Refurbished Fantasy's 1st Cruise!!

[jetskier]

when does the ship get back this week? I am dying to hear from this week's passengers that things were a bit better. :o

 

Angel/Susan,

My neighbor is currently on the ship with her young daughter. They are due back in on Monday but since she does not like driving in NOLA she takes the train back home.

 

I am sure she will post when she gets back as she is also on the Blogger's cruise.

Dave

[LWiening]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. We normally cruise on the ship a few weeks after drydock like we are doing again.

 

You never know what repairs are going to happen on the cruise because they do not wnat to scare guest from booking.

 

When we went to Panama on Carnival our Ship Triumph was in the worse shape. But we made the best of it.

 

Last year we cruised through Tropical Olga nothing like the crew and passenger all being seasick after days of bumpy water.

 

To me I am on vacation & I am going to make the best of it. We were disappointed last year that we couldn't get into Puerto Rico but the crew made up for it.

 

We work so hard all year that it takes us going out in the ocean or Gulf to get away from phones, internet , kids you name it. Send a complaint to Carnival I am sure someone will hear you...

[jdk944]

Several of you have posted about the issue with a ship coming out of Drydock. If this is common, then the cruise lines should be 'proactive' in providing, at the very least, onboard credits to the passengers who are on after the Drydock like we were, when things happen. Instead it sounds like the passengers who cruise in those situations are the 'guinea pigs', so to speak!! We were in a business group of over 20 couples, so the date was NOT set by us. However, it was booked through a large travel agency familiar with cruising. So if this is so common, why didn't they bring this up to our Coordinator. We had several in our group who had cruised with Carnival before. None of them expected the magnitude of issues we experienced. But I can tell you the true character of a business is how it acts/deals with situations when they aren't right. We'll see what Carnival is made of as our Coordinator compiles all our issues and sends our feedback in. Hopefully their response will be more appropriate than what was displayed by the ship's management during the cruise!!

[halos]

I sent mine to grelations@carnival.com - in the past they have always replied to my emails, so this is the one I use.

 

Susan

 

Please let us know when they get back to you. :)

 

Angel/Susan,

My neighbor is currently on the ship with her young daughter. They are due back in on Monday but since she does not like driving in NOLA she takes the train back home.

 

I am sure she will post when she gets back as she is also on the Blogger's cruise.

Dave

 

Thanks Sweetie! :)

[fig414]

I love this thread because even the cheerleaders admit they are cheerleaders and let common sense prevail. Good thread.........

[halos]

I love this thread because even the cheerleaders admit they are cheerleaders and let common sense prevail. Good thread.........

 

I think this is the very first time, in the 4 years I have been a memebr that I have seen 100% of the posters reporting the SAME things.

You can't argue that no matter how big a cheerleader you are.

[Kurbanfan]

I love this thread because even the cheerleaders admit they are cheerleaders and let common sense prevail. Good thread.........

 

Too many people came back to report the same thing......they had to:p

[LRene]

Hopefully LHP will be back home by Monday afternoon and will give us an update. I don't think I remember her posting to CC while she was on a ship so looks like Monday before we hear from her.

 

She has posted before from Paradise Beach in Coz. If she's heading there, maybe she'll post. Won't they be in Cozumel tomorrow??

 

Hope (for her) they have the kinks worked out with the Karaoke or she'll be unhappy! :)

[LifeBoatDrill]

I was on the Fantasy this past week. I won't comment yet on my experience. I am just curious as to what should Carnival do, in YOUR opinion, based either upon your first hand experience, or assuming what you have read on this thread from those who experienced this sailing is true?

[jdk944]

Several of you have posted about the issue with a ship coming out of Drydock. If this is common, then the cruise lines should be 'proactive' in providing, at the very least, onboard credits to the passengers who are on after the Drydock like we were, when things happen. Instead it sounds like the passengers who cruise in those situations are the 'guinea pigs', so to speak!! We were in a business group of over 20 couples, so the date was NOT set by us. However, it was booked through a large travel agency familiar with cruising. So if this is so common, why didn't they bring this up to our Coordinator. We had several in our group who had cruised with Carnival before. None of them expected the magnitude of issues we experienced. But I can tell you the true character of a business is how it acts/deals with situations when they aren't right. We'll see what Carnival is made of as our Coordinator compiles all our issues and sends our feedback in. Hopefully their response will be more appropriate than what was displayed by the ship's management during the cruise!!

 

Correction, our Coordinator booked directly through Carnival on this cruise as she had done before. I guess we wouldn't expect them to 'level' with us on these type of issues now would we!!

[fdh0721]

How many cruises does it usually take to fix all the bugs and glitches once a ship comes out of drydock? I am scheduled to leave on Oct. 18th and I would like to be able to drink the water on the ship instead of lugging a case of water aboard.

