Carnival Victory - Awoken by water out of ceiling

[Fla Mike]

This sounds like a job for Jim Walker!!! :eek:

[mferris77]

[quote name='MCC retired']Immediately videoing the problem and the entire clean up procedure tells me OP was looking for big compensation from the get-go .
These things happen and an alternate cabin was provided . Chill out and get back to cruising.[/QUOTE]

Sounds that way to me too, especially considering the original post where she wants compensation [i]or else she'll post the video[/i]... as if there aren't a number of videos online already of water pouring out of various places where water shouldn't be flowing on cruise ships.

The cruise line didn't make her fret about it all day either. Should have been as simple as 'tell maintenance, go do whatever it was you had planned for the day, check back with them or the front desk in a couple of hours'. Edited April 14, 2014 by mferris77

[Laurab23]

Well,in the interest of goodwill,it would not have hurt Carnival to comp them a bottle of wine or dinner in the steakhouse or some OBC. Carnival could afford it.Now the OP is upset and will always have a negative feeling toward Carnival.

Laura

[IslandSliderGirl]

[quote name='MCC retired']Immediately videoing the problem and the entire clean up procedure tells me OP was looking for big compensation from the get-go .
These things happen and an alternate cabin was provided . Chill out and get back to cruising.[/QUOTE]

I thought the same thing when I read they recorded everything......why? The water leak was unfortunate and a pain for the travelers to deal with on their last day of their cruise, however, the taping of every move made by Carnival employees didn't set a good tone either. Both cabins should not receive compensation for this, just the cabin effected by the water leak.

[LMaxwell]

[quote name='Laurab23']Well,in the interest of goodwill,it would not have hurt Carnival to comp them a bottle of wine or dinner in the steakhouse or some OBC. Carnival could afford it.Now the OP is upset and will always have a negative feeling toward Carnival.

Laura[/quote]

I agree with you; however OP stated they wanted something for the whole group, so should they have sent both cabins wine? Should everyone have gotten a free dinner? There is goodwill, and then there is giving away the farm. When someone wants MORE! NOW! BECAUSE MORE! NOW! they tend to get less because their demands and expectations are unreasonable or will not make them happy if you give in.

I wonder, if Carnival had said "We will refund everyone in the linked reservations a full days fare, and here is a complimentary dinner for everyone" if they would be on here complaining about how little they were offered and still be demanding MORE! NOW!

[MistyRo76]

I also work in the customer service and expereince industry dealing with high wealth clients with very high expectations and particular tastes and needs. To our clients, typically money is not an issue, however that doesn't mean that they will expect to pay for something that was not up to their expectations.

But even being in a customer driven job, that does not necessarily raise my expectations for how I should be treated as a customer myself. I pay closer attention to the service that I receive (for example, the waitress I had at dinner a couple of weeks ago whom I overheard telling EVERYONE she waited on how short-staffed they were because management decided to open the patio for seating - bad form!).

It seems as though the OP's approach may be holding them back from getting the additional compensation that they think is warranted. To immediately arm themselves with a video camera to document the situation makes it appear as though they were planning on fighting for compensation from the beginning regardless of the outcome of the situation. While I've never had anything of this nature happen to me on a cruise, I have had what I would consider lapses in service. Typically, I will send in a letter to the cruiseline post-cruise highlighting those who exceeded my expectations so they can hopefully be recognized and also pointing out where they fell short. I do this not necessarily in hopes of compensation, but so the cruiseline knows where they have opportunities to increase their service levels. But everytime I have done this, they have elected to compensate me with a small token of appreciation (usually a $50 voucher to use on a future cruise). Even when we missed 1/2 of our port day on the Splendor due to a crew member jumping overboard in the middle of the night, I did not expect any compensation. Things happen and I felt that Carnival and their staff did everything that could reasonably be expected in that situation.

It sounds like in this situation, they also did everything that could reasonably be expected to do. This was an accident and certainly an inconvenience to the passengers. But as others have mentioned, resources are limited on a ship and Carnival did find an alternate solution for those in the affected cabin and provided compensation for the time they may have missed for having to deal with this situation. Things happen from time to time...it sucks, but it's life. Maybe the OP should spend less time focusing on this one incident and try to remember the positives about the vacation and the time spent with family. This seems like an awfully small inconvenience in the grand scheme of things.

