Never Cruising Carnival Again - PLEASE read and give me a chance !

[LemurCat]

Wow, I did not think it was about wearing jeans. This thread is about customer service. The OP has been kind enough to share the letters he sent Carnival and their responses. There is absolutely no reason to raise an integrity issue as the OP has said all along that we wouldn't have been having this discussion if he had received customer service and that despite these issues, he had a good cruise. It is not miscommunication when a company employs individuals in a service position that are not focused on customer service.

 

And if you'd be so kind as to re-read the part where I wasn't casting aspersions but rather questions if the OP actually knows what he's talking about, as he has displayed a decided lack of knowledge of which he speaks. Just as his TA has displayed a decided lack of knowledge of such widespread industry issues as flight delays and travel time from airport to cruise terminal.

 

Good customer service will work wonders, I agree with you there. But usually it requires the other party to be reasonably informed as to what it is the customer service rep is to provide. Seems to me there wasn't a whole lot of informed discussion going on on anyone's part -- the OP, the TA, or Carnival.

[calgarygary]

Also to let you know....With over 10,000 posts I have helped many people here.....If the "OP" had come here and asked "Should I fly from Canada to Tampa the morning of the cruise?" I would have said "absolutely not".......:rolleyes:

No the OP made a mistake by relying upon the Company rather than you!

[robvan]

I am sorry your family had such a terrible beginning to your vacation.

 

I work in customer service, for over 27 years. In my experience, most customers I have dealt with that received unsatisfactory service weren't looking for a monetary compensation; although they didn't say no when one was offered. What they were looking for was for me, as a representative of the company, to be accountable for the error and take responsibility for it. . In other words admit to the mistake. All I read in Carnival's response was so sorry, too bad. That is unacceptable. The situation could have been handle much more professionally. You can't go back and change what happened; you can go forward and make sure the rest of the trip was better.

 

Best of luck on your future cruises!

[calgarygary]

Funny - I haven't seen this mentioned in their commercials and there was just one on with the Splendor. Maybe it is in the fine print that you can't read - - We'll be glad to sell you airfare along with your cruise, but if the airline is delayed, you are out of luck... Not much of a catch prase as Fun for All,All for Fun. AGain, unless we don't get you to port like we kind of pretend we will.

 

From their booking page: »If you select the airfare option we will include an airfare package for all guests. We just may not get you to the port prior to the ship leaving and may not care...

 

Well now it is the OP's fault. ;) Glad to know Carnival is utilizing the truth in advertising approach.

[Karysa]

This is just good business sense isn't it? Public relations and word of mouth should be of little importance to a service company in a recession. No wait, that's not what they've been saying on CNBC, is it?

 

Karysa

[LemurCat]

So if he decided to change airlines and lost money on that would that be ok to bitch about:confused:

This Carnival cruise fare has people by the balls. They book it .... customer pays it and they don't even know their flights until final payment for their cruise. Then if they cancel and get airfare on their own Carnival still gets their money and the customer is screwed.........

Yeah you guys are einsteins:rolleyes:

His only mistake was trusting Carnival........

 

Caveat Emptor. Buyer Beware. I don't trust anyone blindly when it comes to travel arrangements. The one time I flew through Carnival they tried the same thing with me and I told them it was unacceptable so they found another flight. Why would you hand over a credit card number to anyone and say "Make it happen"? I guess that's the thing that boggles my mind.

[FlaKrznNubie]

I was asking you, you are very anti-carnival, and I just wanted to get a feel of the different lines you have been on to be so opposed.

 

And you think I'm hard on Carnival (because I feel they don't accept responsibility for their mistakes).... read this

 

So if he decided to change airlines and lost money on that would that be ok to bitch about:confused:

This Carnival cruise fare has people by the balls. They book it .... customer pays it and they don't even know their flights until final payment for their cruise. Then if they cancel and get airfare on their own Carnival still gets their money and the customer is screwed.........

Yeah you guys are einsteins:rolleyes:

His only mistake was trusting Carnival........

 

It's all good. And I am cruising again soon on Carnival and know it will be the best yet (got a great price, 1 price reduction (small, but still a reduction) and it's a great itinerary)

[Mikel1733]

Bottom line is Carnival shouldn't be booking such flights period. The attitude that "it may or may not work for our customer is of no concern of ours" is ridiculous. That kind of attitude is what made the Peanut company in Georgia think it was alright to sell tainted product. After all it didn't make everyone sick who ate them. :rolleyes:

[crusinmama06]

Thank you for coming back and reposting. I had a long drawn out response to you this afternoon and it didn't go through before the big POOF.

 

So just to paraphrase. You are right. Carnival did not take care of a first time cruiser. We can all sit here and say "Well I wouldn't have done THAT". Well no kidding, most of us are veteran cruisers NOW.

 

I can remember my first cruise and booking cruise air to arrive at 1pm for a 4pm sailing during hurricane season. :eek: I KNOW I would never do that now. But I didn't know any better. And Carnival should have.

