What's your worst cruise ever?

[michigan tim]

For me it was an Eastern Caribbean on the Costa Magica. A last second decision to scape up the dough for an inside guarantee landed us in a noisey stateroom low and aft. The noise (engines and room creaking) was such that I did not sleep well and thus maintained a rather foul temperment throughout the cruise. There was just no pleasing me that week.

[GeneK]

A few years ago on the Oosterdam, Mexican Rivera on Thanksgiving week. The ship was great but the weather sucked. It rained 6 of the 7 days and the temp never got above 60 F. Cold and windy every day, couldn't enjoy our veranda or the pool. Rained on us walking around the ports, our excursions were canceled because of the steady rain, all in all a vacation from Hell!:(

[billco]

For me it was an Eastern Caribbean on the Costa Magica. A last second decision to scape up the dough for an inside guarantee landed us in a noisey stateroom low and aft. The noise (engines and room creaking) was such that I did not sleep well and thus maintained a rather foul temperment throughout the cruise. There was just no pleasing me that week.

I guess it is all relative, but I can't think of a worst cruise. I can't help comparing cruising to my Navy experiences - like sailing on a radar picket destroyer escort in the North Atlantic or off Cape Hatteras. I remember eating a meal and having to lift my feet as water came in through the expansion joint or strapping myself into my bunk during heavy seas or cleaning trays in the scullery in 105 degree heat in Guantanamo Bay. So, engine noise and creaking on a cruise ship don't really get noticed.

[04cruises]

I have never heard of such a thing.

[CtheW0rld]

easy choice - a back-to-back on carnival liberty (med and transatlantic). 28 days of bad food and loud 'entertainment'. the ports were great and i lost 5 pounds, so it was all bad.

[hllwdcruiser]

On NCL's Norway back in 1987 - I remember the food was very bland and tasteless - by the week's end I couldn't wait to get home to have a good meal. I remember that we also just did not have that great a time on board. The experience actually turned me off cruising for years and we only took land based vacations until recently. Last year's experience on Princess has seriously made me an addict and in contrast to the Norway, it was one of the BEST vacations I have ever taken!

[chrysalis]

Nice to see that, so far, none of the replies are Princess related.

[5fathom]

Some years ago on Celebrity Horizon. We should have never left Fort Lauderdale. We found out she was having problems with one engine. We were three hours late arriving San Juan and two hours early leaving St Thomas. They said we were at the end of the pier and we had to leave so the other ships could get out ! Honest, thats what they told us ! There was obvious dissention among the crew. The last morning our Room Steward knocked on our door and reminded us we failed to tip the Head Room Steward and he would be in trouble if we failed to do so. We swore we would never sail on Celebrity again. We subsequently sailed on Connie and Mercury,both great cruises.

[luvlake]

I really haven't had a worst cruise.

 

I did end up with the noro virus a few years back on a Carnival cruise. Did it ruin my cruise? No, but it was the sickest I have been in a long time!:eek: Needless to say I am a fanatic hand washer while I'm on board!

[DonnaK]

Carnival Miracle in 2004. Service was atrocious esp in the dining room, the layout of the ship was awkward, the decor of the ship was hideous, the kids club for anyone over the age of 10 was non-existant resulting in lots of unsupervised kids running around without anything to positively occupy themselves.

[WeBeGone]

There is no such thing as a "worst cruise".

Sometimes there are a few minor hiccups but nothing that would even come close to the adjective "worst". That's a state of mind. :D

[Toto2Kansas]

Out of over 40 cruises, only one bad one in the bunch.

A Canival cruise from Hawaii many years ago. It was 12 days (if I remember correctly) from Hawaii to Canada, a very LONG 12 days. The worst service, food, and ship I have ever seen.

Flooded cabins from broken pipes in the ceilings and walls (and we weren't the only ones), broken pipes in laundry rooms which caused a flood of water down the hallways and staircases. Exposed wiring with ceiling tiles and wall tiles missing for the entire cruise.

