing bingo – lots of bingo. It really was a sad sad week. Sad. We were even surprised when they filled the comedy stage room with about 20 people to watch Jurassic World on a pull down screen. This definitely was not a vacation worth $2500. And, yes, we can actually stay at a very nice hotel on the beach with room service and a dining room and entertainment close by for a week for $2500!

ACCOMMODATIONS and ROOM SERVICES
As I mentioned earlier, our initial experience upon “checking in” left much to be desired. As the days went by the service got progressively worse. Apparently when the steward had asked my husband about cleaning in the morning, what he meant to say was that the room would only be cleaned once a day in the morning. The first night, as we returned from our fine Lido deck cafeteria dinner, we found our room left unmade and the bathroom not touched. We just thought that maybe they were busy. It is tough, after all, to get the ship of 3K people up and going on the first night. We chalked it up to a first night fluke. The next day, when we returned from breakfast, our room was still unmade but we saw they were on our hall. We left shortly after and when we came back the room was made. However, the water glasses were not replaced and the water bottle was not replaced. (Tthank you, Carnival, for providing a bottle of water for our frequent travels with you. Really? I know you can do better than a bottle of water!). We figured it was another fluke. When we returned from dinner, we were a little disappointed, because we didn't get our expected “turn down” with the little towel animal, the itinerary and mint on the bed. Again, we aren't really snobby, but that was always a nice touch. It made us feel welcomed, considered and special. It was special and special to cruising. Silly, I know, but it was expected and very disappointing when we didn't get it. We alternated in days when the bed was made or not and we never got the turn down. Finally, my husband inquired with the steward and we were told that we had selected morning cleaning. Confused, we asked for an explanation which he said that Carnival no longer does the morning cleaning and the turn down, UNLESS, you specifically say you want it. Otherwise, you select either morning cleaning or evening turn down. We really started to get the feeling Carnival was going bankrupt or something terrible was happening financially! We speculated labor unions, short staff, new regulations, or financial crisis. It began to be quite humorous in an weird sort of way. I made my own towel animals just to see if I could get a smile out of the staff. I made a monkey, a rabbit, and, on the final day, a beautiful blue dragon from the pool towels. (The very last day we received a rather tortured looking heart on the bed with a thank you note – it was a sad testament to the cruise experience as a whole). Honestly, I missed the mints. I know, simple little thing like that. But when you get your itinerary slipped under the door at night, and no turn down service, you might as well be staying at any mid-rated hotel. It's the little things that make the experience special on a cruise. Taking those little things away make the vacation no long special, it is just ordinary with a special price.

As much difficulty we had with dining, we actually considered room service. Even room service was a degraded service! We had to call to get a menu because one was not left in the room. When we got the menu the only thing that we could order for dinner without having to pay extra for were sandwiches. The other “premium” items were just the standard Lido fare at a premium price.

The worst part is the very last night, as we were winding down, I poured a glass of water from the spigot not thinking it was harmful as we brush our teeth and wash our bodies in this same water. What was in the glass was yellow, cloudy water. That was truly the last straw! My husband went to find the steward who came to look. He was concerned but said he hadn't seen that before in the room when he had cleaned. He called the floor manager(?) and she came and looked at it and said we shouldn't be drinking that water. We looked all over that room and the bathroom and the notices and there was nothing that said this was not digestible water! Then, she had the audacity to say she would bring us a bottle of water and add it to our room charge. Our steward protested with her and said it should be complimentary and she would not budge. The steward brought us a bottle of water and we were not charged as far as we can tell. Honestly, at that point, we just wanted to get off that ship! Our vacation was not as expected and we were not satisfied with the whole experience.

After we returned home we found out that my sister had ordered a bottle of wine be delivered to our room the last day at sea. We did not receive it that as well. Not sure what happened there, but, she was charged and we didn't get the gift.

