Carnival 20% room compensation for unsatisfactory cabin

Have searched and can't seem to find a discussion on what happens when you have problems with your cabin. Our cabin on the Carnival Legend had a sewage smell and the air conditioning did not function properly. Was also a problem with the toilet flushing. We were stuck in this room for 7 days. Carnival offered a 20% compensation and a 15% voucher for a future cruise. Just don't think I will ever sail Carnival again after this experience. I am considering credit card company intervention as I don' feel Carnival is offering enough compensation. If this had been a hotel room, I would have simply went to another hotel. Never had any of these problems on past cruises. Thanks for any suggestions.

If you tell Carnival you will never sail with them again, they have little incentive to offer higher compensation. :eek: If they've already lost you as a customer, why would they offer more?

Sorry conditions in your cabin were not what you would have hoped.

Hope your next cruise is more to your liking.

Did you report the problems to the customer service desk while on the ship?

If so, what steps did they take to make corrections, if any?

Was the smell coming from a wet leak into your cabin or was it just odor?

Bob

Yes We reported it to the desk. The smell was coming from the air conditioning vent. It would not cool the room properly and the warmer the room got the worse the smell. The staff had to clean the toilet system from the hallway on different days. Finally they told us to wait 10 minutes each time the toilet would not flush and just keep trying until it worked. The service desk told us were changing filters and sanitizing the lines for the air conditioning vent. This smell was also on the A deck. The smell was not as strong on the last 3 of the 7 days. On the 6 day of the cruise the service desk called our room and told us they were refunding 4 days of our cruise. The refund was only 20% ($40.00 a day for 4 days) which could hardly be considered a reasonable compensation.

had a similar experience with NCL a few years back. Reported problems daily to front desk and on LAST nite of 7 day cruise they suddenly had a room they could move us to. Why not FIRST night?

After several letter exchanges they offered a 10% coupon and we sent them our NCL repeat customer cards, certified to the CEO . . . they send us special offer stuff and I mark the items 'delivery refused' and give them back to the post office.

Many cruises since ... but none on NCL.

Sorry you had a lousy cruise.

I'm not sure how 4 free days equals only 20% but regardless, I feel that is fair.

I guess Carnival only considers your daily room cabin rate is worth 20% of the daily cruise rate. Also it was on the cabin, not 2 guest.

Stick to your threat not to cruise Carnival again. they might not need you as a passenger but you sure don't need to use their line again. Other lines are abundant and most offer a better experience than the one you had.

I will play devil's advocate.....

There was a smell and the A/C malfunctioned.....BUT how much of your time did you actually spend in your cabin? We spend most of our time out and about and don't really WANT to be in the cabin for anything but sleeping and showering.

We've been on a number of cruises where the toilet had issues flushing. These ships are used constantly and "stuff" happens. It appears that they did take steps to correct the situation, although those steps did not totally (and quickly) resolve your issues.

There is nothing to say that your next cruise on Carnival might be delightful! One does not make a trend. I think 20% is a decent (adequate) compensation and if they offered me another 15% toward another cruise, I'd certainly give them the opportunity to win me back.

Was this cruise a TOTAL washout due to your cabin issues? Didn't you still enjoyed your ports of call? Weren't you fed and entertained? Doesn't that count for anything?

What would YOU consider 'reasonable' compensation?

If the compensation which you feel is unsatisfactory was offered by shipboard personnel, you might have a more generous response by writing to Carnival Corp. headquarters; specifying the problems in as much detail as possible - including, if possible the names of staff members to whom you reported the problem: advisable to lend weight to your claim.

Shipboard offers will always be low as they have limited authority, so you want to go up the line.

I don't think your credit card company will refund - unless you have a special card.

I will play devil's advocate.....

 

There was a smell and the A/C malfunctioned.....BUT how much of your time did you actually spend in your cabin? We spend most of our time out and about and don't really WANT to be in the cabin for anything but sleeping and showering.

 

We've been on a number of cruises where the toilet had issues flushing. These ships are used constantly and "stuff" happens. It appears that they did take steps to correct the situation, although those steps did not totally (and quickly) resolve your issues.

