Conquest Review May 5-12 2013

[Cruise To Relax]

I would like to say this was a great cruise and everything was wonderful. But alas, it was not. I expect I will get “flamed” by the Carnival Cheerleaders but I really do not care. What I have written below is factual – all this happened to us. We have been on 10+ cruises, and if you add up all the problems on those cruises, the total would not even come close to the problems we had on this cruise. I am not sure where to start so will start at the beginning (obvious huh?).

 

Embarkation: No major problems. We were in one of the Captains Suites on deck 9 and also purchased Faster to the Fun (FTTF). I renamed that later but will wait to tell it. Of course, we did have a minor problem during embarkation – could not find our room keys. If you have FTTF and are in a suite, they don’t always pick that up so your sign and sail cards are someplace else. After a short wait, we were “allowed” to move on and sit down (if we could find a chair). Now I am disabled but I am fortunate in that I can walk without a cane now even thought I have an AFO (ankle foot orthotic). Most of the chairs in the priority waiting area were full or had folks personal items on them (of course, they will not move them for you to sit down). Then I saw the handicapped chairs and nobody was sitting there. But the catch – you have to also look disabled to sit there. Even though I told the lady I was disabled, she sent me down to the end of the waiting area where we were able to find 2 chairs – but not together. So not a real good start but nothing major. We got on, got to our room, room was ready, and luggage came really quickly. We had our obligatory Guy’s burgers and they were awesome.

 

First Night: Room attendants met us and seemed very nice. We were not very hungry that first night so we ate something quickly on the buffet and then went back to the room. The attendants came by but would not come in since we were in the room. We asked them to come in (as we have done on every other cruise) but they said no, gave us 2 pieces of chocolate, and left without servicing the room. We thought that unusual but did not think any more about it. Then we had the muster. Well, I felt even less safe after that mess. We were assigned to B muster station and were all the way forward on the Port Side. It took forever before they did the briefing and then I could not understand one word. I understand they also took the opportunity to try and convince everyone to buy something but again I could not understand anything. Too loud and too garbled.

 

Second Morning: Enjoying our nice big room. By the way, the Captains Suites were added with 2.0 and are wonderful. Nice balcony, nice view forward, and 2 bathrooms. We put our order for a continental breakfast on the door the evening of the first night and asked for delivery between 8:30 and 9:00 AM. We waited and waited but no delivery. Finally at 9:00 AM I called to cancel the order and they said it was on the way but was late. I agreed and told them to cancel it. Imagine it was still sitting in the kitchen waiting for delivery. So my first Rule (Rule 1), on the first day if you really want something on time and you are not Diamond or Platinum, order it 30 minutes before you really want it. I think if you are Diamond or Platinum, you are priority for room service. So we went to Punchliner Brunch and enjoyed it very much. Then back to the room to sit on the balcony, read, and just enjoy the cruise. Room attendants came by and said to call them when we left so they could clean the room. We told them to come in but they say they could not come in while we were there (Call this Rule 2). We were asked to call them when we left. At about 2:00 PM we left to get a quick snack before our evening meal at the Pointe Steakhouse and called the attendants. It rang and rang and then went to a busy signal. I tried the other phone and got the same thing. We ate something light and came back and I realized I had not seen the life jackets where they belonged. So I started checking every nook and cranny and could not find them. So I called about 3 items – no life jackets, no service, and a mirror problem (will cover that later). The person on the phone thought I was crazy and was not nice about the life jackets. I told him to send someone up and have then show me the life jackets. They also said they would try to send someone to service the room. And there was nothing they could do about the mirror problem.

 

Ok, the mirror problem. In the Captains Suite, they have a nice makeup table area in the bedroom with a nice window above it. There is a mirror but it is one of those lighted magnifying mirrors that is great for up close but well not good for drying your hair. So of course, where was the hair dryer? It was permanently mounted in the drawer at the makeup table. So according to my wife, you need a regular mirror to use your hair dryer to dry and style your hair. I guess this is a problem just in those 2 rooms but Carnival should correct that problem.

 

Back to the life jackets. Someone did show up and guess what – he could not find them either. He looked everywhere and then decided maybe under the bed. If course, just where I would look for them if we had an emergency (tongue in cheek). Well guess what – 4 life jackets. He folded them properly and put them where they belonged and left. Did get someone to service room because our attendant was on rest during the afternoon. But surely things will get better – right? WRONG! We went to the Pointe Steakhouse and it was a bitter disappointment. The steaks were not as good as you can get at most mid-level restaurants like Outback, etc. I got the recommended spiced steak and it was good but very tough even though it was supposed to be done medium rare. So ended the first day and thought the next day had to be better.

