If you cruised on the Victory last week (pertaining to the man overboard) PLEASE READ

[kicia]

I had to read the comments on the above mentioned article. I can't believe, but yes I can, the reactions of the passengers to this event. This is truly a "me" centered society. I think 20% off of a future cruise is beyond accommodating since Carnival did not have to give anything. In the future it would be better if Carnival just kept to their contract and just refund port fees and excursions. This was NOT Carnival's fault by any stretch of the imagination. Carnival probably lost a lot of money by skipping Cozumel since they make big bucks on their excursions which had to be refunded.

 

This was on a ship and things happen. Sometimes it is a medical emergency but most often it is due to weather. If you had a land vacation and there was a storm then you would get nothing back. Hope some people grow up.

[leftgit6]

All this weeping and gnashing of teeth over being inconvenience is quite disgusting. Our family's first cruise was inconvenienced before we left. Bird flu kept us from both our Ports in Mexico. Cruise changed from 5 to 7 days which resulted in taking more days off from work to go. Went to Key West and Bahamas. Medical emergency first night, 18 year old overboard (never found), capsized boat discovered and had to be investigated. Made us late to ports and shortened time there. Still, we made the best of it and enjoyed ourselves despite it all. So much so, we have booked a cruise just about every other year. The loss of a young persons life, no matter the reason, trumps your inconvenience 100% of the time. This person will never have the opportunity to save for a cruise, celebrate an anniversary, etc. Sad.

[SeagoingMom]

True. But youre not on a motorized hotel that has to move and is subject to things out of their control (like the weather). I want to know if these people would dare to demand a refund if they booked an all-inclusive resort somewhere and it rained their entire vacation....

Very likely! I remember the non-stop complaint and "I demand a refund" postings on Cruise Critic some years back during rainy weather and floods in Europe because people's river cruises were transformed into bus tours. Was is unfortunate and very, very disappointing? Absolutely! Was it the fault of the river cruise companies? Absolutely not! Were the pax informed in their cruise documents that such things could possibly happen and that no compensation to them was obligatory? Absolutely!

[KYWEST1]

Well said OP and I'm glad to see all the positive responses. We were on this cruise (2 moms w/ our 2 college daughters). Words cannot describe how sad and awful this was to experience. Our 20 yr olds didn't even mention the disappointment in missing Cozumel. It went without saying, but first and foremost a 23 yr old boy lost his life! We could only pray for him and his family. Our hearts broke also for his friends that were cruising with him. Couldn't imagine what they were going through as they had to remain on the ship.

I talked to a woman the next morning as many of us were up on deck 10 looking out at the sea. She was a little insensitive and I said "Can you imagine if it was someone in your family and the ship just left the area to make sure everyone got to Cozumel?" There was very little hope by daybreak of finding him, but you can't stop looking. Some crew in the bridge still were looking with binoculars in the late afternoon. It broke my heart how dedicated they were in finding him and how hard they tried. RIP

[Cruzin2paradise09]

I had a client a couple of years ago who went on a 5-day cruise on Royal Caribbean. Last night of the cruise someone went overboard. Ship stopped to help the Coast Guard. That being said, they were on-time back in Fort Lauderdale. My client called me mid-week to find out who to call to get a refund because her 9-year old was traumatized. I refused to help her. I asked how she thought the person's family felt. No comment. I also asked if her son saw the young man go overboard. She said no. I proceeded to ask why she thought she was entitled to a refund as the incident had no effect on her .... no ports missed, didn't miss her flight home....needless to say I was pissed! I will never book her a cruise or any vacation ever again even if she offered me a million dollars!

 

 

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[beerman2]

Just read all the comments on Cruisenews and it is appalling.

 

All those complaining and wanting more reimbursement need to reevaluate themselves.

 

Yes I get it many spent hard earned money, planned things, celebrated things. All that is replaceable , a life is not.

 

We have ALL done something really , really stupid at one time or another. Being young , what was Brandon 23, you have that invincible feeling and I can do anything.

 

And to the honeymooners complaining if that is the worst situation ( missing ports, etc.) you have to deal with in life count yourself lucky. The bumps in the road can get worse.

