It must be terrible to finally go on vacation, and then encounter problems as you did. But,I have to say that I totally disagree with your opinion that people should stay away from Carnival. We are going on our third cruise in October, and I wouldn't go on any other line. We never had any problems. The crew, the food, the entertainment, etc, were all great. Our room was always clean, and we even got room service delivered within 10 minutes. Perhaps you should investigate the Carnival Web Site. There's a cruise opinion poll there. You will see that many agree with me. Again, I think you just had bad luck.Hope you don't mind me sticking my 2 cents in, but I really enjoyed cruising with Carnival.

Sorry to hear about your cruise. i've been on 10
cruises, 5 on Carnival ( the latest last March) and
5 on Norwegian. Bad cruises can happen any where at any time. Friends of mine got stuck for two days in the middle of the ocean on Disney. Overall, all of my experiences have been great- and I intend to take many more cruises.

The age of a ship is extrememly important- the older a ship is the more like to have problems. It's also important to check in the last refit of the ship. This is usually listed in the brochure. You are right about solving any problems while on board it's much easier at the time then it is later. Please try again- don't give up cruising. Good luck

Mary Ann have you cruised with any other lines ? If not , try some thing other than Carnival , I think you'll be pleasently surprized . Hamburger is great until you try steak . Adios !

Thank you SA for your comments! Regardless of how wonderful the experiences of SOME of Carnival's customers, if your experience was horrible - it's the one that counts. Who wants to book a trip that might be fabulous, but might not? Consistency counts, no matter where you go or what you're paying for. Whenever a provider of services is not reliable, well - they're not reliable. And, worse, if they are not interested in repairing their deficiencies subsequent to your experience, why should anyone bother with them?

I have to agree with S.A. I took a trip on the Tropicale also. This was a few years ago, but right after our cruise it was supposed to be going into dry dock to get ready for a different route (we took the one that went to Caracas, etc.) It was awful. Construction going on at all times, parts of the decks were closed off (and its a small ship to begin with). Try laying on the deck with suntan lotion on and having sawdust blown down on you from above! Not pleasant. But what really was awful was that I had convinced my friend to come cruise on Carnival because I had taken a cruise on the Holiday and it was the best vacation I ever had. So it was really embarassing to me when this vacation was so lousy. It wouldn't have been so bad, except Carnival refused to even do anything to keep in our good graces. I think I finally managed to get $100 bucks out of them so my friend and I "could have dinner on them." Gee, how generous. We spent over a couple grand on your cruise and WOW $100 for dinner. I think they also offered certificates for 20%25 off of - guess what - another Carnival cruise! And not only was that a laugh-the certificates expired in a year. So I think you're best bet is to make sure you get on a newer ship. The old ones seem to have problems. Cruising is fun and I wouldn't want to stop. This Tropicale was an awful experience, but I keep remembering what fun I had on the Holiday!

Debbie: you think sawdust is bad? The entire ship was told to go out on deck for the evening to watch the lava flow as the ship went past. We sat there for hours. All of a sudden they deceided to blow out the stacks on the ship, which sent red hot embers all over the outer decks. The decks we were told to watch from. We were running for cover while red hot burning embers were landing all over us. We had burn holes and black marks all over our clothing. We allerted one of the staff, they sent up the HEAD WAITER from the dining room to check it out. He said "not to worry". Needless to say, they really didn't care that our clothes were burned and black. The next morning they had a crew out scrubing the decks to remove the black marks. No announcements were made to go inside, nothing was ever said about it. This was just a LITTLE problem compared to the other huge problems that we lived with for 10 days. it boils down to THEY JUST DIDN'T SEEM TO CARE WHAT THEY DID TO INCONVIENCE THEIR PASSENGERS. Unbelievable huh????

I must say that this message you posted is becoming very interesting!! I wanted to add that I did not mean to defend Carnival. They should have recognized these problems and compensated for them. I know that I would feel the same way as you do if I had these experiences. Since most of us don't have the opportunity to travel often, and we all look forward to our vacations, they should be as close to perfect as possible. My reply was intended to state simply that we did not encounter any problems, and had a pleasurable time on both cruises with Carnival. I'm still going on Carnival in October. I'm a little nervous now, but I'll let you know how it goes!

Thanks for the warnings. Wow.

S.A. - I responded on one of your other posts about Carnival and will reiterate that I also had a bad experience on my first cruise, which was Carnival. Very RUDE treatment by excursions office, poor luggage handling and treatment by workers on the dock, waiting in unnecessary lines, being solicited to buy drinks on the sun deck and in the lounges nearly every five minutes. I've been on four wonderful cruises since then. Anyway, to put this all in perspective, it seems that about 50 percent of the people who have responded to this post and others about Carnival have some complaints and warn others NOT to cruise on them. However, how many posts or criticisms have you seen about Princess? RCCL? Holland America? Norweigan? Not many, if any at all. Nearly 100 percent satisfaction on the other lines, but complaints abound for Carnival. This should be an indicator and warning to others--if there is a 50-50 chance that your vacation will be less than perfect after the cruise line already has your money, why take the chance on them? And it should reaffirm what you've experienced--no we're not Carnival bashers, just informed travelers passing the word along so others don't have similar incidents happen to them on a cruise. If there's a 50-50 chance you're going to get hit by a car crossing the road, would you cross anyway?

I wanted to go back into this site to thank you all for much e-mail backing us up our warning!!

folks, you get what you pay for!!!! I've been on
a dozen or so cruises- loved the Fantasy, the Sensation, the Destiny- however the Carnivale
(an older ship) was DISGUSTING!! it also cost
a mere 300 bucks for the trip. SO???
also loved the celebrity Zenith that ran over a grand for the trip.
the Norway flat out sucked it smelled awful, and the lowering of the tenders in each port was the most clatter I've ever witnessed. but hey- less than 500 bucks for a week and 3 different islands-
you get what you pay for- and you make the most of it!!

I wish we only had paid a few hundred for our cruise. We trusted Carnival's FORMER reputation!!! WRONG! WRONG! Boy were we wrong! We have gone on some inexpensive cruises, and we have gone on some in excess of $8,000.00. This was what I would call a medium priced cruise. With all that went wrong, we still could have made the best of it, if CARNIVAL'S STAFF had not been so RUDE throughout the whole trip, and afterwards. I'm not talking one or two rude staff members, I'm talking 95%25 of the staff that we encountered. Even worse was the fact that CARNIVAL did not want to hear about it, and really didn't give a hoot what conditions their ship was sailing under. By the way, just where and on what line would you go on a weeks cruise for a few hundred dollars? I've never heard of one, anybody else?

Hey Debbi I'm quite adept at "making do" on bargain cruises . If you could find a couple of $3oo & $500 week cruises for me I'd be forever grateful .I've cruised more than a dozen times myself and I'm always looking for a "good deal".

For all of you, I suggest spending some time on cruiseopinion.com. It provides hundreds of detailed opinions, submitted by passengers, on every major cruise ship. In addition, there are descriptions of the ships, cabins, etc. In regard to the Carnival line, it seems to be an age and temperament thing - if you're young and like to party, Carnival is for you. Also, after 27 cruises, I can assure you that in general you get what you pay for.

My husband and I have been on 5 cruises in the past 7 years. I have found that I much prefer the newer ships such as Majesty of the Seas, Zenith and Horizon. We also cruised on the older Starward and Meridian. We found many faults with the older ships, such as repairs ongoin, odors, not as stabile, less selection etc. I love the grandness and space available on the newerships. We are hoping to go on the Inspiration next summer because of the route. Any comments?

