Complaints? Problems with your cruise? Try This!

[tbelian]

Hey, I came across a pretty good one. Now, this was on a Carnival cruise, and I don't want to say I'm bashing Carnival, but, this guy definitely deserves a free cruise:

 

NOTE: Large video file in quicktime format, not recommended for download if you are not broadband or faster .....

 

http://d6.yousendit.com/C/17CLZA8R5ODJL09RDN9TJNJACI/carnival.mov

[catmand]

Can you give us a hint or synopsis? I do have broadband but didn't have the patients to wait for the download.....:D

[Schplinky]

It's a video that a guy made to the CEO of Carnival. It's really well done except that most of his videoss have mis-spelled words. Sounds like it was the cruise from hades.

[Blazerboy]

Oy! Can't imagine he'll get much if Carnival finds out this is all over the cruise chat boards.:rolleyes:

 

I'll stick with my next two cruises, thanks.

 

Andrew

[Schplinky]

I wonder if it will be played at a manager's meeting at CCL? It is rather well done, except for a few short-comings.

[Bruin Steve]

The guy gets an "A" for originality....maybe not for content...

 

The Video looks studio-produced...with the guy standing in front of a large screen plasma TV ranting about what went on with his cruise...

 

He finishes up by demanding Carnival send him and his family on a vacation to Hawaii...

 

Here is a synopsis of his complaints:

 

1) They changed the itinerary due to the hurricane...Went out of Galveston instead of New Orleans. All of the itinerary changes weren't disclosed until they boarded.

 

2) He thought he had a room on the 7th deck, but they found out when they got to the ship they were on the second deck...what he called the "Ghetto Deck"... (My note: Did he PAY for a 7th deck cabin? Didn't he have a confirmation that said what category and cabin he was in?)

 

3) The cabin was near the Laundry...and the laundry smelled bad...

 

4) The lampshades in his cabin were stained.

 

5) The TV Excursion booking system didn't work, so he had to stand in line...His Sign'n'Sail card had a problem with the Visa number so he had to go to the purser's desk to get it fixed...

 

6) When he got to the front of the excursion line, all of the excursions for the first port were sold out (My note: Doesn't Carnival allow you to book excursions in advance, over the net like Celebrity, RCI and Princess?)

 

7) Whatever their first port was, with no excursions, they chose to go back on the ship and most everything was closed while in port. Crew member was on dock selling disposable cameras--he thought they should send the kid back on board to open some venue or another...

 

8) Second port, Cozumel, had taken a hit from the hurricane and most excursions were cancelled.

 

9) Third port, Progresso, was a dump with nothing to do there...

 

10) Music on board ship included theme from Titanic...

 

11) Onboard movie one night was "Perfect Storm"...

 

12) They unloaded passengers in groups of 50 at disembarkation, so it took 6.5 hours...

 

13) CD player on ship "skipped"...

 

14) Prodction shows had some technical difficulties...

 

Okay, here's my take:

 

The cruise generally sucked...Following right after a hurricane, you have to expect things are affected...There will be last-minutte schedule changes, excursions will be cancelled, etc. But...Carnival did NOT cause the hurricane...All they could do was to react to it by changing the itinerary, etc.

 

If the guy had actually booked a cabin on Deck 7, he should have a confirmation...and would have a beef...

 

Production shows often have glitches...But, I'm sure they got most of the entertainment they bargained for...

 

If you tried to book excursions too late and got shut out, you can always find a local cab driver or do a port on your own...You don't have to go back to the ship...and don't expect everything to be open when everyone else is in port...

 

Yeah, sometimes there are stains on stuff...The ship isn't brand new...and, big deal if you have to hold your nose when you pass the Laundry...Try the other hallway and come back the other way...Laundry Room smell doesn't merit an all-expense paid trip to Hawaii for 4...

 

Big deal if they played the Titanic music or put the Perfect Storm on TV...Actually, I think it's funny...they should add the "Poseidon Adventure", "Ghost Ship" and the Cuba Gooding, Jr. one about the Gay cruise...

