Letter Sent to Carnival!!!!!

[sdptalk]

I had to respond to this. The OP had every reason to say something and write the letter. The person who responded to these concerns is a complete nut job. My responses are in parentheses.

 

Originally Posted by gargarjo

To Whom It May Concern:

On Saturday, March 21, 2009, eleven family members, friends, and I embarked (2Z7G77) on what I truly believed would be a vacation of a lifetime for us. We sailed on a 7 Day Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Liberty. For two of us, it was our second adventure on this ship albeit a different itinerary. Our previous cruise on Liberty was phenomenal.

As we planned our 2009 vacation, we encouraged our family and friends, some of them first-time cruisers, to join us on a Carnival Cruise. Of course our previous experience steered us in our decision making process. Twelve of us embarked on what can be best described as a mediocre week at sea. Part of the cruising experience is the fun and enjoyment experienced between ports. What follows is a list of disappointing and disturbing events and occurrences that riddled our family vacation.

· On three occasions there was a hair in our food; Just Remove It, no worries. (Are you kidding me..."Just remove it"!!!?? You're an idiot!)

· Coffee was at a premium – they ran out every morning; Make it yourself. (With what Einstein? Should I buy a coffee maker and coffee to bring on board the ship?)

· The ship was generally unkept – food on the floor, spilled drinks, etc.; Remove all tips, you'll feel better. (This I would do, but I would also still be upset that I paid good money to live in this for a week)

· State rooms were not re-stocked properly – we had to ask for toilet paper, soap, etc.; Fire that dang cabin boy, another reason remove them tips. (This person's responses just get dumber)

· The shows were the very same as two years prior – and not as good as before; Nothing new there, try diff ships.

· Teenagers overtook the elevators; security alerted- and their response was reprehensible – “This is a fun ship – even for kids” – At the expense of others’ fun? take the stairs, you need exercise after all that grub in the dinning room. (getting dumber)

· Deck chairs were being reserved by guests for other guests that never appeared; Of course, all cruise ships come with chair hogs, no charge. (This I completely agree with)

· Water completely stopped in the state rooms just prior to our departure from St. Thomas; Next time take bottled water. (Ok, back to being dumb. Maybe we should just go grocery shopping for coffee, food and water before we get on the ship)

· Day 2 of the cruise the water ran “black” – with no explanation given Oops too much pooping going on. Sorry, take on bottled water. (See response to above)

We brought these items to the attention of staff members, when one could find a moment to talk to us. They appeared to be over-tasked and too busy to attend to our concerns. We spoke with many guests, and we concurred that the staff was obviously at a minimum level, as evidenced by our mediocre service. “Disappointed” was the way many of us summarized our trip. Next time do not remove tips on day of departure.

We anxiously await a response from Carnival Cruise Lines. Please include a reason why our next vacation should be on a Carnival Fun Ship

[themarm]

I bite my tongue reading this message board a lot, but come on! You're on vacation, why make a list of every little annoyance? H and I didn't even have air conditioning on a 10 day cruise, yet we still had a wonderful time. In the real world, we have short tempers and little patience. But our motto on a cruise is "Don't let it get to us! Let it go!"

 

Kids are irritating. ignore them. Hair in the food is disgusting, but easily and immediately corrected. Asking for soap or TP takes literally 20 seconds. Toss the chair hogs' crap on the floor and take their chairs. Do you really go on a cruise to watch movies? Yes? Fine, bring a portable DVD and DVD's from home. And coffee is available through room service, coffee bars, dining room, etc. Yeah, the buffet gets busy and it runs out, but but it's not your only source.

 

I don't see why people are so uptight on a vacation. Relax! Life isn't perfect, there's no way the cruise line can make your vacation perfect.

 

This is a fantastic post.

 

I might add that if the kids are so irritating you cannot ignore them, employ a two part strategy:

 

1. do not go away until security addresses the issue better. they can page their parents. they have the technology to do so.

2. make sure your shore excursions will be FAR AWAY from the little werewolves-in-training. my guess is they will not be causing trouble under the sea, so toss them there (kidding) or take up scuba, so you have several hours of bliss without them.

 

walk yourself to different coffee. grab a cup to capture the black water from the faucet, and go to the kids club and ask if they have a microscope so y'all can study the crap in the black water. if anything, it would be worth a hoot (you have to know you will be turned away). bring it on the galley tour and do an experiment on how much the unidentified substance affects the boiling temperature of the water.

