Expect the Unexpected.

[sam1148]

Do you cruise with people that expect every thing to be perfect?

When we cruise we're relaxed about weather, missing a port or something out of the cruise line's control not going absolutely right. But in the past we've cruised with people that have very high (almost unrealistic) expiations.

 

Where do you draw the line? Bad cabin service, food, or complain about missing a port and demand a room credit?

[David148]

Everything would have to go wrong for me to really complain. lol i've not had a bad cruise yet. I can't stand born complainers! they IRK ME! If we had to miss a port on the cause of the weather then no i would not demand a credit. lol that is like HELLO? drive me into the hurricane and put everyones life at stake cuz i really want to go to this port. lol DOH!

 

 

David

:D

[lizardhowson]

Do you cruise with people that expect every thing to be perfect?

When we cruise we're relaxed about weather, missing a port or something out of the cruise line's control not going absolutely right. But in the past we've cruised with people that have very high (almost unrealistic) expiations.

 

Where do you draw the line? Bad cabin service, food, or complain about missing a port and demand a room credit?

 

This really depends on the cause and remedy.

 

If it's Carnival's fault or they make little or no effort to correct it, yes, it's an issue.

 

Weather or another issue where very little can be done, go with the flow.

[Kurbanfan]

Where do you draw the line? Bad cabin service, food, or complain about missing a port and demand a room credit?

 

What do you mean by draw the line?

[G'ma]

Do you cruise with people that expect every thing to be perfect?

When we cruise we're relaxed about weather, missing a port or something out of the cruise line's control not going absolutely right. But in the past we've cruised with people that have very high (almost unrealistic) expiations.

 

Where do you draw the line? Bad cabin service, food, or complain about missing a port and demand a room credit?

 

I don't care where the ship is going, whether it gets to all ports or much else beyond leaving the homeport and heading out to sea.

 

I've never had bad cabin service, never had a bad meal, never complained about a thing in over 250 cruises in the last 32-33 years.

 

As for complainers, they are all over the place on a ship. If I think the complainer might bring me a laugh or two, I might stick around; love to hang near the Purser's Desk right after the bills for the shipboard accounts are distributed, for instance. Otherwise, I remove myself from these morons.

[lizardhowson]

I don't care where the ship is going' date=' whether it gets to all ports or much else beyond leaving the homeport and heading out to sea.

 

I've never had bad cabin service, never had a bad meal, never complained about a thing in over 250 cruises in the last 32-33 years.

 

As for complainers, they are all over the place on a ship. If I think the complainer might bring me a laugh or two, I might stick around; love to hang near the Purser's Desk right after the bills for the shipboard accounts are distributed, for instance. Otherwise, I remove myself from these morons.[/quote']

 

I think you are being a bit presumptuous. I agree many complaints are superfluous, but what about the guy who boarded to find someone else's luggage in his cabin, the beds laid in, the bathroom used.

 

Carnival made him wait in the lobby for hours while they located the errant passengers instead of just removing the luggage.

 

Then, he had to wait until the room was cleaned twice as the room steward apparently got upset and refused to properly re-clean the room.

 

That's not a "moron" and everyone of us would have a right to complain if it happened to us.

[cruisebie]

Do you cruise with people that expect every thing to be perfect?

When we cruise we're relaxed about weather, missing a port or something out of the cruise line's control not going absolutely right. But in the past we've cruised with people that have very high (almost unrealistic) expiations.

 

Where do you draw the line? Bad cabin service, food, or complain about missing a port and demand a room credit?

 

 

It seems to me that there is a higher percentage of people with unrealistic expectations on cruises than there are in other types of vacations. Except maybe Disney vacations--I've seen a lot of complaining & temper tantrums there, too.

 

I think a lot of people go on a cruise expecting things to be like they were in the days of the Titanic (without the sinking part). Especially first time cruisers who really don't have an idea of what to expect.

