Never Again! Carnival is the single worst cruise line ever!

[hartwickds]

Uh brother. Listen. I have found that setting up your account online as cash is always best. THEN if you choose, you can load it with a credit or debit card once onboard or in the terminal. This one tiny step has always prevented me from having any holds on my credit cards. I learned the trick from a long time cruiser of another cruise line, so I can't take credit. But as this is your last cruise with Carnival, you can try it when you sail elsewhere.

 

File the complaint if that will make you feel better, but I assure you Carnival will not be found in the wrong. Sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise, but take a deep breath.

I also had $300 in gift cards attached to the account, which I purchased prior to the cruise

[Hoosierpop]

Apparently the American Express card was compromised sometime during the cruise and they couldn't get a hold of me and cancelled the card and area apparently mailing me a new card

 

 

OK, not buying the story now. Not buying that AmEx would leave you stranded with hotel and parking charges if your account was in good standing.

 

Enjoy cruising on other lines. Probably would be better for you, Carnival, and other passengers

[Trumpster]

Make sure you don't get a first floor window again.

[amsred2]

Too bad you posted a week ago how much you already hated Carnival before you even boarded. (Which, by the way, Carnival cannot control the weather or people calling out ((california has the most Liberal sick-pay policy so it happens a lot).) It's almost as if you already had a grudge and were determined to find fault in the cruise before you even left port. The people who otherwise might sympathize with your situation might just think you were out to screw Carnival instead of the other way around.

[ready2cruzagain]

First off, sorry you are so stressed and going through this.

 

Now, you are blaming Carnival for your 2 hour wait at the pier. The people at the pier do not work for Carnival so don't be mad at them for that one.

 

Next, you said you were treated lowly because you were on deck 2 in an oceanview. Who ever told you that is full of kawkaw. We do inside cabins on lowest decks and never been treated inferior.

 

Now, with your credit card. Your credit card was cut off. Well either you did not notify your credit card company you were traveling or your credit limit was too low.

 

When you used your debit card, that gave Carnival permission to pay your bill while on the ship with it. If you would have read before using a credit or debit card you would have known there are holds put on them.

 

I would say your lack of knowledge led to most of the problems you are having. Hopefully someone can wire you money.

[arizdback]

Very confused here. They billed everything to the debit card but you wanted them to charge everything to your AMEX?

 

So at the very least your AMEX has the available credit in the amount they didn't charge.

 

What hotel does not take AMEX? I know that parking at BWI takes AMEX.

 

So in summation.. you hope Carnival goes bankrupt because they were overwhelmed at boarding due to a staffing shortage and because you didn't like the food?

 

Not a huge fan of Carnival but this makes no sense to me.

Edited January 17, 2016 by arizdback

[ready2cruzagain]

Apparently the American Express card was compromised sometime during the cruise and they couldn't get a hold of me and cancelled the card and area apparently mailing me a new card

When it was denied, why didn't you immediately call American Express???? They would have helped you out.

[islandatsea]

I know it's frustrating. I have heard horror stories about debit cards so I never use them and always open a cash account. I don't give them a credit card at all so no chance of erroneous charges. It's too late for you now, but something to consider for the future. I also carry at least 2 high limit credit cards with me "just in case".

 

We always carry 2 credit cards too just in case something happens. Always better to be proactive.

[JLee1973]

Well this us your second post in a week about the lines at LB and your hate Carnival. If an experienced cruiser you would know never use a bank card anywhere. You do realize gas stations put a hold on your card that can take several days. Carnival isn't ti blame, you gave them the card.

 

To each their own, I refuse to sail NCL.

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

Edited January 17, 2016 by JLee1973

[firemanbobswife]

Depending on your bank or credit union, you may be able to apply for a Checking Line of Credit online which will allow you to continue to use your debit card to get home and at the airport. If your credit is good enough, it should be auto approved and effective immediately. Just a thought.

[hartwickds]

Too bad you posted a week ago how much you already hated Carnival before you even boarded. (Which, by the way, Carnival cannot control the weather or people calling out ((california has the most Liberal sick-pay policy so it happens a lot).) It's almost as if you already had a grudge and were determined to find fault in the cruise before you even left port. The people who otherwise might sympathize with your situation might just think you were out to screw Carnival instead of the other way around.

If I was out to screw carnival I wouldn't say anything positive about them, which I did

[LuckyZ]

We always carry 2 credit cards too just in case something happens. Always better to be proactive.

