Would this have ruined your cruise?

[crazyforcruizin]

Hubby and I were talking tonight, and reminiscing about our two previous cruises. It has been mentioned on here that once you start getting into the 5th or 6th cruise, everyone is going to have a "bad one", or one that sticks out in your head as not being all too great.

 

So we started taking inventory of our first cruise, one that we LOVED and got us addicted to cruising. During that trip:

 

- We had one of our excursions cancelled

- My husband's glasses broke

- I got horribly sick the last night... vomiting and "the other end", simultaneously, all night (coupled with an asthma attack). Finally fell asleep at 4 am. Still not sure what caused it.

- PR customs was shut down due to a computer malfunction, and we were delayed getting off ship by 3 or 4 hours

- Because of Carnival's lack of communication during the customs issue, we missed our debarkation excursion (with our transport to the airport) and had to pay for a bus ride back to the airport. (we later got reimbursed for it, but it was out of pocket at the time)

 

Now, I have read all sorts of complaints on here about other people's cruises. Some, seem perfectly justified... and some seem downright silly. But I guess it's all about perception and people's expectations.

 

Personally, that trip was the best week of my life, regardless of the difficulties. My husband and I are both "roll with the punches" people... we try to make the best out of every situation. However, I realize that cruises are expensive endeavors, so when things go wrong, I can understand the stress involved.

 

So, I'd love it if people weighed in... would the things I listed have ruined your cruise? Under what circumstances do you let something bother you, vs. just shrugging it off? If you have had a handful of cruises and have figured out which one was your "bad one"... what made THAT one your "bad" one?

 

Out of nine cruises, there have really only been 3 mishaps. On 2 separate ones, we missed a port (Grand Cayman-not able to tender in due to rough water, and Mazatlan-just recently in December because of the Splendor hitting a jetty in Puerto Vallarta) but the real icing on the cake was when we were on a Christmas cruise with 18 family members and eleven of us were without our luggage the entire time because of Delta misplacing our luggage and never getting it to us. I hate to say it but I was miserable the whole time on that cruise.

[grandmato4]

Nope, the things you've listed wouldn't have ruined our cruise. Although I would need to book another one soon to rest up from that one.;)

 

We've yet to have a "bad" cruise experience. That doesn't mean we haven't had some "adventures";) We fully understand when booking any cruise that we are booking an experience that is an adventure that will likely have a few unplanned twist and turns along the way. Few multiday experiences in life are absolutely perfect in any venue so we don't expect the duration of a cruise to be any different. Although we've have several cruises come pretty close to perfection;):D

 

I like reading reviews where people give their opinions good or bad and list experiences of things they liked and things they didn't find to be perfect. Things rarely are totally perfect and I think those new to cruising need to understand that. No two cruises will ever be exactly the same nor will two different couples on the same cruise have exactly the same experience.

 

What I dislike is people complaining and blaming cruiselines for things that they themselves failed to take responsiblity for or things for which the cruiseline does not have control over or very clearly states they will not be responsible for. When I read that "my vacation was ruined because........" I often think those people need to pick another venue for there vacations because I sure hope and pray we don't end up as their tablemates for dinner on my next cruise!;)

[Nannersmom]

On our first cruise, a cold front followed us from Florida to the Bahamas...was freezing! But we just put on warmer clothes and went with it. On both of our cruises our excursions were cancelled because of high winds - just found other excursions to do. On our second cruise my dh came down with some type of "bug". So while he laid sick in the cabin I went snorkeling without him. It was in Grand Cayman and the snorkeling boat ended up right near the ship! Didn't know that would happen but at least we could wave to each other :). Also, that day was our anniversary. so was kind of a bummer. DH spent most of the cruise in the cabin, his choice because he felt bad. On another note: he came down with what could be called the same type of "bug" when we went to Arizona. So it doesn't matter where you are at, if the "bug" is there there is a chance you could catch it. Did it ruin either trip, no, does it make it on the best of list, no. But it has not stopped us from traveling either.

[stay_or_go]

We went through tropical storm Olga on the Glory a couple of years ago and had 20-30 foot seas. I never thought a ship that big would shake when it hit the water, but it did from bow to stern (and we were on deck 10).

 

We missed St. Thomas because of Olga and ended up in San Juan.

 

Ya it was a little scarey for me and a little disappointing that we missed St. Thomas, but the cruise was still great!

 

I think our next cruise will be back to St. Thomas so we can finally visit the island.

 

I think the only thing that would really ruin a cruise for me would be an abandon ship order and I pray to god that no one ever gets that.

[CanWeGoYet?]

