Complain about a product or service

Carnival Cruise Lines

General Disorganization

Carnival Cruise Lines • Bad Food • Billing Errors • Cancellation Policies • Children's Programs • Crime on Board • Crime in Port • Damaged Luggage • Disabled Passengers • Medical Care • Missed Ports • Overbooking • Poor Service • Safety Issues • Wedding Services • "Branded" by Carnival News • Carnival Cruise Lines to Refund $40 Million in Fuel Surcharges • Illness Strikes Carnival Ships Cruise Notes • Medical Care Spotty • Health Care Guidelines • Consumer Fact Sheet

Frances of Hawthorne CA (8/24/04):
I sailed with a group of 20+ on Carnival Conquest on 8/08/2004 and the trip was substandard to say the least, I have cruised 10+ times before and never have received such substandard service. The dining staff was not trained properly, the food was just ok, the staff as a whole was very unfriendly.

Upon leaving the ship our luggage was placed in such a way that it looked like a maze that you had to walk through. I fell in this maze trying to obtain my luggage, quite a problem for me since I have had two total hip replacements. Thankfully, I was not injured but quite shook up. Never again will I or any of the passengers that I travelled with ever consider Carnival again. I e-mailed customer service at Carnival and have had no response from them.(surprise, surprise)

Stuart of Windham NH (8/15/04):
As a parent of three, I have used your cruise line service ever since I saw it recommended in a family vacation guidebook. I have also recommended you to friends on a number of occasions. Unfortunately, I recently had an unpleasant and costly experience with one of your scheduled trips. I decided to splurge on a cruise vacation package to the Southern Caribbean. The ship of choice was the Destiny, departing San Juan, Puerto Rico on the 20th of June. I paid for 11 members of my family which included adult children and grandchildren. This was the first cruise for them. Since my wife and I have cruised many times on the Carnival Cruise Lines, I had told them of the many nice experiences and they were all looking forward to the vacation.

• My step-son, Steven McDaniel, had a very difficult time with the security guard on the Lido Deck. He was tending my autistic grandson when the guard admonished him for pushing him in the wheelchair.
• The pool frequently was closed and the staff could not tell us when it would be open on scheduled basis so we could plan to be on deck.
• There were private parties in the late evening in the only available lounge where the hamburgers, hotdogs and ice cream were normally served.
• My wife and I selected one of the best cabins, stateroom 7143, expecting the best but the cabin had many problems:
  1. The cabin steward failed to keep the room in good order. I had to show him the lint that was accumulated in the bathroom vent. There was sizeable amount, the size of my fist that needed to be cleaned. The vent was hanging down. You would think that the steward would look at the other vents after I pointed out the problem, however, he did not and I had to remind him the next day that the other vent above the mirrored dresser needed cleaning as well.
  2. The leather couch was a disaster as no one could really sit on it properly. The couch sloped down and was just too uncomfortable to sit there.
  3. The Jacuzzi bath tub had two major problems. Most significantly was the mold that had failed to be clean on previous cruises and a hurry-up job was done by caulking over the slide area of the bath doors.
  4. The ceramic tile had fallen off the walls. There were more than 13 tiles missing, causing water to get behind the existing tiles. By the way, the tiles that were missing were in the cabinet areas of the bathroom but just not repaired.
  5. There were cleaning problems of the floors.
  6. The shower nozzle was split and had to be replaced.
  7. Room service was a disaster. I ordered coffee and pastries for breakfast. The service came more than 45 minutes later with the coffee pot, but no coffee cups. They had to return with the coffee cups a half hour later.
  8. On the day before departure, I asked the cabin steward if he could place my ice paks in the freezer so they would be frozen for my travel home. I have diabetes and carry my insulin which requires them to be cold. If the ice paks were frozen, they would last the day trip to my home. However, he said he could not put them in the freezer. I called the pursers office and they said yes they could freeze them. I gave them the ice paks but when I went to retrieve them, they were cold and not frozen. The purser�s office said they were told to refrigerate them. I was infuriated.

I reiterate that this was my first bad experience with your cruise line, and I hope it was just a one-time problem on the Destiny. I suggest you investigate conditions stated in this report. I expect that remuneration or some compensation is in order for the problems encountered.

Kathy of Seffner FL (2/7/04):
We sailed 1/11/04 on the Paradise. We arrived without our sail and sign credit certificates. We notified Denise, purser, and she told us not to worry about them. She told us "to mail the certificates to the Miami office" and we will get credit. We went on with our cruise but never did get the credit. One day it rained all day. I wished I was on Princess because on Princess the hot tubs and pools were open and covered when it rained. Princess also added extra movies in the theatre which we enjoyed. Carnival didn't do anything to make its waterlogged and handicapped passengers comfortable.

Shore excursions were late and completely disorganized. Our scuba excursion was delayed over an hour due to the ridiculous ferry boat situation. WOuld it be so hard for the dive boat to pick our group up by boat and take us to the dive shop? Obviously, Carnival can't think that far ahead. The tour operator that Carnival hired gave divers unsafe diving equipment to use. Their only options were to risk their lives or not dive. No refunds were offered. Between the first and second dives we had to go back to the shop to get safe gear. More wasted time and unnecessary stress. Thankfully the diving sites were awesome.

We took a Princess cruise last summer and we were spoiled and pampered. They have an actual dive shop on the ship where our dive excursions were handled with care and it showed. The excursions were great and weren't overpriced. Carnival shoved drinks in our faces, harrassed us about gambling, shoved the nautica spa down our throats, and tried to sell junk from all of their shops. We are taking my Mom on her first cruise ever. We are going Princess because Princess cares about its passengers especially the handicapped. Carnival could care less unless they can make a fortune off it. Sail Princess first and then sail Carnival. Princess is worth the little bit of extra money.

We lost $100 plus our rights not to be herded around like cattle. Our dive gear got broken by Carnival yet they don't care about fixing or replacing it.

Frank of Mansfield LA (7/25/03):
The first day they did not want to take our luggage, because we did not have a room assignment. Our room was a mess, There were ants in the bathroom. The workers were rude, mean and NO help. We paid for a trip off the boat to go snorkeling in the Blue Lagoon. When we got there they split us up into two different groups - we were in the second group, they forgot to come and get us so we spent 15 minutes in the water for the price of $135. Who thinks that's fair?

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Back to the top | Travel