Carnival Cruise Line Consumer Reviews - Page 5

ITALY -- On July 24th 2007 - August 5th 2007 (not sure on exact date) a friend of mine and myself booked a cruise via internet through vacations to go to cruise aboard the Carnival Freedom. First of all there seemed to be a problem with our credit cards, which ended up them debiting my credit card with 2 cruises and Valerie with one. They insisted nothing could be done from their side about the matter. I solved the problem when I returned home from the cruise requesting that the bank reverse the debit which eventually was sorted out through Valerie being credited and me having two on my account and getting the monies from her.

The day we arrived at the ship we stood in the queue for 30 minutes, being informed that they didn't have a cabin for us and please have a seat until they come back to us. The wait ended up being about 2 hours. In between they were kind enough to offer us water. We inquired at least 4 times from different people as to what was happening, their answer being "they were waiting to hear from Miami".

Eventually with 30 minutes to go before the ship set sail, we frantically asked that they contact my daughter who worked in the spa to see if she could organize to get us on the ship and then sort the problem out. With that they reported that a cabin had been found and we could embark the vessel. We were beside ourselves, believing that we would have to fly back to south Africa. My daughter was beside herself as well realizing that security reported that we were not on the ship and trying everything in her power to do something from her side. Anyway, being the last passengers to embark we were very relieved to get to our cabin.

The cabin was small but we were not complaining. That night we did not sleep well as the creaking in the paneling was so loud. Returning from breakfast the next morning we realized that the beds weren't made and we had missed the announcements as we were in an alcove. We inquired about the beds and were informed that our cabin does not get cleaned as it is a crew cabin, which we were shocked at as we paid full price for the cruise. We complained at the desk and were told that the beds would be seen to. We asked if it were possible to be moved to another cabin and were told there were none available as the ship was overbooked.

We continued to return to the desk to voice our dissatisfaction but the pursers were adamant and often rude. My daughter complained bitterly of our treatment and the spa manager being absolutely appalled took up the case which really wasn't her responsibility. After much ado she informed us that we were going to be moved to a cabin with a balcony, which was actually a special needs cabin.

We were very pleased, so we packed up once again and moved our luggage. The cabin was lovely and we were satisfied with it, except the bathroom flooded and seeped into the cabin, but it was all cleaned up satisfactorily. From here on the cruise went well and the service was great. What started out as a near disaster ended off well. I wanted to bring this to your attention to prevent this from happening in the future again to other passengers.

I eagerly await your response to the above and would like to be informed of the outcome of this investigation. Considering we were full price paying passengers traveling in peak season at exorbitant prices, I was very disappointed. I am also aware that this is not the reputation that Carnival carries.

I had the opportunity to cruise on your cruise line, specifically, Fascination, August 20th, 2007 through August 24, 2007. I am writing this letter to express to your company how dissatisfied I was in the operation of the trip and the level of disappointment I felt for the duration of the entire cruise. First, let me explain by saying that Carnival came highly recommended by several. I have cruised with other cruise lines and was satisfied. I felt no need to steer to another cruise line, however, I was told that Carnival would be so much more suitable for me, my friends and our children. This could not have been further from the truth.

Let me say that the lack of customer service from some of the staff, the lack of time schedule, and lack of communication from crew staff members was absolutely ridiculous and obvious. Due to the mentioned above, I was extremely inconvenienced and just simply could not relax and enjoy my vacation. Correct me if I am wrong with the common assumption of choosing a cruise over a resort is to experience a well organized, diverse environment, with the opportunity to visit multiple locations and to indulge in the food and superb customer service.

I received phenomenal customer service from 2 staff members the entire time of my cruise. They were Jaime and Gener. The purser'€™s desk, the Lido staff, the bartenders (behind the bars), Camp Carnival employees, and even the photographers were all less than desirable. Not one or two employees but EVERYONE that I spoke to. I did write this on my comment card prior to leaving the ship noting my unhappiness and that this letter will be short behind.

