Letter Sent to Carnival!!!!!

[gargarjo]

To Whom It May Concern:

On Saturday, March 21, 2009, eleven family members, friends, and I embarked (2Z7G77) on what I truly believed would be a vacation of a lifetime for us. We sailed on a 7 Day Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Liberty. For two of us, it was our second adventure on this ship albeit a different itinerary. Our previous cruise on Liberty was phenomenal.

As we planned our 2009 vacation, we encouraged our family and friends, some of them first-time cruisers, to join us on a Carnival Cruise. Of course our previous experience steered us in our decision making process. Twelve of us embarked on what can be best described as a mediocre week at sea. Part of the cruising experience is the fun and enjoyment experienced between ports. What follows is a list of disappointing and disturbing events and occurrences that riddled our family vacation.

· On three occasions there was a hair in our food;

· Coffee was at a premium – they ran out every morning;

· The ship was generally unkept – food on the floor, spilled drinks, etc.;

· State rooms were not re-stocked properly – we had to ask for toilet paper, soap, etc.;

· The shows were the very same as two years prior – and not as good as before;

· Teenagers overtook the elevators; security alerted- and their response was reprehensible – “This is a fun ship – even for kids” – At the expense of others’ fun?

· Deck chairs were being reserved by guests for other guests that never appeared;

· Water completely stopped in the state rooms just prior to our departure from St. Thomas;

· Day 2 of the cruise the water ran “black” – with no explanation given

We brought these items to the attention of staff members, when one could find a moment to talk to us. They appeared to be over-tasked and too busy to attend to our concerns. We spoke with many guests, and we concurred that the staff was obviously at a minimum level, as evidenced by our mediocre service. “Disappointed” was the way many of us summarized our trip.

We anxiously await a response from Carnival Cruise Lines. Please include a reason why our next vacation should be on a Carnival Fun Ship

[Specter]

huh. Disappointing. I wonder how much of this was due to the Spring Break rush? Not that it's an excuse, but maybe a slight reason for it all?

[tulman]

OMG, that's really bad. I'm sorry to hear that you had such a bad experience.

 

This will be our 3rd on CCL, while the 2nd wasn't as great as the first, it was still well above our expectations.

 

It has now been three years since our last cruise, I hope we continue to find CCL a fun, clean ship that caters to all. I would like to hear what response you get from CCL.

[DLPM6545]

I hope you get a response from them I am curious to what they are going to do about it... We are going on the Liberty in January 2010 with 18 people and we changed from the Mexican Riviera to the Caribbean. Let me tell you the customer service at carnival is horrible and cant figure out how to do things its been 3 weeks and they are still messed up about the whole situation (long story) but , I hope you get some kind of credit towards another cruise... or something.. good luck..... talk to customer relations you might get somewhere and always get names...:mad:

[KULPN]

We were on the Liberty on 11-30-08 & all was wonderful. Maybe it was time for some of their contracts to be up & new crew members came on? Not fair. I hope they do something for you.

[slotaddict]

As evidenced by your letter, not every cruise is wonderful. I hope Carnival responds to your letter and that you share the answer with us.

[Kurbanfan]

Ran out of coffee:eek:

[tutzig]

They ran out of coffee on the Carnival Freedom on our Disembarkation day on Sunday. I was dissappointed, knowing I would be stuck with Starbucks when we got to the airport.. Much to my surprise, DD!! So at least it wasnt a total bust.. LOL

[DqALEX]

Black water?? I have alway said Carnival's water is hit and miss

[trock]

And some how, some way, some here will tell you any and all of these unacceptable issues, were your fault!

 

Make sure you send a snail mail letter!... Good Luck!

[halos]

It's got to be bad enough having a sucky cruise (thank goodness I haven't had that happen yet, well, not to that extreme anyway) but when you recommend a cruise to people and it sucks, that's even worse.

 

I'm sorry things went so badly for you. :(

[beach410]

Boy, what a bummer! I have yet to have a bad experience on any of our cruises, besides being disappointed with our RCL cruise, only because the food wasnt as good as CCL though, and this is exactly what I am worried about regarding our upcoming cruise. Its a family cruise, and not that I convinced them to try CCL, the family ended up coercing me to take a cruise with them and I ended up doing the research and booking it, so thus, I feel responsible for how well it goes. I am really hoping that it will go off without a hitch.

 

I am sorry for your disappointments and hope that you made the most of it. Chair hogs are evident on every cruise I go on, but have read how other people just remove the items and sit down, havent had the need to do this yet. I would definately give Carnival another try, you may want to experience a different ship next time! Good luck!

