Carnival Cruise Lines
reviews and complaints

I am a Platinum member with Carnival. I have taken almost 20 cruises with Carnival. I purchased two cabins on the Carnival Victory on March 29th. My mother(who is also Platinun) and my 13 year old son were in 1 cabin. I was in another cabin with my then 7 month old. (why I had to pay full price for my 7 month old is another story). I also brought two friends who were first time cruisers. The night before debarkation we put our bags outside of the door as usual. When we arrived at the baggage claim area in San Juan to claim our bags, my 13 year olds bag was missing. My son is a special needs child. He has been cruising since he was 6 months old. He could not understand why his bag was missing and I am still explaining til this day why his new "cool" clothes, his only suit and all of his souveniers are gone. I told him that Carnival is going to try to find it and compensate us if they cant find it. Like I said he is a special needs child so this was absolutely devastaing to him. He took this very personal.

It has taken 3 months to resolve this issue with Carnival. I was told that Carnival is not responsible for items that I left on board and that they were not going to give me anything. I did not leave anything on board, it was stolen. Carnival informed me that they are not responsible for stolen items and can only give me a maximum $50 compensation. So in essence they are rewarding their employees for stealing passengers luggage by not taking any responsibilty. What a racket! I have been cruising exclusively with Carnival since I was 16. So much for loyalty. I am disappointed that one of the few companies that I have respected and supported would not take responsibility for their actions. It's unfortunate that we will have to take our business elsewhere. Royal Caribbean here we come.

I booked my cruse several months ago for the Carnival Conquest leaving on June 7th. At that time, it was scheduled to stop at three ports, Montego Bay, Jamaica; Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; and Cozumel, Mexico.

When the swine flu scare started, they dropped Mexico and I understood. The CDC recommended that this action be taken. However, the warning was lifted close to a month ago and while the Conquest could go to Mexico, Carnival has made the desicion to wait until after the middle of the month. All that was ever offered was a future cruise credit or a $20 per guest onboard credit. A refund was out of the question.

I am sure that I am like many others that can't just move my schedule around to take a later cruise. Even if I could, Carnival wanted more money than I had originally paid and the rooms were on lower decks. Carnival didn't move the other ports to different days and there was still room in Cozumel for the ship. Carnival chose not to do the right thing, they chose to do their thing. To my knowledge, Carnival could still do the right thing and route the ship to cozumel, but they have decided not to do so. Instead, we all get $20 to spend on an extra day on the ship.

I am guessing that the reason they aren't changing their mind is because of the extra money to be made on booze and fuel saved while traveling at a slower speed. The reason given to me for not returning to Cozumel was that not enough people canceled when they dropped the port. I wonder how many people were like me and canceling or postponing would have meant no vacation this year. I look forward to talking to other guest about this situation once on board.

My husband and I took our first and LAST cruise with Carnival in June of 09'. We were told before left home to go to the port in Galveston; that the Swine Flu would not cause problems that we would be rerounted to the Keys or another port if Mexico shut down. Which it did and it had been they lied to us. We took a 5 day boat ride that was made worse by the lack of planning by the Cruise Lines. We were not rerouted and in fact we rode along the Mexico coast and SAT for 8 hours on our third day. There was very little entertainment scheduled for that day as they had planned on us being in port. When I complained about it the customer service rep was rude and very insensitive to the needs of the guest. The food was very poor quality, I can get hotdogs and hamburgers at the local convenient store and pay much less. The fish was fishy tasting, the lobster was tough and most of the meat was seasoned with smoke and WAY too much was used. The fountain drink card cost 25.00 but you could not get a waiter to get them for you and you had to drink them from a glass; I personally like to drink mine from a can. My husband and I are not really into gambling or drinking so it was really not fun at all. They did have an awesome comedian and the Karaoke MC was sooooo good and funny. The Activity Director can juggle really good but he isn't worth his pay in scheduling activities for adults. I think the children on the cruise seem to really be enjoying themselves and I envied them. I never saw the Captain at the captain's table dinner. We only had 4 pictures taken and 1 was before we got on the boat. The souvenirs were poor quality and very limited. Some were from Galveston were we departed. I didn't get to bring back something for everyone as I had wanted. It was an all together bad experience from the original lie to the early port on Friday instead of Saturday.
I recently received a reply from my complaint and was offered a 50% discount on my next cruise. I wrote them and sent their discount back to them. I told them I would cruise with Carnival again when PIGS FLY...
Also I wanted to point out that their commercials have waiters walking around with a tray full of lobster tails, this does not take place and I was wondering if they are liable for false advertisement? If not, then I guess you can say anything and deliver nothing.

I’m writing this letter to alert those future victims of Carnival Cruise line. I purchased a trip to Mexican Riviera for the week if 4/27/9. The cruise line made a bad decision to embark everyone and sail knowing that US Department issued a notification stating not to travel to Mexico. The alerts from the US Department and CDC both were announced on April 25 and April 27 and 28, 2009. There were alerts of the epidemic announce & well known but Carnival cruise line continued with boarding the ship. Carnival Cruise failed to cancel the trip and continues to not communicate with other scheduled cruises. I have other friends that boarded from San Diego on 5/3/9 and Carnival again took the same actions to not announce the changes of itinerary until all passengers were on board the boat sailed.

