Shame on Carnival as thousands stand on the pier

[Squadleader]

I can't believe the stunt Carnival pulled last Sunday the 14th of April with the Carnival Magic. Thousands of passengers standing on the pier in line, in the sun, for five or six hours waiting to embark. I like Carnival and their product, but something needs to change in regard to Carnival selling unsuspecting passengers fares on what the passengers believe is a normal cruise, when Carnival knows months in advance, it's not going to be a normal cruise.

 

Carnival knew darn well this was going to happen months in advance and just let it happen. Carnival has been hosting the Tom Joyner cruise charter for years and this has happened before. It was a music charter and Carnival helped plan for all the extra stage and sound equipment that was needed for this cruise to be loaded on the ship. They knew this embarkation was going to be delayed hours. Then they tossed out some $50 credits as their response and chalked it up to the cost of doing business. The main object being to not take the ship out of service for a night and lose all those fares. Their dilemma was whether to tell people this was going to happen, which would have meant lowering the fare on the April 14th cruise, or just be quiet and deal with whatever fallout happened because of the delay. Obviously, the bean counters won and the April 14th cruisers got thrown under the bus. 

 

It was noted on this board the April 7th departure of the Magic's charter cruise was several hours late departing because of all the special equipment being loaded for the charter on April 7th. Besides this happening on other Tom Joyner cruises, the fact the charter was several hours late leaving on April 7th clearly demonstrates it's also going to be several hours late boarding on April 14th because that loading process has to be reversed. So Carnival was well aware all the special setups for the charter cruise was not only going to delay the charter cruise itself on April 7th, but also significantly delay the boarding of the April 14 th cruise as well, since all that equipment had to be knocked down and removed. 

 

The turnaround simply couldn't be done inside the normal time limits. Instead of warning the April 14th passengers that departure was going to many hours late, they pretended to be surprised. 

 

Carnival had a duty to at least disclose to the April 14th passengers that their cruise was going to have an embarkation several hours later than normal, and to have adjusted the price of the cruise accordingly to sell it,  because the April 14th cruisers were not going to get a normal cruise start, and Carnival knew this months in advance. It was not an unexpected act of God. 

 

Carnival has been hosting this charter group for years and knew the special things the charter had planned. Carnival was fully involved in the planning necessary to add all the special stages and equipment this charter needed. 

 

Carnival did this because it could. They took advantage of the trust their customers had in them. There were several honest ways this could have been handled, but Carnival chose not to share their knowledge of what was going to happen, which was clear to them. 

 

1. They could have set aside the extra time the equiptment removal was going to take, and make the next weeks cruise one day shorter, but we all know no line wants a ship out of service for even one day. 

 

2. Which leaves the honest way out. They could have disclosed at the time of booking, to all the passengers of the April 14 cruise, that the ship was going to board several hours late. They would have had to adjust the price of the cruise of course to market value to sell the cabins, but at least those passengers would have paid their money knowing about the delay. 

 

Instead, Carnival wanted it both ways. Accommodate the needs of Tom Joyner's group, and get a premium I'm sure, for all the extra work that required, then charge all the April 14th passengers regular fare for an irregular cruise. 

 

Somebody can read the cruise contract and say the line can legally delay embarkation because of unforeseen circumstances, but I argue that this was clearly not unforeseen, this has happened before with the Tom Joyner charter, and Carnival knowingly defrauded the April 14th passengers of what those passengers had honestly bargained for, a complete cruise.

 

It was a simple case of bean counters taking extra money from Tom Joyner on the April 7th cruise, then turning around and charging the April 14th passengers regular fares, knowing full well there was going to be hours of delay.

 

If Carnival had been honest enough to warn the people who bought the April 14th cruise at the time of purchase, I say fine, but to have sold thousands of fares knowing full well this was going to happen, was unconscionable and very short-sighted. 

 

This is really something that Carnival should be held accountable for, and this practice should stop. Tell people what you are selling them, then let the price be whatever the market will bear, but don't sell what you know is not going to be a normal cruise, at a normal price. That's fraud, despite the bean counters loving it.

[bjfitz0703]

Doesn't make sense for sure.  Carnival seems to have these logical disconnects sometimes.  Shouldn't be that difficult.

