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What was your worst experience on a cruise ship?

ontheweb

By ontheweb,
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ontheweb

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Ours was disembarkation on our second cruise when a hurricane delayed arriving at Fort Lauderdale from the Saturday of Labor Day weekend to Labor Day. 

 

Having a 7 day cruise when we paid for a 5 day cruise was nice. And they did not run out of food or drink.  And on what became the last night, the crew even put on a fine show. One of the crew members even renamed the ship from Enchantment of the Seas to Entrapment of the Seas.

 

We booked the cruise for Mayan ruins. None obviously in Key West, but our expectations were met in Cozumel and Belize. Luckily the hurricane allowed us to get to our ports; it was only getting back that was delayed.

 

And everything was fine until disembarkation. (Well I did feel sorry for the Caribbean young women I saw looking at the hurricane map the Captain had posted and seeing that their island would be hit.) We had a 2 PM flight scheduled that Friday and were given a tag for that time. Like everyone else we now needed the earliest time to hope to get a flight home. So we like everyone else got our new tags. And the lounge for the first color filled up. And then the second color was called. Now the lounge was so full that breathing was difficult.

 

I heard, but don't know if it was true, that there were now 7 ships in port needing immigration release on that day which was also a holiday. It was going to take a long, long time until we could disembark. They finally made an announcement. We were all hoping it was for the start of disembarkation, or at least immigration was there and it would be soon. Instead it was "this is your last chance to buy photos". Lots of unhappy people then.

 

And then the airport was a zoo. We were flying to JFK on IIRC Delta. They had a lot of flights and we were the last to make it standby on the next flight which was 2 PM like our original Saturday flight. We could see as the standby list kept progressing that if we didn't make the flight we should be on the next one as we would be at the top or near top of the list then. Others were not so lucky to have a lot of flights available. I heard a customer service representative yelled at when she told a customer there were no more flight to his destination until the next day. I mean it was not like she could make flights magically appear.

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woldridge

woldridge

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We also got an extra 2 day cruise (9 days total) when a hurricane closed the port of Miami over Labor Day.  It was a great bonus!

 

Worse experience was in Antiarticia.  We had an aft balcony (Infinity), it was the middle of the night when we were awakened by a huge boom. Water started pouring into or cabin, both under the door and from the ceiling. Very scary given where we were: think Titanic.  In the end it turned out that they had been working on the water lines.  The water had been turned off.  When they completed their work and turned the water back on, they were supposed to do it slowly.  Someone messed up and opened it full force.  When it hit the end of the line (and outside our room) the force of the water blew the pipe apart, and thus we were on the backside of a waterfall.  

 

Celebrity wanted to move us, from our concerige cabin to an aqua cabin.  However, we were on a B2B2B cruise and had this aft cabin for the whole cruise, so that was not an option. They gave us the aqua cabin until they could dry out our cabin, plus $1200 for the inconvienience. I thought they treated us very well

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navybankerteacher

navybankerteacher

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I have always found something to enjoy on cruise ships - even if it’s nothing more than being at sea.  Of course there is a wide range in the quality of cruise experiences;  so I would have to say that my worst cruse experience was a couple of Februarys ago, when the nearness of the Manhattan Cruise Terminal and my being fed up with New England winter conspired to convince me to book one more NCL cruise -despite having years earlier decided that I did not like them.  The crowding, the mediocre food quality (even in their “premium” venues), the rushed second rate service, the endless nickel and dining and the endless noise and poor behavior of roaming groups of apparently unsupervised boorish teenagers on school break all combined me to decide NEVER AGAIN NCL (and this time make it stick).

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neverbeenhere

neverbeenhere

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I'm right there with you on NCL. (Nickels and Dimes, FreeStyle Rules)

 

Also, The Carnival Cruises experience is not for us. While we have never sailed on one of the most recent new ships (Which many say are nice), we have sailed on a variety of the older ship over the years. Short or long sailing, the experience of drunken party is not what we want in cruising anymore. (stomach contents in the halls and stairwells, that doesn't get cleaned up for 12+ hours, etc) The plastic ship atmosphere and terrible staterooms have not been to our liking.

We decided that even it is a free cruise, we will not be sailing Carnival. We will leave that particular line for others to enjoy.

