2. Written by Disappointed First Time Cruise, on 25-04-2008 17:16
To: Carnival Cruise Line Corporation
3655 NW 87th Avenue
Miami, Florida. 33178-2428
Gerald R. Cahill, President & CEO,
Micky Arison, Chairman of the Board & CEO,
Howard S. Frank, Vice Chairman of the Board & COO,
David Bernstein, Senior Vice President & CFO,
Richard D. Ames, Senior Vice President-Shared Services,
Arnaldo Perez, Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary,
Larry Freedman, Chief Accounting Officer & Vice President-Controller,
Timothy Gallagher, Vice President-Public Relations,
Jennifer de la Cruz, Director-Public Relations
Dear Sirs:
I am writing to you to because my husband and I recently cruised with Carnival and the experience was less than pleasing, to say the least. I planned & did extensive research for almost a year and a half prior to going on our cruise on April 5, 2008. Originally, there was a group of us that had planned to go together, family and friends, but Carnival decided that the cruise we were scheduled to go on, at the end of April, was going to be docked for extensive renovations. Therefore, if we wanted to go we would have to wait until September 2009 or go prior to the end of April 2008. We all decided to go earlier in April. We were all so excited because a lot of us, including myself and my entire family, had NEVER cruised before. We advised the travel agency that we were working with that we would like to go earlier in April. We then found out that it would cost considerably more to do so. And, of course, EVERYONE at that point decided not to go because of the price change that no one, not even the travel agency, could explain. However, my husband and I were committed to going on the cruise regardless of the price because of a promise that I made to my husband. Let me explain in a little more detail. My husband was a smoker for over 30 years. The kids and I begged him to stop smoking. The coughing was so bad that we never went anywhere because of the embarrassing cough that he had. It sounded like he was going to cough up a lung. Last year, I went with him to his doctor’s appointment. During that appointment, his doctor advised him that he had emphysema and my husband began to cry. I had made a promise to my husband at his doctor’s office that I would take him on a cruise to the Bahamas and pay for everything myself, if he stopped smoking cigarettes. I told him it would also be the honeymoon that we never had as well. My son is an adult and a Petty Officer in the Navy and our daughter is an adult and living on her own, so now we can attempt to take a vacation without worrying about a babysitter. I told him that I would make sure that it would be the trip of our lives, especially since we never went anywhere and this would literately be our first time going anywhere in over 20 years. We had many obstacles along the year long journey.
There were times when I thought that there’s no way that I will ever be able to pay for the cruise. I worked overtime, withdrew money from my Credit Union, I even baked and sold cakes to get the money together for planes tickets, a hotel room, the cruise payment, our spending money and emergency money. I did all this and I still had to make sure that our mortgage was paid, car payments were made, utilities bills paid, etc..etc..etc.. By the grace of God, everything was taken care of each and every month. That’s why I am writing to you to convey how disappointed I was with our cruise. On the morning of April 5, 2008, we arrived at the Jaxport Terminal. I approached the desk and began giving my information to Ms.Viola Weintraub or Weinraub, one of your Customer Service Representatives at the terminal during Embarkation. She asked me for the credit card that I set up the sign and sail account under online. I gave her the Visa Gift Card/Credit Card that I used on line in January 2008. She advised me that I could not use a Visa Gift Card/Credit Card for a sign and sail account. I advised her that the online system took that card and that I did the necessary research and reading prior to giving the card number on line. The website stated that I could use a Visa or Mastercard Gift Card, but an American Express Gift Card/Credit Card could not be used. She stated that she could not find it in her system. I advised her that the card has a $400.00 value on it and that I did use it to set up the expense account online. She stated that the gift card does not have my name on it. I told her that when you purchase a gift card they don’t have your name on it. That’s why they are purchased for anyone to use. She stated that I was going to have to pay cash to the Purser upon boarding the ship. I advised that she go and get a supervisor for me to speak with. Her supervisor came over to me and simply reiterated what she stated to me before she left to go get him. I kept attempting to tell the both of them that I do not have enough cash on me to support the amount that’s needed for my husband and I to set up a sign and sail account, which is why I used our income tax money to purchase the Visa Gift Cards. I advised that I have three of them, two for $400.00 each and one for $100.00. She asked me for the other Visa Gift Card. I gave it to her and she then used that card and it registered. Then she told me that she now does see the other Visa Gift Card, but that I would still need to give the Purser cash and they insisted that I go speak to the Purser.
