Security Concerns on Carnival

[cruiseloving4ever]

My husband and I have been cruising for several years. We had never had a security concern until now. We cruised on the Carnival Splendor on 7/30/2016. We experienced problems with the hot water. The crew came out a few times to repair the plumbing. I was showering one afternoon and was alone in the cabin. I thought I heard my husband come in and called out to him. I got no response so I thought it was just the creaking of the ship. I continued to shower. I then heard another noise and peeked out from behind the shower curtain. I then see the bathroom door opening slowly and suddenly a man’s arm with a long sleeve blue shirt (similar to the ones the crew wears). The man then asked me if the hot water was now ok. I was scared and played cool so as not to have a confrontation. I did not know if the man had a weapon. I did not know what intentions he had. I said yes water was ok. He asked again as if was “normal” for a crew member to have a conversation with a guest while showering. I said yes! Yes! Hoping he would leave quickly. He closed the bathroom door and I waited for a few minutes until I thought it was safe to come out. I called guest services and they sent security. The conducted an investigation. Carnival ha now apologized and says that they will do “better training.” I don’t believe that this is just training, but rather a crew or crew members who do not have any common sense, decency, and certainly have no boundaries. They need more awareness training on issues of incidents that can be perceived as sexual harassment or can lead to actual violence and sexual assaults. I now lock the cabin and my husband has to wait until I open the door if I am showering, napping, or I am in the balcony. My concern had always been to make sure the door was closed properly so other guests could not get access to the cabin; my worries were never about an unauthorized crew member gaining access to our cabin with their key card.

[golfb4cruzing]

We always keep the deadbolt or other additional locking features deployed while in the room. One never knows. Many trusting people out there but they are also called victims. Better safe than statistic.

[ryano]

My husband and I have been cruising for several years. We had never had a security concern until now. We cruised on the Carnival Splendor on 7/30/2016. We experienced problems with the hot water. The crew came out a few times to repair the plumbing. I was showering one afternoon and was alone in the cabin. I thought I heard my husband come in and called out to him. I got no response so I thought it was just the creaking of the ship. I continued to shower. I then heard another noise and peeked out from behind the shower curtain. I then see the bathroom door opening slowly and suddenly a man’s arm with a long sleeve blue shirt (similar to the ones the crew wears). The man then asked me if the hot water was now ok. I was scared and played cool so as not to have a confrontation. I did not know if the man had a weapon. I did not know what intentions he had. I said yes water was ok. He asked again as if was “normal” for a crew member to have a conversation with a guest while showering. I said yes! Yes! Hoping he would leave quickly. He closed the bathroom door and I waited for a few minutes until I thought it was safe to come out. I called guest services and they sent security. The conducted an investigation. Carnival ha now apologized and says that they will do “better training.” I don’t believe that this is just training, but rather a crew or crew members who do not have any common sense, decency, and certainly have no boundaries. They need more awareness training on issues of incidents that can be perceived as sexual harassment or can lead to actual violence and sexual assaults. I now lock the cabin and my husband has to wait until I open the door if I am showering, napping, or I am in the balcony. My concern had always been to make sure the door was closed properly so other guests could not get access to the cabin; my worries were never about an unauthorized crew member gaining access to our cabin with their key card.

 

If you dont have the do not disturb sign (the Snoozin card on Carnival) on the door, you cant expect them not to come in especially if you have had maintenance complaints. Not only your cabin attendant has access to your cabin. If you had the do not disturb sign out and he still entered you cabin then yeah, theres a problem and you should be upset. There is also a deadbolt you can use which Im pretty sure no one can open but Security.

 

They have no clue if you are in the shower or not but once he noticed you were he should have exited and came back IMO.

 

You really thought he might have a weapon? :confused: And Im not understanding how you think this crewmember was "unauthorized"

Edited August 12, 2016 by ryano

[Zoey]

That's pretty scary, especially considering I cruise solo most of the time.

 

I have always kept the deadbolt on, and usually the 'privacy' hanger, when inside, but occasionally I think about somebody being inside when I come back from being out. I don't really have to do that at home because of my alarm system.

[firemanbobswife]

First, of course they are going to enter your cabin if no one answers. They have no idea if you are in the shower, on the toilet, or gone. Being he slowly opened the door tells me that he was being cautious in case you were actually in the shower. He may have thought that you were in there running the water to check the temp, and not actually naked. Besides, how was he to know it was you and not your husband? [emoji15]

 

Unless your door was deadbolted or the Snoozin' (DND) sign was out, then I don't see an issue. They were simply following up on a complaint you had made.

 

As a precaution whenever I am in my cabin I deadbolt the door. I understand your husband was out and about, but when you don't you run the risk of what you just experienced happening. Could have just as easily been the Room Steward checking in on you. They don't have cameras to see what you're doing so they come in.

