What happens when your cabin is damaged?

[SabrinaSummerville]

I'll be taking detailed pics of my cabin from now on.....and I would also be wary about ever travellling with that company. That saying, it seems so petty that one would have to wonder if there had been earlier issues between Mr. Harvey and this particular member of cabin crew!

[Bassnote_1]

I've never had a problem with any compay accusing me of causing any damage. That said, I don't see how you are covered by talking to your steward. ... A casual, undocumented conversation with a cruiseline employee (possibly with a partial language barrier) is little or no protection if the cruiseline blames you for damage. Of course if the cruiseline wants us to document damage, they should pass out forms on day one. Of course, that would cause people to look for problems, probably not the cruiseline's big goal on day one.

 

You must have missed the part where I request repairs for found damage in writing. The same as a hotel or rental car. I have never had an issue.

[Bassnote_1]

This is just my opinion

 

While you are correct in that the full story is inside that attached link, I find your individual typed message to have been distorted. You captured our attention with flair, but hid "the rest of the story" buried in a link.

 

I think most cruise critic people have concerns with journalistic integrity. We cringe when we hear stories of the dreaded cruise virus better known as norovirus. We cringe whenever there is a reported jumper. Why? because we all know that there is more to the story than what is being reported. The headlines report one side of the story, while the rest of the story is buried within a link if reported at all.

 

I just expected more transparency from Cruise Critic.

 

Melissa did a fine job of introducing the issue. The issue is cabin damage, the story about the other pax experience was simply supporting documentation, not the main issue.:rolleyes:

[Bassnote_1]

I know it's off topic but I just had to reply to this. Do you suppose this Hotel in China paid royalties to Disney for the images of Mickey and Donald? Funny how those who are thieves themselves are so worried about others stealing from them!

 

China: it's a whole other country! :D:D:D

[jmf123]

We had an incident on our very first cruise- we came back to our stateroom after breakfast to find our large picture window shattered! It was intact and had just 'spider-webbed', cracking so we couldn't see out.

 

We called Guest Relations and they immediately sent up a ship's engineer and officer. The officer asked us (jokingly, in his Scandinavian accent) "Vot did you do to my ship?" NCL was great and repaired it that afternoon as we were on our shore excursion, plus sent us a bottle of wine with apologies for the inconvenience! It just added to our cruise memories, and they explained that sometimes when a window is installed too tightly it can crack over time.

 

Regarding items missing from a hotel room, we just stayed in one over the weekend that had a small sign on the sink that 'Towels are expensive. Any missing towels will be charged to your room or credit card.' That's the first time I've ever seen that, although I'm sure it's a deterrent for those tempted.

[STARFISH*4]

havent really had any damage to any cabins....that i guess have been noticeable but you can bet now that will be the first thing we do when we get to our cabin.......and anything will be noted, pictured and documented and probably even a picture of the person inspecting the damage-so i guess the first pics will be of the cabin....guess its something to add to the before we sail to do list

i do think Carnival handled the situation all wrong at first....what stress and frustration and humiliation that family had to be put thru

[critterfriend]

It's sad that it's come to this but from now on we will be sure to take photos of damage to anything in the room. Now who do we report the damage to?

[MVSgeek]

Savvy travelers know that the first thing to do when renting a car is to check the bumper for existing dings and dents, less they be "dinged" for them when returning their vehicles. But, should passengers exercise the same caution when walking into their cruise cabins on embarkation day?

 

If you don't, you should probably start -- a lesson Carnival passenger Chris Harvey learned the hard way. According to a blog entry on his company's Web site, squaremouth.com, Harvey and his family were recently detained aboard Carnival Freedom for several hours on disembarkation morning, wrongly accused by their room steward for having scuffed up a desk -- and subsequently banned for life from sailing on any Carnival ship in the future. (Click here for our full story.)

 

Have you ever been required to pay for damages to a cabin? Do you think Carnival handled Harvey's situation appropriately? How will you avoid a similar fate in the future? Tell us!

 

 

A similar situation occurred on my March 22, 2009 cruise on Carnival Pride. A previous occupant of my room tampered with the contents of the mini-bar. I didn't think to inventory the contents of the mini-bar as I embarked. As a result I was charged for four mini bottles of liquor. I repeatedly told the staff at the purser's desk that I was *not* the person that tampered with the bottles and I was the only occupant in my cabin. They REFUSED to remove the charges from my onboard account. They were quite cold and didn't appear to care that their actions toward me suggested that I was a liar and a thief. I had to place a dispute with my credit card company and write a letter to Carnival's customer relations department to get my money returned. They nearly spoiled my entire cruise.

 

I thought I just got a bad crew but now that this information has come to light it appears to me that Carnival trains their personnel to extract as much money from its customers as possible regardless of whether or not they were "guilty" of something.

 

I will think twice before sailing with them again.

 

- MVSGeek

[TThompson05]

Not knowing what both sides are, I will say this:

 

TAKE PICTURES

 

That way there is not dispute of what the cabin looked like before the cruise. This also protects you and the cruise lines also.

