“That’s it! I’m outta here!”
Sometimes, only an apology and a full refund can make up for a disastrous vacation. Iesha Walker believes her experience on Carnival’s Destiny is one of those times.
But first, let’s watch the video.
Among the issues Walker documented in her cabin were wires hanging from the lamps above the beds, a soiled toilet seat and toilet bowl, a grimy shower stall, broken tiles and a broken wall panel above the bed.
But the the bugs are what make her exclaim, “That’s it! I’m outtta here!” in the first few seconds of the tape.
I’ve contacted Carnival for a comment. It hasn’t responded.
Walker handled this grievance by the book, as far as I can tell. She immediately informed the cruise line of her disappointment. But all she could do was leave phone messages with the purser’s office. Finally, she showed up to the office in person with a videotape of the bugs. But a manager refused to watch it, deferring to the cabin steward.
I informed him again that the cabin steward was well aware of all of the issues. I asked if there was any way that we could be moved into a different cabin, and he stated that the ship was at capacity.
I asked him what the procedures were for emergency circumstances when the ship was at capacity. He informed us that there was nothing he could do for us. He said we had to wait in the lobby while he sent someone to further inspect the cabin to see if it were livable.
The inspection revealed that there was, indeed, an “infestation” and Walker was given two options. Either disembark the ship at the first port of call and return home at her own expense, or remain in the bug-infested cabin after it was sprayed.
We had no place to sleep and it was extremely late at night. We sat in the lobby until 3 a.m., waiting for a solution.
Carnival eventually agreed to put Walker, her daughter and a traveling companion into a smaller cabin. But it wasn’t an ideal solution, since she was claustrophobic — not to mention the fact that it contradicted the cruise line’s insistence that it was fully booked.
The next night, they were offered a different cabin in the same class they were booked, but it also had problems, including water dripping along the walls and a strong smell of marijuana smoke.
Carnival offered them a partial refund of $420. Not enough, says Walker. She voided the check and returned it to the company.
My vacation was ruined and impacted on the vacations of my entire group.
I did not sleep the entire cruise due to panic attacks from the claustrophobia and the fact that I was constantly looking out for bugs in the cabin ensuring my daughter’s safety.
The Carnival Destiny should be harbored until it can be fixed or destroyed. There were more buckets laid out to catch flooding waters from the ceiling than I have ever seen before. The ship is a hazard to its guests and the crew.
It is obviously infested, poorly managed and poorly maintained.
Walker continued to press for more compensation. She sent Carnival a letter outlining her grievance, but was met with a form response.
I think Walker makes a strong case for a full refund.
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Comments
41 Responses to ““That’s it! I’m outta here!””
Please share your thoughts...
I’m sorry… it could be just me, but I have no clue what I’m looking at in that video, and I’m positive that if I cant see it, the cruiselines arent either.
By all means, however, I can understand bug induced panic attacks. She deserves a refund. But the video adds nothing.
Lawsuits in this country are, I bet, at an all-time high. It seems that people sue each other over the most ridiculous things. This is not one of those ridiculous things. This is what lawsuits are meant to handle. If you exhaust all of the reasonable avenues and get stonewalled, go to court. Unfortunately, it seems that the strategy applied by corporate America is to deny, deny, deny, stonewall, ignore, and never admit anything. Some beancounter somewhere figured that this strategy will save you X amount of money over the long run as folks just get tired of fighting and simply give up. They force you to sue, instead of just sitting down and dealing with the situation reasonably. There’s not a sane person in the world who wouldn’t think that Ms. Walker is entitled to compensation for her ruined vacation.
I think they’ll just ban her from traveling on Carnival - after all - she is a chronic complainer since she complained more than once to the purser.
Why does ANYONE cruise anymore, wait in line, be treated like the self-;loading cargo you are, abused with crappy luncheonette quality food, nickled and dimed everywhere you turn, everyone has their hand out, forced tipping for everything. . . .
This woman deserves a full refund. AND -
Complain to the US Department of Health at the port at which the ship cruises from. Send them the video too . . .
