Informal poll, did the carnival incident make you change your mind about cruising

[Mel8730]

I booked my next cruise this past Friday while the Carnival drama was going on. Accidents and disasters can happen anywhere at any time. I refuse to live my life based on what could happen. Can't wait to sail again. :)

[SandNSunshine]

We are in the process of planning our first cruise. We were comparing the Carnival Dream and RCI FOS when all this went down. It didn't make us not want to continue planning, but it did make us drop the Dream from consideration.

[mruniowa]

This has not changed our (mine and my wife's) mind on cruising. She has told me however that if it happens to us I will be cruising solo in the future. :). We took our first cruise in 2010 for our honeymoon and fell in love with it from the start. Like everyone else we choose to cruise with safer cruise lines (in our case RCCL) and have not plans to change. We might try a different liner on occasion, but will stay with RCCL for the most part.

[avatheps]

My DW and I are waiting for our first cruise ever and the Triumph incident has not deterred us at all. We had already figured out that we did not want to travel with Carnival from months of comparing other frequent cruiser's experiences. Why push your luck when obvious better choices are to be had. If so many more gun shy individuals choose not to cruise it will mean better selections of staterooms available for us and maybe (at least for awhile) a few more bargains.

[CamaCama]

No, not at all.

[frito58]

My biggest problem is that Carnival knew that ship was having problems , duct taped her back together and sent her back out , I know wonder how much other cruiselines are doing the same thing for the almighty dollar.

 

We love cruising have numbers 14 15 and 16 booked but really dont want to if they are going to keep cutting back more and more and more. Our last Carnival cruise the lido deck was not much fun with that DJ blaring rap music and the big screen TV showing reurns of Mash and Happy Days . After this year We may think long and hard on how we spend our vacation dollars.

[nbsjcruiser]

My biggest problem is that Carnival knew that ship was having problems , duct taped her back together and sent her back out , I know wonder how much other cruiselines are doing the same thing for the almighty dollar.

 

We love cruising have numbers 14 15 and 16 booked but really dont want to if they are going to keep cutting back more and more and more. Our last Carnival cruise the lido deck was not much fun with that DJ blaring rap music and the big screen TV showing reurns of Mash and Happy Days . After this year We may think long and hard on how we spend our vacation dollars.

 

Could not agree more! The Carnival experience on the lido deck is awful compared to any mainstream line. No music, blaring 50 foot TV, small pools. They simply do not entice me to want to spend any time up there. Combined with the food quality, these two reasons were enough for me to say no thanks. No more Carnival for me.

[poncho1973]

I'm assuming with informal polling, that hearsay is allowed! :p

 

I have never sailed Carnival. My wife has, many friends, family members, and co-workers have. I had two pro-Carnival persons in that group. One is incredibly cheap and will only sail the "party barge" cruises when they drop to the cheapest possible price point and mostly cruises on the oldest Carnival ships for the 3 or 4-nighters. The other loves Carnival and you can never get her off of them.

 

The cheap friend has supposedly sworn off Carnival now, directly because of this event. He says "no more" and whether that winds up being true or not, time will tell.

 

The loyal to Carnival co-worker says she's still going. She is also going to try other lines this year. I have no idea if that is related to this event or not. She said it didn't bother her.

 

To me, the problems in the entire Carnival family of ships and the reviews of people who I know (knowing their taste and likes/dislikes is helpful) have led me to believe that Carnival isn't a line I'd like to try and that was solidified by this incident. So, it wasn't THE reason, but it was a nail in the coffin type thing.

[The Grumpus]

Last week's incident has not changed my opinion on cruising one bit. It has reinforced my desire to no longer sail on CCL, but I made that decision before this Triumph incident. I agree with the OP that Carnival along with their subsidiaries have had too many "accidents" over the past 5 years for it to be mere bad luck. Not that I think Carnival is completely irresponsibly but it seems to me like there is a general attitude of carelessness on their part. They've bumped into too many ships and piers, and had too many fires for all this to be just bad luck. They have not done the cruise industry any favors, if they think the press they've been getting is unfair, they have only themselves to blame for that.

[Karma5]

No, the event that occured did not change my mind about cruising, and I never plan to go on that particular cruise line................

[steveru621]

Carnival and Costa incidents have not changed my addiction to cruising. No more than train derailments, car accidents, or plane crashes have stopped me from using those transportation modes.

 

Never say never; but my first cruise was with Royal, all my loyalty points are with Royal, and I'm happy. Why would I go somewhere else?