This is unfair to everyone, people work hard and save money to take their family on vacation and Carnival Cruise line has been very unfair to provide an unreasonable credit of $20 per person. Not only did we not go to the desired destination but the option of (Sf, Ca) given would cost me $49 dollars to go from LAX. Also due to having to been stuck in the ship for 4 night 5 days we as a family spent over $1, 000 on expenses on the boat providing additional monies given to Carnival Cruise. . I FEEL that Carnival’s decision to continue to embark passengers is driven by greed and to deny any obligation to issue any refunds or credits. No solution to this dismay has been provided.

I was on the 4/27 sailing of the Carnival Ecstasy. I will NEVER sail Carnival again as the result of the poor experience I had. Please know that if you sail Carnival, you are taking a gamble on if you will have a good or bad experience. Our first experience was good, which is why we decided to take the second cruise.

First, let me say that I am not mad that our two port calls to Mexico were cancelled due to Swine Flu. I understand that sometimes things like this happen. What I don't understand is Carnival's lack of information and caring in response to this situation.

They insisted from the beginning that we would go to Mexico because there were no cases of Swine Flu where we going. Then, they made an announcement that there could be changes to our ports of call and we would be told the final decision by 5:00 pm. At 5:00 pm, there was no answer from Carnival...even though I later discovered they had already posted to their website that they had cancelled all trips to Mexico. We didn't find this out until 8:00 pm. We weren't told if were going to another port or that we wouldn't be making any stops at all-just that we wouldn't be going to Mexico.

We were given as little information as possible, the Captain never stepped foot in public to give any information-which made it seem like he was hiding from everyone, we were left to wonder each day if we would be going to another port or not and the activities that were planned were not enough to accomodate all of the people stuck on the ship for 6 days! The cruise after us was extended by two days and changed their port calls but Carnival has refused to do anything for us. They wouldn't even give us a discount at the spa while onboard or a discount on a future cruise. We have spoken to two Carnival representatives who could care less. This is what you are getting when you book a Carnival cruise!

P.S.-Compared to other cruise lines, the food on Carnival is not very good.

Before you ever commit to a cruise on Carnival Cruise Lines and their other cruise lines, please make sure you read the contract Carnival expects to be followed by their passengers. The exempt themselves from every liability on earth and then some. For example, you will forfit your right to sue them collectively. The contract states that you agree to sue Carnival individually by accepting their ticket for a cruise. Other legal rights accepted as rights the consumer expects to posess is included among Carnival's exemptions. READ BEFORE YOU SIGN!a

Changed air reservations to a different day which was not acceptable. Wanted to charge $367.00 more to return our flight on the day in which they accepted the reservation. Phoned 2 weeks after the booking to tell us we had to accept their terms. I had already paid them $900 for two tickets from Spokane, WA to San Diego.

I wrote their CEO Mr. Mickey Arison who did not bother to respond. $3200 was not enough for them... they were unwilling to do what they agreed. I had taken three other cruises with Carnival, but never again. They are greedy beyond belief.

Carnival I cannot express how horribly disappointed we were with the cruise experience with your ship Ecstasy 3/26/09-3/30/09. How can so many things possibly go wrong on one ship? Lets start a Fun List.

1. There were no door hanger menus in our room [E-68] to have coffee etc. delivered to our room in the morning. I asked the personnel who delivered to other rooms how I could get these door hangers. Her response was they should be in the room. I went to the purser's office and spoke to a uniformed person there who assured me he would take care of it. They never arrived. This may be a small matter for you but a big matter for me and it was not handled.

2. The main dining area my water glass was always empty and never voluntarily filled.

3. At the open seating breakfast I asked how I could get a booth. This was never addressed, the no comprendo was used to silence me.

4. The continuous mistakes in the daily ship paper. Totally unacceptable

5. The no show of personnel at the 1:30 scrap booking really did not set well with my other half. Blame it on a personnel problem or the daily paper nether seems to know what they are doing.

6. four ships personnel including one who tried herself could not get the ships phone to room working. I was told and watched a crewmember dial the floor 7 and then the room number 66 to talk with my sister who was in that room. I per-chance myself put a zero in the equation the next day and bingo. That’s incredible

7. Debarkation. That was the most incredible mess I have ever been associated with. Pure mismanagement. My sis decided they would take the early disembark and carry there luggage. I ‘m sure they would not have had they been told the elevators were shut off and they had to struggle with everyone else down one staircase for five floors. The other was blocked off. Talk about a fire hazard. We had decided to check our bags the night before and were waiting in our assigned area for them to call our number. It was a while before a crew member showed up and told us we had to leave. I told him they had not called our number and I do not want to wait in a long line. He said do not worry you have to go and I will unlock an elevator to send you down, no lines. So we left down in the elevator to a mass of people trying to get off. The joke is when we finally got to customs my sis and her husband who had the early disembark were far, far behind us.

8. How can you have personnel that are so disrespectful as to tell you to just shut up and stay in line when you ask a question? You might want to ask Micki Harrison that question, she works for you. I know the Micki is the right name not sure if it was Harrison but if you want to know you’ll find out. There can’t be another carnival employee working the customs line with the name Micki

9. Why are the independent porters allowed to take people directly to the front for the customs line, by-passing people who have waited patiently for over an hour? Just because they have there baggage? I can see taking the baggage but the people must go to the same line as everyone else.

