Horrendous Customer Service

[crzcat]

Dry docks are part of business..its not like its not in their budget.

 

Not that what they are doing is illegal,its not..perfectly fine,justified, and industry standard.Still,it effects the consumer much like a bait and switch.

[Hunwolf]

Alive and breathing - check

Healthy enough to go cruising - check

Employment and with time off for vacations - check

Access to all travel options via the internet - check

Already booked with a competitor (NCL) - check

Inflammatory post to the CCL portion of Cruise Critic - check

Returned to the NCL portion of Cruise critic and no need to come back as you will never set foot on a Carnival ship - check

 

.....the fact that you might have caused people to flee Carnival in droves leaving cabin classes unsold......priceless for us as we always book ES and the the wonderful PVP's we call at Carnival are glad to help us save money on our booked cruises.:D

 

Cheasiest post of the day...check. ;)

 

Note...I have no issues with Carnival per se...but I noticed you left out the part where their customer rep gave him the "heave ho" on the phone. I guess that didn't quite work in the Mastercard "rip off" routine.

[fi'fi]

We received an e-mail today from Carnival informing us that our November 7th Pride cruise out of Baltimore has been cancelled!!!!! In and of itself, that was a real bummer, but what happened when we called Carnival was horrendous and has put us off from cruising with Carnival in the future.

We booked this cruise several months ago to take advantage of the super saver fare offering and also to fit with our very tough to schedule vacation time. We watched the price drop from $469 pp down to a low of $389 pp (lower deck inside cabin, but we don't need a balcony every trip). All was well until the e-mail from Carnival arrive today.

We called Carnival to find out why the cruise was cancelled and to see what other arrangements we could make and what Carnival was going to do in the way of making good on this rotten situation. At first the representative who answered was polite and commiserated with us but when we started to inquire as to what other cruises were available and what Carnival would do to honor the fact we booked early to allow us to get such a low fare, the representative gave us all kinds of options from other ports requiring airline and hotel costs. When we inquired if Carnival was going to pick up these costs the representative started to laugh. When asked fro her name, she hung up.

An immediate follow up call to a supervisor was courteous, yet she stated that there was no way to trace our previous call as the representative did not properly 'code' the call. (That is a crock of you know what as they monitor and tape all calls for quality and safety reasons.) To make a long story short, we are getting a refund, never booking again on Carnival, and writing a letter to the president of Carnival ex pressing our displeasure with the cancellation but more importantly the horrendous service we received.

Wow. So sad 

[jimbo5544]

Yeah, I was reading an article on Terry Gilliam's cursed production of a new Don Quixote movie and it seemed an apt allusion.

I was going to break out in a chorus of "to Dream the impossible Dream" but this is about the Pride.;)

[jimbo5544]

I was going to break out in a chorus of "to Dream the impossible Dream" but this is about the Pride.;)

That was from Don Quixote right?:o

[LemurCat]

That was from Don Quixote right?:o

 

Man of La Mancha

 

But I digress, so as not to be a nuisance.

[jimbo5544]

Man of La Mancha

 

But I digress, so as not to be a nuisance.

dang.....and it was so witty:rolleyes:

[LemurCat]

dang.....and it was so witty:rolleyes:

 

 

It's still witty. :p And I now have it stuck in my head.

[jimbo5544]

It's still witty. :p And I now have it stuck in my head.

and since I said witty, now I have that stupid sound from My Fair Lady in my head. Wish I had something about Jersey Boys...:rolleyes:

[Vanessa L]

wellllllll....i am very disappointed, my cruise was cancelled by carnival. Oh well, god musta not wanted me to cruise this year...with carnival...i'm taking the money that i was apparently loaning to carnival on an interest-free basis and saving it up for another trip. Any money above and beyond the interest-free loan that i was providing carnival that is provided to me by carnival will be placed in a separate account and used to fund future carnival cruises. As long as that account is empty, there will be no carnival cruises.

 

How's that?!?! ;):d

 

awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lurkernj]

And let me tell you something. If you know what the contract says and know what a contract is, it *does* make it right. If you don't feel that way, you shouldn't have signed the contract. The contract is what governs wrong and right, provided the contract is written the boundaries of prevailing contract laws.

 

Let me tell YOU something...I was referring to MORALLY. There are companies that do care about customer service and would try to keep their customers happy. We just had a trip to canada planned in June, DH had a stroke two days prior to leaving. Contractually, they didn't need to give us anything back, but they gave us a full refund. Why would they do that if they didn't have to? Because it was the right thing to do. We will definitely give them our business again.

