Horrible experience on the splendor

[loxley]

Here are some comments:

1) They were travelling in a group

2) I am pretty sure they had no clue about the guarantee (they are in the 60's and don't spend time in CC)

3) They booked with an agent who placed them in this room, telling them it was a great location

4) the noise was VERY LOUD. they called many times every night (12:30, 2:30, 4:30), tried ear plugs, and the tv...

5) why in god name should they sleep on a "comfy sofa" when they spent their entire year allowance on a cruise for a private room where they could get a great night sleep? whoever wrote that - do you ever listen to yourself talk? who says "im going to go to a hotel, but there will be construction and it will disturb me all night, so I will go sleep in the lobby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

6) it was their second time on the splendor, first time was magnificent, hence why they booked again

7) if they would have KNOWN in advance about the noise, it would have been their choice to go or not - (getting a discount on the room). Knowing them, they would have NOT gone. The wife is a very light sleeper.

 

regarding the veggie burger, the wife is pretty sure it came from there. she was sick for 8 hours, and then she was better, so she does not think it was a gastro bug

 

I am quite shocked that this thread made it to 4 pages! The person who wrote that hotels / all inclusive will mention construction is going on - you hit the nail on the head. I was once going to book an AI, and then we found out from their webpage that the pool was closed. It is access too information.

First, a gastro bug usually last exactly eight hours. Sometimes twelve.

 

Second, you still have not said what you think they should get.

 

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[mzlinda]

My sympathies are with the OP's family. If my cabin was over the theater, I would expect noise each night until the show ends but I would not have expected construction noise throughout the night. Even with an upcoming dry dock, that is no excuse. A guest in any room should not be bothered by continuous construction noise unless they were specifically informed about it when choosing that room.

 

I've read posts from people with complaints about their cabins which run the gamut from noise complaints to water/toilet/flooding issues, etc. I rarely hear anyone say that they had an issue with their cabin and it was resolved in a satisfactory manner. I honestly think this is an area where Carnival needs improvement.

 

If Carnival gave these people a 30% credit against the cruise they were on (as opposed to a certificate for a future cruise discount), that tells me that it was a pretty major disruption.

 

I love Carnival but so far I haven't had any issues with any of my cruises. Luckily, thru these boards I know that if I ever do have a problem, I should mention that I might want to invoke the vacation guarantee and I should insist on speaking with the hotel manager, but new cruisers or people who aren't on these boards have no way of knowing these things.

 

I don't think they are going to get anything more than the 30% they already got but money isn't going to unspoil that vacation anyway. [emoji53]

Edited February 29, 2016 by mzlinda

[Badfinger]

To all who think that 30% is generous, would you book that cabin if Carnival told you that it would be the recipient of construction noise through out the night every night and would give you a 30% discount for the cabin?

 

Not a chance. If that was the only room...I would NOT go on that cruise even if it was free. You would be miserable after the second night. Plus, a cruise costs a lot more than just the fare...at least to me. My vacation time is almost priceless to me...and spending it without any restful sleep is a no-go every time. Plus you have parking, transportation, etc. So that 30% would likely be less than 20% of the entire out of pocket expenses.

[adweenal]

Not a chance. If that was the only room...I would NOT go on that cruise even if it was free. You would be miserable after the second night. Plus, a cruise costs a lot more than just the fare...at least to me. My vacation time is almost priceless to me...and spending it without any restful sleep is a no-go every time. Plus you have parking, transportation, etc. So that 30% would likely be less than 20% of the entire out of pocket expenses.

 

badfinger - you are 100% on point, they had to fly to miami, stay in a hotel, taxis....

 

Part of vacation is sinking into the super comfy bed, and being rocked into a blissful sleep....

[cruizinisthebest]

Was the theatre closed for the week since it was under major construction?

 

I would like to know the answer to this as well. Because it couldn't have been open yet under construction the whole time.

 

The one poster's propisition about someone taking a cabin knowing it would be noisy for a 30% discount has all but fallen flat. Most people said they would take this discount as would I. Can't work 24/7. Bring earplugs. You can make it work.

 

If the OPs family member accepted the offer then I'm not sure why they are writing corporate. And if they didn't, that's taking quite a chance. May end up with nuthin.

Edited February 29, 2016 by cruizinisthebest

[gopro63]

Off the ship like Yesterday,

 

complainers complain, moving on.

 

and they are all

 

Edited February 29, 2016 by gopro63

[pe4all]

Off the ship like Yesterday,

 

complainers complain, moving on.