JMO! :)

Misty

[SconnieMom]

[quote name='LMaxwell']I think that's a pretty high and unreasonable expectation. If that is what [B]you[/B] feel is fair, then of course you will have to negotiate for it.

I am fine with the notion that they do something to make this right to the guests in the cabin, but why the entire group? And they did what was possible (move the affected guests to another room) and they did offer compensation commensurate with what they felt was adequate.

Let me ask you; what if you had booked 5 cabins and had a group of 10 or 12? Would you still feel everyone in the group should be refunded a full day? I'm just trying to understand why you feel they should overcompensate you (by your own words) and what you had "lost". Sure it is inconvenient and no one wants a water leak in their cabin, but IMO Carnival did right.

If it were me I'd expect an equal cabin to what I had booked in good working order; anything else is a good faith gesture by the line for my inconvenience and time. Realistically speaking, Carnival is going to move all your items for you, so dealing with guest services should not really take more than 45 - 60 minutes when all is said and done, IMO. Longer than that shows that there is an argument going on; otherwise why would it be an all day process?

I don't necessarily want to come out and blame/ bash you for asking for more; I just don't understand why you want what you want. An unfortunate event is not always a reason for a windfall.[/QUOTE]

Your question is valid, so I'll explain the rationale behind all guests being compensated. Where do you think the two guests in that room had to go while their room was being worked on? Answer-->the other cabin, thereby impacting the 2 others in our party. And while I admit they likely had no adjoining rooms anywhere to offer (as they would in Vegas) that is in now way my fault and just means they need to find other avenues to give me MORE than I paid for in compensation because they had an unacceptable issue arise. Would anyone BOOK a vacation for the $75 less with the agreement they could let unknown water leak from the ceiling on them disturbing their sleep on their vacation, and then waste the day (think sun, which is what you pay for on a Caribbean vaca) away waiting to hear what their resolution is? And yes, they told me they couldn't even tell me what their "offer of resolution" was until 3:00PM. This occurred before 10AM. The day at sea is the day that would be most impacted by such an inconvenience. If we were out on an excursion in port we'd have been less inconvenienced. THEY are the vendor, we are the customer. They need to impress me, not the other way around. Trust me they do surveys, they look for top box ratings. They would not do such things if public perception, especially of problem resolution, wasn't critical to them as a service industry. Again, I do this type of work for a living. Companies spend millions in learning about their customer's feedback and how to improve problem resolution. They freak out about problem incidences over 10% and less than perfect satisfaction with resolution percentages. I KNOW this was their initial offer. I know the customer service reps job is to try their best to find the minimal amount of compensation that I will accept. I also know it is my job as a paying customer to receive compensation I feel is fair or escalate the issue until I feel such satisfaction is obtained. I have not threatened them. I emailed them before this post, calmly stating the issue, the offered resolution and that I was unsatisfied with the offer. I will await their corporate response before escalating further, if needed. But I will if needed.

[LMaxwell]

I appreciate you taking the time to respond; however I still don't see in there why the whole group should be compensated. If it was a sea day, and you wanted a day in the sun, you should have gone to do that and let Carnival work on the resolution, just like they stated they were doing and they even told you what time that would be at. I find it hard to believe 4 people suffered huddled in a cabin on a sea day waiting for the money phone to ring.

I've been in similar situations and when you trust guest services to make it right they usually do. If you dig in your heels and sit around bitter not enjoying your time otherwise, well, at a certain point it's on you. Grab your sunglasses, and a book, and a drink, and head for the pool deck and enjoy your sea day and let the workers sort it out for you. There's no sense sitting in the cabin babysitting what time the resolution comes.

Maybe asking for a full day compensation for those in the original cabin is not out of question; I just think asking for something for the whole group is beyond reason. Again; if this were a larger group of 10, 20, 50 people...would the group also deserve a windfall for the frustration and inconvenience of two people?

