Legend's Unexpected Visit to Bermuda on 8/11/04

[jdinrvc2]

Hi! My husband posted from the Legend to let you all know we had a malfunction on the ship and that our ports were changed to 1 port - Bermuda.

 

Here is my take. First of all, Bermuda is one of my favorite islands - however that being said, I have been there before and would not have paid over $1200 per person to go there again - especially since we paid almost half that on what I consider to be a much better cruise line a few years ago (RCCL).

 

Second, we also made the best of the situation and had lots of laughs despite our many issues with this cruise. We knew going into this that we were sailing on Carnival and not Celebrity or RCCL and we kept our expectations in line. Although we did have numerous issues with the level of service on the ship (and in particular, the dining room, where although we were on time for our main seating every evening we rarely received coffee service before being kicked out of the dining room to allow the crew to set up for the late seating) we will not go into great detail on those issues here. Just because someone has complaints does not mean that they were "overly critical" or even that they had a bad time. It just means that they have complaints.

 

Third, I have cruised a number of times before, most recently on the NCL Dawn from NY to FL and Bahamas. (I absolutely LOVED that cruise and would not hesitate to take it again!!!)

 

Now, my major issue with Carnival itself and some posters on this board is how we are defining what happened on the ship. This was not an act of god type weather issue that Carnival had no control over. This is without a doubt a "Carnival" issue. The ship that we paid thousands to cruise on and more thousands once we boarded had a malfunction. In short, it broke down. It seems really clear to me that this is Carnival's responsibility. We paid top dollar for a cruise out of New York to specific ports. Carnival did not provide this. The passengers deserve more than $150 per person - the tips alone cost us over $160 together.

 

Why should passengers be penalized so that Carnival can repair their own ship? We had to sacrifice our planned itinerary so that Carnival could dock at a port of their convenience and fix their broken down ship???!!! That makes absolutely no sense to me. Furthermore, Carnival will likely make a claim against their insurance for business interruption - money that the passengers will never see. Why should the financial burden of the repair rest on the passengers and not the cruise line? Carnival got the benefit of a full ship of full fare paying passengers who were still a captive audience (who were also notably using their sail and sign cards for 8 days) and got the benefit of repairing their ship. What did we get? A itinerary we did not bargain for and no significant compensation for our loss.

 

In addition to the paltry compensation the passengers were given, we found that Carnival was terrible about communication. The officers were very slow at communicating. For example, during the early seating one night, there was a blackout in the dining room for about 15 minutes and there was never even an announcement apologizing or assuring us that everything was okay. There were alot of passengers that got very worried about the functioning of the ship itself b/c of the engine problem. Couple that with a blackout in the dining room and some people were really, REALLY worried. There were a number of incidents like this - too numerous to recount.

 

 

Also, although we were okay about going to Bermuda, we were not okay with the amount of time spent there. One poster said we had 2 and 1/2 days. I'm not sure about you but, in my mind we had 2 days in Bermuda + maybe 2 hours which does not constitute a half day. We had to be back on the ship by 11:30am on the day were were leaving, that is not a half day IMHO.

 

Although it is true that if you ran the numbers we probably had the same, if not more, time on land than was promised on the original itinerary, that is not IMHO the correct calculation. Typical cruises from NYC to Bermuda give you 3 and a half days on Bermuda (and on the last day the cruise leaves at 3 pm giving you almost 4 days). To be blunt, most passengers believe that we got shafted. My husband and I booked Carnival's San Juan, St. Thomas, Tortola itinerary knowing that we had a number of days at sea - but those days were not meaningless - they were necessary to get the ship to the islands we were supposed to go to. Instead, in our case we were stuck on a faulty ship circling the Atlantic. If Carnival just stayed in Bermuda an extra day the passengers would have been a lot happier. Yet again, we received no explanation as to why we were leaving Bermuda so quickly.

 

As a person on the cruise ship, regardless of whether you were personally offended with the way things were handled, it was tremendously obvious that there were hundreds of people on board who were quite upset. In my mind, even if Carnival intended to remain resolute about refusing to refund any portion of the cruise fare, they had ample opportunity to assuage the unhappy passengers in any number of ways - there were no such efforts made (no open bar, free drinks, discounts on activities, etc.)