[RobELovestheSea]

I would sail any cruise line tomorrow, especially Carnival. They have been very good to me and my family over the years. I have been on 23 CARNIVAL cruises, and have 2 boys, ages 9 and 12 who are 10+ cruise Platinum members. I asked them both if they wanted to go on a cruise while this Triumph crisis was in play. There answer was a resounding YES, and even inquired that we could probably get a real good deal on the Triumph if it isn't too badly damaged. I knew a lack of propulsion/fire drama would result in a 2+ month dry dock for repairs. My boys got their cruising under their belt after Hurricane Charlie swept through FL in 2004. We cruised on the Glory after she returned. It was a shortened cruise because she couldn't enter the port because Charlie had disrupted the water depth at the port. If you remember the 2004 hurricane season in FL, you know we had 4 named hurricanes rush through the state in 45 days. Needless to say, we went on 5 cruises in 45 days at below rock bottom prices. One 5 day cruise on the Destiny cost us only $650 total for 4 in a oceanview room. That was fun. But I digress, we would all cruise tomorrow in an instant regardless of the way Carnival was treated by the media, and trashed by passengers who will never be satisfied with whatever Carnival offers them. My boys , being boys, started to get bored with Carnival after a while and asked if we could cruise another line. I relented and we sailed Disney for a 4 day cruise..........although they had fun, they insisted we go right back to Carnival after that. We love Carnival, we're a family of Carnival, and we'll be happy to sail Carnival every chance we get. Nuff Said!!!!! As I type this, CNN just reported the fire started in a fuel-oil return line to a generator, and it had nothing to do with the engines...........hmmmmmmm

[MrsPete]

They have determined a cause already? I hadn't seen anything to that effect. Where did you hear this?

Word of mouth from a friend who's sailing Carnival in a couple weeks and was motivated to read everything available on the subject. She's generally pretty knowledgable.

[Teeara]

Nope. Not gonna happen.

 

I'm not going to sail Carnival again, though, and not because of their problems. My first cruise was a Carnival cruise and I had a lovely time, but after discovering Royal's Voyager class ships I simply have no desire to sail on Carnival. I'll also say that after sailing on RCI's Jewel and Monarch that I have no interest in sailing on anything smaller than Voyager class.

 

So I will definitely sail in the future but not on Carnival. I might be open to doing Princess again, but only if the itinerary suited me. My mother has stated she won't sail on Celebrity again in the future because she didn't like what they offered on the ship. My roommate won't sail on anything other than RCI in the future because she's in love with the Promenade ;):D.

[CruzieSue]

... Planes crash and people die, cars crash and people get hurt or die. No one died because of what happened. Do you still dry or fly?

 

Our first cruise was in March last year shortly after the Costa Concordia tragedy. Didn't deter us at all. We are going again this March - coincidentally just after the Triumph fiasco. Hope and pray nothing like that happens on our cruise, but you can't live life worrying about the "what ifs".

[time4u2go]

Word of mouth from a friend who's sailing Carnival in a couple weeks and was motivated to read everything available on the subject. She's generally pretty knowledgable.

 

That's pretty interesting since they only today determined how the fire started and have yet to determine a root cause. Can your "friend" provide any real sources or is this just their opinion?

[JAYRAY1259]

Hell no...give up cruising ..never. Cruise on Carnval...probably not but never say "never". Ships break down, dreadfully unpleasant and inconvenient...planes break down...dead!

 

 

Sue

Excellent point, tugboats don't tow planes back.

[JAYRAY1259]

That's pretty interesting since they only today determined how the fire started and have yet to determine a root cause. Can your "friend" provide any real sources or is this just their opinion?

FYI google RE: prior engine and mechanical problems with the Triumph. There are numerous sources quoting passengers and even Carnival themselves stating that the ship had electrical problems prior to this sailing. I feel the reason they were holding off was they were trying to stretch the periodic maintenance schedule off so they would not lose revenue. I don't know when the ships next scheduled yard work was to be done, so they were probably trying to nurse it along until then. that way the ship would not be out of service before then. They took a gamble and lost, so it seems. I love cruising and I am not in the habit of bashing them, but Carnival was not upfront with their passengers. As I stated before, "They did not hold up their end of the bargain!" I don't sail Carnival because I'm not a kid anymore. They cater to the young crowd and that's fine. I like to party, but I like to enjoy myself with people more my own age. Carnival serves it's purpose, just not mine.