Simply fumigating forces the bugs to another cabin. . . .
Also - the images are out of focus, blurry and you cannot see a thing in them - you do NOT need to use a flash- next time learn how to use your camera . . . .it makes it alot easier for the rest of us . . .
As a reporter who writes about cruises, I advise passengers who have problems to go right to the front desk (the purser) where it will be fixed. The ship’s staff handled this dreadfully, which surprises me. She certainly has ground for a refund and I suggest pressing it harder. This is dreadful service, bad ship maintenance.
I can sort of see the bugs, but I have no idea if it is an infestation or not. Obviously, that is still a very serious problem, any bugs are extremely rare on ships. (I have never seen a bug infestation on any modern cruise ship).
As for the other problems, however, wires coming out of a wall is meaningless unless they are live AC voltage. The pictures are too out of focus, but if they are speaker wires or anything else not carrying AC volts they are not a hazard at all.
Broken tiles, a broken bed panel… it looks like they moved a dresser to video the scratches on the wall. Those things happen in residences that are 12 years old, as Destiny is. All I can say is - the pictures are not very convincing, the bug part sounds bad, but the rest of it sounds like a lot of nit-picking.
Plus they were moved. The fact that they gave them a room with water dripping down the walls does reinforce the argument the ship was “full” It sounds like that room was not “in commission” but they gave it to them because they insisted.
I am sorry, but despite the problems, you have to get to the point where you are thinking these people are chronic complainers. They went through three cabins - none good enough. $420 not enough to live with a bucket catching water?
Suing would be simple, by the way, since most small claims courts now allow cases worth up to $5000. But I really wonder what they would get from a judge - something, but not their entire cruise fare back.
wow - i’m very sorry to hear about iesha’s experience with the bugs. we cruised on destiny last year and had a wonderful time. sure, the ship is old, but that doesn’t mean bugs in the room are okay (though that does mean that it’s expected that everything won’t be in mint condition). it sounds like the reason they weren’t offered the 3rd cabin initially is because it obviously needed some work - hence the story about the ship being at capacity - and they thought she’d be more satisfied with the 2nd cabin, which was fine except for being tiny. since we don’t know how much she paid, we cannot tell whether the refund provided was adequate. it might have been… those cruises can be pretty cheap, and i’d be shocked if they sent her anything more than her fare. though the fares for her cabinmates should, of course, also have been refunded.
That video may have been worthwhile if edited, but it’s pretty useless as is. Clear photos would have been more compelling.
But this is one of the main reasons I hate the whole idea of traveling around on a floating hotel. With a normal hotel room, you’re not trapped–you just leave. The worst you can lose is a night’s lodging. And you’ll never get a room as small as these unless you’re in a pod hotel!
Why do people repeatedly subject themselves to this just to stop in crappy port towns with ugly souvenirs?
I have to admit: I had to wonder about some of what I was seeing. However, I did see the nasty toilet seat in the corner of a picture, the broken, dirty shower tiles and the broken panel above the bed. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t see the bugs. Nevertheless, the purser’s office did admit there was an infestation, rendering the room uninabitable. That’s a whole lot of bugs.
And let’s see: buckets catching water on a SHIP? Sounds like the Destiny has serious problems with leaking. Do I have to say right out this is not a good thing? A leaky ship has problems with seaworthiness — you know, like it’s supposed to be watertight. I mean, that is the ideal condition, true?
The management didn’t exactly trip over themselves in their attempt to fix the problem, either. I don’t think they cared that one of their passengers didn’t exactly have a “FunShip Cruise.” And sitting in the lobby until 3 a.m.? For heaven’s sake. Or, she could have jumped ship, but been responsible for the airfare home. Ye gods and little fishes.
Sounds to me like the Destiny needs to go into dry-dock and be completely refitted, from stem to stern, paying careful attention to those watertight seals.
Oh yeah–and Iesha deserves her entire cruise fare back. No question. For the cruise line putting her safety at risk in a ship with leaks, if for no other reason.
Agree with a few of the commenters. I see nothing in the video and if she’s complaining about broken tiles I’d tell her to shove it and book a trip on a brand new ship that probably costs twice as much.
