To: Carnival Cruise Lines Corporate Offices
Attn: Laurie 1-800-929-6400 ext: 87471
Fax: 954-628-4261

Reference Number: 806002692
Subject: Carnival Sensation-Newly Renovated
Sailing Date-February 12, 2009
Destination: Nassau, Bahamas

I would like to begin by explaining that when my mother (Lisa Harder) and I (Rachel Paine) decided to take another Carnival Cruise, we expected a wonderful vacation. We expected to experience wonderful dining and food, great hospitality and customer service, many shows, Bingo …we expected to have a wonderful and exciting vacation.

We arrived on the shuttle from the Radisson Resort at the Port at around 1030 excited about the cruise that we had booked through Carnival Cruise Lines. When we had booked this cruise I had been told about the Adults Only Serenity Area and about how the ship had just recently undergone immense renovations and that it would be wonderful. It was even upgraded to a balcony because it was so reasonable as a surprise for my mother and I. We looked forward to having chocolate dipped strawberries and piña coladas on the balcony. This trip was a gift from my father and my husband for my mother and me for Valentine’s Day and for my 25th birthday!!

When we arrived at the port at 1030 we were initially told that we would begin boarding at 1130, however Ada and Charlotte said it would be more likely closer to 1230 because of the Coast Guard inspection, which was fine because the ladies were fun and entertaining while we waited. During another round of trivia questions the “Supervisor’s Desk” began announcing room numbers and requested that one person from each party “report” to the Supervisor’s Desk. Many names and cabin numbers were called and we began to worry that the cruise had been overbooked or that we would not be able to go on the cruise. When our cabin number was called, I “reported” to the Supervisor’s Desk concerned, only to be told that our room wouldn’t be ready at 1400 like the rest of the passengers it would be ready at 1500. This was understood because things happen and they were busy with an inspection. It was only an hour later than everyone else and we should be boarding shortly anyway. We looked at the situation as us having more time to find the Adults Only Serenity Area. After boarding the ship we went to the Lido Deck for lunch, which was very disappointing. The food was not the quality that we expected. Much of our food was cold and not well prepared. The pizza dough was raw, the chicken was dry, the potatoes were very cold, and yet the desserts that should have been cold were warm and the ones that should be warm were cold. So instead of eating things that weren’t very good, we got some ice cream and headed out to find the Adult Only Serenity Area with our bags in tow (2 Carry On’s and 1 BiPap Machine). We searched all of the upper decks. We read all of the diagrams, we asked over 8 crew members/staff where the Adult Only Serenity area was and NO ONE knew where it was, their response was always the same, “I don’t know.” My mother even asked if we were on the wrong ship! Finally, we came across a passenger who kindly told us where it was (between decks 9 and 10) and labeled on ALL of the ship diagrams as the “Children’s Pool”!! We followed the gentleman’s directions and when I found the stairs a little girl (maybe 5 years old) was on the stairs leading to the Adult Only Serenity Area. As I passed her and looked toward the deck I saw 4 more Very young children playing in the Jacuzzi!! Frustrated by seeing children in an area where they do not belong we decided to head out and locate our room so we would know where to go when it was ready at 1500. The door happened to be open when we found it and I really had to go to the bathroom so we peeked in. When I went to use the bathroom I found that there was no toilet paper, but we were early and Mother had Kleenex. No worries, we were early and I couldn’t wait.

We checked out the ship for a little longer and went back to our room to drop off our bags. When we put the bags in the room we found that there was black “stuff” on our beds, disgusting stains on the top of my comforter which could have only come from one thing, there was no toilet paper, there was some kind of splatter on the bunk bed above our beds and it was just filthy dirty. There was dust everywhere and our balcony windows and door were so filthy you couldn’t see through them. Again I decided to use the bathroom before we headed out to check out the Spa and such, when I discovered that we still did not have toilet paper, Mother still had Kleenex thank goodness. She stepped into the hall and saw a woman running down the hall imploring her husband to find her a bathroom because they had no toilet paper. Another woman stepped out and yelled, “Just use a towel and throw it on the floor!” (Gross) When I went to wash my hands I pushed the handle to the blue and it was scalding hot, then I immediately turned it to the red thinking it was reversed, and burned my hands again. They were scalded and red for almost 30 minutes afterwards. It hurt so bad I yelled twice! My mother rushed in and got me some ice and then went to put our passports in the safe so we could go to the purser’s desk to get the water and other issues fixed. For some reason she put her hand in the safe and her fingers came out black and there were lines where her fingers were. It was disgusting! My mother then had to use the scalding water to wash off the black dirt from her fingers. The safe was just as filthy as our room was.