 

First off, sorry you are so stressed and going through this.

 

Now, you are blaming Carnival for your 2 hour wait at the pier. The people at the pier do not work for Carnival so don't be mad at them for that one.

 

Next, you said you were treated lowly because you were on deck 2 in an oceanview. Who ever told you that is full of kawkaw. We do inside cabins on lowest decks and never been treated inferior.

 

Now, with your credit card. Your credit card was cut off. Well either you did not notify your credit card company you were traveling or your credit limit was too low.

 

When you used your debit card, that gave Carnival permission to pay your bill while on the ship with it. If you would have read before using a credit or debit card you would have known there are holds put on them.

 

I would say your lack of knowledge led to most of the problems you are having. Hopefully someone can wire you money.

 

Like.

 

Something very odd about the OP posts

Edited January 17, 2016 by LuckyZ

[amsred2]

Like.

 

Something very odd about the OP posts

 

 

I agree. It looks like he spent $1200. Since AMEX turned off privileges, where did he expect Carnival to charge it? Carnival was supposed to just go on faith that he would pay it at some later date?

[sanger727]

So, what you've said is that you opened your account with your AmEx card. At some point during the cruise, Carnival revoked your charging privileges as you started incurring charges. You know now that AmEx cancelled your card and issued you a new one (which is a pretty logical explanation for why Carnival needed a new card number). And you were surprised that Carnival didn't charge your final bill to your now cancelled card?? When they informed you mid-cruise that they needed a new card number? As others have said, if this was Carnival's blunder, you could use your AmEx as your payment now. But this sounds like your real argument is with AmEx for cancelling your one credit card mid-trip and putting you in this bind. I'm assuming you registered with your AmEx as many others do, due to the fact that it's pretty well known that the cruise line puts hold on debit cards that can tie your funds up. I'm sorry you're in that situation, it sounds pretty terrible. But I think your beef is with AmEx.

 

Just as a side note - on my first international trip, I didn't know to notify the bank that I was traveling out of the country so they did put a stop on my card after the first charge. Luckily, when I found this out, I was with others who covered me until I was able to call and have that lifted. I don't know if that was the culprit or if your cc number was just stolen and that was caught by AmEx.

[RuthlessBoss]

Apparently the American Express card was compromised sometime during the cruise and they couldn't get a hold of me and cancelled the card and area apparently mailing me a new card

 

So you DID call them.They thought you were having fraudulent charges, they could not contact you in Baltimore because you were in Mexico, so they cut off the card to protect you from fraud. They had no idea it was you charging 3000 miles away

[Rosethorn40]

The OP said that his AMEX card was compromised, hence it was deactivated and they are mailing him a new card. If his AMEX was no longer able to have the daily hold placed against it, that would explain why Carnival used the debit card.

[Guest]

I liked the miracle.The decor and the layout.Loved the grotto area.The fitness area was better than most other ships.

[Roscoe13]

AMEX prides themselves on helping stranded customers and providing emergency concierge services.

 

Did you notify AMEX ahead of time that you planned to cruise to Mexico? That might explain the "compromising" of your card, it looked fraudulent to them.

 

Holds happen all the time on fake Visa, er, debit cards all the time.

 

I would contact a friend/relative and beg for an emergency cash wire rather than spend my time on a cruise forum vowing to take down a cruise line.

 

Best of luck.

[cruzeluver]

Your anger is horribly misdirected.

 

The people you dealt with at the port are not employed by Carnival, therefore, Carnival has no control over their actions, nor do they control the weather.

 

The holds on your debit card come from your bank and they are the ones who must release them.

[momdaughterondestiny]

To the OP if you were so upset about the check in process why the heck did you not get off at the first port and go home I mean really if you are an experienced cruiser then you should have known this.

 

Here is the terms its in print and you had the right to do this and sounds like you should have taken advantage of this.

 

The Great Vacation Guarantee

 

 

The Carnival Great Vacation Guarantee™ is the greatest guarantee you’ll never need to use. If you’re not happy with any 3–14 day Carnival vacation you take to The Bahamas, the Caribbean, the Mexican Riviera, Bermuda, Canada/New England or Alaska, just let us know within 24 hours of your departure. We’ll refund 110% of your fare and our Guest Services will get you back to your home, free of charge. With no hassles and no questions asked.