After years at sea in the U. S. Navy, in combat ships and aboard troop transports, I was not about to take a cruise. But my wife prevailed (she always does), and off we went on Holland-America's Statendam to the Caribbean. Oh, did my old prejudices change -- marvelous service, spotless clean quarters, scrumptious food, smiling staff. Would I go again? You bet! All these horror stories make me shudder; I'm on Holland-America for life.

Message to Rod Hoots: I did check out cruiseopinion.com and it gives the Tropicale a pretty good rating. I know of at least three cruise reviews that were submitted by three different people to that sight on the Tropicale. None of which were good, in fact they were very bad reviews. They have never been posted on the site, which tells me that they only post the fair to good reviews and do not post the ones that are not praiseing that ship in some way or another. I removed that site from my favorites menu long ago when I realized that they are only telling you what they want you to know. I tried!

Sorry you had a bad experience. I agree when the problems happen to you, who cares about others who don't experiece what you did. We have been on four cruises in seven years, three of them on Carnival. Most recently sixteen of us cruised on the Carnival Destiny. We only had good experiences with Carnival with the exception of mediocre food on the Fascination. The people were nice and friendly.(those that spoke English) We have nothing but nice things to say about Carnival.
My advice though, is to take a more expensive cruise. Your travel agent knows who the top cruise lines are. By the way, in international survey, Carnival never is picked as one of the top ten cruise lines. You now know why. Next cruise, pick one of the top five.

Last April I went on a 10 day panama canal cruise on Regal Princess and found it just wonderful. The entertainment, food, and programs were all top of the notch. Princess has the biggest, and best ships in the sea, along with the best shore exursion department. I would definetly consider cruising with them

RCCL was a great cruise experience. Also, last year, we went on a Premier cruise and were happy with the activities on board, the dining, and especially the staff who made you feel like a king/queen. I met a woman on that particular Premier cruise, who had just finished taking a Carnival cruise and she informed me...NEVER again with Carnival! We didn't get a chance to get into details, but she said the difference was like night & day. So I find this topic rather interesting.

This message was posted on 1/18/98 and I am amazed that it is still recieving responses. It should have been buried way down at the bottom on the page if not in the archives by now.
It does show the varried opinions about the Carnival Cruise ships by a wide variety of past passengers and onlookers. I have yet to see anything like this about any other cruise line.

It's interesting to hear all the kudos for Holland America and all the complaints for Carnival. Carnival Cruises is actually OWNED by Holland America. If Holland America is more responsive, maybe those of you who have had these Carnival horror stories to share should complain to the CEO of Holland America. From what I've read, I'm surprised lawsuits for breach of contract don't abound against Carnival. I'm sending my folks on a cruise for their aniversary and DEFINATELY won't go Carnival given the word-of-mouth I've found here.

Just to note. We also went on a cruise in March of this year on the Fascination. We had a great time - first cruise so have nothing to compare against. We had a terrible time during the debarkation and our "tour" of San Juan after the cruise. I wrote Carnival a detailed letter outlining everything that went wrong that day. I also provided them with input - both good and bad - regarding their food, entertainment, staff, etc. They did respond and provided us with an incentive to cruise again in the next 2 years. We were pleased that they acknowledged our letter and hopefully will do something about the things we mentioned.

They responded to us too, after several months of letters and pictures that we took of the ship, to show them what we had to endure for the 12 days. They sent us a 25%25 off coupon for a future Carnival Cruise, which I promptly sent back to them. I would not go on another Carnival Ship if it were a free cruise.

We took a Carnival cruise Thanksgiving week. Our teens refused to go back to camp carnival's activities for teens after the first day. Lots of teens were wandering around the ship saying, this is so boring and stupid! The pools were closed most of the time. Karaoke was fun at first.. but every day? My daughter spent half the time reading in the state room. 6 months later, my kids say it was the worst vacation we've ever had! I absolutely loved eating breakfast out on the windy deck... but most of the cruise was a disappointment. If you love dirty jokes, gambling, bare bunned dancers, and getting drunk then Carnival is for you!

Holland American is owned by Carnival, not the other way around.

Note:

Sue also goes by the name of S.A.
She has been going to several board trashing Carnival.
Now if things were so bad on Carnival, how come there have been no lawsuits?
Yet, NCL did not provide air conditioning on the Norwegian Star and immediately got hit with a class action suit.
I guess the bashers can't find a lawyer's telephone or they are simply people who are:
HAPPY TO BE UNHAPPY.

Sara

On Legend of the Seas, the food was so bad, it made going to a cafeteria seem like gourmet. The waiter and cabin steward were pushy insisting that they get a good rating. They both did not. Poor service equals poor rating. Right. Royal Caribbean is over rated.

Joe

You guys think you know it all. Check this out. You think that people who like Carnival are not as smart as you. Well, now you may think that the list of reputable businesses listed below are not as smart as you too. Carnival is like any large company and there will be a small fraction of customers who will have complaints. Your mouths are just louder, so it gives you an impression that you are more that .05%25 of the passengers that sail on Carnival.

These businesses have direct tie-ins with Carnival or recommends then to their readers.

Universal Studios
Busch Gardens
Sea World
Wet & Wild

Modern Bride magazine picked Carnival for best honyemoon cruise value.
Bride magazine did the same.
And now for a sophisticated organization if I may say so myself: World Ocean & Cruise Liner Society, in December 1997, for the 4th year in a row, bestowed on Carnival," Best Cruise Value." In addition, they also elevated Carnival's classification to a 4-star cruise liner.

Now isn't it something that all you bashers are smarter than all of these. WoW.

A little education:

Carnival owns:

Holland America
Windstar
Costa Cruises
Seabourn
Cunard

So only thing to beware of is if Carnival decides to buy Royal Caribbean Internation.

replying to Sara's post....how do you know there are NO lawsuits against Carnival?

Just saw this. I was on the HOLIDAY in September last year. It was on a seminar from Australia. The ship and crew were fabulous. The food was great and everyone had a great time.

There are always stories of bad cruises. P & O in Australia (Princes in US) has had a number of problem. Even QEII has had it's problems.

By the way I do not think Carnival own Cunard. It is a public listed English company.

A reply to mars....well, if there are lawsuits, how come the bashers have not told us about them. Unless, you have filed one yourself.
As soon as the suits were filed against NCL, the new flooded the internet.

In response to Author: Richard (saber@world.net)
Date: 5/25/1998 2:02 am. I simply say...THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT. Personally I have never been on a cruise yet. I have been searching for an affordable yet delightful one to try. I've done much investigating and have discovered that Carnival does have the best prices on the market. Nevertheless, as the saying goes, or sayings I should say go... "You get what you pay for", or "if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is" Carnival is appearing to live up to that billing. I will in fairness to Carnival admit that I've only heard negative and not experienced. But I can't discount the words of other travelers who have been-there-done that! Magazines and awards mean absolutley nothing, when you have the customers experiences to go on. You must realize that many corporations have a invested interest in certain cruise lines and will say whatever when necessary to protect said interests. Plus Carnival's recieving a "promotion to 4 star liner" or whatever, means what to us as consumers? How many times have you see some one receive a promotion when they really didn't deserve it?? (Perhaps the person bestowing the "stars" went on one of Carnivals "good" criuses) I will continue to look for a great cruise, but I will at this time immediately cross Carnival off my shopping list. The risk is too great.

