Thanks to Carnival

[tripmac]

I was due to leave on the Sensation on 8/26 with another couple. On the Monday before I was in severe pain and was admitted to the local hospital with an extreemly bad gall bladder. I called on the Wednesday before departure from the hospital to cancel and was given the oh well speech. I fianlly got a letter from Carnival this weekend saying they would give me credit for a future cruise with in the next year.

 

Now I can go on that cruise afterall.

 

I just had to share my great experience with you all!:)

[cruiserlisa]

That is great. It doesn't always end up that way.

 

 

Lisa

[Trlbnd1]

I'm glad things worked out for you. Enjoy your future cruise...

[IBEEMOM]

What a wonderful thing Carnival did for you. Hope you are feeling much better now, both physically and mentaly. Have a great cruise.

[jerseygirl3]

I'm so glad that it worked in your favor. However, I do have a problem with what Carnival did. It doesn't seem fair that for some people they will give them a credit, and for others they are out of luck.

 

As I said, I am truly glad for you that yours had a happy ending. But I'm willling to bet that anybody else who had to cancel last minute and all they got was the "oh well" story isn't so happy.

 

Carnival needs to be more consistent. If they refund some people's money and not others, what is the sense of having cancellation insurance?

[Reneei]

I was due to leave on the Sensation on 8/26 with another couple. On the Monday before I was in severe pain and was admitted to the local hospital with an extreemly bad gall bladder. I called on the Wednesday before departure from the hospital to cancel and was given the oh well speech. I fianlly got a letter from Carnival this weekend saying they would give me credit for a future cruise with in the next year.

 

Now I can go on that cruise afterall.

 

I just had to share my great experience with you all!:)

 

You are very lucky---Their attitude is unless you can absolutely verify your problem for a credit or a charge back, you are out of luck, I know, it happened to me this past week on the Carnival Pride---I will never ever sail on anything related to Carnival...Worst cruise you can imagine---They are in it for all the money they can get out of you...If you go to the Carnival Pride Review section on this site, you can read it for yourself.

[dbcruzin]

You are very lucky---Their attitude is unless you can absolutely verify your problem for a credit or a charge back, you are out of luck, I know, it happened to me this past week on the Carnival Pride---I will never ever sail on anything related to Carnival...Worst cruise you can imagine---They are in it for all the money they can get out of you...If you go to the Carnival Pride Review section on this site, you can read it for yourself.

I copied this from your review.....

 

Did I mention the constant attention given to all the passengers in regards to money they spend on the ship? No matter where you go, you will notice everything begins and ends with an extra added price. The Auction for the paintings--What a joke! Does anyone out here realize these pictures that are being bid on and sold and/or given away are photos that have been transferred to canvas? Not worth a plugged nickle----.

I'm sorry, but you don't have a clue what you are talking about....the art is certified and the values are good......I spoke to a collector who buys on the ship due to the buyers fee being much less than on land.....if they are pictures, he paid $14K of a "picture of a Picasso.........

 

If you want to trash something, at least get your facts straight!!

[dbcruzin]

(Sorry I got off track on your thread due to that other post.....I don't really put much stock in what people who have totally negative reviews say, but I hate to see people mislead by blatant bullcrap....)

 

 

 

Congrats on getting a nice response from Carnival....Hope all is better

[tripmac]

Thanks for the kind words.

One thing I did not note was that I did have my doctors write a letter (man they even charged me $20) detailing what transpired that week. Maybe that helped in the "proof" that I was really in the hospital havingthe time of my life.:eek:

[SSSkipper]

Can someone PLEASE tell me how to get to the review site? For some reason I can't seem to find it...:confused:

[glrounds]

Its on the HOME PAGE under reviews, just scroll down.

 

Terrible review, incidentally. Whinny, inconsistent with marks given for different operations, etc. Focusing on the marketing of shipboard things that makes her cruise so inexpensive in the first place. I just ignore them. Never play BINGO on a cruise ship (take a head count and do the math).

 

I especially feel this way because my experiences on the PRIDE this May was entirely different. Fabulous ship, excellent crew, great food and accomodations. :) (and I never bought one photo, one piece of art, never gambled in the casino, or played BINGO). :D

[BottledRed]

Look at the banner at the very top of the screen. Click on Reviews (between News and Store). Then select the ship you want, and click 'member reviews' to see the latest reviews submitted.

