Letter Sent to Carnival!!!!!

[sundercruiser]

I didn't bother to read all 7 pages -- but as far as coffee running out, what MAY have happened is they ran out of coffee CUPS. Read "Cruise Confidential" -- a book about a year spent on Carnival ships in the dining room by an American employee (a good, fun read, by the way!). He talks about the shortage of coffee cups and saucers on board all Carnival ships and how dining room employees "pinch" cups/saucers from fellow waitstaff in order to provide their own diners what they need. Going by what's in the book, this is a daily and routine situation, especially at breakfast.

 

Or there was a mixup between coffee and water, leading to no coffee and "black" water. Blurg!

[Traveler353]

Wow, that sounds like an interesting thread. Do you have a link?

 

 

Sorry, just did a fast scan and could not find the review. I will look some more. For some reason the search engine on the board has never liked me.

[schultz]

We were on the Liberty the week before & the mid area coffee & juice machines were usually out of order. With 3600 on board that week, the line ups at the aft area could take quite awhile for a cup of coffee. I didn't remember that though until I read the OP. We didn't have any of the other problems stated, although we thought that many of the crew members did not have the usual smiling faces we have seen on previous CCL cruises.

[halos]

Ahh there are always a few in the crowd who let EVERY minor issue roll off their backs. Why are there SO many always-happy-nothing-bothers-me people on these boards but I seem to have never met them in real life? I seem to surround myself with people who honk if the red light turns green and you don't immediately go, or people who get annoyed when the one and only cashier has to walk away for a minute, the cashier who has to change the tape in the register, etc...

 

 

Time to relocate, maybe?? ;):p

 

Maybe I wouldn't have written a letter, but I can CERTAINLY understand being annoyed at having to ask for soap in my cabin (ridiculous), walking to the buffet in the morning and not having any coffee (who the heck would want to walk back to their room, order room service and sit there and wait for it? They have full ships every week...they should know how much coffee to make - come on!) etc...if nonstop inconveniences on a cruise that you paid good money for is annoying, then so be it. Sigh

 

Although it usually takes something big to make me unhappy, I do agree that a lot of little nuisances can add up and if I don't have coffee in me, little nuisances seem bigger :eek:

[cschultz]

I didn't bother to read all 7 pages -- but as far as coffee running out, what MAY have happened is they ran out of coffee CUPS. Read "Cruise Confidential" -- a book about a year spent on Carnival ships in the dining room by an American employee (a good, fun read, by the way!). He talks about the shortage of coffee cups and saucers on board all Carnival ships and how dining room employees "pinch" cups/saucers from fellow waitstaff in order to provide their own diners what they need. Going by what's in the book, this is a daily and routine situation, especially at breakfast.

 

 

 

Actually, they did run out of coffee cups one day, for about 10 minutes. I drank my coffee in a plastic glass. That was one of the few days that they had plenty of coffee. HA HA

 

I did not mean to trivialize the previous posters problems. As I stated, I was also on that same cruise. Had I had black water in my stateroom, I would have been plenty ticked. The lack of water, for a short period of time, was due to a major water main break on the ship. The carpet and stairs on the second floor were soaked from the break.

I don't think that the water shortage was that much of a problem, as they had the break

repaired quickly.

 

I have been on several cruises, and for once, nothing seemed to really affect us that much

on this cruise. I have been on a cruise where a passenger went overboard, another where a crew member's appendix burst, and the ship was diverted for 8 hours. I have been on a ship where the stabilizer malfunctioned and violently tipped for a minute or so.

And I have heard much worse, like the ship losing electric power, or being caught in a violent storm. So I have learned to roll with the punches.

 

I don't led a few rowdy kids ruin a cruise for me. (or having to ask to TP or soap)

Don't sweat the small stuff.

[duchessuta]

We had a simular experience on the Carnival Ecstasy in December, 08.

 

I wrote a letter to Gerry Cahill and promptly got a form letter stating they appreciated the letter and would do additional training for the staff on the Ecstasy.

 

I was dissapointed Mr. Cahill's office failed to take the opportunit to listen to the voice of the customer.

 

I was really surprised to hear from the Ecstasy's Cruise Director that the Ecstasy recently won the Best in Fleet award.