I have to agree with Clayton. After reading all of these responses, it seems that the ones that this is upsetting, are protesting wayyy too much. When you find someone that will defend a company that has done something wrong, either they have stock in that company or it is because they deal strictly with this company. I would like to know if Sara has ever cruised on any other line? I am not reading where anyone is attempting to talk anyone out of anything, just warning them that when you deal with a cutrate company, expect cut rate services.
The customer is always right is the main issue here. When a company starts getting so large that they don't care about unhappy customers, that company will soon have these problems (class action suits) that are being decussed here. I also understood this to be an informatin/opinion travel site. There are some that need to get off their pedestal and come back to earth where right is right and wrong is wrong! This Carnival debate that I have witnessed throughout the net is very interesting, I must agree that I to have never seen anything like it. But it might be worth searching the internet for class action suits involving the Carnival line.

In reply to John........yes, I have been on 6 cruises. Carnival 1, RCL 2, NCL 2 and Princess 1. I enjoyed Princess the most and Carnival was second. RCL was forgetable.

I have recently been contacted by e-mail from someone that has cruised on the Tropicale and also read on other boards that the Carnival Ship Tropicale has been refurbished. That is wonderful news for future passengers. But still in my opinion does not change the issue that Carnival problems should be settled before disembarking your cruise. As I have stated before, the actual cruise was not the entire issue but the fact that Carnival would not stand behind their services. I have been asked to retract my above statement about the cruise we were on. This ship being refurbished in no way changes what happened to us on Carnival, or the treatment that we received.

Very interesting responses, I have sailed on the tropical aroung 1990, had a great time, didn't find it unkept and nothing out of the ordinary. I have also sailed on RCCL and NCL. Sorry to hear your trip of so dissapointing. Cruises are ineresting and you have to take some things less serriously then others when travelling anywhere, if you look for every bad thing you don't have time to appreciate things that go right. This cruise line markets and sells its cruises line with what I feel is pretty honest, they cater to those who want to have a fun time, basic food, party stuff. They do not advertise gourmet meals and romantic hideaways, I think people really need to study the cruise lines before going on a cruise, not all cruises are ment for everyone. There are times I feel I would not sail on Carnival again and there are time I would it all depends on my mood and state of mind and what I want out of a cruise. I think they have a good product and if they did'nt people would not be cruising with them. I find cruisopinion to be a great site and have found both negative and positive remarks on most ships, its gives you a great guide to choosing a ship, once again look to have fun, not everything can be perfect, and enjoy yourself. Its the attitude you have that brings happiness, don't expect others to make you happy. I will sail on any ship, and find a good time.

I believe some of the concerns aobut criseu lines could be avoided by doing thorough research before booking a cruise. Often complains arise due nothing more to the passenger booking a demographically incorrect ship or cruise. For example, I have spoken with people who think Canrival is the worst thing this side of hades -- they wer in their late 40's and early 50's. Others thought Carnival was the greatest thing since rock music -- they were in their early to mid 20's. the point is different ships are for different folks. The best thing to do is find out the demographics of the curise and ship and book accordingly.

As for service - there is never an excuse for bad behaviour or rude service on a ship. One cruise line has a policy of terminating a waiter/waitress upon receipt of two written complaints. This is ture irrespective of whether the passenger is right or wrong -- the theory is that a good service employee will take care of any problem before it reaches the written complaint stage. I did make a written complaint once - and the reponse was prompt, swift and most satisfactory.

I would highly recommend Celebrity, American/Hawaii, Princess and
Royal Caribbean cruise lines to you. I have never
had a problem on any of these cruise lines.

My, my what an enticing trail I have found! I was reading Fielding's when I came upon the SueS.A. saga and had to come here and read more for myself. It was worth it to find this sight and see such lively debate. I must agree with the opinion that different lines are for different clients. My wife and honeymooned on the Festivale, a former Carnival ship, and I enjoyed it. We recently went on a Holland American cruise that I can only describe as a retirementlong term care facility on water. I did enjoy it ,but only by looking forward to the next port. Old men with cigars terrifying me by walking to close to their fellow passengers oxygen bottles. Shuffle-board crazed cruisers jamming elevators to their limits, and some complaining about the noise of the "rock"band in the show lounge, were only quaint for a couple of hours. Our next voyage will take place on the Carnival Destiny in a night-owl cabin. Some genius forgot about the disco located below a few of the cabins when building the ship and created a haven for cheap bastards like myself to enjoy half-price cruising. The disco closes at 2am so we'll just be up till then BIG DEAL I say bring the noise. If the woman with the 300-400 dollar cruises would contact me I'll even sleep in an upper berth next to the turbines.

It seems that nobody is getting the point that I am trying to make. It isn't the ships, or the crew, or the food or anything else that is important here. It is the fact that we were treated so rudely on a cruise that was not a "Low Cost" venture by any means. We are not old, or anything like that. It is the fact that other cruise lines stand behind their product/services and we felt that Carnival would not do that. If you would read the very first posting on this subject, you may understand that the point that we were trying to make is that "If you have a problem, please settle it before leaving the ship, that will be the only chance you will get to air your greviences." We have sailed on other lines and admit Carnival was not our first choice, but we had been on them before and never had been treated like uninvited guests. It was not the problems that occured, but the way that they handled the situation that was the problem.

reply to S.A. You were happy with your first cruise on Carnival and the last one on the Tropicale you were upset. So what?
Now you will go on other lines and will no longer have any problems. Great.
Are you going to beat this dead horse until the millenium. What will give you some peace of mind so you can move on. It seems to me that you will only let it rest if Carnival washes you feet with tears and the cover them with diamonds.
Any marriage counselor will tell you that after the divorce, it is time to move on so you can enjoy life on your other favorite cruise lines. Stop looking back because you will drown yourself in sadness.

Here is a recent story about just how far some of the 'low end' cruise operators will go just to make a buck off of cheap minded vacationers like yourseleves.....................

There's nothing like a little systematic fraud....



MIAMI (CNN) -- On the eve of a major court battle with the U.S. Justice Department, Royal Caribbean Cruise International has agreed to admit to
polluting the sea by dumping waste oil from nearly half its cruise ship fleet,CNN has learned.
The settlement is expected to total millions of dollars, sources said. Royal Caribbean -- the world's second largest cruise line with 12 ships
traveling to ports in the U.S, Caribbean, Europe and Asia -- was scheduled to face the first of two trials in both Miami and San Juan starting Tuesday.
The settlement covers 11 charges accusing the cruise line of systematically discharging waste oil from five ships, lying to U.S. law enforcement investigators, falsifying records, tampering with witnesses and destroying
evidence. Royal Caribbean was charged with bypassing required pollution control devices that separate engine waste oil. Normally, used oil is kept in holding tanks aboard ship for proper disposal onshore. The cruise line is accused of
dumping that discharge into the sea.

The U.S. Justice Department named the following ships as part of its cases:
The Sovereign of the Seas, Monarch of the Seas, Song of America, Nordic Prince, and Nordic Empress.

Terms of the plea agreement are expected be made public before U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks in Miami Tuesday. Cruise line
spokeswoman Lynn Martenstein declined comment on the settlement. She said the company would make a public statement on Tuesday.

Evidence includes infrared video of an oil discharge made by a U.S. Coast Guard infrared camera.