The bugs are bad, but in my opinion, I think the $420 is reasonable. A full refund? No way. I don’t know how much the cruise cost, but I think something like 25% sounds about right.
All commenters seem to be forgetting.. she was moved to a SMALLER cabin. The $420 is likely the difference in cruise fare. I truly believe that piddly amount is not any type of compensation for the experience she had.
After having to fight with them and ‘prove’ the bugs existed (after all, the steward did nothing..), I can only imagine what type of ‘infestations’ they suffer behind the scenes… say in the kitchen? Blech!
No thanks, I think this cruiser will avoid the Destiny completely.
The video is hard to make out. Of course, I assume that Ms. Walker is not a professional photographer. I strongly disagree with the posters who make suggest that because the ship is old it should be ina poor condition. Broken tiles, nasty bathrooms, etc. are unacceptable. These are things that should be remediated. But the thing that puts it over the top are the bugs.
My question would be, how does one protect themselves from such an experience? Carnival is a well known brand.
I think I’ll pass on cruising. Like one poster said, you can leave a hotel and for the most part salvage a trip, not so on a cruise.
Farrow says “Carnival is a well known brand.” You are correct - it is known for complete mediocrity. I experienced a 3 night Carnival cruise once. Never again. I’d rather go to the local Wal-Mart.
WOW! I love cruising and Carnival use to be my favorite. Now I like Royal Caribbean. But I think she deserves a full refund. What she went through is ridiculous. Like another commenter, I’ve not seen bugs on a ship so if I were to see bugs in my cabin, I would flip out too. That’s just nasty!
ratherbfishin on cruise critic points out that the facts are likely wrong in this story. carnival has a policy that it will refund the unused portion of a person’s cruise fare AND pay for the flight back. http://www.carnival.com/CMS/fun/cruise_control/vacation_guarantee.aspx if iesha was that unhappy and her vacay was guaranteed ruined (understandable), she should’ve just taken them up on that offer.
traveler - glad to hear you’re sick of all those “tired port cities.” hopefully everyone else is too and the crowds will be light in st. petersburg, copenhagen, stockholm, barcelona…
chicky - the leaking is from plumbing/air conditioning issues. i wouldn’t be worried about destiny’s seaworthiness.
carver - as for the poor condition of some things on the ship, anyone could have been made aware of these issues before ever booking the cruise. check out the member reviews on cruise critic. destiny has gotten some pretty bad ones for a while now, so iesha really shouldn’t have been surprised about the condition of the ship (other than the bugs and, if true, the dirty bathroom).
mtp - you went on a booze cruise. of course it was terrible! no 3 night cruise can be compared to a 7 night cruise. they attract a different clientele. i’d highly recommend reconsidering carnival for a real cruise.
Not surprising at all that she was treated this way. This is Carnival Cruise Lines that we’re talking about here. They are the Wal-Mart of the cruise lines. You pay a cheap price and you get a cheap cruise.
The Destiny is known for issues on cruise boards like Cruise Critic. The bugs were bad enough but that bathroom was pure nasty. It states that the ship did in fact agree that there was an issue with bugs. No one should be made to stay in a cabin that has this type issue. Again, we’re talking about Carnival though.
I hope that this person receives some type of refund from Carnival and then I would take my business elsewhere. There are much better cruise lines out there over the so called “Fun-Party till you puke” ships.
What can I tell you that you don’t want to hear. Cruising is becoming the new Motel 6. You get what you pay for. Carnival, RCCL, Princess, NCL especially are after 100% sold out ships while only being able to satisfy 75% of the perple. The 25% loss is an attrition that they will accept as who cares, we’ll get somebody else. I have never heard or read about problems on Holland America, Celebrity, or Crystal. They cost more, they carry less clients, and they have people on the ships that seem to hacve the answers. No letter needed to be written, action needed to be taken. Any line that does not save a few cabins for oops, is too greedy to sail on.