 

Sorry to hear your experience on the Ecstasy was so bad. I was on her in October 2008, then again this past March. I thought the service was wonderful and could definitely see why they won the award. Our room steward went WAY out of his way on numerous occasions. We had a plumbing issue and they took care of it very quickly, even sent a letter to our room the next day making sure it was take care of to our satisfaction. Maybe they had an off week when you went. Sorry to hear that. I would recommend giving them another try.

[cruisincory]

While I disagree with your post, I love your avatar. Still feeling on cloud 9 today? My daughter is a freshman at UNC and says everyone is still talking about the big game.:)

 

Oh Yes, still lovin it! I am actually still recovering from Franklin St Monday night:eek:

 

BTW, I was not implying that the OP was one of those that look for problems, I was just in agreement that some people do go and try to find things wrong. Trust me, if I had found hair in my food just one time, I would have flipped. Thats something that is so easy to prevent. I know several people who go on vacation and as soon as they get back, they start bitchin and whining about everything that wasnt right.

 

No dis-respect was meant to the OP, even though he will probably get one of the generic responses from Carnival. Good Luck.

[palmtrees40]

We were on the Liberty the week before you March 14-21 and everything was great the food, coffee, water everything was clean no problems at all.:)

[dan40]

It is a shame when anybody doesn't enjoy their cruise or whatever kind of vacation. I've been on a Carnival cruises where a water main broke in the ceiling above the buffet. For 2 days only one side of the buffet was usable so things were slow in the lines. Some pax probably had water problems connected with that, luckily we didn't. I've owned a boat, everyone that has, KNOWS, fixing the things that break is a constant.

The Liberty carries about 200,000 passengers each year, near 4000 each sailing. Can they all be happy all the time? Not EVER.

 

Dan

[JNCRUISEBUMS]

It's always best if you don't set your expectations too high! Expect nothing and go with the flo!

[amybeth4]

Time to relocate, maybe?? ;):p

 

 

 

Although it usually takes something big to make me unhappy, I do agree that a lot of little nuisances can add up and if I don't have coffee in me, little nuisances seem bigger :eek:

 

lol, maybe you're right and I DO need to get outta New York. :) And sure, I wouldn't complain to someone about missing shampoo...I'd request more. But it'd get pretty annoying if I had to do it more than once and it was compiled with other little annoyances.

[racingraysswimmom]

Wow, thought I'd never get thru all 7 pages, but you can tell many repliers never read all the posts.

 

I was on the same March 21st sailing on the Liberty. They DID MAKE an announcement about the water main break as cschultz stated. The water one day was a light brown for about 1/2 hour on the Upper Deck.

 

We had 64 people in our group WITH TEENAGERS!!! I was proud of our kids behavior as their parents were mindful of the other guests comfort. I did not experience the elevator problems, but I must admit, on a cruise...with all the food/drink.....I use the stairs whenever possible.

 

Yes the chair hogs were in full force. We got up early and were on deck by 7AM with our families to reserve our deck chairs. Many of us slept in our chairs in the early morning, then went to the buffet and brought breakfast or lunch back to our chairs to eat. We saw security remove towels when area chairs were left empty after 40 minutes. After the third day at sea, we became familiar with the guards and they asked us if people were actually using the surrounding chairs. So yes some people were saving chairs and not using them. We saved chairs also, but we had revolving people using our chairs. We sat to the side of the water slide and got excellent service from the staff removing dishes and getting bar drinks, etc.

 

I am pretty observant and I did not see excessive dirty areas around the ship. I did notice that there was less staff which took them alittle longer to clean up tables/etc. Our room steward went above and beyond so we were lucky. He also was taking care of several others in my group and they said he didn't have time to clean their rooms totally before embarkation. He was very honest and I believe that with the low cost of cruising....they are cutting staff and giving MORE & MORE work to the employed staff. He tried to make amends with these rooms throughout the week and they loved him. He received additional compensation from all of us. It would be great if everyone received excellent service but it seems now it is hit or miss. Same for our dining room staff. They were wonderful but a bit slower than years ago. Fortunately for us, we thought the food was very good. Nobody in our group complained about the food service or quality which I am thankful for. I know there are problems however as we did talk with other passengers from another dinning room.

 

Someone did mention that staff did not smile. Probably this is because they are overworked. One thing I did notice that when we walked down the long halls and saw staff cleaning the rooms, WE smiled and greeted everyone and their response was genuinely warm.

 

I will say that I wasn't thrilled with the Cruise Director Steve. This was my least favorite director in 25 cruises, but others thought he was funny.