10. Late, we were promised a 9am landing at Cozumel. I got off with a large crowd at 1:30 and there were many behind me which screwed the whole day up. Who would believe, Late again leaving. I don’t think we actually got under way until nearly 7 pm apprx.

These are a few of the reasons that I will never cruise carnival again and will do my best to see others do not make the same mistake as us.

Attn: Complaints Department
Re: Splendor Cruise 1-31-09 Brazilian Visa (booking reference#)
I recently was a customer on your ship that went on its first inaugural trip to South America. It will also be my last trip on Carnival Cruise lines and any of its other cruise alliance companies. To say I was a customer before I boarded your ship in Barbados is a stretch. I have a few problems with how we were treated, what was done, and your policies.
We booked this trip with one of Carnival’s Vacation planner. To say the least we were extremely excited about this trip and visited your website at least every 2 – 3 days. One of the things I found ironic about this is right on your website you claim the following about your vacation planners:
( http://www.carnival.com/cms/fun/click2_call/default.aspx?WT.mc_id=BBookOnlineFindACruisePVPE)
With so many fantastic Carnival cruise options, you could probably use some help picking the sailing that's just right for you.

Allow our professional and attentive Personal Vacation Planners to provide you with:

One-on-one vacation planning assistance
Expert knowledge of all of our itineraries including The Bahamas, Caribbean, Alaska, Canada and Europe
Guaranteed best available rates and stateroom availability
Convenient and affordable airfare to compliment your cruise vacation (if necessary)
Insider travel tips and advice
Assistance in selecting and booking our award-winning shore excursions
Advance notice of upcoming sales

Note two of the bullets from above when I continue this story: the first bullet is one on one vacation planning assistance and insider travel tips and advice. Too bad this is not true. Since in the several conversations I had with my planner she did the mention that by the way you need a visa when you go to Brazil. Sounds like a travel tip or expert knowledge to me. I am in the tire service industry and if I forgot a huge part like “make sure you retourque your tires” I could be liable if those tires fall off, even though it says this in small lettering on the one page invoice. Meanwhile all I hear from your company is that you should have read the whole contract therefore too bad so sad. Wow why would Carnival travel planners not state something while booking this type of trip, it would have saved the 100 plus people in Ft. Lauderdale a lot of grief.
But in addition to this it is the way we were treated. Now remember we had already paid for this trip so we were a customer of yours. We arrive at Ft Lauderdale docks and right away the porters are saying you better have your visa or else you are not getting on. I looked at my husband and said they must be joking. We had VIP entrance so we went to the head of the line, the carnival associate told us get your luggage put it here and come back. We did, she then directed us to a set of chairs with a bunch of other visa-less people and the people needing wheelchairs. The Carnival employee manning this area refused to speak to us, said it “was above her pay grade”. We said can we get someone to talk to and she said “they know you are here”. We sat there for an hour with nobody coming to see us. The couple next to us finally demanded someone come and talk to us. She radioed someone and then escorted us upstairs to another room. Here we sat again.
So now we are in a room with about 50 others and we hear the rumors. Basically you are not getting on and good luck. Nobody from Carnival ever came to speak to us. I understand there is a problem but to ignore it and us is not what I call customer service. We were treated like lepers. Two employees that did come up tried to address different people but did not have any ideas on how to solve or what could be done. Luckily we left before the bomb scare or else our day would have been even worse.
Since Carnivals alliance ships sail to Brazil and have had problems like this in the past they should have been better prepared. We will take some of the blame but the communication from Carnival was terrible. Apparently an email was sent out, we did not get this. Why a box was not in the fun pass like: got Brazilian visa? The only questions were about your passport and credit card. Was the visa not just as important? The other reason I wonder is that us 100 people did not get aboard and that means we did not spend XXX money during those days on your ship. Your company lost money on this. Not only that but everyone I speak to and asks us about cruising I will sway away from your companies. Word of mouth is huge in marketing. You may think your immune being a huge company with controlling interest in the cruise industry but these days in this market I would not be so superior.
Just to let you know the best part of my cruise was meeting three other couple who had the same problem, one had booked through your super vacation planners, one through Sea Miles and one through a travel agent. The one through the travel agent has already given them half of their expenses back that incurred due to this problem. The second couple who spoke to their Carnival cruise agent at first said she was extremely sorry and did not know you needed a visa and would make sure they were taken care of. But of course as you know your company is standing behind the contract and is not doing anything.
So in the end my question is what is Carnival going to do for us? Do I expect you to pay all my expenses? No. But I do think you should pay for at least half. Also I hope you change your policies on how your personal vacation planners book trips with your future customers. That since they are the experts as you claim they should make sure to inform the customer you need a visa when you sail to certain countries. Also you should change your Fun pass to include a check off list for visa needed. Not only will you have happy customers they will think “Wow how professional”, and they will be repeat customers due to the superior service. These days the companies that will make it through these hard times are going to need customer service along with a superior product to make it.
I have included our expenses as a note to you and see how much it cost us. This extra expense means we spent less on this trip too. I also included a copy of the fun pass where it states what you need on the boat. I hope your company seriously changes their policies and remembers a customer is a customer no matter if they are aboard their ship, on the phone, or trying to board the boat. I hope you will rectify our losses and take care of your customers that did not get aboard and hold true to your mission statement: Our mission is to deliver exceptional vacation experiences through the world's best-known cruise brands that cater to a variety of different lifestyles and budgets, all at an outstanding value unrivaled on land or at sea.
If you would like to discuss further I can be reached at [protected] or at the address noted below.

