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