Concern for lack of security on Carnival
 

We just returned from sailing the Carnival Victory and enjoyed the cruise with one glaring exception. This was (March 2, 2003) the start of spring break and we were shocked at the total lack of security to control young people who had been drinking heavily on this ship. <BR>Every elevator on this beautiful ship had holes punched through the paneled walls by partiers who were out of control. Staff covered the holes with pieces of paneling and they proceeded to punch holes through the patchs. <BR>During one evenings show two drunken guests in the front row of the main theater began fighting and climbed up on stage as they fought. The cruise director was not there and the assistant cruise director swatted them with a piece of paper and said &quot;now you two stop that&quot;, but never called security. At the Lido Deck restaurant we saw two different young people so drunk that they threw up in the restaurant as we were trying to get a meal. <BR>In spite of three requests by our party to the Pursers office, nothing was ever done and we NEVER saw any security staff after 5:00 on the entire cruise.<BR>We have sailed Carnival many times and security in the past was not only present but did a good job to make sure guests felt safe. Several members of our party went back to their rooms early to avoid what was going on out of control. <BR>Again, to be fair, everything else on the ship was wonderful, it was just shocking to see this behavior tolerated by the staff.

I feel for you and would have been pretty irritated at the situation. But, seriously college kids flock to Carnival Cruise Lines. I would never take a cruise on this line anytime during spring break. I would stick with a cruiseline that doesn't go after the college crowd. Before you take a cruise you not only have to check out the cruise and cruiseline, you have to check out what types of people the cruise appeals to. Then you have to match yourself up with the proper cruise. All cruises and cruiselines aren't the same.

Thanks kkj. Well said. I noticed many positive changes on Carnival from years past, but I'm afraid this one glaring weakness was impossible to overlook. I am not sure why they would want to attract guests who damage their ships and chase away guests who pay for the higher priced cabins. Anyway, I've learned my lesson.

Just want to put in my 2 cents on this subject. In November of 2001 we cruised with my parents on the Destiny over Thanksgiving. The cruise was a nightmare. My parents were staying in a balcony suite and we were down the hall from them. Next door to my parents were 4 under age Puerto Rican boys. All night long begining around 9pm they blasted their boom boxes, drank until they were trashed, screamed and were out of control for the entire 7 days. We contacted CCL;s front desk many times....CCL responded that there is NOTHING THEY COULD DO!!! I personally confronted these kids and all I got was a bunch of curing in spanish which I understood...I'm fluent. One night while I was visiting my parents room on the balcony we watched as these idiots were throwing lit cigarettes and cigars over board. I went straigt down to the pursers desk, asked to speak to the head purser who was at dinner. I was told he was not available, I responded by saying that if I don't talk to him immediately, I would find the captain. The head purser showed up in seconds. I told him of the incident and he said they would send security to the room immediately. Well Well Well....security didn't show up for 3 hours...because we purposely waited for them. Seems like the purser didn't think that throwing smoking materials over board which could blow back in and start a fire was serious. These kids were never supervised by any adults. And CCL said they do not need to be. <BR><BR>Carnival is a really bad cruise line and we will never ever sail on them again.

Hold and cruisenboy2, did you write to Carnival after the cruise? I agree with you, the purser's desk is annoying when it comes to solving problems. I had a minor problem on my cruise on the Pride and they did nothing about it.<BR><BR>Hold I would definitely write Carnival about this. Address your letter to the CEO. This not only ruins your vacation, but it is dangerous to the kids involved. What if one died of alcohol poisoning? What if one fell overboard?<BR><BR>Pity you didn't have a camcorder with you or you didn't take pictures. You could send them to 20/20 if Carnival did nothing about it.

Carnival is not the only line that has this problem. Every now and then you will read about the cruise from hell, that was caused by kids running wild and out of control on the ship. I have read complaints on both RCI and Celebrity. Hold had the spring breakers who's main goal in life is to get drunk and raise hell. It seems like none of the cruise lines do much about it. I think the cruise personal just hide in their cabins and pray the cruise ends soon. <BR>I really thought Carnival had control of this with the so called security guards. It appears this was not the case on Hold's cruise.

cruiseboy<BR>Carnival's policy states that the boombox SHOULD'VE been confiscated and returned upon disembarkation...your parents paid good money &amp; should not have been subjected to that! If they didn't confiscate the boombox and handle the situation in a acceptable manner, they should've offered to move them to a different cabin where they could find a modicum of peace... unbelievable!<BR><BR>BTW, Carnival is not the only cruise line this could happen on - they were at fault as were the parents. I mean what kind of adults would let their underaged kids drink and ruin other peoples vacations? Did you ever see them? I would've let them have it too! :)<BR><BR>Collina