back from the worse cruise ever!!!

[gangwayqueen]

Originally Posted by marktac

How about we all take a solemn vow right now to let this stupid post die.

 

Mark T

 

 

 

***raises glass****

 

 

I say AMEN to THAT!!;) ***clinks raised glass**;)

I think this has gone on so long because we have all played nice for the most part.

[smoothdancer]

We were on a short 3 day cruise in December. We too had heard that there wase a lot of heavy, fall down drinkers. Now if you are going to run into this it would certainly be a 3 day. But we just never saw that... Sure people were drinking and having fun(me included), but never offensive.

 

I just want to make sure that ohter people reading dont get the impression this happens all the time. It actaully made me previously steer away from Carnival, and to my surprise and delight I did not see this behavior.

[Top-Cat]

Geeezzzz I just checked back in and this thread is still going:eek: . Wonder what happended to the OP. Haven't seen him in many pages now. Did he fall in the shark tank? Maybe he's booking his next cruise. I hear the QE2 is pretty spritzy:p .

[Cards5440]

And to complain that there was only one dolphin in your group?? Sounds like a spoiled brat to me. Like Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate factory..."Daddy I want a golden ticket NOW!" Were you booked for an encounter or a swim? When we went there were 3 dolphins...one that we got to pet and kiss and 2 that did the foot push and fin pull stunts. The groups with an encounter only had one dolphin, that I noticed.

 

This complaint make me think of my boy/friend who is currently in the Caribbean on the Destiny with his family. His trip started off hellish and he's choosing to make the most of it. His original flight was cancelled, he missed the boat, his luggage was lost and he's not due to get it till tomorrow. He emailed tonight letting me know that he's rolling along drinking and having fun even though he missed a day on the ship and is without his clothes. This is his first cruise and this would make most people swear off cruising forever...but he says he's having a great time anyways.. it's all about finding the positives. You are on a vacation in the sun...most places at home are cold and snowy...get over it!

[brenchris]

I have been on 10 Carnival cruises-some good, some not so good-it's all in what you make of it. One of my cruises was 3 wks from the day my husband died suddenly from a heart attack & the cruise we had planned for in all the time we cruised (that was last March). You make the best of the cruise, no matter the circumstances. You have to have an open mind & be willing to go with the flow. You are what makes the cruise-not the cruiselines-they make no promises to make it all absolutely wonderful. I plan my next cruise in Oct. & it will also be on Carnival. Each line has good & bad things-I don't believe this cruiser will ever find one she is happy with or a land vacation either. Some people are just like that. I hope that she does find what she is looking for, but I hope that she remembers that there are always worse things than being late for a planned excursion or not being able to find something to eat (which is very hard to believe).

[suncoastgirl]

I too was just going to lurk but had to put in my two cents worth. We cruised the Victory last May. Had a great time - good food, great ship mates, nice weather, etc. But, we had a med evac occur first day at sea (made up for lost time later) and a bomb threat in Grand Cayman. We were stuck on the ship for an extra 2 hours before we could tender to shore. Most people just took the time to get to know others they were sailing with. as they made us go to the theaters to wait. The ship's crew bent over backwards to please everyone. Sure, we could have said it was an awful cruise but it is all how you chose to make the best of a situation. Too bad the orginial poster hasn't fiqured that out.

[PaulMedik]

I just returned from my cruise aboard the Carnival Victory (2/26 –3/5). I can confidently say that I will NEVER sail with Carnival again!!! It’s hard to decide where to begin my horror story…

 