 

But let this be another reminder for all to deadbolt the door when you're sleeping or in the shower.

Edited August 12, 2016 by firemanbobswife

[Cruzlover7]

First, of course they are going to enter your cabin if no one answers. They have no idea if you are in the shower, on the toilet, or gone. Being he slowly opened the door tells me that he was being cautious in case you were actually in the shower. He may have thought that you were in there running the water to check the temp, and not actually naked. Besides, how was he to know it was you and not your husband? [emoji15]

 

Unless your door was deadbolted or the Snoozin' (DND) sign was out, then I don't see an issue. They were simply following up on a complaint you had made.

 

As a precaution whenever I am in my cabin I deadbolt the door. I understand your husband was out and about, but when you don't you run the risk of what you just experienced happening. Could have just as easily been the Room Steward checking in on you. They don't have cameras to see what you're doing so they come in.

 

But let this be another reminder for all to deadbolt the door when you're sleeping or in the shower.

 

 

 

Well said firemanbobswife!

 

 

 

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[soccersharon]

I use the deadbolt as well, but a crew member walking in the bathroom when someone is clearly showering is ridiculous! Awful breach of privacy to say the least!

 

 

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[BoDidly]

Read this story a time or two around the internet. It was a matter of time before it reached CC.

:D.

[firemanbobswife]

I use the deadbolt as well, but a crew member walking in the bathroom when someone is clearly showering is ridiculous! Awful breach of privacy to say the least!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

 

It may not have been clear to him as he wasn't in the bathroom. All he knew is someone was running the water in the shower. What better time to inquire if it's fixed or not? Doesn't sound like he was standing there next to her, but cautiously opened the door to ask a question."Water good?" "Yep". OK on to the next call and probably didn't think twice about it.

 

It might be a little awkward to some people, sure. But unless he pulled back the shower curtain (again it could have just as easily been a big, burly man in there) or attempted something more, then I see it simply as a person doing their job and moving on to take care of what other issues there are onboard.

 

The bathroom doors also lock BTW.

Edited August 12, 2016 by firemanbobswife

[octcruise10]

When starting to read this..I thought OMG a terrorist or something to do with that.

I don't feel this is a "Security Risk". Unfortunate,mistake on your part but not a security risk. I also don't think labeling it a sexual assault is a proper portrayal either. You should just delete this post and learn from your mistake.

In my honest opinion. Sorry.:confused::confused:

[winddawn]

My husband and I have been cruising for several years. We had never had a security concern until now. We cruised on the Carnival Splendor on 7/30/2016. We experienced problems with the hot water. The crew came out a few times to repair the plumbing. I was showering one afternoon and was alone in the cabin. I thought I heard my husband come in and called out to him. I got no response so I thought it was just the creaking of the ship. I continued to shower. I then heard another noise and peeked out from behind the shower curtain. I then see the bathroom door opening slowly and suddenly a man’s arm with a long sleeve blue shirt (similar to the ones the crew wears). The man then asked me if the hot water was now ok. I was scared and played cool so as not to have a confrontation. I did not know if the man had a weapon. I did not know what intentions he had. I said yes water was ok. He asked again as if was “normal” for a crew member to have a conversation with a guest while showering. I said yes! Yes! Hoping he would leave quickly. He closed the bathroom door and I waited for a few minutes until I thought it was safe to come out. I called guest services and they sent security. The conducted an investigation. Carnival ha now apologized and says that they will do “better training.” I don’t believe that this is just training, but rather a crew or crew members who do not have any common sense, decency, and certainly have no boundaries. They need more awareness training on issues of incidents that can be perceived as sexual harassment or can lead to actual violence and sexual assaults. I now lock the cabin and my husband has to wait until I open the door if I am showering, napping, or I am in the balcony. My concern had always been to make sure the door was closed properly so other guests could not get access to the cabin; my worries were never about an unauthorized crew member gaining access to our cabin with their key card.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. This is an interesting first post.

[RuthlessBoss]

How does one hear a door opening while in the shower with the water running? Could that first noise be the steward knocking and no one responded because you were showering?

[Alabaster Cruiser]

We had loss of water for the better part of a day. When it was fixed no one apologized or even acknowledged that it had been off. It was as if nothing had happened. I certainly hope the horrifying event that you had is taken more seriously and gets someone's attention. My point....yes, not only is better training needed but also better customer service.

[elliair]

We always keep the deadbolt or other additional locking features deployed while in the room. One never knows. Many trusting people out there but they are also called victims. Better safe than statistic.

 

Swipe one of those door jams that the crew members use to keep the door open. When the door is closed, jam the door stop on the inside of the cabin - the door can't be opened.

