Katrina--Carnival Cruise -- Bad Service

I'm sitting home depressed !!!

I was planning on going on a cruise this week. Monday were were going to sail out of Galveston on Carnival's Excatasy.

The plans were made over two months ago. Carnival e-mailed and sent us our traveled documents weeks ago. We were so excited about going. It was going to be a new beginning for us. An entire week of fun in the sun, just me and my y/m.

Sunday morning my daughter tells me that she had heard that Carnival was going to be using some of its ships for the people effected by Katrina. I go onto the website and find out that our cruise had been canceled. I called Carnival and all they could say was that yes it was canceled, and that they didnt notify us because it was too many people to notify on such short notice.

They will process a refund of our money in 2-4 weeks.

No I'm sorry.....No bringing in another ship for its customers....FEMA paid them for use of the ship and that's that...No anything for its customers who had taken off of work...No notfication that our cruise was canceled...Nothing for the customers that made vacation plans...Nothing for us with a days notice to make other vacation plans. :mad: Now the ship sits at the dock in Galveston empty because the displaced Katrina survivors do not want to be on the ship. They dont want to be near water..duhh!

Now my y/m is at work and the rest of the year the vacation schedule is booked up.

And I sit here at home........venting...and mad as heck at Carnival !!! :(

it's desperate times, gal.
at least they're doing SOMETHING. not just sitting back raking in money, ya know?

be happy you have what you have and you know where your loved ones are. try not to lament over losing the cruise. remember, thousands have nothing.

nothing.

i know it's frustrating, i do, but there's a bigger picture here. it's ok to be angry, not going to say it isn't.

((((hugs))))

Trace

There's always Cleveland!! :eek: :p :D

it's desperate times, gal.
at least they're doing SOMETHING. not just sitting back raking in money, ya know?

Trace
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They did do something.......they racked in the money from FEMA.

With no regards to their other paying customers.

Miss b,

I'm sorry your vacation won't be going as planned..that really sucks. Carnival should have done more to notify you all of the cancellation.

I have to agree with Trace on this though...times are desperate and with a situation like this where it's the SURVIVAL of people vs. the VACATION/ENTERTAINMENT of people...well, survival MUST come first. I know it doesn't change your situation but just try to be glad that you're not one of the people who WILL be on the cruise next week...

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You're right Amina....

I realize people are going through tough times there. My y/m's entire family is from New Orleans. They're lucky they all got out and have been accounted for. It was painful for me to see him watching his hometown be destroyed. His parents home damaged, grandparents home totally destroyed, many of his childhood memories are no more. That was one of the reasons why this trip meant so much to us. We both needed to get a way to re-connect.

My issues are with the way Carnival handled the situation.

They didnt notify any customers yet they have our email and phone numbers. Too many of us to notify on such short notice.

They didnt provide another ship for us.

We couldnt even make other vacation plans on such short notice.

They're keeping our money for 2-4 weeks.

And everyone I spoke with there had an "oh well" attitude.

Guess I just expected more from them.......but I guess when FEMA gives you a big check customers are the last thing that you're thinking about.

That really does suck. The least they could have done was to e-mail you to let you know. What exactly are they going to be using the ship for??

I can see being understanding in a time of crisis IF the ships were actually being used.

FEMA is so stupid. They order the cruise ships without checking to see if anyone would actually go there. The victims are settled and want to stay in one place so loved ones can find them. DUH. I coulda told you that. What a waste of FEMA funds.

I can see how they thought it'd be cool and a nice gesture to the refugees to try and make up for screwing up in the first place by giving them some "luxury." But this is just another example of the left hand not talking to the right in this rescue operation.

I'd be pissed too, Miss B.

That really does suck. The least they could have done was to e-mail you to let you know. What exactly are they going to be using the ship for??

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The ships are being rented by FEMA to house some of the people that lost their homes in Katrina. The ships will be docked in Galveston, and some of the people that are at the Astrodome in Houston were to be taken there to live.

However, since these people just went through hell dealing with water, they are reluctant to stay on the ships. So as of today, they are sitting there empty.

Some have also made comments that they feel that they wont be able to locate missing loved ones if they are living on the cruise ship.