I am a very friendly person and can make friends with perfect strangers but a simple smile, hello, thank you or I apologize would have been appreciated. I would ask a question and get a yes or no answer. I spoke to several people while on the cruise and made new friends and they too complained.

It was all about getting money from your customers. The slip was signed and that was it. No thank you, nothing. I felt like your employees were in the mind frame of get the money and jump to the next money, get that money and rush to the next dollar. My pictures didn't even come out right, the ones that were $23.00 a sheet, because she was in such a rush to get to the next paying customers.

My 6 yr old son and friends'€™ 6 yr old son loved the Camp Carnival themselves however; I just was not satisfied. I was actually excited that they liked it because that the people were rude, I refused to drop him off or they were not open when scheduled.

One day we even waited 45 minutes for the camp to open along with 5 other mothers. This specific day I used the phone next to camp and explained the situation to the information desk and they responded, "€œNo Ma'€™am, they are open,"€ indicating I was lying. I explained back to her, "€œYes I know they were supposed to be open 45 minutes ago, however, you can join me and the other 5 families that are here waiting for the camp to open."€ I can only assume they called a staff member because 5 minutes later they showed up and opened the door/camp and turned on the lights and let the children in.

Yet another time we made a schedule to watch an hour show without the children and scheduled accordingly, and we STILL could not relax and enjoy it. Yet again, they opened 15 mins late, thus making us 20 minutes late to the show we wanted to enjoy. Once we arrived late, we could not find a seat.

If we wanted to even sneak a peak of the show we would have to stand in the aisles and between the stairs, something everyone else was doing, which did not seem safe, not to mention the fact that this was obstructing views of the people already sitting. We were forced to leave and miss the show completely. Frustrated we just walk around for a little bit & picked the kids up from camp.

I hope you can see the pattern of more stress than relaxation on my vacation caused by your organization. Your staff did nothing about the extreme overcrowding. Instead, not to my surprise they were more focused on selling drinks. It was impossible to see, move or even begin to enjoy the show. I'€™m sure there was some type of fire code violation and hazard.

Now that we are speaking about the time schedule I feel it necessary to mention the at least ½ hour late safety drill when we first arrived. Even better, one particular night at the 8 o'€™clock seating, we were not done being served dessert until approx 10:40 p.m. Of course, Gener apologized, & explained the line was really long in the back and they were behind schedule. We got our food over an hour after we ordered it. He was very pleasant and he is the only reason I didn'€™t cause a scene.

Needless to say my 6 year old son did not get done eating until 11:00 p.m. Unacceptable! On average we waiting 40-45 minutes for our food from the time we ordered it. Another night we had to wait in front of the closed dining room for 20 minutes before we were even seated. Nevertheless, one more blatant disregard to the time schedule.

Lack of communication. I received fliers about fees that we were never told about -- SURPRISE. I received fliers about how much tips were. I received fliers about where I could spend my money. I received fliers about schedules. But never once was I told or did I receive a flier about the mandatory required ID to board and disembark the boat.

Instead, I found out, along with the rest of the line, when we were leaving to get off the boat. All the passengers had to turn around and make a trip back to the room and get our picture ID. We took pictures for our sail and sign card. Why is that not enough for Carnival? I understand Customs may require it but the actual ship? Not to mention the fact that we had to carry our sail and sign card, our key to our room, our soda card, and ID. I will remind you, I have cruised with other companies and this was the most inconvenient by far.

The pool area was overturned by the unruly children of the boat. All 4 days they were in both hot tubs and main pools. All 4 days parents were NEVER present. The so-called "€œadults only"€ hot tub was full of a minimum of 6 kids at a time. The hot tub water was brown from their filth. Pure disgust. These disrespectful children took over this entire area and the only time Carnival got involved is when an actual fist fight broke loose!! Even THEN they still came right back 10 minutes later.

The day to day operations of this vessel are not in place or your employees simply do not care about the well-being and respect of their customers. These children were using foul language, splashing, sliding along the arm rests, cutting in front of everyone to get to the slide, pushing, spitting, and leaving their trash. Your staff did nothing.