We went through a tropical storm on the Pride, mexican riviera cruise back in july of 2004. It was bad, 40 foot seas at one point, many crew were sick, barf bags in the elevators. Dining room closed & shows canceled, but can definitely see why. I wondered why the crew were mopping in the buffet area considering how badly the ship was pitching - it was hard enough to walk safely without wet floors. But they had to - people were getting sick before they could get to a restroom. 1 day of misery, but the rest of the cruise was wonderful, that ship is still the favorite of the ships I've been on so far. I don't know why we went though that storm, apparently the captain wasn't able to cruise out of it.

My last cruise on the Imagination was probably my least favorite. It was crowded and some people were acting more like they were in a prison yard than a cruise ship - fights, shouting for security at the tops of their lungs in the atrium - never seen a crowd like this before on a cruise ship. The people from our small roll call were all very nice, but the people in the cabin next to us were blasting their music at 4am, man laughing and yelling the F bomb from the balcony, woman with nails on the chalkboard laugh you could hear through the walls. I called security & they got them to pipe down immediately. That morning before disembarking - Customs and Ships security were all gathered at their doorway - asking for passports & ID. Apparently they were tipped off to something during the night time visit, or Customs found stuff in the luggage. But this didn't look like a good end to their vacation.

Nothing ruined has ruined my cruise, but I would not want to go on a 3 day cruise to Nassau again.

[RadChick]

It all depends on your outlook!

 

The best week of my life was aboard a ship... during that week I

a) got into a huge fight with a family member

b) slept a total of about 20 hours over the course of the week (perhaps that helped it not be so bad actually when I consider how I spent that time lol)

c) fell and smashed the crap out of my toe

d) subsequently had the same toe that was already in crazy pain and bloody stomped on, HARD

e) got in trouble with ship security

f) missed an excursion that I was REALLY looking forward to

g) almost got ran over by a car in Belize and pissed off the entire bus load of people I was with

h) lost my "love connection"

i) had a $350 camera stolen with all my pictures from the above week

j) left my cell phone in the airport shuttle

k) had to surrender a souvenir I bought for my mom that I brought in my carry on luggage that should have been checked (a water globe, small value but it still sucked)

l) nearly missed my flight (was literally running at a full sprint through the airport)

m) had some horrific, scary, nauseating turbulence on one of the legs of my flight and got wicked airsick

 

 

But that was not the sum of my experiences. :) It was still the BEST week EVER.

[glrounds]

Naw, never. . .

. . . short of sinking in the North Atlantic without enough lifeboats and Carnival's refusal to give me 50% off on my next cruise.

[bots99]

no - none bad. had a "wish i was there" one. had a great two days then got sick. spent the rest of the week in bed till time to disembark. Room service was fantastic!

[songbird1329]

I've only been on one cruise, a 4-day cruise to the Bahamas in 1987. great cruise, for the most part, but I got a bad sunburn while snorkeling ... I was lobster-red, couldn't eat my lobster at dinner because it felt like cannibalism.

 

stuff happens, even when you're on vacation. I had one experience at Disneyworld...my then-8-year-old daughter had strep throat just before we left on vacation, was still taking antibiotics when we got onto the plane. we landed in Orlando, went to our hotel...and my 7-year-old began to complain that her throat fet sore, and she was feverish. cost me $100 or so to have a doctor make a "hotel call", and we had to make some modifications to our vacation plans. but overall we had a good vaction.

 

so i think that's the issue. do you focus on the positives or the negatives?

[songbird1329]

Naw, never. . .

 

. . . short of sinking in the North Atlantic without enough lifeboats and Carnival's refusal to give me 50% off on my next cruise.

 

avoid those icebergs and you should be fine.

[teaach]

Our first two cruises were wonderful - Triumph /W. Carib.; Valor /E. Carib.

 

I researched one of the dryest months in Alaska to be May and it rained 8 out of 10 days in Vancouver and on the Spirit. We went whale watching in Juneau.There was more water coming out of the sky then there was in the bay the whales were swimming in! Still I never let the "the Alaskan sunshine" spoil my cruise, and I definitely will be heading to AL again.

 

Last year we took the Splendor to Mexico. Well, Swine Flu arrived and all we saw of Mexico was the arch at Land's End for a total of 15 minutes (technical stop to cover the Jone's Act and let off an injured passenger. People caused a mini riot at the Purser's desk and demanded to be taken back to Long Beach to disembark. We were with a great group of CCers and we had a wonderful time. I did inbibe a little more than usual as the ship kept the alcohol flowing. Our only stop was San Fracisco, totally unplanned to appease the savage beasts - 49 degrees and pouring buckets. The only warm clothes we had were the terry robes and we had dollar store rain ponchos. We sloshed through the puddles, along with 100s of other tery robers, to the famous pier and had a pretty good time. I think we resembled the cult that had worn the same outfits and shoes and tried to attach themselves to that comet a few years back.:D

 

Last Nov. I went to Vegas - amazing condo on the strip, great weather, entertainment and food. The vacation with air, 5 days was roughly $600. plus food and entertainment. It was a great vacation, but it does not compare to one day on a ship. In April we will be on the Miracle going to Bermuda, 1/2 price balcony as a concession to no ports in Mexico last year.