IAlso, I doubt any money FEMA might giving them is larger than a cruise filled with paying customers. It is possible that helping the people in this disaster is more of a priority right now as far as the actual man power they have...than dealing with unhappy customers. I'd like to think that this is more about an emergency situation than it is about them blowing you off for more money...

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I hope you're right, but when I spoke with a supervisor at Carnival, she was matter of fact that FEMA had rented the ships for several months and that nothing would be done for paying customers.......so I got the feeling that FEMA was paying a little more than a ship filled with customers. She didnt say it, but it was just the way that she sounded. .....We got money from FEMA....the heck with yall.

I could be wrong on the details, but I heard that when something like this happens, the government (local, state, and feds) have the ability to commondere(sp?) whatever they want/need. If they want some of carnival's ships, I'm thinking it wasn't much of an option for carnival to say no and considered themselves lucky to get reimbursed. I think they are supplying a total of 3-4 ships to the disaster, so they may not have had any ships left in this area to send as a replacement.

Still doesn't excuse the lack of customer service or attitude. Hope ya'll can find something else to plan and look forward to.

I can see being understanding in a time of crisis IF the ships were actually being used.

FEMA is so stupid. They order the cruise ships without checking to see if anyone would actually go there. The victims are settled and want to stay in one place so loved ones can find them. DUH. I coulda told you that. What a waste of FEMA funds.

I can see how they thought it'd be cool and a nice gesture to the refugees to try and make up for screwing up in the first place by giving them some "luxury." But this is just another example of the left hand not talking to the right in this rescue operation.

I'd be pissed too, Miss B.

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They probably did think it would be a nice gesture. The people that I know who have been effected by Katrina are all looking to get on with life. Get jobs and get homes and back to normal.

My y/m's granny who just left our house last nite told me that she wouldnt dare go on a cruise ship. Her house just got drowned in water.......being near water is not what she's looking for right now.....She's a fisty old woman :)

No word from Carnival regarding our refund, so I called them. They hadnt even sent our refund to the processing center. I get mad and speak with a supervisor. She apologizes and says no refund has been sent yet. She tells me they have a cruise leaving next Saturday, going to Cozumel, and it's less than what we orginally paid. She can book us on that one.

I call my man at work. He doubts if he can get off work because the rest of the year is already booked. One of his co-workers knows about the canceled cruise situation and agreed to let him have his week off work.

So guess what....we're going on the cruise. It leaves next Saturday.

I'm still not happy with the way that Carnival handled the whole situation, but at least we're going on vacation.

I so need to get away !!!!!!!!!

Yippieeeeeeeee :D

YAY!

I'd say, pick up something nice for that co-worker while y'all are on vacation. ;) How very, very generous of him/her to give up their week to make sure y'all get yours.

HAVE A GREAT TRIP!!
~phos

I'd say, pick up something nice for that co-worker while y'all are on vacation. How very, very generous of him/her to give up their week to make sure y'all get yours

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It was nice of him to give up his week. We're having this him and his family over for back yard bar-b-que this weekend. I'm so glad that he's coming because he'll get to meet my man's family members that were mis-placed due to the hurricane as well.

Good thought on getting him something while on vacation too. He'll be added to my shopping list. :)

Miss B, I'd be pissed too!! Trust me, when I first heard about this Carnvial thing, the first thing I did was check to me make sure my ship was not one of them (thankfully it is not). I hear the ships they planned to use were older ships. The ships are nothing compared to the newer ships, so Carnival probably didn't care if the evacuees trashed it a bit, FEMA would have to foot the bill anyway.

I think it is a lousy thing to do to the people who booked the cruise. I understand some were supposed to sail out of LA and now they can't, but they could have re-routed them or something. Of course I feel bad for the people in LA, but what happens when there is a tragedy in one place, people seem to forget about the hell people all over the country and world live in everyday. Say you have had a lousy life, struggled day in and days out and saved up about 10 years to take this one vacation, your first real vacation ever and then it was cancelled. Wouldn't you be a tad bit bitter?! Miss B I don't blame you at all, if they took my boat and gave me trouble with a real fund I'd be the biggest ***** in the world leading a complaint against the company.