 

You know NOW not to book air through the cruise line. You know now never, ever to pack your medicine in the checked luggage.

 

And I don't know if the tuxes are always onboard in all sizes. We always have to order one for my hubby in advanced.

 

I can tell you that friends of ours on our last RCCL sailing forgot a piece of luggage at home. And it was the piece that held all of their formal wear. And RCCL volunteered to give them formal wear for the sailing.

 

I think the customer relations desk onboard dropped the ball on this one.

 

Remember we were ALL first time cruisers at one time. We didn't all come here as experts. So take it easy on him. ;)

[Elationismyship]

Shame on Carnival!

[Nunu]

I know that the OP is a first time cruiser but I'm sure that he has heard about flight delays and cancellations...

 

To which he brought up to Carnival and was assured it would be fine.

[happy cruzin]

So if he decided to change airlines and lost money on that would that be ok to bitch about:confused:

This Carnival cruise fare has people by the balls. They book it .... customer pays it and they don't even know their flights until final payment for their cruise. Then if they cancel and get airfare on their own Carnival still gets their money and the customer is screwed.........

Yeah you guys are einsteins:rolleyes:

His only mistake was trusting Carnival........

 

 

And I think that is really easy to do...especially as a first time cruiser. They certainly make it sound like booking your air with them takes care of everything :rolleyes:.....

[Kurbanfan]

Caveat Emptor. Buyer Beware. I don't trust anyone blindly when it comes to travel arrangements. The one time I flew through Carnival they tried the same thing with me and I told them it was unacceptable so they found another flight. Why would you hand over a credit card number to anyone and say "Make it happen"? I guess that's the thing that boggles my mind.

 

It's a shame that some people cannot comprehend that some people gain experience from their inexperience.......

[Lyncoya]

Folks .....

 

First THANK-YOU for commenting about my personal info being on the letters ... STUPID me ... didn't even think of that.

 

For those who MAY want to read my story ... feel free to.

 

The purpose of this post is for new cruisers to learn from our mistake ... that is all.

 

ALL I AM SAYING IS THIS .... I trusted Carnival to take care of a first time, inexperienced cruiser.

 

We feel that they did not ... could have made some simple gestures to keep us as a future client and it simply appears that THEY DON'T CARE.

 

Here are my letters …..

 

http://www.racemedical.com/Letter-1.pdf

http://www.racemedical.com/Letter-2.pdf

http://www.racemedical.com/Letter-3.pdf

http://www.racemedical.com/Letter-4.pdf

 

Letter 1 & 3 are from myself …. Letter 2 & 4 are their response.

 

Dave

 

WOW! I'm sorry this happened to you. I love Carnival.

 

On my cruise before last...I missed my flight. I paid for a transfer...the shuttle driver was BS'ing, and we left about 40 minutes late. (the bus was full for more than 40 minutes before we left) This was the Carnival Imagination.

 

Long story short, it was the driver's fault that we missed our flight, I wrote Carnival a letter, and they gave me and my husband each a $100 onboard credit for our next cruise.

 

I feel that if they gave us THAT...you deserve a lot more than we got.:(

[StrangeBrew]

It's a shame that some people cannot comprehend that some people gain experience from their inexperience.......

 

That is so TRUE .

 

We all become better by having experiences good and bad , Most do forget that they have had to learn the hard way in various instances .

 

And when someone is caring enough to share theirs , so that others may learn as well , and get criticized , well , I will leave it at that .

[MistyRo76]

Unfortunately I have to be up for work at 5 AM, so I don't have time to read all of the replies and responses. But I did manage to make it through about 5-6 pages.

 

I just wanted to offer my sympathies that you did not get the proper complaint resolution in this case. I work in the travel industry for an airline in a large hub city. I have dealt with many cruise passengers either missing or in danger of missing the start of their cruise as well as many other varieties of passengers issues. I have never understood why some companies/individuals are so unwilling to provide even a small gesture of kindness to a customer regardless of who might be at fault. Most reasonable customers just want to feel as though their frustrations are understood and empathized with...a small gesture goes a long way toward making that happen. I think that many times the person or company feels that by providing some type of compensation they are admitting fault or liability.

 

Airlines have guidelines as to the type and amounts of compensation to be provided. But that's all they are....guidelines. For example, typically when a flight is delayed/canceled due to weather (which contrary to popular belief is not in the airlines control ;) ) we do not normally pay for hotel accommodations for stranded customers; we instead offer discounted hotel rates. But have I done it when the situation warrants it??? Absolutely. Anyone handling complaint resolution needs to throw away the standard form letters and look at each situation on its own and do what it right for the customer. Usually making it right for the customer results in them returning which is always a WIN for the company.