 

So in retrospect any day cruising is better than any OTHER day. The cruise is what you make of it. Last year we made lemonade out of lemons and laughed through the whole experience, what we remember of it!

[ahoys]

I've sailed Carnival over 25 times. One cruise only stands out as being a "bad" one--so bad that it almost made me stop cruising Carnival. The only reason why the cruise was impossible was in the overall bad attitude by the staff. From the bartenders to the cruise hosts to the bar servers to the cabin stewards--everyone seemed to be in a bad mood. We ordered drinks from one bar (margaritas and daiquiris) and the bartender rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. Another time we ordered a coffee from the coffee bar and asked for skim milk in the latte and got another rolling of the eyes and heavy sigh. We are very easy-going people and usually ignore these kinds of things. But after the fourth or fifth incident of nastiness, we really had had enough. We were even shouted out by a cruise host as we left the ship for the last time because people weren't using the proper line to disembark. We can easily "roll with the punches" when the weather is icky or when excursions are canceled. Carnival can't foresee problems with equipment or debarkation delays. We also hate rude fellow passengers, but can't blame Carnival for that. This time, though, the staff's negative and lousy attitudes almost lost two long-time fans.

[JRock59]

Our very first Cruise was the week before Christmas in '91 on the Regal Princess. On the return sailing back to Miami we hit a storm. Had 30 foot sea swells and 70 mph winds. We hit it late afternoon of the next to last day. SO had a rough night and an interesting last day at sea. The crew was sea sick, the passengers were sea sick, the Captain couldn't go around it as it was a big storm. The open decks were closed off but they opened the doors and put yellow caution tape across them to get some fresh air in to the ship. Around midnight we finally made it out of the weather awoke in Miami to clear skies and sunshine. As you can see below it didn't stop us from taking another Cruise or two...:)

[gill_boo]

I have never had a "ruined" cruise. Even though each one seems to have had its bumps along the road. Considering I have 10 under my belt and won't vacation anywhere else anymore, I don't think anything could really ruin a cruise for me. Here are some of my minor details that occurred:

• Tahitian Princess - all stops except home port of Papeete were tender ports. In Rarotonga the seas were 10-15 feet, and our tender was the last one they ran until the suspended them for 3 hours to wait until the waves calmed a bit. They had to launch us one by one from the tender to the ship, timing it perfectly as the tender rose and fell with the waves. I was amazed more people didn't get hurt.
  
• Majesty of the Seas - totally redirected from a Bahamas to a Western Caribbean due to tropical strom Noel. Missed out on shark diving in Nassau, luckily the place I had booked with had a you don't pay if you don't port policy.
  
• Carnival Sensation - made the mistake of booking during March. Basically had a cabin on party row. My room was vibrating from the music from the cabin next door. Had to speak to the purser 3 times and such, but finally they moved me and I didn't hear a peep out of anyone in my new area.
  
• Carnival Imagination - got a cold spell through during my first back to back. It was only in the 60's in Florida and Bahamas. Spent the day at Atlantis freezing my butt off, but made the most of it.
  

[luving2cruise]

minor set backs the night before cruise...Was cheap and tried to touch up my own highlights only to turn the top of my head competely white look like i was bald. Had to go get dye from walmart in galveston thank godness for 24/7. last cuise rip an contact left my scipt at home and my eye doctor was closed had to get a new exam the morning of the cruise. the eye doctor was very nice gave me like 3 trial pairs so i didnt have to buy any since i had extras at home.

[dan40]

A "ruined" cruise? No, but on some of the early cruises when I was young and even stupider, I got "ruined." The cruise had to take care of itself!!!:eek::o:D

[aggieastrosfan]

Last year we took the Splendor to Mexico. Well, Swine Flu arrived and all we saw of Mexico was the arch at Land's End for a total of 15 minutes (technical stop to cover the Jone's Act and let off an injured passenger.

 

If I managed to have a good time on that trip, I think I'm pretty well covered for anything that happens. Thanks to the lack of wind at the back of the ship, I was able to lay out on the balcony and get a tan after we dropped the whiners off at Long Beach on Thursday.

 

I figure it can't get much worse than losing all your warm ports and ending up at one cold port in 7 days. Well, it probably can get much worse, but I sure wouldn't want it to!