[FloridaMommyof3]

I talked to a woman the next morning as many of us were up on deck 10 looking out at the sea. She was a little insensitive and I said "Can you imagine if it was someone in your family and the ship just left the area to make sure everyone got to Cozumel?" There was very little hope by daybreak of finding him, but you can't stop looking. Some crew in the bridge still were looking with binoculars in the late afternoon. It broke my heart how dedicated they were in finding him and how hard they tried. RIP

 

This ... right here ... is exactly how Carnival should respond to those idiots looking for a refund. That really hit home for me.

 

To KYWest - I hope that shut down the insensitivity.

[nascarcruiser]

True. But youre not on a motorized hotel that has to move and is subject to things out of their control (like the weather). I want to know if these people would dare to demand a refund if they booked an all-inclusive resort somewhere and it rained their entire vacation....

I know some people who did demand a refund from an all-inclusive resort we all went to. Needless to say we no longer travel together :eek:

[KYWEST1]

This ... right here ... is exactly how Carnival should respond to those idiots looking for a refund. That really hit home for me.

 

To KYWest - I hope that shut down the insensitivity.

 

Thank you. And yes, she looked at me for a minute and said "I hadn't thought of that."

Most people I encountered weren't insensitive at all. Everyone just seemed really sad, but apparently there were the others who only thought about what they were missing. Sad

[Kathy Loves Cats]

I did not know what JH was talking about this morning until I read this thread. Now I know.

 

"Sometime last year I was on an American Airlines flight from London to Miami and had paid for the internet so I could work and communicate with my family.

The meal was served and I had asked for the chicken but was told they had none left and I would have to have the beef or fish or yak or whatever was left. I quickly whipped out my eye phone to write a Facebook post about how airlines should never run out of food and have a good old moan.

Then suddenly the plane started hitting huge pot holes and dropped like a stone. The seat belt signs flashed on and for a good ten minutes we were in some pretty strong turbulence. When it was over I deleted what I was in the process of writing on Facebook and instead sent a message to my daughter Heidi and Kye and my Mum saying hello and how much I missed them.

A missed port because of weather can be disappointing.

And when I read a post asking for money because of a missed port due a desperately sad and tragic occurrence reminds me how easy it is to stew over the smallest things when life is so wonderful, precious and short."

[alcatalog]

what itinerary was this for? those complaints make it seem like it was a missed life changing opportunity.

[SmoothFlying]

I'm sorry, I know this is a duplicate thread and there are others that posted their own threads before me, but I am getting fed up with the complaints and gotta vent.

 

If you read the cruise contract on carnival.com, you will see that no port is guaranteed. They often have to cancel or switch the order of ports of call due to bad weather, rough seas, etc. Carnival is only required to reimburse guests the port fees for that port and the cost of any excursions booked through Carnival. Nothing else- that's what travel insurance is for. You are not entitled to anything beyond that. The fact that carnival offered 20% off a future cruise for all guests on that sailing of the Victory just proves that they will go above and beyond to retain their guests....it was extremely generous on their part.

 

The situation of the man overboard is very unfortunate, and for whatever reason, it happened. Carnival is required by law to be under the direction of the U.S. Coast Guard in this situation and was required to stay and aid in the search until released by the Coast Guard. If you have an issue with it, I suggest you contact your local congressperson and request that they submit a bill to amend maritime laws. I'm sure when you explain why you are requesting this change, they will promptly laugh at you and insist what a selfish person you are....

 

Bottom line, this was all out of Carnivals control and they have gone above and beyond in response to it. Take them up on the 20% (you will likely not get that big of a discount ever again, unless you are a big casino gambler), and hope it doesn't happen again on your next cruise.

 

I am tired of people thinking they are entitled to anything. You can have your opinion of what went wrong, but there is no need to copy and paste, word for word, your complaint on every cruise related website and page. (You know who you are) John Heald's fb, Carnival Cruise line fb, shipmate app, here. Your insensitivity and unwillingness to be thankful for what you are being offered has been noted, we (other loyal Carnival cruisers) would greatly appreciate it if you would hold up your promise and not cruise with Carnival again so we can enjoy our vacation without being subject to your negativity. On top of that, any one of us will gladly take the 20% off you are being offered.