We left our room and immediately went to the purser’s desk to report the lack of cold water, the disgusting array that our room was in, and to explain that there were very young children in an area said to be an Adults Only Area. We reported all of these things to Stephen Westall who assured us that he would take care of it immediately. He immediately called someone regarding the children in the Adult Serenity Area and said they would be doing regular walk throughs to prevent this from happening again. This is the kind of service we expected from Carnival so we waited patiently in our room. As we were leaving to go back to our room they announced that we would not be leaving until 2000. Please note that we are waiting standing up because everything is covered in black “stuff”. After waiting over an hour no one came, nothing was fixed, so we went back to the purser’s desk. Stephen was shocked and immediately got the plumber on the phone (who said he’d be up as soon as he finished the current job he was on), and then he contacted housekeeping again and Stephen said that they were on their way. Again, we returned to our room to wait (standing up). Within 10 minutes the plumber arrived and fixed the water problem immediately. Housekeeping then came and asked when we would be out of the room. We said 20 minutes to change into swimwear to go enjoy the Adult Serenity Area we had found after searching for it all day (hopefully now minus the little children). We stopped by to tell Stephen that the plumber had come and fixed the issue and that housekeeping was on their way back to clean our room. We were surprised to see such a large number of people in line to talk to the purser’s desk.

We continued on to the Adult Serenity Area to try and finally relax for the first time since we had gotten on the ship and to also give housekeeping time to clean our room again. When we got to the Adult Serenity Area we found 3 teenagers under 18 in the Jacuzzi. Although this was upsetting, we decided to at least give it a try only to find out that it was luke warm. A man had come down at the time and asked if it was any hotter than it was earlier and put his hand in. He said that it wasn’t warmer at all and that he was just waiting between courses for his main course! We were astonished that he had that much time between courses. Frustrated by the teenagers being there and the water being barely warm, we decided to leave and see if the Jacuzzis on the Lido Deck were hotter. They were the correct temperature, and although there was a little girl there she was playing nicely. It had been about an hour and a half since we had left so we returned to our room. When we returned to our room we found that our room was as disgusting as when we left it. This was the last straw!! A disgusting room, an Adults Only Serenity Area overrun with teeny boppers and little children, and all the other things that had happened. It was enough!