 

Thank you Cruise Critic for giving everyone an opportunity to post their opinions and let us all be courteous with one another.

[jessemon]

I knew this post was coming. Just surprised it took so long. Not surprised it came from a person with over 10,000 posts, though.

 

Rah Rah Sis Boom Bah!!!

 

Go Carnival!

If you look in my siggy you will notice how many lines I have cruised. Not just Carnival. Most of my cruises are with other lines. Before making a silly statement do your research......:rolleyes::rolleyes:

[starketcher]

I jsut got off the Fantasy. Over the years, I have seen carnival's dining service slip, but it was obvious this time. Our needs were met, but that was it--not the servers' fault --they were over worked and stretched too far. I cant believe that hiring maybe 10 more waiters would hurt Carnival too much!!

 

Other than that, I was pretty pleased with the cruise and had a great steward!

[halos]

Wow, thought I'd never get thru all 7 pages, but you can tell many repliers never read all the posts.

 

I was on the same March 21st sailing on the Liberty. They DID MAKE an announcement about the water main break as cschultz stated. The water one day was a light brown for about 1/2 hour on the Upper Deck.

 

We had 64 people in our group WITH TEENAGERS!!! I was proud of our kids behavior as their parents were mindful of the other guests comfort. I did not experience the elevator problems, but I must admit, on a cruise...with all the food/drink.....I use the stairs whenever possible.

 

Yes the chair hogs were in full force. We got up early and were on deck by 7AM with our families to reserve our deck chairs. Many of us slept in our chairs in the early morning, then went to the buffet and brought breakfast or lunch back to our chairs to eat. We saw security remove towels when area chairs were left empty after 40 minutes. After the third day at sea, we became familiar with the guards and they asked us if people were actually using the surrounding chairs. So yes some people were saving chairs and not using them. We saved chairs also, but we had revolving people using our chairs. We sat to the side of the water slide and got excellent service from the staff removing dishes and getting bar drinks, etc.

 

I am pretty observant and I did not see excessive dirty areas around the ship. I did notice that there was less staff which took them alittle longer to clean up tables/etc. Our room steward went above and beyond so we were lucky. He also was taking care of several others in my group and they said he didn't have time to clean their rooms totally before embarkation. He was very honest and I believe that with the low cost of cruising....they are cutting staff and giving MORE & MORE work to the employed staff. He tried to make amends with these rooms throughout the week and they loved him. He received additional compensation from all of us. It would be great if everyone received excellent service but it seems now it is hit or miss. Same for our dining room staff. They were wonderful but a bit slower than years ago. Fortunately for us, we thought the food was very good. Nobody in our group complained about the food service or quality which I am thankful for. I know there are problems however as we did talk with other passengers from another dinning room.

 

Someone did mention that staff did not smile. Probably this is because they are overworked. One thing I did notice that when we walked down the long halls and saw staff cleaning the rooms, WE smiled and greeted everyone and their response was genuinely warm.

 

I will say that I wasn't thrilled with the Cruise Director Steve. This was my least favorite director in 25 cruises, but others thought he was funny.

 

Thank you Cruise Critic for giving everyone an opportunity to post their opinions and let us all be courteous with one another.

 

Thanks for your view of the cruise. :) It never ceases to amaze me how differently people see, experience and react to things.

[G'ma]

OK, now some of her posts are starting to make sense. G'ma's been partyin' with Michael Phelps. ;)

 

No, sadly....

 

Gave all that up about 25 years ago....

 

That old saying from somewhere (maybe Corinthians.....don't know) applies:

 

"When I was a child I spoke as a child, felt as a child, thought as a child." Then it goes on to say that now as an adult, I've put away childish things......and so forth.

 

But, it was fun at the time......

 

After all, I was front and center in the 60's.......

[G'ma]

Can we please stop this? We all know the lyrics.

 

Post count padding at its finest (or worst depending how you look at it.)

 

Oh, lighten up......join in.

 

And I have no clue about padding posts or whatever. It's not as if they give out prizes or anything.

 

Besides, it's more interesting than this thread.......

[trpschick]

Roflmao!!!!!

 

maybe they would consider the ocean floor an exciting new port!:d

 

hugs,

chelle

[jessemon]

No' date=' sadly....

 

Gave all that up about 25 years ago....