 

In short, we feel that we paid a premium not for the cruise ship but for the Eastern Caribbean itinerary. When that itinerary was changed due to the ship’s malfunction, the value of our cruise fare decreased considerably. Carnival’s efforts to compensate us for that decrease were disappointing. We say this as part of a group of passengers who still had a good time but felt they grossly overpaid for the experience. We are not part of the group of passengers who were irate for whom no efforts on Carnival’s part would have made a difference.

 

 

"Ship happens," but I shouldn't have to pay for it! :rolleyes:

 

 

Yours,

jdinrvc2

[GoinCruisin]

I'm sorry you guys had trouble... i know that is tough. Did you ever (or any others) think about using the vacation guarantee and just going home? I know that would not have been ideal, but at least you would have gotten back most of your money... I'm surprised more people didn't do that. Anyhow, sounds like you made the best of a bad situation...

 

Take care!!!

[JJS2K3]

Thanks for taking the time to post your point of view. Good read.

 

The line "We knew going into this that we were sailing on Carnival and not Celebrity or RCCL and we kept our expectations in line" leaves something to be desired but that's my opinion.

 

Cruise lines (not just Carnival) don't guarantee ports. They are not obligated (by law) to compensate you in any way even if it is a mechanical failure. That said, one would think they would do a little more considering the circumstances but they did what they thought was fair.

 

That leaves it to the PAX to decide if it was enough or time to try another line.

 

 

Take care :)

[GayleR]

Thanks for posting. This board is for posting our experiences as well as our opinions. (not to mention asking questions.) I must agree with JJS2K3 that your line, "We knew going into this that we were sailing on Carnival and not Celebrity or RCCL and we kept our expectations in line" definitely leaves something to be desired. Again, you are entitled to your opinion. I don't think you will "win friends and influence people" on the Carnival board with statements like that.

 

Happy cruising. :)

[OhioBeachBum]

You had the option of taking Carnival up on their guarantee and you didn't. You had the option of reading the terms of the cruise and it appears that you didn't. If you can't accept the possibility that your itinerary is subject to change - DON'T CRUISE. The last time I checked, anything that is mechanical (i.e. a cruise ship) will, from time to time, experience a mechanical problem. If you go into any situation expecting problems - you'll have problems. Perhaps you should only cruise on Windjammer since they have sails. Of course, if the wind doesn't blow - then who will you blame?!

[bethm214]

I think the passengers should have been better informed. The OP frequently stated that they would have been more tolerant if someone had just bothered to keep them informed. I have experienced a very similar event on Carnival and also felt that we were kept in the dark way too long.

[hstrybuf]

I'm sorry to hear that your cruise did not live up to your expectations and that you received compensation that you deem insufficient. However, I wonder whether you would rather be floating around dead in the water or have the necessary repairs made to get you back home? As you say, ship happens. It did, so maybe you can chalk this up to experience and your next cruise will live up to your expectations.

[finoky]

Once I read, We knew going into this that we were sailing on Carnival and not Celebrity or RCCL and we kept our expectations in line, I didn't care anymore what you had to say. It does amaze me though why you would pay "top dollar" for what you knew going in to be a inferior cruise line. You got $300 back from Carnival for the inconvenience. Perhaps you can take that money and put a down payment on a different cruise line. Happy sailing no matter which line you chose. As far as I know there are no other cruise lines in the world besides Carnival that have had a ship break down so you should be safe.

[jdinrvc2]

Wow. Considering I was pretty careful that I didn't say anything to offend anyone, those are pretty harsh words.

 

To OhioBeachBum: I have trolled this board for years. I certainly do not think that your harsh tone or words are appropriate. Also, don't assume that I have or have not done anything. Since you asked so "nicely" (are you sure you are not a Carnival employee or travel agent that makes lots of commissions off of Carnival?? Sorry folks - normally wouldn't have done that but the harsh tone got to me.) I'm an attorney ("jd") so you can be sure that I did read the agreement. For some legal analysis - yes they can do whatever they would like to do - however, the passengers bargained and paid for something they did not receive - it is quite possible that some of the passengers may have been damaged in an amount equal to the difference between a bermuda cruise and the cruise that we paid a certain value for. Furthermore, any tariff is also subject to a court's interpretation (not just what Carnival states that it means) and to a standard of reasonableness.

