Carnival Guest Care Feedback

Some of you asked that I post the feed back we got from Carnival - here it is. Would have thought maybe something like "We are looking into the issues" would have been more appropriate but..................................

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Thank you for emailing us about your recent cruise with us.

It's our pleasure to welcome you aboard...again, and again, and again. As a valued V.I.P. guest of Carnival, we want you to know that you can always count on us to fill your vacation with so much FUN you can't resist coming back for more. Given how important vacations are, we would have wanted your dining and debarkation experience to have been all you expected and more. Thank you for giving us your feedback.

We look forward to your next cruise Fun Ship cruise.

Sincerely,

Marlene Arufe

Guest Care Department

guestcare@carnival.com

--- Original Message ---

From: JON GARDNER <gr1634@yahoo.com>

Received: 12/21/09 9:10:42 AM EST

To: IMC Guest Info <guestinfo@carnival.com>

Subject: Cruise Feedback (Comments/Suggestions)

Dear Carnival,

Let me start by saying I have been accused of being a Carnival Cheer Leader on more than one occasion on the Cruise Critic boards. With that being said please accept the following comments with that in mind. I am not a chronic complainer and I am not looking for a free cruise or OBC etc. I just want you to know what our last cruise experience was like. None of these comments have anything to do with the terrible weather we experienced on this trip as we fully understand Carnival has no control of that.

1. It appears priority debarkation is a thing of the past. We are platinum and expected some degree of priority. Did not happen. Allowing all the "supposed" self assist people to debark prior to priority guest essentially relegates priority guest to near last to get off. While I understand to a degree allowing the true self assist folks to move out it should not be done at the expense of the priority guest - we were near the last people off the ship - no announcement was made for priority debarkation - people just got tired of waiting and watching everyone else get off the ship and pressed on. Arriving in customs area revealed baggage had been cleared - no announcement was made - not good!

2. Two mornings in a row (so not to be considered a fluke) sausage served in buffet was cold - not room temp cold - out of the refrig and not allowed to grow to room temp cold.

3. Seriously half the food served in the buffet was cold - do not understand this at all and this was throughout the entire cruise.

4. Food selection in buffet area appears vastly reduced - another cost cutter move???

5. Morning coffee - sat down on Lido to have coffee and notice lipstick on both sides of the "clean" coffee cup - no excuse for that at all.

6. Had a problem with our bill early in the cruise and had to make 3 trips to the desk to get it corrected. Folks were friendly and helpful but it should not take 3 trips to fix what appeared to be a simple issue.

7. Slots were seriously tight. Don't laugh - we never "win" but have always been able to at least enjoy playing without the machines just sucking up the money with little to no return.

8. At one point every hot chocolate machine on the ship was not working. Walked with a crew member to each one to confirm - no one seemed to know how to get any of them back on line?????

We have now been on 14 Carnival cruises and have enjoyed all with the exception of the latest. Frankly if this had been our first Carnival cruise I am not certain we would consider Carnival again. I know Carnival is better than this - they have proven it in the past.

Again - not looking for any freebees - just wanted to pass along the info from our perspective. Management can't fix problems if they aren't aware of them

I wrote them once, over a year ago and finally got a reply. I too wrote to general Customer Service, which I was told might be my problem. I got a letter about how they price or something, that had nothing to do with what I said, even my TA who forwarded the letter said part of the letter didnt make sense, filled with bad grammer and seemed to be cut and paste in parts put together.

I didnt even feel like they heard me.

After that I took down my expectations of Carnival. Iv only had the one cruise where the service bothered me to the point of writing, but Iv experienced some of what you mention.

For instance you said it took 3 times to fix a problem. We had a cruise on Conquest where my sister's name came up the first time I tried to charge something. It took me 3 loooooooong trips to the purser's desk, getting my VISA card to prove my name was on it and over 2 hours of my time. They should have fixed it right the first time.

I do see some issues, but then having cruised so much lately, Im telling myself its cruise burnt out.

I too enjoy Carnival as a cruise line however I completely agree that when there is a problem they are not willing to do what it takes to fix it without serious argument. I had to argue for many hours on many phone calls to receive my $100 OBC I was told I would receive by my PVP. Carnival finally said they would credit my credit card a week after I got back from my cruise.

I kind of think of Carnival as the wal-mart of customer service when something goes wrong they just don't seem to care.

