Beware Conquest Guests

[MarineMom923]

I have just returned from a week on the Carnival Conquest with a group of friends. After 7 spectacular days and one of the best vacations ever spent, we had a major incident occur our last night onboard that left us completely disappointed, or perhaps more accurately, angry and dismayed by Carnival. After looking over my charge account I realized there were 3 charges for $11 at the Red Frog. My husband and I both purchased the Cheers program, so there should have been no charges other than the extra tip amount we added. Even though an automatic gratuity is added when you purchase the Cheers card, we always tip a little extra when we get a good server, usually one or two dollars. So I went to guest services to find out what the charges were. What I found was unsettling. A printout showed that our server (name known but will not disclose here) had taken the liberty of tipping himself $11, 3 times. One was for a Coke that I didn't even order. I rarely drink soda and certainly didn't on that trip. So I asked for the charges to be taken off as we clearly were not tipping $11. But was it just an honest mistake? Did he accidentally hit the 1 key twice? Or was it intentional? I didn't know and was willing to give him the benefit of doubt.

 

I explained the situation to our friends, who then decided to check their charges. I was shocked to hear they were hit with four $11 charges from the same server! At this point we realize it's no mistake and decide that all tips to this server need to be deleted. So we make another trip to guest services. The guy we talked to was totally unconcerned about what had happened. His name was Krystof or something similar. My husband pointed out that something needs to be done when a crew member is stealing from guests. His only response was, "You can't assume that". Are you kidding me? It didn't just happen 1 time to 1 guest, it happened 7 times to 2 different groups that we knew of. How many more people had this crew member ripped off? We were all obviously extremely upset and this guy could not care less. He said he'd have the bar manager look into it. That's all he could do. I was furious, but we kept our cool and hoped they would make it right.

 

My fury turned to complete and utter dismay when I got my printout the next morning and the only charges they reversed were the 3 $11 tips. This guy attempted to steal at least $77 in a matter of an hour's time that we spent at the Red Frog. How much more would he have taken had we spent more time there and how much more did he steal from others? I'm just thankful we spent the rest of our time around the Sky Pool Bar where Sebastian and Antonio took great care of us and were rewarded with an extra tip not only after each drink, but a special "Thank You!" at the end of our cruise.

 

The fact that Carnival chose not to remove the tips as we requested and decided this obvious thief still deserved them indicates they don't care that 4 guests feel they have been robbed and have no intention of addressing the issue. Beware future Carnival Conquest guests; the thief still lurks. Avoid the Red Frog and check your charge account daily. My friends and I, and there were 12 of us total, are now reconsidering whether or not we'll even take another Carnival cruise. Extremely disappointing.

[Kitsunegari]

Thank you for the warning. Some do actually appreciate the input.

[Mysticks1]

I agree that you need to check your account daily. I always keep my receipts and check them against my account every night. One time we had a bar charge for a couple of alcoholic drinks on my daughter's number(she was 10 or 11 at the time). I had to go to guest services to get them removed. They agreed that the server wrote the number down wrong or it was keyed in wrong and removed them immediately.

 

I do agree that several charges of the same amount from the same server does look awfully suspicious. I think I would have demanded to see the bar manager immediately to make sure that he/she was aware of the problem and made sure that all charges were removed.

[TerReuv]

My husband pointed out that something needs to be done when a crew member is stealing from guests. His only response was, "You can't assume that". Are you kidding me? It didn't just happen 1 time to 1 guest, it happened 7 times to 2 different groups that we knew of. How many more people had this crew member ripped off? We were all obviously extremely upset and this guy could not care less. He said he'd have the bar manager look into it. That's all he could do. I was furious, but we kept our cool and hoped they would make it right.

 

I am sorry that happened to you, but wondering what you expected them to do right then and there? He did say the bar manager would look into it. What else did you want him to do? You got the money back on your account and possibly learned a lesson to tip them in cash when you have Cheers if you want to tip extra. Did you expect the guy at the desk to haul the bartender up front and fire him right there? I am just curious as to what exactly you wanted done right then.