GUEST SERVICES
Around the 4th day it was clear that this cruise was not the same. Carnival was not the same. The service was not the same and the experience was certainly not the same. Not knowing what exactly to do but wanting to at the very least tell someone we ventured to Guest Services. We are not complainers, mind you, but we felt so strongly that something had to be said. And I don't complain without offering ideas for solutions. And that was the bad thing – there WERE solutions to every complaint we had. Easy solutions! We lamented to guest services just as an overall dissatisfaction. We went through our list of dining experience, room experience, overall experience. She listened patiently, the other guy at the counter listened as well. We were told “sorry” so many times that I felt bad going on and on – but it had to be said. Finally, because we weren't complaining in a finger in your face, angry way, we were actually very polite and because the experience overall was just so ludicrous we were laughing a bit (especially about my towel animals) that I guess they realized that we really were not hard to please and to have us be disappointed, things must really be bad. We were told that this particular cruise was when new policies were put in to place. The robes, the room cleaning, the dining, the itinerary under the door and even the entertainment. Great. Leave it to us to take a cruise that they begin a policy where they cut all the special services out that make a Carnival cruise fun and memorable! It would be different if Carnival had also reduced the price to accommodate for those changes. However, we were still paying the price for these little extras we were no longer getting. We were given a voucher for 3 drinks each to make up for our dissatisfaction. $27 a piece. $54 as a “Hey, sorry you had a bad time. Have a drink on us and try to forget it.” Did I mention, we aren't big drinkers? We like to have a glass of wine at dinner or after dinner but 6 glasses to take in over the next 2 days was a bit much. We just chuckled, said thanks for listening, and set out for the Lido deck for our wonderful dinner of the evening.

OVERALL
I can't help but wonder what type of patron Carnival is trying to lure in. You see, we are older, not raucous, not gamblers, don't party drink, and are relatively quiet and easy to please. We don't tear up our rooms, steal towels, throw things overboard, don't spit on the decks, and don't walk around drunk causing trouble and damage. We don't ride elevators pushing all the buttons, we don't curse at the staff because we have hangovers, we don't treat the staff like they are our slaves and we don't stay up until 2 AM running around the pool deck. However, it seems like those are the people Carnival is attempting to cater to. The shows, if you can call them that, are late in the evening. The entertainment, if you can call it that, is bingo or casino traps or trivia games ahead of the big bingo game. And, I'm sorry, I don't find that a movie in a lounge on a 10 ft screen is entertainment. It appears that Carnival is having an identity problem. Of course, the money makers are the drink sales, the casino, the shops and the excursions. Carnival doesn't make any extra money off of us so its understandable that we probably are not their targeted clientele. We felt that loud and clear on this trip and can take the hint. It is, however, unfortunate because Carnival was our type of cruise. At least when they were catering to all people. A cruise ship IS the destination. The on-board experience IS the vacation. When that experience is watered down, short sheeted and ordinary and below expectations, people will flock to a new destination. A new experience and a new vacation venue.

My expectation is to get a refund for the whole vacation. If I had been staying in a hotel or a resort and experienced this same service and entertainment as what was received on this cruise, I would be clamoring for a refund. It was never disclosed that the ship's policies had changed and were degraded. It was never disclosed that this was a personnel training ship and services were degraded. Carnival still advertises premium services and experiences of fun and relaxation without disclosing that they really only want you drunk and gambling and spending money at their shops on board or their shops on the ports they own. They entice you with ads like why pay more on board at the destination shops when they actually own the same shops! I have never felt such a money grab than on this cruise. We weren't guests – we were targets. And no longer was it about making the target feel special, it was about getting as much out of that target as possible. It truly is a disgrace and until Carnival figures out a way to bring the experience of the cruise back to a resort feel, patrons will spend their money elsewhere. I know I will.

I said I don't complain without offering ideas for solutions:
DINING
Since there are always at the very least 2 full dining rooms it should be easy enough to make one dining room still assigned dining and one anytime dining. However, it is obvious that more and more people want to have a more intimate dining experience. Each dining room should have group tables 6 to 10 tops and more 2 to 4 tops. And, please, don't make the table for 2 just simply a split in the table for 4 and give a foot of space between them. There is nothing intimate about sitting within whisper distance of another table. From my sampling of guests on this cruise, there seems to be equally the number of those who like dining with other guests as well as those who want to eat alone. Likewise, there were many families and groups that were sailing together that enjoyed dining together as a group. Judging from the waiting diners for the any time dining, it would appear that the any time dining is the more sought after dining solution. There should never, ever, be a dining wait line of 2 hours! 20 mins at the very most is a respectable wait. Anything beyond that is asking too much of your guests. They are on a ship! It's not like they can drive down the street and go to another suitable dining restaurant.