I have to respect S.A.'s comments here. No matter what the situation, it's not the experience but the manner in which the providers handle it that really counts. Anyone looking for advice would be wise to consider cruise lines with no complaints as opposed to those with a multitude of negative comments. Sure, there are lots of folks who enjoy being unhappy, but this does not mean that their comments are not meaningful. Besides, once having paid the fare, one can reasonably expect the vendor to live up to their slick and glossy brochure full of promised expectations! Why should you settle for anything less? They're making a huge profit off your hard-earned dollars. Why cut them any slack? Would the excuses they give you ever work when you need them? Anyone whose room does not match the photo in the brochure and experience falls short of that which was promised has a perfect right to be just as bodacious with their complaints as they like...

I have found it very interesting to read all of the messages that have been posted on here about the different cruise lines. I believe it really depends on the type of person that is looking for the cruise & what kind of cruise you are expecting. I personally think cruising is great!! I mean where can you get all the food you want,room,activities,shows, destinations & everything else that comes along with it for such little money. I have been on the Carnival Destiny, Carnival Ecstacy, & The Majesty of the Seas. Carnival is what their logo says "The Fun Ships" if you are looking for a fun no hassel vacation then this is good for you. Now on the other hand if you are looking for a more serious (or as I see it boring) vacation then something like Royal Caribbean may be for you. I personally did not like RCI at all, my vacation was dull and the fact that the food was good really did not change the fact. On the other hand on my Carnival cruises I had the most fun I have ever had on a vacation!! I am sorry to hear this has not been the same for some of you, but I mean really, the Tropicale is Carnival's oldest ship,not to mention one of the smallest. I am sorry to say this, but I really think S.A. went a liitle far in saying that the cabins were flooded!! I don't know about the rest of you,but that sounds a little far fetched? I really think you can not base your decisions on what other people's experiences were. The only way to know is to experience it for yourself. As for me, I will not cruise on any other cruise line that is not Carnival. The service was great, the food was great, the shows were great, the activities were awesome, and the ports of call are beautiful!! For those of you wondering I am not a teenager, I am 45yrs old!! Thank you very much..

Hey, I am a travel agent and might as well put in my 2 cents worth. I see I am respondent #48.
I have been on 48 cruises, mostly great, very few bad.
I cruise Carnival at least twice a year. I have NEVER had a real bad experience. I love the line. I am 62 years old. If I wish quiet, I fnd a quiet place on the ship, there are many. Find the piano bar if you do not like disco. Find the quiet pool if you don't like the hairy chest contest or he live band.
I find Carnival the MOST RECEPTIVE of my customer's complaints. And I do get complaints about all cruise lines.
I was on the Sensation last month.
Everything was perfect. I find the food improving monthly. The new fancy menu, just inaugarated, was wonderful. Listening to complaints, they all come from the senior Tampa, St. Pete old ladies that complain for a hobby.
I was on a Holland America Ship where the toilets backed up, what a mess. Things happen. Things happen at Marriots and Sheratons too.
Carnival is the BEST VALUE and is truly the MOST POPULAR cruise line, hands down.
Paul

We have cruised on 11 different lines on over 24 cruises and we have enjoyed most of them from Carnival to Cunard.We sailed on Carnival once (Holiday)and have chosen not to repeat,the ship was fine and clean but the service was just fair and food adequate.I found nothing really negative but also nothing that would make us repeat(we were in our 30s).There are plenty of other lines which have a better product without so much controversy,'if there's smoke something must be burning'.Also I would suggest not taking advice from travel agents who say that Carnival is the best etc. Remember they are probably shills for that company and are invited back for their free cruises every year.The best critics are the passengers who paid the full fare and want value for their money.

I think the key here is S.A.'s first statement that instructs "please look carefully..." You should look carefully into anything you purchase whether it be a travel related product or any other consumer product. Anyone who understands economics knows there is no free lunch and an efficient market will regulate itself...you do not get Halekulani service from Motel 6. Why anyone would expect that there would be no differentiation between cruise lines when there is such a wide range of prices....come on S.A., I suspect you shopped price and either Carnival was the cheapest you could buy or your consumer research was faulty and inadequate...face it..they Carnival makes money on volume...you know,like McDonald's .... don't they say "billions served" rather than billions satisfied? I myself have cruised on the old Sitmar line and Carnival...I was completely satisfied on Sitmar but I had a good time on both lines...this year I want something a little nicer so we are going to try a Celebrity Transcanal (with a killer 56% off deal)...moral, find the product that suits your needs, then and only shop price. If you cannot afford the price, then you have to make some compromise on which product you purchase.

So I put my 2 cents in and I get beat up. No, I do not receive a larger commission from Carnival. Also travel agents do not get any free cruises. We just save our commission, which on Carnival is small, due to the fact that it is priced so reasonably. While I am on the subject of reasonable cruises, try Costa, their prices are comparable to Carnival and sometimes cheaper. Of course passengers will have something to complain about Costa also. I find cruisers who complain about cruise ships complain about everything. I had a customer who just came back from Europe on the Grand Princess. The flight left late due to bad weather. People missed their connecting flights and Princess had to put them up in a hotel (with food). Do you know, most people complained and blamed Princess.
Do you all want to know why I have so many Carnival customers? It is because the name of my company is "Affordable Cruises & Travel." I would love to book more Crystal Cruises, I would make a few more bucks. NO ONE complains about Crystal, but then the cruise is the cost of an automobile.
Happy sailing, Paul

HEY PAUL I LIKE YOUR ATTITUDE. MY FIANCEE AND I ARE TAKING A CARNIVAL CRUISE FOR OUR HONEYMOON ON THE IMAGINATION NEXT YEAR. THIS WILL BE OUR FIRST CRUISE AND WE'RE GOING INTO IT WITH THE ATTITUDE THAT YOU MAKE YOUR OWN FUN!!! CAN YOU OFFER ANY FURTHER ADVICE?

Just returned from 7 days on the Sensation and had a wonderful time. This was our third cruise and we are 50. The food was better than Royal Carribean or Norwegian, the room was much larger than Royal Carribean, about the same as the Norwegian Crown. Sometimes a situation is what you make of it but we felt the staff went out of their way to make our cruise a real vacation.

My goodness. A year and a half and this debate is still going on. I can hardly believe I ran into it by chance. It is amazing to me the ones who answer but didn't really read the initial posting close enough to understand it.
I originally posted this because we had just returned from a horrible Carnival Cruise from Hawaii. We had our cabin flood with sewer water, everything we owned became wet, and lots of items ruined. Carnival did absolutely nothing to compensate us even for the items that were no longer useable. Compensate heck, they didn't even want to hear about it. Then there was the horrible entertainement, the food, the very rude staff.........I could go on and on, but will not start this debate again.
My initial post was just to let future passengers know that if there was ever a REAL problem aboard a Carnival Ship, take care of it before you disembark because they will not even want to hear from you when you return home. Thats all I was trying to do was to pass the word to save someone the frustration that we went through.
Just for information purposes. That cruise was my 8th cruise and I had never complained before about any other cruise that I had taken. Since then I have been on three more cruises (2 Princess and one Premier) and had a fantastic time, not one complaint. BUT, I will never sail on Carnival again, at any price.

Hi S.A.
I do not understand why Carnival did not address your complaints. This is a first for me as a travel agent.
Since I was not your travel agent, I can not go to bat for you but my advice to you would be to sit down and document each an every bad instance of your cruise from hell and draft a letter to:
Bob Dickinson, President
CCL
3655 NW 87th Avenue
Miami, FL 33178-2428

Be sure to list your booking number and date of sailing.

