Fun Cruise, A Carnival Problem

[sogamusicman]

We had a great cruise to Canada on the Triumph. I will be posting a review soon - whoever is complaining about food and service needs to take this one.

 

Only one problem - Carnival transfers. I was not alone with this one - several people are unhappy about this. I'm not a whiner and will send an e-mail to Carnival and no, it will not keep me from sailing them again.

 

We flew into Newark and needed transport to the pier. I booked through Carnival to avoid the hassle of dealing with it myself. When I found out Carnival was charging $80 per person RT for the same service I could have gotten for $32 RTper person, tried to cancel, but it was "too late". I assumed (foolish me) that part of booking through them would be some assurance that we wouldn't need to wander through an unknown airport, searching for transportation to the cruise. So, just to be sure, I called twice to make sure someone would meet us in the Newark terminal to make this process easier. I was assured twice that someone would be there - "Just look for a person in a Carnival outfit and they'll guide you where to go." Of course, when we arrived, there was no one there. We found our way to ground transportation, where we were told to call the number on the ticket, which was not to Carnival, but to the transport company. Eventually we made it to the pier and, as always, had a wonderful cruise.

 

This is the first time I have really questioned their commitment to service. I suggest everyone simply book their own ground transport in the future. I know I will. Thanks for listening.

[amistad]

I'm glad you liked the food and service, I thought it was the best we have had on Carnival when we went on the Triumph last year.

[matj2000]

I would never let Carnival do my air or transfers. Unless I wanted to waste a ton of cash.........

[Tapi]

I agree that a little bit of homework can go A LONG way as far as saving money.

 

About the transfers, I think that flying into Newark is a hassle by itself. We booked our own transportation when we cruised from there and the experience wasn't any more pleasant than yours. I can think of some choice words to describe the hell we went through getting to/from the pier!

[BlueJacketsFan1]

Boy, that brings back memories. On our first cruise we were to be picked up at the airport to take us to the hotel we booked with Carnival. We were unable to find them anywhere and ended up taking a cab. This was after trying to call the number on the ticket and it being a recording tell us the office was closed. Then the bus from the hotel to the pier was late by an hour and forty-five minutes. We still made the ship in more than enough time, but it did boost some stress levels for people standing around. My TA has us write a letter for her to send to Carnival. We received a nice response from them and a 45 day letter for a gift on our second cruise.