 

or grab a soda without the black crap in it, sip, and afterward go enjoy the spa whirlpool. while you are there, you can draft a ransom letter for the personal belongings left on the deck chairs.

 

most of all, people wrapped up in either the "yay carnival" camp and the "boo carnival" camp need to quiet down so that some creative answers can be offered! :p

[keasorct]

I agree with ausofte,we were on the same ship same time,I only noticed the water off once,whats the big deal? I work in a maintenance dept.in a Hospital and believe me stuff happens!we have lost water pressure,and I'm sure a hair can get in your food,and we only have 200 people,I think the staff do the best that they can to do their jobs given the conditions on a cruise,we had a great time,sure some things were not perfect but we realized that going into it,I had several people tell me on this cruise that they thought the food was better on Carnival than the other ships they were on. I wish people would quit whining about the awful time they had on a cruise,will your next one be any better?? who knows

[tedjazz]

I bite my tongue reading this message board a lot, but come on! You're on vacation, why make a list of every little annoyance? H and I didn't even have air conditioning on a 10 day cruise, yet we still had a wonderful time. In the real world, we have short tempers and little patience. But our motto on a cruise is "Don't let it get to us! Let it go!"

 

Kids are irritating. ignore them. Hair in the food is disgusting, but easily and immediately corrected. Asking for soap or TP takes literally 20 seconds. Toss the chair hogs' crap on the floor and take their chairs. Do you really go on a cruise to watch movies? Yes? Fine, bring a portable DVD and DVD's from home. And coffee is available through room service, coffee bars, dining room, etc. Yeah, the buffet gets busy and it runs out, but but it's not your only source.

 

I don't see why people are so uptight on a vacation. Relax! Life isn't perfect, there's no way the cruise line can make your vacation perfect.

 

It sounds like you and your H would enjoy your vacation under very trying conditions. Maybe/ Maybe not. There is nothing wrong with that, but other people are not as accepting of "the less that acceptable" conditions that the OP outlined at the begining of this thread. Don't you think that is OK for them to complain about those problems or conditions? No one here should judge WHAT the OP has a right to be upset or complain about.

[themarm]

It sounds like you and your H would enjoy your vacation under very trying conditions. Maybe/ Maybe not. There is nothing wrong with that, but other people are not as accepting of "the less that acceptable" conditions that the OP outlined at the begining of this thread. Don't you think that is OK for them to complain about those problems or conditions? No one here should judge WHAT the OP has a right to be upset or complain about.

 

i was not there, but writing a letter about hair in food is similar to throwing a tantrum. send the food back! change the order if you are concerned that they will just pluck the hair off. it is solved within minutes.

 

no water sucks, but others have said it was not at all long. if you all think THOSE are trying vacation conditions, you have never truly experienced a vacation from hell. nor do i wish one on you.

[tedjazz]

i was not there, but writing a letter about hair in food is similar to throwing a tantrum. send the food back! change the order if you are concerned that they will just pluck the hair off. it is solved within minutes.

 

no water sucks, but others have said it was not at all long. if you all think THOSE are trying vacation conditions, you have never truly experienced a vacation from hell. nor do i wish one on you.

 

I don't wish any "Vacations from Hell" for anyone either. What I don't get is, why are people here so offended by another person's comments/complaints. None of us experience life and/or problems the same way they (OP) did. There are those among us with different levels of tolerance for many things. I know of a person that had they even looked at the hair in their food would have thrown up their stomach contents right then and there, thus spoiling dinner for several others. So Hair in the food for some is no big deal, for others it is Horrible. Many of the other annoyances mentioned may also be a big deal for some and not for others. If the complainers bother you, just don't respond, everyone will probably be the better for it. JMHO

[themarm]

I don't wish any "Vacations from Hell" for anyone either. What I don't get is, why are people here so offended by another person's comments/complaints. None of us experience life and/or problems the same way they (OP) did. There are those among us with different levels of tolerance for many things. I know of a person that had they even looked at the hair in their food would have thrown up their stomach contents right then and there, thus spoiling dinner for several others. So Hair in the food for some is no big deal, for others it is Horrible. Many of the other annoyances mentioned may also be a big deal for some and not for others. If the complainers bother you, just don't respond, everyone will probably be the better for it. JMHO

 

it is true that many people have a tolerance level that is different than that of another. maybe the complainers really set people off. it appears to be that way, from the results of the responses.