Disembarkment Chaos!

[ptsong]

Announcement was made that all foreign and green card holders to meet at the Russian room to collect their passport. Waited more then an hr. then told to leave the ship immediately from there. My wife an American citizen was still in the upper deck unoblivious what's happening and waiting there passionately. I got to fight my way back to the upper deck to get her and then rejoin the leaving crowd all over again. Another 45 mins.delay. Couldn't they be more specific to keep spouses or travelling partners together when disembarking even if they have different passports?This is the worst disemabarkment experience for me. You would think they should wise up by now after all these cruises.

Carnival Legend- 26th Sept 2005. Sailing from NY to Carribean and back. "Apprentice Cruise".:confused:

[laura2161]

Have anything good to say about your cruise or was it all bad?

 

Laura

[ptsong]

Hated the disembarkment but everything else is good.

[laura2161]

Hated the disembarkment but everything else is good.

 

Well I'm glad you had fun on your cruise, and at least what you hated ended up being at the very end of the cruise instead of the very beginning of your cruise. :)

 

Laura

[nrdsb4]

My wife an American citizen was still in the upper deck unoblivious what's happening and waiting there passionately.

 

At first I thought "How do you 'wait passionately?'"

 

Then it made sense: My husband is ALWAYS late, and I spend a good deal of time "waiting passionately!":D

 

Sorry you had a bad ending but glad the rest was good.

[ptsong]

So embarrassing! Anyway I brought it up to wise up these guys who make the nnouncements. I hope they will read it here. Do they?

[tef43]

I hope they will read it here. Do they?

Not likely.

[cherylandtk]

So embarrassing! Anyway I brought it up to wise up these guys who make the nnouncements. I hope they will read it here. Do they?

Actually, we kind of enjoyed the idea of a wife "waiting passionately", so don't fret about the language. And think of it this way, you have just notified thousands of future passenger couples reading these boards that if they do not hold the same country passport they will be sent to different areas for disembarkation.

[ptsong]

I pointed out to Carnival about the bad disembarkment procedure. It's 4 weeks and no reply from them. I thought they will appreciate a pointer, guess not. What a bad public relations with this Cruise company. Will most likely not cruise with them or recommend them to anyone.:(

[tef43]

It's 4 weeks and no reply from them.

In all seriousity, you actually *expected* a reply? :confused: You have much to learn about cruiselines' marketing philosophy. Customer retention is not a priority with them. The ships sail full every week. For every passenger who threatens never to return, others are eagerly queueing up to take their place.

[Forchunut1]

I also enjoyed the "waiting passionately". :D I thought it sounded very romantic. ;)

 

Sorry to hear about the problems you had. It is always surprising when something like this happens to a cruiser. You'd think that they would have had the "bugs" worked out of their process long before now. It's not like it's the first time they tried this.

 

But, try not to let it cloud your impression of a great overall cruise. No matter what the cruiseline, there will be issues, but I still say a bad day at sea is better than a good day at work.

[cruzin2paradise]

I pointed out to Carnival about the bad disembarkment procedure. It's 4 weeks and no reply from them. I thought they will appreciate a pointer, guess not. What a bad public relations with this Cruise company. Will most likely not cruise with them or recommend them to anyone.:(

 

I'm sorry that things didn't go the way to wanted/expected, but seriously, does anyone here really "enjoy" disembarking? I'm pretty cranky while waiting just for the mere fact that I have go back to reality . . .

 

Also, I don't think I'd give up a cruiseline based on how they let me off the ship . . . just my opinion.

 

If you had fun during the duration of your trip, I'd let the disembarkation matter go -- I mean really, if everyone had this opinion about this and other things, i.e., having babies, I would never have had my 2nd baby 'cause the first one hurt too much . . . ok, bad example.

 

Just relax. Everything worked out and you had a good time during the cruise.

[ptsong]

Try Epidural anaesthesia for your 3 rd baby. No pain anymore... I highly recommend.

[Rowan555]

Try Epidural anaesthesia for your 3 rd baby. No pain anymore... I highly recommend.

 

 

Did I miss something somewhere?

[NRWO]

So embarrassing! Anyway I brought it up to wise up these guys who make the nnouncements. I hope they will read it here. Do they?

 

The answer might surprise you..

[S.P.Q.R./Morunt]

We try to be the first ones on the ship and the last ones off!

We sleep late, have a long breakfast, read a good book. They

will have to throw us off! We have about a 4 hr drive home, maybe if I had a flight, I would think differently. 3000 people trying to get off a ship, theres bound to be impatience. Like my husband says when we have to do something unpleasant (like cleaning house), try to enjoy it!

[Mgetta]

We try to be the first ones on the ship and the last ones off!

We sleep late, have a long breakfast, read a good book. They

will have to throw us off! We have about a 4 hr drive home, maybe if I had a flight, I would think differently. 3000 people trying to get off a ship, theres bound to be impatience. Like my husband says when we have to do something unpleasant (like cleaning house), try to enjoy it!

 

You have a choice. Non U.S. passport holders must get off the ship when told. Carnival knows that husbands and wives leave the ship together, so they should have included spouses in the announcement. They've done this enough times to be getting it right.

 

The only way Carnival is filling these ships is by giving deep discounts close to the cruise. They have been offering 7 day cruises on the Conquest in November starting at under $400. Considering $195 is for taxes and port charges, that's about $200 per person for Carnival.

[S.P.Q.R./Morunt]

Please Pleas tell me who "they" are? Where can I book a 7 day cruise for 200 dollars PP?

[Mgetta]

"They" was Carnival. I received an e-mail from them. Also heard from a couple of on-line TAs (which we can't name here).

 

Re-read my post. The charge was $399 per person, but with the $195 tax and charges, that's $200 to Carnival.

[Mgetta]

Nov 20Miami, FLCarnival / Carnival Victory$449 73% (discount)Nov 20Tampa, FLCarnival/Carnival Miracle$449 73% This week the discounted prices are $50 higher.

[CanTex]

I pointed out to Carnival about the bad disembarkment procedure. It's 4 weeks and no reply from them. I thought they will appreciate a pointer, guess not. What a bad public relations with this Cruise company. Will most likely not cruise with them or recommend them to anyone.:(

 

Please read the forums for the other cruise lines before you make this decision. Every line has major debarkation issues at some time or another, and if you write off a single cruise line on the basis of an experience of this magnitude you will soon exhaust the options available to you.

 

And, I've had much worse experiences with post cruise customer service on other lines than I've experienced with Carnival (and I'll still cruise on all of these lines in the future in spite of these experiences). I've always found it strange how cruise lines can have such horrible customer service reputations for pre- and post- cruise matters when they place so much emphasis on this aspect once you're on the cruise...

 

Finally, I used to be a green card holder myself (now a U.S. citizen), so can appreciate your frustration but I would always advise going through these immigration procedures together as a family even if some are U.S. citizens. Sometimes this even works in your favor, as you have much shorter lines for embarkation processing (that is something I miss!)

[luvwater]

PTSONG...

 

First, I wanted to say thank you for following the procedure regarding your green card. I get so fusterated while I am waiting in the common areas for what seems like days because the people with green cards do not report.

Announcement after announcement and the people do not hear them?

 

You did the right thing and I am sorry it did not work out for you.