Other parents and adults had to do step in and yell at them because you€™r so-called security and staff did not but to no avail. No enforcement of rules by Carnival whatsoever, so why would they listen to strangers? I do not even understand why you bothered explaining what is expected from your guests. Nothing can be expected if nothing is monitored or enforced. AGAIN, I could not relax on my vacation. I wasn'€™t even comfortable in this area. My son and his friend were forced to play in the 1 foot baby pool. UNACCEPTABLE!

Last but not least, the main elevators were not in working order all 4 days. No flier of apology was received for that, BUT there is a sale in the jewelry store tonight! The other working elevators were so slam packed it was more time-consuming to use the stairs. One to two of the four elevators were "temporarily down"€ for luggage or other random reasons at least once a day. Honestly, I could go on about other incidents but this letter would be 4 pages long. I think you get the hint. I did not relax or enjoy my vacation and I hold Carnival 100% accountable.

I can only hope this is not common practice for Carnival but I will not recommend this cruise line to anyone. In fact, I will go out of my way to strongly recommend against it. I have no plans to give a dime to your company again. I truly hope this was a one-time occasion but I just could not bear another wasted vacation as this one was. You can keep your unappreciative and impertinent customers who do not mind to be mistreated but I am not one of them. I work too hard for my vacation time and leisure money! I expected more than the low class, poorly executed operation I unfortunately endured. Utter disappointment.

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA -- I would like to give some feedback about our recent experience on Carnival. To begin, the cruise on the Carnival Spirit (Alaska 08/2007) was billed as a family cruise ship. The decor of the ship (for example, nude women and sexually explicit pictures on every wall, above lounge seats, in staterooms) was totally inappropriate for "families". My daughter covered up the picture in the stateroom and the attendant respected that (thank goodness). I don't know what your company feels is family-appropriate, but I do not expect to consistently expose children to that kind of decor.

Second - we consistently had extremely slow service in the Empire dining room. We always were the last group done at night and not by choice. Drinks took upwards of 15-20 minutes to be filled. Every other table was on dessert by the time appetizers were served. The Lido deck drink refills were constantly empty and there were not enough servers coming around to offer a drink.

Third - my husband arranged to take an expensive excursion at one of the ports (not named). The time of the trip was changed to an hour earlier by the company. A piece of paper was put in the stateroom mailbox along with multiple other pieces of paper the morning prior to the excursion. He did not receive a phone call (as the purser stated was policy). Just by dumb luck, we found the piece of paper in time for him to attend, but he had to race downstairs to make it.

The fishing and plane part of the trip itself was fine. However, for a full day excursion, the trip leaders did not have enough water or food for the entire group. This is dangerous and unacceptable. At one point the guides walked off to watch some bears and left two novice fishermen alone in the wilderness. They also repeatedly told the group not to break the equipment, instead of spending time teaching them how to fly fish as the trip was billed. My husband was terribly disappointed.

Fourth - check-out billing nightmares. My bill did not have any of my excursions listed as prepaid when they were. Not only was I told to come back in a half hour to get the corrected statement, but when I came back it was not corrected in full. Additionally, I was asked to come back a second time, which I refused as I needed to get ready to leave the ship. This delay in obtaining a correct bill denied me the ability to see off family members. My parents' 50th anniversary was the reason that 15 of us took the cruise together. I probably will not see them for a very long time. This was a totally disastrous way to end the cruise and they were extremely disappointed.

I have cruised before on other ships, not Carnivals', with pleasant experiences. None of these items have ever happened before. Carnival made the entire experience unsatisfactory. I would hate for others to have the same experience.

Another note: we were returning from dinner and saw a customer speaking with two uniformed officers about a problem with his cabin. I won't repeat the issue he mentioned, because that children may read this review. I heard one of the officers apologize for the problem and offer a ten percent discount on a future cruise. It was nice that she apologized, but knowing the actual issue, in my opinion, Carnival should have offered this passenger the captain's suite and a 50% refund on his current bill. I only mention this last item because obviously we weren't the only family very disappointed with the Spirit ship and Carnival Cruise Lines.

