Carnival Dream A Nightmare 12/26/2009

[azkcruizers]

Sorry I just couldn't resist.....I have to let you know that I was a homemaker for twelve years....and I was intelligent enough to book my own flights or have Carnival book my flights at least a day ahead. If I found out those arrangements one week ahead that you had I would have been on the phone in 30 seconds. If you want a cheaper cruise you should spend more time searching for a deal instead of complaining about things to us that you could have prevented.

[ve3ell]

Another lesson...and it is unfortunate that this is so....don't book a balcony....because that is what most of the smokers book...to do just that...smoke:mad:

 

 

I am sure the posters could debate my statement ad nauseum...but it is still true:(

 

We have always booked a balcony so we could sit privately on our balcony without trying to find seating elswere on the ship.Especially on the day at sea it is nice to enjoy your own wine on a balcony watching the sun set.

[ve3ell]

If you are not a "new" vacationer...why would you ever expect your chances to be wonderful of making this cruise while cutting it so closely especially this time of year?

 

We would have made the ship with no problem if the US government had done things properly and kept the idiot that tried to blow up the Delta plane on Christmas day on the no fly list.Canadian airports reacted much faster than those in the US by setting up more security checks the next day,but unfortunately it delayed our flight by 2 hours.Starting next week in Toronto they will be using full body scanners.If you refuse then you will be given a full body search and most likely be put on a watch list here without your knowledge.

[ve3ell]

I make my own flight arrangements...but sorry to say....many many pax have issues with the smoke....because the rules are not enforced and too many pax smoke too much. And I am a seasoned traveler who knows to expect the unexpected...and to plan for it....but the smoking is ridiculous. However, in all fairness to Carnival...when they did the Med cruises there was a significantly lower level of smoke on the ship.....maybe it was the type of itin.......ok..it definitely was the nature of the itin......:rolleyes:

 

We did a Med cruise Oct 13 2008 and never had a problem other than the rough seas on the way back from Barcelona Spain.Your right there was a lot less smokers on that cruise.Maybe one of the cruise lines should feature a smoke free cruise.My family is smoke free and will always be.

[azkcruizers]

I am just curious....what exactly do you think Carnival should do or what do you feel they owe you?

[gaylensgigi]

We would have made the ship with no problem if the US government had done things properly and kept the idiot that tried to blow up the Delta plane on Christmas day on the no fly list.Canadian airports reacted much faster than those in the US by setting up more security checks the next day,but unfortunately it delayed our flight by 2 hours.Starting next week in Toronto they will be using full body scanners.If you refuse then you will be given a full body search and most likely be put on a watch list here without your knowledge.

 

So now the blame is shifting from Carnival to the U.S. govenment? Ha! Even tho I agree with that fact about the no fly list,you are really stretching things now.Many of this could have been avoided by one simple thing,very common advice. Fly in the day before. I feel bad that you had such a bad experience,they do seem to follow you.

[wentworth]

ve3ell

 

While Carnival did provide air travel for your cruise you need to

take some responsibility here. You stated in one post you only

got your flight times 1 week before cruise and in a previous post

you said you got the flight times 30 days before cruise.

 

Doesn't matter. You should have asked to fly in day before and

when you did'nt do that you should have contacted Carnival when

you did get your flight times and arrange for an earlier flight.

 

Making catty remarks about housewives booking airfares does

not help your complaint either. Suck it up and contact your

insurance company.

 

.

[ve3ell]

We went through the US Customs check as soon as we got to the airport at 730am in Toronto.It only took us 15 minutes to do this.We are well travelled and experienced at this routine.We checked our flight at the gate and it was on time so we went for a quick meal then returned to see the flight was still running on time at 930am.All that changed at 945am when a full body search was setup at the gate at 945am .The flight time was then changed to 1130am which still would have had us in Orlando with time to catch the ship.I called Carnival with the delay info twice before we actually flew at 1230pm .I was assured that someone would meet us at the airport in Orlando.That never happened and that is when we really got pissed at Carnival for letting us down.Never again will I let those incompetant people book our flights !