I'm sure you will receive a positive response.

Paul

We just returned from the carnival tropicale this week. We have sailed on Royal Carib and Celebrity. Never, never again said my husband. Staff seemed to be in a daze and some of them I would not have asked anything of for my life. Our dinner waiter and busboy were great and we had a good bar waiter (good thing since Carnival won't let you have any booze in your room). Overall we had a bad experience. The phrase "you get what you pay for" certainly applies here.

To Paul: The reason Carnival would not do anything is because we were amoung hundreds on this cruise that had problems. Our entire deck flooded, along with most of the cabins. Everyone was skipping meals or bringing food back to the ship to eat from the Islands. I mean most of this stuff was non-eatible that they were serving. The staff was so rude, just for instance. If you were trying to have breakfast out on deck, you often had to stand with your food and wait for the crew to finish and vacate a table so that you could sit, and they definitely didn't hurry. If you attempted to talk to anyone about the problem (the flooding or the food) they would tell you that there is no one available but they would send someone to your cabin within the hour that was in charge. One afternoon we waited for three hours and no one came, when we called to check, they would just tell us, they didn't have time. I could go on and on. It was an absolute nightmare! The passengers on the ship came up with a greeting when they would me you that quickly spread throughout the ship. "Camp out in style-Go Tropical". That is because a large number of us had agreed that we had more fun camping with a lot less water in our tents.
The real funny thing was after we returned home, while shopping in a large department store, I overheard a lady telling the clerk about her cruise from hell. I had to ask. She was on the same ship, the cruise before ours and had the same experiences. What a coincidence.
to dbeck: My sympathys go out to the two of you. As the old saying goes "Been there, Done that" but will never do that again!

Hi Sue.
This is getting more like the "twilight zone" everytime you write.
I book hundreds of customers on Carnival and I have NEVER heard of anyone not having their problems rectified.
If so many passengers had this terrible experience, I can not understand why the press did not pick up on the incidence.
Also, Carnival would be liable for quite some damages. I'm sure some attorneys would immediately initiate a class action suit for millions.
Carnival would NOT let this happen. They would immediately make restitution.
Something is strange here. You should have received another cruise at no cost or a full refund.
This is not an ordinary complaint.

Many times there is a breakdown of some sort on many cruise lines. If it affects many passengers, some one on the ship either owns a newspaper or works for one or is in the news reporting business. This would hit the press like you know what hits the fan. Some ships have problems with air conditioning, some cruises are cut short due to food poisoning, etc. This hits the worldwide press as soon as someone gets to a phone. If the press does not get notified, all the travel agents do. WE KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON. Paul

Hi Paul: Let's put it this way, it was the very last time that I will book a cruise through a local company in this part of the U.S. Small town America isn't the best place for knowlegeable cruise agencies.
I did forget to mention, we started taking pictures of the ship after the flood. We included them with our letter's to Carnival Cruise Lines. These pictures totally backed up our story as to what we had to live with on this ship. Carnival kept telling us that they never received them, so I finally started to send them registered mail and got a signature as to who excepted them. Even though I sent them to the address that they gave me and had a signature as to who received them, they still told us that the pictures never arrived. Figure that one out?
Anyways, we finally just backed off after our attorney told us it would be a minumum of $5,000.00 for him to start any proceeding. We just gave up, but as you can see, we didn' t shut up.
As to this posting, I again remind whomever might read this that it doesn't really matter what happened to us. Its what happens to the next passenger that is important. Just make sure to take care of any major problems before you leave the ship, you will never have another chance.
Sorry to burst your bubble about Carnival Paul, but if I went into detail about that awful cruise, you wouldn't believe it anyways.

I've never cruised before, scheduled a late August, 4 day sailing aboard the Carnival Exctasy for myself,husband and 3 kids. It was very affordable. Then I stumbled on to a web site, Cruise2.com. and a couple others already mentioned. You get what you pay for is the underlying theme!!! CNX that trip, spending $1700 more and have higher hopes for our first cruise to be a memorable one onboard the Century Horizon to Bermuda.

Before anyone replys..It's CELEBRITY Horizon. Gosh, I hope I get on the right ship! My point being, check out Cruise2.com. It's got great cruising public imput and opinions.

Paul, Wow I started reading this and got hooked. I will start with my background. I am a former travel agent, specializing in cruises and have taken 4 cruises. Holland America, Premier, Celebrity and Carnival. I think cruising is the best vacation ever and will continue to cruise however I must admit to having a similar experience on Carnival.

I was on the Elation in September. Everything started out wonderfully. The ship was absolutely gorgeous. I went on Carnival because we were three families. One couple, One couple with three kids 15,13,10 and my husband and I with our two children ages 2 and 4. Carnival seemed to have the most variety for our group. This was all true, childrens program wonderful, teens loved it etc...

This all broke down when there was a storm watch. We missed two of our ports and the entire cruise staff fell apart. I can go on and on about the probelms encountered but will say that this was reported to the media by numerous passengers, I watched the entire thing on the evening news. We were given that infamous 25% disc towards a future CCL Cruise within one year.

I returned home and wrote a letter to Bob Dickenson who never replied. I also send mine registered mail. I received a very insulting form letter back with absolutely no apology from CCL. They kept blaming the weather. I stated numerous times that my problem was not with the weather but with how things fell apart after the storm watch.

I wrote a second letter to CLIA and CCL and got a letter saying they were sorry and that was that. I had three suites on the Elation and couldn't believe how their customer service treated us!

I have read so many positive things about CCL and loved the ship and our waiter cabin steward that I'm willing to try one more time. I am going on one of the inagural sailings of the Triumph from NY.

I'm curious to hear your reply and could fill you in with many more details if interested.

Dear Betsy,
As I said I have been on many (now 52 cruises).
You are correct, CCL gave you 25%, (about standard refund), for another cruise and I am glad you will take advantage of it. The Triumph, which I inspected last Saturday is fabulous (I am booked in September).
I think the 25% is wonderful and I still do not know why poor Sue did not receive same.
Carnival IS better than other lines. Example: I just returned from a cruise to Bermuda on the NCL Crown (see my input, Fodor's Forum). All passengers received a lousy $50 per person onboard credit and free drinks for one day during the blackout. Many passengers planned a mutiny (real smart). Quite a few passengers were put up at the Southampton Princess (not too shabby) until their flooded cabins were re-done. Some whose cabins were not re-done were flown home. I do not know if they received a full or partial refund.

Vacations are an adventure. Paul

Paul,

I saw your response, glad to hear you saw the Triumph. I am definately looking forward to going in October. The reason I am trying Carnival again is because they have so many positive things to offer, especially for large families or group vacations. I'll be on the 4 night sailing and booked a category 7, I'm sure this will not compare to the suite I had on the Elation but.... (only 4 days).

I hope to someday have gone on 50 cruises as you have. I really do think it's the most wonderful way to travel.

thanks,

Betsy

You really need to see how old the ship is before you take an "economy"cruise. The new Elation by Carnival is really lovely and we had a marvelous time with our entire family.

I've been on 6 Carnival cruises - just returning one month ago from an Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Paradise - and I have nothing but praise for the ships and staff, whether on-board, past cruisers reservations staff, customer service on-line or dockside. They were all pleasant and helpful. As for being ignored, that's not true. As a past Carnival cruiser, I constantly get notices of discounts for future cruises. I have even received customer survey forms over the past few years. And on board ship, they even have special invitation-only parties for past cruisers. Why not give them another chance? You may be pleasantly surprised!