 

Ironically, in all my cruises, that is the only one I've missed a port on. How I've managed that, I don't know. We've had late arrivals to ports, but I'd never missed one completely until then. That was cruise #13, that's probably why. :rolleyes::o

[David-n-Rita]

We always have a good time and pretty much roll with whatever happens, although we plan cruises so to minimize the possibility that something will go wrong. A couple of things that made the cruise less than perfect but still better than a day at work:

--Our luggage was put on the Inspiration not the Victory :(- remedy, put several luggage tags on each checked bag in case one comes off - we got it two days latter when we were docked with the Inspiration in Cozumel.

--Another cruise our luggage was lost on the plane and we had a pre cruise night at a hotel. Luggage arrived 2 days later but there was a delay in getting it because they couldn't find us - remedy, even if we are staying a a hotel 2-3 days pre cruise, we still put the Carnival tags on our checked luggage on the plane. If delayed, they know what boat you are on and when. They will get the luggage to you.

--had the steward from H*LL, :mad:a woman on a cruise once. Never cleaned the cabin when it was empty or we were away. Waited until you returned from a long day on shore and returned for a nap to a cabin not done-she then knocked and ask to clean it (3 pm) Pounded on the door at 9pm because we exchanged towels with another steward because we couldn't find her and she never did the room - (she had several cabins and treated all the same) remedy - took gratuities off and gave extra to the steward in the next block of room who helped us.;)

--30 foot waves and wind on the Legend while out to sea - ceiling tiles in our room came down on us in bed.:rolleyes:

--Fell on an excursion to some ruins and broke my hand

--My husband took the room service tray we had just eaten at 2 am out the cabin door quickly placing it in the deserted empty hall in just his underwear - the cabin door shut locking him out.:o The elevator right around the corner delivered about 12 people to the scene as he was quietly trying to get my attention in the cabin to open the door.:eek:

[dan40]

[

--My husband took the room service tray we had just eaten at 2 am out the cabin door quickly placing it in the deserted empty hall in just his underwear - the cabin door shut locking him out.:o The elevator right around the corner delivered about 12 people to the scene as he was quietly trying to get my attention in the cabin to open the door.:eek:

 

 

And how did that impact the cruise of those 12 people?????:D:D

[a3593]

My first cruise I was sick "from the other end" as well, and had awful stomac pains. Best four days of my life! :D

[redlef]

A bad day on vacation beats a good day at work . . .

[dan40]

My first cruise I was sick "from the other end" as well, and had awful stomac pains. Best four days of my life! :D

 

 

Did you mean to post this on the EWWWW thread?:D

[twinmommy08]

Our very first cruise DH spent the whole night praying to the toilet gods (sea sick) but it didn't put a damper in my mood! We had a great cruise and coming back for more.

 

I really think bad weather would suck though... not the cruise line fault, but still sucky.

[Warm Breezes]

Out of six cruises, we have never had one "ruined" by the events that happened during it. Things happen and sometimes they are the things that you can laugh about afterwards. Some of the items we had happen over our cruises are:

 

• DD(4 at the time) and I had a tray full of Bahama Mama's dumped on heads and laps from a waiter walking behind us in the theater (Disney Wonder).
  
• DD(same day as above) had her toe run over by the moving platform to get on the glass bottom boat in Nassau. She ended up losing her toe nail on that one.
  
• I received a rash all over my arms and legs and had to get a cortizone cream from the doctors office (again Disney Wonder).
  
• Went on a cruise with my brothers, Mom, and Step-Dad on the Inspiration....That was an adventure in itself. One DB and SD can't stand each other and were fighting before we even got on the ship (I'm talking grown adults here). On the way to the terminal in Tampa a cooler flew out of the back of someone's truck and smashed the window on the drivers side of my mothers car. SD complained about something at every meal. I felt horrible for the poor servers who had to put up with him. And to top it off DM was sea-sick almost everyday and spent most of her time in bed - having to deal with a cranky SD on top of it.
  
• On that same trip we missed Grand Cayman do to rough waters and ended up in Progresso.
  
• On the Norwegian Jewel and Carnival Elation the chair hogs were out in full force. On sea days DD and I could not find any open seats to lounge in outside (and I'm not talking just by the pool - we looked everywhere).
  
• On the Carnival Freedom it thunderstormed the whole day while we were in Nassau and seemed to rain, at least for a portion of the day, every day on that cruise. It was also extremely warm, which didn't bother me but DH had the air so cold in our room it was like a freezer. He hibernated in there while the kids and I tried to find some sun outside.
  

Things happen. We just roll with the punches and laugh about it later. Why let the little things ruin a vacation that you planned so long for. To me the good memories of these trips far outweigh the little mishaps that happened.

[bumbles]

I'm too old for that kind of crap,,,,,,,,,,,and the monkeys don't like me zip lining in my Speedo.:eek:

 

LOL! So that's why they're called HOWLER monkeys! :D:eek:;)