Cruisers Say Carnival Failed To Deliver Wine, Searched Cabin After They Complained
An anonymous couple wrote in to tell us about how they ordered a couple bottles of wine on a Carnival cruise, but were dismayed to find only one had been delivered. After they complained at the service desk and got their wine, they returned to their cabin to find a Carnival employee searching their cabin, telling them she was following policy.
The couple's story:
We would like to make you aware of an experience we had with Carnival Cruise Lines. In June 2009, we took our very first cruise in celebration of our 30th wedding anniversary. The very first evening, we visited the gift shop and made two separate purchases of alcohol, we were advised that the goods would be held and delivered to our cabin the very last evening prior to debarkation.
That last evening, when we returned to our cabin, we noticed a box had been left inside the cabin. We proceeded to open it and found that only one of the purchases had been delivered so we immediately called the service desk to inquire about the second purchase; we were then told that the gift shop was closed for the evening and to contact them again the next morning prior to debarking.
Early next morning first thing we did was to visit the service desk, after a very long wait and many phone calls conducted by their representative; we received our two bottles of Amarula. We then hurried back to our cabin to get our belongings so that we could proceed to debark. As we approached our cabin, we found one of the cruise employees inside our cabin going through our belongings — when asked why she was there, she proceeded to say that it was procedure and that she needed to find the two bottles of Amarula claimed to have never been received.
Being extremely upset a letter was sent to Mr. Cahill, Carnival's CEO, a very short reply to our letter was received a few weeks later from one of their Guest Care representatives. We do not feel our concerns were addressed; we have tried contacting Carnival through e-mails and have been completely ignored. As we mention in our letter, we understand they cater to people from all walks of life; however, we are not accustomed to having our honesty questioned and feel our privacy was totally violated.
The situation could have been handled professionally by communicating with us, we would have had no problem agreeing to the cabin search had an explanation been provided. We also wonder if this practice is legal - what was to be a wonderful experience left us feeling totally violated. Thank you.
Has anyone had a similar experience of chicanery on the high seas?
(Photo: Beadmobile)
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Comments:
Wow. I'm a pretty understanding person in most cases, but this is beyond the pale!
You should have seen what I found them digging through when i told them i never received the corn on the cob I ordered...
Amarula is not wine.
Did the employee rifling through the customers' belongings at least have the decency to say "avast, ye scurvy landlubbers!"?
I've seen a few negative stories about Carnival and wonder if anyone has had a good experience with them, or any other cruise line. We're considering an Alaskan cruise for out anniversary next year but are a little terrified by all the bad cruise experiences we've read about.
The problem that I see with these ocean liners is that they usually don't fly under the US flag. Therefore, I don't think that they are subject to the laws of the US. I could be mistaken though...
I've read all kinds of horror stories from Cruise ships, from rapes by of PAX by crew to PAX simply disappearing.
Scary.
Carnival's just a poor cruise line, end of story. My mom and dad went on a cruise with them just this past summer and really had nothing good to say. My dad called it a 'decidedly pedestrian experience', which I thought described it pretty well.....
@temporaryerror: In order to fly under a US flag, the crew must be entirely American by law. This is why cruise ships are almost never Flagged under the US. International maritime laws apply to all ships in international waters, regardless of flag.
@tbax929 is back from the beach:
I went on a Royal Caribbean cruise with my family about 3 years ago and we had an excellent time! I have no complaints.
@tbax929 is back from the beach: I cruised with Princess and had a great time. you can check out cruise critic (dot) come if you want to read reviews from people who sail a lot.
@tbax929 is back from the beach: I think just like any other type of story, you usually hear only the bad things. I too am concerned about a future trip based on a lot of these bad reports. However by reading them I know more about how to handle them then to be scared of them.
//them them
@tbax929 is back from the beach: I really enjoy cruising, in fact it's my favorite type of vacation (for a number of reasons). I have cruised on Carnival, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean. Hands down, Royal Caribbean has always been a great experience. Norwegian has also always been an above average experience. The one cruise I took with Carnival was the worst cruise I've ever been on. I will never cruise with them again (although I would consider cruising on their sister cruise line, Princess). I believe Royal Caribbean and Princess do Alaskan itineraries. If you go to cruisecritic.com you can read their forums and ask questions/find answers to anything you need (and lots of reviews)
Stick with Cunard.
@tbax929 is back from the beach: I went on a 7-day Carnival cruise after I graduated from high school in 1997. It was really nice and I had a very good experience, apart from some seasickness. Our rooms were clean, the staff was pleasant, and I had no complaints.
My wife and I took a cruise on Princess cruise lines in spring 2002 with her cousin and his wife. While we were on the trip one of the crew members started hitting on our wives, he then used our ship card to buy alcohol for himself. When we complained a gentlemen from the ship said he was in charge of the bar area and would take care of it. Problem was several hours later we saw the two together near the club / dance area scoping out ladies. We then went down to the main desk and inquired about the situation it was the first they had heard of it.
This dragged on for 2 days until finally it was brought to the Captain. He informed us that the man claiming to be in charge of the bar was in fact just a regular employee and a known associate of the other employee. They would be dismissed when we reached the main port, and until then they would be kept in their cabin. The problem was we had spent the last 2 days worried already being told that this guy had been under room arrest, but had seen him around the ship. We were also worried that he might go through our room, as we did find items moved about after they had already cleaned our room.