We've been on 7 cruises, the most recent one being the Celebration out of Tampa and being our first Carnival cruise thought it was worth the price. The ship is older than most, but all in all was ok. It wasn't as glitzy as the Monarch of the Seas, but compared well with the Holland America cruise. We did have a problem retrieving my daughters bag at the end (someone else picked it up) and had to wait a month to get it back, but Carnival paid for the return. We plan to go on Carnival again (Jubilee) in December.

We have just returned from the Western Carribean on the Paradise (CCL). This was our first and will be our ONLY cruise. I should have read this web site first. Mechanically and climatically everything went well but the entertainment, food, activities and staff attitude did not. If one of us was not ambulatorily challenged we would have debarked in Cozumel, the first port, and taken CCL up on their "guarantee" and flown back to Miami. It will be very hard to convince me that this experience is not typical and even harder to get me out on a CCL cruise or any other for that matter.As a small example: there are no confortable chairs on the ship and no place to read where there is both sufficient light and a reading chair. Staff could not and would not help. The so-called library has spot lighting which is not conducive for reading and is set up for kids to play board games noisily.

Paul, please don't judge all cruises by CCL's standard. My first cruise was on CCL as well and it was horrible. We seriously considered not cruising again, but decided to give it another try and sailed on Celebrity's Zenith. It was like night and day from CCL and we had an unbelievable time! You might consider trying Princess since many of their ships are WELL equipped for physically challenged people. My father has Parkinson's disease and cruising is nearly the only way he can travel anymore (his "hotel" is always close by this way) and I don't know what my parents would do without this type of vacation since my mother doesn't have to cook or lift a finger the entire time. I sure hope after some time goes by that you'll reconsider and try again on either Princess, Celebrity, or Royal Caribbean (my personal favorites).

Paul: Please don't judge all cruise lines by CCL. We have had many delightful cruises on Princess, Royal Caribbean and even Premier. They are so different in every way. I myself love to cruise but felt the same way after that awful Carnival Cruise we took. It took me almost a year and a half before I ever got on another ship, and we usually cruise at least twice a year. I am glad that we decided to try it again, but never again on Carnival.
We love the service and relaxing atmosphere that most ships give. It really is a fantastic experience if you pick the right line. Sue

Bad experiences are had on all cruise lines. Some cruisers are going to have an unsatisfactory trip. The question to consider is whether Carnival has a higher than average number of dissatisified customers. If it did, I don't think cruisers would rank it as high as they do in many surveys and reviews. Following are the results of a recent survey:

SOURCE: Carnival Cruise Lines

Carnival Cruise Lines Big Winner In 'Porthole Cruise Magazine's' 1999 Annual Readers' Choice Awards

MIAMI, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Cruise Lines received nine platinum awards in ``Porthole Cruise Magazine's'' ``1999 Annual Readers' Choice Awards,'' topping more categories than any other cruise line.

Several thousand readers responded to the magazine survey by visiting the Porthole Web site (http://www.porthole.com ) or completing mail-in ballots, ranking cruise lines in a variety of different categories.

``Porthole Cruise Magazine'' is the number one source for cruise-travel information for savvy consumers and is
distributed internationally by Time Warner.

Carnival's nine platinum awards, the highest honor given, include:

•Best Family-Oriented Line
•Best Bang for the Buck
•Best Singles Line
•Best Entertainment
•Best Children's Program
•Best Onboard Activities
•Best Disco
•Best Casino
•Best Tropical Drink

The cruise line received awards in four other categories, as well, including, Best Fitness Center, Best Decor, Best
Eco-Conscious Line, and Best Midnight Buffet.

``'Porthole Cruise Magazine' has an extremely educated readership comprised of consumers who are highly
familiar with the various cruise lines and the type of vacation experience each one provides. To be recognized by
this elite group of consumers in so many different categories is a tremendous honor and one that all of us at
Carnival can be very proud of,'' said Bob Dickinson, Carnival president.

He further stated that Carnival's emphasis on quality in such areas as service, activities, entertainment, and ship design are reflected in the scope of categories won. ``A concentrated focus on detail, which ranges from
providing quality activities and personnel within our ''Camp Carnival`` children's program to the best
entertainment afloat, has a huge impact on the overall 'Fun Ship' experience,'' Dickinson added.

``Today's Carnival has shown outstanding achievement at all levels of contact with their guests. Our readers'
recognition of Carnival clearly reinforces the notion that Carnival has found the recipe for what cruise vacationers desire,'' said Bill Panoff, Porthole Cruise Magazine, publisher and editor-in-chief.

Go for it sweety, it's all yours.
There are enough of us out there that we won't miss you a bit. Bob

STAY AWAY FROM CARNIVAL CRUISES

I just recently came back from a trip aboard Carnival Triumph
The child care for 9+ is a joke. When a problem arose on the ship ,
getting any help finding my son who went missing from their care for
over an hour was any parents NIGHTMARE - there was no help
Trying to talk to their Corp HQ in Miami was a JOKE - - I might as
well have talked to the TOADS in my garden.
THEY NEED A SERIOUS ATTITUDE OVERHAUL
TAKE YOUR KIDS SOMEWHERE WHERE YOU CAN BE SURE OF THE SAME LEVEL OF
CARE YOU WOULD GIVE

DON'T EXPECT ANY ACTION ON ANY PROBLEMS YOU MIGHT HAVE IF YOU
ULTIMATELY DECIDE TO GO ON CARNIVAL

THIS IS NOT SOUR GRAPES - - ALL THE AMENTIES WERE FINE - - - THEY
SHOWED AN UTTER DISREGARD FOR ASSISTING IN THIS CHILD SAFETY MATTER
WHILE ON BOARD THE SHIP AND SINCE.

The Tropicale finally made it back to port and the TV cameras saw passengers with signs asking for help - not working toilets, no hot water, very low on drinking water. Carnival said everything was alright - no problems except the engines! This is a lot worse than Carnival led us to believe.
I hope they get sued! The treatment these passengers endured was inexcusable!

Well, S. A., it seems you have finally been redeemed. Carnival fans gave you the devil for daring to say what you did about the Tropicale and low and behold -- the darn things catches fire. I dare say there will be many lawsuits from this one.

I would stay away from Carnival for the simple fact that they flag their ships in Panama. Panama is known as a "flag of convenience". That means it is easy to flag there and very few regulations. Panama has not signed the international Safety of Life at Sea treaty (SOLAS). You need no training to recieve a Panamanian license to operate a ship, all you need is money. If that wasn't enough just look at how often Carnival is in the news for some sort of mishap. I'll sail elsewhere thank you.

After almost two years, some on you are finally believing me, I can't believe it. Kind of strange that except for the fire, it sounds like the ship is in the same condition as it was when we sailed on her.
I was only trying to warn you from wasteing your money. I love to cruise, but after that trip I almost swore off cruiseing forever.
I tried to warn you, but you just considered me a Carnival Basher.
Re-Read the original post in this message, I just thought it would have been nice if someone would have warned me. S.A.