So, was the theater closed all week? We got off on 2/21, and many events were held in the theater - love and marriage show, bingo, production shows, etc. Where were all these held?

Edited February 29, 2016 by pe4all

[DebbieMo]

Who knows how long ahead of time these people booked their vacation and what sacrifices they made to make it happen. To have that anticipation of relaxation and a great vacation and they get this?! I wouldn't want to get off the ship either, I would stay on hoping that things would get better. Yes things happen but if they complained and Carnival did nothing, it's not acceptable. Imagine you're one of the people from the other post that booked 782 days ahead then your day finally comes and you get this disaster, how would you feel? I personally don't think that 30% makes up for this. Carnival knew this was a possibility but they booked the rooms anyway. I get how they must feel and I'm sorry this happened to them.

 

 

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[Scott6444]

I would be upset too! But that being said take the 30%. and most importantly try again. everyone has travel horror stories (I showed up in Jamaica after a hurricane went through to find my house rental had collapsed, with my wife and our two very young children in tow. Turned into a very memorable vacation.)

 

cheers

[LMaxwell]

What if they don't know that there will be construction until the ship is already full? Do they deny them boarding?

 

No. And that's very valid point and possible. Sometimes contractors need to come aboard for maintenance or repairs that were unplanned ahead of time. No, you don't deny people boarding. But I think, as a company, and if possible, you put a halt on work near passenger cabins from 10PM until 8AM.

 

Hey, I get it, you can not plan for every contingency. There's always what about this, what about that. But if I take this story at face value, all that construction during sleeping hours and adjacent to guest rooms, I mean, yeah, I understand the frustration. 30% off the fare to try again is kind of weak. You still have taxes, gratuity, port fees, time off work, travel to and from the ship (airfare? parking?), other commitments, etc. None of these are carnivals problems or fault. But I'm just saying that 30% off a fare is just a drop in the bucket in ones overall expenses. If they can't take advantage of the discount due to "life", well, they're just left with one salty experience at full rate.

 

I like to look at things from all sides. Maybe they aren't owed the world. But I think more than 30%.

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

To the OP...

 

What would your family members like from Carnival? A full refund, even though they got to travel to ports, eat three meals a day, got to enjoy the ship.

Did everyone else assigned to those cabins above the theater receive bigger compensations for their loss of sleep?

 

It's a bit like buying a battery or tires. If you return them you are charged a usage fee even if the items are under warranty. Drive them for 15k and they wear out even with a 30k warranty you are accessed a usage fee for those 15k miles. Seems fair to me, besides you aren't charged extra if the tires or battery outlast the 30k warranty. Those are "free" miles.

 

Some people can sleep through anything, others are up all night if rain gently sprinkles the bedroom windows. It's hard to know what the impact was and without other details it is hard to know what manner of construction was taking place.

 

At least the passengers were offered a 30% reduction in cost for the specific trip they were on...it doesn't seem like they were offered that 30% on a "future" cruise.

 

Personally, I would be happy with the compensation. Seems fair to me.

 

And the food poisoning....that's another issue altogether and something pretty hard to prove. I think we have all had some "sick" time on a cruise...change in diet can do that to even the healthy of us.

[firemanbobswife]

No. And that's very valid point and possible. Sometimes contractors need to come aboard for maintenance or repairs that were unplanned ahead of time. No, you don't deny people boarding. But I think, as a company, and if possible, you put a halt on work near passenger cabins from 10PM until 8AM.

 

 

 

Hey, I get it, you can not plan for every contingency. There's always what about this, what about that. But if I take this story at face value, all that construction during sleeping hours and adjacent to guest rooms, I mean, yeah, I understand the frustration. 30% off the fare to try again is kind of weak. You still have taxes, gratuity, port fees, time off work, travel to and from the ship (airfare? parking?), other commitments, etc. None of these are carnivals problems or fault. But I'm just saying that 30% off a fare is just a drop in the bucket in ones overall expenses. If they can't take advantage of the discount due to "life", well, they're just left with one salty experience at full rate.

 

 

 

I like to look at things from all sides. Maybe they aren't owed the world. But I think more than 30%.

 

 

I agree that they should try and limit the hours, however, it wasn't "adjacent" to cabins, it was in the theatre which is above and below cabins. During the day the staff has rehearsals, and there are activities that go on in there. In the evening there is entertainment. So the hours that the work could be done had to be around the availability of the theatre. Could you imagine the mutiny that would have taken place if they flat out canceled the entertainment so they could do the work during "normal" hours?!

 

That being said, I don't believe Carnival purposefully inconveniences their cruisers to make them unhappy. Sometimes things happen and I do feel that 30% off is fair.