 

And although it is true that a cruise ship will experience mechanical problems, so what? Why do passengers have to pay for such incidents. If I make hotel reservations for the penthouse suite, pay for a penthouse suite & for whatever reason, the hotel cannot give me the penthouse suite - but instead gives me just a regular old room - is it your contention that I have to pay for a penthouse suite?? Well, logically I don't, for customer service reasons I shouldn't and legally I likely wouldn't have to either.

 

Also, you seem to be completely ignoring the fact that there is a tremendous difference between circumnavigating a hurricane and having an engine fail. The first is not Carnival's responsibility the second is. Also, considering this incident made CBS prime time news on the day we arrived in port - this was obviously a "newsworthy" event and a Carnival mishap on some level.

 

As for the guarantee, since I could not get straignt answers on board (yes that is right we did request an itemization to figure out exactly how much we would get back, but they couldn't give us exact answers). And since we did not arrive in port until day 4 of the cruise, we were told we would not get more than half our money back not including $400 in port taxes and fees that would not be refunded. Again, as an attorney who has not had vacation in over a year, I figured I'd roll with the punches (in fact, although I sound irate now due to mean and presumptuous posters who have to write in CAPITAL LETTERS so that we can all hear them better - we were very happy on board and felt bad for the cruise employees who had to deal with complaints all week :( ). However, I also assumed (wrongly apparently) that such a massive line as Carnival would want to keep its public relations strong and would focus much more on customer service.

 

As for my comment regarding our expectations (again I did not mean any offense) I only said that because we had extreme problems with customer service that had nothing to do with the itinerary change. I was actually trying to give Carnival the benefit of the doubt on this one since we had never sailed Carnival before. I just wanted people to know (I know one poster early on talked about expectations and that Carnival was not for everyone) that I was not lumping together my feelings about the itinerary change with our feelings about the customer service which I was chalking up to just bad luck and a bad vibe on the ship due to angry passengers and staff working overtime to deal with them.

 

As for cruising in general on this line or otherwise, I am a "glass half full kind of person" and always expect to have a great time. Unfortuntely we did not expect problems, but nonetheless encountered them. I just wish Carnival could have kept us better informed and had the wherewithal to show us that they cared about the situation and about its passengers' happiness.

 

"Ship happens," but I'm sure we will have better sailing next time!! :cool:

 

Always happy :) but don't like judgmental mean posters :mad: ,

 

jdinrvc2

[JJS2K3]

Hi again,

 

You're a smart person. When you posted that 'expectations' line on a message board that is made up of Carnival supporters you should have known you would get a reaction to it. Especially without the follow up explanation you just posted. There was no approriate reason to include it, IMHO.

 

Also, if you've cruised before as you said then you know ports are not guaranteed. You never really think it'll happen to you but unfortunately it did this time.

 

Lastly, back to expectations, "I just wish Carnival could have kept us better informed and had the wherewithal to show us that they cared about the situation and about its passengers' happiness."

 

There are people who were not at all unhappy with the way the situation was handled. Why do you think this is? Could it be the prism of lowered expectations you were viewing it through? Just asking - I don't know you, wasn't there, and you seem nice enough.

 

I have empathy for all the folks who feel cheated or neglected with this situation. I'm not sure what else could be done. What do you think should have and/or should still happen?

[bingo3]

My first time at this forum in quite some time. I guess some people only want to hear your concerns and opinions jdinrdc2 if you have the same opinions/feelings they do. I personally like to hear everyone's opinions/concerns. Helps me make a better informed decision about a cruise or cruise line. If I think someone's complaint would also bother me, I'll take it into account. If it's something that I wouldn't be concerned about personally, such as food quality, I ignore. I wouldn't waste my time responding to the bashers, they probably feed off that anyway. Thanks for passing on your concerns. I'm sure you weren't the only one who felt that way. No one likes it when things aren't communicated to them.