 

That old saying from somewhere (maybe Corinthians.....don't know) applies:

 

"When I was a child I spoke as a child, felt as a child, thought as a child." Then it goes on to say that now as an adult, I've put away childish things......and so forth.

 

But, it was fun at the time......

 

After all, I was front and center in the 60's.......[/quote']

You were 60 when you gave it up ????? That would make you....:eek::eek:

Oops....Sorry...read that wrong. You said front and center in the 60's......

 

I just had to do that......:D

And darn...there I go "padding" my post count again....LOL

[Pattakins]

Sigh. I'm happy I've been here long enough to know that there are just some jerky people posting on this board. If I was brand new, I would see threads like this and never come back here. It's been really getting out of hand lately with the slamming. Blah. What the heck happened to this being a board to post your experiences and questions, without getting poo flung at you for not saying your cruise was perfect? :p

 

OP, I'm sorry you're getting some ridiculous criticism from other board members.

 

Figs, I agree with you completely. It's sad. Why can't someone say that they had problems on their cruise without someone else saying they're wrong, lying, being ridiculous, etc. Worse still...accusing them of saying it just to get something for nothing. Come on...believe it or not, some people have very legitimate complaints. Something that seems to be forgotten here is that cruises are a SERVICE (dare I say it?) related vacation. Should good service be expected? Yes, of course it should! I don't expect to be treated like the Queen of Sheeba, but when I take a cruise, I do expect things to be working properly....I would expect to have toilet paper in my bathroom without having to ask for it. No one should expect to have to speak to their room steward about normal things that should be done. Would just the problem of having no TP make me complain? No...but when things start adding up, I would start to get irritated. Still, I could let that "roll off my back" as people are so fond of saying. But hair in the food? No water? No way! ( I understand...even though it grosses me out...the black water, as there seems to have been a line break) It is a given that every cruise will have a few "bad" things happen, but usually not enough to make a large issue of it. And on the whole, cruising is a blast. Even when things go wrong, I love cruising! I'm sure the people with complaints, would happily tell you that they also had fun. But it seems on these boards they get ridiculed right away because they have voiced their complaints instead of the good things. I think sometimes all they want is to commiserate and hear someone say they are sorry to hear they had problems. Like it or not, Carnival seems to have cut waaaaay back on service. This will be reflected in many areas of the ship, and eventually people are going to get sick and tired of it.

 

I don't believe that every little problem should be compensated for, but I do feel the people who have had major problems should have some recourse and should have the right to complain without being called names.

 

Disclaimer alert! I am using Carnival in the following passages because this is a Carnival board, but it could be true for any cruise line........

 

If Carnival is cutting staff, not carrying enough dry goods, (running out of coffee, not enough coffee cups? Wow!) and basically provide service on a shoestring...then they are going to get complaints. (before you blast me, I'm not saying these are compensatable complaints) As I said, it is a service oriented business. When cruisers get bad service, they should complain.

 

I believe Carnival knows they will be making some people unhappy, but I also believe they are counting on people "just letting it roll off their backs". Personally, I would like to see people let them know when they are unhappy about things. That said, I would also like to see them tell them what they are doing right! Only when enough people do this will they start to change things back to good service. And yes, I'm old enough to remember the good old days of wonderful service and fantastic food...even on the cheaper lines.

 

To those of you who say you have never had a problem, I am very happy for you...but please don't assume someone is not being truthful or just wants something for nothing simply because they DID have problems. And also remember that one person could have a perfect cruise, while someone else on the same cruise could have major problems. :rolleyes:

[gargarjo]

I cant believe how you people just think im after a free ride. All i ment when i posted this letter here was to exspress my concerns about carnival and there customer service. The group that was with us was all family many first time cruisers. So figure there was 12 of us and close to $10,000 with airfare. I think i have the right to do a bit of BITCHING. And believe me i was at the customer service desk daily. Response was yes sir we will work on it. well guess what ya kinda get tired of asking for something and nothing happening. But dont all you haters fret me and my family still managed to have a great time. The port of calls where awesome and we even managed to have fun on the ship. All my letter was ment to do is inform Carnival and maybe they will stop cutting cost when it comes to there customers. With that said you all have a great time on your vacation and hope to see you out on the seas...:)

[jessemon]

