Back from Dream 11/12 Western. Last Carnival Cruise

[brianroberts2526]

I always have fun on cruises. And this was no exception. There's always a way to have fun.

But I have, 9 cruises, never found myself complaining so much. And I rarely complain. I am usually, a roll with the punches type.

This cruise, for some reason, was just full of things that got on my nerves.

 

Think Ill play it safe and not book with Carnival...

[pe4all]

This cruise, for some reason, was just full of things that got on my nerves.

Interested in what bothered you. Food, service, entertainment, something else?

[Guest LoveMyBoxer]

I always have fun on cruises. And this was no exception. There's always a way to have fun.

But I have, 9 cruises, never found myself complaining so much. And I rarely complain. I am usually, a roll with the punches type.

This cruise, for some reason, was just full of things that got on my nerves.

 

Think Ill play it safe and not book with Carnival...

 

Dream is probably one of the worst ships we've been on. However, it did not stop us from sailing Carnival again, just chose a better class of ship - Spirit Class. As with all cruise lines, each ship is a different experience.

[farler05]

I'm curious what your exact complaints were.

[framerman]

I always have fun on cruises. And this was no exception. There's always a way to have fun.

But I have, 9 cruises, never found myself complaining so much. And I rarely complain. I am usually, a roll with the punches type.

This cruise, for some reason, was just full of things that got on my nerves.

 

Think Ill play it safe and not book with Carnival...

Would love to know some of the specifics..................

[brianroberts2526]

A lot of little things really. Don't want to come off nitpicky; but there are choices out there; and the little things are what set lines apart.

I guess I can post some as they return to my mind. Heres one....

 

Bon Voyage. I ordered 2 bottles of liquor to be put in our room. A bottle of amaretto and a bottle of gin.

When we get to the room there was a bottle of Jim Beam.

No biggie. Mistakes happen.

 

So I want to call guest services.

Pick up phone, press guest services button.

 

Option 1 is repairmen or something.

Option 2 is onboard services.

 

Press 2.

 

"Youve pressed incorrect button."

 

again

 

"youve pressed incorrect button"

 

So, I trek to the desk to get it sorted out there.

I'm told, to make sure I don't drink the Jim Beam.

Also told, though everything says otherwise, to reach them by dialing 7777.

(Throughout the week, more often than not, 7777 just rang indefinitely)

This was Saturday.

Rinse and repeat for Sunday. "Don't drink the Jim Beam".

No, not again on Monday. "Don't drink the Jim Beam."

Tuesday, yes same thing.

 

Finally Tuesday night in the dining room, someone comes to the table and says to go to our room after dinner and call room service and theyll switch it out, but I have to be in the room. Oh, and "Dont drink the Jim Beam."

 

SO we go and call room service, and the guy comes. Emptyhanded. Takes the Jim Beam and says he will return with the gin. But we have to be there.

 

We finally got it all sorted out, which in the end is fine....

 

But, instead of showing concern that they aren't getting their job done correctly, they repeatedly wanted to make sure I didn't drink their bottle of liquor they want to re-sell.

Which I wasn't ever planning on, since I don't like Jim Beam. Hence not ordering it in the first place...

[brianroberts2526]

Ok, another complaint....

 

It's been almost 4 years since Ive done Carnival; but in all of my past 8 cruises I have never come across this.

 

One thing that I enjoy doing on my cruises; is after a long day by the pool to go back to my comfy bed and watch a movie. Every cruise, including Carnival, always had many good and newer movies on it's tv's.

 

This cruise not only had a poor selection, moreso than usual, of tv channels; but there were basically no movies. That is, unless you want to order one.

 

They had "complimentary channels" 1 and 2 and a kids movie channel.

90% of the time those channels had ads for movies you could buy.

 

And at the most random occasions, theyd actually show a movie.

 

Horton Heard a Who anyone??

I've seen that once. And it was on a cruise 2 years ago.

[brianroberts2526]

And speaking of TV.

 

I noticed when I got to the room, there was no sports channel.

Every cruise Ive been on had at least one sports channel.

 

Thought maybe it was some sort of thing where Carnivals satellite provider couldnt work a deal or something.

 

Then I pass the casino bar that has about 25 TV's.

All of them have sports channels on...

 

The little things

[Kryssa]

Wow if the worst part of our cruise is a Bon Voyage mix up (we have 2 bottles of vodka ordered) and terrible TV in the cabin, that sounds fine to me.

 

We sailed Carnival this time for the price, so I'm not going in expecting a perfect vacation :)

[brianroberts2526]

Well, this is our first cruise since having our baby. So we were really looking forward to some solid nights of sleep.

 

The 2 rooms next to us were occupied, each with 4; no other way to describe than frat boy Dbags.

 

The 1st night, 2:30am, one of them was banging on our door. Mistaking it for their room.

 

The 3rd night, at 3:30am, one of them brought home a girl, im sure a very nice girl, to the room.

 

They commenced to have the loudest sex of the decade.

After about 15 minutes, someone knocked on their door to ask them to keep it down.

