Liberty - Venice shuttle incident

[Vanessa L]

Carnival has really explicit information in their terms and conditions, which many don't read. They are not responsible for anything other that the cruise itself, the ship and services in which Carnival employees directly participate. Read the contract. It is interesting stuff and would certainly be an eye-opener for those who complain and don't do anything about it.

 

THANK YOU seamama1--and can I get an A-MEN!!!

[Kroosin]

I just got back from the Liberty 7-30 sailing. At the time it struck us funny how the shuttle people were about lining up in Venice. They were watching like hawks for linecutters and would stand between the line and the shuttle door to check for ids and return tickets. Insisting on a double file line and NO Pushing! I think that because you voiced your concerns and let them know how angry you were those of us who followed had a better trip. Thank You!!!

[zaandam_2]

Carnival has nothing to do with the operation of the tours or transportation in ports, etc. They offer pre-purchase of shore excursions and the like "for the convenience of the guest only". All providers of these services are outside contractors and operate solely independent of Carnival. This also includes all the onboard sites such as the spa, beauty salon, excercise room, gift shops, photographers, etc. Carnival will not have any participation in "doing a better job taking care of the passengers".

 

If a shore tour or excursion or, in this case, transportation is not up to expectations, you should reflect it on the comment cards and a follow-up letter to Customer Service. If Carnival receives enough "bad" reviews of a particular company, they have been known to drop them and contract with someone else.

 

Carnival has really explicit information in their terms and conditions, which many don't read. They are not responsible for anything other that the cruise itself, the ship and services in which Carnival employees directly participate. Read the contract. It is interesting stuff and would certainly be an eye-opener for those who complain and don't do anything about it.

 

carnival offers these excursions and shuttles for their own profit, not to be nice. in effect, there are an agent and can be held responsible. simple tort law. just because they put it in their contract doesn't make it so. anything deemed unenforceable by a court becomes voidable in a contract.

[nymshowdown]

I was on the July 18 sailing of Carnival Liberty and was involved in an incident in Venice that could have turned out badly. I'm sharing this only as a head's up to anyone taking a Carnival shuttle back to the ship from Venice. My intention is not to slam Carnival (although I do blame them for not having assistance at hand) but to insure safety. I don't know how other cruise lines handle the shuttle issue in Venice. I hope it's not the same as Carnival.

 

Here it is:

 

Well, after reading your letter, Jef and Arlene, I suppose I should also write Carnival regarding the Venice shuttle incident.

 

For those of you who hadn't heard this story......the last day in Venice, when we were ready to return to the ship (about 1:00 pm.) we went to the designated area at the bus station or train station or whatever it was and began to look for the bus. Of course, there were no Carnival reps on hand to assist us and we watched for about 15 minutes before we saw a bus pull up. Upon RUNNING to where the bus was, we discovered a line of about 150 people waiting to get on the shuttle. It was very, very hot and very crowded and I said to Michael 'let's forget this....I'll manage the walk because I can't deal with the pushing and shoving'.

 

As we began to walk away, another shuttle pulled up and we proceeded to line up at the door of that bus. I was near the front of the line and Michael somehow got shoved back about a dozen people. Suddenly all the people started to push in toward the door....being short, I felt like I was in a mosh pit but could do nothing to stop the crush and just had to let myself be smooshed into this throng of people. Then al hell broke loose. The bus door opened and three men -- grown, adult men -- tried to push me out of the way (which was impossible because I was just one little sardine) and force their way onto the bus....then 2 women started to do the same. The bus attendant kept yelling "Carnival Liberty only -- show me your card". The people shoving were NOT Carnival passengers. As it turned out, they were from the Costa ship....did not speak english (or acted as though they didn't) and they refused to move and just kept shoving until eventually two of the men managed to get on the bus. At that point, I was getting panicky and said to one of the women 'Carnival Liberty only, please let me by' whereby she turned around and slammed her elbow into my throat. Well that was FUN. I don't take kindly to being physically abused and let loose with the 'f'ing b*' and get the 'f' out of my way ....she stood there for about 10 seconds, called me a b**** and walked away -- what the he**? There was a Carnival passenger next to me trying to hang onto her son who seemed to be about 8 or 10 years old but the crowd forced them apart pushing her back into the crowd and pushing him toward the bus. All the time she was yelling...'please help my MINOR child!'. I yelled back that we'd get him and somehow another woman and I managed to get the kid on the bus and eventually his mother and Michael managed to get on along with a few of ya'll here.

