Worst Experiences on a Cruise

[lmondrop]

In August of 2003 I went on the Paradise. The very morning we were getting up to drive to th pier I woke w/a throat ache....trying to write it off as the AC. We get on the boat...my boyfriend never gets his luggage. I'm starting to feel sick and he's in a terrible mood. Turns out that the number the guys at the port wrote were written badly, so whoever was hadnling the luggage thought it was a different letter and took it to the wrong deck.

 

We arrive in NAssau and I am full blown sick coughing, sneezing, coughing and more sneezing with an ever runny nose! Completely misreable. I decided I wanted to go back and take a nap on the cabin while my friend were having a blast. I took a Theraflu and went right to sleep.

 

We arrive in Puerto Rico - have a great day...feeling a little better...that night after leaving the port I got a little itchy....in the middle I wake up from scratching and when I turn on the light I absolutely freak...I am covered in Hives from head to toe...my eyes are swollen shut almost and the itching was unbearable....I rubbed benadryl all over me...and hoped for the best. The next morning I went to the doctor's office and advised me that I would have to get a shot if the swelling didn't go down on my body....I LOOKED LIKE A FREAK!!

 

We went snorkeling in St. Thomas and my eyes were horrible swollen still and very itchy...to the point that my boyfriend asked to see my eyes and when I took off my mask he took a step back...but pretended that it was allright....RIGHT!

 

The last few days I got so sick with diahrea and stomach pains all through the rest of the cruise and a few days after I came back home.

 

Needless to say I spent the most misreable time on my first cruise....but I didn't let that stop me! I love to cruise and will keep on as long as I live....that was just a fluke!

[StefanieMS]

OMG, You poor thing. Great attitude though!

 

 

Stefanie

[callajl]

Having to get off the ship!

Actually, my first cruise was such a learning experience, looking back now I am surprised we actually cruised again!

Because we live about 6 hours away from the port (or at least that is what I thought) we decided to drive down the day the ship would leave. I forgot to factor in the hour we lose since we live in CST and Port Canaveral is EST, plus didn't realize that Port Canaveral was a hour away from Orlando which is 6 hours away. I dropped my DH and DD off at the port and had to drop off the rental at Avis. Got lost on the way to Avis and when I arrived, realized I had left my purse at the port with DH. They were nice enough to drive me over to pick it up and then had to return to Avis to pay and go back to the port. Because I had factored the time totally wrong- we were basically the last ones on the ship and just made it to the Muster Drill. My DH wasn't exactly happy with me for all the mix ups! On the last night before we docked- they told us to pack our bags and leave them outside of the door by 12 am. I started packing and cramming all the extra stuff I had purchased in our suitcases. The zipper ended up tearing up and my DH had to go to the pursor desk and get sewing supplies ( a good reason to bring duct tape). He finished this task and put the bags out. The next am we woke up and guess who had nothing to wear but a nightgown and gold shoes (from formal night) that I had forgotten to pack the night before. Needless to say- I am sure I was the talk of the ship!

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Our worst cruise experience was when we sailed the Pride...

 

First night:

We had a nice dining experience at our table for 2 (upper level).

 

Second night:

We opted for buffet dining....

 

Third night:

Main dining room - our headwaiter served us - though with an attitude of "who are you people"... very odd! (but great food)

 

Fourth night:

We hit the buffet again...

 

Fifth night:

Main dining room again - we sat down, and same odd look from the waiter! About 10 minutes into the meal the waiter asked to see our Sail and Sign cards to check to see what table we were assigned to. He saw we were at the correct table, then went over to a couple standing nearby. He and they began talking and pointing to us... it started to get loud.. within a minute the Maitre d' appeared, and after talking to them, came over and asked to see our cards...:mad: with all the comotion, people at all the nearby tables were now very interested, and were watching...

 

He informed us that the other couple was assigned to our table. It seems our table assignment had been changed - and nobody ever told us - we had never asked to be changed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

It was now obvious why the waiter looked at us so oddly... the other couple had only come to the dining room on the 2nd and 4th nights. So it was not until night FIVE that we both were there...

