We took a cruise on Carnival earlier this year. As part of the services, we signed up for the transportation option that included Pickup/Transfer at the airport the days of embarkation and debarkation. The fee for this was $160.

The Carnival customer service reps told us we would be met at the airport by company representatives and taken by Carnival transportation directly to the ship at the pier.

We arrived at the airport in NYC about 10 minutes early. After waiting 30 minutes, no one from Carnival arrived. We called Carnival customer service and were told that the reps came on duty at 11am (this was at 10:45am). By 11:30am, no one from Carnival arrived. We again called Carnival customer service and were told that the reps would be there very soon. After another hour of waiting, no one from Carnival arrived. The NY Port Authority customer service rep arranged for a van service to take us to the ship. That van made 4 stops over an hour and a half travel time dropping off other customers before we finally go to the ship. But we were very thankful that the Port Authority was there to help where Carnival failed.

While on the cruise, we stopped by the customer service desk to ask about return transportation given the problems inbound. The rep assured us that there would be Carnival people at the pier when we debarked, and there would be transportation to the airport as promised.

When we debarked, there were no Carnival reps who knew anything about transportation. We asked many Carnival people, but they had no idea. We finally found a separate van service that would take us to the airport.

Given poor customer service and the expense for this undelivered service, we wrote a letter to Carnival. The response was that they were having trouble with the contractors who provided the greeting and transportation service. That was the cause of the lack of service. They were sorry it occurred.

We then wrote a letter to the President (Mr. Gerald R. Cahill) detailing the poor service and the equally poor response. The reply letter said they it was disheartening to learn of (our) continued disappointment. While (they) have documented (our) concerns, (they) must respectfully decline (our) request for compensation. That compensation was my $160 back for services not provided by Carnival.

Continuing my disappointment, I wrote again to Mr. Cahill. The response from another Guest Care clerk was that they needed the goodwill of their guests and had told the managers to take corrective action.

BUT they also said: While we value all input from our guests, we must now consider this matter closed. They finished by saying that they hoped we would allow them the opportunity to regain our patronage.

In other words: stop complaining, Carnival doesnt care.

Certainly a return of the payment for service never received would have been a good start. But the clearly cavalier response to their failure to provide contracted service speaks louder than any well written letter dismissing a customers concerns.

We cruise every year. This was our first cruise with Carnival. It will also be our last. To add insult to injury, we have been stockholders of Carnival for years.

I hope this is helpful to readers of the site.

As an extended family of 13, we had agreed to all participate in a celebratory cruise upon the return of a family member --- a U.S. Marine --- who had been honorably serving his country in Iraq. He has just recently returned and is now on a 30-day leave. With his return, all 13 of us have been greatly anticipating our upcoming May 24 – 31 Carnival cruise on their newest ship, the Splendor, departing from Long Beach. We had previously purchased our tickets for the 7-day cruise along the Mexican Riviera. For many of us, this was to be our second Carnival cruise.

Well, we have just been informed that Carnival has changed the May 24 – 31 itinerary, due to the flu situation. We understand the safety concern. However, we purchased our tickets to enjoy sunshine and warmth…and we are now being diverted to the cloudy and rainy northwest…Astoria, Victoria and Vancouver…not what we paid our money for!!! Of course we are also being given the other option of a cruise credit should we choose not to sail into the cold and rain on May 24…this future cruise credit won’t help us because our Marine hero’s leave ends in June. Thus the credit will not allow us to celebrate as we had promised our Marine. And, we either celebrate as an ENTIRE family or we don’t celebrate at all. So a future cruise is out. Incidentally, our Marine’s next deployment is Afghanistan…

We have attempted to reason with Carnival for a refund…and have been told no exceptions can be made to their “you have two options” policy. If we were able to get our money refunded, we could use that money to celebrate as a family with our Marine…perhaps by vacationing on the beach in San Diego. No exceptions, says Carnival. Well, Carnival, listen to this exception: you have lost our family’s entire future cruise business. Plus, guess how many times this experience will be retold? What’s that worth?

CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES
GUEST CARE DEPARTMENT
3655 NW 87TH AVENUE
MIAMI FLORIDA 33178-2328
([email protected])

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I HAVE CRUISED ON THE CARNIVAL LINE AND I WAS REPULSED AT WHAT HAPPENED!