The fine young man replied in a loud voice for the person at the door to go F themselves and mind their own GD business.

 

Back to the loud sex for 45 more minutes.

 

Then it stops.

Quiet?

No, what sounds like the girl falling to the floor then making it to the bathroom to yak a few times.

She's as subtle with her vomiting as with her love making.

 

Then he says "maybe ill see you tomorrow", and shes off.

 

Quiet now?

 

Nope, now the guys friends immediately come over and they talk in the loudest possible voices to give a play-by-play of all that went on.

 

Now, what would you have done?

Piss off 8 guys who obviously don't give a flip about other peoples vacations?

Maybe, you say, call guest services.

Tried that.

After re-figuring out at 4:00am that dialing guest services and pressing '2', like it says; isn't the way to reach guest services. I'd dial 7777. Ring, ring, ring.

 

They woke us up 3 more times that week

[quickrate]

I'm sorry you had such a bad cruise but bad neighbors can happen on any cruise line. How was the shp itself, the food, the service? These are the things a cruise line can control, not obnoxious neighbors.

Pat

[riclop]

Well, this is our first cruise since having our baby. So we were really looking forward to some solid nights of sleep.

 

The 2 rooms next to us were occupied, each with 4; no other way to describe than frat boy Dbags.

 

The 1st night, 2:30am, one of them was banging on our door. Mistaking it for their room.

 

The 3rd night, at 3:30am, one of them brought home a girl, im sure a very nice girl, to the room.

 

They commenced to have the loudest sex of the decade.

After about 15 minutes, someone knocked on their door to ask them to keep it down.

The fine young man replied in a loud voice for the person at the door to go F themselves and mind their own GD business.

 

Back to the loud sex for 45 more minutes.

 

Then it stops.

Quiet?

No, what sounds like the girl falling to the floor then making it to the bathroom to yak a few times.

She's as subtle with her vomiting as with her love making.

 

Then he says "maybe ill see you tomorrow", and shes off.

 

Quiet now?

 

Nope, now the guys friends immediately come over and they talk in the loudest possible voices to give a play-by-play of all that went on.

 

Now, what would you have done?

Piss off 8 guys who obviously don't give a flip about other peoples vacations?

Maybe, you say, call guest services.

Tried that.

After re-figuring out at 4:00am that dialing guest services and pressing '2', like it says; isn't the way to reach guest services. I'd dial 7777. Ring, ring, ring.

 

They woke us up 3 more times that week

The guy is a stud , he lasted over an hour and a half.

[vmom]

I'm sorry you had such a bad cruise but bad neighbors can happen on any cruise line. How was the shp itself, the food, the service? These are the things a cruise line can control, not obnoxious neighbors.

Pat

 

Maybe-maybe not. I think some ships have a bit better insulation between cabins than others and some cruise staff are more willing to take better control of situations like this. I would have called the front desk and see what they would be willing to do.

 

As far as bad neighbors on any ship, yes that's true but lets face it the type of issues with neighbors that the OP had would be less likely to happen on some cruise lines than others, Holland America as an example.

 

To the OP, I would also have a miserable time if I had to put up with the nonsense and rudeness you had to put up with. So sorry your cruise was not up to standards.

[debster11]

I'm sorry your trip didn't go well. I can relate. For couples cruise, we usually do RCL or Costa. Costa has beautiful ships and usually there are not many kids.

 

No matter what line you choose, I hope your next cruise is better.

[sorvillo]

Glad you posted;)

[cool gould]

The guy is a stud , he lasted over an hour and a half.

No doubt!

[unc1acc]

It's interesting that I was on the exact same cruise and my thread was completely different. Not sure how much was really Carnival's fault, minus the Bon Voyage mixup. I had a great time, great, food, great people, great ship. :D

 

I would definitely sail her again.

[brilliantseas]

Ok, another complaint....

 

It's been almost 4 years since Ive done Carnival; but in all of my past 8 cruises I have never come across this.

 

One thing that I enjoy doing on my cruises; is after a long day by the pool to go back to my comfy bed and watch a movie. Every cruise, including Carnival, always had many good and newer movies on it's tv's.

 

This cruise not only had a poor selection, moreso than usual, of tv channels; but there were basically no movies. That is, unless you want to order one.

 

They had "complimentary channels" 1 and 2 and a kids movie channel.

90% of the time those channels had ads for movies you could buy.

 

And at the most random occasions, theyd actually show a movie.

 

Horton Heard a Who anyone??

I've seen that once. And it was on a cruise 2 years ago.

 

Movies on all Carnival ships replay every three hours. After the credits roll, they show Carnival Films (the advertising for Carnival cruises and onboard services) with a scrolling message saying that movies start at 12, 3, 6 and 9, am and pm. The movie selection changes throughout the cruise and is listed daily in the Fun Times.