[fig414]

Sam

Are they your friends or people in general that have the expectations? Veterans or newbies? I think it makes a difference how we interpret your post.

[Handsome58]

we all deserve decent treatment and should expect no less. But if I buy a Yugo I do not expect heated leather seats, meaning when I book with Carnival and any other simular type line I do expect everything to be 5 star when I am paying 2 to 3 star money.....so I relax and have a great time as if I am on a 5 star line....but I do not complain if ANYTHING goes wrong because there is no boss or manager breathing down my neck and my wife is happy.....and anything can go wrong on a 5-star cruiseline.....people have to learn to go with the flow......it is a vacation......life at home ain't perfect and neither is a vacation........but it is a VACATION...so relax

[TheVegasMan]

What about the guy who boarded to find someone else's luggage in his cabin, the beds laid in, the bathroom used.

 

Carnival made him wait in the lobby for hours while they located the errant passengers instead of just removing the luggage.

 

Then, he had to wait until the room was cleaned twice as the room steward apparently got upset and refused to properly re-clean the room.

I highly doubt that someone from Carnival said "Wait right here, do not move" or anything to that effect. If this happened to me I would have left my bags with them, gone to the lido deck and asked them to page me when the room was ready.

[kyrisong1]

There is one thing that would make me SUE the company. If they run out of alcohol on my cruise, God as my witness they would PAYYYYYYYYYYYYY.

Okay but seriously, if we go on a cruise, or a land vacation, whatever. And expect perfection, I think 80% of the time your going to be disappointed. Also I predict heart disease, ulcer or some other kind of stress related ailment in your future.

Life happens, and things don't always go as we expect, and you just kinda have to roll with it.

I remember the clip here about a mutany on a ship here was it last fall? The ship couldn't go to the ports or something because of something weather related.

I thought the people in this were so freaking funny, but in a very pitiful sort of way. What exactly was Carnival supposed to do? Mother Nature is the one to "get compensation" from if it's weather related.

I think Carnival tries to do a really good job, and are very generous when they compensate, and they rightfully compensate only when it really is the cruiselines fault, that ticks off some of the "gimmes"

Carole

[sam1148]

Sam

Are they your friends or people in general that have the expectations? Veterans or newbies? I think it makes a difference how we interpret your post.

 

We cruise with a group, and one acquaintance complained about almost everything. The weather, the boat motion..2 cruises. One on HAL the other on Carnival..and the fact we missed a port due to a hurricane Wilma..the HAL ship at the time had to refuel in San Juan..and pax had to recheck passport citizenship before docking that morning.

 

Was kinda funny really as SO just flowed with it and showed up at 7 for the recheck dressed in a bathrobe, fuzzy slippers and pajama bottoms. The black socks where a brilliant touch I'd say.

[Evil Scotsman]

but I do not complain if ANYTHING goes wrong because there is no boss or manager breathing down my neck and my wife is happy.....

 

This is truer than True! A couple people asked what happens if it rains or ????? I told them I couldn't care less if we pulled into any port (for your reasons stated above) as long as I don't have to come in to work! I am too old for the hustle and bustle, I want to RELAX!

[PaulMedik]

I highly doubt that someone from Carnival said "Wait right here, do not move" or anything to that effect. If this happened to me I would have left my bags with them, gone to the lido deck and asked them to page me when the room was ready.

 

 

 

The Vegas Man,

 

It happened to us once. I never gave it a second thought until now....I just sat the two suit cases in the hall and I assume they made it where they were supposed to go. The bags had tags from two previous cruises on them, but none from the sailing we were on. They appeared to have been carried on.

[mjl1960]

It isn't the Love Boat!! Nothing ever goes like you expect, whenever your dealing with humans on either side of the equation, service people/guests, either can upset the apple cart with their attitude, or make a bad situation better. And I cannot stand to travel with people that are constantly critical of the product or services provided - hey are embarrassing at best, rude at their worst, and I would rather be alone before being with people like that.