 

Remember to not judge a whole cruiseline because of one person. It could have happened on any line.

[Pine Bluff]

Sounds like this lowlife was taking liberties and then went full steam ahead. Odd how some condone those that prey oin their fellow passengers.

[firemanbobswife]

Loved Sebastian at the aft pool bar in January. He always had my Diet Coke ready for me when he saw me coming. The one night went I went there, he already had it poured before I could tell him I wanted a Fun Ship Special. So I was double fisting it for a while. Such a nice guy.

[CruiseGirlKS]

Thank you for the warning. Some do actually appreciate the input.

 

X2. Thank you

[hattack]

Which is why you should check your account everyday for charges...sometimes it's in error and can be address and resolved right on the spot

[firemanbobswife]

I don't have my print outs in front of me as I'm at work, but I think we had more reversed charges on my account than actual good ones. Or pretty close.

 

It started before sail away at the Casino Bar when we ordered 3 bottomless bubbles stickers. We told him that my son was 17 so he gets the children's price. Proceeded to ring up 3 adults. Explained it again. Wanted to see DS ID which he produced. Couldn't comprehend that he didn't turn 18 until Feb 25 and it was Jan 5. But the years are the same - he's 18 this year he said. Stared at his ID for no kidding 3 min. Oy vey! Told him forget it I'll get it straightened out later. I was wasting far too much time of my vacation on this.

 

Went to GS that night - thanks to FTTF we went right to the head of the line. They called the Bar Manager guy over in like 30 seconds. Explained what happened. He said it would be taken care of right away. It was.

 

There were charges in the Degas Lounge from where we had a few drinks that were reversed and then rebilled. I'm guessing they wrote down wrong drinks or folio numbers. I didn't have to do anything for those.

 

It was kind of crazy to see the amount of our purchases vs what was credited. I never ran into that before.

[MarineMom923]

I am sorry that happened to you, but wondering what you expected them to do right then and there? He did say the bar manager would look into it. What else did you want him to do? You got the money back on your account and possibly learned a lesson to tip them in cash when you have Cheers if you want to tip extra. Did you expect the guy at the desk to haul the bartender up front and fire him right there? I am just curious as to what exactly you wanted done right then.

 

Remember to not judge a whole cruiseline because of one person. It could have happened on any line.

 

Of course I didn't expect the server to be hauled up and fired. I'm a very reasonable person. What I expected was that the guest services clerk would show some sort of concern and understanding. We were satisfied that the bar manager would look into the situation that evening and that action would be taken before our final sign and sail report was delivered to our room. I was happy to see the $11 fees had been removed, but disappointed that our request to have all tips to this server removed was ignored. I fully believe this guy purposely stole from us and our friends and it's quite reasonable to assume we weren't the first or the last. That's my concern. If Carnival doesn't look into this further, all future guests on the Conquest are subject to the same rip off by this one particular server. I never once said this is a ship wide concern. In fact, I fully credited the other servers we encountered. Yes, this could probably happen on any cruise line and I'm no condemning the entire crew of the Carnival ships, I'm disappointed in Carnival for the way they're handling it, or not handling it as the case may be. I would think they would conduct a more thorough investigation. That's all.

[Gman2004]

I am Plantinum cruiser and don't ever recall seeing a line on the reciept where you can add an extra tip. 15% of the bill is automatically added to your Sail & Sign charge for beverages.

[MarineMom923]

I agree that you need to check your account daily. I always keep my receipts and check them against my account every night. One time we had a bar charge for a couple of alcoholic drinks on my daughter's number(she was 10 or 11 at the time). I had to go to guest services to get them removed. They agreed that the server wrote the number down wrong or it was keyed in wrong and removed them immediately.

 

I do agree that several charges of the same amount from the same server does look awfully suspicious. I think I would have demanded to see the bar manager immediately to make sure that he/she was aware of the problem and made sure that all charges were removed.