 

Third Day: This was Key West day and only one minor problem. We went to Renoir for breakfast and my wife asked for some strawberries as a fruit. She was informed that you had to request fresh strawberries 24 hours in advance but they were able to find some. So Rule 3 – order fresh strawberries 24 hours in advance. Later on this day, we got a call that they had to do maintenance on our room and we had to be gone between 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM. They told us we could not be in the room during that time. We did not understand but figured we had to do it.

 

Fourth Day: Arrive at Freeport. Left room before 9:00 and reported that fact to Guest Relations. They again confirmed it would be done by 1:00 PM. Went ashore, walked around, and the back to the ship for lunch and reading. A few minutes before 1:00 PM, we were back at Guest Relations to verify we could go back to our room. After a few moments and a couple of calls, we were told that we had to stay out until 5:00 PM. Ok, now I have had it. I am working my vacation around what Carnival wants to do and there are only so many places you can go. Plus we had Chefs Table that night at 6:15 PM and really wanted to clean up before we went. After some discussion the Guest Relations Manager came down and we went to her office. She is a very nice person and a true professional and she listened to our list of problems and was somewhat concerned. She did check and she was able to take us back to our room even while they were working on the front door. Seems these rooms that were added in 2.0 have problems and they have to work the schedule to get warranty work done. So back to our room and glad to be there.

 

Went to Chefs Table and it was magnificent. Our cruise sort of started turning around (for the good) at this moment. A great event, great dinner, and a super Chef de Cuisine. Very personable, very open, and really talented.

 

Fifth Day: Nassau. Stayed on the ship, relaxed, room attendants serviced the room while we sat on the deck. Evidently, they got the word. It seems they put us on some priority list with dining and room service so things were done well with no delay. I guess that is normally reserved for Diamond and Platinum member. However, some of these services should be done for everyone – like room service on time. But it was clear to me that Carnival caters to the Diamond and Platinum members. And based on this cruise, you really have to be dedicated and a “hardy” person so survive that many days traveling on Carnival.

 

Sixth Day: At sea and no problems. Again room attendants serviced room while we were there on the balcony.

 

Seventh Day: Same as the sixth day.

 

Debarkation Day: Well no debarkation is fun but Carnival really exceeds in working to make it really bad. Suffice to say, what a mess with no “adult leadership” around to tell folks not to block elevator exits, halls, pathways, etc. It seems like everyone wants to do self assist and those folks block every pathway, elevator exit, stairway, etc. If we had an emergency during debarkation, I really believe a lot of folks would have been hurt.

 

So to sum it up:

Good (my opinion): Punchliner Brunch, Guys Burgers, Renoir Dining Room (breakfast and Dinner), and Fans (nice coffee).

 

Not so good (my opinion): Pointe Steakhouse, breakfast buffet, lack of quiet spots (we had trouble finding any that did not smell of smoke), preference provided to Diamond and Platinum members and everyone else is second or third class (sort of like the old class system on ships).

 

Oh and FTTF is really, in my opinion, Faster to the Farce. But then only my opinion.

 

In conclusion, yes, this was our first and last Carnival Cruise. There were many other things that were minor nits as well as some other positive items so those sort of cancelled out in my mind. You can call me a hater (which I am not), you can call me an elitist (sorry you are wrong there too), or you can say I am totally unfair in reviewing Carnival because after all it is a low budget cruise line (yep you are right – it is low budget, very low budget). So, yes, I will go back to Celebrity, Holland America, Princess (maybe), and perhaps Royal Caribbean or Norwegian. So far none of these have treated us as badly as Carnival.

 

Blast away!!!

[firefly333]

Every once in a while you run into problems. I had a snarky cabin steward, also on conquest (but then I have done conquest a lot) .. just once.. it happens. My sister broke her collar bone the day we boarded, so you would think he could do our cabin earlier, but nope.. he missed 3 nights and one day, so I have had it happen.

 

Last Sept we had cold food every night for dinner.. one time out of over 20 cruises.. wierd, just couldnt get the dinner to us hot. It was every table in our whole large group who had this problem. TA was with us and got us a hot dinner the last night.