[gtalum]

[quote name='SconnieMom'] I will await their corporate response before escalating further, if needed. But I will if needed.[/QUOTE]

Yes, you have repeatedly made clear your blackmail threat. ;) Edited April 14, 2014 by gtalum

[Carnival Beerleader]

[quote name='Disconnections']No, he's not trolling. Many people on message boards, such as Cruise Critic, Flyertalk and DISboards don't believe in guest recovery and goodwill compensation. You should send an email to the CEO, Gerry Cahill, and let him know of the situation and share the video in as many places as you can. CNN loves anything negative involving Carnival Cruise Lines, so they'll enjoy it.

They should have given, at the minimum, a percentage off (25%) of your next cruise for your four family members.

His email is: [email]gcahill@carnival.com[/email]

You can also email Vicky Rey, VP of Guest Relations at [email]vrey@carnival.com[/email][/QUOTE]

I suggest you write to john heald on his facebook page, he gets things done!

[TPFKAH]

[quote name='SconnieMom']More than the minimum. That is offering me nothing as a makeup for falling short of what was promised, a bad experience, etc. To make right they should over compensate for it. But you must realize that and are trolling.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk[/QUOTE]

Next time ask for some shampoo and a bath towel.

Is that what this is about? Compensation? What is it you are looking for. And if you had a Paying guest in your home and this happened, what do you think is fare compensation?

[gtalum]

[quote name='Carnival Beerleader']I suggest you write to john heald on his facebook page, he gets things done![/QUOTE]

Agreed, I'd have suggested the same had the OP not started out with a threat. I doubt John can do anything that would satisfy her.

[Carnival Beerleader]

[quote name='gtalum']Agreed, I'd have suggested the same had the OP not started out with a threat. I doubt John can do anything that would satisfy her.[/QUOTE]

you could be correct but at least he will make sure it gets to the people he calls beards and I know he will ask that they do all they can for the OP. But for her only, not then whole group which in my opinion is a ridiculous suggestion

[BeachChik]

[quote name='SconnieMom']Your question is valid, so I'll explain the rationale behind all guests being compensated. Where do you think the two guests in that room had to go while their room was being worked on? Answer-->the other cabin, thereby impacting the 2 others in our party. And while I admit they likely had no adjoining rooms anywhere to offer (as they would in Vegas) that is in now way my fault and just means they need to find other avenues to give me MORE than I paid for in compensation because they had an unacceptable issue arise. Would anyone BOOK a vacation for the $75 less with the agreement they could let unknown water leak from the ceiling on them disturbing their sleep on their vacation, and then waste the day (think sun, which is what you pay for on a Caribbean vaca) away waiting to hear what their resolution is? And yes, they told me they couldn't even tell me what their "offer of resolution" was until 3:00PM. This occurred before 10AM. The day at sea is the day that would be most impacted by such an inconvenience. If we were out on an excursion in port we'd have been less inconvenienced. THEY are the vendor, we are the customer. They need to impress me, not the other way around. Trust me they do surveys, they look for top box ratings. They would not do such things if public perception, especially of problem resolution, wasn't critical to them as a service industry. Again, I do this type of work for a living. Companies spend millions in learning about their customer's feedback and how to improve problem resolution. They freak out about problem incidences over 10% and less than perfect satisfaction with resolution percentages. I KNOW this was their initial offer. I know the customer service reps job is to try their best to find the minimal amount of compensation that I will accept. I also know it is my job as a paying customer to receive compensation I feel is fair or escalate the issue until I feel such satisfaction is obtained. I have not threatened them. I emailed them before this post, calmly stating the issue, the offered resolution and that I was unsatisfied with the offer. I will await their corporate response before escalating further, if needed. But I will if needed.[/QUOTE]

Did they force you to all remain in the second cabin? No. If you wanted to enjoy the sun you could have easily done so while they determined what would happen. You didn't need to waste the day recording it and waiting around for an answer. YOU made the choice to waste the day.