Figs, I agree with you completely. It's sad. Why can't someone say that they had problems on their cruise without someone else saying they're wrong, lying, being ridiculous, etc. Worse still...accusing them of saying it just to get something for nothing. Come on...believe it or not, some people have very legitimate complaints. Something that seems to be forgotten here is that cruises are a SERVICE (dare I say it?) related vacation. Should good service be expected? Yes, of course it should! I don't expect to be treated like the Queen of Sheeba, but when I take a cruise, I do expect things to be working properly....I would expect to have toilet paper in my bathroom without having to ask for it. No one should expect to have to speak to their room steward about normal things that should be done. Would just the problem of having no TP make me complain? No...but when things start adding up, I would start to get irritated. Still, I could let that "roll off my back" as people are so fond of saying. But hair in the food? No water? No way! ( I understand...even though it grosses me out...the black water, as there seems to have been a line break) It is a given that every cruise will have a few "bad" things happen, but usually not enough to make a large issue of it. And on the whole, cruising is a blast. Even when things go wrong, I love cruising! I'm sure the people with complaints, would happily tell you that they also had fun. But it seems on these boards they get ridiculed right away because they have voiced their complaints instead of the good things. I think sometimes all they want is to commiserate and hear someone say they are sorry to hear they had problems. Like it or not, Carnival seems to have cut waaaaay back on service. This will be reflected in many areas of the ship, and eventually people are going to get sick and tired of it.

 

I don't believe that every little problem should be compensated for, but I do feel the people who have had major problems should have some recourse and should have the right to complain without being called names.

 

Disclaimer alert! I am using Carnival in the following passages because this is a Carnival board, but it could be true for any cruise line........

 

If Carnival is cutting staff, not carrying enough dry goods, (running out of coffee, not enough coffee cups? Wow!) and basically provide service on a shoestring...then they are going to get complaints. (before you blast me, I'm not saying these are compensatable complaints) As I said, it is a service oriented business. When cruisers get bad service, they should complain.

 

I believe Carnival knows they will be making some people unhappy, but I also believe they are counting on people "just letting it roll off their backs". Personally, I would like to see people let them know when they are unhappy about things. That said, I would also like to see them tell them what they are doing right! Only when enough people do this will they start to change things back to good service. And yes, I'm old enough to remember the good old days of wonderful service and fantastic food...even on the cheaper lines.

 

To those of you who say you have never had a problem, I am very happy for you...but please don't assume someone is not being truthful or just wants something for nothing simply because they DID have problems. And also remember that one person could have a perfect cruise, while someone else on the same cruise could have major problems. :rolleyes:

So you completely believe that the OP is telling you the truth about no TP in th BR.....

I always believe everything I read from someone I don't know.....:rolleyes:

Someone is trying to get a big time Oh my word I can't believe I had all these problems discount for their next cruise...LOL....;)

[jessemon]

I cant believe how you people just think im after a free ride. All i ment when i posted this letter here was to exspress my concerns about carnival and there customer service. The group that was with us was all family many first time cruisers. So figure there was 12 of us and close to $10,000 with airfare. I think i have the right to do a bit of BITCHING. And believe me i was at the customer service desk daily. Response was yes sir we will work on it. well guess what ya kinda get tired of asking for something and nothing happening. But dont all you haters fret me and my family still managed to have a great time. The port of calls where awesome and we even managed to have fun on the ship. All my letter was ment to do is inform Carnival and maybe they will stop cutting cost when it comes to there customers. With that said you all have a great time on your vacation and hope to see you out on the seas...:)

First off the use of this type of language is not allowed on the boards......

Also if you have a problem with Carn-evil take your problem there where it belongs.....;)

You started the thread and you don't like the response you're getting from some is a moot point......

[clgcrusier]

they stopped serving filet mignon???? :confused::eek::(

 

I know-I was really disappointed! They had something called flat-iron steak-not bad, but not my favorite. As someone pointed out, though, maybe it was because of the shorter cruises. I was actually on a back to back on the Destiny. The worst was no creme brulee, though! But we had a great waiter who had the chef make it for the people at our table one night!:D

[JPNROB]

As soon as I read about running out of coffee I knew that this one was a bunch of bunk designed to get everyone in an uproar.

Sorry, this is no bunk. Just got off the 3/28 Freedom and had the same thing happen to us. Several coffee machines were closed. Only had de-caf available. I didnt have a problem but wifey did; and you know what they say. If wifey aint happy, nobody gonna be happy!