[GoinCruisin]

Again, I am sorry you experienced this, but as an Attorney, I am sure you have seen that Carnival has themselves covered extremely well in their contract... they even cover breakdowns in there... I own a business and have had one vacation in 5 years, so I know the need for vacations, however I would have LOVED 4 days at sea and 2 in Bermuda (although I doubt I would have left the ship, just too much to do on there). I am still confused though about the guarantee, you would have received $1600 back, and still have enjoyed 4 days at sea... Seems like a pretty good deal!!!!

 

Either way, sorry it did not work out...

[purplefrog1111]

thank you for your post, i have heard repeatedly that carnival doesn't handle the communication aspect very well. i try to learn from others good and bad experiences so that no matter what happens on my cruise, i can try and have a good time. sorry your trip wasn't what you'd planned for. some people on these boards don't handle bad reviews well.....please don't think we are all like that.

 

here's hoping your next vaca is twice as good to make up for this one.

[IKE]

I am very sorry you had these problems on your cruise but as you said "Ship happens"! I think the Captain made the right decision for the Ship. passengers and crew to pull into Bermuda for repairs. There were 2 hurricaines blowing around the Atlantic the week you were sailing and I don't think anyone would want to be floating around broken down under these dangerous weather conditions with a propulsion problem. I feel you were taken to a beautiful island and were reimbursed $300 per couple to spend as you wished onboard the ship. I have sailed on all cruiselines and Carnival I feel especially with their new ships to be right up there today with RCL and Celebrity. I am very happy that everything turned out so nicely for all of you. I am not saying, passengers were not disappointed, I am sure they were,because of the itinerary change but things happen. Thats life! Nothing is for sure! Ike

[MrPete]

If I make hotel reservations for the penthouse suite, pay for a penthouse suite & for whatever reason, the hotel cannot give me the penthouse suite - but instead gives me just a regular old room - is it your contention that I have to pay for a penthouse suite??

I don't get your analogy. If you did the same on the ship, book a penthouse category 12, and got a standard room, I don't think ANYONE would disagree with you. You would surely be reimbursed. Or worse yet, bumped.

 

However, anything you do in port is NOT included in your fare, other than a port charge.

 

I will state again, between the choice of cancelling the cruise, and being offered a full refund upon arrival at the pier, I know what MY choice would be. Most just say they are happy to be on a ship. A small few look for monitary reimbursement over the slightest of things. And many things do go wrong on a ship at the same frequency things go wrong on land. You work around them. If you didn't, well, fill in the blanks.

 

Being the problems supposedly happened after the ship set sail, what would you suggest be done? I'm sure those capable of analizing the situation did, and did what was best for passengers, ship, and crew.

 

Two days in sunny Bermuda vs horrid weather in the three ports you didn't make it to was a blessing in disguise. Unfortunately, your fellow pax didn't know that at the time. I would have welcomed this changed itinerary, having paid a premium on a Carnival cruise to Bermuda last year.

 

I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise. Now go book your next one.

[airgirl]

JD

 

As an airline employee I totally understand your point of view. Carnival needs to up its customer service and communication issues.

Through the years, I have noticed them making improvements in that area and I give them credit for that. They are still not on the same page as Celebrity but hopefully with comments like yours, they can improve on issues like the communication factor from Miami to the ship. I see them trying, but they have a ways to go.

 

In the airline business we call it "owning the problem". The person you speak to at the airport, plane, (or cruise ship) should take care of you as best they can without refering you to somewhere, someone else. Some airlines like Jetblue do this better, therefore even though they are a discount carrier - and are cheaper than other airlines, they get a good rep for problem solving. When delayed, you know EXACTLY what is going on. So you see, it is not the price of the cruise that should matter, but management policy giving the employee power.

 

When something like this goes wrong - you can't please everyone but the people on the front line (pursers) should be given the information from Miami quickly and effectively.

[lknick]

Just a question for our resident JD....

 

At what point does tort trump contract? What conditions must be met?

[halos]

Regardless of how much an inconvenience Bermuda was for you, I must ask you what you think you'd have gotten, by way of compensation from any other cruise line???

[steveaaaa]

I agree with JD..He got a bum rap and I would be upset also.