I just found this site but since this is a longlasting forum I'll add a few lines.
We took the Tropicale last April because it was the best deal for the money. We went with another family and had 4 cabins total. Keep in mind, when you travel as a family of 5, even a few hundred dollars per person adds up to over a thousand to the bottom line. We had a great time and found the staff to be courteous when we needed them. But some of the passengers were pretty bizarre. Like they jacked up a bus station and floated it to Cozumel. I think after the fire they'll dump this tub and stay with the newer and larger ships. My kids had a great time, too but they did not do any of the organized activities. One more thing, if you go on a Carnival cruise over spring break, expect the elevators to be regularly polluted by barfing college kids. Ah, the good old days !

Its time to discard old responses, ASAP. Boring!! We cruised on the Carnival Inspiration a few years ago when the ship was less than a year old. It was my 21st birthday present. Although my parents are in their 50's they are young and fashionable. We are all very friendly with a good sense of humor and can communicate with people of all ages and life styles, as long as they are friendly and not stuffy. Since this was our first cruise, my mother did a lot of research before she choose the Carnival Inspiration. We stayed in a Cat.12 which was a lovely suite with a balcony. We found all the staff and crew members to be very courteous, accommodating and friendly. The ship was immaculate and beautiful. Teens and children were obviously happy with Camp Carnival because the only time they were in view was in the dining room. The dining room menu was not necessarily superb. Although we did find if we ordered something we were not satisfied with, the waiter was more than happy to bring us other choices. Their buffet had many good choices and was available and suitable to your daily scheduling. The ship had a variety of daily activities and diversified nightly entertainment. We found all 6 islands we went to enjoyable, with many choices of things to do, offered to us from Carnival Capers, their news letter. Our Carnival Cruise experience on the Inspiration was fantastic. I highly recommend it. Research and ask your travel agent a lot of questions before you book. Try to be sure you needs will be met. You can then certainly avoid some unnecessary disappointments. However, perfect is a strong word to fulfill. Try to overcome negitives by focusing on making them into positive experiences. Every day of our life is another challenging experience. My mother went to a conference in Dallas, TX several years ago. During her stay, there was a power outage that affected the hotel she was staying at. The hotel is well known and very expensive. Because the hotel used key cards the guests were unable to enter there rooms. After the power was available the rooms were extremely hot and humid while they dressed for a formal affair. Although she was quite annoyed she said, I can't focus on the negitivies. Life is a gift and it is far from perfect. Unfortunately it is sometimes quite costly.

Dear Jen,

What a wonderful letter. We need more people like you on this site.

Paul

paul,
Wanted to let you know I was on the Triumph last week and we had a fantastic time. There was a goup of 13 of us and it was great. I think you said you were on the ship. I didn't find the ship that hard to navigate but the atrium on these newer Destiny Class ships is much less impressive than on the Fantasy class ships, do you agree? the ship was very nice though the public rooms are so toned down for Carnival. We saw two shows on the ship which were absolutely fantastic. The camp carnival on the Destiny Class ships is 1/3 the size that it is on many of the Fantasy class ships, this was a little disappointing since we all had kids but they didn't seem to notice.

I could go on all day about how "WONDERFUL" the entire camp Carnival staff is. This is a wonderful program and really makes a vacation unique from others. The food was fine, though deserts in the buffet are a bit tasteless.

halifax was a wonderful port to visit, I had never been there.

I must say this vacation was fantastic and I'd like to try the Carnival Paradise. I'd really like to go on the non-smoking ship since this Triumph was lake a smokers haven. The casino was so smokey you could hardly walk in there.

Any thoughts on the paradise? Do you know if any other cruise lines plan on offering Non-smoking ships? i think this is a great idea. I wonder if they'd offer non-smoking sailings.

Betsy

I decided long ago that people either love Carnival or hate her!

For those of us who have "been there, done that" and choose not to go again, I hope we all find lines that meet our needs. (I know I did!)

For those who enjoy Carnival, ENJOY! Keep cruising with them and having a great time.

Hilary

Hi ya'all,

Just returned from cruising the Triumph.

What a ship! I thought I walked onto the Maasdam by mistake.

No more flashing neon, all wood, glass and brass. The staterooms are all very tastefully decorated, no more loud colors. Joe Farcus, the CCL architect must be getting
old. He has not lost his creativity in design. Nothing is square (walls, ceiling, floors). Absolutely beautiful!

One thing has not changed. It is still a fun ship. You can walk into every public room on any day or night and find cruisers having a laughing good time. And mostly seniors on this sailing out of NYC.

Only heard one complaint at my table about one entree. The pork was overdone, dry and tough. He promptly sent it back. I found the food very good as on other CCL ships.

Before I get bashed again. I will repeat there is much better gourmet food on other ships (the upscale cruise lines).

Paul

For our first ever cruise we boarded the Elation Mexican Riviera tour with our 3 boys (separate cabin) - October 11. We had a fabulours time, and got real value for our dollar. I have posted a more complete report as a separate item on this forum. The ship was beautiful, the staff attentive, and the food far better than I had anticipated. I have no negatives to report.

PLEASE NOTE: E-Mail address correction (webtv.net) Dear Paul, Thank you for your kind response - regarding my Carnival Cruise experience. I'm glad you had an enjoyable cruise vacation. With all the negitive responses on this forum it must have been quite challenging for you to feel postive while boarding the ship. Bravo to your response!!! Regarding the menu selection----You might consider contacting the main head quarters for Carnival Cruise Lines in Miami. When we returned home from our cruise we contacted them to express our joyful experience. While chatting with the cruise consultant we discussed the menu choices. She told us Carnival was negotiating with several different food consultants on upgrading their menu.

Dear Paul, Inaddition to my previous respose I would like to commend you for your time and effort to this forum. As a cruise vacation travel agent I'm sure all the negitivity on this forum can sometimes become quite annoying to you. I'd like to share my favorite quote with you, in this imperfect world we live in...."The past is history, the future is a mystery and the moment is a gift." There is nothing in life that comes with a 100% guarantee, including a vacation. The unexpected can happen on any cruise line regardless of the price.

I would be interested in hearing how anyone like the Paradise. Also has anyone sailed on the newest ship?

I can't believe the extent of the whining and complaining about Carnival! We are going on a back to back Carnival cruise in Januuary and are looking forward to it! We are experienced cruisers (Princess, Holland Americal and RCCL) and have experienced problems on all of these lines from mediocre food to pathetic entertainment (i.e a banjo player!!) to changes of ports to rude staff. There are however, lots of opportunities to surmount these problems - go to another part of the ship, take advantage of the other food service options, enjoy the new port (our best cruise experience resulted from a change in port); or just try to focus on the humour of the situation. One thing we have learned is that the WORST part of cruising is the complainers who will go on ad nauseum about everything that is not (to their minds) perfect. I often wonder how they manage in life. Stay home!, and save your fellow passengers the grief of listening to you.

Some perspective here:

Holland America is clean and service is excellent, however entertainment is definately geared to the geriatric set.

RCCL is beautiful but we found the food to be mediocre and the dining room staff to have a bit of an attitude - it became a bit of a joke at the table - so we turned it into a positive experience, and we ate in the Lido where the food was great.

The Princess ship we were on was old and pretty worn out (Fair Princess)but we had the best! time.

Have you checked out carnivalsucks.com? It's no joke; the site really exists. Having never sailed Carnival, my lips are sealed, but from all the horror stories I've heard & read, the temptation of cheap deals on Carnival's ships loses out for a little more money for a cruiseline that offers a consistantly great value for my cruise dollar: Celebrity.