 

Have a great day. Please don't book your next cruise with me :)

 

 

I was totally AMAZED this Saturday from the other end with the lack of 'non-complainers' this his Saturday at Port Canaveral when the Magic arrived and debarkation began. About an hour after debark started, an announcement was made ship-wide that the port building was experiencing a problem and could not move passengers from the second story to the first where ICE was located and until the problem was fixed no one would be left off the ship. The CD apologized several times for the inconvience and said Port auth was trying to fix the problem as soon as possible BUT..There was no time frame till they could see what was wrong. :( We were sent to deck five and ten (Ledo) to sit and wait till we could start. After about an hour and a half, Carnival reps walked around saying they though the problem had been fixed and we could debark. Like I said before , I was AMAZED to see people so calm (but, I guess what could they do?). I hope folks with early flights, made it. I guess the reason people didn't blame CCL (surprisingly) was because this was totally out of their control. But I'll bet somewhere in the 3600 passengers there were a few who honestly BELIEVED 'someone' owed them compensation for 'time lost' out of their precious lives.

 

Mac

[Taylorcast]

I was totally AMAZED this Saturday from the other end with the lack of 'non-complainers' this his Saturday at Port Canaveral when the Magic arrived and debarkation began. About an hour after debark started, an announcement was made ship-wide that the port building was experiencing a problem and could not move passengers from the second story to the first where ICE was located and until the problem was fixed no one would be left off the ship. The CD apologized several times for the inconvience and said Port auth was trying to fix the problem as soon as possible BUT..There was no time frame till they could see what was wrong. :( We were sent to deck five and ten (Ledo) to sit and wait till we could start. After about an hour and a half, Carnival reps walked around saying they though the problem had been fixed and we could debark. Like I said before , I was AMAZED to see people so calm (but, I guess what could they do?). I hope folks with early flights, made it. I guess the reason people didn't blame CCL (surprisingly) was because this was totally out of their control. But I'll bet somewhere in the 3600 passengers there were a few who honestly BELIEVED 'someone' owed them compensation for 'time lost' out of their precious lives.

 

Mac

I'm gathering you are referring to the escalators at the port not working....John Heald mentioned that on his fb page?

[perditax]

The Internet is really forcing us to grapple with how sociopathic many of us have become when it comes to our fellow humans.

[MistyRo76]

I was on the Splendor out of Long Beach about 7-8 years ago when a crew member intentionally jumped overboard from the crew deck. It was awful. We had one of the 4J cabins at the front of the ship with the secret deck. People were gathered out there watching the search and rescue efforts. Seeing the spotlights floating along the surface of the water looking for signs of life, spotting a life preserver another crew member and thrown to him (which I heard he refused) floating in the waves, and watching a lifeboat being lowered to do a closer search and ultimately come back empty are images that are seared in my memory.

 

We stayed in the area all night until late morning continuing to move in a zig-zag search pattern until we were released by the Mexican Coast Guard who took over the search. This put us into our first port several hours late and many people's excursions were impacted. We actually had a non-ship sponsored excursion booked and they were able to accommodate our late arrival. But honestly, we didn't care if they couldn't have. It seemed such a small inconvenience in the grand scheme of things. A young man lost his life and his co-workers (who likely became his family) had to continue doing their jobs for all of us.

 

I thought Carnival did an admirable job under the circumstances. The guests were kept well informed during the search and as we progressed to Puerto Vallarta. Carnival set up additional sea day activities to occupy the guests during the unanticipated extra 1/2 sea day. And not once did I hear any passengers express anything but concern and sympathy for the man who jumped and the rest of the crew.

 

I hope to never have another experience like this, but if it does happen again on a future cruise I have no doubt that Carnival will handle things just as appropriately as they did then.

[Canadianmama3]

These stupid people are just looking for a way to turn someone's tragedy into a pay day for them. It's disgusting. Forget about a future discount, carnival should refuse to book the complainers on any future cruises.

 

How people can show such little respect for someone who has lost their life is beyond me.

 

 

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[SmoothFlying]

I'm gathering you are referring to the escalators at the port not working....John Heald mentioned that on his fb page?

 

Yes, Taylor,

Thanks for the kind reply :). When I didn't see it mentioned here, I thought I'd mention how surprised I was about most people's (mostly happy) attitudes, even in the usual long debark lines. It was a very refreshing change for me. Kudos, to those passengers who made the best of an unfortunate situation which really was nobody's fault.