[MrPete]

I guess I'm lucky as we've never missed a port.

 

I'm also lucky as I started cruising before any access to internet or any cruise websites. I had also completely missed any episode of the previously aired Love Boat. :eek:

 

So everything was unexpected.

 

And since then, have never even thought the next cruise would resemble the previous, as it's the make up of the passengers that drives what happens to our experience.

 

And if something is not to my liking on board, I make sure it's addressed on board.

 

So many options, it's very easy to adapt.

[MamaParrotHead]

I really don't have any expectations, other than not to have to cook and clean for a week. Anything above and beyond that is a bonus. LOL

 

The one thing I DO do, that I think makes the difference between people who wig out at the slightest HINT of variation from "Plan A" is to have done my reading and research and know what my options are in most situations (bring it to the maitre d's attention if something in the dining room isn't satisfactory, the purser, etc. rather that waiting to get home to whine about it or letting it ruin your entire trip; if the ship is diverted, or late, know what your other options for excursions may be (or even if your tour may just be delayed and not cancelled completely)...things like that that give you some control of the situation back.

[paradiseseekers]

We're just happy we are on vacation!!!! Life is way too short to be upset at the little stuff. The sun on our faces, time away from home and sitting in one of those "old blue chairs" with a caribbean cocktail makes us happy! We sometimes forget to look at the little things.

When its all said and done..and you are 6 feet under, was it worth complaining or knowing you enjoyed what you were given. Just a thought:rolleyes:

[dan40]

Our booking priority is ITINERARY. But Mother Nature is ultimately in charge. She changes weather and breaks engines.

We know, the cruiseline WANTS to go where they said they were going. But if they can't, they can't. Its still a cruise. So far we have on the excellent, or great, or good, side, 50 cruises. On the poor or bad cruises, 0.

 

Dan

[dmfriedman]

I have to admit... 10 years ago, I was the guy who sought out reasons to complain. Sure, why not? I usually got something out of it, so what did it hurt?

 

Then reality set in -- the whole time I was complaining (and typically for at least a few hours after), I wasn't enjoying my vacation (or my life, if not on vacation)... and people who really hadn't done anything wrong were getting yelled at for no reason.

 

These days, I go in expecting that at least a few things will go wrong. It's just reality -- the wrong entree shows up at a table, a suitcase ends up on the wrong flight... if these things won't affect me beyond a few hours from now, why bother worrying?

 

The only things I'll typically complain about on a cruise are things that show repeated negligence. On my last cruise, for example, every single time I sent laundry out, it either got lost, was processed without following directions, or took at least 12 hours longer than it was supposed to. After the third time having a problem (it was a 12-day cruise), I had to sit down with someone from the purser's office as well as the head of housekeeping. (The purser's office was there because the head of housekeeping had been so rude and infuriating that I needed a mediator to keep me from doing something I'd regret.) I didn't ask for things that were unrealistic -- they just ended up having to pay a couple hundred dollars for things they'd ruined.

 

Bottom line -- you may "get something" by complaining, but if you spend 4 hours hopping mad out during a 7 day cruise, you're simply wasting your own money. You paid so you can go relax for 7 full days... why use up part of that time fuming over something that likely won't matter to you in a few hours anyway?

[arby70]

I threw the word "perfect" out of my vocabulary so long ago, I can't even remember when. It sure makes life simpler and so much more easy-going knowing that it's unattainable; especially when you put human beings into the mix. Realizing this, I have had a great time on both my cruises and know I will have a super time on the upcoming cruise.

 

If more people would take a more realistic approach to life, they wouldn't waste their time on stewing over the small details plagued by the pursuit of perfection. I enjoy every moment I'm on vacation (land-based too) , and as a result I treat others with respect and understanding when things aren't "perfect."