FOOD: The food was HORRIBLE. Everyone says you gain 10 lbs on a cruise but I lost 2 lbs and my SO lost 5 lbs. We were actually HUNGRY when we went to sleep the first four nights! We ate in the main dining room the first 2 nights. The main entrees usually included one beef product. SO and I ordered the prime rib (although it wasn’t called “prime rib” both nights because everything else on the menu sounded unappealing. The cuts of meat used on the ship were cheap, in my opinion. My parents were also on the cruise and my dad sent his prime rib back because it had so much fat on it. I cut the fat off of mine on both nights and there was hardly anything left. The salads were very small and the desserts were completely TASTELESS! I’ve had better cake out of a betty crocker box. We decided to try the “alternative” dining option on the 3rd day and we were shocked to see the EXACT same food on the “alternative” buffet that was being served in the dining room that night!!! It was no alternative at all!!! Carnival advertises multiple dining options but THAT IS A LIE! The other “restaurants” Carnival talks about are actually walk up windows that do not run all the time. If fact, there are some times when all there is to eat is PIZZA! I go on a cruise and I’m stuck eating pizza? It wasn’t even great pizza! The “BBQ” never made steak or chicken sandwhichs like it advertised, it only made hamburgers and hotdogs! The Chinese wok was rarely open. I had excellent ham ONE night but other than that, I starved!!!!! We asked others if they liked the food and it was 50/50. I don’t know, maybe I expected too much by thinking I wouldn’t have to eat pizza all week!

 

CRUISE DIRECTOR: My hatred for this man is very high. SO and I either attended the “travel talk” briefings or watched them on tv so that we knew what was going on. During Dana’s (the cruise director) travel talk about grand cayman, he instructed everyone with an excursion before 10am to meet in the Caribbean lounge. He “PROMISED” that we would be on the first tender boats off the ship so that we were on time. SO, myself and my father arrived at 7:20. The shipped docked at 7:30. Our excursion was at 8:30 but we were suppose to check in at 8:00. I did NOT book the excursion through Carnival. We waited and waited until 7:50 when (the most annoying) social host came in and said everyone could proceed to the gangway!!!! Of course, that meant we were behind everyone who had been lining up on the stairs for the last 40 minutes!!! I went up to the social host and showed him my receipt for the excursion and asked if I shouldn’t be put on one of the first boats off. He said just go down stairs. Well, guess what? We were on the 3rd boat off and we were 20 mins late for the tour and the entire tour was cut short by 20 mins for me and everyone else on it. And I was MORTIFIED when I arrived at Captain Marvins for the tour because I was so late and everyone knew I was holding it up. I complained to the pursers desk when I got back on the ship and found that the pursers desk doesn’t give a **** about anything. They took my complaint and said they would forward it to the cruise director. 2 days went by and I kept calling and asking what was going on. Finally, they said the cruise director had responded and said that I must not have been in the Caribbean lounge at the right time and that if I had booked the excursion through carnival, that I was have been assured a full tour because the carnival tour operators wait for all guests!!! I couldn’t believe it!!! First of all, I WAS in the lounge at the right time, in fact we were early and one of the first people there. Second, he completely ignored the fact that he promised during his travel talk to get us off the boat first and then we were shoved behind everyone else. Third, he basically said oh well because I didn’t book the excursion through carnival so he didn’t give a ****!

 

EXCURSIONS: My parents took the grand cayman island tour and it didn’t make all the stops listed. I went to the shore excursion desk to complain and was told that was just how the tour was!!! When I went back to my room the tv was on to the cruise directors travel talk about grand cayman and as luck would have it, he described that exact tour stop-by-stop. So I marched back to the shore excursion desk and complained again. Then they wanted to know the bus number my parents were on. I told them they didn’t know that and that I wouldn’t have looked at the bus number either. Then I was told without the bus number there was nothing they could do! Basically I threw a fit and finally got him to say he’d look into it further. Two days later I noticed a 10% discount for the tour on my sail and sign card but they never called me or sent me a letter. I also told them that the dolphin swim in Costa Maya only had 1 dolphin for their group when the other groups had 3 dolphins and the same amount of people and they said “that’s just how it is”. They didn’t care one bit if people were unhappy. HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE.

 

LIDO DECK: 1/4 of the chairs on the decks were “saved” by beach towels which is against carnival’s policy. People were walking around and around looking for chairs. I finally had to carry one all the way around the boat! People would put towels on chairs and never come back. I thought that Carnival should have made an announcement that they were going to collect the towel in 15 minutes. I suggested this to the purser and was told that carnivals policy was to post the “no saving” policy and that’s all! It was a sold out cruise and people were having to sit on the floor. Another incident were carnival didn’t give a ****.