[xDisconnections]

Imagine how much worse you would feel if you saw the video of Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation, on that charter dancing away and having a great time.

Edited April 18, 2019 by xDisconnections

[Thorncroft]

2 minutes ago, xDisconnections said:

Imagine how much worse you would feel if you saw the video of Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation, on that charter dancing away and having a great time.

 

Dude dances like no one is watching.  LOL

[Squadleader]

Not illogical at all. 

 

By withholding this information from their customers who booked the April 14th cruise, Carnival kept the ships income stream entirely intact. It was much cheaper to give $50 credits than take the ship out of service for a day, or disclose what was going to happen, which would have driven down the price of the April 14th cruise.

 

My point is, they did this because it was the cheapest solution to the time problem they knew they had. 

 

I really do believe this was literal fraud, and they'll continue to do this until such time as they are held accountable because until they are held accountable, it's the cheapest solution to their problem. 

 

There's a lot of pressure to keep up revenue, so I get you can't take the ship out of service, but I also believe Carnivals has an obligation to tell its customers this is going to happen when they are fully aware this is coming. 

 

Again, I don't wish Carnival ill, but this is a dishonest practice that should be stopped immediately.

 

[TNcruising02]

That sounds very frustrating.  It sure sounds like Carnival should have anticipated the delay and scheduled arrivals for later in the day.

[xDisconnections]

4 minutes ago, Thorncroft said:

 

Dude dances like no one is watching.  LOL

He certainly enjoyed the charter 😄

[xDisconnections]

1 minute ago, TNcruising02 said:

That sounds very frustrating.  It sure sounds like Carnival should have anticipated the delay and scheduled arrivals for later in the day.

I'm sure their CEO could have predicted the delay.

[bermudajane]

When I saw the video of Arnold dancing on the cruise I realized that everything about this cruise and how long it took to disembark everything and everyone would be tolerated. A shame for all those passing out in the heat waiting to board. The positive is that it is nice to see the CEO actually cruises on Carnival and not just the top of the line brands they own. 

[Thorncroft]

4 minutes ago, bermudajane said:

When I saw the video of Arnold dancing on the cruise I realized that everything about this cruise and how long it took to disembark everything and everyone would be tolerated. A shame for all those passing out in the heat waiting to board. The positive is that it is nice to see the CEO actually cruises on Carnival and not just the top of the line brands they own. 

 

Their top line brands probably wouldn't host a Tom Joyner cruise and the logistical nightmare that it becomes. Seems there was some disenchantment among the charter group that the Magic wasn't up to par and they were going to be lobbying loudly for a different ship, next year. 

[Lottacruises]

I tend to agree, seems the breeze was delayed in galveston last year with rhis group.

[Squadleader]

I'll tell you what really bugs me. Carnival treated those April 14th passengers literally like cattle, not like customers. Even the graphics are disgusting. If you look at the pictures, those passengers even look like cattle in some 1900 stockyard in Chicago. Someone needs to get fired for letting this happen. This event is indicative of a scheduling department that has become corrupted by dishonesty. 

 

The first rule of business is to be honest with your customers. This was very dishonest.

 

The Carnival scheduling department knew this was coming. 

 

I hate to say it, but the same thing that judge called Carnival out on, lying about the discharge logs, is what happened here. The idea that to save money, you lie to the government or the customers, is what's were seeing. 

 

It's very sad to see people in a company doing something like this to their customers. It's beyond the money, it's the idea that those families trusted Carnival and instead of taking care of them, Carnival lead them straight into an ambush. Just didn't even think or care about all those people, just that Carnival couldn't tell them what was going to happen because it would affect bookings, and Carnival couldn't take the ship out of service because that cost too much. 

 

So as far as Carnival was concerned, all those thousands of people Carnival tricked into standing on that pier by withholding their knowledge that day were good for, was to keep Magics income stream complete. And the worst part is that after putting all those people through that ordeal, those people actually paid Carnival for the privilege of standing on that pier for hours, so Carnival wouldn't be out the money.

 

This whole thing is incredibly disgusting. I would love to see enough people get angry about this to put a stop to such a dishonest practice. 