 

Ate at the steak house this cruise and the lobster wasnt good here either. Didnt taste like it was cooked enough or mushy to me both in the MDR and steak house just this one cruise.. no others.

 

I think you have to blow it off .. some people who work on ships need to find other jobs and probably do leave when they find they arent suited to the work.

 

I would write to carnival if you are really upset.. but I pretty much just said NEXT and moved on about both of these things.

[laurenfl15]

It sounds like you want to be flamed.

 

It also sounds like carnival is not right for you. Those " problems" you mentioned seemed extremely minor for me. I thought your review sounded like a great vacation. But I'm also a young mom on a budget who is laidback.

 

Sounds like both you and carnival will be better off without any further carnival cruises for you.

[cruiseguy83]

Why the need to keep asking people to "blast/flame" you?

 

It's an opinion and you have a right to post it, just as others have the right to agree or disagree.

 

Glad your taking your business elsewhere. Carnival will clearly never live up to your expectations, nor should they have to spend so much time dealing with you each cruise. No loss, no gain.

[S.C.]

I would like to say this was a great cruise and everything was wonderful. But alas, it was not. I expect I will get “flamed” by the Carnival Cheerleaders but I really do not care. What I have written below is factual – all this happened to us. We have been on 10+ cruises, and if you add up all the problems on those cruises, the total would not even come close to the problems we had on this cruise. I am not sure where to start so will start at the beginning (obvious huh?).

 

Embarkation: No major problems. We were in one of the Captains Suites on deck 9 and also purchased Faster to the Fun (FTTF). I renamed that later but will wait to tell it. Of course, we did have a minor problem during embarkation – could not find our room keys. If you have FTTF and are in a suite, they don’t always pick that up so your sign and sail cards are someplace else. After a short wait, we were “allowed” to move on and sit down (if we could find a chair). Now I am disabled but I am fortunate in that I can walk without a cane now even thought I have an AFO (ankle foot orthotic). Most of the chairs in the priority waiting area were full or had folks personal items on them (of course, they will not move them for you to sit down). Then I saw the handicapped chairs and nobody was sitting there. But the catch – you have to also look disabled to sit there. Even though I told the lady I was disabled, she sent me down to the end of the waiting area where we were able to find 2 chairs – but not together. So not a real good start but nothing major. We got on, got to our room, room was ready, and luggage came really quickly. We had our obligatory Guy’s burgers and they were awesome.

 

First Night: Room attendants met us and seemed very nice. We were not very hungry that first night so we ate something quickly on the buffet and then went back to the room. The attendants came by but would not come in since we were in the room. We asked them to come in (as we have done on every other cruise) but they said no, gave us 2 pieces of chocolate, and left without servicing the room. We thought that unusual but did not think any more about it. Then we had the muster. Well, I felt even less safe after that mess. We were assigned to B muster station and were all the way forward on the Port Side. It took forever before they did the briefing and then I could not understand one word. I understand they also took the opportunity to try and convince everyone to buy something but again I could not understand anything. Too loud and too garbled.

 

Second Morning: Enjoying our nice big room. By the way, the Captains Suites were added with 2.0 and are wonderful. Nice balcony, nice view forward, and 2 bathrooms. We put our order for a continental breakfast on the door the evening of the first night and asked for delivery between 8:30 and 9:00 AM. We waited and waited but no delivery. Finally at 9:00 AM I called to cancel the order and they said it was on the way but was late. I agreed and told them to cancel it. Imagine it was still sitting in the kitchen waiting for delivery. So my first Rule (Rule 1), on the first day if you really want something on time and you are not Diamond or Platinum, order it 30 minutes before you really want it. I think if you are Diamond or Platinum, you are priority for room service. So we went to Punchliner Brunch and enjoyed it very much. Then back to the room to sit on the balcony, read, and just enjoy the cruise. Room attendants came by and said to call them when we left so they could clean the room. We told them to come in but they say they could not come in while we were there (Call this Rule 2). We were asked to call them when we left. At about 2:00 PM we left to get a quick snack before our evening meal at the Pointe Steakhouse and called the attendants. It rang and rang and then went to a busy signal. I tried the other phone and got the same thing. We ate something light and came back and I realized I had not seen the life jackets where they belonged. So I started checking every nook and cranny and could not find them. So I called about 3 items – no life jackets, no service, and a mirror problem (will cover that later). The person on the phone thought I was crazy and was not nice about the life jackets. I told him to send someone up and have then show me the life jackets. They also said they would try to send someone to service the room. And there was nothing they could do about the mirror problem.

