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Joseph of Cresskill NJ (9/13/04):
On 8/11/04 our group of 26 Bergen County residents started a cruise on the Carnival Legend out of New York. Within 24 hours we were told that an engine was dead and we could not continue with the planned agenda of going to Puerto Rico, St Thomas and Tortola. We were told that on one engine we would go to Bermuda. So far it does not sound too bad.

On Questioning members of the crew we found out that the ship had been having engine problems during the last few cruises. In fact as we were boarding the ship there were severe engine problems. We also found out that it was never the intention of Carnival to fulfill our contract but to go to Bermuda. It was felt by Carnival that had they mentioned the problem while in port many passengers would demand their money back.

I believe that taking a ship out in defective condition while severe weather conditions existed -- there was a hurricane going through Florida at the time -- was putting the passengers and crew in danger. The Captain who we believe is to protect both passengers and crew failed to do so.

Although I have no idea what proper remuneration is appropriate for the passengers, I DO KNOW THAT SOMEHOW THE CAPTAIN AND CARNIVAL SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR PUTTING US ALL IN DANGER. We were told that if the government agency supervising cruise ships reviewed the ship logs they would confirm what we were told.

April of White Plains NY (8/30/04):
Booked a cruise on Carnival Legend (departure 8/11 - 8/19/04) for my daughter and her friend - 21st Birthday gift. The ship was delayed leaving the port, left and within hours announced a technical problem with the propulsion engine forcing the ship to travel at 1/2 speed. Aborted the itinerary of San Juan, St. Thomas and Tortola and took ship to Bermuda. Ship had to be towed in by tugboat. Because it was unscheduled and there was no room in the port, had to dock at the British Navy Yard - nowhere near the tourist spots.

I believe there was a technical difficulty prior to the ship leaving the port and they failed to give notice to travelers who could have decided whether they wanted to disembark the ship at that point.

Daughter was given a $150 on-ship credit - $80 of which was eaten up by gratuities - leaving a paltry $70 compensation. Daughter's friend had already been to Bermuda. The mood on the ship was foul with everybody complaining throughout the cruise about the itinerary change. They had to find transportion to tourist spots on the island. They spent 6 days at sea and did not get to visit the ports that were scheduled.

Wrote a letter to the travel agency and they forwarded it, along with others, to Carnival. Carnival's "guaranty" is bogus...states they have the right to change itinerary and they will allow passengers to disembark at port and will fly them back to their place or origin. I believe they knew prior to the departure that the ship was not in working order. They should have given that option at the port in NYC instead of forcing people to decide whether they want to ruin their vacation further by going through gyrations to return home.

Brenda of The Colony, TX (7/2/02):
I purchased a five-day cruise for me and my daughter, with Carnival Cruises out of Galveston, TX. One full day was to be spent in Cozumel, MX and another full day to be spent in Calica, MX. Unknown to us at embarkation of the trip, the ship had been having mechanical problems, so the cruiseline had cancelled the trip prior to our own.

The first day we were supposed to leave Galveston at 4:00 p.m. but did not sail until 5:30 p.m. In the night, the ship's propeller unit broke so we did not reach Calica, MX at all. We were only alotted approximately 6 hours in Cozumel (from 5:30 p.m. to midnight) which gave us about 2 hours of daylight by the time we reached our destinations in Cozumel. All ship excursions were cancelled due to the late arrival in Cozumel, except for the "Booze Cruise".

Carnival Celebration credited each passenger with $100 for the inconvenience but has refused any refunds. I have contacted the Carnival Guest relations office in Miami, FL and they have informed me that they are only willing to provide me with a 10% discount on my next cruise with them. I will never take another cruise with them. This was my first and my last cruise!

Carnival did offer to fly any passenger home from Cozumel but would not pay for hotel accomodations or a rental car from Houston to Galveston where our personal cars were parked. I asked the Purser on the ship why we could not remain docked in Cozumel for another day to at least provide us with the time on the island we had paid for, but he said that was Miami's decision. When I called Miami, they said that would have been at the discretion of the ship Captain.

Then, to put icing on the cake, I fell down the ship stairs on the last day of the cruise because my tennis shoes were wet. No one from the ship staff was there at the time. I bruised my back in three places and broke the bracelet I bought in Cozumel.

I have to pay back a $2,000 installment loan that I took out from my bank in order to go on the cruise. I lost 40 hours of my vacation leave. My daughter and I have been depressed since June 25th. I distrust commercial transportation now, because apparently any company can promise me that for a fee I will be delivered to a particular destination; but if the company does not come through, they keep my money without any reimbursement or logical compensation. I'm so depressed and angry!