 

There is nothing to say that your next cruise on Carnival might be delightful! One does not make a trend. I think 20% is a decent (adequate) compensation and if they offered me another 15% toward another cruise, I'd certainly give them the opportunity to win me back.

 

Was this cruise a TOTAL washout due to your cabin issues? Didn't you still enjoyed your ports of call? Weren't you fed and entertained? Doesn't that count for anything?

 

What would YOU consider 'reasonable' compensation?

Sleeping and showering/dressing is probably 10 hours a day. On top of that, I know I wouldn't sleep week if there was a sewage odor in my cabin. I would probably be looking for a 50% refund. In my opinion, that cabin should have been considered uninhabitable.

It sounds to me like the OP gave them ample opportunity to correct the problem and they did not do,so. Given that, I wouldn't take the chance of another bad vacation or give them a dime of my money. It doesn't sound like they tried hard enough.

Autocorrect responsible for most typos...

If the compensation which you feel is unsatisfactory was offered by shipboard personnel, you might have a more generous response by writing to Carnival Corp. headquarters; specifying the problems in as much detail as possible - including, if possible the names of staff members to whom you reported the problem: advisable to lend weight to your claim.

 

 

 

Shipboard offers will always be low as they have limited authority, so you want to go up the line.

 

 

 

I don't think your credit card company will refund - unless you have a special card.

Don't be so sure. You just need to put the right spin on the business like correspondence and show how the creditor didn't provide the good and/or service paid for--in this case a habitable room with working plumbing and HVAC.

Autocorrect responsible for most typos...

IMHO, I disagree. It's not like the cabin was infested or that the smell was so noxious that they had to sleep in a lounge chair. Thus the cabin wasn't 'uninhabitable'.

The OP's credit card will, more than likely, not refund any monies as they DID get what they paid for. Proving the room was uninhabitable will be difficult. In any event, they CAN dispute the charges, but they will go through arbitration and Carnival may rescind the 20% + 15% offer.

Everyone's definition of "awful" is different. I just don't see how this amounts to more than 20%. I tend to think that we, as a society, are too quick to criticize when we don't get our way. :(

We spend a great deal of time in our cabin. We are quite content to watch the ocean from our window and just relax.We are young seniors and have already experienced party time.

Really I don't know how much compensation one should expect for 4 sleepless nights smelling sewage and when I say sewage I mean S**T. We were not the only people experiencing this smell. Being an RN the thought of bacterial pneumonia was also on my mind. Been on 2 other Carnival cruises same year as this one, no problems at all. Carnival Legend was Absolutely the worse cruise I have ever been on, the whole cruise was off. What upsets me is that Carnival just expects everyone to accept their problems. 20% is not the same thing as 4 days refund which is what the Customer Service Desk we would be credited. We were planning on many more cruises, especially the 15 day travel. Can't imagine getting back on a cruise ship anytime soon. Guess it really comes down to once on the ship you are at their mercy and quite frankly my experience is that they could care less since they already have your money.

Just for the record we did sleep in lounge chairs between 4AM and 7AM. The smell was at its peak during this time each day.

Have you contacted Carnival in any way? What was their response?

I will play devil's advocate.....

 

There was a smell and the A/C malfunctioned.....BUT how much of your time did you actually spend in your cabin? We spend most of our time out and about and don't really WANT to be in the cabin for anything but sleeping and showering.

 

We've been on a number of cruises where the toilet had issues flushing. These ships are used constantly and "stuff" happens. It appears that they did take steps to correct the situation, although those steps did not totally (and quickly) resolve your issues.

 

There is nothing to say that your next cruise on Carnival might be delightful! One does not make a trend. I think 20% is a decent (adequate) compensation and if they offered me another 15% toward another cruise, I'd certainly give them the opportunity to win me back.

 

Was this cruise a TOTAL washout due to your cabin issues? Didn't you still enjoyed your ports of call? Weren't you fed and entertained? Doesn't that count for anything?

 

What would YOU consider 'reasonable' compensation?