Sincerely,

never going on carnival

Carnival Cruise Lines is not doing the job it is expected to do. Has the company become so large that it is disregarding its most important people: its customers. I recently awaited boarding the Carnival Splendor to sail from Miami to Buenos Aires. Arriving at the terminal entrance, I was asked if I had a Brazilian Visa. Having none, I was placed in a small group and escorted to another line at the terminal. After a brief wait, I was told that I was not allowed to board the Splendor since I did not have a Brazilian Visa. To my great surprise, I was escorted to the building exit, told by a Carnival that she suggested that I go to the Brazilian Consolate on Monday, apply for a visa, meet the Splendor in Barbados the following Wednesday and finish the cruise. Well, $2, 000, four lost cruise days, and much bewilderment, my wife and I awaited the Splendor in Barbados. We concluded our cruise on Feb. 17 when we disembarked at Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Our entire cruise was a trip of unexpected events and mistakes. First, the manner of treatment by Carnival is totally awful. I called my Carnival Trip Planner who totally apologistic told me that she was so sorry. She stated that she did not know about the required visa and that she would have infformed me had she known. He supervisor, after telling me that he just found out about the problem upon arriving at work that day, told me that he knew of no solution. After a long wait while he contacted his superior, the supervisor told me that he was sorry for my problem but Carnival would do nothing for me. What a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach! I expended $2, 00 extra for my cruise and Carnival would do nothing for me. I booked directly with Carnival, didn't they serve as my agent? Wouldn't they have an obligation to inform me of the requirements for the cruise? Even a little notation on their "Fun Pass" requiring a check mark indicating visa completed could have helped me avoid this problem. No, Carnival says it can not do this since individuals are responsible for taking care of all issues like this. Wow! I don't need to be served; I just need to be informed! The same problem was experienced by the Matre De's wife who flew to Barbados with many guests. Carnival didn't even inform their personnel!

Upon arriving on Barbados, I was informed to see the lady outside the terminal. She informed me that my wife and I and three other couples were being transported to our hotel. That's fine except at least a doxen other couples coming to Barbados to meet the Splendor also deserved transportation. The lady called her superior and was told that only the four couples were to be transported. The rest were left to fend on their own. Why would Carnival doscriminate by serving only four of the group coming to meet the ship? We were told by the driver that he would come back the next day to transport us to the ship. We waited for an hour and half after the pickup time and finally took a taxi to the ship. Upon boarding the Splendor, I asked the Purser what was happening to resolve the whole issue. His reply was simply "I don't know". I told him that I was not picked up this morning and he took my Taxi reciept and said he would check into it. Several other couples were able to get transportation to the ship when they accidentally noticed the pick up van that morning in frint of their hotel. Misinformation followed by inaction and confusion seemed to be the word of the day.

While at the Purser's Desk, I asked how I could change my dinner time. He sent me to the Matre De who informed me that the Purser did that. I eturned to the Purser only to be sent back to the Matre D who finally informed me that I could make the change at dinner that evening. The entire cruise was filled with strange events. I requested and was given a room and time to hold a meeting. At the appointed time, the lady responsible for assigning events in rooms arrived to tell me that the room was being used by another event. I found another room anyway. Our Past Guest Party was scheduled at the same time a Dancer practice was scheduled. We were told the guests numbered 3.331 while a Carnival PR person lowered that to 2800 guests. Which number was correct? I could go on and on.

Unfortunately, Carnival is not doing what it advertises. Our cruise did not prove to be the Fun" time Carnival advertises on all promotions.

