What's the Nicest Thing a Carnival Team Member Ever Did For You?

[theriac]

It was obvious to him, who was seeing me there at the table. That's why he was surprised by my fluency with Spanish.

 

Gotcha, I asked because how it was written didn't state it that way so that's why I was curious how it was obvious.

 

It would have given the proper context and gotten your point across better by saying something like, it took him by surprise that I could speak fluent Spanish which wasn't something he was expecting from a Caucasian on a cruise ship

 

 

I'm not trying to be rude, and I apologize if it came off that way. I was genuinely curious about my initial question about it being obvious because like I stated, how it was written didn't give the proper context.

Edited November 23, 2015 by theriac

[winddawn]

So nice to read all the stories and not hear people complaining about this or that person

 

A few stand out people to me were on a NCL cruise. From Day one our butler Charlie became like family and was the most genuine nicest person I've had the pleasure of meeting on a cruise.....He always had a smile and was one step ahead of anything before we could even think about it.....He knew we were in the casino quite a bit and drank our fair share and would make sure there was VitaWaters in the room to help rehydrate without asking him....Everyday he wished us Good Luck and took the time to actually talk with us about himself etc. Not just the normal chit chat or not even seeing your butler or room steward in some cases.....I read other reviews and Charlie was mentioned in quite a few as the special guy who made people's cruises feel that much more awesome....Charlie's one of those rare people that when you meet him you can actually feel the warmth n genuine happiness in his persona

 

One other time on Carnival we were celebrating my wife's birthday and the Casino host surprised us with a comped speciality restaurant n 2 bottles of wine plus a birthday cake..... This wasn't planned with her and was so thoughtful and sweet of her

 

There's really great staff on board all the ships but it seems from all the stories that some just seem to outshine at certain times 😃😃

Isn't it amazing how that one special crew member will always stand out in your mind? That's the stuff great cruise memories are made of!

[evandbob]

We were in the aft situated comedy club on the Magic and Christina (waitstaff) asked us for our drink offer. I wanted a non alcoholic Mango Madness and Evelyn asked if she could get coffee. Christina brought me my drink then walked down the deck 5 promenade to the coffee shop midship to get the coffee and brought it back to us.

[rjrice1]

We had to cabins on the empress deck very forward; second day our a/c died and they were not able to fix it till we return to port.

My family and I were very upset and voicing my concerns to the repair people who thought it was a joke.

Security came to our room ... he made sure we got new cabins.

Told the bartender to give us the drink of the day every day on him.

Very nice. Even when we were returning from an excursion and had liquor he let us through without checking it in..

[cosmo cruiser]

Thank you to each of you for the kind words and all the paryers. We are finally back home and thankfully my husband is making progress toward recovery from a very rough experience. We are very blessed. We got back on Feb 18th and my husband was finally back home on Feb 25th.

 

We sailed on Carnival Splendor out of Miami on 1/11/15. Kenny had a heart attack right after sitting down to dinner the very first night. We had ordered and introduced ourselves to our wait staff when he started to feel ill. We ended up going by wheelchair (one of the waiters RAN while pushing him in a wheelchair) to the infirmary where he received amazing care in a matter of minutes. The medical staff was professional and totally knew what they were doing. We were both very impressed. It was determined in short order that he needed to be evacuated and fast. We were heading to two days at sea before our first port so he wouldn't be able to get the care he was going to need on board. We were medi vac off the ship around midnight onto a smaller boat for a long, rough, and windy ride to Freeport. Carnival diverted the ship as close to Freeport as possible even though we were not scheduled to stop in the Bahamas. Once there we were taken to a local hospital so he could be stabilized. We were there for 12 hours and then we were medi vac by air ambulance to Ft Lauderdale to the Broward Heart Hospital which is a level 1 trama center.

While the stay in Freeport was brief and the staff was wonderful you do not want to be in the hospital there. Very old equipment and out dated technology to say the least. Thankfully we were able to get to Ft Lauderdale quickly. IF he had only had a heart attaqck we would have been home in less than a week. They did a heart catheraztion and put in 2 stinks and his heart was up and running fine.