ROOM SERVICES
Please, bring back the morning cleaning AND the turn down service. Your guests pay for that service and expect it. The robes should be in every room. That should never be a question. Don't slip the itinerary under the door like a hotel. We expect more than that. And, for goodness sakes, bring back the mints! What does that costs you per guest for the week - $2? You will lose more guests over not providing it. Your cruise ship is a floating hotel. Your room services should be that of a 4 star hotel/resort. Your guests expect it. We heard the stewards complaining that they have 37 rooms to maintain. Really? They were complaining about maintaining 37 rooms. I'm sorry, but it you are hired in the service industry, you should act as it you are in the service industry. This new batch of contract employees were running around the ship playing pranks on each other and only smiling at the guests when the guest made an effort to engage them. I had to make a towel zoo in order to get a smile from the steward team! They aren't servants to the guests, but the guests do expect service and a friendly disposition as well. No one likes to feel like they are making someone go out of their way to do their job – but when the dirty glasses aren't replaced when the room is cleaned, it is a matter of service or lack there of. If this is a training ship then these guys need to be better trained in the service industry before they ever step foot on the ship to work and interact with the guests.

OVERALL
This ship is tired and you can feel it breathing its labored final breath. I know that it was just renovated but it appears more attention was put into making it look good rather than into the actual functionality of the ship's systems. On more than one occasion the elevators were broken or working extremely slow. Thank goodness we didn't have another tragic elevator incident!

Smoking should only be allowed in places where there are no other ingress/egress access available to patrons who don't want to be near the smell of smoke. Yes, they have rights and yes, we have rights too. I don't care if someone wants to smoke, I just don't want to have to walk through a cloud to get from point A to point B.

Entertainment venues should be earlier for the early crowd. If you have to have a late one, do one late on one day and one early on another day. Give the quiet people a chance to vacation too. We like to walk around the ship and people watch, but we like to have things to do as well and don't want to spend money to entertain ourselves in the floating city. Remember, we came to your city to experience it. We can't just leave once we are there if we are bored and find nothing of interest to do.

Provide more than 2 golf balls! On a port day we actually stayed on the ship as my husband wasn't feeling well (must had been all that Lido food!). We had walked the decks a couple of times and found ourselves on the top at the putt putt course. Smiling thinking this could be fun we grabbed a couple of clubs and went to get the balls but there weren't any in there! The majority of the guests were off the ship and there wasn't anyone else playing but there were no balls. Simple and silly stupid things like this can make a guest frustrated beyond belief!

Every morning at about 2-3 AM someone, somewhere, somehow was moving deck chairs. We were in Cabin E99 on Level 7. The racket would last about 30 mins. After the 3rd night of this, we were up so we turned on the TV to see the deck camera. No one moving deck chairs even though you could clearly hear it! It was such a loud racket coming from what appeared to be above us. Eerily on the last night, after being woken up again at the same time with the loud racket, we clicked on the TV and could see what at first we thought were Carnival cruise members having a meeting by the pool stage. After watching people come and go we realized it was guests, rowdy guests, doing what drunk rowdy guests do – throwing the bean bags from the corn hole toss game at each other and dodging the hits. And, as drunk rowdy people do, once it got out of hand it looked like it was going to get violent. A few walked off. Others stayed for a pushing shoving match. All the while, there were cruise members on the deck observing but not stepping in. This was the cherry on top of this vacation. Observing the people that Carnival is catering to and scratching our heads wondering why.

On board activities – if you can call them that – were just an odd hodge podge of activity that didn't really make sense. The music being played on the pool deck was loud and thumpy music. You could always tell when the deck was ready for the late night people to finally wake up because the music would change. Catering to this crowd is probably why this ship seems so tired and worn out. Everyone likes to have a good time but when you alienate one group for another you will find the rebel rousers, while they will spend their money, they will costs you in the end. If you are going to cater to this crowd there should be other areas where the quiet crowd can relax and enjoy their cruise. And, that isn't the Serenity deck. There was never any supervision on that deck and kids, teenagers and drunks were all over the place. Hardly serene! This cruise seemed to just be disjointed with its efforts on entertainment. Not sure if someone missed the boat or someone new was in charge of planning, but we never thought we could be bored on a cruise ship and bored we were. Like I said, it's not like we could just get up and leave and go find another location. We were stuck on this floating city with poorly planned events and venues.