 

We did in fact ask to speak with the bar manager, but were told that wasn't possible. We were trying to be reasonable; not make a scene. We trusted they would handle it and had every reason to think the bar manager would take this as seriously as we did and just remove the gratuities as we requested. After all, they weren't obligatory, the extra tips were given out of our graciousness. We of course had no idea we would be scammed by the guy.

[MarineMom923]

Which is why you should check your account everyday for charges...sometimes it's in error and can be address and resolved right on the spot

 

Exactly. Now I know and will certainly do so in the future.

[Mysticks1]

We did in fact ask to speak with the bar manager, but were told that wasn't possible. We were trying to be reasonable; not make a scene. We trusted they would handle it and had every reason to think the bar manager would take this as seriously as we did and just remove the gratuities as we requested. After all, they weren't obligatory, the extra tips were given out of our graciousness. We of course had no idea we would be scammed by the guy.

 

I hope for future cruisers sake that the bar manager started looking at the tips that particular server had on that cruise very closely. I would hope if there were a lot of discrepancies that the person was taken off of bar service and put on a behind the scenes type job.

 

Did your other friends get the amounts removed from their bills as well?

[firemanbobswife]

I am Plantinum cruiser and don't ever recall seeing a line on the reciept where you can add an extra tip. 15% of the bill is automatically added to your Sail & Sign charge for beverages.

 

 

Yes there is. And I added a nice one for my buddy Sebastian.

[fireman935]

DW and myself keep every receipt. Yes it stinks but total it up everyday and usually charges are pretty quick to show up on the TV. We had one accidental charge we didn't catch on our 1st cruise so now she watches it like a hawk. And we have found stuff that didn't match in the past but got it fixed without any questions! But OP I admit I love cruising with carnival but dw and myself will never cruise on the conquest again (My son got not yelled at screamed at for a drunk guy knocking him down in customer service line)! I kept my calm and said never carnival again but cruised other ship's on carnival and never had a single problem like that again!

[pokergirl34]

Thank you for sharing your story. We will be on Conquest on Sunday and plan on getting Cheers. We will carefully review our statement and pay tips above the auto tip in cash (which is our usual custom).

 

I really appreciate the info! :)

[Kitsunegari]

I am Plantinum cruiser and don't ever recall seeing a line on the reciept where you can add an extra tip. 15% of the bill is automatically added to your Sail & Sign charge for beverages.

 

Guess you just never noticed. It's always been there.

[firemanbobswife]

We made regular use of the self service kiosks to check our bill. It's nice because you have it in writing. And we never could get the tv thing to work.

[MarineMom923]

I am Plantinum cruiser and don't ever recall seeing a line on the reciept where you can add an extra tip. 15% of the bill is automatically added to your Sail & Sign charge for beverages.

 

I'm a Gold cruiser, so you have me beat there, but I can assure you there is a line for extra tip and a line under that for total. Wish I had a receipt with me to post a photo. Trust me, I wrote in the extra tip with every drink I ordered and since I was on vacation and Cheers allows up to 15 a day, there were many. :D

[MarineMom923]

Thank you for sharing your story. We will be on Conquest on Sunday and plan on getting Cheers. We will carefully review our statement and pay tips above the auto tip in cash (which is our usual custom).

 

I really appreciate the info! :)

 

Hope you have an awesome cruise. Say hello to Antonio and Sebastian. Sebastian's laugh is contagious! They're a great team and a huge asset to Carnival.

[Green4me]

Platinum as well however regarding the line on the check, they always have a place for an extra tip. There is no per drink 15% when you have Cheers, all is charged up front when you buy the package. I have done cheers three times this past year and always add an extra $1.00. Think I'lll switch to cash although it is a pain to have to carry. We have never had and issue on rouge tips though

 

The lesson here to me here is check you room charges daily.