 

CROWD: It’s a party ship, plain and simple. I asked on various boards beforehand if it was, but the bottomline is, people go on carnival to drink themselves silly. We had wine spilled on us, etc. I’ve never seen so many middle-age drunks in all of my life.

 

It was the worse experience of my life. I will never go on a carnival ship again. I’m sure I’m forgetting some things because I am so flustered right now. BUYER BEWARE – carnival does not care one bit about you once you buy your ticket.

 

 

 

tjsharktank:

 

 

The food was horrible? Must have changed considerably since last June; it was excellent then.

 

You hate Dana? Get a life. The man does an excellent job.

 

Not enough Dolphins? What kind of ocean are they running there that they can't keep enough dolphins for you to see and touch. Jeez you need to get a life bad.

 

One out of four chairs saved? That's a problem? How big are you that you need three out of every four chairs to sit in? Sounds like you are a boat instead of a passenger.

 

Too many drunks? Would you believe I cruised on the Victory and didn't see one single drunk? Not one. You must have been looking for them real hard.

 

'They' spilled wine on you? I can imagine you would cause someone to toss their distilled spirits in your direction if you are even slightly as abrasive in person as you are in written words. :eek:

 

I am glad you aren't cruising Carnival again. Please stay home and bitch about whatever you normally bitch about; it's obvious that you have practice.

 

I normally appreciate all reviews and have often spoke up for the folks posting negative reviews, but in your case you didn't stand a chance of being satisfied and I wouldn't want to cruise on a ship that did suit you.

[mountainbeers]

Like I said before some people will never be satisfied with anything. In fact, if Heaven had a complaint desk the OP would probably be the first one in line to wage a complaint about the wait at the gate.

[cubdaddy]

It is apparent that cruising is not for you or maybe try one of the other lines where everyone is in bed by 10:00.

 

I have been on 5 cruises and some of those were during spring break. Was there some partying going on? Yes but I did not see anyone get completely out of hand and the partying was found only on certain areas of the ship.

 

I am "People" too and do not party. We usually cruise as a family and have a great time. We don't like all the food but there are so many options, I never go hungry.

 

Obviously you were not paying attention to the travel talk. The ship always give passengers on Carnival excursions first choice for getting off. Then they hand out tender tickets starting off at 1 and go up from there for those who have non-Carnival excursions. I would say you were pretty lucky to get off on the third tender! Keep in mind, there are close to 3,000 people trying to get off the ship. It takes time and not everyone can be first.

 

As far as Captain Marvins, they are the best. Our ship was late getting into GC on one of our cruises. We missed the 8:30 tour! Oh, the tragedy! Well, Captain Marvins moved us up to the 10:00 tour which was a 3 hour tour instead of 2 hour and did not charge us the difference!

 

Well, since you are not going on Carnival again that will leave more room for my family and I!

[Rena921]

CROWD: It’s a party ship, plain and simple. I asked on various boards beforehand if it was, but the bottomline is, people go on carnival to drink themselves silly. We had wine spilled on us, etc. I’ve never seen so many middle-age drunks in all of my life.

 

 

 

Ok, I really can't resist.....Guess the OP hasn't been to Applebee's on a Friday night!:eek:

[Rena921]

Curiosity got the better of me and I just had to take a quick peek at the OP's other posts....low and behold, the OP appears to be a he, not a she like others have stated.

Beside that the OP was advised several times to book excursions thru Carnival since it would be their first cruise and to cut back on confusion. Guess they should have followed the advice of the experienced members.

 

Now, as to putting this thread to rest, I believe we are all having too much fun with this one. Helps us remember those notes we took in Phsyc. class in High School!:p

[mared1]

I find it hard to believe that almost all the food on the ship was so horrible! I have been on 5 cruises and have always had good food, not excellent all the time, but overall good food.