WE EMBARKED ON 9/5 FROM NYC. WE WENT DIRECTLY TO OUR CABIN NUMBER 8235 WHICH WE BOOKED OVER SIX MONTHS AGO. THE CABIN WAS VERY NICE AND LARGE (THE REASON IT WAS BOOKED WAS DUE TO THE SIZE AND LOCATION!) THERE WAS A FUNKY ODOR IN THE CABIN BUT WE OVERLOOKED IT.

THE ODOR BECAME TOTALLY UNBEARABLE AND NEAUSEATED ME TO THE POINT OF BEING PHYSICALLY ILL AND VOMITING! I COULD NOT EAT AND WENT TO THE MEDICAL OFFICE (ALL OF OUR COMPLAINTS AND ISSUES ARE DOCUMENTED ON THE SHIP REFERENCE NUMBER 834008126A.)

BY THE THIRD DAY I WAS SO SLEEP DEPRIVED AS THE ODOR WAS SO INTENSE THAT (WE EVEN TRIED SLEEPING ON THE BALCONY!) WE LEFT THE CABIN DOOR OPEN AS WELL AS THE BALCONY DOOR TO AIR OUT THE CABIN. I WAS A TOTAL MESS, MY CLOTHING WAS PERMEATED WITH THE ODOR AS WELL AS THE SHEETS, PILLOWS, EVEN MY HAIR AND SKIN REEKED OF THE HORENDOUS SMELL!

WE COMPLAINED NUMEROUS TIMES AND HAD MANY OF YOUR PEOPLE UP TO THE CABIN. THEY COULD SMELL THE ODOR; HOWEVER, THEY DID NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT!

THE ENTIRE AREA INCLUDING THE AREA BY THE ELEVATORS WAS NOW OVER TAKEN BY THIS HORENDOUS ODOR! BREATHING IT IN FOR THREE OR FOUR DAYS MADE US SENSITIVE TO IT AND WHENEVER WE CAME NEAR IT WE HAD TO HOLD OUR NOSES AND RUN TO THE CABIN OR ELEVATOR!

NICE WAY TO TRAVEL ON A VACATION! WE COULDN’T EVEN GO ON ANY TOURS DUE TO MY ILLNESS FROM THIS SITUATION!

I HAD NO IDEA HOW THIS EFFECTED OUR HEALTH AS WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT WAS THAT WE WERE BREATHING IN! (A COPY OF THIS LETTER WILL BE SENT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH IN HOPES THAT THEY WILL INVESTIGATE THIS MATTER.:

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201

New York State Department of Health
Corning Tower
Empire State Plaza,
Albany, NY 12237


AS WELL AS OTHER BUSINESSES THAT CAN INVESTIGATE THIS PROBLEM!) WE WERE UNDER THE ASSUMPTION THAT IT WAS OLD FOOD, GARBAGE AND GARLIC AND EXTREMELY POOR VENTILATION THAT WAS BLOWING THIS ODOR INTO THE CABIN AND ALL AROUND DECK 8 AFT.

WE EVENTUALLY WERE PUT IN ANOTHER CABIN (8267) WHICH WAS ½ THE SIZE OF WHAT WE BOOKED AND PAID FOR. THE SHIP GAVE US $300 ROOM CREDIT FOR OUR DISCOMFORT AND THIS WAS NOT AT ALL ACCEPTABLE! WE HAD TO PACK EVERYTHING UP AND MOVE IT RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CRUISE WHICH WAS ANOTHER DISSAPPOINTMENT AND DISCOMFORT AS WELL AS THE DOWNGRADE OF OUR CABIN! BY THIS TIME OUR ENTIRE CRUISE WAS RUINED AS WELL AS MY MENTAL AND PHYSICAL STATE!

OUR CRUISE WAS RUINED, I AM STILL SUFFERING FROM NEAUSEA AND THE SMELL IS STILL APPRARENT IN MY HOME NOW EVEN AFTER WASHING ALL OUR CLOTHING!

I EXPECT REIMBURSEMENT FOR OUR VACATION AS IT WAS HARDLY A VACATION BUT MORE A TORTUROUS AND UNHEALTHY 9 DAYS!

THE FOLLWING WILL ALSO BE ADVISED OF OUR EXPERIENCE.

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I EXPECT A REPLY TO MY LIKING WITHIN 48 HOURS OF RECEIPT OF THIS LETTER OR I WILL PURSUE THE MATTER FURTHER.
THANK YOU!

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.

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