Suffice to say that just for the mere fact that I have spent a few days rehashing over this vacation was as torturous as the cruise itself. This was the first time I came back from a vacation and wasn't excited about sharing pictures and raving about what a good time we had. In fact, it has been 2 weeks and I still haven't gone through the pictures because it was such a disappointment. I can't stress enough that we are the EASY ones! For us to have had such a bad time I can't even imagine how the people who expect the best of the best endured this cruise! I never in a million years would dream I would be writing a letter such as this. And yet, here it is. We had a terrible vacation. One certainly not worth $2500. And while we were so happy to have had a vacation and had saved so it was paid for before we sailed, we came back thinking how we got ripped off and vowing never to allow that to happen again. We want assurances. We want restitution. And, yes, we want an apology. Sorry, Carnival, $54 does not make up for the mishaps on this cruise.

That is all.

Harlen and Deanna Kastner

I am very disappointed with Carnival and will not use them ever again. I was on a cruise with my son and we asked for some assistance and help. It was really complicated for me to get my son on board because he was in a wheelchair and I'm not that young and healthy anymore. I asked crew members for help and they refused to give us a wheelchair assistance. They said that it was not their job and simply did not care. There were two nice passengers who saw what happened and they provided us help. Crew members did nothing at all, they just stood there and smiled. Terrible.

Me and my husband just got off our 5 day cruise to the Bahamas, we been on several so we just wanted a getaway for my military retirement from the Air Force with 22 years of service, we board the Carnival Ecstasy and it was awful, it replaced the Fantasy in February, the crew was rude, ship smelled, our room wasn't cleaned we were told we had to request if we wanted our room cleaned in the morning or evening, I said on the Fantasy it got cleaned all throughout the day, then the elevators didn't work all the times, we did a lot of climbing stairs, the Casino was a rip off, NOBODY won on the slots, the food was nasty for dinner, I was told rudely by a crew member in the Casino no eating allowed, to take my chocolate covered strawberries they provided in my room and eat them somewhere else, didn't ask nicely either, the entire trip was awful, the crew was very unprofessional, we always traveled Carnival because it was right in Charleston where we live but we will travel to Florida from now on and experience other ships, this cruise line lost our business. Oh and the Kiosk machines were broke which led to long lines to check your sail and sign card, I dreaded going back on there when we left Nassau, I stayed off the boat till the very last minute. BYE FELICIA

Frustrated and Upset! This was my 3rd sail on Carnival and the very first complaint I have ever had to file. My two sisters and I set sail April 1-4, 2016. My sister’s ages are 59 and 61 years of age. One is a cancer survival patient and the only one survived a stroke. First, I paid additional fee so that our cabin would be in the middle of the ship. We arrived in our cabin only to find two twin beds and a trundle. I complained to customer service each of us was too old to sleep on a trundle that was really low to the floor. I was told that I should have stated a bunk bed which I was not aware of nor was asked at the time of arrangements was made. I explained that to customer service host. I asked to see a manager, the manager stated the ship was full to capacity and that once we set sail she would contact me if there was any cabins available. She called and advised there was none. Room service came to our cabin and I complain to the staff about the situation. I was told that they would bring a roll away bed in to give it height. I chose the roll away bed since I was younger of the group. The bed mattress was old and sank in the middle. The worst was that there was BEDBUGS that I was not aware of until day two when I started itching. I did not think anything of it until I noticed bite mark on my back, buttocks and legs. I tried home remedies without going to the doctor and nothing is working. My travel was in April and its May 12, 2016 and has bite marks very visible and itching still. I will be sending a certified letter of complaint to Carnival Cruises! I am requesting a full refund of $1015.24. I cannot attach photos because the bites are on personal parts of my body.

We have been on at least ten cruises with Carnival and only Carnival and this cruise was the worse. The Fun Ship Shops were closed due to being remodeled and we were not notified prior to cruise. I enjoy shopping in these shops and was very disappointed. Also, we stayed in room E153 and loves being on 7th floor but the noise was horrible. There were banging going on at night and early in the morning hours. We use Jeff Savage with Carnival to schedule our cruises and I know it wasn't his fault. Elation is leaving New Orleans soon and we wanted to go on it again just hate that it wasn't what it has been in the past.