Leigh Ann of The Colony TX (7/2/02):
On June 22, 2002, I boarded the Carnival cruise ship "Celebration". We were scheduled to sail at 4:00 p.m., but did not depart until 5:30 p.m. to accomodate a group that had called the ship to say they were running late. After setting sail one and one half hours late we were headed from Galveston Texas to Cozumel Mexico where we were to spend approximately 15 hours on the island of Cozumel followed by the next days arrival at Calica to spend between 6 to 8 hours before sailing back to Galveston.

On the second day at sea (June 23, 2002) during our 5:45 dinner seating, we were informed by the captain and the cruise director that the ship's propulsion unit had stopped working slowing the ship's speed from 19 knots to 10 knots. He then informed us that we would not be arriving Cozumel at the scheduled 9:00 a.m., but instead would be arriving at 3:00 p.m. and that our second port of call , Calica, would be cancelled completely. The next day, we were then told by the captian, the arrival time would be pushed back another two hours and would not be arriving in Cozumel until 5:00 p.m.

When finally arriving at Cozumel between 5:00 and 5:30 my friends and I had only one and one half hours of sunlight in which to enjoy what was to be our only port of call when we expected our two full days at Cozumel and Calica Mexico. The Cruise line offered each passenger 100.00 of credit on our "sail and sign cards", but this money was not for our loss, but rather to be spent on the ship on the next few days we had to endure on board this insufficient craft. Therefore, instead of the passengers receiving 100.00, we received the "right" to purchase overpriced beverages (3.25 for water, 3.75 for soft drinks, etc.)

To top it off we never saw or heard from our cabin steward again until "tip day" where we went ahead and gave the suggested amount of money. I believe the crew's morale dropped significantly and many actually became rude.

I spent 750.00 (my friends spent 1250.00) for a cruise package that was not delivered. The ports of call and the times allowed to visit these ports never happened. My fiends and I feel that we wasted our money and were forced to endure a ship and a crew that were unable to follow through with what they promised and what was expected. My friends and I feel shattered that not only our vacation was disappointing, but also that Carnival Cruise Lines have not offered any sort of refund on the two days we lost missing our ports of call. Where is the integrity and the justice? I cannot believe we have been tossed aside without any sort of compensation for our losses.

Paul of Gilchrist TX (6/28/02):
we were promised two port visits on the june 22-27, 2002 cruise. We only got a 6 hour port visit and the other one was cancelled entirely. We feel we should receive more than a ten per cent credit on future cruises. we should receive a much larger refund because they advertised two port visits and only gave us half of one.

We were all emotionally distraught because we could not make the Mayan ruins tour which was to be the highlight of our vacation which we planned almost a year ago.

Diane of Wichita Falls TX (7/21/02):
Carnival Celebration Cruise of 6/22/02. How would you like to book a cruise specifically to visit Mexico, its lovely beaches and shops and instead end up riding around in the Gulf for five days traveling at 7 MPH on a ship that felt like the roller coaster from hell.

Jislayne of Tampa (3/15/02):
My husband and I just retuned from our honeymoon onboard your Spirit boat. It was one of the worst experiences in our lives. We had to wait an extra 2 hours due to your id machine failure before boarding. Once on board we were informed that the ship would be reversing its itinerary.

We had already made plans to meet a friend in Belize but were unable due to the schedule change. We were sickened by the caption taking us directly through a storm. Granted one has no control of weather, but to take the boat at 26 knots when its supposed to be at 19 knots caused us to be constantly awakened due to the shaking of the cabin.

It was obvious that the boat had been put together too quickly to reach its inaugural cruise. Much of the mural work was uneven, paint was peeling, and the floorboards we already buckling on the back part of the ship. We also noticed a great deal of marble was already cracked. I hate to see what happens to this boat in 1 year�s time.

It was unacceptable how your pursers desk wanted to give us no information about your ports of call and what to do. It was obvious to the non-excursion takers that we were almost like a non-guest because we weren�t spending more money. Guests should be treated fairly and informed regarding your ports of call. We found your pursers rude, unknowledgeable and lazy. The part of the forced tipping on the drinks had your bartending staff works slowly and nonchalantly. We also noticed your dancers and Dining room personnel smoking and drinking in the Artists Lounge.

The quality of food both in the Lido deck and dining room was very poor. We had to go through 3 entrees and still finding nothing palatable. I do give you credit on the pay-to eat restaurant which has decent food but I really wasn't planning on spending an extra $300 on food.