Miss B, I'd be pissed too!! Trust me, when I first heard about this Carnvial thing, the first thing I did was check to me make sure my ship was not one of them (thankfully it is not). I hear the ships they planned to use were older ships. The ships are nothing compared to the newer ships, so Carnival probably didn't care if the evacuees trashed it a bit, FEMA would have to foot the bill anyway.

I think it is a lousy thing to do to the people who booked the cruise. I understand some were supposed to sail out of LA and now they can't, but they could have re-routed them or something. Of course I feel bad for the people in LA, but what happens when there is a tragedy in one place, people seem to forget about the hell people all over the country and world live in everyday. Say you have had a lousy life, struggled day in and days out and saved up about 10 years to take this one vacation, your first real vacation ever and then it was cancelled. Wouldn't you be a tad bit bitter?! Miss B I don't blame you at all, if they took my boat and gave me trouble with a real fund I'd be the biggest ***** in the world leading a complaint against the company.
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I was pissed. I think the thing that got me the most was the lack of caring for the paying passengers. They didnt notify us. Our cruise leaves out of Galveston, so I didnt have any clue that it was going to be effected by Katrina and for them not to notify us was just crazy to me.

But anyway, we're booked for next weekend. I hope nothing else goes wrong :)

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I was pissed. I think the thing that got me the most was the lack of caring for the paying passengers. They didnt notify us. Our cruise leaves out of Galveston, so I didnt have any clue that it was going to be effected by Katrina and for them not to notify us was just crazy to me.

But anyway, we're booked for next weekend. I hope nothing else goes wrong :)

Yeah, that was really ballsy of them not to notify people. I heard it on the news, I had no clue people hadn't been personally told. What ship did they put you on now? What port are you leaving from/going to? Definately would love to hear a review when you get back.

I am going on the Triumph in Jan. Leaving from Miami and going to Cozemel, Ochos Rios and Grand Cayman. It's a week long, I am looking foward to it. I think we have a catagory 8A cabin. It's not a suite, but it does have the private balcony.

have you ever cruised with them before? I have never been on any cruise before, but my boyfriend has done carnival 3 times and loved it. That is why I was suprised by their recent behavior, very nice to want to help the victims, very tacky to not first notify and refund or compensate the paying customers.

Carnival has EXCELLENT and I do mean EXCELLENT customer service. My parents have taken like 4 cruises on carnival and 3 on Royal Caribbean...both lines have gone above and beyond the call of duty many times...

And in fact, this last one I went on with Royal...they upgraded our room. We went from a regular room to like a mini grand suite...

And, Carnival does whatever they can to accomidate the changes during hurricane season. On thier website, it talks about how the Conquest is now sailing from Galvestone...

And in the notice, they mention:

Carnival will provide guests that sail and that are fully paid and/or deposited as of September 1, 2005, with a $50 per person credit to their onboard Sail & Sign charge account.

If you purchased air transportation from Carnival, our air/sea department will change your flights to arrive and depart from Houston. They will contact you with the new flight information.

All of this stuff happened in such one quick motion, it would of been nearly impossible for things to get organized and ready to go in such a short amount to time, to make sure everyone is refunded or not...

And believe me, I know what lack of vacations can do, I really do....

But, to say that they provide bad service in this instance, is unfair against them.

Carnival has EXCELLENT and I do mean EXCELLENT customer service. My parents have taken like 4 cruises on carnival and 3 on Royal Caribbean...both lines have gone above and beyond the call of duty many times...

And in fact, this last one I went on with Royal...they upgraded our room. We went from a regular room to like a mini grand suite...

And, Carnival does whatever they can to accomidate the changes during hurricane season. On thier website, it talks about how the Conquest is now sailing from Galvestone...

And in the notice, they mention:

Carnival will provide guests that sail and that are fully paid and/or deposited as of September 1, 2005, with a $50 per person credit to their onboard Sail & Sign charge account.

If you purchased air transportation from Carnival, our air/sea department will change your flights to arrive and depart from Houston. They will contact you with the new flight information.

All of this stuff happened in such one quick motion, it would of been nearly impossible for things to get organized and ready to go in such a short amount to time, to make sure everyone is refunded or not...

And believe me, I know what lack of vacations can do, I really do....

But, to say that they provide bad service in this instance, is unfair against them.