 

I understand the frustration with the whole no sports channels in the rooms issue when the ship clearly receives sports via satellite, and I wish I knew the reason why they don't show it in the rooms as well. My guess is that the licensing fees are ridiculously expensive to show ESPN in every rooms. If you ever see a breakdown of what the cable companies pay individual networks for the right to broadcast their content, the ESPN family of channels is by far the most expensive to carry. In fact, the only channels that have higher fees are some of the premium movie channels (HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, Starz). Public broadcast rates for sports bars/restaurants are based on maximum seating capacity, and run in the thousands of dollars for a season of a single sports. Pay per view broadcasts of boxing, UFC, etc. run $700-2,500 per fight for a typical size sports bar or chain restaurant.

 

Public broadcast rights for a newer movie (released on DVD in the past few years) at a small university that I was affiliated with ran anywhere from $300 to $500 for a single showing of a single movie.

 

Based on what the cable companies pay to broadcast ESPN, I can almost guarantee that licensing fees paid to the networks carried onboard Carnival ships are based on either berths or cabin count, and something like an ESPN package for a 4,000 passenger ship could run in the tens of thousands per month. Multiply that across all of Carnival Corp & plc ships and you could be looking at millions of dollars a month in licensing fees, whereas by only showing it in the sports bar, they probably are able to pay based on seating capacity of the bar (easily justified based on the added revenue by increased sales during games) similar to the way restaurants and bars pay for broadcast rights. While it is a minor disappointment not to be able to watch live sports in your cabin, it makes good business sense to only offer it in the sports bars, and it still keeps the die-hard fans happy.

[brianroberts2526]

For the posts saying I didn't have a good time, I did have a good time.

I always do.

But I do on every line I sail.

These are little things that add up, and when picking a line to go with; if I am going to have fun on them all; the little things differentiate between them.

[steph7021]

For the posts saying I didn't have a good time, I did have a good time.

I always do.

But I do on every line I sail.

These are little things that add up, and when picking a line to go with; if I am going to have fun on them all; the little things differentiate between them.

 

Sounds reasonable to me. Of course, others have different experiences which lead them to staying with Carnival. I am EXHAUSTED with people on these boards constantly contradicting folks when they talk about their experiences!!! Isn't that why we all post? That Bon Voyage thing would have irritated me to the core!! (although I laughed all the way through your post as I read it!!)

 

I have only been on 3 cruises and all with different lines.....Magic in March. Complaints and fun on all. If I had been on more cruises I am sure it would start to become obvious which cruise line would be the best match for me as well. I like everyone to share (without having to justify) their experiences so that it can help me make a decision (and entertain me as well)

 

I am hoping for a good experience on Carnival this time around. First time around was pretty good---however, we got locked in our room!! Guest services was totally rude and kept implying that we were drunk until they finally came and had to replace our door!! My experience on all 3 cruises that i have been on is that guest services was bad. So, maybe they just all suck....who knows.

 

Seriously, DON'T drink the Beam:D

[shootr]

I'm sorry you had a bad time, but jeez, the "amorous couple" story had me LMAO!!!

[vermonter16]

Movies on all Carnival ships replay every three hours. After the credits roll, they show Carnival Films (the advertising for Carnival cruises and onboard services) with a scrolling message saying that movies start at 12, 3, 6 and 9, am and pm. The movie selection changes throughout the cruise and is listed daily in the Fun Times.

 

I'll have to disagree because the majority of the time, there were no movies on those channels for us either and with no scrolling times. It's weird because I know that that is usually the case so maybe they were having trouble with different tv's which really doesn't make any sense but not sure how else to explain it. I saw a movie playing a couple of times and that was the last two days....and I checked plenty often.

[Isa65]

FWIW, I totally understand your feelings. I would have been extremely upset having neighbors like that (especially after planning, saving and anticipating so much for my cruise).

 

If you choose another cruiseline with less young people, you're not likely to run into this problem again. But then again, you'd miss out on all the Carnival fun....

 

Have a great next cruise with whichever line you go!

[brianroberts2526]

Ya, they may have played more movies than I complained about; but it definitely was not every 3 hours.

 

Like I said, one thing I enjoy is relaxing in the room watching the tv.

 

With the sparse movies and no sports, this was what I watched in bed during that week:

 

-Joy Behar interviewing Diane Keaton for an hour.

-The Flinstones movie (circa 1994)

-commercials

 

 

 

------

 

Also, I was let down by the Seaside Theater.

In comparing it to the poolside MUTS on the Emerald Princess, it doesnt even stand a chance.

 

On the Dreams screen, I couldn't even tell if there was surround sound.

Oh, also on the Emerald, they would show movies throughout the day.

 

The screen on the Dreams seaside theater would play a movie at night.

They did play a Randy Travis concert one morning??

But 75% of the time the screen had basically a screensaver on it. That I dont get

[brianroberts2526]

FWIW, I totally understand your feelings. I would have been extremely upset having neighbors like that (especially after planning, saving and anticipating so much for my cruise).

 

If you choose another cruiseline with less young people, you're not likely to run into this problem again. But then again, you'd miss out on all the Carnival fun....

 

Have a great next cruise with whichever line you go!

 

 

Well that's the thing, other posts saying you can come across that kind of experience on any ship.

To an extent that's true.

But, I think, with Carnivals clientele; the chances are much, much higher