[SSSkipper]

Thanks for helping me!:) I also have been on the Pride, not only once but three times! I was just on her two months ago and each and every time I sailed on her I always had a wonderful time and had nothing I could complain about at all.I'm even going on her sister ship in less than two weeks! The Spirit out of San Diego and I can't wait.....:D

[Boston6]

You are very lucky---Their attitude is unless you can absolutely verify your problem for a credit or a charge back, you are out of luck, I know, it happened to me this past week on the Carnival Pride---I will never ever sail on anything related to Carnival...Worst cruise you can imagine---They are in it for all the money they can get out of you...If you go to the Carnival Pride Review section on this site, you can read it for yourself.

 

Hmmm....worried about $14k paintings on Carnival? Most would never buy one anyway. Let's get down to some real griping. How about RCI charging for Johnny Rocket's and claiming that the charges enhance the cruise experience? Long live the Carnival FREE pizza!

 

Jello shots for all.

[SSSkipper]

Boston, they don't have 14k painting on carnival! Was that your point? I agree with the jello shots for all.....:p

[Reneei]

You know, after seeing which ships you have sailed on, you have no right to knock what you refer to as a negative review, you have never been on this ship-It is not blatant bullcrap, seems some people cant take what you think are negative reviews. Sorry, but lots of others on here that were on that cruise - read 'em for yourself....I'm not whinny...I just state the facts and the truth and tell it the way it is, by the way I never said nothing about a 17k piece of Art. Not everything about Carnival is seen though rose colored glasses.

[Boston6]

You're right. The other poster mentioned a $14k painting. Sorry about that.

[dbcruzin]

You know, after seeing which ships you have sailed on, you have no right to knock what you refer to as a negative review, you have never been on this ship-It is not blatant bullcrap, seems some people cant take what you think are negative reviews. Sorry, but lots of others on here that were on that cruise - read 'em for yourself....I'm not whinny...I just state the facts and the truth and tell it the way it is, by the way I never said nothing about a 17k piece of Art. Not everything about Carnival is seen though rose colored glasses.

=========================================================

Your Review........

 

This will be a very detailed review so bear with me.

 

 

First I would like to thank Cruise Critic for their forum as my husband and I connected with all the members who posted for the same cruise-All are very nice people, we are glad we met them and hopefully we will be able to keep in touch.

 

Now, For the Review....

 

We had no problem embarking, except for some lady who had fainted at the Port which held up our departure for a bit. Carnival needs to really look at the way they treat their guests, they need to put in some seating inside of a building at the Port, treat them like they are human beings and not like cattle standing outside waiting for something to happen.

 

From the moment we got on to the ship, (which is nice looking, but cheaply decorated) it seemed like everyone had to run to get to anything of importance which I found out after the 3rd day was all hype. Departing at 4 p.m. leaves a small timeframe to go and freshen up before dinner if you have early seating which we did. 'Elegant Casual'? Forget it! That interpretation means laid back casual on this ship---and believe me when I say nobody on that ship cares what you wear, its what's in your wallet or pocketbook that counts.

 

For 2 1/2 days, we "attended" these famous talks by Mr. Knear, the so-called wonderful cruise director in the Taj Mahal Lounge---The talks always began before the Bingo session which for 1 card, 1 game is $10.00 or 3 cards, 1 game for $20.00 - Once done with Bingo, The wonderful people from the Carnival Vacation Club would give their spiel of what fantastic savings it is to get in on this opportunity---Another plan to empty your wallet---Then Mr. Knear comes out with a 5 minute talk about embarkation, then another sell for facials, manicures,etc. at Club Spa,(Prices are cheaper at Jose Ebers in Beverly Hills) or the great Bingo game that night, or the Talent show in which there were 6 very talented singers. NO PRIZE was even given for that show, not even a lousy T-Shirt for participation....

 

The ship is very clean-only because you will see the persons who served you dinner the night before, will be up at 6 a.m. working in the buffet area, or at the pool, or dancing in that night's show...the more talent a person has that works for Carnival, the better their chances are to be worked to death---haggard, tired, sleepy faces, seen them for 7 days, felt so sorry for them we wanted to adopt them all for a better way of life away from the ship.