I AM THE CRUISER THE BLOG IS REFERRING TO… I APPRECIATE THE KIND WORDS OF MOST OF THE COMMENTERS. HOWEVER, I NEED TO CLARIFY SOME THINGS. WE WERE ONLY MOVED ONCE FROM A BALCONY ROOM TO AN INSIDE CABIN WHICH IS ABOUT 4 CATEGORIES BELOW WHAT WE PAID FOR. THEY ORIGINALLY SAID WE COULD ONLY STAY THERE 1 NIGHT BECAUSE ITS GUEST WOULD ARRIVE THE NEXT MORNING & WE WOULD HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE BUG INFESTED ROOM, BUT THEY NEVERE SHOWED. THE LEAKY CEILINGS & MARIJUANA WERE IN THE HALLWAYS OF THE FLOOR WE WERE MOVED TO. I APOLOGIZE FOR THE QUALITY OF THE VIDEO,BUT I AM NOT A PHOTOGRAPHER. ALSO YOU CAN SEE IT MUCH CLEARER IN PERSON. WITHOUT THE VIDEO IT WAS STILL DOCUMENTED THAT THERE WAS AN INFESTATION. MY FAMILY & I HAVE BEEN CRUISING IN GROUPS OF 12 THROUGH 40 FOR OER 15 YRS. WE PAY GOOD MONEY FOR HIGHER CABINS. THE $420 SPOKEN ABOUT WAS FOR TWO PEOPLE INN THE ROOM & THE OTHER PERSON, MY COUSIN RECEIVED $220. FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE I’M COMPLAINING, HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF YOU LAID YOUR DAUGHTER IN A BED OF BUGS!
Carver posted:
My question would be, how does one protect themselves from such an experience? Carnival is a well known brand.
Carver, there is no way to protect ones self from this type of experience. It all comes down to how the cruise lines handle the situation. It is clear that Carnival failed to provide this customer a satisfactory answer to her issues.
Again, Carnival is not known by those in the industry as being a leader of nothing other than delivering a mediocre product. They aim for first time moderate income cruisers. I have found that those most happy with Carnival love the 24 hour pizza and ice cream and as long as they have that, they’re happy.
None of the cruise lines are perfect but some handle issues better than others.
I have to wonder if she approached the purser with that attitude (the one I heard on the video) and that’s the reason they weren’t falling all over themselves to be helpful. I’m not saying they were right to do so, but if you want to get your way when something goes wrong, you have to start with the right approach. Starting off in an angry stance is likely to get you a defensive response. Starting off with a sweet “can you help me?” is more likely to get you what you want.
FWIW, I still hope she gets her full refund. That’s disgusting. Thank goodness these things are extremely rare on cruise ships. This is NOT a reason, in my book, not to cruise. Believe me, you are NOT stuck with what they give you.
Carnival’s Vacation Guarantee is spelled out on their website. As long as an unhappy passenger informs the purser’s office prior to arrival at the first port of call, they are supposed to be allowed to disembark. Carnival will refund the amount they spent on economy airfare back to their point of embarkation - upon receipt of the copy of the ticket. I’m sure there is fine print somewhere in there, but that is the course I would have taken. But perhaps I didn’t read the comments as closely as I should have. My family and I just returned from a 12-day Med cruise on Carnival’s Freedom and we couldn’t have been more pleased. Sorry she had such a terrible time.
I’ve cruised 10 times in 10 years, twice on Carnival in the past 4 years. First cruise, really good, second one just this past month, was ok, not great. Was on a recently, totally refurbed ship and the suite we were in had big holes in the walls. Pretty disappointing for the bucks we spent. I reported this upon boarding so we couldn’t be blamed for the damage. While I do agree with other commenters that you “get what you pay for”, paying good money toward any vacation doesn’t entitle the vendor or carrier not to provide you with some quality for your money. What’s described in this story is unacceptable by any standards.