 

Ok, the mirror problem. In the Captains Suite, they have a nice makeup table area in the bedroom with a nice window above it. There is a mirror but it is one of those lighted magnifying mirrors that is great for up close but well not good for drying your hair. So of course, where was the hair dryer? It was permanently mounted in the drawer at the makeup table. So according to my wife, you need a regular mirror to use your hair dryer to dry and style your hair. I guess this is a problem just in those 2 rooms but Carnival should correct that problem.

 

Back to the life jackets. Someone did show up and guess what – he could not find them either. He looked everywhere and then decided maybe under the bed. If course, just where I would look for them if we had an emergency (tongue in cheek). Well guess what – 4 life jackets. He folded them properly and put them where they belonged and left. Did get someone to service room because our attendant was on rest during the afternoon. But surely things will get better – right? WRONG! We went to the Pointe Steakhouse and it was a bitter disappointment. The steaks were not as good as you can get at most mid-level restaurants like Outback, etc. I got the recommended spiced steak and it was good but very tough even though it was supposed to be done medium rare. So ended the first day and thought the next day had to be better.

 

Third Day: This was Key West day and only one minor problem. We went to Renoir for breakfast and my wife asked for some strawberries as a fruit. She was informed that you had to request fresh strawberries 24 hours in advance but they were able to find some. So Rule 3 – order fresh strawberries 24 hours in advance. Later on this day, we got a call that they had to do maintenance on our room and we had to be gone between 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM. They told us we could not be in the room during that time. We did not understand but figured we had to do it.

 

Fourth Day: Arrive at Freeport. Left room before 9:00 and reported that fact to Guest Relations. They again confirmed it would be done by 1:00 PM. Went ashore, walked around, and the back to the ship for lunch and reading. A few minutes before 1:00 PM, we were back at Guest Relations to verify we could go back to our room. After a few moments and a couple of calls, we were told that we had to stay out until 5:00 PM. Ok, now I have had it. I am working my vacation around what Carnival wants to do and there are only so many places you can go. Plus we had Chefs Table that night at 6:15 PM and really wanted to clean up before we went. After some discussion the Guest Relations Manager came down and we went to her office. She is a very nice person and a true professional and she listened to our list of problems and was somewhat concerned. She did check and she was able to take us back to our room even while they were working on the front door. Seems these rooms that were added in 2.0 have problems and they have to work the schedule to get warranty work done. So back to our room and glad to be there.

 

Went to Chefs Table and it was magnificent. Our cruise sort of started turning around (for the good) at this moment. A great event, great dinner, and a super Chef de Cuisine. Very personable, very open, and really talented.

 

Fifth Day: Nassau. Stayed on the ship, relaxed, room attendants serviced the room while we sat on the deck. Evidently, they got the word. It seems they put us on some priority list with dining and room service so things were done well with no delay. I guess that is normally reserved for Diamond and Platinum member. However, some of these services should be done for everyone – like room service on time. But it was clear to me that Carnival caters to the Diamond and Platinum members. And based on this cruise, you really have to be dedicated and a “hardy” person so survive that many days traveling on Carnival.

 

Sixth Day: At sea and no problems. Again room attendants serviced room while we were there on the balcony.

 

Seventh Day: Same as the sixth day.

 

Debarkation Day: Well no debarkation is fun but Carnival really exceeds in working to make it really bad. Suffice to say, what a mess with no “adult leadership” around to tell folks not to block elevator exits, halls, pathways, etc. It seems like everyone wants to do self assist and those folks block every pathway, elevator exit, stairway, etc. If we had an emergency during debarkation, I really believe a lot of folks would have been hurt.

 

So to sum it up:

Good (my opinion): Punchliner Brunch, Guys Burgers, Renoir Dining Room (breakfast and Dinner), and Fans (nice coffee).

 

Not so good (my opinion): Pointe Steakhouse, breakfast buffet, lack of quiet spots (we had trouble finding any that did not smell of smoke), preference provided to Diamond and Platinum members and everyone else is second or third class (sort of like the old class system on ships).

 

Oh and FTTF is really, in my opinion, Faster to the Farce. But then only my opinion.