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cruisemom42 Great Review Rare

cruisemom42

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I've posted this a number of times. On NCL waaaaay back before Freestyle, on our honeymoon. Our cabin had no discernible A/C and they couldn't (or wouldn't) move us to another cabin. Their solution? A tiny fan. It was above 90 degrees in there during the day (it was a Caribbean cruise) and not that much cooler at night. 

 

In addition, about a third of the ship's passengers were part of a large group (I was told it was the Canadian version of Avon) who took over various venues during the day, even including all sitting around the edge of the (only) pool with their legs in the water, blocking anyone else from entering, and singing their company ditty.

 

And despite requesting a table for 2 in the MDR (it was our honeymoon after all), we were placed at a large table -- they would not move us until DH produced a monetary "contribution" to the maitre d'.

 

By the way, we got no cruise credit or OBC or any other kind of offer. That just wasn't done back in those days.

 

The whole thing left such a bad impression on DH that I couldn't get him on a cruise ship again for 10 years (when we sailed with Celebrity for 10th anniversary and LOVED it).  I knew this was an aberration based on my past cruises, but vowed to never sail with NCL again. And haven't.

 

 

 

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lenquixote66

lenquixote66

Posted
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2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Ours was disembarkation on our second cruise when a hurricane delayed arriving at Fort Lauderdale from the Saturday of Labor Day weekend to Labor Day. 

 

Having a 7 day cruise when we paid for a 5 day cruise was nice. And they did not run out of food or drink.  And on what became the last night, the crew even put on a fine show. One of the crew members even renamed the ship from Enchantment of the Seas to Entrapment of the Seas.

 

We booked the cruise for Mayan ruins. None obviously in Key West, but our expectations were met in Cozumel and Belize. Luckily the hurricane allowed us to get to our ports; it was only getting back that was delayed.

 

And everything was fine until disembarkation. (Well I did feel sorry for the Caribbean young women I saw looking at the hurricane map the Captain had posted and seeing that their island would be hit.) We had a 2 PM flight scheduled that Friday and were given a tag for that time. Like everyone else we now needed the earliest time to hope to get a flight home. So we like everyone else got our new tags. And the lounge for the first color filled up. And then the second color was called. Now the lounge was so full that breathing was difficult.

 

I heard, but don't know if it was true, that there were now 7 ships in port needing immigration release on that day which was also a holiday. It was going to take a long, long time until we could disembark. They finally made an announcement. We were all hoping it was for the start of disembarkation, or at least immigration was there and it would be soon. Instead it was "this is your last chance to buy photos". Lots of unhappy people then.

 

And then the airport was a zoo. We were flying to JFK on IIRC Delta. They had a lot of flights and we were the last to make it standby on the next flight which was 2 PM like our original Saturday flight. We could see as the standby list kept progressing that if we didn't make the flight we should be on the next one as we would be at the top or near top of the list then. Others were not so lucky to have a lot of flights available. I heard a customer service representative yelled at when she told a customer there were no more flight to his destination until the next day. I mean it was not like she could make flights magically appear.

My answer is different from most.On a recent cruise we entered the MDR for breakfast and were seated at a table with another couple.We said hello but they ignored us.They began to speak to each other in a language other than English and said some disgusting things about the passengers and crew.I happen to be fluent in that language and as we were leaving the table I let them know what I thought of them.

 

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lenquixote66

lenquixote66

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

My answer is different from most.On a recent cruise we entered the MDR for breakfast and were seated at a table with another couple.We said hello but they ignored us.They began to speak to each other in a language other than English and said some disgusting things about the passengers and crew.I happen to be fluent in that language and as we were leaving the table I let them know what I thought of them.

 

I am going to change my answer to fit the format of the OP’s question,

In 2010 we were on a cruise with my best friend from College and his wife and my wife’s best friend from college and her husband.We had all socialized many times but this was the first cruise for the 6 of us together.

We were on a HAL ship.My wife and I had an OC cabin.Just as we fell asleep we were awakened by water gushing through the ceiling from the cabin above us .We called Guest Services ,they came very fast ,packed our clothes ,gave us bathrobes to wear and moved us to another OV cabin.

Everything was fine except that the toilet was not flushing.They sent 2 plumbers to the cabin and they could not repair the problem.They packed us up again and gave us a balcony cabin which we had for the rest of the cruise.