 

Did I mention the constant attention given to all the passengers in regards to money they spend on the ship? No matter where you go, you will notice everything begins and ends with an extra added price. The Auction for the paintings--What a joke! Does anyone out here realize these pictures that are being bid on and sold and/or given away are photos that have been transferred to canvas? Not worth a plugged nickle----.

 

On to the infirmary---I had developed a major problem with my right leg after the Captain's dinner (another joke)---had bad swelling, limped over the morning and down what seemed miles to be met with the most obnoxious nurse I have ever seen---I explained my problem, showed her where the swelling was extremely out of proportion, she announced "I am not taking that for an excuse"...then here comes the Doctor by this time, without an xray, announcing: "You have a blood clot" (Wonderful!). Next comes the emts to take me to the Ameri-Clinica-(Wonderful place, would highly recommend it if you are in dire need)...Well, the diagnosis was not a blood clot, was another problem-- low potassium, so after 3 hours of having an iv of this stuff pumped into my arm, the emts drove my hubby and I back to the ship. No problem, gave my medical stats to the same nurse, she said she would e-mail this info to the Purser, so we could get our excursion monies refunded (this actually happened 3 days later).

 

The only good thing was the staff at dinner. The food was great some days, worse on others, the cabin stew we had was wonderful, it is just a pity so many people are taken in by this attitude of "We have them at Sea, lets sell them whatever we can" ---- These people know how to finesse anybody. I wasn't suckered into any of it---neither was my husband, and neither were the others that complained and there were quite a number of very disappointed people.

 

The excursions were nice, but once again Carnival does not want you to go out on your own...Why? So they can reap still more out of you by telling you "its so dangerous to do this or that" - When we got to the 'Golden Zone' in Mazatlan, yea, great jewels, funny how the stores they take you to have the seal from Carnival on their doors as recommend sites--Translated it means Carnival reaps still more from every purchase you make at any of the recommended sites in any of the Ports. Believe me when I say we are in the age of "Lets rip off the public" and they get away with it----

 

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER AGAIN will I ever cruise on anything that remotely has any holding with Carnival Cruise Inc. People need to open their eyes and honestly realize this is not a pleasure cruise, this is a trip via the way of your bank account. For those of you who have stars in their eyes from the Pride--Wake up and smell the coffee for goodness sake! The Cruise Director is nothing more than a slick salesman who was handed this job because he can finesse....

 

This is my opinion and I along with a great number of other people are sticking to it.

 

==========================================================

My comments.....

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reneei

You are very lucky---Their attitude is unless you can absolutely verify your problem for a credit or a charge back, you are out of luck, I know, it happened to me this past week on the Carnival Pride---I will never ever sail on anything related to Carnival...Worst cruise you can imagine---They are in it for all the money they can get out of you...If you go to the Carnival Pride Review section on this site, you can read it for yourself.

 

 

I copied this from your review.....

 

Did I mention the constant attention given to all the passengers in regards to money they spend on the ship? No matter where you go, you will notice everything begins and ends with an extra added price. The Auction for the paintings--What a joke! Does anyone out here realize these pictures that are being bid on and sold and/or given away are photos that have been transferred to canvas? Not worth a plugged nickle----.

 

I'm sorry, but you don't have a clue what you are talking about....the art is certified and the values are good......I spoke to a collector who buys on the ship due to the buyers fee being much less than on land.....if they are pictures, he paid $14K of a "picture of a Picasso.........

 

If you want to trash something, at least get your facts straight!!

 

==========================================================

Follow-up comment to the poster who was thanking Carnival......

 

(Sorry I got off track on your thread due to that other post.....I don't really put much stock in what people who have totally negative reviews say, but I hate to see people mislead by blatant bullcrap....)

=========================================================

 

#1) If you're going to fire back at someone, make sure you're firing at the right person....Boston wasn't the one

 

#2) It's my opinion that it was an extremely negative review ending with what I'd consider a rather negative summary:

 

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER AGAIN will I ever cruise on anything that remotely has any holding with Carnival Cruise Inc. People need to open their eyes and honestly realize this is not a pleasure cruise, this is a trip via the way of your bank account. For those of you who have stars in their eyes from the Pride--Wake up and smell the coffee for goodness sake! The Cruise Director is nothing more than a slick salesman who was handed this job because he can finesse....

 

#3) What I referred to as blatant bullcrap and totally misleading was your comments in regard to the auction. This statement in particular:

 

 

The Auction for the paintings--What a joke! Does anyone out here realize these pictures that are being bid on and sold and/or given away are photos that have been transferred to canvas? Not worth a plugged nickle----.