 

In conclusion, yes, this was our first and last Carnival Cruise. There were many other things that were minor nits as well as some other positive items so those sort of cancelled out in my mind. You can call me a hater (which I am not), you can call me an elitist (sorry you are wrong there too), or you can say I am totally unfair in reviewing Carnival because after all it is a low budget cruise line (yep you are right – it is low budget, very low budget). So, yes, I will go back to Celebrity, Holland America, Princess (maybe), and perhaps Royal Caribbean or Norwegian. So far none of these have treated us as badly as Carnival.

 

Blast away!!!

The only thing I see as a real problem was expecting you to stay out of your cabin for that long. To me the rest was minor.

[firemanbobswife]

Sorry you didn't have a good time.

 

If you have cruised other lines, why didn't you think to look under the bed for the life jackets? That's where they are on Celebrity. In a basket, under the bed. So that would have been the first place I looked, but anyways.......

 

No flaming here, just stating (IMHO) the obvious.

[irishnyc]

Sounds like you want to be flamed.

 

What exactly were you expecting from FTTF that you didn't get? There's nothing in the description that calls for "priority" room service. While I do agree you should get it when you ordered it, or a call stating it will be late, I think you have no right over anyone else to get your breakfast sooner.

 

Where did you see P/D being treated differently? They should be. They're above FTTF in the Carnival hierarchy. But, you gave no real examples, so who knows what you're talking about.

 

Life jackets under the bed? Not unusual. I haven't sailed on Carnival yet, but I've seen it on other lines in my own room.

 

Not being "allowed" to sit in the HC area while waiting? Why didn't you just plant your bottom there? What makes someone "look" hc? Your cane wasn't enough? My friend has 2 artificial legs and you cannot tell there is anything different about him when he wears long pants. Had he been told he could not sit there he would have taken one of his legs off for her to see. He's very vocal about not judging anyone's handicap by how they look, and quick to teach a lesson.

 

Glad you were "hardy" enough to survive, because it sure sounds like you suffered. :rolleyes:

[mairead224]

In fairness your review was a balanced review. You gave the good bad and the ugly which is all one can hope for from a review. Please don't let the forth coming comments put you off writing another review and thank you for taking the time. Without all reviews these sites wouldn't be worth a grain of salt.

 

Yes certain aspects of your review had me thinking .... well that wouldn't bother me, oh yes that would bother me or if I was in that situation I would do that differently. This is the idea of reviews.

 

Again thankyou for taking the time to tell us your experience.

 

I for one appreciated it.

[mairead224]

 

Where did you see P/D being treated differently? They should be. They're above FTTF in the Carnival hierarchy.

 

In that respect where would you see someone staying in the captain suite on the hierarchy? Don't know the cost of these for a 7 day trip and just speculating here but if one did several 3 day cruises on a carnival sale price on an interior could they not make platinum for the same price that one would pay for one 7 day cruise in a captains suite? As I said Im just speculating here!

[Tutankhamen]

I had a Ford product. My friend had same vehicle, year and model.

 

Never once did I need anything other then routine service.

 

Friends Ford was in the shop what seemed to be monthly for various issues.

 

Chalk it up as luck of the draw. I could go to every cruise line forum on CC and find the exact same type of a review with the "Never again."

 

Sorry it didn't work out, and I hope you will have a great cruise in the future.

[bobsfamily]

In conclusion, yes, this was our first and last Carnival Cruise.

Blast away!!!

 

Your so FUNNY!!!

 

Have to agree that it be your last CC....

[S.C.]

I had a Ford product. My friend had same vehicle, year and model.

 

Never once did I need anything other then routine service.

 

Friends Ford was in the shop what seemed to be monthly for various issues.

 

Chalk it up as luck of the draw. I could go to every cruise line forum on CC and find the exact same type of a review with the "Never again."

 

Sorry it didn't work out, and I hope you will have a great cruise in the future.

Well said!

[Rudyard]

Sorry the cruise didn't live up to your expectations. You may get flamed, but when you come in and say things like

 

I expect I will get “flamed” by the Carnival Cheerleaders but I really do not care.

 

and

 

Blast away!!!

 

It sounds like you are looking for a fight and trying to bait people into arguing with you.

[JaxGuy]

A couple valid points, lots of speculation... in the end, I think you've made the right choice to move to another line.

[firefly333]

Sorry the cruise didn't live up to your expectations. You may get flamed, but when you come in and say things like

 

 

 

and

 

 

 

It sounds like you are looking for a fight and trying to bait people into arguing with you.

 

Or the OP knows that no one here can sympathize or tolerate a person who wasnt happy with their cruise.. for whatever reason.