 

Unfortunetly he aspirated on the medical flight (threw up into his own lungs) while he was strapped down upon take off and things went down hill fast. He developed aspiration pnemonia which is pretty serious by itself. When they treated the pnemonia it killed all of the good bacteria in his body and he developed C-Diff which is a serious infection in his gut. Over the course of the next two weeks his kidneys shut down, his bowels stopped working, and his colon stopped processing. He had respiratory failure and was on 100% breathing machine. His became septic and went into septic shock. He was on 24 hour a day kidney dialisis for 4 days and then had an additional three days of 4 hour a day dialisis. He was sedated for a total of 19 days and was delerious for a week after that. He had two main lines put in, was tubed twice and had to have a trach put in on day 18.

 

When it was all said and done he spent 33 days in CVICU and an additional 6 days in a regular room. We had to have a medical transport home to Indiana (an RN went on a commerical flight with us) and he was on oxygen for the flight home. Once home he had to go to a rehab center to regain his balance enough to be home alone so I could go back to work. Last Thursday he was readmitted to our local hospital because he was feeling horrible after only a week or so home. He ended up being dehydrated and having a urinary tract infection as well as a stomach virus. He is home again as of yesterday and the virus will run it's course. He is on meds for the infection and hopefully he will start physical, occupational and cardiac rehab again next week.

We are praying he will make a full recovery in time. He lost so much muscle mass being sedated and in bed for 33 days that it is going to take time. He has a good attitude and wants to get better and get back to work so that is a huge part of the recovery process.

I feel very blessed that we received the amazing care in the infirmary, in Freeport as well as at Broward Hospital. I am afraid if we had been sent to a different hospital or had any other team of doctors he very well may not have made it thru it all. The team of doctors he had in Ft Lauderdale were nothing short of miracle workers with everything he was dealing with at once. They truly saved his life.

 

I had often wondered what kind of medical care you would get on a ship if you ever needed it? I now know they can do what needs to be done and they are amazing. We hope to sail the Splendor again (as of now we are booked to sail her to Canada/New England in September) and hope to have a chance to say thank you in person.

 

We were supposed to be on the Glory this week for a cruise but we had to cancel that one as he isn't strong enough yet to be on a cruise and I am out of vacation time due to being gone for almost 6 weeks while all of this was going on. We will sail again and it will be on Carnival. We will be lifetime supporters and customers after the way they took care of us in our most desperate time of need.

 

We always have sailed with travel insurance and like most people have considered not buying it a time or two just because we never used it in 25 previous cruises. All I can say is I am so thankfull we had it. The air flight from the Bahamas alone was almost 12K and every penny was covered by the insurance. I don't even know yet what all of the other things cost but quite a lot of it will be covered once I am able to get the claim sumitted. I was pleasently surprised to learn that the cruise insurance also will cover up to 10K of non covered medical costs after our regular insurance pays. We may have enough to cover most of our deductables and out of pocket costs. What a blessing it is that we spent that $90 per person just to be on the safe side!

 

Sorry this is so long but quite a few people asked how he was doing and what actually happened so I wanted to fill you all in. Thank you all again for the prayers, we felt them all the way to Florida. Safe travels :)

 

 

QUICK UPDATE: Kenny has made a 99% recovery (some loss of kidney function but nothing we can't deal with) and we are cruising again! We sailed the Canada/New England coastline in Sept and we sail this Saturday out of Ft Lauderdale on the Conquest. We are very, very blessed and thankful that it all turned out the way it did. It was a long road but he was able to return to work on June 1st. We are spending Thanksgiving Day on the beach sharing a picnic lunch with each other. We are planning to spend Friday at Broward hospital saying some very special Thank You's to the doctors and nurses that took such good care of him while we were there. It will be an emotional trip but in a good way I am sure. Thanks again for all the good wishes and prayers, they were needed and very much appreciated. Looking forward to seeing Carolina Viking 71208 (fellow Hoosiers) on the Conquest. Safe Travels All and Happy thanksgiving to each of you and your loved ones. We are counting our blessings and they are many!!!!