 

Smooth sailing:)

[hattack]

I like to rise (0630) for my daily exercise..I check my bill at the kiosh right by the pursers desk, if there is an issue, I can get it resolved when it's nice and quiet and no lines

 

Most errors are simple mistakes or oversights..with the S&S keycard technology it's easier to track...there was more opportunity for abuse back in the old days when the waiters had to write your cabin number down..also, people forget that they charged something...a good practice is to check your receipts everyday against your printout, just before going to dinner while your spouse is dressing

 

My experience over 40 cruises since 1975, is that cruise line employees are very honest...cruisers need to use common sense...you don't leave valuables out in the open when you leave your cabin (which is why there are safes), you are very aware of your surroundings when you are innthe public rooms or lido decks

 

I would be more worried about my fellow cruisers then I would a crew member

[RDC1]

I have just returned from a week on the Carnival Conquest with a group of friends. After 7 spectacular days and one of the best vacations ever spent, we had a major incident occur our last night onboard that left us completely disappointed, or perhaps more accurately, angry and dismayed by Carnival. After looking over my charge account I realized there were 3 charges for $11 at the Red Frog. My husband and I both purchased the Cheers program, so there should have been no charges other than the extra tip amount we added. Even though an automatic gratuity is added when you purchase the Cheers card, we always tip a little extra when we get a good server, usually one or two dollars. So I went to guest services to find out what the charges were. What I found was unsettling. A printout showed that our server (name known but will not disclose here) had taken the liberty of tipping himself $11, 3 times. One was for a Coke that I didn't even order. I rarely drink soda and certainly didn't on that trip. So I asked for the charges to be taken off as we clearly were not tipping $11. But was it just an honest mistake? Did he accidentally hit the 1 key twice? Or was it intentional? I didn't know and was willing to give him the benefit of doubt.

 

I explained the situation to our friends, who then decided to check their charges. I was shocked to hear they were hit with four $11 charges from the same server! At this point we realize it's no mistake and decide that all tips to this server need to be deleted. So we make another trip to guest services. The guy we talked to was totally unconcerned about what had happened. His name was Krystof or something similar. My husband pointed out that something needs to be done when a crew member is stealing from guests. His only response was, "You can't assume that". Are you kidding me? It didn't just happen 1 time to 1 guest, it happened 7 times to 2 different groups that we knew of. How many more people had this crew member ripped off? We were all obviously extremely upset and this guy could not care less. He said he'd have the bar manager look into it. That's all he could do. I was furious, but we kept our cool and hoped they would make it right.

 

My fury turned to complete and utter dismay when I got my printout the next morning and the only charges they reversed were the 3 $11 tips. This guy attempted to steal at least $77 in a matter of an hour's time that we spent at the Red Frog. How much more would he have taken had we spent more time there and how much more did he steal from others? I'm just thankful we spent the rest of our time around the Sky Pool Bar where Sebastian and Antonio took great care of us and were rewarded with an extra tip not only after each drink, but a special "Thank You!" at the end of our cruise.

 

The fact that Carnival chose not to remove the tips as we requested and decided this obvious thief still deserved them indicates they don't care that 4 guests feel they have been robbed and have no intention of addressing the issue. Beware future Carnival Conquest guests; the thief still lurks. Avoid the Red Frog and check your charge account daily. My friends and I, and there were 12 of us total, are now reconsidering whether or not we'll even take another Carnival cruise. Extremely disappointing.

 

Just out of curiosity if you had not been on the Cheers program what would the cost have been for what you were drinking? Any chance that it might have totaled $11 dollars? Could it have been an issue with data entry or the system not catching that it was a purchase under Cheers?

[Kcarp]

DW and myself keep every receipt. Yes it stinks but total it up everyday and usually charges are pretty quick to show up on the TV. We had one accidental charge we didn't catch on our 1st cruise so now she watches it like a hawk. And we have found stuff that didn't match in the past but got it fixed without any questions! But OP I admit I love cruising with carnival but dw and myself will never cruise on the conquest again (My son got not yelled at screamed at for a drunk guy knocking him down in customer service line)! I kept my calm and said never carnival again but cruised other ship's on carnival and never had a single problem like that again!

 

I understand your frustration, however you do realize some of the crew does move to different ships? The same people you dealt with on the Conquest could be on your future cruise.