 

What ships I have been on or you have been on has absolutely nothing to do with the auctions. Park West Gallery out of Michigan conducts these auctions through a contract with Carnival on all their ships(and other cruise lines as well). To state that the items at these auctions are "Not worth a plugged nickle----" is totally FALSE and misleading. They sell paintings, prints, lithographs, etc. All certified by the gallery. Maybe you don't like art or think it is worthless, that's your option, but don't mislead people.

[Boston6]

Can't we all just get along? This isn't the Celebrity board you know. :)

[dbcruzin]

Can't we all just get along? This isn't the Celebrity board you know. :)

 

Just removing the heat from you

[Reneei]

I copied this from your review.....

 

Did I mention the constant attention given to all the passengers in regards to money they spend on the ship? No matter where you go, you will notice everything begins and ends with an extra added price. The Auction for the paintings--What a joke! Does anyone out here realize these pictures that are being bid on and sold and/or given away are photos that have been transferred to canvas? Not worth a plugged nickle----.

I'm sorry, but you don't have a clue what you are talking about....the art is certified and the values are good......I spoke to a collector who buys on the ship due to the buyers fee being much less than on land.....if they are pictures, he paid $14K of a "picture of a Picasso.........

 

If you want to trash something, at least get your facts straight!!

 

Still another hard lesson to learn. There is a website by Jack White who writes for Fine Arts-sierra arts.net. I suggest you go there and read what he has to say about the matter. I always do hear there is a sucker born every minute.

[BluexMoon]

Renee,

 

How many cruises have you been on? Don't they all want to make as much $ of pax as possible? I just figure, it's a business. They do whatever they can to make a profit. Just like any business. I am agreeing with you to a point. They try every trick to get more $ out of you. But, you can "just say no", and still have a great time.

[Reneei]

This was my 1st cruise. I looked to this website for ideas on what I would expect and it fell way short. Thank you for agreeing with me to a point. Everything just seemed to start out with same same old inticement for this or whatever they were hawking-was not prepared for, did not buy into it. Just very irritating to hear big inticements, the hook, whatever you want to call it. Guess it all falls to what you see and believe for your own self.

[dbcruzin]

Still another hard lesson to learn. There is a website by Jack White who writes for Fine Arts-sierra arts.net. I suggest you go there and read what he has to say about the matter. I always do hear there is a sucker born every minute.

I just got off the phone with Park West Gallery and it might not surprise me if Mr White receives an inquiry from them. The following is from the website I found where Mr White is talking about cruiseship art:

==========================================================

You can buy a Peter Max at stunningly low prices. It will be shipped to you in a tube and you will pay a small fortune getting it custom framed. But that is not the point. All the art sold on cruiseships has been purchased in bulk from wholesalers wanting to dump their old and unsold products

=================================================================

 

In speaking with Park West, I found that the art provided by them for cruise auctions is no different than any they provide for any other sale. It was emphatically stated to me that they DO NOT purchase bulk wholesale art. The art offered by them is either purchased direct from the artist of from the certified collection of the estate. This supports the information I have gotten from the collectors I have spoken with at the auctions on board. By the way, it comes framed too.;)

One more thing.....from the Park West web site:

===================================================================

Authenticity: Every work of art purchased at Park West Gallery carries a money back, limited guarantee of authorship and comes with a certificate of authenticity, including the complete description and research information on each work.

==========================================================

 

 

 

Thanks for the heads up though. I didn't want to mislead anyone about Carnival auctions and I am now confident that I have not Ms Plugged Nickle.:D

[Vidimom]

If you thought Carnival is a hard seller on board, you may not want to take another cruise ever. All cruiselines do the same thing! Been on over 10 with several different lines and all of them are selling everything. It's just part of the

business. With the prices they are getting for the cruises (still can't figure out why cruises now are cheaper then they were when we took our first cruise 7 years ago) they try and make up the revenue on board. You don't have to buy a darn thing on board unless you want to.

 

As far as Park West, I have personally bought art, not for the value, but the

prints that caught my eye and I still love seeing. I actually look forward to

going on to see if the artist we like has any new additions that I may want.

The prices are fair. I did see some really UGLY art go for alot of money, but

I buy what I want and it's not for the Appraisal.