 

The ship should not have been sailing with passengers aboard, the conditions onboard were absolutely the worst ever. It was the only cruise where we watched passengers cheer out on deck when land came in site and we could disembark the ship and go home.

 

It was the longest 12 days we have ever had anywhere, let alone onboard a ship.

 

The main problems (besides the obvious) was that Carnival staff didn't care at all. After having a flooded stateroom, everything we owned wet from the spraying water coming out of the walls, we got a 'sorry charlie' from the purser's desk and a 'what do you expect us to do about it'?

 

It was the first and last time we (and a group of about 50 other passengers) were actually yelled at by the staff when we requsted to leave the ship and fly home. At that time, Carnival had a guarantee that you could disemark at the first port if the cruise was not to your satisfaction, and we were refused that privledge, as we tried to leave the ship in Hawaii at the first port of call.

[Cruise Junky]

I wouldn't peg the whole thing as Bad expecially as Alaska was so fantastic, but our one and only cruise on HAL this past May would be our worst experience so far.

[gooch47]

We've had two "not so great" cruises. One was NCL's Pride of America in Hawaii. Dining room experience was always bad. Either bad food or bad service or both. They screwed up my husband's sister's 50th wedding anniversary helicopter ride. No record of the reservation and no openings. Just all-around mediocre.

 

We also had a Carnival one that wasn't good. It was on the Carnival Spirit and visited Belize, Limon (Costa Rica) and Colon (Panama). Noisy neighbors. Four early 20-something men in the balcony cabin next to us and four more across the hall. The balcony cabin was party central.

[Shifra]

Maybe it should be worded "the cruise we liked the least" because I agree, no cruise could fall into the worst catagory.

 

My least liked cruise was on NCL Spirit. We took the grandkids on their first cruise and I think every grandparent in the country did the same thing. I have never seen so many children in one place and most were not very well behaved, (of course my grandkids were like angels ;) ). The dining room food was horrible and tasteless and the dr service was very bad.

 

I really thought I would like the "freestyle" experience but instead I found it very hectic and confusing. I guess anytime dining is as much "free style" as I can handle. I still managed to enjoy the cruise, mainly because my grandkids were there, I was on the water, and I did find the lounge entertainers were very good.

 

I firmly believe that you can't really be a good judge of a cruiseline after only one cruise but whenever my dh and I think of trying NCL again we just can't seem to do it.

[Occy]

Many years ago on a transAtlantic trip on the Homeric. Hit gale force 9 and 10 all the way across to Southampton. They put up ropes all over the decks that you had to hang onto when walking. Was sitting in the main lounge one night and the piano actually went flying across the dance floor. Believe me, I didn't think we'd ever see dry land.

 

Mind you, it never put me off, have done many many trips since then.

[irwinler]

Out of 19 cruises, we only had one bad one: NCL Jewel. The ship was very nice and the room steward was very good, as were the medical staff (we got the norovirus). However the food was bad, especially the room service food when we were quarinteened and recovering - it was not edible! The worst was the service in the diningroom, even when it was almost empty. We couldn't even get our water glasses refilled and it took 20 minutes to get our dessert after ordering. Many people were complaining. I won't ever do NCL again.

[Cruise Junky]

It's interesting that a couple of you brought up your NCL cruise. We also sailed Pride of America and while the food was terrible in the dining room, I think we'd lowered our expectations to expect it and ate in the buffet most night which was great. It's interesting how our expectations can effect what we consider a bad cruise. Our expectations were high for HAL and they disappointed, whereas the food was far worse on NCL.

[Whoo]

Carnival cruise to the Mexican Riviera in 1988. Food was very bland, and our assigned tablemates were pompous, conceited people who had to "one-up" anything and everything. Weather was cold and rainy all week - not that Carnival had anything to do with that, but it added to the whole miserable experience. Lots of drinking on the ship - we drink alcohol, but not to the point where we pass out on the floor of the elevator (I actually found a woman laying in the elevator moaning that she was about to get sick - ugh!). I saw belligerent drunk men several times in the hallway to our cabin - kind of scary just to be anywhere near them! Children's program was non-existent - our 5 year old son was with us and Carnival had promised there was a children's program. There was a room dedicated to the children's program, but it was always dark and locked, and no one could give us a time of when it was open and available. Very little entertainment was available, and the few shows didn't have enough seating. We also got to listen to the staff complaining all week - very few smiles on their faces. We waited years before being convinced by friends to try Princess - I'm glad they talked us into cruising again!