If I had to smell something awful in my cabin even for 5 minutes/day I would expect more than 20%. 20% is $200 off a thousand, $400 off 2 thousand. In the scheme of things, that is not much money. I know stuff happens but I think the OP is being taken advantage of. Stuff happens, but the cruiselines should compensate. I know people who received $1000 from Celebrity because a smoker was in their room he cruise prior. I believe friends on HAL got 50% off a future cruise because the stablilizers broke and the cruise was delayed by a couple of days. It has nothing to do with the whole cruise being a washout. These people were subjected to a stinky smell while in their cabin. Ports of call don't matter. They paid for a working cabin.

Everything depends upon your contract.....I haven't read it, but most contracts are written to benefit the cruise line.

To get more, you might have to take them to small claims court...and them the burden of proof is on you to show that you suffered "damages".

Your best bet is to take the money and cruise with another line.

(d) Carnival shall not be liable to the passenger for damages for emotional distress, mental suffering/anguish or psychological injury of any kind under any circumstances, except when such damages were caused by the negligence of Carnival and resulted from the same passenger sustaining actual physical injury, or having been at risk of actual physical injury, or when such damages are held to be intentionally inflicted by Carnival.

You agreed to these terms when you paid for your cruise. You have no rights under this clause to ANY reimbursement. You may claim negligence, but give that they did attempt to fix the problem, it will be neigh impossible to prove.

Take what they offer and cruise with another line......but know these things happen on ALL lines.

Good luck.

However frequently contracts that are so one-sided are overruled in civil court. The cruise line knows this.

OP, I would look at it this way--I would ask for a 40% refund. This equals the 10 hours a day that you were forced to use the cabin for sleeping and showering and subject to unsanitary conditions.

Autocorrect responsible for most typos...

I don't have good advice in re what the Carnys should pony up but something other than dollars off a future trip should be in order.

I DO have advice for a sewer-smelly room. Rather than sewage, I would guess that you were smelling sewer gas. This happens when the P-traps in drains no longer have standing water in them. They are called P-traps because of their shape so don't be thinking icky thoughts.....

Anyway, when they dry up they no longer function and allow sewer gas to flow out. The floor drains in the water-closets are the culprits. A serious coffee-potful of water in each drain will solve the problem. We have encountered this problem on cruise ships and it's an easy fix. Staying in a room that reeks in just not acceptable. I'm frankly surprised that the ship's staff are not taught to recognize and solve the problem.

(d) Carnival shall not be liable to the passenger for damages for emotional distress, mental suffering/anguish or psychological injury of any kind under any circumstances, except when such damages were caused by the negligence of Carnival and resulted from the same passenger sustaining actual physical injury, or having been at risk of actual physical injury, or when such damages are held to be intentionally inflicted by Carnival.

 

 

You agreed to these terms when you paid for your cruise. You have no rights under this clause to ANY reimbursement. You may claim negligence, but give that they did attempt to fix the problem, it will be neigh impossible to prove.

 

Take what they offer and cruise with another line......but know these things happen on ALL lines.

 

Good luck.

These things do happen on all lines. Most lines would do better, I would think from what I've read here. I wouldn't take the first 20% offer. At the same time, I'd be too lazy to sue them. If that is how Carnival handles things, just don't sail them in the future. You might get slammed here on CC for being critical, but I would take that chance and broadcast how Carnival handled this issue. To me, 20% is an insult for being in a stinky room. If it was the drain, the steward should know that trick about adding water to the drain. We have to do that at our house!

If and let me say again if it was sewer gas it could of been toxic its more than just a bad smell. People die every year from this. I would never sleep in a cabin that it was even suspected.

If and let me say again if it was sewer gas it could of been toxic its more than just a bad smell. People die every year from this. I would never sleep in a cabin that it was even suspected.

When was the last time you heard of someone who died on a cruise ship due to toxic gas? It would be ALL over the news!!

But, a cursory walk through the www indicates that sewer smells are quite prevalent on cruise ship.

I see more and more posts on CC about so done who felt "harmed" during their vacation and feel entitled to some sort of compensation. It is a sad indication of the direction our society is headed. :(

Making a note to self, if sewer smell prevalent on first day and AC not working request a new cabin or request to be sent home per Carnivals guarantee.