 

Perhaps this outlook on life may not be something everyone can wrap their arms around, but it sure makes life better for me and the people around me.;)

[Kristi Williamson]

The way we see it, if we're on a ship, vacationing, life is really good. We can afford it, we're getting to see the world, sleep late, not cook, clean or even get our own drinks. How can that REALLY be bad? Ever?

 

And yes, we've had situations come up on ships that we KNOW many would have lost their religion over. Last October, on the Glory, they seriously messed up our dining arrangements. We have 4 kids, so when we cruise with them we can book at a group rate. What they don't tell you is that they actually lump you with OTHER groups when they turn that info in to the ships. So...when our seating arrangements came, my hubby and 2 of my kids were all the way across the dining room from myself and our other 2 kids.

 

Well, when we approached the assistant maitre'd about it, she basically told us that we were confused. LOL She said, "OH! You guys are with a group and we put all of you close to one another, but not all together." We explained to her that we were REALLY clear on how many of us there were (since it was just us and our kids) and where we were sitting and even showed her our S & S cards. She still argued with us about who we were and where we were sitting. Instead of losing our cool, we simply choose to eat elsewhere and get on with it. It's food, for Pete's sake. We could find other food and we aren't foodies anyway, so I wasn't about to let that freak me out! I had Fins and Flippers and Chankanuub Park ahead of me! We ate in there one night and ended up not minding being apart anyway. No biggie. It's all in the perspective. Sometimes, it wouldn't hurt anyone to change their perspective and just have a good time!!

 

I guess the only thing I would really lose my cool about would be inappropriate behaviour from a crew member or something. Since that's never happened, I'm there to chill and have fun and that's exactly what I do. :D

[Rochmom]

The key to it is having realistic expectations. We researched and generally picked our first cruise based on itinerary. Then we sat down with our TA. The first thing she said was - never count on a cruise for the itinerary. If you have your heart set on a specific destination, then plan a trip to that destination only. So our expectations changed that minute. My outlook after that was, "Hey, I've never been to any of these places. They could drop me on any tropical island, tell me it's Cozumel, and I would never know the difference." As long as my family is safe, fed, and enjoying the day, then the rest doesn't matter.

[cschultz]

I have to admit that I do get mad when our dinner reservations are always screwed up.

We had 2 cabins, one with my husband and myself, the other with my children. Not only did they give us different dinner times, they had early, we had late - we were in different dining rooms. (our kids were 12 and 14 at the time) Our reservation were linked so I don't know how this happens. And every cruise where we travel alone, we request early and always get late. I know you have no guarantee for dinner times, but it ALWAYS is a problem for us. It gets resolved, but it wastes our time on the boat. I guess this next cruise I will expect it to be messed up, and try not to worry so much about it.

[CruisefromNY]

While on a Carnival excursion doing a tour of St Thomas the bus broke done about ten minutes after we left the dock. The guide called his people and was told that a replacement would be there quickly. The temps were in the eighties, we were the youngest ones on the tour, we were stopped on a pretty steep hill (with a great view;)) Tour buses that passed and to their credit stopped were all full so could not take any of us with them. We were there for about 60 minutes when Jeff called the Ship. Carnival was not aware of the breakdown, but promised to take care of it right away. We waited about 20 more minutes and a replacement bus arrived. The transfer took a few minutes as Jeff and I wanted to make sure our "elders" were taken care of. We walked up and down quite a few times to get everyone seated and missed about two hours of the orginal excursion. We ended up sitting separately, got rushed through the rest of the tour and still managed to get back to the ship on time!

The purser was surprised and a bit taken back to see 26 out of 30 people from that tour standing in front them when we got back. The folks with us had asked if Jeff and I would speak for the group.

At first, the purser was a bit concerned that we were going to attack. Nope, calm and collected, I told our tale of woe, the purser promised someone would get back to us. Well, we all got our money back, a written apology from the excursion desk, a bottle of wine and fruit basket. Very nice!

 

This has actually been the only time we have had to "complain" in 14 cruises. Handled right by us and got much more than we expected from Carnival.