We changed into our clothes, readied our luggage, and made our way to the purser’s desk. I asked for a supervisor because I wanted to leave the ship before it left port. It was approximately 1930 at this point. Stephen had to call Jo Anne Valendez numerous times because she did not want to deal with us. Jo Anne Valendez finally came to speak with us and assisted 2 or 3 other passengers with their issues before my mother had to raise her voice and say that she was there to assist us, which is what she should have done in the first place! We requested again to leave the ship. I contacted the 888-CARNIVAL number and I was told to tell Ms. Valendez we wanted to use our Vacation Guarantee and leave the ship while it was still in port at Port Canaveral. Ms. Valendez said she had to check something with the Office Manager and that she would be back in a minute. After she left people were passing by us. A woman and her daughter were passing by and the little girl accidentally knocked my mother’s $7, 000 BiPap machine onto the floor. While we were waiting my father was on the phone with my mother and the corporate offices. He spoke to a woman named Tiffany who said that she had sent an e-mail to the ship. She was assisting my father in trying to get us off of the ship. After she sent the e-mail she said that she would call my father back. When she did she had received a reply from the ship stating that the issue with the room had been resolved. This was not true! The ship lied to my father. He was not aware that this situation continued after we were unable to speak on the phone. He called Carnival as soon as we got back and they refused to speak to him, stating that they had to speak to myself or my mother. This just added more frustration to this nightmare “vacation”. 32 minutes later, when Ms. Valendez still hadn’t returned I asked Stephen to page her. When I turned around and looked out of the window I realized that we were moving and they never even announced that we were leaving Port Canaveral. At this point I told Stephen to get Ms. Valendez in front of me immediately. When she finally came I asked her what happened, why we were still on the ship, and what she was going to do about it. She sent for the Head of Housekeeping who I had to take and show our room, while my mother was in hysterics because she was so upset about being kept on the ship against her will. Kenneth Fredrickson, the Head of Housekeeping, was stunned at how disgusting our room was and asked me to give him 30 minutes. At this point I had no choice! I was stuck on the ship with my mother who doesn’t fly (I had to fly from Alaska to Texas to fly with her to Florida). People were passing by with my mother in hysterics and voicing how disappointed they were and giving me their cabin numbers in the event we needed someone to back us up. Rooms E45, M107, and R299 just to name a few. People openly said that we weren’t the only ones and that the ship was filthy top to bottom. People suggested that we call the police or the Brevard County Sheriff’s Department and Channel 9 news because we were being held against our will and then maybe Carnival would do something about the atrocities occurring on the Sensation and then maybe they’d let us off. The Carnival staff wasn’t even aware that the ship had left port because no announcement had been made. By the time Ms. Valendez got back to us we had missed our dinner seating and hadn’t even been in our room yet except to change or wait for staff to show up. It was now 2150. She offered to call the dining room so we could have dinner because we had no choice but to stay at this point and hadn’t had a decent meal since we boarded the Sensation. After rushing through dinner from 2230 to around 2315 we finally got to our room at 2330. The first thing we noticed was that the window and door were still so cloudy we couldn’t see through them, there was some type of splatter still above our heads on the bunk bed base, no toiletries, no turn down, no mints, nothing that you would expect from Carnival. We were so exhausted mentally and physically we didn’t unpack any of our bags but simply passed out in our beds.

At 2341 I realized that our excursion tickets were not in our room and went to the purser’s desk to find out where they were. I was told that the steward had them and that I would have them before noon the next day. I then went back to our room and passed out with my mother only to be woken up every few hours to the choppy shaking of the ship because it was doing over 20 knots. The TV showed that information to us which explained the rough voyage! In the morning it was announced that we were going to be late, although they assured us that it wouldn’t impact our excursions. Again, this was untrue. Our excursion was cut an hour short because of the Sensations inability to get there on time because of their leaving port 5 hours late. The Captain and Crew should not have continued telling people that we were going to be on time and that the delay would not effect the time we arrived or our excursions. Before we were able to go to our excursions we needed our tickets. Before breakfast I went to the ticket counter where I was told that our steward should have put them in our room the night before. I explained to them that we had not received them and he gave us new tickets with DUPLICATE written in large red letters across them, like we had lost them or something. I went back to our room to double check and I found that it had been cleaned, but there were still no tickets. I walked into the hall and asked the steward where my tickets were and he said one minute. He opened a closet there in the hall and removed 2 stacks of towels, a pile of linens (unfolded), a box of stuff, and he dug and dug and finally pulled out a stack of tickets, he found mine and gave them to me. I stood there in shock for a minute in disbelief at where he had just pulled them from. I immediately returned the duplicate tickets to the ticket counter. My mother went to the room after breakfast and the Head of Housekeeping knocked while she was dressing. She asked him to come back in 15 minutes, 40 minutes later he still hadn’t returned and we needed to get ready for our excursion. I had checked with the purser’s desk and was told to take the forward elevators to Deck 3 at 1235. We rode the elevators for at least 20 minutes only to find they now wanted us to go to a lounge and WALK 6 decks down. My mother is unable to do this because of her arthritis, so we took the elevator to the Riviera Deck and walked down the stairs to Deck 3 only to walk all the way back down the opposite side of the ship!! When we finally got off it was 1330!

When we returned I decided to call Carnival Guest Services again. When I asked at the purser’s desk the First Purser, Frederick Low, said the call didn’t need to be made because a complaint had already been submitted on our behalf to Carnival, however I should put into writing, in my own words what had gone on and he would be sure to add it to the complaint and make sure it got to the corporate offices and that they would assist us in getting a refund. Due to it being Captain’s Night I asked that I get him the statement the next day. We went to Captain’s Night, but were unable to go to the Captain’s Cocktail Party because we started our excursion late so we missed another opportunity that we wanted to go to because of this ship’s inability to maintain their schedule or keep their customers informed of the changing situation. When we came back from dinner we found our beds turned down, but still no mints. This was not our biggest concern though. Again we put out the continental breakfast hanger in hopes that this time we would actually get breakfast because we didn’t get it that morning before our excursion.