 

To the OP! I tell ya what I'd be having an "S" fit with security. Google "youtube brawls on Carnival" and just see how inept those security people are. But I tell ya what, if there's noro on board, they'll plant a security guard outside your door. There's been a couple of incidences where a crew member has raped women on board the ship. One in particular, he beat her because she dissed him.:eek:

[firemanbobswife]

Swipe one of those door jams that the crew members use to keep the door open. When the door is closed, jam the door stop on the inside of the cabin - the door can't be opened.

 

 

I wouldn't recommend that. If there were a real emergency then security couldn't get into your cabin (like if you fall or get very ill and you call for help). The deadbolt is there for a reason. Use it. The regular crew cannot access your room that way as it will require security to be called. Also the bathroom doors have a lock on them as well. Use those if you want to be extra cautious.

 

If you're concerned for your safety, employ the devices readily available to you. If the deadbolt isn't locked or you don't put out the Snoozin' sign, then you are basically saying it's OK for necessary crew members to enter.

Edited August 12, 2016 by firemanbobswife

[StolidCruiser]

I will also say welcome to Cruise Critic. Glad you found the forum to express your concern about the situation you experienced after your many years of cruising.

 

As others have said, it is not unreasonable to expect maintenance workers to enter a cabin when an issue has been reported, they receive no answer upon knocking and the door is not deadbolted and/or having the “Do Not Disturb” sign in place. You should have done both knowing you had reported an issue that would necessitate access to your cabin but you were otherwise “indisposed”.

 

If it was not readily obvious a guest was in their bathroom (a closed door should have been a good indicator), it’s also not unreasonable to expect a maintenance worker to enter. Common sense would dictate that a closed bathroom door means someone is inside but some people keep their bathroom door closed to keep “bathroom stuff” in the bathroom.

 

While understandable that this was an uncomfortable and unsettling experience, this wasn’t a security issue as you portray it. You had options to prevent access to your cabin while you were inside (even if you opted not to so as to not inconvenience your husband) and the maintenance worker acted reasonably, perhaps using poor judgment in his behavior upon fully realizing a guest was actually in the cabin.

 

Your story is an excellent reminder to others to use the means available to indicate “Do Not Enter” when you do not want access to your cabin (whether in it or not).

[NCTribeFan]

I've had maintenance issues more than once (Carnival #26 #27 coming up). Each time, I had to be present and stay in the cabin while they did their work.

 

They were NOT allowed to enter the cabin without me being there. On Pride, my cabin steward was in the hallway but was not allowed to open the cabin door for maintenance. We had to wait for security to let him in; the door stayed propped open while he did his work; I had to remain in the cabin and had to wait while he went for additional parts.

 

I would've happily left the guy working if I'd been allowed (I was hungry) but I wasn't allowed to leave and he wasn't allowed to enter without me being there.

 

I'm totally lost as to how this could've happened. Maintenance doesn't have pass keys to the cabins.

 

And yes, the door stays deadbolted when I'm in the cabin. I've been know to lock out cabinmates while I was having a shower. Oops. Better safe than sorry, though!

[ryano]

I'm totally lost as to how this could've happened. Maintenance doesn't have pass keys to the cabins.

 

!

 

Wow, because that was not my experience at all on Magic or any other cruise Ive been on that had issues. The minute we walked in our cabin on our Magic cruise, the bathroom floor was flooded. We called Guest Services and they said they would send someone from Maintenance to fix it. We were not asked to stay there. We were not there when he came. I dont know if he had a key or not but all I know is when we got back later on in the afternoon the problem was fixed.

 

Maybe our cabin attendant let him in. We certainly did not have to be there though

[firemanbobswife]

I've had maintenance issues more than once (Carnival #26 #27 coming up). Each time, I had to be present and stay in the cabin while they did their work.

 

 

 

They were NOT allowed to enter the cabin without me being there. On Pride, my cabin steward was in the hallway but was not allowed to open the cabin door for maintenance. We had to wait for security to let him in; the door stayed propped open while he did his work; I had to remain in the cabin and had to wait while he went for additional parts.

 

 

 

I would've happily left the guy working if I'd been allowed (I was hungry) but I wasn't allowed to leave and he wasn't allowed to enter without me being there.

 

 

 

I'm totally lost as to how this could've happened. Maintenance doesn't have pass keys to the cabins.

 

 

 

And yes, the door stays deadbolted when I'm in the cabin. I've been know to lock out cabinmates while I was having a shower. Oops. Better safe than sorry, though!

 

 

I had a slow drain in the shower on one of my cruises. I told my RS and he said he would have maintenance come and fix it. Asked him if I had to be there he said no. Just so happened I was when they showed up later in the day but I didn't stick around. They cleaned out the shower drain and it worked like a champ after that.

