Question for those who have traveled on Carnival Cruises?

Question

How was you experience? I just got back from a 5 day cruise onboard the Carnvial Cruise the "Insperation". The workers at the embarkment port was very rude and puchy. The food was not that great. When we got to our first port, Grand Caymen, first off, we got there at like 9:ooam and we were going to leave at 2:00 pm, so they didn't give us much time their to begin with, but we had to take tender boats, which took about 3 hours to get off the boat, so we are now looking at close to noon before we even get to the island, the last tender boat left the island at 1:00. so we had a whole one hour there. Then were relized that if you booked and excustion on the boat, you got off first, so were booked one for the next port in Cozumel. On our tickets it said to meet in one of the launges at 10:00, so we did, to get of the boat, well we didn't get off till 11:00 get to our exscersion, and we are late, & that time slot was booked. So thanks to the boat, we didn't get to do that.

Answer 1

I just cruised on the Carnival Miracle last Thanksgiving in the Carribean and had the same problems. The food in the main dining room was pretty bad and the tenders took forever. Just to get back on the ship we had to wait in a line for over 45 minutes. One reason was probably the weather, we had a lot of wind so extremely choppy seas. We couldn't even anchor off Georgetown in on Grand Cayman. We had to anchor around the island in a protected bay because of the weather and drive by taxi to the town. It cost $10 per person one way and the ship was not paying anything. I had been on 3 Princess Cruises and 1 Norwegian Cruise before and felt they were much more worth it. I had even done the same exact cruise on the Coral Princess a year and a half earlier and I think Princess Cruises is much better than Carnival.

Answer 2

I've cruised with Carnival and had a fantastic trip, it was perfect. I went to the eastern caribbean on the Valor. I wll agree boarding was not very organized. But the food was very good. Don't let one bad experience with Carnival put you off.

happy future Cruising!

Answer 3

you bad time had more to do with the ports of call than with the ship...some of those places cannot accomodate a ship as big as the inspiration. I sailed on carnival, went to san Juan and tortola, ans was able wo walk on and off the ship at my leisure...live and learn, and do more research next time. All in all i liked carnival...nice mix of people. My next cruise stops at cayman...perhaps , thanks to you, I will consider staying on the boat and enjoying the veiw on the topless deck!

Answer 4

I have been on 3 carnival cruises and never had a problem with them. We all had a great time. I've never been on the cruise that you have taken though. I was on the Destiny twice and I can't remember the other ship. Both times we were treated great and never had any problems getting on or off the ship or with any of our excursions. Sorry to hear that your cruise went badly.

Answer 5

I have cruised with Carnival and only had a problem on one of the cruises (although it was a big problem). Sounds like you really hit the rough cruise where nothing was going right.

You can send a complaint spelling out the problem to Carnival, but I will tell you from past experience, they don't really care about passengers as much as the dollars they spend. They will either offer you A) a gift when you sail with them next time - such as water bottle, cake, t-shirt, etc. or B) a on-board credit on your on-board account next time you cruise with them - usually $50/$100.

In my experience, girlfriend was assulted by another passenger and it was caught on one of their security tapes. They ask us to "just put it beyond" us and enjoy the rest of the cruise by the ships Head of Security. When we pressed the matter that something be done, the security person who viewed the tape and verified the account for us after the incident and the tape itself was "no longer available." In pressing the matter more and questioning why all the sudden what we saw on the tape clearing showing what happened and who we talked to that witnessed it was no longer available to verify our report for possible legal action, we were told (and I do quote) "the gentleman is a fellow passenger and is on vacation as (we) are and so therefore, just let it go so all can enjoy their vacations." In stating that we would be contacting law enforcement upon arriving back in Miami to take a statement for legal purposes, low and behold, when we went down on disenbarkment, the "gentleman" was the first one off the ship with security standing by to make sure he was the first off and we were told "stay on the ship for a bit so he will be out of the dock area when we leave so we can avoid any further confrontation." For all this, Carnival, after filing a complaint with them, offered as $100 per person on-board vouchers for our next cruise for the "mishandling" of the situation and how we were treated. So yes, you can file a complaint with Carnival, but don't hold your breath about getting much satisfaction in return because they already have your money.

In talking to a person who worked on the ship for many years that I got to know before, they told us that was the "normal operating procedures" as far as if something happens on the ship; get them to drop whatever the complaint or work around the complaint while on-board so not to take any actions that other passengers may see while on the cruise and then let the headquarters office handle it after the cruise.

Answer 6

I cruised with the Imagination last year... I know that some of the ports cannot handle big ships so they have to use the boats to get us to the islands. Yes that did take awhile, but you have to be patient. Granted the people at the port should not be rude or pushy, but maybe they were having a bad day. I think of it like.. I have bad days sometimes... they don't always have to be happy happy. I also think of the fact that they are sometimes dying in the heat of the sunshine, so that can add to their moodyness. I know that is no reason to be rude, but think of it in their shoes. Like someone else had said.. don't let one bad experince ruin your carnival cruises. I love crusing with carnival. In fact.. I am off on a seven day cruise this may.. I cant wait. Sometimes the port of calls only have a short period of time, and thats becasue the boats have to get back on course especially for a five day cruise. go again.. and enjoy it.  You will enjoy it the next time!