Started off by having there computer system not saving our check in times together, had 3 family members checking in at the time we chose, and 2 of us checking in 3 hours later. When we attempted to check in(phone support told my wife it wouldn't be an issue) we were not allowed through, my wife went looking for management and I stayed in line to hold our place and watch the kids. I was told to move too the back of the line, I refused, security was brought in to arrest me. My wife found an employee that actually had some common sense, we were escorted through the line, checked in but security made us dump our water bottles, IT'S WATER! We would have drank it while waiting to board, 1.5 hours trying to entertain kids. Once on board, the food selections were VERY limited and redundant. Our adjoining rooms had a bathroom door that wouldn't latch. Several days our rooms and bathrooms smelled of raw sewage. Our room was right above the ships "bar", the music till 2 am made sleep scarce, might be great info to warn people about. Several of the elevators smelled like a dirty restaurant dumpster. The one show we wanted to attend onboard was cancelled after we sat in the theater waiting 45 minutes for it to start. Our final 2 days were at sea and the entire open deck area on 10, 11 and 12 smelled of sewage so strongly that I nearly gagged. And finally, the activities available on the open decks were closed far more than open. Between the food, lack of professionalism by terminal staff and the beyond obnoxious cruise director, this was our second and final cruise with Carnival!

I have sailed 5 cruises in the last two years with carnival because we have always counted on the staff, the adventures and the entertainment from this cruise line which we have had great experiences, memories and the affordable deals. However, this last sailing (November 29th-december 6th) on the carnival splendor, has changed our minds about carnival. First off, we did enjoy our cruise for all 6 days except the last day when we checked our billing statement. The last night before porting back to miami, we pulled our billing statement. We purchased the vip spa package $350 per couple which granted us access into steam rooms and mineral spa for 7 days. We were double charged! $350 x 2 =$700 (Attached statement). When we went to guest services, the rep said, she would send to spa manager to review so they can have the double charge removed. Guest service rep said to come back in the morning for an update. Guest services desk on the port day is always busy, she said sorry nothing she can do but come back in the morning. As we arrived, about 15 people in front of us. We woke up at 5:30 am to get in line at 6:30am. Took about an hour before we were at guest services desk which she called spa manager and was approved to remove double charge. Which left us with about $700 balance. So me and my boyfriend decided to split the charge. I asked for them to charge my debit card $353.43 which I attached receipt. When we got home, we checked out credit card on file to find they still charged it $700! We thought originally it was the spa charge not being removed, but come to find out, they charged my debit card $3.43 (Despite receipt showing $353.43). I called to customer service to find out what was going on and she found that they charged only the $3.43. I asked to speak with supervisor and she said that it would take about 3 days to get back with me. I spoke with supervisor and she confirmed only $3.43 was charged despite what receipt says. (I did confirm with my bank) I just wanted to ensure that they didn't re-charge the card, especially during christmas. It's been hectic trying to resolve an issue that they had and we as the consumer had to resolve. The time and stress wasted on something that should have been handled with ease is the last memory we have on our 7 day cruise. It is unfortunate that you cannot trust carnival with your credit card information and properly billing the correct amount. We love cruising, unfortunately, will not be with carnival going forward due to this experience. Hope they learn how to fix their systems so no one else has to go through this.