[frazzledrazzle16]

Maybe one of the cruise lines should feature a smoke free cruise.

 

Carnival did... the Paradise was completely smoke free for a long time and it was fabulous when we sailed her, but it apparently wasn't selling very well.

[room010]

And all this could have been avoided if you had flown in the day, or even the night, before. I know you can't be psychic about sudden changes in airport security arrangements, but neither can Carnival.

[Traveler353]

We would have made the ship with no problem if the US government had done things properly and kept the idiot that tried to blow up the Delta plane on Christmas day on the no fly list.Canadian airports reacted much faster than those in the US by setting up more security checks the next day,but unfortunately it delayed our flight by 2 hours.Starting next week in Toronto they will be using full body scanners.If you refuse then you will be given a full body search and most likely be put on a watch list here without your knowledge.

 

ROTFLMAO Time to play the "it nots my fault" card. How about taking a little responsibilty for your own actions. Common sense says fly in the day before. There are dozens of threads posted here about the problems of flying in the same day of the cruise.

[DqALEX]

Carnival Dream 15 days. I can't wait to see for myself

[Goofyisme]

We went through the US Customs check as soon as we got to the airport at 730am in Toronto.It only took us 15 minutes to do this.We are well travelled and experienced at this routine.We checked our flight at the gate and it was on time so we went for a quick meal then returned to see the flight was still running on time at 930am.All that changed at 945am when a full body search was setup at the gate at 945am .The flight time was then changed to 1130am which still would have had us in Orlando with time to catch the ship.I called Carnival with the delay info twice before we actually flew at 1230pm .I was assured that someone would meet us at the airport in Orlando.That never happened and that is when we really got pissed at Carnival for letting us down.Never again will I let those incompetant people book our flights !

 

Since you didn't want to fly in the day before looks like there is plenty of incompetence to go around. Guess we won't see you in the USA again soon, too bad.

[lillian marie]

I am sorry about you missing your cruise but if you cruise again book your airfare a day early. We usually book both our arrival from a cruise a day early and stay near the cruise port. We also book our departure a day after our arrival back in port because of a cancelled late flight where we spent most of a night in an airport. It does sound like CCL has tried to be helpful to you.

[dc-snoopy]

Carnival did... the Paradise was completely smoke free for a long time and it was fabulous when we sailed her, but it apparently wasn't selling very well.

 

It sold quite well for a few years, but the problem was that the ship never changed its itineraries and after a while, enough patrons wanted more variety that the ship was not sailing full. I suspect that had the ship varied its itinerary at least once every couple of years and given passengers more options that it would have fared better.

[dc-snoopy]

The ship was leaving Costa Maya on the 12/26/2009 cruise when it made an abrupt stop and pulled back into the dock to pick up people that got to the ship late from thier booked excursion with carnival.I wish they had waited for us to arrive from our late flight.We would have been at the dock in Port Canaveral only 45 minutes late for the cruise the was to depart at 4pm.

 

Unfortunately, although Carnival does give a guarantee for excursions, they have no such guarantee for departures. I really sympathize with you about your problems. When we went on the Destiny in 2007, my brother, his GF, his two daughters and one of their friends were all booked to fly from Houston to Miami, then from Miami to San Juan on the day of departure. Apparently, the pilot of their plane had not had enough sleep between flights and instead of warning passengers the night before, USAir just waited until passengers arrived at the airport to let them know. In my brother's case, the delay caused him to miss the connection in Miami to San Juan. USAir ended up flying the group to St. Thomas (second port of call) where they met us on board on day 2 of the cruise. USAir paid for the overnight room on St. Thomas, but not for the rental car that he had to rent to get to the hotel (quite a ways away from the airport).

 

But, CCL does not hold the departure, even if they book the flight. Lesson learned, that if you ever book air with the cruise line and they do this, then call them and make them change the flight for you to a more reasonable amount of time before departure.

 

Good luck with your appeal to CCL.

[ve3ell]

We have decided to never fly on the day of a cruise again.This was the first time we ever had a problem in all the time we have been going on a cruise or just flying to a resort.With the problems that are now happening in the world with airports in general it would be good advice for anyone to fly a day ahead of thier cruise.