There were 2 Ships that got cancelled. One entire ship of people was just moved to a different boat, one wasn't. She seemed to be on the one that wasn't. Them posting a note doesn't make up for the fact of the grief she and probably others were given.

I have heard the same as you from my boyfriend and his family that Carnival has been good to them ( I am still taking my vacation with them ) but Miss B. does have a right to complain or call them out. She is the one going through it, if she feels the cutomer service was not up to par in this particular instance, I think that is valid claim. It doesn't take away from their past good service or potential to provide more good service in the future. If people just watching the news found out my cruise was cancelled and I was going on the cruise and was not notified, I would call that a reason to complain. Just my 10 cents.

I have sailed on Carnival 3 times in the past. This was going to be my 4th cruise, so I am very much familar with Carnival cruise lines. However, this was my y/m's first cruise. Our original cruise was to leave out of Galveston on the Excasty. This ship was taken out of service for FEMA. I think a total of 3 ships were taken out of service. I wasnt notified by Carnival, by phone or email. And yes they have both ways to contact me.
I've worked in Customer Service Management for many years.......so I know good and bad customer service when I get it. What I got from them was that they had too many people to notify and so they didnt even try. But yet every week they can send me an advertisement about a cruise sell by email......come on thats not good customer service.

I was told my refund would be sent in two - four weeks. They were fully paid months ago. They charged my credit card in one day. Why not refund my money so I could use it for other vacation plan in one day........thats not good customer service.

When I spoke to them they were "your cruise was cancelled, oh well attitude"...thats not good customer service.

They did not bring another ship in so we could sail........thats not good customer service.

They are now giving you 50.00 towards the use of another cruise...thats ok customer service..if you plan on using them again.

Past experiences with them have been great. No problems. But this customer service experience left a lot to be desired !!!!!!!!

In your Eyes....

This ship is the Elation. It will leave out of Galveston on the 24th. Its going to Cozumel and Playa de Carmen.

We dont have a room assigned yet, as we just got booked it.

I've been to Cozumel and Cancun before on Carnival. The room assignments are not that important to me, as I normally dont spend a whole lot of time in them. I tend to spend a lot of time on the ship in activities.

The off ship activites are good too. I always pick something that gives me shopping time and water time :)

They have great food and the service is wonderful. Even the midnite buffet is great.

I took both of by daughters a few years ago and they had a wonderful time. They had kid activities and my daughters loved that they didnt have to spend the whole cruise with me. :)

In the past I've had nothing but good service with Carnival. It was just this one situation where I think they should have done more for the passengers than they did.

I hope you have a great time on your cruise. My y/m is a first time cruiser and he's really excited about going.

In your Eyes....

This ship is the Elation. It will leave out of Galveston on the 24th. Its going to Cozumel and Playa de Carmen.

We dont have a room assigned yet, as we just got booked it.

I've been to Cozumel and Cancun before on Carnival. The room assignments are not that important to me, as I normally dont spend a whole lot of time in them. I tend to spend a lot of time on the ship in activities.

The off ship activites are good too. I always pick something that gives me shopping time and water time :)

They have great food and the service is wonderful. Even the midnite buffet is great.

I took both of by daughters a few years ago and they had a wonderful time. They had kid activities and my daughters loved that they didnt have to spend the whole cruise with me. :)

In the past I've had nothing but good service with Carnival. It was just this one situation where I think they should have done more for the passengers than they did.

I hope you have a great time on your cruise. My y/m is a first time cruiser and he's really excited about going.

Me and your Y/M have something in common then b/c I am excited as hell!! I think about it all the time even though it's not until January. Hope the trip goes well despite the changes.

Me and your Y/M have something in common then b/c I am excited as hell!! I think about it all the time even though it's not until January. Hope the trip goes well despite the changes.

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I'm excited too. Even though this is not my first cruise, we both really need to get away and have some us time. This has been a very stressful time for him with his family dealing with the hurricane and work issues as well.

So we're both ready for some fun in the sun .......... :)

I got us unpacked now I just have to get us packed again :D

January will be here in no time ....lol.

At this point I dont know if I should laugh or cry. It looks like the cruise that we were going on this Saturday will be cancelled due to hurricane Rita....

The first cruise was cancelled due to Katrina....
My y/m's family was uprooted because of Katrina....
Someone gave up their vacation week so we could go on this cruise Saturday..
Now Rita's coming and looks like my family members will be uprooted....