I also figured when I made the original post, that most hardcore cruisers, myself included would not allow the events that transpired make them stop cruising. I was just curious to see if I was right about this. I guess I was, Most people who like to cruise will continue to cruise. There is a contingent of people out there that when asked to go on a cruise with you, will find any number of reasons why they won't or can't go. This incident just gave them more ammo. There is no doubt that throwing the events that transpired out there for a poll in this forum would draw a biased crowd. That's because most people here are experienced cruisers. I just wanted to see if this type of person could be swayed.

[born2travel]

Our first cruise was on the Carnival Triumph and it sold us on cruising! Really, really sorry to hear what happened there, as it is/was a beautiful ship and a fantastic experience. But, our next and all subsequent cruises have been on RCCL ships.

 

Incidents like the Concordia and Triumph would have to become far more frequent to keep me off the seas!

[WetToes]

I don't sail Carnival because I'm not a kid anymore. They cater to the young crowd and that's fine. I like to party, but I like to enjoy myself with people more my own age. Carnival serves it's purpose, just not mine.

 

There are LOTS of non "kid" cruisers on CCL.

I don't know your age, but I'm betting you would find LOTS of people your own age on a Carnival ship.

They all "party" in their own way. May not include alcohol or dancing the night away.

Your "party" may not be my "party".

Looks like you haven't sailed CCL in a long time? Things change and are not always what they seem. ;)

[1cat4jan]

When we first started cruising in 1992, we felt the stories about Carnival being the fun ship for younger cruisers was accurate, so we took our then early 20 year olds on Carnival for their first cruise. The story wasn't accurate then and it isn't accurate now.

 

At least for a general statement. I haven't experienced a rowdy cruise on any ship because of the length of our cruises and the destinations.

 

I'm not a loyalist to any line - I lump Carnival, RC, Celebrity, NCL, and Princess together. I have some great things to say about our last Celebrity and Princess cruises, some great things about our recent Oasis cruise - but when I think back, my cruise experience gets all mixed together into a "I love the cruise experience over land vacations" giant vat.

 

We just took #14. This time around, we experienced a slightly better time because Oasis is charging more than other ships in their line and thus I believe RC believes it is necessary to do a better job on that ship. And it does.

 

However, in fall, we took a European cruise on the Carnival Breeze that was very well done.

 

In the last five years, we have seen a slip in the quality of cruising - in general. Food is mediocre, staff runs from excellent to just all right. It doesn't matter the line - it's just the luck of the draw depending upon who's running the hotel and the kitchen.

 

However, to answer the OP's question - DH is looking to book again on the Carnival Breeze - he's organizing a neighborhood cruise. I don't want to go on the Breeze, but it has nothing to do with the ship or the line or the recent Triumph fiasco - it's because I want to experience an entirely different ship - we were just on the Breeze. There are so many ships out there, I don't want to waste a cruise on a ship I've already been on.

 

However, itinerary is trumping ship choice. Not much choice when one wants to sail out of a FL port.

 

I am amazed at how many details people remember about their cruises - so that they can tell you the Captain's name or the CD or the name of their cabin steward and even the cabin number they've been on.

 

I can barely remember the name of the ship we were just on. I have to look up the photos to check the ship's name and itinerary. I don't even remember the "bad" experiences I've had. They get lumped together in that giant "vat" of "cruise experience" - and my general feeling about cruising is that it's better than a land vacation - hands down. :D

[poncho1973]

have 2 boys, ages 9 and 12 who are 10+ cruise Platinum members. I asked them both if they wanted to go on a cruise while this Triumph crisis was in play. There answer was a resounding YES, and even inquired that we could probably get a real good deal on the Triumph if it isn't too badly damaged.

 

If you put 20 pieces of candy on the table during the middle of a crisis where half the candy in the world caused the person eating it several days of severe stomach distress... I'm pretty sure a 9 & 12 year old boy would eat the whole stack of candy.

 

While I understand where your post is coming from, asking children if they want to do something fun in spite of real or perceived risks... isn't a good barometer or whether something is a good idea or not.

[ILUVCRUIZN]

Bingo!

 

And for what it's worth, I would happily cruise again on Carnival or RCI or any other major cruise line.

 

Ditto!!! :D

[B-52]

There was not much they could do to prevent a mechanical failure...even RCI ships experience mechanical difficulties..many reported here on this forum, and et they continue to sail...cruise after cruise, and make repairs underway...bringing the yard workers with them if need be....

 

What I will be watching closely, is how the Company handles compensation for the passengers...and how the passengers feel they were treated...that to me is the biggest deal breaker of all when choosing a cruise line...

[Eriksgarden]

Accidents happen. We can only hope that people conduct themselves as well as possible under the circumstances. Unfortunately, people are becoming short-tempered and rude over the silliest things. How they act in a real emergency...