I received the following email from a distraught mother concerning what happened to her when she went on a cruise with Carnival Cruise Lines with her husband and seriously ill 10 year old son.
"From: DISTRAUGHT MOTHER & CONSUMER
To: harold@bepositiveday.com
Date: Sat, 28 Nov 2009 02:06:06 -0600
Subject: Carnival Cruise Nightmare
Dear Harold,
I don't know if you can help us, but thought I would give it a shot.
My husband, 10 year old son, and I recently went on a 4 day Carnival Cruise from Galveston, TX (where we live) to Cozumel. Before I booked the cruise I spoke with a Carnival representative who assured me there would be plenty of activities for my son to do. I also researched for at least two months online before actually booking.
On 11/19 we left Galveston. The food was horrendous, the laser tag that was on the agenda was cancelled, the pictures online and virtual tour did not match the actual boat, our "queen" bed that was promised by phone from the Carnival representative was actually two twin beds pushed together, our window was cloudy, dirty, and could hardly see out of it, our TV was fuzzy and when we called about that, they jiggled some wires and told us, "Well, it's not a permanent fix". My husband ended up squeezing books behind it and fixing it better, also noticing there was duct tape around the wiring, and the 9-11 age group was only coloring and finger-painting. On the 2nd day, 11/20, my son wanted to go to the 12-14 year old room to play X-box, however, he wasn't allowed because he was only 10. By this time I was very upset.
It should be known that my 10 year old has had 35 surgeries, including a kidney transplant, and then entire reason for going on this vacation was to celebrate that he hadn't been admitted to the hospital in one year, which has never happened his entire life. His one year anniversary was 11/18. This was the first vacation that just the 3 of us had ever been on.
I went to guest services on 11/20, after noticing Carnival's 100% Vacation Guarantee. The only stipulation in guarantee is the notify guest services of your dissatisfaction before reaching your first port of call. I was literally in tears speaking with guest services and told them we wanted to go home. The person I spoke with told me the manager would call me in the morning. No one called. We reached Mexico on 11/21, still not hearing from the manager or anyone else from guest services. I, again, went to the desk on 11/21 only to be told that Camp Carnival is having a party that night for my son and that they will send a message to the maître. I advised them that this was not good enough as it was nothing I was promised and demanded to speak with the manager. The manager called our room later that evening, as we were already headed back home, and met with me in his office. Mr. Freddy Lowe and I then went over web site, as I had complained of false advertising. He told me that these pictures were just general pictures and I then pointed out that we went directly to the Ecstasy link, as that was the ship we were on, and asked if the boat had a basketball court, state of the art video games, and things to do for all ages. He informed me that no, the boat did not have a basketball court and the site hadn't been updated. He told me there were those other things, just not for my son's age group. The "exquisite dining" was again going to be mentioned to the maître. He then typed a letter with a reference number and advised me to call Carnival Headquarters when we got home.
On 11/23 we finally made it home and I immediately called Carnival. I spoke with Adam, the guest relations supervisor, who told me it wasn't his fault we couldn't find something for my son to do and the food was only my opinion. I tried to tell him how special this vacation was supposed to be and what I was promised by the representative and the website and he told there was nothing he would do. As far as the "Vacation Guarantee", because I didn't specifically say "I want to disembark the ship", I don't qualify for that either. I told him I followed their policy and procedure and notified guest services prior to reaching Cozumel. I am not sure how they could misunderstand what it was I wanted as I was crying and telling them we wanted to go home. Adam said that was not the way it worked. I told him the manager never called me as promised until that night and he didn't care.
Like I said, this was a vacation for our family, not a bunch of friends wanting to drink or whatever. This was supposed to be a celebration. A HUGE anniversary for us. My husband stays at home, so someone is always available to our son and also to make sure one of us is always with him when he is in the hospital. I have Multiple Sclerosis as well. I came to work with IV's because I didn't want to use my PTO, as we were going on an "extra special" vacation. I worked many, many days of overtime to pay for this as well. We lost money, time, opportunity, only to name a few things. There are many different ways I could have spent our $1600.
Thanks for your time and please let me know if you have any suggestions. I have already filed a complaint with the FTC and the BBB.
Thanks again- DISTRAUGHT MOTHER AND CONSUMER
PS: I also went to nursing school through all the things we, as a family, had been through. I have only been out for 3 1/2 years. We deserved something good." (End of Email)
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