 

After that experience, we left the dining room - never to return... the Maitre d' called us in our room the next afternoon saying he had a new table for us.. we said no thanks, we will dine at the buffet...

 

VERY ODD...the rest of the cruise was great.. we spent a fair amount of time on our balcony (40'+) Cat 11 wraparound... I guess a suite does not assure you of any special dining experience...LOL (not that we thought it would!)

 

Tom

[Stircrzy]

...having Richard Simmons in the suite next door on our 2000 cruise.

 

The kids were having their "midnight buffet" of cookies and massive amounts of chocolate milk and I began to bus the room. I collected the 8 empties and the candy wrappers and cookie crumbs onto a tray. As I bent over to slide it to the side of the door, my eye caught someone standing to my right. Still bent over, I cast my eyes right to peer at Richard, standing there in his trademark red striped shorts and red tank top.

 

"Go get your camera!!", said Richard.

 

"Why??", said I.

 

I called one of the kids out to have her photo taken with Richard, to salve his ego.

 

"Who's Richard Simmons??", she asked.

 

It went downhill from there.

[hstrybuf]

My worst was also the one I posted as my most embarrassing. I locked myself out of our cabin on the Destiny while checking our luggage to make sure the zippers were zipped. It was our last night on the ship. Although covered from neck to toes in a silk caftan, that was ALL I had on. Nobody seemed able to help, so I finally strolled through the casino barefoot looking for my DH. Didn't find him. Finally I ran into two security officers and they got someone up to let me back into my cabin. :o

[Cruising89143]

...having Richard Simmons in the suite next door on our 2000 cruise.

 

The kids were having their "midnight buffet" of cookies and massive amounts of chocolate milk and I began to bus the room. I collected the 8 empties and the candy wrappers and cookie crumbs onto a tray. As I bent over to slide it to the side of the door, my eye caught someone standing to my right. Still bent over, I cast my eyes right to peer at Richard, standing there in his trademark red striped shorts and red tank top.

 

"Go get your camera!!", said Richard.

 

"Why??", said I.

 

I called one of the kids out to have her photo taken with Richard, to salve his ego.

 

"Who's Richard Simmons??", she asked.

 

It went downhill from there.

I'm afraid that I would have jumped ship if RS had been on my sailing. That is one man(??) that gets on my nerves.

[hstrybuf]

Sorry, but I actually laughed at the Richard Simmons story. :D

[Cotton]

:D I'm sittin' here giggling at the mental image of the nightgown and gold shoes!:D

[LSUtraveler]

My worse experiences on cruises were in 2003 on the Paradise when I saw a woman that had splotches all over, every day.

Then on another cruise this lady debarked in a nightgown and golden slippers. That was something to see.

Then on another cruise we had this problem with a couple trying to steal our dinning room table. They left and we didn't see them again.

Of course I almost forgot, in 2000 I saw this woman with an arm full of trash trying to put out trash and take a picture with Richard Simmons. That was more funny than bad.

The oddest was a woman walking thru the ship dressed from head to toe in a silk caftan and barefoot to boot!

Then I woke up sweating from head to toe. Couldn't book a cruise for a week!!!!!:p

 

[DeckCadet]

In August of 2003 I went on the Paradise. The very morning we were getting up to drive to th pier I woke w/a throat ache....trying to write it off as the AC. We get on the boat...my boyfriend never gets his luggage. I'm starting to feel sick and he's in a terrible mood. Turns out that the number the guys at the port wrote were written badly, so whoever was hadnling the luggage thought it was a different letter and took it to the wrong deck.

 

We arrive in NAssau and I am full blown sick coughing, sneezing, coughing and more sneezing with an ever runny nose! Completely misreable. I decided I wanted to go back and take a nap on the cabin while my friend were having a blast. I took a Theraflu and went right to sleep.