As for the pursers desk, I have had only 1 complaint that I took to them and they were very helpful and resolved the issue. Maybe it was the way I approached them - not yelling, screaming, and demanding service, but in a firm and polite manner - after all they did not create the problem.

If you check the shore excursions literature, it does state there maybe some differences in the actual length and stops - Carnival does not staff the excursions - they are run be independent people that Carnival contracts with.

Not everything is perfect on a cruise - there are bound to be some things that don't meet expectations. It's sort of like life - there are good and bad things. And it's how you handle the bad things that matter most and can make a less than perfect time still enjoyable.

Cruising is not for everyone!

[margaritagal]

Where is the 'beating the dead horse' icon????? ;)

[flynrph]

Where is the 'beating the dead horse' icon????? ;)

 

 

And way overdue, sorry.:(

[b8tzm]

Where is the 'beating the dead horse' icon????? ;)

 

:mad: We are perpetuating it. It was a setup from the start with a few inquiring posts prior and a full out trashem/flame em etc barrage afterwards. The sad part is it is working albeit they haven't had much support for their what appear to be massive lies.

 

I hope this 87 year old (according to original profile) and 110 year old parents are happy, but that doesn't appear to be possible.

 

How would you like to sell them a prepaid funeral plan? Theyd come back and tear your head off and c*** down your neck.

[lsp]

I am so dizzy from reading all these posts this morning. Why did this person not get off at the first port? They remind me of my mother, no matter what something is not they way it should be. I am just so glad they didn't go up to the funnel deck and see someone sunning and call in the Coast Guard to stop the obcene (sp?) behavior. It's a cruise, it's life and neither one is perfect. Why didn't they realize by the second day if you want a deck chair you get up at 6 and put your belongings on it like every one else. Personally if I didn't care for dinner I would order hot chocolate chip cookies when I got back to my room and enjoy them on my balcony. Life is what you make it. Instead of getting mad at the drunks (which have never been abundant on our cruises) laugh at them.

 

We are cruising in May on the Conquest and no telling what kind of behavior my son, a Marine just back from one year in Iraq will display, but I will make sure he doesn't spill wine or fall down drunk even though he probably deserves to do what ever he wants.

 

Linda

 

Conquest 5/7/06

Liberty 9/18/05

Glory 6/04

Conquest 6/03

[nrdsb4]

I really wish I could say a bad vacation was the worst thing that ever happened to me.....

 

1) deal with your hubby falling 6 stories and almost dying.... only to be disabled and in constant pain.

 

2) have your 18 yr old daughter have a 4 wheeler accident and be in a coma they weren't sure she'd come out of (thank god she did)

 

3) have your sister hemmorhage and almost bleed to death twice in one year..... and then 1 month after the last time try to commit suicide....

 

Man I wish a bad vacation was the top of my bad experience list.

 

I'm not looking for sympathy ... you just need to know what bad experiences are.....you had minor inconveniences .... believe me.

 

 

I'm with you on this one. I shake my head at how lucky some people must be to have experienced no tragedy or real hardship. I read on here once: "Can we bring our own sheets? If I can't have my 600 thread count sheets, I will be miserable." I thought, "Are we so spoiled nowadays that our concept of MISERY is being on a caribbean cruise for a week without our 600 count sheets?!" We're getting soft.

 

I'm sorry for your hardships, but I know they have helped you to put life in its proper perspective. Hopefully you're done with tragedy for a good long while.:)

[lsp]

Sorry, same thing posted twice and I can't seem to delete the whole thing.

 

Linda

 

Conquest 5/7/06

Liberty 9/18/05

Glory 6/04

Conquest 6/03

[WeBeCruisin']

Why didn't they realize by the second day if you want a deck chair you get up at 6 and put your belongings on it like every one else.

 

I'm not sure everyone is going to agree with that philosophy. That' attitude is the whole root of the chair-hog problem. Sigh.

[LHP]

 

We are cruising in May on the Conquest and no telling what kind of behavior my son, a Marine just back from one year in Iraq will display, but I will make sure he doesn't spill wine or fall down drunk even though he probably deserves to do what ever he wants.