Guys, I first want to say how much I love all of my family and friends and if it were not for your strength and support, my sobriety would never have been achieved. This is my last cruise with Carnival. 12 people cruised with my wife and I on this cruise. I have a disease, Alcoholism. I brought 12 sodas on during embarkation . Also had 24 waters delivered to my room. Plan was to purchase more sodas for me in Grand Turk. Well, I did, not realizing I was not supposed to. Spent a hefty 20$ on ten cans of soda to curb my urge to drink alcohol. I entered the ship making no effort to conceal the 10 cans of soda I had purchased Thinking it was ok to bring them on board as I had when I boarded in Tampa. I was totally embarrassed by your people at the check point . They made me feel like I had committed a crime and made no effort to listen to my explanation of why I needed the sodas. Needless to say, my soda was confiscated and your crew made me feel like a criminal. They kept pointing to a sign on the wall saying that was policy. I boarded the ship and was never even offered to have my soda returned after the cruise. Now, I go up to customer service explaining what happened and the fact I am an alcoholic and this is why I did what I did. Again it was embarrassing as it got to the point where your customer service person blew me off explaining that is policy and only allowed at embarkation. No help was ever offered in any way to help me deal with my disease. No offer to return my sodas was ever offered by the customer service rep. I explained I would not be returning, nor would my family, only to be told OH WELL! Shame on your staff for embarrassing a customer to the point he has to even threaten to never cruise on Carnival again. Shame on your staff, when a man verbally admits to being an alcoholic, to not have any compassion for this disease. Training is required for your staff to recognize someone who is intoxicated yet not training on how to commend and recognize an individual when he takes responsibility and try's to improve himself. I am 19 months sober and continue to be. I get daily praise and support from my family, friends, and people I don't even know for my strength to conquor this disease. I have dealt mostly thru the power of my family, friends and alternative refreshments as well as separating myself from the negative things in life. Carnival, you have officially been removed from my life because of your inability to handle a sensitive situation and the negative affect you had on my vacation. Still Sober and Proud of It, Thomas Smith I have received 2 responses simply apologizing and hope you cruise again with us. Unacceptable! They will not furnish me names of departments my complaint went to or who reviewed my complaint. Frankly it didn't go anywhere!

On a cruise on the Carnival Dream that departed New Orleans, LA on 11/1/15 smelled strongly of sewer gases and passengers who complained were told all ships smell like that. A waste pipe burst on mid ship deck nine and continually dumped raw sewage on to the hallway, passengers, luggage and a state room. All during the cruise passengers were complaining of plumbing issues such as toilets backing up, overflowing, as well as sinks and showers overflowing. The crew minimized the issues. Customer Service for Carnival was contacted and they had no empathy for the passengers and stated that breaking sewage pipes happen often and is to be expected on ships and it was only a minor inconvenience to passengers. They were not responsible if things break down. Basically, they take your money, and do not care what happens to you after that. It is clear now how the norovirus is being spread, their allowance of direct contact with human waste by the passengers and crew on this ship and if what they said is true about it happening often, on their other ships too.

Hello sir or ma'am, I've recently received a call from Carnival reservation department this week, requesting me to cancel one or both reserved rooms (or pay extra $800-1600+ USD), as Carnival claimed to have allowed us to book (on-line) two rooms in error back in July 2015 (over 3 months ago?!). Re: Reservation #7D4VJ5 & #7D4VD9 To date I've personally spoken with multiple Carnival employees to resolve this Carnival identified issue in a amicable way; however, I've grown very frustrated often angry with two of your current reservation department personnel Mr. Christopher Vasquez & his supervisor MaryAnn Ramirez for their inability to compromise, reason or sympathize with my customer rights and point of view. 1. We've tried to book a single room as a family of four back in July 2015 through Carnival on-line reservation, but we were forced to reserve a 2nd room based on Carnival on-line reservation requirement at the time. 2. Our reservations were fully accepted at the time of booking last July; hence, we paid-in-full for the 19 Dec 2015 Mexico cruise (our 3 & 4th trip to Mexico on Carnival). I was not personally aware or notified by Carnival CL of any errors (or any policy violation to my knowledge) - in person, writing or email at the time of booking, confirmation & payment. 3. We weren't notified of Carnival CL error until 3 months after reservation confirmation & payment. (Currently putting serious damper to our planned family Holiday plans less than 7 weeks from today). Had I been advised at the time of booking, I may possibly have been more understanding? 4. During recent phone conversations, I was willing to have my family of four share the comparable quad room & forfeit the 2nd reserved/paid room; however, I was told to pay $800+USD to get the quad room (even after giving up the 2nd reserved room) - sure felt like "pay up or shut up" attitude. Does this sound fair and reasonable if you were a valued/loyal customer? Definitely NOT if this trend continues. 5. Carnival reservation supervisors, Chris Vasquez & MaryAnn Ramirez gave me an ultimatum on 10/29/15 to inform the Carnival of my final decision (to pay extra $800+ or cancel the reservations by Friday 11/6/15 to either pay the extra $ to Carnival or cancel my two reserved/paid/confirmed rooms #5010 & #6106. I've asked for extra days for my pending research but Carnival denied my request. I am now more convinced Carnival is cancelling my existing reservations and sell them to other customers at a premium Holiday rates in the access of Thousands (vs. our current hundreds). 6. Our family of four cruise on same Carnival cruise under identical special cruise offer/reservation from July 11 thru 18, 2015. Why different standards now? Carnival isn't willing to offer extension to their 11/6/15 reservation cancellation, so one or both reserved rooms may already be cancelled by Carnival (based on their NLT demand from 11/30/15) by the time your office gets this message. I've left Email and voice message for Carnival but no calls or Emails were returned. I appreciate your time for looking into this matter and please contact me for additional information or question regarding this matter @ [protected] (mobile) V/R Tony Holloway