 

If maintenance doesn't have keys then the RS probably let them in. But I have seen maintenance workers going in and out of cabins so I'm guessing they do have keys. I mean if there's a water leak or something, I don't think they are going to wait for the RS or someone else to show up are they? I really don't know but I'll ask on my next cruise.

[Micahs Grandad]

If you dont have the do not disturb sign (the Snoozin card on Carnival) on the door, you cant expect them not to come in especially if you have had maintenance complaints. Not only your cabin attendant has access to your cabin. If you had the do not disturb sign out and he still entered you cabin then yeah, theres a problem and you should be upset. There is also a deadbolt you can use which Im pretty sure no one can open but Security.

 

They have no clue if you are in the shower or not but once he noticed you were he should have exited and came back IMO.

 

You really thought he might have a weapon? :confused: And Im not understanding how you think this crewmember was "unauthorized"

 

like

[bar1068]

I've had maintenance issues more than once (Carnival #26 #27 coming up). Each time, I had to be present and stay in the cabin while they did their work.

 

They were NOT allowed to enter the cabin without me being there. On Pride, my cabin steward was in the hallway but was not allowed to open the cabin door for maintenance. We had to wait for security to let him in; the door stayed propped open while he did his work; I had to remain in the cabin and had to wait while he went for additional parts.

 

I would've happily left the guy working if I'd been allowed (I was hungry) but I wasn't allowed to leave and he wasn't allowed to enter without me being there.

 

I'm totally lost as to how this could've happened. Maintenance doesn't have pass keys to the cabins.

 

And yes, the door stays deadbolted when I'm in the cabin. I've been know to lock out cabinmates while I was having a shower. Oops. Better safe than sorry, though!

 

Interesting....is this a "new" policy or something? We've had a few occassions

to request maintenance, but have not been "required" to stick around while the work was done....last time we requested maintenance, we passed our room steward walking back to our cabin, he stopped us to let us know they corrected the issue, and to let him or GS know if any problems still exist, and have a nice day...

[bptex]

Welcome to Cruise Critic. This is an interesting first post.

 

I was almost convinced to never sail Carnival again! :rolleyes:

[meatloafsfan]

When he asked if it was "Normal" for a crew member to have a conversation while someone was in the shower, why did you say yes? Would a better answer have been, "This isn't the best time to talk, the water's fine. I'd rather you left"?

 

So basically you told him it was okay to talk to you in the shower and then went and complained and said it's not okay.

 

So his conversation with his supervisor probably went something like this.

 

Supervisor: "You shouldn't talk to guests when they are in the shower."

Employee: "yeah, I thought it was odd too but she said it was normal. I asked her because I was expecting her to tell me to get out like anyone else would, but okay - next time, even if they tell me it's normal to talk to them in the shower, I won't."

[firemanbobswife]

When he asked if it was "Normal" for a crew member to have a conversation while someone was in the shower, why did you say yes? Would a better answer have been, "This isn't the best time to talk, the water's fine. I'd rather you left"?

 

 

 

So basically you told him it was okay to talk to you in the shower and then went and complained and said it's not okay.

 

 

 

So his conversation with his supervisor probably went something like this.

 

 

 

Supervisor: "You shouldn't talk to guests when they are in the shower."

 

Employee: "yeah, I thought it was odd too but she said it was normal. I asked her because I was expecting her to tell me to get out like anyone else would, but okay - next time, even if they tell me it's normal to talk to them in the shower, I won't."

 

 

She didn't ask him if it was normal. She said he asked (the question) again (if the water temp was OK) "as if it were normal".

 

Which goes back to what I originally said, he was just checking to make sure it was good so he could continue on with the rest of his day fixing other things. Closing out that ticket and moving on. Nothing more.

[bigman01]

I've had maintenance issues more than once (Carnival #26 #27 coming up). Each time, I had to be present and stay in the cabin while they did their work.

 

They were NOT allowed to enter the cabin without me being there. On Pride, my cabin steward was in the hallway but was not allowed to open the cabin door for maintenance. We had to wait for security to let him in; the door stayed propped open while he did his work; I had to remain in the cabin and had to wait while he went for additional parts.

 

I would've happily left the guy working if I'd been allowed (I was hungry) but I wasn't allowed to leave and he wasn't allowed to enter without me being there.

 

I'm totally lost as to how this could've happened. Maintenance doesn't have pass keys to the cabins.

 

And yes, the door stays deadbolted when I'm in the cabin. I've been know to lock out cabinmates while I was having a shower. Oops. Better safe than sorry, though!

 

I've only had one major maintenance issue in all of my cruises, and my experience was the opposite of yours. In my case, maintenance DID come into my room while I was not present. They "fixed" the issue, and then later that night it developed again. So again the next morning, they DID come back when I wasn't present. So, at least in my case, maintenance does have a pass key to the cabins.