Nick
Chicago,#2Consumer Comment
Wed, January 28, 2004
First of all a 12 year old is well old enough to look after a 6 year old. When I was 12 I was taking buses with my friends all over Chicago. Grow up. 12 year olds babysit. They can certainly be left overnight in a room by themselves. Especially when a parent is nearby. Just say "Pick up the phone and dial my cabin number" If your 12 year old is to stupid to know this heaven help him. When I was 16 I was in college with my own apartment. People baby kids. I work for hotels and it's done all the time people put their kids in one room and the adults stay in the room across the hall. Big deal. I have been to Jamaica and no it isn't the worst place in the world but if you use your brain and stay in decent areas it's quite safe. I guess if you're from Podunk Iowa this place could scare you. Finally it appears the travel agent lied. I would have taken the complaint up with them. Did you pay for two rooms? What did you T/A say about this? That T/A should make good if you really paid for two rooms. Something about the T/A doesn't sound right.
Amber
Newport News,#3Consumer Comment
Thu, January 22, 2004
Wow, Carnival sure has a lot of complaints here. While I don't mean to sound dismissive of anyone's poor experiences, but I would like to add that some families have a wonderful time. We cruised on Fascination last summer. The automatic tips thing is true. Also the drinks offered in the rooms are charged for. They are upfront about that, though. One annoyance I had is that the fancy dinners they tout are chinzy and not of particuarly good quality. Stick to the buffets unless you're a big fan of dining atmosphere. The rooms were tiny, but we didn't mind because we didn't spend much time in them. Wouldn't reccommend them for claustrophobic people, though.
Mary
Lawrence,#4Author of original report
Tue, December 30, 2003
Hope you are enjoying yourself! You think you know me?? You don't. As for the FACTS about the cruise ship.... maybe you could stick to those. My children were safe and supervised at all times and would have been whether we had 2 rooms or one. As for the "never getting our honeymoon back again". It had to do with the fact that we felt ripped off $1000 (or another room) and were crowded in a very small room and didn't find out until right before we were to have our wedding ceremony..... I suppose you wouldn't have been upset about $1000 or not getting 2 rooms. I assume your mood about the trip wouldn't have swayed at all. As for the tipping issue... we tipped VERY well... actually more than they would have received otherwise. We made sure that our room attendant and photographer received much praise for their kindness, hard work and for the extra ways they tried to make our stay better. I believe people should be tipped according to the job they perform IF you indeed use their services and not automatically. You may not see a problem with that....ok.... that's you. There were many people who felt they should have had control of their tipping. Our children WERE drinking water all morning... it wasn't even during the heat of the day. We were told that some people are more suseptible to the dry climate than others. So, for those of you that are actually trying to read this as informative (and not as a Whose Who of Better Parenting)... it is REALLY easy to get dehydrated.... you can feel fine and then it just hits you. No amount of water is too much.
Sara
Livonia,#5Consumer Comment
Mon, December 29, 2003
You admitted that you were going to sleep away from the children. That's why you wanted 2 rooms. That's why you said that your honeymoon was "ruined" in your report. It sounds like your issue is with the listing agent. Didn't you sign anything at all that stated what you were getting? I'm glad that you didn't get the second room, children that age should not be left alone for an entire night. Not that your supervisory skills are adequate, you let your son get dehydrated so badly that he passed out. Children are very susceptible to high temperatures and need to drink plenty of liquids. Then to top it all off, you decide to cut out the tips, and then wonder why you can't get the level of service that you desire. Maybe you should invest the money you saved by not tipping, and use it to attend parenting classes.
Mary
Lawrence,#6Author of original report
Mon, December 29, 2003
It is obvious to me that you must either work for or be related to someone who works for Carnival Cruise Line. I find it interesting that you chose to ignore EVERYTHING in the complaint that addressed Carnivals Rip-Offs and Misinformation and tried to make us out to be bad parents to shift "blame". Carnival is the one that we booked our cruise with. Carnival is the one that advertises their ships as "family-friendly" cruises (including activities for the children). Carnival was the one that tried to convince us "no one would check to see if a parent was in the room with the children". Carnival is the one that told us that they admit to not telling their guests about the limitations on alcohol and tobacco products (tax-free) because they sell more that way. Carnival is the one that treated our child with ill-concern when he got overheated on the Cayman Islands. Carnival was the one that had lines of people upset with them because they didn't know they charged for tips automatically each day, that their rooms were flooding and that the machines (washers and dryers) on the ship didn't work. You may try to blame us and label us "bad parents" but we are quite the opposite. We wanted our children to have the experience of travel and we wanted our children to be IN our wedding. As for the "knocking boots" comment..... I assume you never have sex in the privacy of your own room with your children in the house with you (YES, we had planned on having sex when they were enjoying activities-god forbid).... because obviously that would be too selfish of you to do. In addition, the second room was supposed to be immediately across the hall from the one we all stayed in. Let me AGAIN remind you a parent would be staying in each room. If you HAVE been on their cruise ship you would KNOW that 4 people in a cabin is extremely crowded to say the least. So, maybe you have made yourself feel better in some weak attempt to shift blame.... GOOD FOR YOU! The intent of my complaint was to save others from the experiences we had by being misinformed. I'm happy for you that your cruise experience has been perfect in every way, however, there are many details that are left out that consumers need to know.