The only thing that saved the trip for us was the excellent scenery in Alaska and Vancouver. If this was a standard Western Caribbean cruise, I believe the crew would have needed weapons to force payment and keep the passengers from jumping ship. I would recommend that everyone take a cruise to or from Alaska and see the inside passage. I would also respectfully recommend that you consider another cruise line besides Carnival. They suck.

CARRIBEAN CRUISE, FLORIDA -- My wife and I recently endured a five-day cruise on the Jubilee. This was our ninth cruise, the second on Carnival Lines. Having booked many cruises (group and individual) as an independent travel agent, I understand the cruise industry better than most.

Specifics:

1. During the boarding process, we were told to stop and fill out the boarding passes despite completing the FunPass previously. We stopped and filled out these forms, only to be told moments later that we did not need to fill them out.

2. The room was up to the standards of most lines. The room steward did an outstanding job.

3. The food was somewhat disappointing. The two times I, and others at our table, ordered steaks, they were inedible. Not just tough, but inedible. The fish dishes were superb. When others at our table ordered iced tea, it either never came or came at the end of the meal. Ordering a glass of wine for those at our table was a challenge, as it came either at the end of the meal or, twice, not at all.

4. The biggest problem on the ship for not only us, but the others on board, was the continual engine vibration. It was so bad that it was the subject of most on-board conversations with the other passengers. A performer remarked that it was because of all the newlyweds on board. A clever comment, but hardly one to make up for the lost hours of sleep, I, and other, endured. Having been on cruise lines like RC, Premier, RDL, Disney as well as when I was an office in the US Navy, this is the most vibration from a sea-worthy craft I have ever experienced with the possible exception of a motor launch shuttle at the US Embassy in Manila. Coming on a cruise to relax was a letdown when it resulted in sleepless nights.

5. I was told that since I was a repeat sailing customer, we could attend the party/reception for the returning guests. I was asked during the phone interview twice and indicated that it was a second cruise. We were turned away at the door and not given an invitation, stating that there was no record of previous cruises.

I am not a complainer. I loved the previous cruises and have never written a complaint letter before. I feel that this was a wasted cruise and wish we had put our money on another cruise line. This was a large disappointment. I realize the Jubilee is being transferred (sold?) to an Australian line. I can only guess it is because of the miserable comfort level on board. What has happened to Carnival Cruise Lines over the past four years? There is a very noticeable decline in caring for the guests.

FORT WORTH, TEXAS -- Our family had anticipated taking our 4th cruise with Carnival since November. Our oldest child was singing with a local high school choir on the Triumph. We decided that we couldn't miss the experience. We called to book our rooms. Although we had requested that we have adjoining rooms, after we hung up the phone from our booking agent, we realized that the kids' rooms were across the hall. We called back immediately to correct the mistake.

Apparently it was impossible to get the original booking agent. The second booking agent said that it would be no problem to correct it. He gave us a second booking number and we gave them authorization to take out the necessary funds. The weekend before we decided to drive 6 hours to Galveston, we decided to print off our boarding passes. The site seemed to be having some difficulty pulling up both rooms. We called a representative and she indicated that there was no problem. She wished us a great trip and we felt good to go.

We all showed up at 11:30 to find that they had overbooked the ship, and basically had sold our children's room to someone else. They pulled us off to the side, called two security guards over, and indicated there was nothing that they could do. They only had room for two people. After waiting 4 hours for them to locate the luggage that we dropped off, they then had a cancellation about 4 minutes until 4 pm (Ship was to sail at 4 pm). They basically told my husband that the only other room available would cost us $1800!!! Our two rooms were 8 floors apart, but thankfully all of our family was able to support our area choir.

Message: DON'T CRUISE WITH CARNIVAL. They made us feel like we had booked it incorrectly. We didn't raise our voices or curse - They brought over security and treated this little family like criminals. Unacceptable treatment when we did our part to book early and gave them authorization to receive payment on our credit card!!! How it happened is a mystery - but it wasn't our fault! It was challenging keeping up with everyone 8 floors apart. Still thankful... but very disappointed.