Captains and Staff captains, have the power. Italians can talk to the other managers or to crew however they want. They will be the ones that will have the whole power.
And their professionalism: let me tell u this, even when there is a simple electrical issue, they can not repair. Often, everybody suffer cause the repairings are made by contractors when the ship’s arriving in the homeport. If u will ask them they will say it is smthg to do with warranty and special stuff… and reality they have no clue. Last time the contractors were publicly laughing that it was just about pushing a button … and for 5 days the phones were not working.
The ships are made in Italy cause there is the place where the black –dirty money of carnival is washed. Between them, Italians … And the owner is happy 'cause everything’s going smooth.
The Fantasy ships were build due to drug transportation between Miami and Mexico, and everybody knows that… But officially can not be proved. Why?
Cause US gvnmt official institutions are hand in hand with CCL.
Mr. Arison will build some wing of an official building and will make some charity work and everything will be forgotten.
On the ship is the biggest issue, and neither Mr. Christofferson or Mr. Cahill will not find out the truth cause when they are arriving with the CCL Audits, everything is just sugar and pink, and lovely…
Even the stinky menu is changed to a better food, fresh stuff… After they are leaving the ships, everything’s going back to normal… bad food, expired sodas and beers given to Crew events and so on…
When they are onboard, everybody is so so so helpful, and when u are raising a question as I did, the captain, staff captain, Hotel directors, are watching u with threatening attitude … How dare we…?
Doctors onboard most of the time are more concerned about Formal Nights Disco and parties. Drinking as hell, most of them, and having good life onboard, giving Alka Seltzer and aspirin for everything. As said before, I was with my fiancée onboard Legend and exactly when we were waiting in front of the Infirmary, there was a cook who eventually died cause they give him aspirin… and the guy was having some heart problems. So he died. U think that somebody said anything and somebody find out about the real reason?
U know which one was the reaction? They made a raffle and send the money to his family and that’s it.. Nobody was punished. The Doctor is still onboard making lots of $ and butchering some other crew and guests.
And this is just one example. Many many other…
The Ship’s Bridge is also a place where things are not in order, anybody can go inside… If a guest comes with me .. I can let him in very easily.. So what anti terrorism prevention? Let’s be serious..
The Bridge Officers except drinking their coffee and talking about girls, checking the internet… they don’t exactly working.
Ok, there are few good ones.. But very rare. Most of the times there is a 2nd or 3rd Officer with a cadet, on a shift, however very often both of them useless ones.
And many times coming from outside from some restaurants or disco, under alcohol influence. If somebody’s asking, no worries, they will cover themselves and each other…
The Guests when they are booking the cabins, very often they don’t get that particular cabin… it is already given, but this is the agreed travel agencies that carnival works with. And the guests are arriving onboard, they let them know, that they will not have the category they paid for, giving them coupons, cheap wines, and inviting them to meet the Captain… and guests are happy. 'Cause they don’t know, that it is on purpose.
The captains Party is made just to show off, everything is fake and the beverages given are not real ones or they are expired.. the guests don’t know that cause it is not given in bottles but in glasses .
Even the ketchup is not a real one… carnival is buying stuff in big drums and then night time some Waiters pouring them in bottles, without washing them in prior or anything… so when u are onboard and u are noticing that some food or ketchup tastes strange now u have the answer.
The food consumed by the guests it is far away from being safe and fresh. The cooks will bake them in that way, that will not be noticed, everything’s depending on Chef’s skills of combining the alternate spoiled, not fresh food… Or ingredients.
There are so many Public Health procedures, however at least if 20-30 % would be applied, everybody would be happy… But crew members don’t have time to do all this, and managers are too busy to gossip, and drinking their coffees.. so the middle and junior managers are reporting that everything is ok. And everybody’s happy .. even the Doctors which will need to cure the guests when arrived home.
If any accident occurs, do you think that there is followed a procedure?/ U know how it works? They make an announcement depending on the situation and whoever is close going there, and everybody’s beeped and phoned to go to that place… Most of crew with special duties don’t even know what and how to do.. So, u can imagine the chaos.
The Captain, Hotel Directors, and Staff Captains are having shorter contract, 4 – max 5 months, so after 3-4 weeks onboard they are inviting their families .. and there u have a family reunion onboard… where all waiters or stewards are playing with the little princesses (daughters of the snr officers) or some small prince who will get the special attention. And this is happening on all ships. They don’t need any badges and they can go and do whatever they want.
Who will have the guts to say anything… and if so, who will listen?
I've been for one week on Work Break, and the status I have signed off was B2 which couldn’t allow me to get back on the ship on C1 status unless will leave the USA (except Mexico and Canada) … U know what Carnival did?
They send me and my fiancee to a Miami based ship, worked for 5 days on a carnival ship that goes to Bahamas, and we got back on Pride ( Long Beach )… All this time they were blaming us for their amateurism. And again a psychological war.
Immigration Officers didn’t do anything, they just advised them not to do anymore.. But big question:
Do u think we were the only ones? So how the US laws are followed by CCL ? And how US customs is punishing the illegal stuff? If u would be a single person u will need to pay for ur act, but it is not happening when it is about CCL…
When I resigned, they put me on the system as Leave of Absence, although I was resigning… but if I would go in Resign I would go straight to the airport and no time to go to the Head Office where I have been invited. And I am not the only one.
So carnival lied to the authorities. After 4 months, I went back in CCL, another mistake of my life, now that I think about better.
When Public Health is coming onboard, they are checking documents, logs and where they are checking real issues, they will say it is a pending issue and in process of maintenance…
And after that, the Captain and Hotel director will make the necessary protocol banquet and there we go…
Ships are going and going with all the deficiencies… And guests are coming onboard and facing same issues over and over…