I was so upset that I began to shake and cry. I knew that I had set up the account online, I showed her a copy of the FunPass that stated I had fulfilled ALL my requirements, but her and her supervisor were both telling me that I had to give cash at the Purser’s Desk. Needless to say, my Embarkation photo was not something that I could buy because it showed how upset I was upon boarding. I made my way to the Purser’s Desk and I spoke to Ms.Cha Chengpee, a representative at the desk. She advised me that the Visa Gift Card/Credit Card was just fine to use. I could not believe it! At that point, I became angry. I advised her that every person that deals with the public working for Carnival should be on the “same page”. If the previous representative and especially her supervisor had been on the “same page”, it would have saved me from having a “nervous breakdown” during a time that should have been the best time ever for both of us, which was getting on board and getting the cruise started. I advised Ms. Chengpee that I wanted to file a complaint. And she initially did not take me seriously. I had to demand that she document the matter. As I found out later on, there were quite a few people who also purchased the Visa Gift Card/Credit Card and were given the same information at the terminal also. I checked my sign and sail card and discovered that the dining seating time was incorrect. I requested 6:15pm, but somehow I got an 8:30pm seating time. We had to wait in line almost 30 mins to get that resolved. Therefore, that was time spent attempting to fix another problem, instead of having fun on the “fun ship”. The cafeteria style service on the Lido deck was not impressive. The meat carver absolutely hated his job. There were no huge ice sculptures with beautiful displays of food surrounding it. There were only two formal restaurants, The Vista Room and The Horizon Room. The stateroom was okay in size, but the furniture was filthy. The air conditioning unit was in the ceiling, which made it very difficult for me to reach. (I am only 5’1.) The actual walls of the cabin were not in the best condition. If maintenance is scheduled, it should be done immediately. There were also times when we did not get a little towel animal left on our beds at the end of the day. (I wanted to take pictures of each one for our photo album and all I got was two pictures.) I also purchased Bar Credit coupons and Soda Coupons online. I felt that it would help me save some money on the sign and sail account, if I purchase the Bar Credit coupons in advance.
I used the coupons everywhere on board. They were great until I attempted to use them at The Trolley Bar. The bartender at the Trolley Bar informed me that I was going to be charged an additional $2.00 for each coupon used to pay for a double shot of Chivas Regal, which only costs $6.25 each shot, then the gratuity tax of $1.88, then tax of .88 cents. The total for the drink everywhere on board was $15.26. My coupons were worth approximately $5.25 each. I gave three coupons for each double shot drink of Chivas Regal, which was $15.75. There’s a difference of approximately .50 cents that I never asked for anywhere on board. So, in fact every time that I used the coupons, I spent more on the drink then was necessary and that was okay, but I could not understand why she wanted to charge me an additional $2.00 per coupon. I advised her that no where on board had I had this problem and that the waiter and/or waitress took the coupons and never questioned the matter or attempted to charge me an additional $2.00 a coupon. She then stated that they were wrong. I asked to speak to a supervisor then as well. She called her boss on the phone. She then told me that I was correct, but that she still needed to see my sign and sail card. I asked why. She could not explain why, but she stated that the $2.00 amount was not going to be charged. She did, in fact, charge me the additional $2.00 and then told me to go to the Purser’s Desk to have it removed. I did and while I was there I filed complaint number two regarding that issue at the Purser’s Office. This vacation was the first vacation that my husband and I had ever been on in over 20 years. This was supposed to be our dream vacation and we were so excited. We had never been on a cruise and we had heard that it was the thing to do. I worked countless hours of overtime, evenings, Saturdays and Sundays, sold cakes that I had to bake after a long day at work in the evenings, pulled money from my Credit Union, I even took money from our Piggy Bank for the Cruise. After returning home, I received an e-mail from Vacations To Go, which I don’t understand because I never did business with that website, but thank God that I did! It stated that Carnival, as well as a few other Cruise Lines, were going to reimburse the fuel surcharge that everyone who traveled with them was assessed. I contacted my travel agent and her response was that she called Carnival and was told that I received the amount back as an online credit. My final bill does not reflect that! In the area where it lists on board credit it shows ZERO!
My dream vacation has officially now turned into a nightmare. I did what I needed to do to make this Cruise happen, but I feel that Carnival did not provide the very best of what they had to offer. I can understand that sometimes things don’t go as planned, but this vacation meant the world to me and my husband. Enclosed you will find my supporting documentation of most of the bizarre events that have occurred. Please review the enclosed information as soon as possible. I hope to hear from you very soon regarding this matter.
Sincerely,
Disappointed 1st Time Cruiser & Last Time User
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