IMO you are looking for a significant monetary refund. And it isn't going to happen regardless of how you threaten to take action against them. It just takes what would have been perceived as a valid complaint to instead someone just looking to make a buck out of a minor inconvenience. Edited April 14, 2014 by BeachChik

[LMaxwell]

For all the time sunk in to this you may as well file for trip interruption and / or delay through your travel insurance policy or through any sort of travel protection issues by the credit card you paid with. I don't know if it will work but if you just want MORE! NOW! may as well go down every avenue.

[irishnyc]

[quote name='SconnieMom'] Where do you think the two guests in that room had to go while their room was being worked on? Answer-->the other cabin, thereby impacting the 2 others in our party. And while I admit they likely had no adjoining rooms anywhere to offer (as they would in Vegas) that is in now way my fault and just means they need to find other avenues to give me MORE than I paid for in compensation because they had an unacceptable issue arise... and then waste the day (think sun, which is what you pay for on a Caribbean vaca) away waiting to hear what their resolution is? And yes, they told me they couldn't even tell me what their "offer of resolution" was until 3:00PM. This occurred before 10AM. The day at sea is the day that would be most impacted by such an inconvenience. If we were out on an excursion in port we'd have been less inconvenienced.[/quote]

But why did those in the affected cabin need to wait in the other cabin if they wanted to enjoy their sea day in the sun? No one forced them to stay in the cabin to wait for a resolution. I would have moved my belongings and enjoyed the rest of the day.

[BeachChik]

[quote name='gtalum']Agreed, I'd have suggested the same had the OP not started out with a threat. I doubt John can do anything that would satisfy her.[/QUOTE]

Notice that she refuses to say what would be satisfactory compensation. Because she is looking for money or a free cruise. People like this ruin it for people that have serious issues and deserve compensation.

[Havingfun2010]

[quote name='SconnieMom']Your question is valid, so I'll explain the rationale behind all guests being compensated. Where do you think the two guests in that room had to go while their room was being worked on? Answer-->the other cabin, thereby impacting the 2 others in our party. And while I admit they likely had no adjoining rooms anywhere to offer (as they would in Vegas) that is in now way my fault and just means they need to find other avenues to give me MORE than I paid for in compensation because they had an unacceptable issue arise. Would anyone BOOK a vacation for the $75 less with the agreement they could let unknown water leak from the ceiling on them disturbing their sleep on their vacation, and then waste the day (think sun, which is what you pay for on a Caribbean vaca) away waiting to hear what their resolution is? And yes, they told me they couldn't even tell me what their "offer of resolution" was until 3:00PM. This occurred before 10AM. The day at sea is the day that would be most impacted by such an inconvenience. If we were out on an excursion in port we'd have been less inconvenienced. THEY are the vendor, we are the customer. They need to impress me, not the other way around. Trust me they do surveys, they look for top box ratings. They would not do such things if public perception, especially of problem resolution, wasn't critical to them as a service industry. Again, I do this type of work for a living. Companies spend millions in learning about their customer's feedback and how to improve problem resolution. They freak out about problem incidences over 10% and less than perfect satisfaction with resolution percentages. I KNOW this was their initial offer. I know the customer service reps job is to try their best to find the minimal amount of compensation that I will accept. I also know it is my job as a paying customer to receive compensation I feel is fair or escalate the issue until I feel such satisfaction is obtained. I have not threatened them. I emailed them before this post, calmly stating the issue, the offered resolution and that I was unsatisfied with the offer. I will await their corporate response before escalating further, if needed. But I will if needed.[/quote]

I agree with you 100%. A recent story. I booked a specialty restaurant on my upcoming cruise for lunch on embarkation day. No problem, the cruise line canceled it because they needed it for a group. No problem, I got my refund plus, for my disappointment I got $100.00 OBC or basically a free dinner someplace else on the ship during the week. It sounds like I got more compensation for a broken reservation than you got for getting sewer water dropped on you. The story is different cruise lines understand the importance of customer service. I did not ask for anything, they gave it, and they basically, they gave a lot more than it was worth.

The bottom line is Carnival has an image problem, and they only make it worse.

[Pine Bluff]

[quote name='Carnival Beerleader']I suggest you write to john heald on his facebook page, he gets things done![/QUOTE]

Don't suggest that. The man might end up missing processing an order of strawberries or a steakhouse reservation.