[mek]

The one I had to cancel, Tahitian Princess five years ago, because of DH's health issues.

[punkmuse]

we've never had a "worst" cruise but our "least favorite" was last year on NCL.

we wont do NCL again. nothing horrible happened we just didnt like it.

 

the food was bad and we are NOT picky eaters. the only picky thing about me is im a vegetarian. i cant tell you the number of times i was served things with bacon on it on that cruise. :eek: the description would be of a really lovely sounding salad with no bacon on it and i would always get it with bacon bits all over it. nasty.

 

we found that they make the food so bad in the free resteraunts you are forced to go to the pay resteraunts and the food there wasnt much better. the staff all seemed incredibly overworked and no one ws rude but the general gist was that no one cared.

ive also never had so many different waiters at each meal. we could never figure which way was heads or tails.

 

and their BBQ on their private island was the nastiest thing i have ever witnessed in my life. even my husband refused to eat his hamburger whereas i had literally ZERO options. they put bacon in the damned potato salad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek:

[1980dory]

easy choice - a back-to-back on carnival liberty (med and transatlantic). 28 days of bad food and loud 'entertainment'. the ports were great and i lost 5 pounds, so it was all bad.

 

 

Is losing 5 pounds really 'bad'? I have to work at it!:)

[1980dory]

I guess it is all relative, but I can't think of a worst cruise. I can't help comparing cruising to my Navy experiences - like sailing on a radar picket destroyer escort in the North Atlantic or off Cape Hatteras. I remember eating a meal and having to lift my feet as water came in through the expansion joint or strapping myself into my bunk during heavy seas or cleaning trays in the scullery in 105 degree heat in Guantanamo Bay. So, engine noise and creaking on a cruise ship don't really get noticed.

 

Billco,

That's the spirit! We sailed through a hurricane once but just looked at it as another great, life's, adventure. Now we've got more great stories to tell others.

Is your glass half full or half empty?;)

[A Sixth?]

As others have said, our worse cruise was still 'fun" in a "when you stop hitting yourself over the head it'll feel better" sort of way.

 

Hands down our worst cruise ship experience had to be a Louis Cruises 4 day Greek Islands cruise a few years ago on the Sea Diamond.

 

No hot water, no towels, sheets delivered late, uncooked chicken, worst embarkation EVER, dreadful unbelievably crowded ship tours, rooms were 60 sq feet in size total!!! Our cabin AC never worked right, it was the noisiest cabin ever and almost impossible to sleep, fighting passengers it was awful! :eek:

 

The Greek Islands however were some of the nicest places I have ever cruised to. :D

 

I wrote a review for the Cruise Critic about the ship, and how completely disorganized and dreadful it was. At the time the Sea Diamond was the newest in Louis Cruise's fleet, and we were on one maybe the third month of it's sailings.

 

Cruise Critic refused to add my review to the members reviews (which there were none) saying they had to have "one of their people" cruise the Sea Diamond first. WTH it was a "Members review" wasn't it... I still don't get their reasoning.

 

Too bad in retrospect, My review had ended with the sentence "I sure hope that the bridge crew is more competent than the ship management because if they aren't this ship is in BIG TROUBLE

 

The Sea Diamond sank off Santorini ten months later after hitting a reef as she tried to drop anchor. Two passengers drowned, the rest of the passengers and crew abandoned ship. The ship can be seen on the bottom to this day.

 

 

 

[pris993]

Worse cruise ever was on a Princess cruise to Mexico. Head waiter had an "attitude" the entire cruise. We should have changed tables or stopped going to the diningroom instead we thought it would get better, never did.