Complaint Review: Carnival Cruise Lines - Miami Florida

Thanks for your input. We were not carrying oxygen. It was a portable breathing machine that uses room air along with medication for asthma symptoms. We were told by the medical department not to carry any of it on including the large quantities of meds. I'm not trying to make him sound like an invalid, but as you may be aware, people with these symptoms need to have a variety of their meds available because they can go downhill fast and the ship might not have what he needed. We followed all instructions to the letter. If the switch existed in the room as a thermostat it was broken because we discussed it and nothing changed and the rest of the people at our table had the same complaint in varied classes of rooms from inside to verandas. We actually went outside one night and slept awhile because it was warmer. lol. I mentioned the fact that he didn't seem to understand what we were complaining about and perhaps it was because he didn't understand English. We were articulate in sharing with him our concern and were obviously getting sicker by the day, yet nothing was changing. I have worked in customer service and when you represent a company and a mistake is made you offer apologies on behalf of the company, not just because you made the error. Especially when they had acted like we gave them an invalid card. We had other cards to use, but that was the one we wanted to use and we knew that something was wrong. When we insisted and she retyped it from the card, she could have simply said, "I'm sorry for the inconvenience." She just said, "It's working now." We paid the tips and had no complaint about that policy as others did. We could have even withdrawn cash from the onboard ATMs, but there is a way to talk to people especially when you are in customer service. You would certainly expect them to deal with a card scanner in the VIP area and purser's office as well, instead of typing in numbers that are subject to typos. I didn't even list the whole litany of issues on board from bees swarming the Lido Deck drink dispenser (yes bees at sea!) while the staff just kind of stood around in awe of it. Believe me it was a ZOO not to be believed. I have cruised on other lines in the past in 1st class accommodations and this was NOT up to par. From what I am seeing from the other complaints, it's not an isolated incident, but a lack of good ethics in doing business. When I spoke to the president's office, they did not comment on the issue about the bags or deny it. Nor did they say the TA was misinformed. It was as though it was an acceptable tactic used to lure you in and think you were getting the royal treatment and then it just didn't happen. I wasn't looking for a free cruise, but I would expect the company to apologize for their staff errors and lack of training. I would expect them to offer some sort of compensation that doesn't involve me paying another few thousand dollars for them to correct THEIR errors. Good business principles are no different at sea than on dry land.

Thanks for your input. We were not carrying oxygen. It was a portable breathing machine that uses room air along with medication for asthma symptoms. We were told by the medical department not to carry any of it on including the large quantities of meds. I'm not trying to make him sound like an invalid, but as you may be aware, people with these symptoms need to have a variety of their meds available because they can go downhill fast and the ship might not have what he needed. We followed all instructions to the letter. If the switch existed in the room as a thermostat it was broken because we discussed it and nothing changed and the rest of the people at our table had the same complaint in varied classes of rooms from inside to verandas. We actually went outside one night and slept awhile because it was warmer. lol. I mentioned the fact that he didn't seem to understand what we were complaining about and perhaps it was because he didn't understand English. We were articulate in sharing with him our concern and were obviously getting sicker by the day, yet nothing was changing. I have worked in customer service and when you represent a company and a mistake is made you offer apologies on behalf of the company, not just because you made the error. Especially when they had acted like we gave them an invalid card. We had other cards to use, but that was the one we wanted to use and we knew that something was wrong. When we insisted and she retyped it from the card, she could have simply said, "I'm sorry for the inconvenience." She just said, "It's working now." We paid the tips and had no complaint about that policy as others did. We could have even withdrawn cash from the onboard ATMs, but there is a way to talk to people especially when you are in customer service. You would certainly expect them to deal with a card scanner in the VIP area and purser's office as well, instead of typing in numbers that are subject to typos. I didn't even list the whole litany of issues on board from bees swarming the Lido Deck drink dispenser (yes bees at sea!) while the staff just kind of stood around in awe of it. Believe me it was a ZOO not to be believed. I have cruised on other lines in the past in 1st class accommodations and this was NOT up to par. From what I am seeing from the other complaints, it's not an isolated incident, but a lack of good ethics in doing business. When I spoke to the president's office, they did not comment on the issue about the bags or deny it. Nor did they say the TA was misinformed. It was as though it was an acceptable tactic used to lure you in and think you were getting the royal treatment and then it just didn't happen. I wasn't looking for a free cruise, but I would expect the company to apologize for their staff errors and lack of training. I would expect them to offer some sort of compensation that doesn't involve me paying another few thousand dollars for them to correct THEIR errors. Good business principles are no different at sea than on dry land.

I read your story about the things that happened to you on the Carnival Fascination. I would like a chance to reply to those events, and maybe how things can be avoided in the future. First of all, If you have a problem or complaint, you HAVE to deal with it on the ship, after you leave the ship CCL is no longer able to help solve certain problems, unless you get a letter signed from a purser or another form of backup to the problem. When you booked your cruise, your TA was wrong about a "Special Agent" to help you get through the VIP boarding area. The porters are there to collect your bags and then to take them inside to be scanned and sent into the hold of the ship until they can be delivered to your cabin. The Skippers Club is only for those passengers who continue to book premium cabins (Suites) and that is a perk for them. (I has been on 3 cruises in the past year, and I pay attention to who gets & does what, there is NO Special Agent.) I understand about your husbands medical needs, but maybe that piece of equipment should have been carried with you as you boarded the ship, just like you did with his medicine. (I would have suggested it, along with a letter from the doctor explaining what the oxygen is for & of course your TA did note on your reservation that he has medical needs right?) What was wrong about your room stewart not speacking English? (Not really sure if that was a complaint or not), but your room stewart also has an assitant who might speak better English. (I always suggest that if you have a request of the room attendant, just leave a note for them, they will get it done) Depending on when you boarded the ship, if you were early, you might have walked into the buffet at the tail end of the lunch time crowd, of course everyone knows that pizza and burgers are served ALL the time, that is not a surprise. (I did check, and I see that your ship sailed at 4pm, and you probaly requested early dinner, so your wait was probaly not that long until dinner) On my last cruise, I did notice that the room was cold, but there IS a thermostat in the room, in the ceiling, on the vent there is a black knob, just turn it one way or the other. (The ship Sensation is exactly the same, so it is in the same place) I also found that the entertainment on board was not excellent, but it was good, if I wanted Las Vegas-quality entertainment, I would go to Las Vegas. There is NO excuse about the credit card, but I wonder why it took so long for you to have been informed about it. I also wonder if the wrong card had actually been charged, what would you have done then? Sent CCL a check for the amount you spent on the ship, or thought maybe that would be your compensantion for the "bad" time you had on cruise? Also why should the onboard staff apologize for something that happened before you boarded the ship, it was not the Pursers Desk's fault, but the Embarkation staff, and they are not on the ship. I have sailed on the Conquest, Sensation and NCL Dream in the past year, and never a problem. I do think that if the whole Oxygen Tank problem had been handled better, you might not had so much to complain about. But you really should talk to your TA about this whole "Special Agent" nonsense, she owes you an answer about that. Because even CCL will tell you, Noone from CCL greets guest outside the terminal.