 

I dont think anyone bothers to post their experiences and how they felt about their cruise wanting rudeness like some of these posts.

 

Some times you "had to be there". The one rude steward, I couldnt get a 2nd pillow for my sister, and he told me to go look for it.. I looked, still couldnt find one in the cabin. I think its not asking for so much to ask a cabin steward to find something you need or want that is standard without a bunch of lip. He finally got one, and acted imposed upon to provide 2 pillows on the bed. .. one day later.

[Tutankhamen]

Or the OP knows that no one here can sympathize or tolerate a person who wasnt happy with their cruise.. for whatever reason.

 

I dont think anyone bothers to post their experiences and how they felt about their cruise wanting rudeness like some of these posts.

 

Some times you "had to be there". The one rude steward, I couldnt get a 2nd pillow for my sister, and he told me to go look for it.. I looked, still couldnt find one in the cabin. I think its not asking for so much to ask a cabin steward to find something you need or want that is standard without a bunch of lip. He finally got one, and acted imposed upon to provide 2 pillows on the bed. .. one day later.

 

I would of said the following to the Steward on last day

Me: "Hey wanted to talk to you about this tip thing"

Him: "Ok"

Me: "Go look for it"

 

Would of left a tip. Hand written, explaining how his actions resulted in zero monetary compensation and how he could of secured some cash.

[firefly333]

I would of said the following to the Steward on last day

Me: "Hey wanted to talk to you about this tip thing"

Him: "Ok"

Me: "Go look for it"

 

Would of left a tip. Hand written, explaining how his actions resulted in zero monetary compensation and how he could of secured some cash.

 

lol he told me among his excuses, "hey Im 59" .. that might work with someone else, but I told him right back. "Im 59 too" .. I didnt think that was a good reason to tell me to go look for a pillow myself.

 

After talking to him 3 nights in a row, the 4th night I did finally go to the pursers desk, but the cruise was over pretty much by then.

 

thats why Im saying .. no one wants to waste a bunch of time getting things straight on their vacation .. they want to be out having fun.

 

We also only got 4 hangers for both of us.. and again with the excuses. He said well usually only solos stay in this cabin (it was a 1A, but with a twin and a convertible sofa). I wasted time going back to the cabin 3 times calling for more hangers so I could unpack .. took until past midnight.

 

Some times Carnival hires the wrong person for the job, .. and you got to just say its just one cruise out of many and move on. I dont think I would change cruiselines over some annoyances.. but just say, next time will be better (and it was better next time, I had a wonderful cabin steward)

[cruisinmeme]

Or the OP knows that no one here can sympathize or tolerate a person who wasnt happy with their cruise.. for whatever reason.

 

I dont think anyone bothers to post their experiences and how they felt about their cruise wanting rudeness like some of these posts.

 

Some times you "had to be there". The one rude steward, I couldnt get a 2nd pillow for my sister, and he told me to go look for it.. I looked, still couldnt find one in the cabin. I think its not asking for so much to ask a cabin steward to find something you need or want that is standard without a bunch of lip. He finally got one, and acted imposed upon to provide 2 pillows on the bed. .. one day later.

 

 

You explained it well. Nobody feels your pain or anger until it happens to them. Blasting someone for spending their hard earned money sucks.

 

I just returned home from this very cruise and I think I saw this couple. Walking a forever to find a chair. There was plenty of VIP oe whatever stacking their crap in chairs. The whole section of handicap was sitting vacant and I know for a fact the lady wouldn't let anyone that came along sit there. We ask since it was empty and our backs was to the glass with the sun blazing. We were across from it in VIP.

 

My big complaint was getting off the ship. I promise grade school children could organize it better. I am not even going to tell the story but I will say carnival needs to send spies to some other cruise lines to see how it can be done orderly. Get it straight this was ON the ship not once in the pier. So this is a carnival issue, not a port issue. I truly feel it would be a waste of time to send them some suggestions on doing a little work on organization.

 

I will say the food seemed better than it has been in years. Service was great. Ship was clean. Capitan was on the dot at every port. Never heard why we was still sailing when we were suppose to be docked this morning, then ran late with the messed up fire drill of getting off.

 

People was pouring into the parking garage at 9:00. ???? little early and I bet a bit of a wait.

