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Carnival Cruise Lines

Carnival Cruise Lines • General Complaints • Bad Food • Billing Errors • Cancellation Policies • Children's Programs • Crime on Board • Crime in Port • Damaged Luggage • Disabled Passengers • Medical Care • Missed Ports • Overbooking • Poor Service • Safety Issues • Wedding Services • "Branded" by Carnival News • Imagine! Our Man Truman on a Carnival Cruise • Carnival Cruise Lines to Refund $40 Million in Fuel Surcharges • Illness Strikes Carnival Ships Cruise Notes • Medical Care Spotty • Health Care Guidelines • Consumer Fact Sheet

To say that Carnival gets more than its share of complaints would be quite an understatement. We get more complaints about Carnival than about all other crise lines combined. We'd recommend reading this section carefully before you put down big bucks -- not after.

Here are just a few of the more recent complaints ...

Kirk of Trabuco Canyon, CA April 24, 2006

Kirk of Trabuco Canyon CA (04/24/06)
My family was on a four day cruise to Mexico and all of us became sick on the last day of the cruise. All the symptoms were consistant with a Novovirus. This was not suprising due to some of the sanitation practices we witnessed on the ship. Those practices included crew members not washing their hands after using the head or following sneezing or coughing. The was an inadequate number of public heads around busy activity areas and the few that were present were poorly maintained. Can't blame this one on the Mexican water!

Following our return, our family of four were pretty much down and out for 2-3 days. One child has missed some school. What was supposedto be a fun family spring break vacation was pretty much ruined. I would not recommend Carnival after this.

Donna of Murfreesboro, TN April 19, 2006

Donna of Murfreesboro, TN (04/19/06)
We were aboard a Carnival cruise ship when we were asked to listen to a presentation for a vacation club, a way to purchase "cruise points" that could be used to book a future cruise on Carnival.

We were lied to about how many points it would take to book a cruise. We are trying to get our money back but haven't received anything yet. We are out 5000. I can't believe Carnival would let these scam artist use their ship to rip off the guest.

If I am forced to stay in this contract the cruise will end up costing me 500 more per cruise than if I had a travel agent!

Katyisha of Krebs, OK April 18, 2006

Katyisha of Krebs OK (04/18/06)
The following is a list of complaints lodged by me, Katyisha Martin, my fiancé, and a host of other people we became acquainted with on this excursion due to the HORRIFYING experience of using Carnival Cruise lines. Experiences on Carnival Cruise Line "Sensation"

1. Destination changed, after being promised by travel agent and checking to ensure that our party would indeed be taken to Grand Turks Islands. This did not happen. (I have researched and found that this is common with Carnival Cruise Lines. We requested to go to Grand Turks, and it was the only reason we agreed upon this cruise.)

2. Boarding of the ship was to be early because we were with a wedding party that paid extra, so that we would have ample time to dress and prepare for ceremony. (Did not happen). Wedding scheduled for 1:30 p.m. By the time we boarded we had 20-45 minutes to get make up, hair, dressed etc. Some of us dressed in bathrooms that were not clean, and in hallways with vomit on the floor, because our rooms were not yet ready.)

3. Non-sailing wedding party guests (the bride's mother and friends) were all rushed off the ship without being allowed to take photos with the bride, resulting in a depressed and irritable bride the entire cruise.)

4. Wedding coordinator told us to talk to information desk about any issues we had. (They were VERY rude, and told us there was nothing we / they could do about it, so the best thing to do was try to enjoy ourselves.)

5. Pool was dirty, mildewed, unsanitary and disgusting.

6. Water slide was broken the entire trip.

7. Ice-cream machine was broken. (Which was one of the only things we felt may be safe to eat), being the other food was completely inedible).

8. Nightly buffet closed early, when there was food available.

9. Extra and miscellaneous charges on sign and sail card with no explanation.

10. We were told by staff there was to be a 10 per day gratuity fee. We were also told we could tip as we saw fit. Upon observation of our bill there was a 15% gratuity added for everything that we purchased. Even when the drinks were made incorrectly and returned to the bar, also the bar staff was rude.

11. No beer at Half Moon Cay. (We were told they ran out and although we received someone else’s bill and the wrong ticket, (which we accidentally signed) we were told too bad.

12. Charges on my sign and sail card from a bar that we never were in. (Was told that they had to take care of it on the last day of the cruise. Now I know why they took them off and added them directly to my boyfriend’s card because we shared a cabin.)