Guest care: my name is hope hicks. First of all when I pulled back the covers to check the bed there was hair all on the sheets, that was bad but I shaked the hair off and sprayed it down with lysol. But when I came back on the ship from roatan, my face had broke out with bumps. By night time it was itching so bad I didn't know what to do. So I went down to medical but they was close. So I went up the guest services and the lady called somebody. She put me on the phone with a lady. She asked me what was wrong, I told her what it was. The first thing she said to me was the medical center was close, and it was going to cost me a lot of money for her to come see me. She made me feel like my life was not worth nothing. Anything could have happen to me. I really didn't know what was wrong. But after she said what she said I really had nothing else to say to her, so I handed the phone back to the lady at the desk and walked away. I feel as a medical profession she could have done a better job than that. I feel she could have give me an alternative. Im just happy it was not life threatening... Hope hicks — booking number — 6t7bc5 — cell number — [protected] — email — [protected]@hotmail.com — this occurred on 10/21/15

I booked 2 cabins for a 4-day cruise to Mexico aboard Carnival Imagination on 03/09/2015. I declined Optional Vacation Protection in the amount of $294($49X6 persons). Yet, it was still charged to my credit card automatically. I discovered the charge and called Carnival 1 week before the cruise date. The agent said the amount is non-refundable. Such insurance plan is highly profitable to a cruise line. In this case, $49 covers only $200 within 2 months' time. Carnival will charge you first, kind of like shoot first, talk later. If you do not call to have it removed by the final payment date, you are out of luck. Your only recourse is to take Carnival to Small Claims Court, or gather more passengers similarly ripped off so Class Action Suit can be filed to stop this illegal, sneaky business practices.

Where do I begin, My Wife fell down the stairs because the elevators were not working and her heal got stuck on the metal edge of the stair. She sat at the bottom of the stair Bleeding for more than 30 minutes. I got the attention of at least 3 crew members and not one was helpful. Her leg was cut open and the other leg was bruised. It is 6 months and it still shows a nasty scare. We were on our own and not one crew member asked if she was o.k. during our cruise. They did hound me to fill out an accident report, that they were interested in. The cruise it self was horrible. The staff was clearly nasty and I was told by more than one crew member that they hate working the 3 day cruise to Nassau. Food was just O.K. but the dinning staff were RUDE!. After the cruise I contacted the costumer service and they were not helpful at all. In fact they could care less. All they were worried about was if I was going to contact a lawyer. They are a really bad cruise line. I will never sail Carnival again.

Booked a Cruise on Expedia, it was our first time ever taking a cruise. We got down to Galveston, which was a 10 hour drive for us and when we got ready to board my friend realized he forgot his passport. We spent 2 1/2 hours trying to get a hold of our family in Kansas to try and fax the info. that was needed to board and were unable to do so. So we did not get to take the cruise. The staff at the port repeatedly said, "Here is the number to call just explain to Carnival what happened I know they will take care of you guys, " No they did not. They were unwilling to help and did absolutely nothing, but take our money! Worst experience ever! All we were hoping for was a partial credit towards rebooking another cruise due to the situation. I will never travel with Carnival or book through Expedia ever again! Horrible service! So we are out $800 for our cruise and did not get to take it. So they took our money and we got absolutely nothing, but stuck with the travel exspenses not to get to take a cruise once we got there, because of one minor accident.