Carnival Freedom – Sail Date 11/30/2008
I have cruised with Carnival several times with little disappointment. My experience in November 2008 leaves me with no desire to choose or recommend Carnival Cruise Line. My entire vacation was inadequate to say the least. My disappointment began with a 2 hour and 30 minute wait to board the ship. The explanation given by a Carnival employee was bluntly honest. She said they were grossly under staffed. This information was given to me on a volunteer basis. At that point I had not questioned the long wait. Once we were checked in, I then was instructed I needed to see the purser in order to correct a cabin assignment. Yet to my dismay, another lengthy line! After waiting additional 1 hour and 30 minutes I finally arrived at my room. Once I arrived I started unpacking and to my disbelief there was men’s dirty boxers in between the wall and couch. Total disgust, was my room even properly cleaned?
My dinner experience followed suit with slow service and cold food. Our waitress was extremely slow and very unorganized. Between each course we waited approximately 25 minutes. Night after night our waitress and dining time showed no improvement. Our last night on the cruise, we decided to dine at the Steak House restaurant. I must say what a wonderful experience. I would have gladly paid the extra every night for this delight.
In our room the air conditioning did not work properly. There was a loud humming noise. Someone from maintenance inspected our room acknowledging the noise. Another day and night went by, so I called the front desk again. We were told the ship was sold out and a move could not be made. The noise was finally fixed after several sleepless nights. Then another mishap occurred while at see and something came loose outside our cabin continuing to beat against the wall all night. The next morning the maintenance crew was fixing the problem when pulling in to port at 8am in the morning (with a saw). Not a very pleasant way to wake up in the morning and start another day of a very restless vacation.
After all of the cabin inconveniences we did receive a small ship credit with a letter (enclosed).
Clearly Carnival Freedom was not a “Fun Ship”.
No response from same letter sent to Carnival on January 13, 2009 to Gerry Cahill - President & CEO of Carnival.

Susan Ferguson
Va Beach, Va.

On December 15th, we boarded the Carnival Miracle for a long awaited trip to Panama, Costa Rica, and Belize. We intended to meet up with some expatriate friends living in Panama that we had met one an Orient Cruise the year before. We were notified by e-mail three days before about a change of itinerary. The ship was supposedly experiencing engine difficulties which affected it's cruising speed (22 knots). Therefore, the ports of call were changed to Cozumel, Costa Maya (both in Mexico), Belize, and Roatan.

Most of the passengers did not find out about the change until boarding the ship. Refunds were possible, but we had non-refundable airfare and hotel bookings. Carnival's compensation was a paltry $25.00 per person shipboard credit. In addition, we were still charged a fuel surcharge as we had missed the refund date by two days (December 17th.) However, the new itinerary was only about one-half the distance so Carnival kept tens of thousands in fuel savings.

Finally, on the last leg back to Ft. Lauderdale, the ship maintained a cruising speed of 21 knots for several hours which cast doubt on Carnival's official version of the itinerary change. The Purser's Office did not deliver on my three separate requests for complaint forms. The Captain of the ship did not address the passengers regarding the problem and/or offer any apologies.

I booked my June 2008 cruise nearly a year in advance. At that point there were three to share our cabin. One had to cancel. I was told there would be a $250 penalty and agreed. Initially there was no charge for the fuel supplement, $70 per cabin. I was charged on March 31 even though on March 31, Carnival announced they would refund fuel charges for passengers booking prior to the announcement which came in November 2008.

I received receipts from my travel agent showing what was to be refunded which agreed with the figures I had anticipated. Somehow a refund of $971.53 became $621.33. Despite numerous calls to my travel agent and to Carnival, I was told I could not have it explained because I went through a travel agent. The travel agent tells me Carnival won't tell her anything 'It's just how Carnival does business'. I have disputed the charge with my credit card company.

Even a letter to the president of Carnival yielded 'Guest Relations Manager has discussed my inquiry'. The only thing the Guest Relations Manager discussed with me was that she could not discuss it with me. The travel agent says she doesn't know. Well, I know my $350.20 went somewhere. I guess I will file a complaint with the Florida Attorney General's Office, regarding both the travel agent and Carnival. Accountability please!

Date: 11/23/08

Carnival,

Please find following a copy of an email that was sent today for the second time to the Cruise Director of the Glory. We have yet to receive a response from the email that was provided in a caper for this person. The written statement pertaining to the altercation with your crewmember is likely to be of great interest to your company. This cruise was by no means acceptable, and your pursers refused to assist in correcting the problems. We were told “if you leave the boat, you lose your cruise fare”. We asked, “what about the guarantee?” All that was said to that was, “does not apply to act of God” The blonde (can’t remember her name, but she was from the country of Hungary) said she would notate our complaint.) The manager was even unable assist in any way. (wonder if you’ll be able to find that complaint, or any of the other 100’s that were in line with us that day, getting the same responses?)

Now even after all these other problems, the one and most respected of the whole cruise will not even respond to us. This is proving more and more par for the course.

Is this normal and routine for your company? What is your plan of action to correct these problems? Or is there a plan to correct them, or just to try and avoid them? What should be “our” next move? Can, OR WILL, anyone please tell us?

Thank you,

Donnie and Amanda Nichols
DnA Services, LLC
__________________________________________

RESEND OF EMAIL FROM NOVEMBER 20, 2008 – HAVE NOT HAD A RESPONSE - DONNIE NICHOLS

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: DnA [mailto:[protected]@knology.net]
Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2008 1:35 PM
To: '[protected]@yahoo.com'
Subject: Glory 11-13-08 approx. 2300 hrs.