This was my 3rd year in a row on a Carnival Cruise Lines. We sailed to Bermuda out of Baltimore, Md. My cruise did not start off on the right foot. I started cruising back in 2009 with Carnival and each year we would upgrade to another room. Well, was I ever surprised when I opened the door to our Vista Suite, Room 7298 this past September 18th, 2011. The room was entirely different than the photo used to depict the Vista Suite on the Carnival Cruiseline website.

Each category of rooms has an identifying picture, but this particular Vista Suite photo was NOT the room I walked into that day. I immediately called the front desk and told them of my dissatisfaction about this suite. After telling her how I felt the picture of the suite was misrepresented and I was not satisfied, the first thing she said to me was "I see you booked this cruise with Cruise.com". I said "Yes I did" but the photo I saw when searching my cruise for the Vista Suite didn't look anything like room #7298. I told her I would like to be accommodated with another room like the one in the photo.

She asked me to hold on, then got back to me telling me that Carnival was sorry I was not satisfied with the room but they unfortunately had no other rooms available as it was a sold out cruise. She also said in a few days Carnival will be in touch with me. Well, two days later I received a letter in my room from Carnival thanking me for choosing the Carnival Pride for my vacation, appreciating my patronage, regretting no other cabins available at this time but should one become available, they would gladly contact me to make arrangements to relocate and should I require further assistance, and not to hesitate to contact Guest Services should I need any further assistance.

What a joke that was and how did they expect to get another cabin available if it was a "Sold Out Ship"! Let's face it... we all know how photo lenses make the difference in a photo and that is exactly what happened here! So, I spent $3,375.41 for this Suite and it was NOT what I thought I had purchased. DO NOT book the Vista Suite as it is not depicted properly online. "BUYER BEWARE" of Room Photos for the Vista Suite, Room 7298. This room is very DECEPTIVE as to actual room on the Carnival Pride.

On July 22, 2011 I booked two cabins for 7 passengers, sailing on November 6th. I gave my credit card info to the representative to pay the deposit due for the booking. I was informed I would receive an email reminding me when the balance was due. As it turns out this notification is only a late reminder and is generated only after the final payment date has passed and the booking has been canceled. On August 24th, during Hurricane Irene, the email was reported to have been sent but it does not appear in my inbox or spam folder, although the confirmation had no difficulty reaching me.

When the cancellation was discovered and contact was made with Carnival they insist the responsibility to pay was mine and the reminder is only a courtesy - contrary to what I was told during the booking. A recording they say is no longer available regardless of the fact that they stated their policy is to hold on to them for 60 days. We are only at day 55 as I type this. They further admit they have bounce back reports which tell them which emails were not deliverable. No effort is made to correlate non-deliverable email with unpaid final payments.

If they collect my phone number and physical address at the time of booking, why would they not review the email bounce back report and attempt to contact their guests through another means if their goal is to prevent the booking from being canceled and possibly needing to be re-booked with penalties, interest and rate increases? Is there no protection for the consumer with regard to purchases made with a payment plan and notification of pending cancellation for non payment?

I was told by a Carnival representative, whose contact information I have available, they are able to offer guests an auto-pay plan when booking so the final payment is automatically made using the credit card information supplied during the original booking. However revealing this payment option is not required of the representatives. Why are they able to discriminate who receives which payment options? Something just does not seem right about that. Upon reviewing both the fine print on the booking confirmation email and the Carnival "Ticket Contract" I have found no language supporting their policy of canceling for nonpayment the day after the final due date has passed.

MIAMI, FLORIDA -- I spoke to a Guest Solutions Agent named Glenna at Carnival Cruise Lines, the greediest, most distasteful company I've ever dealt with, about canceling my cruise. I am a survivor of the downed flight number 1579 that crashed into the Hudson River in January of 09. When I spoke to the Agent, I advised her of this fact and that I had become very nervous about being on board the ship when only a week ago it had been stranded in the middle of the ocean for 3 days. I told her my story and stated that I really didn't feel comfortable sailing after this occurrence and she advised me that they could give me my money back but were going to keep $500 dollars as a penalty.