I have always chosen Carnival in the past because of its cheap prices and its diverse crewmembers.
In fact, I’ve been on several cruises with Carnival Cruise Line and it really saddens me to have to write a bad review for just the one atrocious occurrence I experienced onboard the Ship Elation's on my last cruise which was taken January 16-20, 2014. Thank God the incident happened on my final day onboard the ship, which was on January 19, 2014, I had made an appointment to visit the spa to get my hair washed (just washed) and was told by the staff and the Spa supervisor on two separate occasions
that they didn’t do African people hair. (No miscommunication) This was witnessed by at least four-five people in addition to my adult daughter. Since this is 2014, understandingly I was very upset and shocked. (After all, this cruise line does cater to every social-economic class with its reasonable prices.) Immediately after this incident, I went to Guest Relations and filed a complaint. I received a reference number and was told that someone would be contacting me. Well now it’s almost four months, and at
least 10 calls/messages to Carnival Guest Relations, today I had the opportunity (misfortune) to speak with Lori Marks, the supervisor of Guest Relationship, based in Miami (Corporate Office). I was
informed by Lori, that Carnival has too many complaints to follow-up individually with every “little complaint”. And Lori did apologize for referring to my complaint as one of those “little” complaints. I then informed her I was given a reference number and was told that someone would get
back with me and because of the severity of this issue I felt Carnival should have at least done a follow-up. She said, “It was really no need for Carnival to get back in contact with me since, the Spa
has a contract with Steiner Corporation, therefore, Steiner are the only people that should be addressing my concerns”. It really troubles me that Carnival Cruise Line has a stance of not getting involved because their cruise line’s Spa Services, are contracted out to Steiner Corporation, and therefore situation
like this isn’t a Carnival problem, it’s a Steiner problem. Carnival’s lackadaisical attitude towards the discrimination that I received while on their ship is appalling. But what’s even sadder is that Carnival has
a rude, discourteous and condescending person, such as Lori Marks as their Guest Relations Supervisor. Lori, by the way, hung-up on me after I asked who her supervisor was? I am now
wandering, how many other people has Lori just disregarded, because, as she so eloquently put it, “
Carnival has over 100 ships, with over 1000 passengers” with “a lot of little
complaints” The only good thing that did come out of my conversation with Lori, is, it was recorded. I’m hoping that it’s only Lori contentions and not Carnival Cruise Line’s that they have too many complaints and therefore they don’t address complaints individually! Shouldn’t everyone’s complaint should be addressed in some fashion; even with your “over 100 ships and over 1000 passengers”.

We had booked the dream well come 4 wks before we were to leave we had gone on line to comfirm something and it was not jiveing come to find out they went a head and put us on another ship with no notice we had a nice cabin lined up on the dream but when they switched us with no explaination they put us on the sunshine worst ship the staff were all clueless you ask them something they say i dont know our cabin was a ### hole there was mold all over the balcony broken toliets just a dirty place what upset s me is we had a nice ship booked and they did this to us and we payed good money

Carnival advertising Kids Sail Free. They actually do not sail free at all, they simply attach this offer to a higher rate called Fun Select and in the end you save merely $58 total for 2 kids.
Example: if you booked a 8C category for 4 people the price for the 1st two passengers is $1029. using the Fun Select rate and kids are indicated free, just port charges and taxes. Next I was booking the same 8C category for just two people and the fare was $679 each a difference of $350 on each passenger, talked to Carnival to find out the cost of adding kids to this rate of $679 and they said it would be $379 each, so in reality you only saved $29 on each passenger using the Kids Sail Free rate. They talk about how now is the time to cruise with the kids to save using the Kids Sail Free but you sadly do not, they are very sneaky on this putting the using Fun Select rate in small print. Just not right to offer free when it is not at all free.

Roy Workman
[protected]@sbcglobal.net

Hey ya'll. Here's something interesting about good old Carnival. Wife and I booked a 7 day cruise a few months ago. Planning on it being our wedding anniversary cruise. Unfortunately her mother had a stroke and now my wife is the sole caregiver. Tried to get some sort of refund from Carnival and they told me I'd loose 50 % of the cruise costs close to 900.00. SO we decided to that I'd go on the cruise and take her son with me. SO now they've charged me 50.00 to change the name on the booking. WTF sounds like a rip-off to me. This will be my 4th cruise on Carnival and I can guarantee it will be my very last. They can take these VIFP points and shove it. Nice to know that Carnival has such a big heart. GUess they really need to money to pay for their stranded ships from last year.