This morning we woke and went to have breakfast where the waitress cleared the table while we were still eating, causing us to leave. I guess that was a good thing because I had to write this statement. When we returned to our room an hour and a half later our room still hadn’t been cleaned by our steward. He finally appeared at 1213 and wasn’t going to straighten our room because we were on the balcony, but I INSISTED he do so. About an hour later we had eaten lunch brought by room service (because I am writing this statement) and we placed the tray outside our room against the wall. FOUR hours later they still hadn’t been picked up. At around 1730 they were finally picked up after we had to ask the purser’s desk who was supposed to pick them up. When we had dinner in the Fantasy Dining room, the only GREAT service we received on Carnival was from Wilmer and Maribel. They were the only good thing that happened to us on the cruise, because even the food wasn’t up to par. We were finally able to catch the late night comedy show (a little too vulgar) only to find that there were bowls filled with ice cream so old it had foamed. We asked a waitress to remove drink but the waitress refused to pick it up because it wasn’t “her” job. When we arrived there was a drunken man there and a waitress was watching his son go up and down the stairs. His son practically tumbled down the stairs and he was too drunk to care. It was seriously disturbing to us that Carnival would allow such pathetic and inappropriate behavior and continue to serve him alcohol knowing full well that he was extremely intoxicated.

This entire trip is truly an example of how a cruise ship should not be run. I never once imagined that I would be spending my 25th birthday on a cruise that I asked to leave on February 12, 2009 before it ever set sail from Port Canaveral. Our Valentine’s cruise from our husbands has been nothing but a nightmare. Carnival should be embarrassed that they let this ship come out of dry dock in this condition. Even the crew/staff stated that they felt that they were unprepared and that the ship should not have set sail in its condition and it should have waited until the next sailing. I hope that Carnival will correct this issue accordingly. I expect a full refund for the amount that I spent on the cruise $836.00 and for our plane tickets $449.80. The 25% discount off our next cruise is unacceptable as well as the $100.00 refundable credit. We expect a full refund for this cruise. We were unable to enjoy any of the cruise activities, except a comedy show, we requested to leave the ship before it ever set sail and because we were put off for so long so they didn’t have to do what I requested we were stuck on a ship we didn’t want to be on and were unable to enjoy it because of having to write things like this and deal with the disgustingness that you call the Carnival Sensation. It is now 0035 and we would like to sit on the balcony that we paid extra to upgrade to, but we are unable to because we have no robes or towels. We were going to go relax in the Jacuzzi, however after hearing about the couple was having sex in it, in front of children, we were no longer interested. I am so tired and tired of writing at this point, this will be given to the front desk as is. I am not used to crying on vacation and my mother was doing a lot of it as well as myself. This was not a “Fun Ship”, it was a nightmare and Carnival should be ashamed of themselves!! I have attached pictures. Our information is as follows:

Rachel A. Paine
2616B McRae Rd
Anchorage, AK 99517

785-226-0606

Lisa M. Harder
4736 El Campo Drive
El Paso, TX 79924

915-751-7994

Other Complaints Passengers Shared with Us:

No Toilet Paper
No Toiletries
Elevators Dysfunctional (experienced personally)
No Water
No Shower Curtain
Wall falling in on bathroom with pipes showing
Epoxy glue in sink
Child unable to stand up in crib without hitting head on brother’s bunk bed
No Hangers
No Rod or Hangers
Toilet overflowed in room (laundry service not offered)
No curtain covering window, but window so filmy really didn’t need one
Children in Adult Serenity Area
Food trays left in the halls for over 4 hours
Advertisement on Carnival TV is not what you’re getting
Mints….What mints? Paul Santley’s wrong!!

*ADULTS HAVING SEX IN THE JACUZZIS INFRONT OF SMALL CHILDREN*

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…

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:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2008 1:35 PM
To: '[email protected]'
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.