Butch,

My name is Donnie Nichols, I had the misfortune of scheduling a cruise with Carnival for the week of Nov. 8th on the Glory. The week started badly when with two hours before boarding while still at the hotel, we called the “hot-line” to see if the cruise would be diverted due to the hurricane. “no it is not” was there answer. We were wanting to know because my wife is a travel agent and had made our own arrangements on each island rather than the “normal” touristy things that are provided by most agencies. We like to get away from the large tourist “trap” areas and see the real life of the places we go. Well, knowing that hurricanes are “bad” as we live and work as a Police officer on the Gulf Coast, we knew that the cruise was most likely going to be changed. This would give us a couple of hours before leaving land to make some changes even if it was using aircard on our computer. This would avoid the high cost of the internet on board the boat and the high cost of phone calls. (which these ended up adding up to over $200, time it was done) anyway. As we walk up to the boat. Then we find out that the route has been changed. “hotline” not know what is going on? Or just waiting to get everybody there so less people drop out.

OK, the ticket agents tell us unless we get on the boat, we will loose all our ticket money. We had to go to the pursers office. When we get to the pursers office. All they would say is “ we cant do anything about this.” “we will notate your complaint.” My wife even went to the deck to call the main phone line of Carnival and attempt to get help that way to only be told “the pursers is the only one that can help you.” Talk about a run around. “AND SHE IS A TRAVEL AGENT, ” All we were asking was for sometime of restitution for the added costs of having to reroute our selves. Like maybe not be charged for the internet or phone calls or credit for some amount to our sail and sign card for these services. Again, NO HELP. So, you can see, we started this, our first taste of cruising with a very bad aroma. There were two other couples with us. One of them had their room registered under the wrong name. Did not get the “returning guest” items they were expecting. The meals we had been told of and seen on brochures never had the beautiful carved food or ice sculptures. Playing the game of the Ninjas, my wife and her two friends together found him the first night, he promised they would receive the two “trophies” to make up the total of three. It took a total of eight phone calls to the purser over three days for these to be seen. The second night, of this search, my wife and I met two other young ladies that were also looking, he was to be near the glass elevator. We must have missed him by a minute of two because that was our first place looking, along with the other ladies. After about 45 minutes of up and down the glass elevators and to all the floors, (looking like idiots) we finally called the pursers desk to find out if the ninja had been found or if he would still be on station. They advised he was not found and he stayed on station until he was found. We looked for another 20 or so minutes until one of the other crew members called someone and told us that the ninja was found right where we had been looking.

The next night the ninja was to be at the wine bar. We were 20 minutes early with our two other couples, and four other people we did not know. The ninja did not show up. The crewman that said he was in charge of the ninja came by and took care of getting us our trophies.

Now to the night of 11/13/08 at about 2300 hours my wife and I had been to the casino bar a couple of times but with the crowd would not afford a seat for us to be near the guy providing the country music. We could tell he sounded great. On this night as we passed through the bar we saw there was very few patrons sitting near the stage area. We decided this was awesome and sat in the couch about 12 feet from the stage. It only took about two songs to realize why no one was around. There was a white male and a white female carrying on a conversation at the corner of the bar nearest the stage. This conversation was at such a volume level that even over the music (which we were near the speaker) we could understand the content of the words the two were saying. The male was talking about his day off the boat. I recognized this gentleman as one of the Carnival Crew. This continued over several more songs. I approached this gentleman after a time in hopes that my introducing myself as a guest on this boat and that we could understand their conversation, he would cease in his actions. Another gentleman that was there with him, looked at me and told me that I “better leave here, before you piss me off”. I told that subject that “thanks to these two, I’m already there, dude.” I chose to walk away at this time rather than proceed with the confrontation. I was unsure if this second individual was a crewmember or not.

I went to my cabin, but, it continued to boil in me that a crewmember had been running people off from such entertainment. I called to Guest Services and wound up in the security office over this deal.

I later learned that we could have requested to be refunded our unused portion of our trip and been returned home by plane at the first Non-US port. Had we known this, We would have done this. This was absolutely not what we were told. The pursers stated. If we left the boat we lost the cruise and our money.

The Murder mystery, solved it and the murderer was to be the art auctioneer. When talking with the one that originally gave the story, we questioned that the art auctioneer was not a suspect. He told us that at the last minute the auctioneer had been changed. It was supposed to have been the Spa Manager. We questioned that because that was not our suspect. He again told us that the spa mgr was to have been the auctioneer. My wife even talked with him about how she didn’t see “that lady talking that fast”. So as we know, spa mgr was not the murderer. Was this a crewmember being mischievous or plain wrong.

The principle of this cruise had merit. I think under other circumstances we may have enjoyed it. But, we were not helped to overcome the things that were defeating the good. You as a cruise director appeared to do great. The ideas on here were great. The Ninja was fun, looking for an hour after he left, PISSED ME OFF. Looking for one that does not show up. PISSED ME OFF. The crew member that was louder than the entertainment on speakers. PISSED ME OFF. Pursers desk that never answered one question for us or our friends, (and they are supposed to be the know-it-alls ) PISSED ME OFF.

My question is, “is this normal actions on Carnival Cruises, and what actions were taken in reference to the crew member that created the problems of 11/13/08. I am afraid that we have been turned away from cruising again, or at least from cruising with Carnival. I know she will think hard as a travel agent, before suggesting Carnival. I know she is only a new, single agent, but, she is with a very large agency. We had hoped this trip would be the first of many for us, as we are reaching a station of life where we are much more able to take “real vacations” not just a “day at the beach” in the past eight years, we have been to and spent time in Jamaica, Hawaii, Washington DC, and now “HELL WEEK” on Carnival Glory. It definitely was a let down.