Missing a port of call is unforgivable. We had both awaited the arrival in Costa Rica only to be stuck on its shores via this boat. I am not interested in another cruise with your company. We are in business as well and know that word of mouth is everything. We spend over $3300 on this trip whose memories should last us each a lifetime unfortunately they are not good ones. We will seek a refund regardless of all of your disclaimers and dispute any and all charges on our credit card. Thank you, Carnival, for ruining our honeymoon.

Richard of Atlanta writes:
We were on a 7 night cruise to the Southern Carribean on the Inspiration. On the 5th day of the cruise, we learned of a hurricane in the general area which was due to hit San Juan the evening that we were to return to port. We were booked on a 2 night post-cruise in San Juan.

Carnival did nothing to help us with changing our airline reservations. I heard other cruise lines allowed free ship to shore calls to allow their passengers to rearrange their flights.We wound up paying about $3500 for same-day tickets back to the mainland. Also wound up with an overnight stay in Dallas.

Vernon & Pamela of Greensboro NC (3/23/02):
We went on a 5-day Carnival cruise on the M/S Jubilee on Saturday, March 9, 2002. This was our 10th wedding anniversary and our very first cruise. It began magically as we expected, however the second day of our cruise we were faced with some unacceptable responses from the purser�s desk.

We needed clean linens and phoned the purser�s desk to request them because it was after hours for our cabin steward. The purser informed us that they do not change linens on a daily basis. We proceeded to inform them that the linens must be changed because they had been soiled and yet were continually met with 50 questions (did the cabin steward not clean the room, how did they get soiled, etc.). We did not feel that a $2000.00 vacation warranted these in-depth questions and felt quite offended. We finally had to go to the pursers' desk and demand clean linens which after about 1/2 hour we received.

We did not worry to much about that because everything else was wonderful, our cabin steward was excellent as were our meal helpers. However on March 12, 2002 at approximately 2:00 a.m. we were awaken by a loud noise; at that time we were too tired to worry about it, but found out later the next day that one of the engines had failed. We were supposed to stop in Playa Del Carmen on the 12th and arrive in Cozumel, Mexico at 10:00 a.m. on the 12th. We did not stop in Playa Del Carmen at all and did not arrive in Cozumel until 3:30 p.m., missing our excursion.

We were told to return to the ship at 9:30 and we would sail at 10:00 p.m., there were additional problems, at sailing time they were unable to get the ropes up and we did not actually leave the Port in Cozumel until 11:00 p.m. that night. We were told that teams of engineers were flown into Cozumel to repair the ship, but this did not happen. We were rocking so much until walking in the aisles was unstable without holding on to the walls. We went so slowly. Vernon and I went to the purser�s office early on the morning of the 13th to ask about our expected arrival time in Tampa, because we were concerned about missing our flight due to the slow speed of the ship.

We were haughtily given a form and told to complete it in our cabin and return it to the desk. They refused to answer any other questions only to insist that we leave the counter. During the debarkation meeting on the 13th at noon we found out that we would not arrive until much later than expected and that Carnival would be responsible for rescheduling our flights, and that everyone must complete the form that we had already completed and turned into the pursers desk.

We went back again to see if they had any information on our rescheduled flight and explained to them that we lived in NC and our children were in D.C. and had to be picked up on Thursday the 14th our original day of return. We were informed that "our children were not their problem" and we informed them that once the engine blew our contract had been voided and they were now responsible for our return and our children's return. Of course this only led to conflict, we could not get rescheduled and even late on Wednesday the 13th we did not have any information to give our family or to tell our children.

Thursday morning we went to the desk again and was rudely told to go to our room and they will place our flight information under the door because it had not yet arrived. In the meantime many other passengers if not all had received their travel schedules and we were flabbergasted. On our way out we ran into the hotel manager and informed him of our dilemma and he quickly went to the back in the pursers office and requested our schedule be pulled immediately. Within 10 minutes we had a new flight schedule for Friday the 15th at 2:50 p.m. This required us to have a family member drive to D.C. and get our children and bring them back to NC.

We were told at dinner that we could remain on the ship and have breakfast until 8:30 a.m. on Friday and disembark by noon. At 4:30 a.m. cabin stewards banged on doors and Mat the cruise director blared over the intercom that we had to get off of the boat immediately. What were we to do from 4:30 a.m. until 2:50 w/o food or anywhere to go?

Many others and we were forced to sit on the outside of the Tampa Port of Authority or in the airport for hours. This was our first cruise ever, and this is what we endured, I believe retribution is in order, this was completely unacceptable. Our 10th year anniversary was spoiled and 12 years of dreaming turned into a nightmare. We deserve retribution. Those individuals who missed their cruise received their money back and $500.00 towards another cruise, we got 1 hour of free drinks, that is not enough, but we do not drink so it was nothing!

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