I was shocked by this news and given the excuse that because I booked so early (almost a year ago) and got the best rate, there was a penalty for canceling. I thought it was incredulous that they have our money and have had it for almost a year and are refusing to give it back simply because I booked early. I tried to explain again my circumstances. She put me on hold (4 times total) for more than 5 minutes then came back to say they would not waive the penalty. She said she was talking to the supervisor above her and that was who was saying no. She said she would like to help but couldn't which was obviously a load of crap.

I got very angry as the hour progressed and our conversation deteriorated. Finally, I informed her that if she didn't give me all my money back I would call my lawyer, the same one who represented me with US Airways in the crash. I asked her for her name and job title as well as her supervisor and the CEO's name and address. My lawyer is calling them today. I find it unreasonable that after their own ship has been broken down for 2 weeks, they are unwilling to refund my money simply because they don't want to. It is ridiculous. Don't go on Carnival Cruise Lines.

My wife and I have taken two cruises with Carnival Cruise Lines in the past. The first cruise was a three day from long beach to Catalina Island and Ensenada Mexico. We had a great time. The food was good and the crew was great. The second cruise was just last February and again everything was great except... We applied and received a Carnival MasterCard with a great 10.99 to 12.99 percent rate guaranteed except... When we received the card it was at 15.99 percent.

When I called the company issuing the card they said no one gets that rate at first but with time you may qualify for a lower rate. Still the cruises we had taken were very good and the people outstanding except... We booked a Caribbean Cruise with Carnival for March (spring break) for us and our son who is a college student and also works as a business tech for a national chain store. We booked the cruise through Alaska Air Cruises who gave us a great rate on the airfare to Miami.

The cruise was booked but we were still waiting for information on our flight. Well two weeks went by and we had not heard about our flight information so my wife called Alaska Air Cruises. The nice lady at Alaska placed a conference call to Carnival who said that they emailed Alaska and said they could not get the flight. So now if we want to go on the cruise that we had already paid for we would have to come up with another $1.082. Alaska has no record of any communication from Carnival. Also the Supervisor for Carnival was very rude to both my wife and the woman from Alaska Air Cruises.

Whatever happened to "opps my fault let's make it right!!" Not with Carnival. Our trip has been canceled and we are cruising Holland America instead. At the same price we had originally paid Carnival. I don't mind staying with a company I've used before if I'm treated right but treat me wrong and you've lost my business.

I booked a cruise (Carnival Destiny), West Caribbean between 12/24 and 12/28. One of two cabins was a suite, second largest cabin on the boat. When I booked online, there was a photo to show how this cabin looks like. I called the customer support from Carnival, I was told this cabin can sleep max 5 people. When I boarded the ship, I found out the cabin was not like what I saw in the online photo. It is much smaller. I immediately reported to the information desk on the boat and also talked to the manager. He told me that the photo on the website was made by corporate. He did not know why it showed differently.

He said he could not do anything since it has been debarked. He asked to call corporate after the trip. After trip, I contacted the guest care department regarding to the issue over the phone and website. They told me that the photographs shown in our brochures are a basic idea of the type of cabin a guest might expect to receive. I understand the photo may not show exactly what the cabin is but from the photos between the cabin we got (I have a photo of the cabin to prove) and the one advertised on the Internet, it shows the obvious size difference. The big one is the desk and chair is missing in the cabin I got from the online cabin photo.

With this desk and chair, it would have blocked the entrance path in the cabin. This clearly indicates the cabin I got is much smaller. Furthermore, there is no way to sleep 5 people at all as I was told. They admitted the difference I mentioned. I think it is very bad way to do business by misleading people with unrealistic photos of cabins. I strongly do not recommend anybody to travel with Carnival cruise!!!