Thank You and awaiting your reply, Donnie Nichols

We booked with Carnival because their brochure (confirmed by our travel agent) promised shore excursions for 14-17 yr. old teens as part of their "O2" club. We have a 16 yr. old who doesn't want to spend his days visiting museums with his parents. NO shoe excursions materialized and we complained complaint to the Purser and requested to speak to the Teen Director ; he never contacted us. We changed our shore plans to accomodate or reluctant son. He was very unhappy. This was a material misrepresentation made in writing by Carnival.
Our room on Freedom, #1367, was directly over a service hatch and we were interrupted by constant banging. Luggage, garbage were off/on loaded at each port. On our last night, we were wakened at 4:44 am by 30 minutes of metallic ratcheting as we came into port. So much for arriving "rested". This cabin should not have been rented without full disclosure of these problems and then, only at a discount.
Carnival offered a "low brow" cruise experience. The food was unexciting and my wife passed on dinner rather than eat their gorp. For several nights the Cruise Director campaigned for tips for the staff and Maitre D'. It was tawdry.

Carnival Cruise serves carnival food - If you only like corn dogs and cotton candy great! If not, stay off the ship. 09/10/2008

If the name fits wear it! Carnival may be big, but you do get what you pay for. If you've cruised Celebrity, Royal or others you'll be greatly disappointed with Carnival Cruise Lines. Pack your breakfast, lunch and dinner because the food quality still lives up to the companies historical complaints regarding food quality. It may look good, but wax food examples would taste much better than what you'll actually eat. Reality is that many who have cruised with Carnival say that the food tastes like you were eatting at a carnival. If you like corn dogs and cotton candy then you'll love Carnival Cruise Lines quality, or should we say lack of quality. Dry, undercooked, cold and greasy seem to be the trend. If you ever remember the worse food you've eatten, Carnival food is below that. Don't even try to complain. Nothing will gain you any satisfaction. Even if you bring your complaint to the Presidents office, it will fall on deaf ears. It's a classic case of take your money and run. Don't be fooled by the company wanting to "Exceed your expectations." Service is good if things are good. If you have a complaint the service is horrible, unskilled and lacking pure common sense. The horrible service drops so quickly, it's like a sinking ship! Do your research. Don't end up gravely frustrated and disappointed. It's your hard earned money and your vacation you've waited all year for. Spend it on a cruise line that pride themselves in service, quality and most importantly - integrity.

My boyfriend and I just got back from a 7 day cruise on the Carnival Triumph, The Eastern Caribbean Cruise. It was the worst experience of my life. I spent a lot of money to travel from California to Miami to go on my one vacation of the year and it was all ruined by Carnival. It was my boyfriend’s birthday and he was completely let down as well. First off, they knew before we boarded the ship that they were going to have to cancel the Bahamas port, and didn’t tell anyone until we were already on the ship and moving, which was so horrible. They said it was the weather, although on the way back the Bahamas port was great and sunny, but they still kept us on the boat the whole time. We had 5 days at sea and only were able to get off the ship two times. The service was the worst I have ever experienced. The people were rude, and grumpy. Everything fun to do cost money, and the free activities were repeated, exactly the same. They were soo boring, I would rather have sat in my stateroom, which was dirty, and I had holes in my sheets. Blood Stains on my sheets. It was disgusting; they play the movies over and over again instead of having new ones daily, like advertised. The food, o my, where do I start, the food was just plain disgusting. I eggs every morning were soggy. The bacon stuck in clumps and tasted horrific. The lunch was hard, chewy, most of the time overcooked, whatever it may be, and if you ordered a chicken sandwich and opened it up to take off what you asked them to not put on in the beginning, you would find that there was barely any chicken on it at all, once time in my Chicken Fajita Wrap I opened it up to find ONE piece of hard chicken, it was awful. I threw up almost every meal, because it caused me a stomach ache. When they told us they were canceling the Grand Turk port. They offered us $20.00 a person, just like they did with the Bahamas port. Can you believe that, from a $2000.00 dollar cruise, I saw 2 places, and got $40.00 bucks back. All my excursion were canceled and it took days to receive my refund. Which still has not posted to my bank account? I won money in the casino, which was great, but nowhere near compensated for the time, money, efforts, and everything else I put into trying to make this a nice cruise for my boyfriend’s birthday. I would have been happier staying home. I found out Royal Caribbean was at the Bahamas the 5 day we were at sea, why could they have not taken us to the their private owned island? Because another one of their ships were using it? Come on... we were supposed to go there earlier in the week, why not take us there on the way back, because they knew the more they kept us on the ship, the more money they made, on drinks, games, gambling, and all the other bogus activities they had that somehow always cost money. I felt totally freaked out by all the characters they had as well, they would pretty much force you to take pictures with these creepy looking things. So annoying. Someone trying to sell you something everywhere you looked. The sushi was the worst, totally fishy, and pretty much I had the worst vacation of my life. I have cruised Royal Caribbean before, and it was a wonderful experience, in fact it was also in hurricane season, September, and it was an amazing time. The ship was cleaner, the food was sooo wonderful, the service/people working on the boat was wonderful, and the activities were amazing ;) If you want to cruise, take Royal Caribbean ;)