[L&J]

13 family members cruised the Splendor in February. My young daughter has Celiac Disease. One night, our group decided to eat in the buffet due to a later port day so we let our head waiter (Oswaldo) know the night before. So, we're sitting upstairs above the Lido buffet and here comes Oswaldo with a tray of food for my gluten-free daughter! He knew her restrictions and brought her favorites! It was incredibly sweet of him to go above and beyond like that...especially to cross from one end of the ship to the other (and find us!) when he was busy working tables in the dining room. He even returned 20 minutes later with the next night's menu so she could pre-order. Wow! Incredible service!

Edited November 25, 2015 by L&J
Feb

[winddawn]

13 family members cruised the Splendor in February. My young daughter has Celiac Disease. One night, our group decided to eat in the buffet due to a later port day so we let our head waiter (Oswaldo) know the night before. So, we're sitting upstairs above the Lido buffet and here comes Oswaldo with a tray of food for my gluten-free daughter! He knew her restrictions and brought her favorites! It was incredibly sweet of him to go above and beyond like that...especially to cross from one end of the ship to the other (and find us!) when he was busy working tables in the dining room. He even returned 20 minutes later with the next night's menu so she could pre-order. Wow! Incredible service!

That's a great story! What a difference small things can mean...

[Cruisin'Lovebirds]

We were on the Triumph to Canada when a low blood sugar issue came up. Moira, the nurse, came to our cabin. After she and the dr. revived DH, I realized she was the same nurse who revived him on the Glory years before that. It was her kind manner and lighthearted but professional questions that reminded me!

[txhawk36]

On my last cruise I took a small 9-1-1 mascot with me on board and took photos of her doing all the cool cruise stuff. I went to the spa and asked if I could possible get a picture of her "getting a massage." The lady was so nice, and not only helped with the picture but actually massaged Cell Phone Sally, it was great. I have a video of all her adventures on my cruise site for Texas 9-1-1.

[wmwmarmstrong]

About 7 years ago we went on a cruise with a large group of friends and my Daughter was unable to sit with her friends in the MDR. So our waiter made it his job to cheer her up.

He was from Costa Rica and had been away from his wife and daughter for a very long time. By the second day he was calling her bebe, his pet name for his daughter.

The last night of the cruise he brought her 4 full size cakes to the table! We shared with every one and took some back to the cabin. As I looked back after we said our goodbyes he was wiping a tear away!

I will never forget that sweet man and thinking how neat it would be if he read this!

 

On another cruise when my daughter was about 9 she was fascinated with the tool they used to pick up bread crumbs off the table. After dinner was done she would use it on the whole table. Even the maître d' came by and said she was hired.

On the last night of the cruise they came by and handed her one to take home. Made her whole week!

[mousey]

It's hard to pick out one instance because there have been so many, but I would have to say that the first act of kindness that came to my mind was back in the summer of 2012 when we cruised on the Pride out of Baltimore. Just before the cruise I tripped and fell and hurt my lower back very badly. It was nothing serious, just a soft tissue injury, but the pain was so intense I could barely move without screaming. It got a little better and on the day of the boarding the ship I was able to walk...but just barely (I don't know why I didn't get a wheelchair). Anyway it was quite obvious to everyone that I was in pain as I could hardly walk without grimacing.

 

The first staff member to help me was the young man that was letting people into the ship. There was a very long line and he was monitoring how many people could go in at one time. I walked up to him and asked if I could just stand by him to wait until my family got to the front of the line and I could go in with them. He asked me where my family was and I said they're walking to the back of the line. He then caught up with them and told them to come back to the front of the line and he let us all go in right away. That was so kind of him.

 

Our room steward knew that everyday at some point I would lie down and rest. He would always bring me water and a snack. I don't know how he knew when I was doing this but he just was always there everyday when I was going to lie down. He even helped me sit up one day and put an extra pillow behind my back so that I could comfortably sit up. He also would make me an ice pack everyday. He was extraordinarily kind and thoughtful. It was my SIL's first cruise and we were sharing a room...she was so impressed that she's sailed on Carnival twice since then! We've sailed several times with them since then also and have another trip planned in 3 weeks on the Miracle.