 

6.5 hours is ungodly long to disembark...Of course, this guy COULD be exaggerating? And, if you had an early flight, why didn't you let them know?

 

Progresso? Yeah, some ports just suck...

 

So, bottom line: You booked a 7 night cruise...in October...Off season on Carnival...Deck Two window...maybe paid $700 a person for two...and it being after Labor Day, you got the kids in your cabin for $99 each...So, you paid Carnival about $1600 TOTAL...The itinerary was screwed up by a HURRICANE...Cruise line still gave you your 7-night cruise...They gave you 21 breakfasts, lunches and dinners for four and daily and nightly entertainment...

Hurricanes happen...Not Carnival's fault...The rest of the stuff is minor...or under YOUR control...Everything on the ship seemed to operate except a glitch with the sound system and technical problems on a couple of shows...

 

I don't get how Carnival owes this guy a Family trip to Hawaii?!?!?

[flashdog_1]

Synopsis of video

 

Galveston departure.

 

Originally booked for a window cabin on a high deck. Was assigned steerage on deck 2.

 

Only one of the original ports of call was still on the itinerary, and that was Cozumel, where at the time, everything was canceled. Tried to book an excursion thru the tv and it was down. Went to the shorex line and they said there was some problem with his sea pass so stood in another line to get that fixed, went back to shorex line to find everything was sold out. Music played over the public address system was from Titanic non stop.

 

Next stop, Progresso where everything was canceled, too. When the ship was in port all activities, restaurants etc. were closed. tried the tv and vcr. Tv was reporting how Carnival had screwed the government on fees it had collected from passengers and not paid to government. The vcr skipped, movie of the day was The Perfect Storm (this is all during rough seas?).

 

Cruise Director consistently welcomed people back from the ports where activities had been canceled, saying, "know you had a great time." Get real. At the foot of the gangplank a Carnival employee was selling underwater cameras. He suggested the same employee be put to work in one of the stores on board that was closed so there'd be something to do.

 

Disembarkation day and everyone was ready to leave. Announcement: only 50 people could leave at a time. 6 1/2 hours later, after missing flights, got off ship.

 

Suggested customer service be improved by offering his family a free cruise to Hawaii.

[Danno]

Whiner...you get what you pay for...chances are, book in hurricane season, you get a hurricane...book Carnival, you get a Carnival cruise (good and bad attributes)...don't waste your time by giving this loser a second look.

[tbelian]

LOL.. Ok all, I wasn't suggesting his complaints were valid, or that he deserved a free cruise to HI. If you thought I was seriously agreeing with this one, you misinterpreted my tongue in cheek approach.

 

You gotta admit, he went to great lengths to express his concerns. Creating a video and sending it to the CEO? That's quite a lot of work. Certainly more work than posting a few messages on CC.

 

As for looking like it was shot in the studio, well no, it was done in front of a green screen (think weatherman on TV), and the background was a virtual set like you would find here:

 

http://www.seriousmagic.com/products/ultra/

 

He was creative, if nothing else.

 

On the flip side, at least he didn't say he had dirty oily water coming from the shower.

[judyfssw]

I enjoyed it. Thanks for posting. I got the joke and laughed during the video. However, had it been me, I would have complained to everyone on CC. I'm just not creative.

[ocngypz]

HUH?? I don't get it.

 

He booked a 6B and got a 6B. Cabin numbers starting with 2 are on Deck 2 cabin numbers starting with a 7 are on deck 7. He got what he paid for and btw if the weather was lousy, we would not have been happy in the handful of 6B's on deck 7.. they are all the way forward. He was not on the lowest passenger deck.

 

Itinerary changes were announced... all over the place. Conquest was scheduled to call in Playa del Carmen in lieu of Cozumel. Ships did not begin to call in Coz again after Wilma until the week of Nov 12.

 

Conquest pax were given the oportunity of getting a full refund.. and rebooking with a $100 per pax obc.

 

OR...................was this guy just spoofing the biggest PITA client he could think of??