I can’t see the insects in the video either, but I’d venture a PRETTY strong hunch that from the types of locations she’s pointing to and with all the travelers that ship has seen, those were Bed Bugs. ( I hate to think what she would have found, had she looked under the edge of the mattress pads.) If I’m right, that’s no small problem, as bed bugs are VERY hard to eliminate. When you find bed bugs in one room of a domicile, just assume they are in every room, even if they aren’t visible. They have ways of attaching or smuggling themselves to any and every surface and traveling freely. They are becoming highly resistant to pesticides and have a terrible habit of quickly attaching themselves to your luggage, clothing or person and riding along back to your home. They’ll even hide themselves in the nooks and crannies of the soles or trimming of your shoes. So, even walking through an infested room or setting down your luggage in one is appropriately a cause for alarm and shouldn’t be treated lightly. Again, if my hunch is right and these were indeed bed bugs, the true problem here is that you bring these unwanted guests home. By the time you identify that they’re there (from tell-tale bite marks you find in the morning), they’ll have bred so many additional buddies, you’ll possibly end up having to throw away your mattresses, pillows, bedding and even, up to and including, furniture or carpeting. Then you still will need to keep spraying and watching for 4-6 nervous weeks. So, even if the cruise line refunds your travel fares, you’re still out additional pest control costs at home. The least they can do for this traveler is give her a full refund and give the public a frank explanation of how they are dealing or plan to deal with this problem. Oh…and good luck trying to get a decent night’s sleep for months after all of that.
@feisty — thanks for pointing out the Carnival policy on disembarking. As I say high up in the post, I asked Carnival for a response and am still waiting for one. But based on this customer’s version of events, it appears the policy was misrepresented to her.
I loved the Cruise Critic comments about my site. Very funny. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion.
She apparently forgot to read Carnival’s policy. Not happy, get off the ship and Carnival will compensate. I saw nothing besides broken tiles in bathroom. You want to enjoy your cruise, don’t be a cheapskate and book a new ship. I have no sympathy for stupidity.
While bugs are definately not acceptable, I can assure you that if she went to the Purser’s Desk with the attitude we heard on this video….she probably got treated the same way she was treating them.
After cruising for over 25 years, we have never experienced bugs. Yes, there have been issues over the years, but these have been handled professionally and to our satisfaction. I believe this is the case, because we approached them professionally…instead of acting like a 3 year old.
Carnival’s Vacation Guarantee is very clear. Yes, she would have had to pay for the airline tickets….but she would have had that amount refunded completely AND she would have been refunded for the balance of her cruise…no questions asked.
If it was so bad, she should had exercised the Vacation Guarantee at the first port and then written a well worded (code for MATURE ADULT) letter to Carnival …who probably would have sent her additional compensation on top of the airline ticket home and the refund of the unused portion of her cruise.
As for there not being any “cabins” available. All ships have a certain number of cabins in various stages of refurbishment or repair. Since there was “water dripping” (or whatever her complaint was about the water)…that is probably why this cabin was out of service. So, the Purser’s desk did not lie about there being no cabins.
Unfortunately, I dismissed her as soon as I heard “I’m outta here!”
Christopher, I read some of those comments on the Cruise Critic Carnival board. Funny to say the least but keep in mind that those are the cheerleaders for Carnival and they are very vocal. You should see any thread where Carnival is positioned in a negative way. They attack like locusts. LOL!!!!!!! Post #19 on that thread is a very good example.
Carnival does not do a good job in the housekeeping department. I think many of the room stewards are stretched thin and have too many cabins to handle to do a thorough job. Also, it is plain to see in that video that the bathroom tile was nasty and contained mildew. That is totally uncalled for. Again, you get what you pay for.
Sorry, but I could only see one rather large bug. Kind of looked like a wasp. In a balcony cabin, that could have easily gotten in. Now a bed infested with bed bugs! That would be something, else! I think the refund amount was reasonable from what I could tell, considering having to go to an inside cabin while the other cabin was being sprayed, and properly cleaned. I do not understand having to wait until 3 am, however, to be moved. Since Ieasha is a regular cruiser, I would hope she would have found cruise critic by now — I live by their comments. Dirt and bugs are unacceptable, but a broken tile, or a loose wire that is NOT hot — won’t ruin a vacation. Next time, only book a new ship or one which has recently been refurbished. Older ships, command cheaper prices — that is a choice which should bring no surprises for anyone who purports to be a regular cruiser.