 

I love Carnival....will be going on my 11th cruise this fall. While I have never had any major issues with them personally, my sister and a close friend have. Carnival's biggest weakness is their inability to take responsibility for their actions and resolve a customers complaint when the situation deserves it. Hopefully, they will take a look at their customer complaint resolution issues and make some changes. It is much more expensive for a company to attract new customers than it is for them to retain established ones.

 

To the OP....please be persistant. Your letters are well written and hopefully someone at Carnival will make the correct decision and gain the opportunity to change your deserved opinion of them.

 

Good Luck.

 

Misty

[pearlandmom]

I'm not trying to change the subject, as I think this is still related in a way. Someone said earlier that Carnival cannot be responsible for an airline that delays flights or for an excursion company that gets you back to the ship late or doesn't perform as expected. I always believed (and thought I read on these threads) that if you booked a ship excursion and returned later than expected (traffic, wrecks, mechanical problems, whatever the reason), the ship would wait for you to return. Is this not true? :eek: Have I been naive with a false sense of security when I book a cruise line excursion?

[Mikel1733]

 

It is much more expensive for a company to attract new customers than it is for them to retain established ones.

 

 

You hit the nail on the head. And in these economic times you would think some thick skulls might get the message.

[RaceMedic]

3. I think you kind of discredited your claims by demanding compensation. I'm not saying you don't deserve it (I believe some OBC or a % off your next cruise would be appropriate), but cruise lines don't look kindly upon people demanding compensation. It invalidates your claims, a bit, and makes it seem like you're out for something and the focus is taken away from what wronged you and is put on the fact that you now want compensation for it.

 

My first letter to them did not demand anything .... it was a follow-up phone call to Carnival Customer Service and one of THEIR reps who said to ask for compensation ... "If you don't you won't get anything".

 

That is why it was asked in the 2nd letter.

[happy cruzin]

I'm not trying to change the subject, as I think this is still related in a way. Someone said earlier that Carnival cannot be responsible for an airline that delays flights or for an excursion company that gets you back to the ship late or doesn't perform as expected. I always believed (and thought I read on these threads) that if you booked a ship excursion and returned later than expected (traffic, wrecks, mechanical problems, whatever the reason), the ship would wait for you to return. Is this not true? :eek: Have I been naive with a false sense of security when I book a cruise line excursion?

 

They will only wait so long...even if it is a ship sponsored excursion. They do not have wait at all if it is booked on your own.

[RaceMedic]

I appologize .... I thought I had commented on this .... I have said from day one when asked about our vacation ..... " HORRIBLE start to a GREAT cruise ".

 

In my letters to Carnival .... I have also commented that I am hoping that this is an isolated and I would be willing to give Carnival a 2nd chance, probably next year, if Carnival addressed this letter fairly ... which I feel they have not.

[CMM]

Thank you for sharing your story.

 

It does help others understand how things really work. One would assume that by going through Carnival you don't have to worry about this type of thing, especially when it usually is the more expensive option.

[johnlo81]

I really only skimmed these pages so I might be totally wrong in saying this but... you state that you ALMOST missed the cruise meaning you still made the cruise so what the hell are you complaining about? If you want a tuxedo that badly go to the Mens Wearhouse!

 

A few drinks would have made me forget about our troubles!

[Grits53]

Your "dream cruise" definitely got off to a bad start, and I'm sure you were more than unhappy with the way things went for those first two days. However, you did enjoy the rest of your cruise, and that is great! You learned some valuable lessons the hard way.....don't book air through Carnival and always fly in a day early. I am so glad you had packed swimsuits and a change of clothes in your carry on! Did you learn that by reading this board? (I did!)

 

You have not been given any special treatment for your inconvenience, and that is disappointing, to say the least. I do not applaud Carnival for the way they handled this matter. I think their customer service department failed you for the most part, although they did get you on board the ship and got your luggage to you as promised.

 

However, you must realize that the majority of people who cruise with Carnival do NOT have the trouble you had. If they did, there wouldn't be all those repeat Carnival cruisers on each cruise. I hope you will give them one more try, and I hope your next cruise is absolutely perfect.

[a3hrt0ur]

Ok this is my first post so I'm sure it will be percieved as suspect as it is not a favorable Carnival post. I am booked on the Pride on 4/18, while I fully intend to enjoy my cruise it will be the last one with Carnival ... While on hold for 1 hour and 58 minutes, there was a repeated ad to let Carnival take care of your airline bookings for you. I don't know why they promote it so heavily if it is such a pain for them to have someone make sure that the bookings are done more responsibly.

 

As far as the OP being more proactive before his cruise. This is our 4th Carnival Cruise and did not find this board until after this booking. We have had several issues with this booking only and have not had any success with thier customer service. It is a separate issue that has been addressed on these boards but I only found it after stumling upon it after reading numerous threads. I don't think you should expect the OP or anyone to find Cruise Critic and read thousands of thread to know what the "experts" seem to think everyone should know.

 

I'm not usually this negative but nearly two hours on hold listening to Carnival ads about how wonderful they are when they won't even take my call.......