@tbax929 is back from the beach: I didn't like Carnival not because of the cruiseline but because it was a bit too party for me. I don't know, I think I'm against children running through hallways uncontrolled setting off boat horns. The cruiseline had trouble finding the perpetrators because they were running around and then disappearing into their rooms before coming out again. The parents were probably out drinking wondering what harm their children could come to on a small ship.
Anyhow, the only bad experience was with Celebrity well before they were purchased by Royal Caribbean. It involved a hurricane, us not getting to our port of call and them going between the hurricane and the US Mainland to get us back to NYC to pick up the next load of suckers. Ever see waves breaking over the TOP of a cruise ship? It's not fun. The ship smelled of puke.
@temporaryerror: Twelve miles is the demarcation point. Flagged in any country, a cruise ship and its occupants are under United States law when they are within 12 miles of any point of the United States or its protectorates or territories.
No, going through your stuff is unacceptable and my response would have been less than polite to the person doing so. I'd sure make sure I wrote a letter to the cruise line and posted this poor experience on every chat board I could find, much like the OP is doing now.
@rewind: Well if it's pirates providing it, then they wouldn't be looking for Wine, but Rum instead.
They haven't had that spirit there since 1969.
I have had nothing except STELLAR experiences with Carnival Cruise Lines. Carnival is the only cruise line we will cruise with. Last summer we went on the Carnival Spirit, northbound from Vancouver BC to Anchorage/Whittier. My family and I had the best time ever. I highly recommend the Alaskan cruise. Starting with the vacation value, to the onboard staff, not to mention the food, we had the best time. My recommendation is: when booking an Alaskan cruise, make sure you get a cabin with a balcony. Coffee on the balcony while watching the mountains go by, on the inside passage is unparalleled. I could go on and on about cruising with Carnival, but IMHO best vacations ever.
@tbax929 is back from the beach: We had an awesome experience with Carnival. We had a balcony room, it was amazing. The food and service were fantastic as well.
@OmniZero: Hey, in these harsh economic times I'm sure they'll plunder whatever they can get their grubby little paws on.
Who cares? The Cruisers haven't been any good since Eddie Wilson died.
Was their rifled clothing at least refolded into animal shapes?
Disembark... DISEMBARK people.. debark is a cruel procedure that you have performed on dogs that never keep quiet (I absolutely despise that procedure)
@tbax929 is back from the beach: I have only been on one cruise and it was with Carnival and it was great. Don't have a complaint about them, although I don't have anything to compare it to and my standards aren't super high.
@tbax929 is back from the beach: I went on a Disney Cruise (did the 7 day land/sea package) and I sailed on the Disney Wonder. I loved it. If I didn't suffer from horrendous sea seasickness I would definitely go again. And don't worry about the kids, you barely notice them. They are away all day in their clubs and Disney likes to keep the adults liquored up.
The ship was clean, the staff beyond friendly and wonderful, the food out of the world and Disney's private island was the best. I definitely recommend sailing with them.
@tbax929 is back from the beach: Agreed that most of what you see here is complaints, and certainly is not likely a statistically accurate representative.
Royal Carribbean was great when I went to the Bahamas. I think they and Holland America both go to AK. I was in AK this past summer and stayed at the Holland America-owned hotel (did not cruise), which also was a great experience. I'd have no reservations about booking with either of those lines for an Alaska Cruise.
I think Holland is owned by Carnival these days, and has the most AK options.
@tbax929 is back from the beach:
Princess Cruise is the best I've been on. Multiple 24 hour non-fee food services, 24 hour entertainment, multiple excursion choices at each port, and a staff that was anything but obnoxious.
@temporaryerror:
I've been on Carnival twice, once on a 7-day cruise to Mexico and again on a 7-day cruise to Mexico that was re-routed to Canada due to the Swine Flu.
Both of my experiences were amazing, the staff is always great, and I always have a ton of fun.
My parents have been on Royal Caribbean, but they prefer Carnival tremendously, and since traveling Carnival have never returned to Royal Caribbean.
On a related-because-it's-Carnival note, my wife and I went on a Cruise in the Caribbean a couple years ago. The ship docked fairly early and we had a late flight, so we purchased one of the excursions, a bus tour of Miami. That morning we went down to guest services to get our tickets, and I brought them back up to the room.
Then when we were at breakfast we came up to find that our room had been cleaned and the tickets were gone. We saw the maid a few cabins down, asked if she saw our tickets, and she said she only threw out trash in our room. I looked up and down the clear trash bag on her cart and was lucky enough to see the envelope containing, so we got it. It was an envelope with the top ripped open, and I left it on a desk. I would have loved to take back/cancel her tip, but at this point it was just too late.
So like I said, not totally related, but another fun Carnival story. Searching her belongings for "stolen" wine sounds like a real bullsh*t policy.
@tbax929 is back from the beach:
If you want a decidedly disturbing experience, check out www.cruisebruise.com. It catalogs all sorts of cruise incidents, such as rapes, passengers overboard, fires, etc. It makes you squeamish to go on a cruise.
@Zerkaboid:
I don't understand your story at all. Were the tickets there. What desk? Why? I come away frustrated.
I think I was drunk 10 minutes ago.
Short version: She threw away the tickets we had purchased, and I had to go through her trash to get them. She acted like nothing was wrong (most likely because she didn't speak much English and didn't understand what I was trying to ask her). I had left them in an envelope on a desk in my room, she just assumed everything was trash.
My first one doesn't make a lot of sense now that I reread it, apologies.
So Carnival brings the "full" high seas experience home with the search (and seizure) that only a pirate could provide, minus the whole rape and murder.