 

 

 

 

Vacation days are precious. If you decide spending them on a Carnival cruise isn’t for you, you don’t have to. Our Guest Services team will make all the arrangements to get you off the ship as quickly as we can, and fly you to either your home airport if you flew in, or back to your point of embarkation if you drove to the ship.

 

 

 

Here is what to do.

If you decide within 24 hours of the start of your cruise that it’s not for you, simply notify Carnival’s onboard Guest Services desk. We’ll take it from there. And if you decide later that you want to give Carnival another try, we’ll even give a $100 per stateroom onboard credit to any guest in your party who exercised the guarantee and, within a year, books another Carnival cruise.

 

 

 

 

Applies to U.S. and Canadian residents only. Due to a U.S. Government requirement, guests must be in possession of a valid passport to return to the U.S. by air from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, Caribbean, The Bahamas and Bermuda.

[Gaprofitt]

I just returned from a 7 day cruise of the Mexicain Riviera on the Carnival a Miracle and where do I begin? By way of history I am a veteran cruiser, 9 times on Norweigan and 2 times on Celebrity. I rarely if ever complain and only do so when I am pushed to the edge. I read some pretty bad reviews about Carnival but decided to give it a try as I had been given a deeply discounted cruise through the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City. I arrived the night before from Baltimore to LA in a great mood looking forward to get to the warm weather of Mexico. I booked my roundtrip transportation through the cruise line. It was reliable and uneventful. The bus dropped me off at Long Beach and I was directed to the most obscene line I have ever scene. It was a cold morning and we were made to stand outside in 40-50 degree weather for nearly 2 hours. I was advised by a supervisor that 7 people had called out sick, and as a result only 5 of 12 booths were being manned. I also came to find out that since I was on the first floor (window view) we were treated as less desirable and made to wait outside while nearly everyone else was allowed to check in the dome. By the time I got through the line 2 hours later I was miserable and numb and wanted to go home. I made it to my room and thought it was average. I didn't care for the decor. The room steward Johanna as great though. I found the food on the ship to be 2.5 out of 5. The main dining room food was a 2... I didn't once have anything outstanding. The steak house was a 3. I ate there twice as I couldn't stomach another day eating mediocre and subpar food in the main dining room. I found the entertainment to be okay, the shows good, but the comedians completely blue collar and frankly not funny.

 

The ports of call were good. The best excursion I ever have been on was in Cabo on the Luxury sail. Outstanding.

 

Disembarking was another pain... Took 25-30 minutes despite being group #2.

 

It is now the day after th cruise and I am attempting to fly back from LA to Baltimore. I went to the ATM to withdraw money only to find out that my checking account is overdrawn by $887. I say to myself ho can this be? Well good old carnival submitted my final bill. To the wrong credit card... Billed me $604 and change and $659. They never removed any of the holds, of $500, $300, $359,and $104.65. I called to address the issue and of course they are closed on Sunday. My bank is closed on Sunday. I get to a customer service representative for new bookings and after 1 1/2 hours I have been advised there is nothing that can b don!

 

Now I am stranded with no money when I should have $1800!

 

I won't sleep until Carnival goes bankrupt!

 

 

Never use a check card for any type of hotel or cruise payment..

[hftmrock]

To the OP:

 

If the Amex Card was stopped by Amex, where did you expect the carnival charges to go? Did you think they would just send you a bill?

 

They do have a right to charge you what you owe on the only card that is actually working.

[ATL_Miami_Cruiser]

Never use a check card for any type of hotel or cruise payment..

 

Totally agree. Never give any travel company or any high dollar company your debit card because what you're essentially giving them is a blank check to your checking account with no real protections that a credit card has. I know a lot of people don't realize this and get burned when something does go wrong.

 

My question to the OP is why not travel with more than one credit card? I usually carry at least 5 cards in my wallet and another 5 in my luggage. If I were to lose one I would still be able to continue my vacation and not ever be without money.

Edited January 18, 2016 by ATL_Miami_Cruiser

[sweetsixteencruisers]

We always use Amex as our card for our sail and sign. Never had a problem.

I also never use any of my credit cards in any port. I only use cash. Safer that way! And I certainly never, ever use my debit card.

 

And sorry that this has happened to you, but your issue is with Amex..

Edited January 18, 2016 by sweetsixteencruisers
Spelling

[vwrestler171]

The OP was here a week ago complaining about everything before he even boarded. He already had a chip on his shoulder, no wonder he had such a horrible trip. So many mistakes for a self described EXPERIENCED cruiser.