[winddawn]

It's hard to pick out one instance because there have been so many, but I would have to say that the first act of kindness that came to my mind was back in the summer of 2012 when we cruised on the Pride out of Baltimore. Just before the cruise I tripped and fell and hurt my lower back very badly. It was nothing serious, just a soft tissue injury, but the pain was so intense I could barely move without screaming. It got a little better and on the day of the boarding the ship I was able to walk...but just barely (I don't know why I didn't get a wheelchair). Anyway it was quite obvious to everyone that I was in pain as I could hardly walk without grimacing.

 

The first staff member to help me was the young man that was letting people into the ship. There was a very long line and he was monitoring how many people could go in at one time. I walked up to him and asked if I could just stand by him to wait until my family got to the front of the line and I could go in with them. He asked me where my family was and I said they're walking to the back of the line. He then caught up with them and told them to come back to the front of the line and he let us all go in right away. That was so kind of him.

 

Our room steward knew that everyday at some point I would lie down and rest. He would always bring me water and a snack. I don't know how he knew when I was doing this but he just was always there everyday when I was going to lie down. He even helped me sit up one day and put an extra pillow behind my back so that I could comfortably sit up. He also would make me an ice pack everyday. He was extraordinarily kind and thoughtful. It was my SIL's first cruise and we were sharing a room...she was so impressed that she's sailed on Carnival twice since then! We've sailed several times with them since then also and have another trip planned in 3 weeks on the Miracle.

What a wonderful story! Cabin stewards are so busy, it's hard to imagine yours took the time to do these kind things for you. It's a testament to the good people Carnival has working for them.

 

Hope your back is better now.

[cruiseonthebrain]

Bartender on the Glory saved my niece when she was pulled under water by an undertow in St. Martin.

[cruznjan]

On our last cruise, we brought wine on board. Our steward Xavier made sure we had wine glasses. It's a little thing, but it was very much appreciated.

[emod20]

On our Nov 7th valor cruise my wife probably cruised too soon after cancer treatment. Many many of carnival staff went way way above normal to assist us. And I really mean that. So much so I just booked another cruise on valor in april because some of crew will still be on there and we became friends on Facebook

[stevenr597]

My family and office staff went for a short cruise in December. it was Chanukah (the Jewish Festival of Lights). The Carnival staff baked special treats for us and help us light the Chanukah Menorah.

[winddawn]

My family and office staff went for a short cruise in December. it was Chanukah (the Jewish Festival of Lights). The Carnival staff baked special treats for us and help us light the Chanukah Menorah.

That was really nice of Carnival staff to help you celebrate Chanukah.

[TLC371]

When we cruised on the Splendor last May, I was chatting with Malcolm Burn and told him how much fun we had at The Quest the night before. Apparently when he walked away, he told the bartender that whatever we wanted it was on him, so the bartender got my husband's attention and asked what we wanted because it was on Malcolm. So I thought that was pretty awesome of him to do that for us.

[paulatay]

An officer went to his room and got my daughter one of his Carnival sweaters when he saw her shivering in the infirmary. We couldn't find a blanket in the infirmary and there was only one nurse there who was taking care of another patient.

Edited January 28, 2016 by paulatay

[chasinraynbowz]

When my DH and I cruised on my 50th birthday, we took a short 5 day cruise out of NOLA. One night, the maitre'd came to our table to see how we were enjoying our cruise and checked to see if we needed anything. I asked if we were going to get creme brulee for dessert one night and he said no, they don't make it on short cruises anymore. I was bummed. On the last evening of our cruise, our waiter didn't bring out the dessert menu which was odd. Next thing I knew, here he came with a tray full of creme brulee for our entire table!!!!

 

I also have a peanut allergy. I can't say enough about the staff and how they deal with my allergy. I have never worried about what I eat because they take such good care of me!!

[erinmarie424]

On our last cruise, we brought wine on board. Our steward Xavier made sure we had wine glasses. It's a little thing, but it was very much appreciated.