[yogi2929]

A similar situation occurred on my March 22, 2009 cruise on Carnival Pride. A previous occupant of my room tampered with the contents of the mini-bar. I didn't think to inventory the contents of the mini-bar as I embarked. As a result I was charged for four mini bottles of liquor. I repeatedly told the staff at the purser's desk that I was *not* the person that tampered with the bottles and I was the only occupant in my cabin. They REFUSED to remove the charges from my onboard account. They were quite cold and didn't appear to care that their actions toward me suggested that I was a liar and a thief. I had to place a dispute with my credit card company and write a letter to Carnival's customer relations department to get my money returned. They nearly spoiled my entire cruise.

 

I thought I just got a bad crew but now that this information has come to light it appears to me that Carnival trains their personnel to extract as much money from its customers as possible regardless of whether or not they were "guilty" of something.

 

I will think twice before sailing with them again.

 

- MVSGeek

 

You can have the steward lock the minibar the first day.

 

I believe that Carnival overreacted with the lifetime ban. Should have charged him with the cost of repairs. We will never know the real story of what happened.

[okgirl]

As a Platinum cruiser, my cabin steward has always greeted me and asked me to sign a clipboard that everything in the cabin is to my satisfaction. I've never noticed anything wrong, but I guess I will look more carefully in the future.

I however don't put much worth in a digital picture taken that is being used to "Prove" the damage was already there.....I'm forever for some reason having to reset the date and time on my camera.

If they noticed the damage before, they should have pointed it out to the steward. I would have.

[sandestination69]

This is just my opinion

 

While you are correct in that the full story is inside that attached link, I find your individual typed message to have been distorted. You captured our attention with flair, but hid "the rest of the story" buried in a link.

 

I think most cruise critic people have concerns with journalistic integrity. We cringe when we hear stories of the dreaded cruise virus better known as norovirus. We cringe whenever there is a reported jumper. Why? because we all know that there is more to the story than what is being reported. The headlines report one side of the story, while the rest of the story is buried within a link if reported at all.

 

I just expected more transparency from Cruise Critic.

 

 

I RECEIVED MY CARNIVAL NEWS EMAIL AND IT STATES " In This Week's News.... CARNIVAL bans (then un-bans) a passenger for cabin damage !

So I suppose had that title been in the news headlines on the critic itself you could have avoided getting an attitude. so sign up for the highlight email critic and then you'll have THE FULL HEADER.

[rdler]

Well, it strikes me that it would be relatively easy for Carnival to install bottle openers in each cabin. They cost about a dime. On the Destiny a few weeks ago, they had them.

 

It also wouldn't be hard to get twist off bottles, or even cans for the beer. I seem to do it all the time.

 

I do not want to take pictures (which are not really helpful with our ability to change the date and time). And do any of you think that Carnival or any other ship is going to send a person to your room to document the nicks and dings? Heck, they don't hire people to clean the tables. They are certainly not going to have a cast of hundreds documenting these things before leaving the port.

[yesaccasey]

One time we did damage some cabin furniture, and we paid for it.

 

If there's something wrong when you get there, let someone know. If you damage something, then either try to get away with it, or pay for it if your asked to.

[rjnaz]

:eek:if your cabin is damaged you spend the rest of the cruise in lifeboat # 12:D

[orianagal]

In a similar note...From what could only be described as a real worry of a ship, passed on to the Australian public and not maintained in any reasonable fashion like its sister ship Sea princess which is kept in great condition we travelled on the Sun Princess last year and our cabin was the worst sight you have seen dents in the walls pen marks all over the walls mould and grime in the shower recess ,footprints up on the wall ! chipped furniture sorry...chunks out of the furniture.

And a bedspread that looked like it came out of the 1940s !!

 

The cabin appeared to have had some type of encounter in there of the alien kind !!!:D ha ha

 

It was the worst worst cabin we had encountered in years.

Obviously we complained and were compensated and our cabin was steam cleaned by four crew members at once.

[MrsPete]

Carnival has investigated and admitted that the customer was wrongly accused and have thus lifted the "ban for life".

If I hadn't damaged anything and I was treated this way, a "ban for life" would be meaningless to me . . . I would never sail with that company again.

[happy_travellers]

If I hadn't damaged anything and I was treated this way, a "ban for life" would be meaningless to me . . . I would never sail with that company again.

 

and then I would tell 10 friends that would tell 10 friends.......................

[1FatPER]

I think the Harvey's experience indicates the holier-than-thou attitude of some cruise ship employees. A quick call to Carnival's head office would have resolved the problem. The Harvey's should have been offered an apology and a future cruise credit, not a ban for life. Lifting the ban after the fact was nice but did Carnival no good. The Harvey's will now be cruising another line. I think the cabin steward should have been reprimanded.

[KS&JW]

If I hadn't damaged anything and I was treated this way, a "ban for life" would be meaningless to me . . . I would never sail with that company again.

 

 

Yes, yes, yes

[Moeve]

While that is true to most of us it could still be a problem because the cruising world is in all truth VERY small. Carnival being Carnvial Corp. means all those brands under the umbrella of the Carnival Corp would probably black list this passenger tooo. Which does reduce this persons choice dramtically..... Therefore it was important that Carnival take back that life tiem ban.

 

Accidents happen and I have insurance for damage to other peoples property - so if you do damage something say so and pay for it.

 

Have a look at your cabins if there are damages take a photo of it right away to document it for any troubles that may lay ahead.