[gregg204]

Sorry to hear certain things didn't go your way. I would have been upset with being denied access to my cabin all day also. As for the rest, not even worth bringing up unless you want a flame or two. As for the debarkation, I picked up a good friend from this cruise this morning. He said yall didn't hit the mouth of the river till midnight and got back into New Orleans a couple hours late which added to the normal surge of passengers trying to get off first.

[gregg204]

Never heard why we was still sailing when we were suppose to be docked this morning, then ran late with the messed up fire drill of getting off.

People was pouring into the parking garage at 9:00. ???? little early and I bet a bit of a wait.

 

My friend I picked up said there was some clusters of storms at the mouth of the river that could have caused the delay but was not sure.

[cruzinlisa]

Sorry you did not have a good cruise. I was on the cruise right before you on Conquest and had a good cruise and good experience. But it can bit hit or miss. The cruise before last was on Conquest and it was my least favorite cruise. That cruise we had issues with embark and debark and dining room staff (main issue). The cruises were like night and day.

 

This cruise had Faster to the Fun and had very good experiences with it. Sorry that you do not. We had no issues with Muster, but we were in the second row. It did seem to take a while to get everyone lined up.

 

We also dined in the steak house and thought it was great. I had lobster and while I was not as crazy about the preparation (tasted grilled/broiled and I prefer boiled), it was still good. Everything else was amazing for us.

 

We also did not have issues with room service coming- maybe it was the time.

 

This is not to say that you did not have issues, as I believe you did have them. Just that it may have been a couple of bad apples that you were unfortunate enough to get.

[Cruise To Relax]

It sounds like you want to be flamed.

 

It also sounds like carnival is not right for you. Those " problems" you mentioned seemed extremely minor for me. I thought your review sounded like a great vacation. But I'm also a young mom on a budget who is laidback.

 

Sounds like both you and carnival will be better off without any further carnival cruises for you.

 

You are right. I will be much better off and Carnival can continue to be the low budget party cruise line. Enjoy

[Cruise To Relax]

The only thing I see as a real problem was expecting you to stay out of your cabin for that long. To me the rest was minor.

 

I am glad you consider those items minor. If that is the case, then Carnival is a great fit for you. Enjoy your time with them.

[Cruise To Relax]

Sounds like you want to be flamed.

 

What exactly were you expecting from FTTF that you didn't get? There's nothing in the description that calls for "priority" room service. While I do agree you should get it when you ordered it, or a call stating it will be late, I think you have no right over anyone else to get your breakfast sooner.

 

Where did you see P/D being treated differently? They should be. They're above FTTF in the Carnival hierarchy. But, you gave no real examples, so who knows what you're talking about.

 

Life jackets under the bed? Not unusual. I haven't sailed on Carnival yet, but I've seen it on other lines in my own room.

 

Not being "allowed" to sit in the HC area while waiting? Why didn't you just plant your bottom there? What makes someone "look" hc? Your cane wasn't enough? My friend has 2 artificial legs and you cannot tell there is anything different about him when he wears long pants. Had he been told he could not sit there he would have taken one of his legs off for her to see. He's very vocal about not judging anyone's handicap by how they look, and quick to teach a lesson.

 

Glad you were "hardy" enough to survive, because it sure sounds like you suffered. :rolleyes:

 

Thanks for your comments although to be honest I have never found life jackets under the bed on any HA, Celebrity, or Princess cruise. Every time they have been in the closet where there was a marking showing them to be there. As for disabled, come on. If someone says no, I try to follow the rules. Perhaps that is not your style but I do not go looking for problems. As for P/D treated differently, it was confirmed by the Guest Services Manager. And yes I agree that P/D should be treated differently. Anyone who has made it that far on Carnival needs something special. As for FTTF, I got everything I expected. I never said it was bad - in fact I said it was good. As for room service, I don't expect to get it sooner but I do expect a call if it is not going to come on time. That was confirmed by the Guest Services Manager that they should have done that. Finally, never said I suffered. I said that we had to work our vacation around the cruise lines rules.

[kzkzoh]

In that respect where would you see someone staying in the captain suite on the hierarchy? Don't know the cost of these for a 7 day trip and just speculating here but if one did several 3 day cruises on a carnival sale price on an interior could they not make platinum for the same price that one would pay for one 7 day cruise in a captains suite? As I said Im just speculating here!

 

I'm not sure that I understand your logic, but I feel that someone staying in the Captain's Suite should be given equivalent treatment to Platinum and Diamond level guests. It coats a lot of money to book that type of cabin.

 

However, other than that, this review was ridiculous and a waste of time to read.