Lori of Oswego, IL on Sept. 22, 2011
Satisfaction Rating: 1/5
I am writing to inform you of a very serious matter that happened to our family when we were on your Carnival Cruise "Triumph" on July 30 August 6, 2011. We are a family of four, consisting of my husband, myself, and our two children; 1 boy, 7 years old and 1 girl, 17 years old. This being our children's first cruise, we wanted to make sure they had the time of their lives, because we don't know when we'll be able to take this kind of vacation again. During our stay, every morning of our cruise, my husband would charge his iPhone on our charger in our room. He would play his golf game on it in the morning. And then before we headed out for the day, he would plug it in. He didn't use it at all because of not having the reception on the ship. Please note we all had our iPhones on this trip, his being the only one that didn't require a password to use it.
On this particular day, we left the room around 8:00 pm to have dinner. When we came back around 11:00 pm, after the show, we noticed that the turn down service was made and my husband's iPhone was gone. My son's iPod sat right next to where it would have been plugged in, but the iPhone was gone. My husband was very sure of himself of where he left it before dinner, seeing that this was the daily thing he did. We are sure that it was taken or stolen. We recall at the beginning of our stay when we first entered our room, the room attendant "Yudi" said to us: "I am responsible for anything you might need on your trip etc." So, we asked him about the missing phone. He said that he noticed that the phone was there that particular day but saw that it was gone that night. He said that he and his assistant are the only ones that entered our room when we were not there.
My husband contacted guest services right away the following morning. He told them that his phone was missing from our room. Guest services said that they would have security meet him at our room in a few moments. He and my son went to the room and security came. Security looked through everything. We felt completely violated after they literally ransacked our room. The sheets were torn off the bed, and the suitcases were a mess! It was as if we were the persons that had committed the crime! During their inspection of our room, they moved the base of the unit that encloses the life jackets. They found a pipe and some marijuana wrapped in a wash towel! It was clear to security immediately that the drugs had been there for some time (security told my husband this) but still had to do a report on it. My husband had no words as he was appalled that this was happening to our family! Do you know what my seven-year-old son said?! He said to his daddy at the time of finding the drugs: "Daddy....are you taking drugs?!"
When I walked into the room with my daughter to find out if they had found the phone, I was told "No, but we did find drugs." I thought that they were kidding! I thought we were on one of those TV shows with the hidden camera! The fact that this room had not been completely, thoroughly cleaned before we checked into our room is another factor in this situation. I cannot say enough to let you know how this ruined our entire vacation! My husband's $700 iPhone 4 was stolen out of our room, and then we were accused of having illegal drugs in our room! My husband is a police officer and an active member of our S.W.A.T. Team here in Illinois. This was not only appalling. It was embarrassing, unbelievable, and completely unacceptable! His entire career could have been jeopardized!
So all in all, after doing a report on the missing phone and doing a report on the drugs found in the room, nothing was resolved. We received a letter from guest services. It basically said sorry and talk to Carnival's corporate office. So for the rest of our time on the cruise, we all just kind of had a sour taste in our mouths. We felt completely violated. We couldn't believe that our phone was stolen. We basically just had to go on with our vacation and have a good time.
During our stay, we talked to several of your guests, which became our friends. We told them the story of our stolen phone (and the drugs too). They couldn't believe it! They said that they leave their phones out everyday on the counter the same way we had, and never even thought that there was a chance of them being taken. They said, "I guess we were the lucky ones." It was all so embarrassing and horrible. Since we've been back, we've told our family and friends. And again we got the same responses.
On the early morning of departing, we were visited once again by local Louisiana Police Officers to ask us a few questions about the report of the drugs being found in the room. They were speaking to my husband like this was an every day occurrence and they apologized to him for all of his troubles. They asked if Carnival was doing anything for us for all the troubles we've been through. We blatantly said no. They said they were sorry again and left. Carnival didn't do anything for us, after the "searching" of our room, after the accusations of having drugs. I will never use Carnival again. And I assure you that this situation will be shared with many online sites that have information on "where to go and who to use and who not to use as a vacation cruise", unless this situation is taken care of by Carnival. I still feel that I just have not said enough about how this entire event ruined our probably once in a lifetime vacation with our family. We were all violated when we were the ones that were made out to be the victims. This is one vacation that will never be forgotten for sure.