 

Linda

 

Conquest 5/7/06

Liberty 9/18/05

Glory 6/04

Conquest 6/03

 

 

Thanks Linda. And please thank your son for us. Our family is blessed because of his service.

[kelz66]

Damn!!!! I was on the Victory last June....I found the food very good, and the deserts fantastic!

 

Party boat??? I spent the whole cruise looking for the party, I had to make my own...LOL

 

The disco was empty every night the piano bar was the only place that had a small crowd, but it was usually the same group of friends that were travelling together. Ok..I avoided the karaoke lounge on purpose...LOL

 

And I actually ened up hanging out with Dana the CD at the martini bar one night. Great guy, he and Hector , the Super shopper had me in stiches with thier stories.

[toledo]

and the OP has a right to voice his or her opinions. We're on the Victory in 2 1/2 weeks and I've actually learned things from the post that may be helpful. We will not be afraid to order whatever we want in the dining room, if need be. I don't think I'll book any excursions in advance (and definately not through Carnival) so I don't have to worry about being on the first tender. I'm going to move the towels if chairs are vacant for a long period of time. I have lowered my expectations and I think that is o.k. This review is no better or worse than reviews that claim "Food was wonderful. Shows were great. Weather was perfect. We loved everything. Cabin was immaculate. Everything was perfect". In case you missed it, OP has cruised before and there were a couple of good things listed in a subsequent post. The number of posts does not indicate how well you researched a cruise. I spend much more time reading posts than asking the same questions over and over. Lighten up Cruise Critics!!!!!!!!!

[WeBeCruisin']

Where is the 'beating the dead horse' icon????? ;)

 

Okay, this is one of my pet peeves. A thread is not "dead" until no one is posting to it. As long as people are posting, there is something of interest remaining in the thread or, duh, people wouldn't be posting to it.

 

If you are tired of reading a certain thread, then just stop reading it. Don't try to impose your preferences on everyone who is still finding something of interest in the thread.

 

That's arrogant and self-serving and reflects a certain smug, superciliousness.

 

Just my humble opinion. :D And nothing personal against you, Margaritagal, yours was just a convenient post to quote.... several other people also jumped on the dead horse bandwagon.

 

Allen

[cubdaddy]

I find it hard to believe that almost all the food on the ship was so horrible! I have been on 5 cruises and have always had good food, not excellent all the time, but overall good food.

As for the pursers desk, I have had only 1 complaint that I took to them and they were very helpful and resolved the issue. Maybe it was the way I approached them - not yelling, screaming, and demanding service, but in a firm and polite manner - after all they did not create the problem.

If you check the shore excursions literature, it does state there maybe some differences in the actual length and stops - Carnival does not staff the excursions - they are run be independent people that Carnival contracts with.

Not everything is perfect on a cruise - there are bound to be some things that don't meet expectations. It's sort of like life - there are good and bad things. And it's how you handle the bad things that matter most and can make a less than perfect time still enjoyable.

Cruising is not for everyone!

 

mared1, you are right on about the pursers desk! Back in October we had to leave Nassau earlier then planned due to Wilma. We had booked excursion tickets but of course that would not be possible. My SIL threw her tickets out because someone at the pursers desk told her she did not need them back to credit her Sail & Sign. When the credit did not happen she went to the pursers desk and another person told her she needed them to get credit. She became angry and was not getting anywhere. I was right behind her in line with my tickets. I smiled a lot and calmly talked to the lady and we ended up getting her credit.

 

The point is, the people at the pursers desk are just that, "People". They are not servants and deserve to be treat with respect. If they cannot help, ask to speak to someone that can. Of course your request has to be reasonable.

 

I think the OP should read my review from the Hurricane Wilma cruise!

[habby]

I've actually learned things from the post that may be helpful. . Lighten up Cruise Critics!!!!!!!!!

 

Aside from the fact that the OP gave a bunch of people the chance to vent, laugh, whatever, I'm glad that some good has come out of it.

 

I'm sure you will enjoy your cruise more than you imagined you could! Safe travels..