Yikes, I don't like those canned type replies. With that being said I'm curious about the food issues. Since customer service is usually someone sitting behind a desk totally removed from the ship wouldn't it make more sense to address the food related issues directly with the person in charge of the lido deck food?

I'm not a buffet person so I've never eaten breakfast at the buffet but if I had and I found food to be cold I'd have immediately asked for the person in charge. Having food out that isn't kept at a proper temperature is not only disgusting but a potential for food poisoning. Finding the right person to report that to is extremely important and doesn't fall into being a complainer at all.

It's so much easier to correct a bad situation as it's happening vs having guest services or the purser's desk contacting the person responsible after the fact. Hearing "Guest XYZ stated the sausage was cold this morning" has less of an impact than actually taking the person in charge to food and showing them.

Just something to consider for anyone reading this for future cruises. Take your issues directly to those who can actually fix them at the time they occur esp if it's something that could endanger others.

I don't see a problem with their response at all. They thanked OP for feedback and recognized VIP status. Can't imagine what else they could say.

I always drop them a line after a cruise and get the same sort of response.....

What else would you expect????

I don't see a problem with their response at all. They thanked OP for feedback and recognized VIP status. Can't imagine what else they could say.

 

I always drop them a line after a cruise and get the same sort of response.....

 

What else would you expect????

Well, I would expect them to answer some of the complaints at least.....in my case specifically the one about VIP Priority Debarkation. They just ignored the serious issues. This one has been ignored for years....and they still have not fixed it. The Glory in Port Canaveral used to have it done correctly...but no where else. Now even the Dream failed in that area....

If they don't admit or acknowledge there was/is a problem then they can't get sued!

Americans are the most litigous folks on the planet and the corporations are seen as those with the deepest pockets....so the legal department insist that employees admit to nothing. The best you are going to get is a, "thanks for your letter". Admit to nothing and they can't get sued...or have to give us a free cruise!!

This isn't just Carnival...it's every cruise line corporation!

It's so much easier to correct a bad situation as it's happening vs having guest services or the purser's desk contacting the person responsible after the fact. Hearing "Guest XYZ stated the sausage was cold this morning" has less of an impact than actually taking the person in charge to food and showing them.

 

Just something to consider for anyone reading this for future cruises. Take your issues directly to those who can actually fix them at the time they occur esp if it's something that could endanger others.

Sometimes it isnt worth it. I sort of knew when I dished up some oatmeal it would be cold (I dont eat it, my sister does, but I fix her breakfast plate usually due to her mobility). She just wouldnt eat it. I think because of the leaking in the ceiling, they moved the oatmeal to where they usually just put the pastries ... with no heat under it, it cooled off when it was more than half way gone. I should have known I figured ... never occured to me to go complain and get someone to heat it up. We just at a box of cold cereal, picked something else, felt bad to have wasted the oatmeal. Other things were cold too on Triumph, but cant say I really cared enough to do something... just a observation. I thought it was a good cruise overall, but then my expectations arent as high as they were a couple years ago.

Well G'Ma I would expect them to indicate some degree of concern or potential action - like "We will look into it" The response is simply = thanks for your comments = then nothing. It appears as though the comments we provided have fallen on deaf ears - I would think that if this kind of service and response to concerns continues there will be flash back from the customer base - no service can equally result in reduced customers - which ultimately leads to fewer dollars for Carnival. I am not so naive as to think my one little comment will impact them but here's the point - we were not the only ones affected. If no one ever provides feedback they will fix nothing. We attempted to provide comments based on fact and not emotion as so many others do. Don't see the issues we brought up as small deals - Carnival advertises that VIPs get VIP treatment and they did not provide it - they served cold food on dirty dishes, endangering peoples health - there is simply no excuse for that - it should not take three trips to the persuers desk to fix an apparently simple accounting error that should not have ocurred in the first place.

We have been on three CCL cruises. Our general rule after feeling sick on one cruise is that dining at the buffet to avoid any meet that appears to be undercooked. I am talking about the meat they slice for you and put on your plate. We were on the Celebration about the time that there was a severe problem with cruise line passengers getting sick and one of us did try the lamb and got sick. It was not properly cooked and kept at the correct temperature. Our last trip was on the Fascination and noticed runny scrambled eggs and at times cold sausage. We gave up on this and went through the omelette line. Remember that usually the cruise lines will pass off any ailment as being brought onboard by the passengers. My questions is this,,,, how can the cruise line get away with serving cold food and onland restraunts would be tagged by the health department.