Please note, that the desperation you hear on the video was built up over time. We attempted the video only after four phone calls to the Purser’s Desk and 3 very professional in person conversations to the Purser’s Desk. At 2am after travelling all night, I’m sure I’m not the only person who would be upset. This is the first time we have ever had a bad experience on Carnival. This was my 9th cruise with Carnival. This was actually the 4th cruise on Destiny over nine years. And yes, it was a 7 day cruise. We cruised from Sunday, July 13 thru July 20th. I, Iesha, never heard of the Cruise Critic. I am not familiar with blogging or any of the such, so I was not aware of the problems others were having with Carnival. Again, this was my 1st problem in 9 cruises. My mother and father have cruised with them for over 15 cruises and never experienced these problems. We did ask them about Carnival’s “Guarantee” on the advice of a Carnival reservations agent we contacted when we tried to contact Guest Relations, but were told by the manager, Jorge, that they could not guarantee that we would be reimbursed our expenses for travelling back home. He said we would have to take that up with Guests Relations when we returned home. Since I would have had to disembark that next morning with two kids on an island, I could not afford to do so. There was no way that I could afford to gather up money for three “Same Day” airline tickets from St Thomas to the continental US. The airfare alone would have been $636.90 per person ($1,910.70 for myself and two kids). As a single mother of two, I don’t have $2k laying around, especially since they couldn’t guarantee it would be refunded. $2,686.61 was spent on the 7-day cruise for myself and two kids which doesn’t include the air which was over $1,200. This may not seem like much money to you, but it was to me. We wish we had known about the Cruise Critic and the rest of the sites ahead of time. I don’t see how anyone can call me stupid for wanting to take a trip with my kids and family. We will never be travelling with them again. We didn’t even care about the broken tiles and scratches on the wall. We cared about the bug infestation (which is the wording the manager, Jorge used to describe the conditions) and dirty grimy room and bathroom. By the way, the wires hanging over the bed were from a light above the bed which was live.
Iesha, please undo the caps lock on your keyboard. The points you make are actually quite reasonable, but when written in all caps you come off as a dodo. Sorry if that sounds rude, but it’s true. Do you really think TYPING LIKE THIS gives your words more impact? It makes me question just how smoothly you approached this situation.
Just a little housekeeping note to all the commenters. I love a good debate as much as the next blogger, but please bear in mind that Iesha is a real person who is actually taking the time to read what you’re saying. Let’s keep this polite and civil.
I am not a frequent traveler, but I really question some of the perspectives people have. People seem to talk like leaving the cruise and flying home like its a simple matter. I wonder what it would take for me to just give up on my 1 big vacation a year? I certainly would try really hard to make it work. Suffer through a a few days in hope that that the rest of the trip is really nice. With all the articles on this board, it wouldn’t surprise me if the article went from a “my room was disgusting and they didnt’ do anything” to “my room was disgusing, and I left, and now they won’t refund me $2K”.
Also, a lot of people are citing the “you get what you pay for”. I’ve never been on a cruise, but I expected there to be a much higher standard than some local motel. If I rented a room at some crappy motel over the Marriot, I wouldn’t complain since I got what I paid for. But I just can’t imagine paying for a room on a luxery cruise line, and accepting anything so bad.
Just my $.02
I’m astonished at the harsh tone other posters have taken with Iesha Walker. Calling her stupid, telling her to read the contract, and more–this is an experienced cruiser who did read the contract that Carnival was refusing to honor.
I have worked on board Carnival and have cruised with them. While I personally have not experienced the problems Iesha did, I do know that the pursers are dealing with chronic complainers on a daily basis. These are the folks who complain that the ice in their drink is too cold, or that somehow it’s Carnival’s fault that the ship had to be re-routed due to hurricanes. So when a legitimate complaint arises, as it did with Iesha, often the pursers cannot tell the difference. Even so, pursers are duty-bound to treat everyone with dignity, courtesy, and respect regardless of the passenger’s mood–which in this case, her bad mood was entirely justified. We plan these vacations and fork over our hard-earned money for them, we shouldn’t have to walk on eggshells to report a serious issue as well. She had a right to be angry and I didn’t hear anyone get personally abusive.