 

 

Jaime on the Conquest made sure we had a Corkscrew! ❤️jaime❤️

[gtalum]

My last cruise was a cruise with my daughter, my good friend, and his son on the Paradise. After the Chef's Table dinner my friend and I were chatting with the chef when after a bit he asked if we like Indian food. We said yes, and he told us to let the Maitre'd know to let him know when we arrived at the MDR the next night. We did, and what followed was a truly magnificent feast of delicious homemade Indian food. It was like an endless parade of delicious spicy food. Later the chef came up and joined us for a bit to explain what each dish was. It was a truly fantastic dinner, something I will never forget. Everyone was staring as the waiters brought out a seemingly endless parade of dishes. They were all asking "what did those guys order?". Needless to say we were stuffed when we left that night. :D

[JenniVamp]

My favorite comes from a B2B cruise that my kiddos and I took on the Imagination in November 2015. For the first leg of the trip, I cruised solo with just me and my 4 kiddos, ages 1, 3, 3, and 6. Yikes! It was a trip that I booked at the last second - booked on a Thursday, on the ship on Sunday - but Grandma, Auntie's and a boatload of cousins joined us for the second leg.

 

The kiddos didn't spend much time in the kids club, but the baby loved the one morning that I was able to drop him off for about an hour during the time for under 2's.

 

At the end of the trip, I was walking the baby around in the stroller and one the ladies from the kids club came up and said, "Oh, I've been looking for you! We wanted Sebastian to have this." and she handed my son a teddy bear with a Carnival t-shirt on it. He grabbed onto that bear and still sleeps with it every night, almost a year and a half later. We named the bear Stella Jude. Stella after mommy's favorite beer (I drank a lot on that trip!), and Jude, because she was wearing a Carnival/St Jude t-shirt.

 

That teddy bear was just the icing on the cake of that trip!

 

We're very close to our kids. On cruises, we don't take them to the kids club unless they want to play, and they know that we'll come and get them as soon as they're done and want to leave. So, on any given cruise, we spend very little time in the kids club. It was so wonderful to have had the kids club employees remember my son and take the time to put his name on a gift and then search us out to give it to him! The older kids all spent time in the kids club, and enjoyed the play time, but for the baby, there's only a limited amount of play time that under two's have at Camp Carnival.

 

It gives me warm fuzzies every time I put Bastian to bed with his Stella.

 

Thank you Carnival Imagination!

 

Jennifer

[lola61]

On your past Carnival cruises, what is the nicest thing above and beyond the call of duty that a Carnival team member did for you?

 

On a milestone birthday, a Carnival team member called my cabin to personally wish me a happy birthday. I was really touched that they took the time and effort to do that considering how many passengers are on a ship. That was on Carnival Sunshine.

 

Also, years ago, and I don't remember which ship I was on, but my SO wanted to know the recipe Carnival uses to marinade the jerk chicken they grill at Half Moon Cay. One night in our cabin, an envelope was left on the bed that had the recipe inside.

 

Sometimes it amazes me at the small ways that some Carnival team members go out of their way to make cruises special.

 

I'd love to hear what some of your "above and beyond" Carnival experiences have been. Carnival has some awesome team members that truly care about passengers.

 

My grandson was 2 and loved bacon and strawberries and the waiter made sure he had both at dinner every night, he was so great with him it was awesome :p

[bandtaxi]

#1 While reboarding the ship in Cabo, my card made the "donk" sound instead "dink". We were escorted to the pursers area into an office and informed to use the phone to call my son. My mother had passed. Although not unexpected, it was still not news to receive on vacation. We were offered the continued use of the phone to make other necessary calls and said they would hold the ship if we wanted to pack and make arrangements to leave. Very kindly appreciated.

 

#2 An officer approached me one day on the lido deck and said "We shared a (public) bus yesterday on the way back to the ship from the beach. Did you enjoy your day?" Of course I looked the same as I had the day before, but he certainly looked different in his uniform than he did in swim attire and carrying snorkel equipment. I would NEVER have recognized him. Just one reason we keep cruising on Carnival.

 

#3 Our luggage was misplaced by the airline and we asked the MDR hostess if we could get plates to take back to our rooms for elegant night dinner since all we had was shorts and t-shirts. They assured us it would be fine to attend dinner in our casual clothing under our circumstances.

 

We LOVE Carnival!