 

Once the bus was full, the passengers forced the attendant guy to throw the two couples that didn't belong (and who played dumb) off the bus.

 

What a nightmare. What if something had happened to that child? He**, what if something had happened to me? This can't be the first time this kind of thing has happened.

 

Okay, now I'm pi**ed again.....going to write a letter.

 

We had a similar incident on the June 24th sailing. Here's what I wrote in my review of our trip:

 

"The line for the shuttle was extremely long. There was only 1 bus running opposed to the 5 running before. When the bus showed up, the line broke and a mob scene broke out. People running to the bus, pushing, shoving. There were no Carnival employees in sight or que-line. We ditched the bus idea, and walked back to the ship. The walk took only 20 minutes at our pace. As we arrived at the Liberty, the shuttle was just leaving to return to Piazza leRoma"

 

It was horible. Handicapped people were also pushed around and not allowed on the bus because of the mob that had broken out. Fortunately, once we saw the begining of the incedent, we left and walked to the ship because we wanted no part of what was happening.

[Pokemomma]

Carnival has nothing to do with the operation of the tours or transportation in ports, etc. They offer pre-purchase of shore excursions and the like "for the convenience of the guest only". All providers of these services are outside contractors and operate solely independent of Carnival. This also includes all the onboard sites such as the spa, beauty salon, excercise room, gift shops, photographers, etc. Carnival will not have any participation in "doing a better job taking care of the passengers".

 

If a shore tour or excursion or, in this case, transportation is not up to expectations, you should reflect it on the comment cards and a follow-up letter to Customer Service. If Carnival receives enough "bad" reviews of a particular company, they have been known to drop them and contract with someone else.

 

Carnival has really explicit information in their terms and conditions, which many don't read. They are not responsible for anything other that the cruise itself, the ship and services in which Carnival employees directly participate. Read the contract. It is interesting stuff and would certainly be an eye-opener for those who complain and don't do anything about it.

 

 

I completely understand they are not 'RESPONSIBLE' legally. Some other cruise lines seem to have more concern for the well-being, comfort, and safety of their passengers. That's why I won't be cruising with Carnival again soon.

[notmartha]

carnival offers these excursions and shuttles for their own profit, not to be nice. in effect, there are an agent and can be held responsible. simple tort law. just because they put it in their contract doesn't make it so. anything deemed unenforceable by a court becomes voidable in a contract.

 

The contract is Carnival's CYA statements. I am not expecting that the tours they offer will be great, but at least I expect that they contract out to reputable tour companies with good safety records and that they know how to manage a crowd and keep the passengers as safe as possible.

 

Accidents do happen, and I've been on my share of less than stellar tours run by cruise lines, but I sure hope no mob scene like the one described occurs during the tour!

[mrdood]

Sorry this happened to you, but there are worse things, you could have gotten a seat on a bus that when over a cliff...

 

Anyway, I lived in Europe for several years and I hate to tell you this retrospectively, but if you are not large/strong enough to defend your territory in a que/line, you need to yield space and get out of the way. It has nothing to do with Carnival, but it is a culture thing, S. Europe is the worst. There are many ways to avoid this, like walking or obtaining a cab, and I know that is not what you paid for or what your expectation was, but you have to do what is safe for you, from your own description, you are not physicially able to size wise to manage the pushing and shoving of public transport in a crowded European setting - not excusing it, but it is the culture.

 

I don't think it would be very cost effective for Carnival to hire staff to monitor each line for each bus stop. They should definitely warn people though...

[JPEvans]

Anyway, along other cultural lines, friends just got back from Greece where it is apparently in vouge for well dressed travelers from certain Middle East countries to taunt Americans by walking up behind them saying "Jihad... Jihad". At first he didn't know what they were saying, but then it happened again, and then again. He was into avoiding conflict, especially when on vacation, but it may be important to wear your thick skin when traveling abroad in current times.

 

How would someone respond to this, without getting into trouble?