I do agree that Carnival appears to have subscribed to the capitalist notion that apologies lead to liability and therefore stalling is better than good customer response. Carnival had an excellent opportunity to gain themselves not only a lifelong loyalty in Iesha (not to mention the can’t-be-bought word of mouth advertising she’d have spread), and they blew it.
How can you tell if an exposed wire protruding from the wall (which would violate just about any building code for a commercial property I ever heard of) is live or not without touching it–or perhaps you expect passengers to equip themselves with a portable electronic test kit?
Dripping water, whether from condensation or a leak, is still moisture that leads to mold that leads to serious respiratory problems. The liability for that will be a lot higher than the cost of a cruise.
Do you think Iesha shot video of blank walls just to claim that there were bugs everywhere and get a free cruise out of it?
Finally, people: if you disagree, why be nasty about it? She had legitimate beefs and you treat her like this? She didn’t take anything from you–why be so cruel to her?
I’m really amazed at the general dismissal many bloggers are giving this situation - the bottom line is that Carnival dropped the ball. Regardless of the traveler’s “attitude” when she contacted the purser’s desk, it was their responsibility to treat her with respect and address any issues she may have had as promptly as possible. Why does Carnival get a pass because they’re the Walmart of cruise lines? What happened to customer service and standing by your brand? I have cruised on Carnival once (8 years ago) and never will again. I did not have problems, per se, but I did notice that the cruise line certainly wasn’t at the same level of other lines I had cruised before. The ship was dirty, the soft goods were worn out, the service was minimal. Better to pay $200 more and cruise on a line that takes more pride in their brand. Carnival’s paltry response to a refund request is not surprising - it’s just an extension of the lack of service provided to their “guests” who don’t experience vacation-destroying issues. I would think twice before patronizing this line again and perhaps the lack of customers will make them reconsider how they treat them. As they say, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”
@ Everyone saying “you get what you pay for”
Ms Walker paid for a nice, reasonably priced getaway with her family. She decidedly did NOT get what she paid for.
If I go out to Applebee’s and order a steak, its going to be a very different experience from going to Ruth Chris and ordering a steak. I know from the get that I’m getting a lower quality of beef, going to have to put up with noise from the bar and maybe some rowdy families or college kids. I accept that and pay for that as part of going to family chain eatery. I have no right to complain that its not the same experience as Ruth Chris.
However if I go to Applebee’s and get salmonella, that is completely unacceptable. I went out to a reputable chain that promises a certain level of product. Just because I spent $15 on a steak instead of $60 doesn’t mean the restaurant has some sort bizarre *right* to poison me.
Ms. Walker is not complaining because she bought Carnival and expected Seabourn service, she is complaining because she got the cruise line equivalent of a steak with salmonella.
Ms Walker, I sympathize with you. I hope Carnival investigates your case further and comes up with more appropriate compensation. It is a travesty that the staff onboard the Destiny were unable to stand behind Carnival published guarantee.
Is Lesha a woman of color? Could that have influenced the attitude and actions of the Purser?
Don’t tell me, with the international and highly Asian biased crews these days that such a ‘cloud’ not have influenced the attitude, demeanor and actions of the Purser.
The bottom line is:
1) the Purser did not believe the passenger;
2) the Purser made zero effort at first to ascertain the level of cleanliness and infestation of the cabin;
3) the Purser could have easily made a 2 minute to the room to verify the claims of the passenger - but did not;
4) the Purser foisted the passengers concerns off on ‘maintenance,’ who took their usual time to respond to cabin concerns, which is 12 hours;
5) No one made an effort to ascertain of Lesha was a loyal guest with several cruise under her belt - if they had, and if she was- well, they needed to move a little faster
6) Lesha’s reaction was a natural one - ewwww, disgusting. To be ignored in that was terrible.
