Carnival Magic cruise nightmare

Although I am sorry you had this experience, I think you got off lucky.

By letting you on the Paradise, Carnival saved you the cost and aggravation of getting temporary passports in Cozumel, as well as a last minute international flight. Customs could have charged you hundreds of dollars, I believe, for not having a cruise that fit the law for beginning and ending in the same US port.

I also quote you here to point out something inherently wrong (IMHO) in your thinking:

We were refunded $120 prepaid gratuities. This was a given as we weren't even there to have the services.

You did not use the services for most of your Magic cruise, but did use them for Sunday through Tuesday morning. The fact is that they refunded most of them back, for the days you weren't there. But that means the crew those were due to go to lost out on expected money. And, since you also stated you had no money on the Paradise, the crew who worked for you there were also shortchanged their gratuities, for work they DID do.

I believe Carnival and their hardworking crew more than fulfilled their end of the bargain due to your negligence. Sorry, don't mean to sound harsh, but since Carnival did their part to prevent this (with signs, announcements, and postings,) and helped you in your difficult situation as much as they did, the rest is on you.

I hope you are able to recover financially and emotionally as soon as possible and will consider cruising again in the future. Odds are, your next cruise will be blissfully uneventful and entirely relaxing. Good luck!

My limited experience is that the ship actually goes to a reasonable great length to not leave anyone behind. At Cozumel a couple years ago I hear the ships loud speaker calling a couples name 4 or 5 times. WE see over the side the docks and see that the crew is standing waiting. The ship finally left maybe 20-30 minutes later than advertised.

Sucks that this put a bad taste in your mouth on cruising but I would have to say it was self inflicted, a learning experience and book another cruise,

My 02

I'm questioning the refund of the 'gratuities'. Perhaps they were instead the port fees and taxes for the ports they missed...EM

At the end of the first post, op states that they feel that this was in no way their fault. They are probably not going to change that opinion. Surely in all their discussions it has been pointed out that it is their responciblity to make it back on time.

To answer ops question what more to do, you have an offer on a future cruise which is a goodwill gesture. That's all most cruise lines offer after the cruise, refunds of any sort are very rare. You might could negotiate more discount on the future cruise but should probably forget about refunds. If you want to persue discount on future cruise then write a short letter stating the facts and exact expenses you incurred and the exact compensation you would like. Keep it short and clear.

........ (Mexico visa) $29 is actually pretty cheap. Argentina is going to cost us something like $260 and we are not officially exiting the ship, only passing through. Many countries are equally onerous in their fees (Russia and Brazil come to mind).

High visa charges are normally reciprocity (if I've spelt it right ;)) fees.

The US charges high visa fees for Argentinian/Russian/Brazilian visitors, so they charge high fees for US visitors.

Visa fees for Brits visiting Argentina & Brazil are minimal or free.

The UK makes Russians go through biometric identification hoops to visit the UK, so the Russians now do the same to Brits but not to Americans or others (cruise visitor exemption for Brits is the same as for Americans & other nationalities).

Turkish visa fees are around $20 for Americans & Brits, but triple that for Canadians for the same reason (again, visa exemption for cruisers).

In all these cases it's tit-for-tat, though I don't know who started it.

Unusual for a Brit to defend Argentina :D

JB :)

 

By letting you on the Paradise, Carnival saved you the cost and aggravation of getting temporary passports in Cozumel, as well as a last minute international flight. Customs could have charged you hundreds of dollars, I believe, for not having a cruise that fit the law for beginning and ending in the same US port.

 

Actually, there was no violation of the PVSA here, since their first cruise "ended" in Mexico, and the second cruise started in Mexico, and further was on a different ship.

People here at CC often comment how they like to watch the pier runners. Some people find that funny, I Do Not. Missing the ship is No Joke!

Guilty as Charged - my favorite port activity...any cruise with Cozumel and Cancun in the itinerary is a bonus.

Compensation for missing your scheduled departure time? How often are we reminded to be on “ships time”?

To miss the ship put of Cozumel you must have been REALLY late. That port is notorious for late (usually drunk) stragglers getting back on board

I also didn't ever see any signs or hear any announcements.

I was recently on a cruise to Bermuda on the Celebrity Summit. At the show the night before we docked, it was announced that we needed to carry photo ID in order to get back on the ship. It was also printed in the daily newsletter. It was also announced over the PA system when we were cleared to get off the ship in Bermuda. There was also a large sign clearly visible before we got off the ship saying that we needed photo ID. Nevertheless, when I got in line to get back on the ship, a woman in front of me didn't have photo ID, and she screamed and screamed that no one had told her that she needed it.

It's funny that no matter how many times people try to tell you something, there are always some people who yell, "Nobody told ME!" or "I didn't see any sign!"

Maybe we were just so excited about being on board. We did feel very lost about locating restaurants, activities e.t.c.

If you couldn't find your way to the restaurants and activities, I'm not surprised that you couldn't figure out what time you should be back on the ship.

However we did arrive back at the dock at 3.30pm. I obviously realize now that Cozumel must have been on a different time. I had also not read,heard or realized that we had to be back 30 minutes before sailing.

It's always posted right before you leave the ship what time passengers are supposed to be back, what time the crew is supposed to be back, and what time the ship is scheduled to leave. Such information is also printed in the ship's newsletter. You must have gone to a whole lot of trouble to miss seeing such information in writing.

As others have said, the ship does not sail early

I have been on ships that DID sail early if they knew everyone was already aboard. It might only be a few minutes, but if they know everyone IS on, they will sail if they can.

I would imagine there were probably numerous announcements made aboard the ship to try to sort these folks out.

I have never come close to being left behind, but I am wondering. Does the ship leave a list of passengers who did not make it if they do have to leave without the passengers?

Does the ship leave a list of passengers who did not make it if they do have to leave without the passengers?

Interesting point which makes me believe this is a made up story. Everything I've read is that when a pax misses the ship, security will go into their stateroom and retrieve important documents - passport, credit cards, possibly cash etc. and give it to the port authority.

Interesting point which makes me believe this is a made up story. Everything I've read is that when a pax misses the ship, security will go into their stateroom and retrieve important documents - passport, credit cards, possibly cash etc. and give it to the port authority.

But only if the docs are in the safe. There are some that hide their papers in other places.

Interesting point which makes me believe this is a made up story. Everything I've read is that when a pax misses the ship, security will go into their stateroom and retrieve important documents - passport, credit cards, possibly cash etc. and give it to the port authority.

While this is true, if the OP was travelling with WHTI compliant documents (DL/BC), the DL was probably with them, but this is not (to my knowledge) acceptable identification for entry into Mexico other than on a temporary cruise ship clearance. Given the actions of our own CBP that I have seen, it would not surprise me that Mexican Immigration wanted a visa to let them into/out of the country.

this is now my favorite thread.