I called Carnival and they're saying standby.....but it looks like it will be cancelled.

Sometimes life does not go as you hope it will :(

Actually this has been a LIFE LONG LESSON for me to learn. The only thing that helps me not get bitter or too disappointed is a gratitude list.
I am alive
I have food to eat
I have a roof over my head
My family is alive and ok.
I am not living in fear tonight that my home might not be here tomorrow.
My 17 year old cat looks beautiful...
My grandson's band won the competition.
My x and I are close.
There is more... but you get the idea.

What if it looked like the huricanne was going to miss Galveston and your cruise was carried on as scheduled. Then you end up in the middle of it and could lose your life. Would that be less unfair? It could be that life is being VERY generous to you right now. It is all how you look at it.

I am glad that we had plenty of notice and you are not going to be missing in the Gulf of Mexico. :)

I'm sitting home depressed !!!

I was planning on going on a cruise this week. Monday were were going to sail out of Galveston on Carnival's Excatasy.

The plans were made over two months ago. Carnival e-mailed and sent us our traveled documents weeks ago. We were so excited about going. It was going to be a new beginning for us. An entire week of fun in the sun, just me and my y/m.

Sunday morning my daughter tells me that she had heard that Carnival was going to be using some of its ships for the people effected by Katrina. I go onto the website and find out that our cruise had been canceled. I called Carnival and all they could say was that yes it was canceled, and that they didnt notify us because it was too many people to notify on such short notice.

They will process a refund of our money in 2-4 weeks.

No I'm sorry.....No bringing in another ship for its customers....FEMA paid them for use of the ship and that's that...No anything for its customers who had taken off of work...No notfication that our cruise was canceled...Nothing for the customers that made vacation plans...Nothing for us with a days notice to make other vacation plans. :mad: Now the ship sits at the dock in Galveston empty because the displaced Katrina survivors do not want to be on the ship. They dont want to be near water..duhh!

Now my y/m is at work and the rest of the year the vacation schedule is booked up.

And I sit here at home........venting...and mad as heck at Carnival !!! :(


You do know there is another hurricane, right? :confused:

You know... You could look at it this way.

Maybe you're not meant to go on a cruise. YOU want it and your YM wants it, but mother nature doesn't want you out there. :eek: *shrug* Maybe, just maybe, there is a reallllllly good reason for that. One you just can't fathom yet.

~phos

I do appreciate all of the things that I have in life. I have been blessed and I'm thankful each day.

But sometimes when you do all the right things, treat people nicely, help others, donate to those with less, share your home with those that dont have one, etc..
You still get the short end of the stick when it comes to doing something nice for yourself. Why is that ?

I'm laughing......because if I dont laugh I really will cry. :(

Like you said Fos.....maybe we're not meant to go on a cruise. I might just get a row-boat and get out there anyway :)

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Charlotte.......yes I know there is another hurricane. My brother & sister and their families are on their way to my house right now from Houston. And my y/m's grandmother is still living with us from Katrina.......So yes I know about the hurricane's.

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Amina....bad luck is an understatement :)

I do appreciate all of the things that I have in life. I have been blessed and I'm thankful each day.

But sometimes when you do all the right things, treat people nicely, help others, donate to those with less, share your home with those that dont have one, etc..
You still get the short end of the stick when it comes to doing something nice for yourself. Why is that ?

I'm laughing......because if I dont laugh I really will cry. :(

Like you said Fos.....maybe we're not meant to go on a cruise. I might just get a row-boat and get out there anyway :)

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Charlotte.......yes I know there is another hurricane. My brother & sister and their families are on their way to my house right now from Houston. And my y/m's grandmother is still living with us from Katrina.......So yes I know about the hurricane's.

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Amina....bad luck is an understatement :)


Seriously, with so many more important things going on maybe you can take a step back and look at the bigger picture. The Carnival company is not out to get you...they are just suffering from the same cause and effect as everybody else in that area right now.

I understand it's a disappointment to miss the vacation but it's not the end of the world. You may or may not get your cruise or money back. That's life. Life isn't always fair. Enjoy your visit with your family and be happy that you're not off on a cruise to your death.