[klmorg]

I bet the black water was actaully the coffee!!! :eek:

[kelz66]

Ran out of coffee:eek:

 

:eek: The 4 dispensers inside and the 2 outside all ran out?? *****...that is just crazy!

[Familyforce6]

To Whom It May Concern:

On Saturday, March 21, 2009, eleven family members, friends, and I embarked (2Z7G77) on what I truly believed would be a vacation of a lifetime for us. We sailed on a 7 Day Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Liberty. For two of us, it was our second adventure on this ship albeit a different itinerary. Our previous cruise on Liberty was phenomenal.

As we planned our 2009 vacation, we encouraged our family and friends, some of them first-time cruisers, to join us on a Carnival Cruise. Of course our previous experience steered us in our decision making process. Twelve of us embarked on what can be best described as a mediocre week at sea. Part of the cruising experience is the fun and enjoyment experienced between ports. What follows is a list of disappointing and disturbing events and occurrences that riddled our family vacation.

· On three occasions there was a hair in our food;

· Coffee was at a premium – they ran out every morning;

· The ship was generally unkept – food on the floor, spilled drinks, etc.;

· State rooms were not re-stocked properly – we had to ask for toilet paper, soap, etc.;

· The shows were the very same as two years prior – and not as good as before;

· Teenagers overtook the elevators; security alerted- and their response was reprehensible – “This is a fun ship – even for kids” – At the expense of others’ fun?

· Deck chairs were being reserved by guests for other guests that never appeared;

· Water completely stopped in the state rooms just prior to our departure from St. Thomas;

· Day 2 of the cruise the water ran “black” – with no explanation given

We brought these items to the attention of staff members, when one could find a moment to talk to us. They appeared to be over-tasked and too busy to attend to our concerns. We spoke with many guests, and we concurred that the staff was obviously at a minimum level, as evidenced by our mediocre service. “Disappointed” was the way many of us summarized our trip.

We anxiously await a response from Carnival Cruise Lines. Please include a reason why our next vacation should be on a Carnival Fun Ship

 

Man.....the hair in the food has to be the worst you stated!!! That freaks me out really bad. Just imagine all the hairs we don't see but consume!:eek: As for the chair hogs. remove their things after 30 minutes and the chair is yours! As for unruly kids....not much you can do about that! I hope we don't experience this stuff on our cruise.:eek:

[sailor44]

To Whom It May Concern:

On Saturday, March 21, 2009, eleven family members, friends, and I embarked (2Z7G77) on what I truly believed would be a vacation of a lifetime for us. We sailed on a 7 Day Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Liberty. For two of us, it was our second adventure on this ship albeit a different itinerary. Our previous cruise on Liberty was phenomenal.

As we planned our 2009 vacation, we encouraged our family and friends, some of them first-time cruisers, to join us on a Carnival Cruise. Of course our previous experience steered us in our decision making process. Twelve of us embarked on what can be best described as a mediocre week at sea. Part of the cruising experience is the fun and enjoyment experienced between ports. What follows is a list of disappointing and disturbing events and occurrences that riddled our family vacation.

· On three occasions there was a hair in our food;

· Coffee was at a premium – they ran out every morning;

· The ship was generally unkept – food on the floor, spilled drinks, etc.;

· State rooms were not re-stocked properly – we had to ask for toilet paper, soap, etc.;

· The shows were the very same as two years prior – and not as good as before;

· Teenagers overtook the elevators; security alerted- and their response was reprehensible – “This is a fun ship – even for kids” – At the expense of others’ fun?

· Deck chairs were being reserved by guests for other guests that never appeared;

· Water completely stopped in the state rooms just prior to our departure from St. Thomas;

· Day 2 of the cruise the water ran “black” – with no explanation given

We brought these items to the attention of staff members, when one could find a moment to talk to us. They appeared to be over-tasked and too busy to attend to our concerns. We spoke with many guests, and we concurred that the staff was obviously at a minimum level, as evidenced by our mediocre service. “Disappointed” was the way many of us summarized our trip.

We anxiously await a response from Carnival Cruise Lines. Please include a reason why our next vacation should be on a Carnival Fun Ship

 

It's too bad that this cruise was the way it was and you all were disappointed.

 

There's a good chance that (as many others have received) you will receive an apology letter with some "canned" responses and probably nothing will be addressed specifically. I sent a letter with more compliments than the 2 complaints and one the them I specifically asked to receive a specific response to, but did not get one. They basically said sorry and hope you come back - providing no reason to!