[LemurCat]

Let me tell YOU something...I was referring to MORALLY. There are companies that do care about customer service and would try to keep their customers happy.

 

Well, that's fantastic, but you aren't dealing with one here. Why is that so hard for people to understand? Is because you don't want to face the reality that this is a multinational corporation and not your buddy's family-run company?

 

We just had a trip to canada planned in June, DH had a stroke two days prior to leaving. Contractually, they didn't need to give us anything back, but they gave us a full refund. Why would they do that if they didn't have to? Because it was the right thing to do. We will definitely give them our business again.

 

Good for you. I mean, not about the stroke. I hope your DH is making a full recovery. But I'm glad you booked with a company that has satisfied not only their contract but gone beyond it. But that company is not Carnival. I hope you do give them your business again. They deserve it.

[dan40]

If you know what the contract says and know what a contract is, it *does* make it right. If you don't feel that way, you shouldn't have signed the contract. The contract is what governs wrong and right, provided the contract is written the boundaries of prevailing contract laws.

 

CS has gone downhill across the board precisely because people "WANT" contracts to be binding on the company, including what people THINK should be in the contract but is not, and not binding on themselves.

Good Customer Service cannot exist in that environment.

[Carnival Platinum Cruiser]

And let me tell you something. If you know what the contract says and know what a contract is, it *does* make it right. If you don't feel that way, you shouldn't have signed the contract. The contract is what governs wrong and right, provided the contract is written the boundaries of prevailing contract laws.

 

Let me tell YOU something...I was referring to MORALLY. There are companies that do care about customer service and would try to keep their customers happy. We just had a trip to canada planned in June, DH had a stroke two days prior to leaving. Contractually, they didn't need to give us anything back, but they gave us a full refund. Why would they do that if they didn't have to? Because it was the right thing to do. We will definitely give them our business again.

 

Bottom line is people remember who has done them right so to speak and also remember who does not care. Unfortunately CCL does not care and time will tell if they keep having that attitude if it hurts them financially. It is too bad because they once not too long ago did care and have had that experience with them first hand. Sign of the depressed economic times.

[shamr0ck]

"Carnival Cruise Lines - pissing off millions of customers, 2000 at a time!"

[Vanessa L]

Here is a question that just occurred to me and I would like to see answered by those that think "this needs to be made right". Lets say I have one of those coveted aft wrap balconies that I booked 9 months ago, just so I could get it. Uh oh. Carnival has cancelled my cruise. OK, to "make it right" I want you to put me in an aft wrap (the EXACT room I booked because I booked it on PURPOSE and HAVE to have THAT room, another aft wrap won't do.) on your next available cruise and I don't want you to charge me anymore for it. Deal? Well, no sir, no deal. The aft wrap you mentioned (and all other aft wraps for that matter, because they are so coveted and all) are booked completely full until December 2011. I can get you in then. No, absolutely not, I want you to boot the person in MY room on the next available cruise, OUT, because it is after all, MY room and none of this is my fault. No, I don't care about the other person in my room. It's MY room, dammit. OK, sir, we'll just boot them right out and get you in that room.

 

Next post.....can you BELIEVE I was booted out of a room....wait, let me call Carnival, I'm sure they will make this right......

 

So tell me oh wise ones with all the answers, short of refunding the people's money and saying, "Sorry," how exactly WOULD you "Make this right" since we know that the ships are booked fairly heavily at least a year out. The people who have been effected by this cancellation are whining because the cruise that Carnival wants to put them on would not have the same fantastic room at the same fantastic cost because (GASP) someone else booked it 9 months ago for their cruise date.

[SE NC]

As another poster pointed out, Carnival won't miss you, miss me, or miss the Cruise Critic community if we all voted with our $$$.

 

How do I know? Look at my signature - 10 Carnival cruises and not a single one since January of 2006 (November of 2006 if you count all of the lines under their corporate umbrella). I still get emails and flyers from Carnival and Princess, but no one has ever called, written, or emailed to say "we missed you - where have you been? What can we do to get you to come back?"

 

There are too many new cruisers - ones that will blindly book the ship's excursions, buy the 8X10 pirate pictures, ones that they don't have to give priority embarkation, or free laundry service to.

 

So they don't miss me. No worries - I don't miss them either!

 

It appears you have not cruised ANY cruise line since 2006!!!:D:p:D

[augie]

It appears you have not cruised ANY cruise line since 2006!!!:D:p:D

 

That's true. We visited an island on one of our cruises years ago, instantly fell in love with the place, and vowed to come back for a longer visit. It took almost 10 years and several more day visits from cruises, but in 2007 we finally went there for a week. And for 10 days in 2008. A week last year. Getting ready to go back for another week in five days, taking our son with us this time. And my wife and I will be going for 11 more days in the fall.