Yes, by all means, remove the comforters, check the sheets and bed corners. It is more likely than not these days you wil find critters.
I don’t think being a person of color had anything to do with this. I myself have witnessed many African Americans traveling on Carnival and I don’t think that they would treat a person different just because they have a different color skin. This person stated in one of their posts that both them and their family are repeat customers with Carnival so if they had felt slighted in the past, I doubt that they would have returned.
Carnival just screwed up here. Again, they are not known for their customer service on land or at sea.
Gosh, some people will act like real jerks when they’re hiding behind the anonymity of their computer. Some people who posted here calling this family “stupid” need to get off their high horses and apologize.
I completely agree with Lianne’s comments and Joe Farrell’s. This ship is not extremely old and as long as a ship is in service, it should be maintained to a level fit for human occupancy. It sounds like Destiny needs to go to dry dock for a while. The fact remains that even the cruiseline accepted that there was an infestation. The fact remains that Carnival did not tell her they would fly the family home, it told the family that they would need to fly themselves home. Who cares if there’s a written guarantee if the company will not honor it? Do people really expect that a large corporation does the right thing every time? Then you’re the people I call naive.
The “compensation” given to the family is nil. As Iesha explained, Carnival downgraded her to an inside cabin. The money provided would barely make the difference between the fare classes.
It doesn’t matter what cruise line or motel or whatever, there are still requirements for human occupancy. Some of you sound like there should be class warfare going on between the haves and have-nots. “You, yeah, you the one who can’t afford Regent or Crystal, you get to stay home or accept garbage.” Really revolting.
It sounds like Carnival failed both in providing a cabin fit for human occupancy and customer service. I would recommend Iesha contact the CDC and report this. According to the CDC’s website, Destiny is in fine shape receiving a 94 in the last inspection on 5/8/08 but I’m not sure that includes cabins or just public areas.
Why do people continue to go on cruise ships? They are nothing but a floating prison designed to separate you from your hard earned money. I’ve went on a cruise once. Never again.
I get incredibly irritated at situations like these when people are flippant, saying, “Well, they certainly shouldn’t get ALL their money back.”
There were BUGS. Um, hello? The LEAST you should expect from a hotel/room on a ship, even if it’s NOT top of the line, is that it’s clean. The LEAST. It can be small, it can be barely furnished, totally plain and dirt cheap, but it at LEAST needs to be clean. That is not even remotely asking for much. At the end of the day, people are paying a lot of money to go on these cruises. I’m sure for a lot of them, it isn’t just a trip they take every year because they have money lying around. It’s important to understand that for most people, they’ve saved for a long time, and this trip is a huge investment. Again, some things might be lower than your expectations of course - nothing always goes perfectly. But when plunking down that much cash - which is still a lot for most people, even if it’s a “cheap” cruise line - the very least to expect is that there are no bugs.
As for the suggestion that she may have had attitude: Let me tell you something. I find a bunch of bugs all over my room, and you can bet there will be attitude. You can count on a whole lot of it. Anybody with any sense of decency receiving this complaint would be properly horrified, especially when finding out that it’s true.
I once went on a group trip to London the summer before my senior year of high school. We were given a basement room with bunk beds, no comforters, a moldy fridge, a bathroom with a shower head that didn’t attach, carpet that didn’t cover half the floor, and a lovely view of the laundry room. Imagine my roommate’s surprise when she opened the curtain to see the maids staring at her! It’s hilarious now, but what was disappointing was that it was the only room that hadn’t yet been refurnished. The rest of the rooms, as we saw when visiting friends, were just fine. Not fancy, but not the pit that we were in.
I think that’s sort of the main issue - when you know there are others on the cruise, who paid just as much money as you or even LESS, and are living in much better conditions, that’s what makes it all the more outrageous. People keep bringing up the idea of cost - well, you’re paying to live on a cruise ship for a week. The room wasn’t livable. So why should you pay anything?
Just wondering if Chris or Ms. Walker ever head back from Carnival regarding this issue. I’m really curious to know how this one turns out.
Carnival has not responded to me.