 

Mac

[Je Souhaite]

The Internet is really forcing us to grapple with how sociopathic many of us have become when it comes to our fellow humans.

 

All it's done is show each other how people think. Before social media,we never knew what others thought.

[The4Cruisers]

I really wish Carnival would come up with a uniform policy of what their actions will be in cases like this and stick to it. I don't care how much some idiot passenger wants to try to intimidate a crew member or corporate employee to get their way.

 

If the contract says their not entitled to anything, then they're NOT ENTITLED!

 

Then when the fools go running off the media to cry "woe is me", the cruise line can say "here's what we do in this situation and the passengers acknowledged as much when they accepted their cruise contract". No wavering. Stop giving people compensation on a one-off basis and stop opening the door for crap like this to happen.

[Thorncroft]

All it's done is show each other how people think. Before social media,we never knew what others thought.

 

In retrospect, it was probably better that way. Now, everyone is at each others throats because they don't share the same opinion, and rather than shaking their head is disbelief and moving on, they feel compelled to shame the offender into submission.

[MischaH123]

I really wish Carnival would come up with a uniform policy of what their actions will be in cases like this and stick to it. I don't care how much some idiot passenger wants to try to intimidate a crew member or corporate employee to get their way.

 

If the contract says their not entitled to anything, then they're NOT ENTITLED!

 

Then when the fools go running off the media to cry "woe is me", the cruise line can say "here's what we do in this situation and the passengers acknowledged as much when they accepted their cruise contract". No wavering. Stop giving people compensation on a one-off basis and stop opening the door for crap like this to happen.

 

 

I am in total agreement. In fact every passenger agrees to the cruise contract and the itinerary change policy which states that Carnival can not be held liable nor will issue a refund due to acts beyond their control to include cancellation of a port of call. They must refund a port fees and taxes for any missed ports which are given as an onboard credit. You must agree to these contracts in order to book your cruise. The details are in the fine print.

 

My prayers go out to all those affected both directly and indirectly by this unfortunate event.

[winchesterdog]

Thats the guy you hear shouting at a poor waitress because someone put onions on his hamburger. Some people just don't get it.

[mykindaparty]

BRAVO, BRAVO, YES FINALLY SOMEONE ELSE WHO IS SICK OF WINERS!!!!

 

 

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[Je Souhaite]

I really wish Carnival would come up with a uniform policy of what their actions will be in cases like this and stick to it. I don't care how much some idiot passenger wants to try to intimidate a crew member or corporate employee to get their way.

 

If the contract says their not entitled to anything, then they're NOT ENTITLED!

 

Then when the fools go running off the media to cry "woe is me", the cruise line can say "here's what we do in this situation and the passengers acknowledged as much when they accepted their cruise contract". No wavering. Stop giving people compensation on a one-off basis and stop opening the door for crap like this to happen.

 

Let us know when you see verbiage stating "entitled".

 

But every passenger is different. I know when I first cruised, I had ZERO interest in EVER getting off the ship. I did with each succeeding stop, but had I not, I don't think I would have cared.

 

But I know it's VERY important to some fellow passengers for each of those stops.

 

SO some are affected more than others in their degree of disappointment.

 

Adversely, if I were on a destination cruise, to places like Bermuda, Hawaii, Europe, I would join those not happy in visiting their destinations.

 

But you're right. There's no consistency. It seems the importance of the reason and PR dictates what Carnival dishes out, even though those passengers are NOT "entitled". Most interesting was the ship not making a port due to weather, but because there was a passenger, one, on board, that was at risk that had been exposed to Ebola. SO the ship missed a port and suddenly everyone got dollars thrown at them. Yet, they weren't "entitled".

 

In any case, whenever I have had an issue with any line, I've never broadcast on a message board what I was doing. I do it offline, and have ALWAYS been satisfied with my compensation. The only one that didn't come through was Disney, BION.

[stevefrisco]

I love the righteous indignation that comes out on these forums every time someone has a complaint or critiques CCL in some way. It blows my mind that only one side of the coin is ever welcomed on the boards of a place called cruise critic.