 

We arrive in Puerto Rico - have a great day...feeling a little better...that night after leaving the port I got a little itchy....in the middle I wake up from scratching and when I turn on the light I absolutely freak...I am covered in Hives from head to toe...my eyes are swollen shut almost and the itching was unbearable....I rubbed benadryl all over me...and hoped for the best. The next morning I went to the doctor's office and advised me that I would have to get a shot if the swelling didn't go down on my body....I LOOKED LIKE A FREAK!!

 

We went snorkeling in St. Thomas and my eyes were horrible swollen still and very itchy...to the point that my boyfriend asked to see my eyes and when I took off my mask he took a step back...but pretended that it was allright....RIGHT!

 

The last few days I got so sick with diahrea and stomach pains all through the rest of the cruise and a few days after I came back home.

 

Needless to say I spent the most misreable time on my first cruise....but I didn't let that stop me! I love to cruise and will keep on as long as I live....that was just a fluke!

wow, I would have gone to see the doctor by the second day!

and by the way, you say august 2003, and stopped in puerto rico? Paradise stopped calling there (unless the ship diverted due to bad weather) at the beginning of that year.

[jemingway]

As was said above, the only remotely bad thing that has ever happened to me on a cruise ship was being required to get off at the end of the cruise.:D

[MrPete]

when I saw a woman that had splotches all over, every day.

She was on the Miracle in July of this year!

[DEL67]

A few years ago, my husband had a heart attack while we were docked in Colon, Panama. We were disembarked and sent to a clinic there. The ambulance drivers did not know how to lift the stretcher so they kept on knocking it against the bumper and once they got it in the ambulance, I had to brace it with my body to keep it from bouncing around. The clinic was clean, but did not have modern facilities. In fact, cardiologist carried his EKG machine around in a backpack. In addition, I was warned that the area around the clinic was not safe so I should only go between the hospital and the hotel across the street unless the port agent was there to escort me.

 

To be fair, the cardiologist was very good and the nurses took good care of him. In addition, the Celebrity port agent did all he could to help also. But the four days before the cardiologist cleared my husband to travel home were some of the worst I have experienced anytime, not just on a cruise.

[voyagerfl]

:D I'm sittin' here giggling at the mental image of the nightgown and gold shoes!:D

And that's just what the Husband was wearing.....:D

[lmondrop]

wow, I would have gone to see the doctor by the second day!

and by the way, you say august 2003, and stopped in puerto rico? Paradise stopped calling there (unless the ship diverted due to bad weather) at the beginning of that year.

You are right it was August of 2002...Time flies so fast that I lose track of my memories...sorry bout that!!!

[lindacat]

I acted as a coordinator and booked 14 people on a five day cruise out of Boston on the brand new Victory. Four of the people I had booked were a couple who was traveling with their daughter and granddaughter. Money was very tight for them, and they had just received word that the grandmother would probably not live past the next Christmas. Due to some encouragement on my part and their desire to enjoy this week together. They elected to book a mini suite. ( I no longer remember the cagegory letter, but in the brochure only the full suite was any higher.)

 

As I had coordinated the trip, the travel agent sent all the tickets to me. I was making a list of everyone's room #'s. Everyone else had elected to book balcony cabins. When I came to the group who were in the suite, their cabin # was listed as guaranteed. I had not intended to book any cabins as guaranteed, but had also not asked for the state room assignment in advance. This took me by surprise, so I called the travel agent who in turn called Carnival. We were told that they may be in line to receive an upgrade and would not know their room until we arrived at the dock.

 

When we arrived at the dock, they were separated from the rest of our group. We thought that this was because they were in a suite. As it turns out the "upgrade" they received was two regular balcony rooms on opposite sides of the ship. For others this may have been great news, but in their case it was definately not what they wanted to hear. In fact, originally they only had one room assigned to them, and they had to wait until final call for boarding to realize that someone was not showing up, and were then assigned the second room. If it weren't for their 7 yo granddaughter they would have left the ship. If they were going to get two separate rooms, they would have booked 2 of the cheapest inside cabins rather than spending the money on a mini suite.