Edited March 1, 2016 by firemanbobswife

[Havingfun2010]

First, a gastro bug usually last exactly eight hours. Sometimes twelve.

 

Second, you still have not said what you think they should get.

 

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I don't know what others think, but I would say, I would expect a full refund of the cruise. Seriously, you get a stateroom that you can't sleep in, is not a stateroom. The only purpose of the stateroom is to get dressed and sleep. Their vacation was ruined, plain and simple. The cause of this was clearly Carnivals fault.

Edited March 1, 2016 by Havingfun2010

[curious_st]

OP, I am so sorry this happened to your friends. I go on cruises to relax and rest, and would have been livid at the nightly noise. And, from reading these boards for a few years, I would say that 30% is pretty generous compared to most of Carnival's offers. I think they deserve more than that, but I am doubtful that they will receive it. If all else fails, they can try contacting John Heald on his Facebook page. He seems to be able to make things happen when no one else can.

 

Also, I wonder if the food poisoning from the veggie burger came from cross contamination - maybe something that had touched the raw meat touched the veggie patty or the bun???

[kona_wahine]

The thing about a cruise ship it's a big floating city, deck on top of deck on top of deck. You really can never know what you are going to get. I don't see how a TA would know construction would be going on in the theater. Our last cruise we booked on the Liberty we were on lido underneath the stadium seating. In the middle of the night, every night, the chaise loungers were moved around. Every night we were woke up. Luckily it wasn't ALL night.

 

Stuff happens. You just have to let it go. I'm not sure what more than the 30% you want. It is what it is.

[wanman]

Someone was mentioning about the Travel Agent being at fault. Let me preface what I am about to say by saying I am a Travel Agent so I will give my point of view.

 

I consider myself a good fair Travel Agent, and when people book a cruise through me I go over all their options and I always recommend either Deck 1, Deck 7, and on the Dream Class Deck 8 and Deck 9 since they are pretty much sandwiched between cabin floors. I have some clients that insist on an Aft on Deck 6 , or an inside on Deck 2 and I make sure they know both verbally and by an e-mail that there is a good possibility that there will be noise that could be disruptive in these locations. The theater should be a little better because everything is normally done by 11:00 at the very latest, and during the day there may or may not be noise there. I think any halfway good Travel Agent would do that. It is more important to me for the client to be happy and have a enjoyable and relaxing trip.

 

I give my clients my cell phone and email and tell them if they have any major problems (to me this would be that since it effected their sleep and comfort) and I will work from this end, and I would have them talk to Guest Services and the Hotel Manager while I talked to someone on land. I would threaten the Vacation Guarantee then I would have them follow up on board with the same thing. There are ways around the 24 hour rule if something occurs beyond hat and before your first port. Sometimes there are ways around it after that as well.

 

No all that being said, 30% is a fair offer in my opinion since they decided to stay on. I do feel bad that they had a bad experience.

[ATL_Miami_Cruiser]

You make a lot of posts about being in contact with the executive office. Why not share that contact information for OP?

 

Because I didn't think I was allowed to post personal contact info of Carnival employees on this board. Am I wrong?

[firemanbobswife]

Someone was mentioning about the Travel Agent being at fault. Let me preface what I am about to say by saying I am a Travel Agent so I will give my point of view.

 

 

 

I consider myself a good fair Travel Agent, and when people book a cruise through me I go over all their options and I always recommend either Deck 1, Deck 7, and on the Dream Class Deck 8 and Deck 9 since they are pretty much sandwiched between cabin floors. I have some clients that insist on an Aft on Deck 6 , or an inside on Deck 2 and I make sure they know both verbally and by an e-mail that there is a good possibility that there will be noise that could be disruptive in these locations. The theater should be a little better because everything is normally done by 11:00 at the very latest, and during the day there may or may not be noise there. I think any halfway good Travel Agent would do that. It is more important to me for the client to be happy and have a enjoyable and relaxing trip.

 

 

 

I give my clients my cell phone and email and tell them if they have any major problems (to me this would be that since it effected their sleep and comfort) and I will work from this end, and I would have them talk to Guest Services and the Hotel Manager while I talked to someone on land. I would threaten the Vacation Guarantee then I would have them follow up on board with the same thing. There are ways around the 24 hour rule if something occurs beyond hat and before your first port. Sometimes there are ways around it after that as well.

 

 

 

No all that being said, 30% is a fair offer in my opinion since they decided to stay on. I do feel bad that they had a bad experience.