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donaldsc

donaldsc

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No need to go into the details but it was on a Grand Circle small ship cruise in the Greek Islands.  The cabin which was very small and under the staircase, the ship which was not in good shape and especially the guide who sounded and came over as an uninterested pedantic university professor were so bad that we got I believe a $2000 refund for each of us that we could use on another Grand Circle tour.  We used it for a tour in Mexico that was actually very good.

 

DON

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Gwendy

Gwendy

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Our first cruise on Pacific Sun, we were hit by a rogue wave and the ship rolled.  Pianos skating across the floor, computers at guest services sliding onto floor. Mayhem.  My Mum, in her 70’s then, was playing bingo.  thought it was funny to see water outside window, um she was on deck 10.

All crockery, glasses set up for dinner were smashed, paper cups for wine.

No lifts, too rocky to have them, I ended up crawling up the stairs, as I had trouble staying upright,

over 40 cruises later, this didn’t turn me off cruising.

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George C

George C

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Posted
2 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

With apologies to the Clancy Brothers:

 

It’s no, nay, never-

No nay never no more- 

Will I sail on NCL;

No, nay never no more.

I really liked NCL in the 1980’s and 90’s SS Norway was a special ship sailed her 7 times , but food kept getting worse and after doing a freestyle cruise some 16 years ago we said no more NCL . 

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navybankerteacher

navybankerteacher

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1 hour ago, George C said:

I really liked NCL in the 1980’s and 90’s SS Norway was a special ship sailed her 7 times , but food kept getting worse and after doing a freestyle cruise some 16 years ago we said no more NCL . 

Yes - I sailed on Norway in 2002 - and thought she was a beautiful ship, with good food and service - so I kept hoping - and tried NCL a few more times (largely because the itineraries were good) - Boston to Bermuda, New York to Bermuda, Caribbean sailings from New York.  But their ever larger, clown car ships could not fit into St. George or Hamilton in Bermuda - and had to go to that distant tourist trap - Dockyard.  What used to be an alternative to other mass market lines turned itself into the Walmart of the seas.

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Aplmac

Aplmac

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This one time? ..at Portland Maine?

 

ALL the tour coaches arrived back to the ship at once

resulting in a long line around the block leading to the gate of the port!

Took us at least half-hour-45 mins. to actually get on board.

Luckily it was a fine Fall afternoon, so no weather problems.

 

Halfway between the part gate and the gangway,

Carnival had set up a table with ice, glasses and lemonade

to ease horror and suffering lol

 

More tedious than anything else...hardly worth documenting..

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Heidi13

Heidi13

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In reality, the worst day on a cruise ship is still way better than the best day at work.

 

However, if I had to pick one, it would be - first time as a pax and the shock of having to pay for drinks🙂, but at least I didn't have to work. Other possibility was taking a pounding south of Acapulco when doing the Canal shuttle and finding the Wardroom ski-boat smashed to smithereens.

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cruisemom42 Great Review Rare

cruisemom42

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1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

In reality, the worst day on a cruise ship is still way better than the best day at work.

 

I understand this is just a platitude, but it does grate a bit. I'm sure there are others who've had worse days on a ship than their best day at work. I am still angry at NCL for what I consider our ruined honeymoon and I can assure you that trying to sleep night after night in our 86 degree stuffy cabin was not something to be laughed off. (And not how we had envisioned spending our honeymoon!)

 

We would've made other plans and left the ship had we not been so young and inexperienced.

 

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Heidi13

Heidi13

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2 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I understand this is just a platitude, but it does grate a bit. I'm sure there are others who've had worse days on a ship than their best day at work. I am still angry at NCL for what I consider our ruined honeymoon and I can assure you that trying to sleep night after night in our 86 degree stuffy cabin was not something to be laughed off.

 

You didn't mention the age of the ship, but this was all too common on older tonnage. On my first ship, the air conditioning was a scoop we stuck out the porthole, bringing in hot, moist air. In the tropics, when the temp got down to the 80's we were happy.

 

Have also had the mattress on the deck, many times and slept propped up against the bunk, when it got rough. We also did this on a modern ship, when no pax cabin was available and we were assigned a cabin with bunks. Neither of us wanted the top bunk, so I put the mattress on the deck and had some great sleeps. Certainly didn't ruin the cruise, as I had experienced it many times before.

 

 

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