 

I guess you could say that our initial feelings about the place have been confirmed! :D

[pe4all]

 

(2) I am bummed that I am losing my trip insurance premium, even though I fully expected to lose that money the day I paid it. I just originally expected that I would lose it and have a wonderful cruise to show for it. (I also realize I could probably transfer it if I had another cruise booked, but I don't, so I can't).

.

As soon as you make new vacation plans - and it doesn't have to be a cruise - contact your trip insurer. You are allowed to "modify policy" on many plans. We use travelguard, and I usually have to modify my policy at least once after I purchase it, cause we book our vacations way before the flight schedules are out.

[dan40]

Let me tell YOU something...I was referring to MORALLY. There are companies that do care about customer service and would try to keep their customers happy. We just had a trip to canada planned in June, DH had a stroke two days prior to leaving. Contractually, they didn't need to give us anything back, but they gave us a full refund. Why would they do that if they didn't have to? Because it was the right thing to do. We will definitely give them our business again.

 

Bottom line is people remember who has done them right so to speak and also remember who does not care. Unfortunately CCL does not care and time will tell if they keep having that attitude if it hurts them financially. It is too bad because they once not too long ago did care and have had that experience with them first hand. Sign of the depressed economic times.

 

You know from many posts on this board that Carnival is very understanding about someone suffering an illness or an emergency just before a cruise. Carnival routinely gives those INDIVIDUALS credit towards a future cruise. You know that. Making arrangements for a few weeks worth of FULL ships is an entirely different matter. Where are they going to get the EXTRA ship or 2 to accommodate all those passengers? They can refund and say sorry, but that is all they can do.

[MarylandCruiseCouple]

Immediately after last night's fiasco we booked a trip on NCL Jewel out of NYC. Have to drive the NJ Turnpike to get there, but I can live with that.

[happy cruzin]

Immediately after last night's fiasco we booked a trip on NCL Jewel out of NYC. Have to drive the NJ Turnpike to get there, but I can live with that.

 

I am glad you found a solution!!

[onthehighseas606]

We received an e-mail today from Carnival informing us that our November 7th Pride cruise out of Baltimore has been cancelled!!!!! In and of itself, that was a real bummer, but what happened when we called Carnival was horrendous and has put us off from cruising with Carnival in the future.

 

We booked this cruise several months ago to take advantage of the super saver fare offering and also to fit with our very tough to schedule vacation time. We watched the price drop from $469 pp down to a low of $389 pp (lower deck inside cabin, but we don't need a balcony every trip). All was well until the e-mail from Carnival arrive today.

 

We called Carnival to find out why the cruise was cancelled and to see what other arrangements we could make and what Carnival was going to do in the way of making good on this rotten situation. At first the representative who answered was polite and commiserated with us but when we started to inquire as to what other cruises were available and what Carnival would do to honor the fact we booked early to allow us to get such a low fare, the representative gave us all kinds of options from other ports requiring airline and hotel costs. When we inquired if Carnival was going to pick up these costs the representative started to laugh. When asked fro her name, she hung up.

 

An immediate follow up call to a supervisor was courteous, yet she stated that there was no way to trace our previous call as the representative did not properly 'code' the call. (That is a crock of you know what as they monitor and tape all calls for quality and safety reasons.) To make a long story short, we are getting a refund, never booking again on Carnival, and writing a letter to the president of Carnival ex pressing our displeasure with the cancellation but more importantly the horrendous service we received.

 

 

I don't blame you for not cruising with Carnival again,. There are other cruiselines out there that would probably give you better service. Chalk this one up as another dissatisfied customer. I hope you find a cruise line that won't leave you high and dry. However, I think most of them for some reason or another would cancel a cruise, but maybe not be so nasty to you on the phone. We have a back-to-back coming up on Carnival, and we will have made platinum. BFD. I don't like all the hoops that they are putting people through (all the restrictions like no fans, etc). I'll take my business else where.

[cruisin07family]

Immediately after last night's fiasco we booked a trip on NCL Jewel out of NYC. Have to drive the NJ Turnpike to get there, but I can live with that.

 

That is excellent news!!! I really hope you have a fantastic cruise and the weather isn't toooo cold in NYC in November. We cruised that route for dh's birthday which falls the week before Thanksgiving. Pricewise a terrific deal and we got lucky and it was unseasonably warm in NYC - at least on the way out, lol. I hope you end up loving NCL as much as we do!

[carsastic]

Nice ending to a frustrating expierence.