[lama231]

We too were on the Fantasy last week. We are not as experienced as many of you, eighth cruise overall fifth on Carnival, but being in a service oriented business there was no excuse for the treatment of those on board. For us as the same as many we too were there for the poker tourney so there was no choice of when to go or not go. The embarkation process was the most disorganized thing I have ever seen, until the disembarkation process. There were many people that didnt even get on the ship until after 7 PM, we arrived at 11:10 AM and didnt get on the ship until almost Three. The smell in the hallways of the Riviera deck were horrible, the comment from the staff, stale air from the drydock. Now I am no expert but I think I can tell the difference between stale air and sewer. During the fire, smoke, welding accident, carpet fumes, whichever was the truth my wife and I were in our cabin taking an after noon nap when we were both awakened with watery eyes a sore throat and a hard time breathing. I went into the hallway to find crew members running down the halls telling people to go to the open decks that the fumes were toxic. I told my wife to go up to the Lido deck and I went to the information desk to find out what was going on. The attendent had no idea what was going on and had the guts to ask me if I had been drinking, now theres customer sevice for you. There was no general anouncement to clear the cabins for thirty five minutes after we were already up on the open deck. The ship was terribly dirty even on the last day. Windows were filthy, decks worn and not varnished, elevators not operating not to mention the constant banging and welding going on all over the ship. Not once did our Cruise Director Big Tex apologize for the inconvenience but he did make sure at the past guest party to again mention how great the staff was trying to make sure that they all got their tips. I have been waiting to compose my letter to Carnival because I wanted to cool off before I wrote to them, but I dont want to wait ten years, and I think it may take that long to not be upset. I understandthat Carnival cannot be held responsible for weather and other natural disasters but this was all completley under their control. People plan for weeks, months and even years for their vacations. It is impossible to convince me that this was strictly a financial decision on their part to send this ship out in the condition it was in. I understand that with the poker tournament it would have been impossible to reschedule this cruise but they knew about the drydock before they picked this ship and these dates. Our family was planning to cruise again this February. Depending on Carnivals response and what they offer for our inconvenience will determine whether we will cruise on Carnival or another line.

[Kurbanfan]

We too were on the Fantasy last week. We are not as experienced as many of you, eighth cruise overall fifth on Carnival, but being in a service oriented business there was no excuse for the treatment of those on board. For us as the same as many we too were there for the poker tourney so there was no choice of when to go or not go. The embarkation process was the most disorganized thing I have ever seen, until the disembarkation process. There were many people that didnt even get on the ship until after 7 PM, we arrived at 11:10 AM and didnt get on the ship until almost Three. The smell in the hallways of the Riviera deck were horrible, the comment from the staff, stale air from the drydock. Now I am no expert but I think I can tell the difference between stale air and sewer. During the fire, smoke, welding accident, carpet fumes, whichever was the truth my wife and I were in our cabin taking an after noon nap when we were both awakened with watery eyes a sore throat and a hard time breathing. I went into the hallway to find crew members running down the halls telling people to go to the open decks that the fumes were toxic. I told my wife to go up to the Lido deck and I went to the information desk to find out what was going on. The attendent had no idea what was going on and had the guts to ask me if I had been drinking, now theres customer sevice for you. There was no general anouncement to clear the cabins for thirty five minutes after we were already up on the open deck. The ship was terribly dirty even on the last day. Windows were filthy, decks worn and not varnished, elevators not operating not to mention the constant banging and welding going on all over the ship. Not once did our Cruise Director Big Tex apologize for the inconvenience but he did make sure at the past guest party to again mention how great the staff was trying to make sure that they all got their tips. I have been waiting to compose my letter to Carnival because I wanted to cool off before I wrote to them, but I dont want to wait ten years, and I think it may take that long to not be upset. I understandthat Carnival cannot be held responsible for weather and other natural disasters but this was all completley under their control. People plan for weeks, months and even years for their vacations. It is impossible to convince me that this was strictly a financial decision on their part to send this ship out in the condition it was in. I understand that with the poker tournament it would have been impossible to reschedule this cruise but they knew about the drydock before they picked this ship and these dates. Our family was planning to cruise again this February. Depending on Carnivals response and what they offer for our inconvenience will determine whether we will cruise on Carnival or another line.

 

The whole thing sucks! I feel for all of you guys:(

Good Luck!!!

[halos]

I was on the Fantasy this past week. I won't comment yet on my experience. I am just curious as to what should Carnival do, in YOUR opinion, based either upon your first hand experience, or assuming what you have read on this thread from those who experienced this sailing is true?

 

 

That answer will be different with each individual. Some people just had a horrid cruise while others made the best of it...we who were not on that ship can't really say what is fair as compensation.

FWIW...I usually don't say compenastion is warranted, but in this case I do feel you deserve something....my idea of fair would be a nice discount towards your next cruise.