 

 

That was me. I do fault the TA for telling them it was a great cabin when it would be one of my last choices. Especially if they are light sleepers. They may go to bed early or like to take naps during the day.

 

I also agree that they should have contacted them with any issues. A good TA would do what they could to help out. They could have called from their room if they didn't have cell service for $1.99/min. That's not a crazy rate.

 

I think their TA did a poor job in recommending the cabin to begin with. While they had no knowledge of construction going on I'm sure, to recommend a cabin over the theatre saying it's a great room is a pretty bad recommendation.

[John Reid]

To all who think that 30% is generous, would you book that cabin if Carnival told you that it would be the recipient of construction noise through out the night every night and would give you a 30% discount for the cabin?

 

gklow, you have hit the nail on the head. What most of the responses to the OP's plight just show is that "It ain't hard to get along with somebody elses troubles cause they don't make you lose any sleep at night."

[asdjl]

I think that's awful, I don't blame you. 30 percent doesn't sound good to me, this was not normal, typical doing noise due to cleaning or equipment being moved. I am not sure what can be done, but it's not like a hotel where you can leave, find another and dispute with the original. And it's not 1/3 of the time, if your sleep is disrupted, so is the rest of your day. I also am not a night owl, and would spend time before bed, reading or watching tv. This does not sound relaxing, I would be upset too

 

 

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[bingomamma19]

First, a gastro bug usually last exactly eight hours. Sometimes twelve.

 

Second, you still have not said what you think they should get.

 

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Seems quite exaggerated. If there was such major construction going on, there would have been quite a few cabins having such noise issues. What kind of major construction could this have been to go on all night, every night for 7 days..yet the theater open for festivities all day?

 

How could one possibly know they have food poisoning and from what source when eating every meal from somewhere other than home? I have had stomach ailments for less than a day, never ever blamed it on food poisoning.

 

So they called EACH and EVERY night at the same times to guest services? Did they set alarms?

 

Noise happens on floating cities, I have been on 8 cruises in all types of rooms, can say I cant even think of 1 complaint about anything on any of them. Take the 30% and move on.

[RuthlessBoss]

That was me. I do fault the TA for telling them it was a great cabin when it would be one of my last choices. Especially if they are light sleepers. They may go to bed early or like to take naps during the day.

 

I also agree that they should have contacted them with any issues. A good TA would do what they could to help out. They could have called from their room if they didn't have cell service for $1.99/min. That's not a crazy rate.

 

I think their TA did a poor job in recommending the cabin to begin with. While they had no knowledge of construction going on I'm sure, to recommend a cabin over the theatre saying it's a great room is a pretty bad recommendation.

 

I don't think the TA did a good job either. Maybe they should go after their agent for payment. True their agent would not know about construction, but the agent knew the theater was there and there would be shows there as well as rehearsals.

 

This whole thing sounds a bit farfetched as to the degree it was posted here with second hand information. It's hard to believe the theater was a full blown construction site with cabins above and below it.

 

Although a drastic measure, maybe the couple should have made their bed in the lobby, that would draw some attention to their plight:eek::D

[TerReuv]

When you book a hotel on the hotel's webpage, they will tell you the hotel is under construction and give you the choice. Carnival knew they were going to be under construction, and allowed rooms to be booked in a construction zone. So how do you explain that it's OK? First hand experience has taught me, and I hope the OP, learns also as well as others. I'm just agreeing with the thread that Carnival does very little.

 

Since you hate Carnival so much I am surprised to find that you must have an insider at Carnival letting you know that the construction had been planned well in advance. Possibly even before the cabin was sold.

 

Also the fact that the OP is not the person who had an issue so we do not even know exactly what happened or if/when they complained.

[pe4all]

I don't think the TA did a good job either. Maybe they should go after their agent for payment. True their agent would not know about construction, but the agent knew the theater was there and there would be shows there as well as rehearsals.

I agree with you. My first cruise on CCL was booked last minute, when the all-inclusive we were supposed to go to in Cancun got blown away in a hurricane. (2005) We ended up booking on Liberty, and got the last balcony cabin, which happened to be over the theater. We are early to bed, early to risers, and definitely heard the music from the shows/rehearsals. I then found this site, and began educating myself. Never made that cabin mistake again!! Everyone must learn to be educated consumers. All you have to do is look at a deck plan and see where your cabin is. The TA should know better.

Edited March 1, 2016 by pe4all

[LMaxwell]

Because I didn't think I was allowed to post personal contact info of Carnival employees on this board. Am I wrong?

 

I don't see anything against it. Sharing contact information to help cruisers out is different than naming a travel agent.