Mary
Lawrence,#7Author of original report
Mon, December 29, 2003
It is obvious to me that you must either work for or be related to someone who works for Carnival Cruise Line. I find it interesting that you chose to ignore EVERYTHING in the complaint that addressed Carnivals Rip-Offs and Misinformation and tried to make us out to be bad parents to shift "blame". Carnival is the one that we booked our cruise with. Carnival is the one that advertises their ships as "family-friendly" cruises (including activities for the children). Carnival was the one that tried to convince us "no one would check to see if a parent was in the room with the children". Carnival is the one that told us that they admit to not telling their guests about the limitations on alcohol and tobacco products (tax-free) because they sell more that way. Carnival is the one that treated our child with ill-concern when he got overheated on the Cayman Islands. Carnival was the one that had lines of people upset with them because they didn't know they charged for tips automatically each day, that their rooms were flooding and that the machines (washers and dryers) on the ship didn't work. You may try to blame us and label us "bad parents" but we are quite the opposite. We wanted our children to have the experience of travel and we wanted our children to be IN our wedding. As for the "knocking boots" comment..... I assume you never have sex in the privacy of your own room with your children in the house with you (YES, we had planned on having sex when they were enjoying activities-god forbid).... because obviously that would be too selfish of you to do. In addition, the second room was supposed to be immediately across the hall from the one we all stayed in. Let me AGAIN remind you a parent would be staying in each room. If you HAVE been on their cruise ship you would KNOW that 4 people in a cabin is extremely crowded to say the least. So, maybe you have made yourself feel better in some weak attempt to shift blame.... GOOD FOR YOU! The intent of my complaint was to save others from the experiences we had by being misinformed. I'm happy for you that your cruise experience has been perfect in every way, however, there are many details that are left out that consumers need to know.
Mary
Lawrence,#8Author of original report
Mon, December 29, 2003
It is obvious to me that you must either work for or be related to someone who works for Carnival Cruise Line. I find it interesting that you chose to ignore EVERYTHING in the complaint that addressed Carnivals Rip-Offs and Misinformation and tried to make us out to be bad parents to shift "blame". Carnival is the one that we booked our cruise with. Carnival is the one that advertises their ships as "family-friendly" cruises (including activities for the children). Carnival was the one that tried to convince us "no one would check to see if a parent was in the room with the children". Carnival is the one that told us that they admit to not telling their guests about the limitations on alcohol and tobacco products (tax-free) because they sell more that way. Carnival is the one that treated our child with ill-concern when he got overheated on the Cayman Islands. Carnival was the one that had lines of people upset with them because they didn't know they charged for tips automatically each day, that their rooms were flooding and that the machines (washers and dryers) on the ship didn't work. You may try to blame us and label us "bad parents" but we are quite the opposite. We wanted our children to have the experience of travel and we wanted our children to be IN our wedding. As for the "knocking boots" comment..... I assume you never have sex in the privacy of your own room with your children in the house with you (YES, we had planned on having sex when they were enjoying activities-god forbid).... because obviously that would be too selfish of you to do. In addition, the second room was supposed to be immediately across the hall from the one we all stayed in. Let me AGAIN remind you a parent would be staying in each room. If you HAVE been on their cruise ship you would KNOW that 4 people in a cabin is extremely crowded to say the least. So, maybe you have made yourself feel better in some weak attempt to shift blame.... GOOD FOR YOU! The intent of my complaint was to save others from the experiences we had by being misinformed. I'm happy for you that your cruise experience has been perfect in every way, however, there are many details that are left out that consumers need to know.
Mary
Lawrence,#9Author of original report
Mon, December 29, 2003
We were going to have one adult in each room... it was Carnival who said it didn't matter. As for the misinformation... if you had read it, you would have seen that our agent WAS with Carnival.... not an individual agent. As for what kind of parents we are. We adore our children and made sure they were supervised. Part of the cruise is that there are activities for all ages of children. We just wanted to have 2 rooms so that we could have privacy in one while they were doing an activity and one in which they could access if need-be. You guys obviously cannot read. We were NEVER going to abandon our children. The true issue is that we were told by CARNIVAL that we were paying for 2 rooms and we only received one. If we were uncaring parents, would we have WANTED our children on our honeymoon..... GET A CLUE!
Paul Pickle
Raleigh,#10Consumer Suggestion
Mon, December 29, 2003
What kind of parent are you, that you would literally abandon your youngsters in a separate room of their own, so you can knock boots with your newleywed? Don't you think that a 6 YEAR OLD child needs parental supervision, especially aboard a cruise ship which is full of strangers and other dangers that could potentially harm your child? Don't you think that a 12 YEAR OLD child is a wee bit immature to be held responsible for a 6 year old all night long? It appears you have no cares at all when it came to your children's safety and well-being on this cruise ship. Your only concern was on yourself - and you are trying to blame Carnival for your misfortunes when it is clear that they have set their rules in favor of your children's safety in the first place! As you have stated that you are/were first-time cruisers, I sincerely hope that that was not only your first, but also your last, cruise. Parents like you do not need to be endangering your children like that on a cruise ship. Also passengers such as myself do not need to be bothered by unsupervised, ill-behaved little ones running about the ship.
Jennifer
Gunnison,#11Consumer Suggestion
Mon, December 29, 2003
I have sailed with Carnival twice and have another cruise booked for February 2004. We have never had any problems with our rooms. Carnival is NOT the one to blame for the confusion on your booking two rooms and receiving one. Your travel agent mislead you. She told you that Carnival requires one adult with each child...you just wanted to try to get away with it. As far as the shore excursions go- you should have done your homework like all other cruisers. Hell is a place to send postcards from. Not much else there. And Jamaica??? Very dangerous! If you have small children, I wouldn't even attempt going ashore alone. I understand that you are disappointed in your trip, but don't blame Carnival for the mishaps that your travel agent caused.