 

Have you written a letter???

[pungo3]

I was on the Fantasy this past week. I won't comment yet on my experience. I am just curious as to what should Carnival do, in YOUR opinion, based either upon your first hand experience, or assuming what you have read on this thread from those who experienced this sailing is true?

I have read ALL of the posts concerning this cruise. I'm not one to ever complain about a cruise and always try to make the best of any situation. That said, I truly believe you guys had a miserable vacation. I totally believe you should write Carnival, describing your cruise and how you were treated. For once, I believe Carnival owes you something, either OBC for your next cruise or a significant discount. I think this is one time Carnival made the wrong decision and they should have canceled the sailing. I'm so sorry for your experience.

[unclepaulie]

As a seasoned Norweenie, this all better be corrected by Nov. 1st. Seems more like a Circus than a Carnival!

 

UNCLE PAULIE!!!!!

[Nunu]

Has a cruise ever been cancelled due to repairs/refurbishment not being completed in time?

[yuyi64]

As a seasoned Norweenie, this all better be corrected by Nov. 1st. Seems more like a Circus than a Carnival!

 

UNCLE PAULIE!!!!!

I second that for November 1st unclepaulie!

[daljettjockie]

We leave Monday, and I have to tell you we are stressed now. Great way to begin a cruise. I certainly hope that the powers to be in Miami have dispatched some key people to NO to get this ship back on track quickly. Dry dock, or no Dry dock. From what I have read, there is NO EXCUSE for pressing this ship back into service in its' current condition.

 

When I booked this cruise, no one at Carnival said "well the ship may be in bad shape because it is coming out of Dry dock". Had they said this I would have booked the Ecstasy instead.

 

I spend my life on the road traveling thru airport terminals, and hotels, that are constantly being remodeled. The last thing I want to do it get on board a ship that is being remodeled.

[jkloni]

I'm really sorry the ship was not ready for all of you that cruised on this first sailing after drydock. I think it would be in Carnival's best interest to have some sort of compensation for all guests on this sailing - whether you complain or not. Carnival Fantasy was not ready for the sailing. Yes, people would have been disappointed if the cruise had been canceled. But cruising with a an unfinished ship was probably worse.

 

We sail Nov 1 - that's 7 cruises from drydock return. They are sailing #2 now. I'm not a betting girl, but everything will be completely settled by that time. Not to worry.

 

Kathy

[shipshapegal]

I too was on this cruise and have a few more things to note in addition to all the others that have already been mentioned. We are Platinum and did not get our logo item, on the last day we asked the cabin steward and he had no idea what we were talking about and told us to go to guest relations to see about it.

 

Another thing that really surprised me. I really thought the beds and bedding would be new also. Our beds were old and lumpy and the pillow cases had "pills" on them. You know what I mean? They were not smooth and nice like they should be.

 

The fire/welding incident/fumes incident in Cozumel was bad, no matter which one turned out to be the truth. I have the letter from the Captain with the welding explanation.

 

The water was horrid and many areas of the ship were not finished. I took photos of lots of places not done.

 

Just my two cents... bee

[Rowan555]

She has posted before from Paradise Beach in Coz. If she's heading there, maybe she'll post. Won't they be in Cozumel tomorrow??

 

Hope (for her) they have the kinks worked out with the Karaoke or she'll be unhappy! :)

 

I spoke to the karaoke host and he assured me the karaoke would be fully functional and in the correct location for the 10-9 sailing. I told him about LHP and he was ready!

[Rowan555]

I was on the Fantasy this past week. I won't comment yet on my experience. I am just curious as to what should Carnival do, in YOUR opinion, based either upon your first hand experience, or assuming what you have read on this thread from those who experienced this sailing is true?

 

After thinking it over and learning that this sailing might have been cancelled were it not for the huge poker tournament taking place, I expect a significant on board credit or discount off a future cruise. I have been on 12 cruises and have NEVER expected compensation for any of the issues we may have faced on those cruises - this time around, though, I think they were significant enough that some sort of compensation is warranted. I don't think Carnival should/will give any partial refunds, but a future credit or discount, IMO, is appropriate here.

[DqALEX]

I was on the Carnival Triumph a few weeks after Dry Dock. The cruise was not my best by far. You have to try to look on the bright side. If you love cruising as much as I do, use the comment card use cruise critic, and look forward to your next cruise.

[farler05]

I was on the Fantasy this past week. I won't comment yet on my experience. I am just curious as to what should Carnival do, in YOUR opinion, based either upon your first hand experience, or assuming what you have read on this thread from those who experienced this sailing is true?

I think they should refund part of your money, not a discount on a future discount or credit. That's like saying, "yeah we screwed, but spend more money with us & we'll give you a bargain." That's not much of a mea culpa to me. People didn't get what they paid for, so they should get their money back. That's my 2 cents on what Carnival should do.