I also would question the following, If a regular ship takes 2 days to get to Bermuda and this one takes 4, I would want to know why CCLs calculation on the days used for the guarantee would be based on 4 instead of the normal 2. It is not the OP fault a break down caused slow travel.

Steve

[AuntieBon]

I assume that the sailing to the Caribbean costs more than one to Bermuda would have. Perhaps that is what bothered people the most. Not the change in ports but the difference in those two trips.

 

If you paid $1200 pp and then got a trip that costs only $700 pp, you are already at a loss of $500. That means the $150 offered by Carnival was rather insulting IMHO.

 

If the money back was in the way of on board credit what did Carnival lose? If you didn't spend that money on the ship would they have given you cash back?

[samiam]

Just thinking....isn't it amazing with all the cruise ships sailing everyday that more don't break down??? These ships sail day after day, week after week. That's alot of stress on the engines.

I'm sorry for everyone that was disappointed with their cruise. Hopefully you can find some things to smile about...some good memories to hold onto. Life is too short...make the most of it.

May your next cruise be perfect! :)

[Ricks]

When I said "SHIP HAPPENS"

 

I was talking about rolling with what ever happens on the ship and making the best of it and having a good vacation. From your post it seems as though you did.

 

I'm glad you came here to let other know how carnival handles their customer service when things go wrong, as in past things that have happened to others on their cruise. They certainly don’t get a high grade in customer service. Personally I don’t think any other cruise line would have done different. I feel that carnival should of be more up front with everyone. I just hope that this does not happen to me on my cruise

 

I think it’s too bad that you only got 2 days in Bermuda, I would of expected more.

 

I think a lot of these posters need to back off. If they feel they got screwed that’s their feels on the matter. When you all tell everyone on the boards you had a great time, do we all write back telling you your crazy you had a bad time. You must have!!!

 

We are all entitled to how we feel.

 

Come on people!! :cool:

 

[Momma Donna]

Let me first say...My friends and I had a terrific time on the Legend 8/11/04-8/19/04. BUT........

We went on a cruise to the the Eastern Caribbean not to Bermuda. We left at 6:00, 1 1/2 hours late. If I wanted to go to Bermuda I could have taken the Celebrity Cruise out of Philadelphia and saved a lot of money we also have other choices such as Baltimore, MD, Bayonne, NJ and VA Beach. We choose to go out of NYC (none of us will fly) so the guarantee to fly you home and return money does not work for all. There were people onboard who were going to a wedding in San Juan ...who would not fly. Why didn't we go to other ports after leaving Bermuda early? The Pursors office was not much help and yes "I" was given $150 (which would have been the port charges, minus the $80.00 for tips) "I" used my $70 dollars on the ship...Carnival did not lose a thing...they probably made more due to disappointment of the cruisers. For those of you on the cruise who headed to the Library for the meeting, knows there were a lot of unhappy & confused passengers.

 

Ship happens...yes, but the key is to make the most of it as my friends and I did. Also, for those of you who do not know Carnival is offering 15% of your next cruise. I won't be taking them up on their offer.

[cantwait2cruise]

It stinks your cruise didn't work out as planned. I would have been upset too. Heck I was upset when we couldn't stop in Key West on our recent Imagination cruise...even though it was apparent that Carnival knew well in advance about the work on the pier and didn't change the itinerary to reflect that. You won't get a lot of sympathy on this board...but, I for one, am sympathetic. Some posters need to stop and think and put themselves in your shoes...I don't think everyone would have been so hunky dory in the same situation. Yes, we all know that unexpected things happen and that Carnival for sure has themselves covered in their contract. But there is something to be said of the way things are handled. Hope your next cruise goes better! ;)

[jncissel]

I'm really sorry your cruise got messed up in that way, I would be upset as well. Particularly about the fact that they seemed to make little effort to keep you informed and to do what they expect you to do.. and make the most of it. It seems to me that you should have gotten larget discounts, gone to another port afterward, something to make it better. I know you are not griping that they are trying to keep you and other passengers safe by repairing the ship. You shouldn't have had to pay a premium for it though. Nobody likes to pay for something they do not get. I wish all the posters on this board would think about that and stop making excuses just because they (like myself) like to travel carnival.