Brian and I recently took a cruise with Carnival to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Unfortunately, Carnival came very close to ruining our anniversary trip. Following is the complaint letter I sent to Carnival, along with what appears to be a form letter response from them. After I received their response, I called and spoke to three different people. At the end of the day, I was told either someone messed up, or there was a computer glitch and we shouldn't have experienced what we did and they apologized. I wanted to post this information so you're all aware of what happened to us before considering booking a cruise with Carnival. We have no plans to travel with Carnival again.
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To Whom It May Concern:
Each year my husband and I plan a trip to celebrate our wedding anniversary. This year we chose to take a three-day cruise to Nassau, Bahamas on the Carnival Sensation departing from Port Canaveral on Thursday, April 14, 2011. Due to our experience with this cruise, we feel the need to share our frustrations in hopes of receiving an explanation.
The boarding time was listed as 12:00pm - 2:30pm so we arrived at the port at approximately 12:15pm after traveling nearly two-and-a-half hours from Jacksonville, Florida. When we dropped off our bags outside the terminal we were told we were in stateroom E217. We proceeded to go through security and check in. While we were checking in, we were told we did not yet have a room assignment. We told the employee we were told room E217 by the luggage attendant. She said that room was assigned to "John and Mary" and there currently wasn't a room assigned to us. She then spoke to her supervisor who gave us temporary passes so we could gain access to the ship. We were then escorted by another supervisor onboard who took us to the guest services desk. After waiting approximately 20 minutes while the supervisor spoke to the guest services desk staff she returned to tell us that we still did not have a room assignment. We were told to go have lunch and return in two hours at 3:00pm to check on our room assignment. We were given four drink tickets to use since we did not yet have our "Sail and Sign" card. We asked if we were going to eventually get a room assignment and were told it was about a "50-50" chance. We asked what would happen if we did not receive a room assignment and we were told "let's not go down that road yet".
We were disheartened and concerned, but tried to have a good time in the two hours we waited in limbo. We went to a bar on the main deck to get a drink and the bartender gave us a hard time about using the drink tickets. She was concerned we did not have a room for her to charge the drink tickets to, so we tried to explain we were given the tickets because we did not have a room. She eventually angrily obliged and gave us our drinks. She was extremely agitated and rude and it was a very unpleasant first experience aboard the ship.
After killing time for the next two hours we went back to the guest services desk to inquire about our room assignment. We were told to sit at the adjacent bar and wait for a supervisor to come speak to us. We waited another 20 minutes before someone approached us. She explained we still did not have a room assignment but they were working on it. We asked what would happen if they were unable to find a room for us and she said they would ask us to leave the ship and then try to rebook us for a later cruise. We explained that today was our anniversary, the sole reason for booking the cruise, and we work full-time so we were using vacation time to travel down to Port Canaveral to go on the cruise. We asked why this was happening and she told us we booked a "standby" ticket. In actuality, we paid to have an ocean view room and booked the "Fun Saver" option, not a "standby" cruise. According to the disclaimer on Carnival.com, the "Fun Saver rate guarantees you a stateroom within that stateroom class: Suite, Balcony, Ocean View, or Interior. You will receive your stateroom assignment when you check in for your cruise, and your stateroom may be located on any deck of the ship." So essentially, we were lied to. We are frequent travelers and fully vet our potential arrangements before booking. We did the same for this trip and knew we did not book a "standby" cruise as that is not something we would do.
Finally, after nearly three-and-a-half hours of the back and forth, we were eventually told we had a room assignment (E35). When we were told, it was said to us like the staff at Carnival did us a favor by providing us a room. In actuality, we had already paid for our trip in full, including the gratuities. A room assignment was not a favor bestowed upon us by Carnival and we didn't appreciate the portrayal of such.
Additionally, I called a Carnival representative before the cruise to arrange for (and paid for) chocolate covered strawberries to be waiting in the room once we arrived as a surprise for my husband, and a "Happy Anniversary" cake to be delivered at dinner, also a surprise for my husband. When we finally gained access to our room (approximately 3:50pm), the strawberries were not there. Our luggage also wasn't there and when we asked about it, the staff had no clue where it might be. After the security briefing, we took it upon ourselves to check room E217 (the room we were originally told we were assigned) and found our luggage waiting outside that room. I also had to consult with our stateroom attendant about the strawberries and the cake. After several minutes on the phone, he determined the strawberries were not delivered because they didn't know which room we were in. Thankfully, they were finally delivered, albeit, the surprise for my husband was pretty much ruined at this point. And, since our Sail and Sign card did not indicate a dinner assignment, the cake was still in limbo. We were told to check with the Maitre'D at 6:00pm for our dinner time and table assignment (although we had been confirmed for the 8:15pm dinner time before we departed for our cruise via an e-mail sent by Carnival on March 14, 2011 at 11:33pm ET). Luckily, after speaking with the Maitre'D, we were assigned a table at the 8:15pm dinner time and after I double checked on the cake, it was delivered following our meal.
While we enjoyed the rest of the trip, we are still confused why our trip began the way it did. I hope you can understand the frustration and uncertainty we dealt with on April 14 instead of enjoying our anniversary on the ship. We spent a good part of the day feeling uneasy, trying to figure out a "back up plan" in case we were asked to leave the ship. And then, once we were confirmed, we spent our time finding our luggage and making sure the other details were in place. This is unlike any other experience we've encountered during our extensive travels and we consider it unacceptable. We would like an explanation for why this happened, and make sure you are aware how disappointed we were with our experience traveling with Carnival, which happened to be our very first cruise experience. We are now on the fence as to whether we would consider another cruise in the future.
Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions.
Best, Krisita (and Brian) Burket
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Carnival's Response:
Hello Mrs. Burket,
Thank you for contacting Carnival Cruise Lines.
Please know we were very disappointed to hear that your experiences on board fell short of expectations. I want you to know that we value your support and thank you for taking the time to share your comments with us. We want you to know that we will make every effort to ensure that these issues are resolved so that future guests do not experience the same issues. We extend our sincere apologies for the disappointment you experienced.
Your reservation was booked using a TBA (to be assigned) rate. This type of special promotional fare does not guarantee a specific cabin or location. It does guarantee you will receive the minimum cabin category purchased with the possibility of an upgrade. To guarantee a specific cabin, location or type of accommodation, you must book directly into the cabin type required.
We know that a friendly staff is key to a great cruise, which is why we are so sorry to hear about what happened. We strive to give all of our staff the best training possible. Your feedback is important to us; thank you for bringing this to our attention.
Thank you again for allowing us to be of assistance.
Cordially,
Jaclyn Worsdale
Guest Care Representative Carnival Cruise Lines l 3655 NW 87th Ave l Miami FL, 33178
p: 305.599.2600 Ext. 76440 l f: 305.406.6156 I guestcare@carnival.com
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Wow! How frustrating! :*(
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