13. Freeport was completely disgusting and unacceptable. (To replace this with Grand Turks, which is the only reason we booked this cruise, was never discussed with us or any of the other passengers we came into contact with, and, was an unacceptable presumption by your Cruise Line to think that we would agree to this.)

14. We were told this boat was completely renovated. (Well, that was a lie all in itself, because there was rust and mildew in our windows. The bathroom vents were disgusting, our shower, mirror, and first and foremost OUR linens were dirty. We were told we were the second voyage on this boat. Found from a previous itinerary that this was also a lie and was given another list of different lies as to why we would not be going to our promised destination, and we found out the boat had been used by survivors of Hurricane Katrina for emergency shelter and residency for several months, (information from a news article).

15. We were then asked for additional tips for poor service, and even for asking too many questions on the boat.

16. Shower head was broken and disconnected from wall in shower, only for the hose to beat me excessively in my back and head. 17. I watched a carnival cruise advertisement for 5 days about how my experience would be great. It was not.

18. I even asked previous to our boarding (because things were going so badly already) if there was anyway we could cancel and just stay in Florida. We were told no.

19. The snorkeling excursion. (We should have never gone), the alternator belt broke; all of the life saving devices were cut up and damaged. We were told that when we booked excursions there would trained professionals aboard to ensure that we were safe, not to mention that we tried to book other excursions and they would not accept them, then turned right around and said they were all sold out.)

20. I could go on and on, and upon request I will give further information. But the biggest upset ever, was to find that my boyfriend of 3 years, fiancé of six (6) months had planned to set a wedding date, but after seeing how horrible an experience I was having, he DID NOT; he waited until we got home because he was going to surprise me with A CRUISE! ARE YOU KIDDING ME, THIS IS LIKE A HUGE NIGHTMARE! THANKS, CARNIVAL.

Tammy of West Palm Beach, FL April 11, 2006

Tammy of West Palm Beach FL (04/11/06)
I finished a 4-day cruise on the Carnival Cruise ship Imagination that I booked with them last month sailing from March 23-27. My problem is with the actual cruise destination. Shortly after our 1st scheduled stop was completed and we were again out to sea, an inebriated passenger dove into a very shallow pool and seriously injured himself. We were informed that a guest was in dire need of medical attention & the ship needed to return to port in Key West. The ship returned, the guest was taken off the boat & we returned to sea.

No mention was made prior to our 2nd departure of a change in destination. We learned of this approximately 1-2 hours after the ship left & that we would (instead of Mexico) be going to the Bahamas. My husband travels frequently to the Bahamas for work & we had no desire to go there for vacation. We live in South Florida so this was like paying for a vacation to the place that he WORKS! The crewmembers were all expertly drilled to convince the passengers that this was a sufficient PORT of CALL change. Let me assure you this was NOT! The trip we paid for was far more valuable than the trip we received. 

Fenghua of Chester Springs, PA April 5, 2006

Fenghua of Chester Springs PA (04/05/06)
On March 15 My family booked a 3 nights Bahamas cruise provided by Carnival Cruise Line Inc thought online travel agency www.nwa.com. During the online reservation, we selected Category 4A Inside stateroom on Riviera Deck with the price of 379 per person and 329 per additional child. According to that day’s promotion, we are free upgraded to Category 4D Inside statement E29 on Empress Deck.  After 3 days, we received a FastPass ticket package from Carnival Cruise. On the FastPass ticket, our stateroom is E29. Unfortunately when we were boarding the ship at 4:30 PM on March 30, we were been assigned a different stateroom R165 on Riviera Deck. This room is not the room we booked.

We immediately brought the concern to the purser from Information Desk on the ship. At that moment they rejected to assign back the original stateroom E29 we booked back to us since they need to check and confirm our original reservation from Carnival’s main office. We waited until mid night that the pursur from Information Desk confirmed that our booked room is E29 however they only apologize their mistake. Neither could they switch us back to E29, nor could they switch us to other upper level deck inside staterooms.

During the whole night of March 30 we could not sleep in R165 room due to the high volume Noise from the Engine and the ship movement. I called Information Desk again at 4:30 AM on March 31. The crew member came and checked the noise of the room. After around 1 hour, they gave us statement M166 for us to temporarily sleep only for few hours. At that night, the pursur agreed to let us switch from R165 to M166. This is the horrible experience for the cruise line. Our 3 night vacation was been totally destroyed.

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