[Wolfie48]

:eek: The 4 dispensers inside and the 2 outside all ran out?? *****...that is just crazy!

 

Is it possible the water problems led to them running out of coffee?

[Pegs222]

How disappointing, I hope you hear from Carnival and they make amends.

[Ms Belvedere]

Your letter is well written. I hope Carnival reads it and gives you a satisfactory response.

Ms B

[ausofte]

I bite my tongue reading this message board a lot, but come on! You're on vacation, why make a list of every little annoyance? H and I didn't even have air conditioning on a 10 day cruise, yet we still had a wonderful time. In the real world, we have short tempers and little patience. But our motto on a cruise is "Don't let it get to us! Let it go!"

 

Kids are irritating. ignore them. Hair in the food is disgusting, but easily and immediately corrected. Asking for soap or TP takes literally 20 seconds. Toss the chair hogs' crap on the floor and take their chairs. Do you really go on a cruise to watch movies? Yes? Fine, bring a portable DVD and DVD's from home. And coffee is available through room service, coffee bars, dining room, etc. Yeah, the buffet gets busy and it runs out, but but it's not your only source.

 

I don't see why people are so uptight on a vacation. Relax! Life isn't perfect, there's no way the cruise line can make your vacation perfect.

[StrangeBrew]

While I feel bad about your cruise experience , and I hope you get a favorable response , I do have to mention one thing .

 

The shows stay in rotation aboard a ship for , I think , 4 to 6 yrs ,I may be mistaken on that by a yr or two in length .

 

I know that does not excuse the vaudeville like production you experienced I'm sure . Sorry you experienced so many mis-fortunes , I too liked the Liberty so much we did it twice .

[scperk]

I just got off a B2B on the Liberty March 7th and had the best room steward I've ever had on the Lido deck cabins...No other problems in any other parts of the ship....Some people just look for the negatives.....Dennis

[m1jones22]

I bite my tongue reading this message board a lot, but come on! You're on vacation, why make a list of every little annoyance? H and I didn't even have air conditioning on a 10 day cruise, yet we still had a wonderful time. In the real world, we have short tempers and little patience. But our motto on a cruise is "Don't let it get to us! Let it go!"

 

Kids are irritating. ignore them. Hair in the food is disgusting, but easily and immediately corrected. Asking for soap or TP takes literally 20 seconds. Toss the chair hogs' crap on the floor and take their chairs. Do you really go on a cruise to watch movies? Yes? Fine, bring a portable DVD and DVD's from home. And coffee is available through room service, coffee bars, dining room, etc. Yeah, the buffet gets busy and it runs out, but but it's not your only source.

 

I don't see why people are so uptight on a vacation. Relax! Life isn't perfect, there's no way the cruise line can make your vacation perfect.

 

Could not agree more!! I am new to these boards and was amazed at how many people talk about how horrible their cruise was becuase xyz happened. I have been on 10 cruises and for a moment thought that i must have been "lucky" to be on the right cruise every time. I later realized that i have such a great time because i go into VACATION with a positive attitude and don't let little annoyances ruin my trip :cool:

[Cruise, J.D.]

I just got off a B2B on the Liberty March 7th and had the best room steward I've ever had on the Lido deck cabins...No other problems in any other parts of the ship....Some people just look for the negatives.....Dennis

 

That's great Dennis, but what does that have to do with the OP and hair in food and black water? I guess we should eat with our eyes closed and ignore the water color?

[Cruise, J.D.]

I bite my tongue reading this message board a lot, but come on! You're on vacation, why make a list of every little annoyance? H and I didn't even have air conditioning on a 10 day cruise, yet we still had a wonderful time. In the real world, we have short tempers and little patience. But our motto on a cruise is "Don't let it get to us! Let it go!"

 

Kids are irritating. ignore them. Hair in the food is disgusting, but easily and immediately corrected. Asking for soap or TP takes literally 20 seconds. Toss the chair hogs' crap on the floor and take their chairs. Do you really go on a cruise to watch movies? Yes? Fine, bring a portable DVD and DVD's from home. And coffee is available through room service, coffee bars, dining room, etc. Yeah, the buffet gets busy and it runs out, but but it's not your only source.

 

I don't see why people are so uptight on a vacation. Relax! Life isn't perfect, there's no way the cruise line can make your vacation perfect.

 

This is a message board for reporting experiences with Carnival cruising. I like to see the good, the bad, and the ugly. I'm glad people are willing to report the negatives.