 

This definately started the cruise out in a bad way for our entire group. Carnival's original attempt to make it better was a 15% coupon on the next cruise. Unfortunately, the grandmother died that same year on 12/24 at age 54.

[voyagerfl]

They elected to book a mini suite.

AND........they were "Upgraded" to Balcony Cabins ???????????

That would be a "Downgrade"

I take it they booked a Cat. 11 ? When you book a

guarantee......you are guaranteed that Cat. or Better......

 

The only upgrade from there would be a Cat. 12...........

[DeckCadet]

I don't think you can book a cat. 9A, Cat. 11 or cat. 12 guarantee, not through carnival direct at least.

[lindacat]

Just to clarify, we did not book guarantee cabins. At least we didn't think we had. I was using a travel agent I had used in the past and trusted. When we booked the cabins, we did not ask for any to be guarantees. We thought we were getting rooms assigned. My mistake was in not asking the travel agent for the room numbers at the time we booked.

 

 

What I found out after the fact, is that the previous year Carnival had had a ship leave Boston that never got to sail. The passengers on that trip had been offered a 50% cruise discount. Quite a few of them had used these coupons to book suites. Apparently when we booked there were more requests for mini suites and suites than was available, therefore Carnival put the family on guarantee status.

 

Carnival did consider the two balcony rooms an upgrade because they received two rooms rather than one. I can't tell you how many times I was told that this was a great upgrade because they were so fortunate to receive the two rooms. I am sure that the reason they were picked for this upgrade is that there were four of them in the cabin. This obviously wouldn't work for a couple. Maybe, other groups of four would have been delighted with the two cabins, however it was not what this group was looking for.

 

I am now much more careful about what I am booking. I did hold the travel agent partially responsible. When we returned he helped us negotiate with Carnival. Carnival finally refunded the difference between the cost of one balcony room and the cost of the category 11 mini suite.

[matchman]

Sorry this is a very long one :)

 

Well I suppose my worst cruise experience was in September/October 2002, I had booked a cruise (6 months earlier so plenty of time to get excited.) on the Elation leaving from LA and heading down to Mexico for 7 days. (I lived in SF at the time.) I had checked with the TA and found the cruise had no special events and was fully booked with quite a young crowd so being a single cruiser I was very excited.

 

8 weeks before the cruise was to leave I had a motorcycle accident and tore and strained knee and ankle ligaments. So as the cruise roles around I am finally off the crutches and the doctor had just okayed removing the air casts and only wearing them at night! (Whoot the joy!) So I leave the office on the Thursday laughing at my colleagues who will be working the following week and head home to finish packing and line the suitcase up at the door and head to bed. (Cruise was leaving Saturday and I was driving down friday from SF to LA.) At 7am the phone rings and I'm told the cruise is cancelled and that they will refund the money in 4-6 weeks and send a 50% discount coupon. (I of course think its friends playing tricks but finally realized it was true the Elation had damaged a prop while running away from a storm.) So I panick and desperatly try with the TA's help to locate another cruise for that weekend leaving from anywhere but of course its not to be, the best they can do is get me on the Triumph leaving the following week from Florida so I say okay and pay the cash and use the voucher and the price with airfare will be the same as the original cruise.

 

Now I have to then crawl back to work on Monday to beg for them to refund my vacation and allow me to take it the following week. (After I have been mocking them all for weeks!) And to add insult to injury the Elation ends up docked in SF harbor for repairs!!!!! So after eating crow and groveling I get the next week off and now start to plan in earnest for the Triumph (I had never been on the Destiny class before so was very excited.)

 

So Friday roles around again and I'm taking a redeye from SFO to Miami, so I catch the flight and end up in Miami at about 7am and get to sit around waiting for the Carnival transfer to the Ship, at around 10am a Carnival Rep sends me out to an area where she says the buses are waiting and just to hop on board, so I wander out and see a group of buses lined up with what seems to be quite a few people on board. So I drag the case over and rush up the stairs of the Buses. As my head comes up the stairs all I can see is Blue Rinse (I am not being derogatory here trust me.) All I can see is a full bus with every single passenger having either Blue or Pink tinted hair with a minimum age of about 65 years, so of course I realize as you do that I've boarded the wrong bus and that this must be a HAL or other cruise line bus (*laugh*) and start to get off, at which point one of the ladies ask's if I'm heading for the Triumph and I reply yes and she says I'm on the right bus and that I should sit next to Edna. (Honest her real name.) Who is three rows back and tells me she is 72, its at this point I find out the cruise I am booked on has 980 private BINGO players with an average age of 65.