[Eeyoregon]

We are hoping to get a reimbursement from Carnival for the days we lost on the ship.Even if our flight had been on time,we would have been on board about 230 to 3pm.I dont understand why we were booked on such a late flight by Carnival.

 

Without reading any of the other posts, all I can say to future cruisers is NEVER fly in the day of your cruise unless your flight is super short and you could drive to the port should there be an issue with your flight.

 

Hope you had some fun.

[ve3ell]

And all this could have been avoided if you had flown in the day, or even the night, before. I know you can't be psychic about sudden changes in airport security arrangements, but neither can Carnival.

 

If we had flown the day before which was Christmas Day then our filight would have been caught in the delays caused by the terrorist that tried to blow up the Delta Airlines Flight.The Canadian airports acted swiftly and put an immeadiate extra security check in place delaying flights at all airports as soon as news about this event was recieved.Now with the latest news on CNN and other newsfeeds,there will be substancial delays at airports all over North America.In Canada they are saying you will expect at least 3 hour delays in for domestic flights.International flights will have much longer delays especially to the USA.

[ve3ell]

I recieved an email from Carnival Guest Care.In short they stated that we will not in any way be compensated for the days we lost on the cruise due to the flight delay.They also said that smoking is permitted on balconys and in rooms,much to our dismay.I will not be commenting further on this unfortunate matter .

[LHP]

CARNIVAL made the flight arrangements through their air program. It is not the OPs fault but it is their problem when CARNIVAL books them on a very iffy flight to Orlando to make the ship on time with an afternoon arrival to Orlando then about an hour transfer to port Canaveral.

 

Sorry, but a 2 hour security delay is not Carnival's fault either.

 

If there had been no security delay....there would have been no problems.

 

Passengers booking through Carnival have the option to pay for a deviation, if they don't want to fly in the day of the cruise.

 

Carnival did everything they were suppose to do. They reimbursed them for two nights of their hotel and meals and bought them new tickets from Orlando to Cozumel.

 

 

IF they had purchased their air tickets independently....

they still would have missed the ship AND

 

they would have been paying for ALL those costs THEMSELVES........

(hotel, meals and airfare to Cozumel)

 

so in this case...it is a GOOD thing they booked through Carnival.

[Supermomma4]

Even if our flight had been on time,we would have been on board about 230 to 3pm.I dont understand why we were booked on such a late flight by Carnival.Our flight back home left Orlando at 130pm,arrived in Atlanta at 254pm then flew to Toronto at 6pm arriving about 715 pm.I have sent Carnival a detailed letter about our experience with the cruise on the Dream.I will let you all know how it works out.I am not holding my breathe on this one though.

 

This is exactly why you should never plan to fly in the day your ship sails.

We booked our own flights and flew into Miami the day before departure.

Our flights were less expensive than if booked through Carnival.

 

This is also why you should buy the trip insurance.

[nrdsb4]

If we had flown the day before which was Christmas Day then our filight would have been caught in the delays caused by the terrorist that tried to blow up the Delta Airlines Flight.The Canadian airports acted swiftly and put an immeadiate extra security check in place delaying flights at all airports as soon as news about this event was recieved.Now with the latest news on CNN and other newsfeeds,there will be substancial delays at airports all over North America.In Canada they are saying you will expect at least 3 hour delays in for domestic flights.International flights will have much longer delays especially to the USA.

 

But you would have made the ship.:)

[Cruiser_SG77]

I recieved an email from Carnival Guest Care.In short they stated that we will not in any way be compensated for the days we lost on the cruise due to the flight delay.They also said that smoking is permitted on balconys and in rooms,much to our dismay.I will not be commenting further on this unfortunate matter .

 

 

I'm sorry to sound so harsh but I for one am glad Carnival didn't refund you for anything. You have to take responsibilities for your own actions. Flying in from Canada a few hours before your cruise is stupid. Even if Carnival booked the flight, you should have realized this…

 

Issuing refunds to irresponsible passengers only results in higher cruise fares for other, more responsible people.