OP - contact guest services with a idea of what you may think is a fair "settlement", within reason. Water in a cabin or having to switch rooms is hardly a hardship.

[Carnival Beerleader]

[quote name='Havingfun2010']I agree with you 100%. A recent story. I booked a specialty restaurant on my upcoming cruise for lunch on embarkation day. No problem, the cruise line canceled it because they needed it for a group. No problem, I got my refund plus, for my disappointment I got $100.00 OBC or basically a free dinner someplace else on the ship during the week. It sounds like I got more compensation for a broken reservation than you got for getting sewer water dropped on you. The story is different cruise lines understand the importance of customer service. I did not ask for anything, they gave it, and they basically, they gave a lot more than it was worth.

The bottom line is Carnival has an image problem, and they only make it worse.[/QUOTE]

90,000 passengers a week may disagree

[firemanbobswife]

"You catch more flies with honey than vinegar." The minute you whipped out the cell phone, you asked to be treated like a hostile customer.

If I worked for Carnival, and I saw this thread with the threats and all (and they do so they will be already familiar with the whole situation), I would make sure not to give you anything else. It's one thing to escalate it through the appropriate channels and then report the outcome. But by continuously making threats, you just lost all credibility.

They did provide you with a room as agreed upon in your cruise ticket contract. They also reserve the right to not give you the room you chose as well. So, legally, you don't have a leg to stand on. If I were them, I would wash my hands of this and close the file. Edited April 14, 2014 by firemanbobswife

[BeachChik]

[quote name='Havingfun2010']I agree with you 100%. A recent story. I booked a specialty restaurant on my upcoming cruise for lunch on embarkation day. No problem, the cruise line canceled it because they needed it for a group. No problem, I got my refund plus, for my disappointment I got $100.00 OBC or basically a free dinner someplace else on the ship during the week. It sounds like I got more compensation for a broken reservation than you got for getting sewer water dropped on you. The story is different cruise lines understand the importance of customer service. I did not ask for anything, they gave it, and they basically, they gave a lot more than it was worth.

The bottom line is Carnival has an image problem, and they only make it worse.[/QUOTE]

Maybe if the op had said while onboard that the compensation wasn't satisfactory instead of complaining here that she shouldn't have to tell them what would make her happy. And then throwing out threats, maybe people would feel a little more sympathetic.

[gtalum]

[quote name='Havingfun2010']It sounds like I got more compensation for a broken reservation than you got for getting sewer water dropped on you.[/QUOTE]

LOL @ "sewer water". :D

[tinyrose]

[quote name='irishnyc']But why did those in the affected cabin need to wait in the other cabin if they wanted to enjoy their sea day in the sun? No one forced them to stay in the cabin to wait for a resolution. I would have moved my belongings and enjoyed the rest of the day.[/QUOTE]


When we had this happen to us (as referenced in my above post), this is EXACTLY what we did.

We walked into the cabin after breakfast to find the "waterfall" and immediately called Guest Services. Waited a [U]few[/U] minutes for maintenance and the hotel director to arrive. The hotel director offered us our 2 options (new cabin or wait for repairs). We walked short distance to offered new cabin and said no to new cabin offer. Went back to our "waterfall" cabin. Staff helped us relocate a few of our belongings to the offered (but rejected) cabin for us to use in the interim. We went out and enjoyed our day in the sun while maintenance worked on our cabin. When the cabin was fixed (about 4 hours later), staff helped us bring back our belongings from the interim cabin. Problem solved with little time and effort on our part.

Bottle of wine arrived that evening with a note thanking us for being understanding about the inconvenience.

This was the 2nd day of our cruise and had no impact on the rest of our cruise. Edited April 14, 2014 by tinyrose

[BallFour4]

If they hadn't started working on a solution right away I'd have sympathy. Things break on cruise ships. Space Mountain is closed on peoples last day at Disney.

What were actual damages to your property?

Remove negotiations from your vernacular and thank your hosts for doing things properly and promptly to fix what broke.

.


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