Carnival Cruise Lines
Reviews and Complaints

There were twelve of us who decided on carnival triumph (june 29 - july 4, 2009). reserving alone was a nightmare. holding time is a full time concert and the adds tore our eardrums open! every five minutes was the message, "thank you for your patience, please continue to hold." the reservations person, a neisha?, did not/would not return our call. given that she was out sick for two days, there was no one else to pick up her business? so six of us (my daughter, her husband and their 4 kids) reserved with cruises only. ms. neisha finally touched bases with the other six of us and did the booking. she couldn't get one name straight and we kept going back and forth with her with a very simple name a ms (she put mrs.) mary jane smith (not real name) that was recorded on the reservation sheets as mrs. mary jane. then there was the frustration over the carnival website. it took days just to log in. upon checking our reservations, the message was forever "your name does not appear on this booking. please check your entry and try again." it's a impossibility too to reserve a preferred dinner time (a month away, two weeks away, a week away, a day away = ms. neisha kept saying it had to be done on the ship). bs - my daughter and her brood got their preferred time with cruise lines. ms. neisha (with a sigh) walked us thru (not too clear either). the website from hell showed the sailing ship on the screen that kept prompting us to log in and we've had to change email addresses each time or the message says "email already used." omg c'mon carnival, take a tip from the unobtrusive sight and sound of pennsylvania where it's website quickly (but oh so quickly) takes you from a seat reservation to printing your ticket to the show!

Now, as for the on-board experience: the check-in was a breeze but no one ever asked us for our dinner time preference. arbitrarily printed on our ticket was: 8 pm dinner reservation. the cabin was naturally cramped, but it was way uncomfortable to have the queen-sized bed flushed to the a wall. the poor person designated to sleep against the wall, had to crawl out of bed to go to the bathroom at night. the cabin steward was almost always out of-reach out-of-sight. the food on deck 8 was so-cafeteria, altho' the dessert table was good. then the food gets quickly devoured and there are no replenishments until early evening. the sit-down dinner was acceptable, with some entrees being so plebeian and tasteless. the junkfood eating sites (hotdog, pizza, burgers and fries) really should revert to healtheir choices.

Also, why can't there be prominent signs by the elevators to show arrows going to paris, london or rome? it's the simplest of directions instead of passengers doing a dance to right and left and then asking someone else where the casino is located.

After a few days from our precious cruise, ms. neisha very sweetly called each of us. it was a too-late-the-hero telephone pr. some of us accepted her call and were polite enough to say that the cruise was okay. diffidence does make cowards of us all. as for me, she left a syrupy message on my voicemail that can only deserve a smirk from me.

Carnival - improve or you'll be written off.

We recently completed our 9th and probably last cruise with Carnival Cruise Lines. Just to let anybody know who doesn't already know, when you fill out your comment card and enter it into the drawing on the ship to win a cruise before you leave, if your name is called you don't REALLY win a cruise. What you do win is a piece of paper indicating you are a semi-finalist for a "monthly" drawing which takes place at the end of the month. Apparently, all the different Carnival ships' winners are entered into this drawing. My mother-in-law "won" this on our ship on our cruise in July, 2009. After she didn't hear anything, I contacted Carnival's customer service and have researched it further and that's the REAL STORY! I'm sure there's some "fine print" about this in Carnival's literature, or there's a "play on words", but until it happened to us, we had no idea that's what really happens! Just beware.

I need your assistance with Carnival. I am a Travel Agent; I booked Valerie Echezuria as my first customer on a cruise that sailed on July 26th on the Legend (Record #89J4X8). She has ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, and is almost totally paralyzed. This was to be her last Hoorah. When she first booked, she was getting an inside cabin and I was quoted the price with a $120/pp on board credit. She decided to take a balcony so she could smoke. I was quoted the price for a balcony cabin, I was told it was an obstructed view, and that there would still be the on-board credit. After talking to Valerie She asked about a discount for being over 55, I called Carnival and was told the senior discounts allotted for that cruise were sold out. I told Valerie that and she still decided to book the balcony.

Valerie has returned from her cruise and she was not given her on-board credit. When I called today to find out what went wrong, first the person I talked to didn't know what credit I was talking about. I talked to the people at the Special Accommodations desk that books for persons needing accessibility so I called them (at #70025). They knew what I was talking about but said this booking was not booked under this rate.

Valerie really had a great time, but was counting on that ship credit. She would like to go again (one more time) before she is totally paralyzed. Is there any assistance you can give to me? I don't know who to talk to next, or if it will make any difference. She was due that credit.

I have tried working this out with Judy Rowe CCL, but her response was --- "My suggestion is to be sure in the future that the agent is verifying what actual promotion she is booking, before finalizing the booking".

I really hate to start off my relationship with CCL this way, but Valerie was my 'Guest' and as such she is due what was offered.

My company name is AccessABILITY Travel and the market I am targeting is persons with DissAbilities I have an extensive background in this area and I am not afraid to fight for my guests/customers.

Even though Valerie was not getting an equal opportunity, on this ship. (Not being able to visit all of the ports), She would like to go again, ASAP. Each day is one more day with fewer capabilities.

We would appreciate any assistance, anyone can offer.

In may of this year my boyfriend and I went on a Cruise to the bahamas aboard the Fascination cruise ship. Before leaving I asked my travel agent, who works directly with the cruise line would there be an elegant night on the three day cruise that I was going on. He responded, " No, only on the longer cruises." I thrusting this man we did not pack any Formal wear and missed out on the festivities of that day. To make matters worst when I e-mailed him and told him that he had misinformed me he start to email me snappy remarks and when asked about compensation he told me he does understand the problem and said thing like, " did you miss an meal." There was no apology or any sence of remorse and finally he would not provide me with a complaint department and started to ingore my e- mails. Heres to you Rick Maday. Thanks for being so helpful

Incident
We have been on cruises before and choose the Carnival Imagination because of our 8 yr.old twins. Well first off the ship has poor customer service, wait staff is poor, they have only one deck they serve a buffet on and it is crowded. When you ask a staff member a question they don't know anything or cannot understand you. Asked several times for a comment card never received. Staff serving alcohol and you say no they were very rude to you. Took a excursion to Playa Mia and everything was broke, the boats, the straps to the ice berg, trampoline. on the morning of departure I asked for a iced tea and took a huge drink and what I had was what I am guessing was the night before BBQ, dirty water and had to drive home sick after vomiting. Told the Matra D that morning and on several occasions that service was horrible and nothing was done. This was the worst cruise I have ever taken. We tried to get things corrected by the customer service on board ship and they didn't want to hear it and said we would need to make it on the comment card which I previously stated that they never delivered them to our room. I have called corp. but they say they will place their comments only in writing to us. DO NOT CRUISE ON CARNIVAL IT IS A WASTE OF YOUR TIME AND MONEY! IF YOU WANT CHEAP AND NASTY THEN GO ON CARNIVAL!

Damage Resulting
became sick from the dirty iced tea water, lost money on the so called tips that the wait staff did not deserve. Was not able to enjoy our excursion because all the things were broken that was over 200 dollars.

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.