I happen to LOVE Celebrity too, but she isn't for everyone either. The key to happy cruising is to find a line that meets your needs. Carnival meets some people's needs...just not mine! I will stick with Celebrity, Princess, or RCCL so I know I will have a relaxing, enjoyable vacation with excellent food and service.

I've been on 12 Carnival cruises and loved them all. My travel agent steered me away from the older ships so I can only respond to the newer class ships and they are all excellent. I found the staff to be very helpful and courtious. The entertainment is great and the food is good but not great. This guy had a bad experience which is too bad and worst of all they did nothing to correct it. But to bash the entire line is silly. I've had 12 wonderful experiences so I can only speak highly of them. We found the waiters and busboys to be outstanding on each and every trip. I would recommend Carnival to anyone. My question is why would any TA recommend those old run down ships? They do serve a purpose as far as price goes but just use common sense. If you had a choice to buy a 1981 LeSabre for $800 less than a 1997 LeSabre would you? Those years make a difference!

How about that Destiny floaten out there without any power! Sounds like a great time! Only on the Circus line.... I mean, Carnival line! oops

We, family of 4, were on the Triumph Christmas Cruise, Southern Caribbean. TA touted it for its value. Our 20 something adult children had teenies running wild down their hall, smoking pot which went through the vents (yup, they called security, to no avail). Food mediocre, half the time my children's room wasn't made up, shore excursions screwed up. Basically, the darn thing is too big for the crew they have. For the ten grand we paid, not enough value for us ever to go Carnival again. But the upside, the ship did not catch fire, lose power and they never cut off our phone lines so that passengers can't call out when there's a problem.

Just got back from 5 day cruise on the Imagination sailing to the W. Caribbean. Everything was almost perfect from the time we left home until we returned. A couple of delays on the flight home which Carnival had nothing to do with. The ship was beautiful, food great, rooms roomy, and the staff considerate. I only cruise Carnival and never had a bad experience. Lucky? Things are going to happen beyond Carnival's control - bad weather, rude people, things breaking down. If you let little things bother you, your trip will be ruined. Relax!!! It's a vacation.

Don't get me wrong-- I have
enjoyed Carnival in the past, and
have another one booked on the
Inspiration's 16 April 2000 sailing.
However, it makes sense to me
that if Carnival would spend their
money overhauling their maintenance
and engineering departments instead
of spending money taking over other
cruise lines--- they would be in far
better shape! It is obvious to me
that the quality of their maintenance
and engineering departments are
not as it should be--- heads should
roll!! Look what happened to NCL---
I'm sure that their run of bad luck in
the last few years have weakened
the line to the point that Star and
Carnival were successful in buying
out the line! Carnival better watch
out---- some company may be
watching, waiting to bite their hand!!
JanGail

Did I miss something? Has Carnival bought NCL?? When?? Is NCL in better shape yet?

Kathleen,
Carnival Cruiselines and Star Cruise
lines purchased shares of NCL,
with Star owning 90%. For more
infomation about this story, try
www.cruisemates.com and click
on their Cruise News and Bargains.
Also, Carnival's website, www.carnival.com, has information
about this development in their
Carnival News--
It's too early to tell if this will help
NCL--- hopefully infusion of new
cash will help. Star Cruise lines is
a company based in Singapore,
specializing in cruises for Asian
and European passengers. These
are ships named SuperStar Leo,
SuperStar Virgo, etc. They have
a pretty good reputation for service,
food, according to cruise guides by
Fodor's and Fielding's.
JanGail

Thanks to all of you that have come to my rescue. Carnival is really a fun cruise and a great value. I think their new menu is just great.

Thank goodness Star/Carnival took controlling interest in NCL, now I will sell the line again.

As far as the misfortune of the Destiny, it really was bad luck. The ship has two propulsion units. When one broke down and they were attempting to repair it, the other one broke down. You will note though how CCL takes care of their irate passengers. A real good deal. All their money back plus 50% off their next cruise. The passengers could also have stayed at a high priced resort for the rest of the week if they wanted. NO other cruise line would do this.

As far as the older CCL ships. I am wondering why CCL does not give them to a foreign line. It's time for Tropical and Celebration to go.

Someone asked about their new ships. I have sailed the Triumph and found it to be very classy. Gone is the Las Vegas touch. The fun does continue....I was very pleased. And wow, that NY Deli.....

Bring on the Victory....I am going this fall out of NYC.

Happy sailing you all.

Paul

The cruisers of today are a bunch of whiners. No class like the cruise of yesteryear.

Today's cruisers even whine at dinner with the effect of making other cruisers unhappy.

It is all a matter of attitude. Look at the bright side, instead of whining so you can get something for FREE.

Carnival is a great cruise line. This guy was a cheap penny pinching bum and went on the worst ship in the line. He gets what he deserves.

Maybe 100 posts could close this subject. I agree with the previous poster, if Mr SA had done his homework, he would have picked a better ship.

Ive been on 2 cruises, 1 with Commodore, and the other with Carnival, aboard the Holiday ship. I had a great time on the Carnival cruise, and a freind and myself have booked another Carnival cruise on the Victory out of NYC, onb Labor Day. Just from having been on that 1 cruise I would say that it is not for everyone, because it is geared toward a youngish, single crowd, but I didnt think that you had to be a teenager, or only in your early 20s. Most of the people I saw seemed to be in their mid twenties to early forties, and there werent really a lot of seniors. I know that this is like, message 101, and no one is probably going to see this, but to the people who had a negative experience, were you in the majority, or a part of the minority with your thoughts? If most of the people were enjoying the cruise then I think its difficult to give it a overall bad review.

We have sailed twice with Carnival:
our first was on the Sensation in 1992
and most recently on the Inspiration
just this past April 2000. I must say
that we had the best time on the
Inspiration-- great food, friendly
staff, overall great fun! In comparison
to our 1992 cruise on the Sensation,
the quality in service and food on
Carnival has improved tremendously!!!
I would sail on Carnival again--
especially looking forward to the
Carnival Spirit's 8 day cruises!!
JanGail

Message for JanGail,

Do not turn anyone off re the Sensation. I sailed her last year and I believe it is about the best of all the CCL ships long with a tremendous itinerary.

If anyone believes it is all youngsters, don't believe it!

There were so many old fogies (me included) I was shocked. It sails out of Tampa you know. Retiree heaven.

As far as the food is concerned, you are absolutely correct.....it is getting better every week. I just returned form the Jubilee Alaska and the food was excellent. Soon it will be equal to the upscale lines. More work is still needed on the bufffet. CCL's smaller ships have a very limited menu. Along with the continuing room service menu (sandwich, salad stuff).

Paul

Paul,
I didn't mean to imply that the
Sensation cruise was less than stellar!
In fact, we had a great time on the
Sensation! Keep in mind that I made a
point that we took our Sensation cruise
in 1992, and meant to show that since
then, right up to our 2000 cruise on
the Inspiration that Carnival is a
vastly improved cruiseline!!! By no
means did I mean to denigrate the
Sensation!
JanGail

I whole heartedly agree! They have improved everything including getting rid of Kathie Lee.

I thought I remembered another argument about Carnival and finally found it. I followed this a few years back and thought you all might like to read the pro's and con's that some found about Carnival. Troll

Paul, please pray tell us how all these people are wrong! Show us the errors of our ways so that we may become part of your followers. Wake up! All these people can't be wrong.

Wow, is there really a person whose name is Troll. How cool!

Paul

PFFFttt, PFFFttt! There I have sprayed this site with Paul repellant. Sheesh, I hope it works!