 

Would it have been so bad to say, hey this cruise is a little different. We're going to board at 5pm and depart a 10 pm, the Lido will be open until 10pm. That would have been honest. Instead, thousands stood on that pier for hours because Carnival decided it was easier to cheat them. 

 

 

[jimbo5544]

Who the heck is Tom Joyner

[Don Kehote]

Neat.  I hope you have a great night!

[scpirate]

7 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Who the heck is Tom Joyner

It's a black thing.I asked my wife she's black.i didn't get it other than a radio DJ I guess.that does these charters to raise money for black colleges.i guess it's a continuation of the United Negro College Fund from days of old.

[bermudajane]

12 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Who the heck is Tom Joyner

He is a very popular radio and TV host. Janet Jackson was even the headline performer for this cruise.

[Elaine5715]

Even if Carnival begged people not to show up until later in the day, people would still show up early.  They offered shuttles to Bayside so if people choose to stay at port that was their choice.

If people posted here asking if they should come later, half the posters would tell them to show up when they want.  

[Lottacruises]

I tend to look for an argument........I will wait....... but I have to agree with every word from the op.

[Squadleader]

You're actually making my point. Everybody knows cruises start boarding around 11am, so that's when everyone shows up. No one shows up earlier because there's no point. 

 

If Carnival had said we've got a charter cruise prior to this and we won't begin boarding until 5pm, those people would not have been on that pier since 11am. If there was a strike, or a security issue, or a mechanical failure, yes, I agree it's not Carnivals fault. 

 

But in this case Carnival knew the boarding was going to be hours late and rather than tarnish the April 14th cruise with an announced late start, they chose to pretend they didn't know and put thousands of people on the pier for hours.

 

It was cheaper to allow this to happen and then pay some onboard credits than take the hit on tarnishing the cruise, or starting the cruise the next day. Carnival deliberately deceived those passengers into standing on that pier knowing full well embarkation would be hours late, and Carnival knew that months in advance.

 

 

[mpdog42]

Until people start voting with their pocketbooks, stuff like this will continue...Just got off the Dream two weeks ago, seemed like Security was always getting into it with unruly guests,, pulled a lot of Drink packages and drinking privileges from Drunks..Never saw this stuff until a couple of years ago.. As a Retired police officer I don't need this stuff..saw enough while I was on the job!!!

Mike

[Joebucks]

Was it really not communicated anywhere that boarding would be later?

[xDisconnections]

9 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

Was it really not communicated anywhere that boarding would be later?

Nope. In fact, guests received pre-arrival emails advising them to show up on time for general boarding.

[Squadleader]

And you know what else? Tom Joyner has already announced his charter for 2020. It's an eight nighter on the Magic from March 28 through April 5th. And by the way, the issue has nothing to do with Tom Joyner and his charter, it's about Carnival knowing about any scheduling issue and not disclosing it to its customers. Carnival should make it a policy to disclose to customers when they know there's going to be a scheduling conflict, rather than pretend to be surprised.

 

So who else agrees people looking at the April 5th sailing of the Magic next year should be informed that embarkation is probably around 5pm, not 11am?

 

Does Carnival intend to be surprised next year when thousands more are on the pier for hours? Will it be my family, yours?

 

There's a loophole here Carnival is taking advantage of. It needs to be closed. It's fraud to KNOWINGLY misrepresent what you're selling to someone, whether it's a piece of real estate, a car, or a cruise.

 

If a cruise is going to have a late embarkation that you're aware of, disclose it.

[Squadleader]

I hope those thousands of passengers on the pier get wind of this and engage a lawyer. I would bet there are enough people involved that some lawyer in south Florida would take the case on a contingency basis with no cost to the passengers. While no one but the lawyer would make any money out of a suit, it would be wonderful if a precedent could be set, so that cruise lines would stop this practice.

 

Stopping this practice would be good for the cruise industry as well because lying to your customers, and stacking them up on the pier for hours in the sun is not the way to get repeat business, which is what ensures the growth and survival of an industry we all love. 

Edited April 18, 2019 by Squadleader

[myjillian]

It was not MAGIC😏