 

I findout once on board the ship this week the average age on board is 59 and that there are exactly 50 children on the cruise and the previous week it was average age of 33 and 400 children on board! So determined to have a good cruise I head off to dinner. (All my tablemates are single :D and all grandmothers!) And every single one of them is hilarous! So I head to bed for the night reminding myself that having a great cruise is a state of mind.

 

Next morning I wake and walk out of my cabin and to the stair's I'm on deck 6 so I head down to deck 5. I had taken 2 steps when I here a shriek and I am hit in the back and go face first down the flight of stairs. (It appears a lady of 70 years has slipped and fallen down the stairs luckly she mis-stepped on the first step and I was only one step infront and she then proceeded to surf me down to the bottom :eek: ) Where upon about 30 ladies stream in from all directions to make sure the poor dear! (There words not mine.) Was okay, miraculously she is unhurt and happily laying astride yours truly. And our audience oh's and ah's over this wonderful turn of events. (Did I mention as I hit the floor the popping sound?) So they help the poor dear to her feet brush her off and then stare at me impatiently to remove myself from the area so they can continue with there revereance of her miraculous save! Of course yours truly finds himself unable to stand infact its true to say I was having difficulty not shrieking myself after the ligament in both my knee and ankle gave out.

 

Now its quite funny as a number of the old dears start telling me not to be a baby and get up brush myself off and head on my way, thankfully one of them notices the fevered brow and decides that maybe there is a problem and pops off and grabs a crew member who comes over takes one look at my knee which know resembles a pink ballon and calls for a wheel chair. I end up in the infirmary and am told that the ligaments are again torn and strained and that I'll be in a wheelchair for at least the next 2 days and back on crutches for a good month or two. (Oh and the kind Doctor does mention he can give me injections for the pain but it will mean I wont be able to drink so the sensible chap he is recommends a liquid diet to easy the hurts :D)

 

Of couse I spent almost the entire cruise proped at one bar or another, but I still had a fun cruise and carnival were kind enough to give me a $200 credit for the accident and as I found out when I arrived home they sent a 50% off certificate for my next cruise. But I have to say of my 7 cruises so far this was the most memorable one and probably could have been the worst, but cruising is a state of mind. *laugh*

[lmondrop]

MATCHMAN - Can I just say WOW! For everything you went through and still keep a sense of humour and good spirit about it all is amazing! You take the cake....I think thats worse than mine!

[Stircrzy]

Sorry this is a very long one :)

 

... could have been the worst, but cruising is a state of mind. *laugh*

You win!!

 

(Mostly for your attitude of making lemonade out of lemons!)

[krisesch]

My worst cruise was my first on the Destiny five years ago. The first day I fell down and sprained my ankle which enabled me to wear sneakers with my dress on formal night:) This was during hurricane season so we were dodging the storms. One of the engines had a problem and we had to change directions and head to Freeport instead of Caymen and Ocho Rios. The seas were a bit choppy and some nights at dinner the ice would jump out of my water glass. We were not able to travel at a fast speed because of the engine so we were barely dodging the storms. Well apparently birds get very tired flying when there is a storm and when we left Cozumel I had a pelican on my balcony and there he stayed. When we went on deck to get some sun the staff was sweeping poor little tired birds into buckets. They had gotten so tired they simply landed on the deck. All in all I made the most of it....had one heck of a SS bill from lots of drinks and many visits to the spa. Getting ready for my second cruise on Valor in April and I can not wait!

[lmondrop]

It seems people's first cruises have to worst luck!