March 3, 2007

Carnival Cruise Lines

Mr. Robert Dickerson, President

3650 NW 87^th Ave

Miami Fl  33178

RE:       February 10, 2007 Fantasy Cruise

            Booking # 8PL320

Dear Mr. Dickerson:

On Christmas day 2006, my sister and her husband received a cruise from their daughter.  She  wanted to do something great for her mother because for the past 4 years she had been through hell.  You see, her husband of 45 years had been cheating on her.  They had gotten divorced a few years earlier, but a year and a half ago had gotten back together and even remarried.  My niece thought a cruise would be a good thing for the two of them.  My sister had always said she wanted to go on a cruise before she died.  On January 4, 2007, my sister came home from work to find he had moved out and left a "so long" note.  You see, he is 67 and my sister is 64, but he found a sugar mama, who by the way is 70 years old.  He moved in with this women with no regards to his wife, children, grandchildren, or the cruise he had received for Christmas.  As far as he knew, his daughter would be out the money she had spent on it.  She had not told them she got the insurance.  She did this because of my sisters health, not because she thought for a minute that he would leave again.  It is now March and he has not tried to contact his family.

My niece, now more than ever, wanted her mother to go on the cruise and told her to find someone to go with her.  That is where I come into this picture.  My husband and I discussed it and decided that I could go with her.  It would be tight this month, but we both agreed that although my sister was doing very well, It would be a great way to start her new life.  We have always been close and have never done anything like this before.  She was married when I was only 5.  So this would be great for us.  We both were so excited because we had never been on a cruise or hardly out of the state of Missouri.  I have never seen the ocean and was a bit apprehensive about going on a cruise.  But I wanted to do it not only for myself but for my sister. 

We planed our trip down to the penny.  We knew where we would spend the night, and how long we would drive each day so not to drive after dark.  Although my sister has good eye sight, mine is failing due to a disease.  I have terrible night blindness and would not be able to help her see the road signs at night.  So we left Jefferson City at dawn on Feb 9^th, drove to our destination of Jackson Ms. before dark, found our hotel, and collapsed on the bed.  Neither one of us slept Thursday night due to excitement.  We were up at 4:30 A.M. to excited to sleep.  We went for breakfast and left Jackson at dawn, and was at the boat in New Orleans by 10:30. 

The first letter we received was a shock.  The boat had been hit and we might not sail that evening and the itinerary might have to be altered?  Our first cruise and we may not get to do the full cruise.  It was such a disappointment.  But we got on the boat, never thought twice about getting on it even though it had damage, we just got on with everyone else.  But after we got on, the boat was wonderful.  We didn't care if we sailed that evening or in the morning.  It didn't matter because we were on the boat and it was wonderful.  Well you know what happened about 5 hours later.  I have never been that disappointed in all my life.  My sister felt the same way.  We were in shock again.  And now the questions were running through my head…What do we do now?  It's almost dark, we can stay on the boat overnight, but there is a snow storm coming into our home area on Sunday evening.  If we stay, will we get home?  All these questions and so many more going through my mind.  We went out to the information desk to see if we could get any information to help us make a decision.  It was chaos.  People were yelling at the desk employee's.  And the violins were playing in the background.  Now I'm really not trying to be funny, but it reminded me of the scene in Titanic.  At this point we had no idea what, if anything, Carnival would do for us, other than refunding the tickets.  There was an employee out by the desk and I ask him about our $70 parking fee.  He told me if we got off the boat that night we would get that money back, if we stayed till morning, we would not get it back.  Well that combined with the winter storm that was coming to our home area, made us make the decision to get off the boat immediately and head home.

What the "wonderful" travel agent forgot to tell my niece at the time she booked the cruise was that it was Mardi Gras.  We found this out on Friday.  So here we were, two women in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, at dusk, on a Saturday night, scared to leave and scared to stay.  Some people in the parking lot were going our way and told us to follow them and they would lead us out of the city.  We lost them on the 5 lanes of traffic because there was a wreck on the interstate, but they got us far enough out of the city to find our way to I-55.  We got to Hammon La and took the first exit with a hotel, to stressed out to drive any farther. 

In the hotel we thought about going elsewhere for a few days.  We had driven 800 miles and thought maybe we could salvage something, but I called 888-Carnival and was told that we would be reimbursed for our travel expenses and a full refund on the tickets.  So with that in mind, along with the uncertainty of the weather, we decided to save our money for a cruise. That was our cruise money and we would go again.  So on Sunday, Feb 11, we drove 750 miles to get home, driving through St Louis after dark, arriving home at 9 P.M., exhausted  from driving 1600 miles in 3 days and stressed from driving at night and the disappointment of not going on the cruise.

But what we didn't realize was that the fun had just begun.

Our first obstacle was the fact that we did not have receipts from the drive down.  We paid cash for most of it, not even thinking we would need to prove our expenses.  But a Carnival employee at the 888 number said it would not be a problem just put it all in a letter.  Then the travel agent got involved and told me to bring her everything and she would fax it so Carnival could not say they never received it.  The travel agent said to also get a statement of time lost at work and they should reimburse us for that also.  So we did all that, and on Feb 14, I took all the information along with a letter to the travel agent and she was to fax it on Feb. 15.  The Carnival employee's at the 888 number told me the refunds would take only 7 to 10 days.  No problem, we thought.  We would have our money back and be able to get on another cruise before the rates went up.  Well here it is March first and still nothing. 

Now, after getting back and looking on the internet, I found a picture of the hole in the side of the boat on the Coast Guard's web site.  The first letter we received from Carnival before we boarded the boat lead us to believe that the Coast Guard approved boarding,  I emailed the Coast Guard and ask what made them think we could board that boat much less sail anytime soon.  Their responses was that we would have to ask Carnival that question.  Now I became curious about it and started searching the internet to see what I could find.  WOW!!!  Wish my niece had know all this stuff before she booked the cruise.  Apparently your customer service is poor and you do not compensate guest properly. (Consumeraffairs.com states this "To say that Carnival gets more than its share of complaints would be quite an understatement.  We get more complaints about Carnival than all other cruise lines combined".)  Then I started to try and get some answers and I see what they mean.  Each time I would call the 888 number or the 800-929-6400 number, I would get a "Well I don't know" answer, or "call back in 2 days', or "call back in 2 weeks".  I emailed, with no response, and left a voice message, no response.  Finely on February 27, 2007 I made my last call to Carnival, and was told that they would not reimburse us travel expenses. 

Being told we would be reimbursed travel expenses was part of our decision to come straight home rather than try and salvage some of the vacation.  We thought we would be going back.  Now, we completely understand that the accident was not your fault, but I am sure that you will be well compensated for your loss.  We will not be.  You have insurance plus the barge to lay blame on.  We have nothing.  The letter we were given at the time of cancellation stated that if you had air transportation through Carnival your air/sea department would make flight arrangements for you to get home.  If you had independent air transportation Carnival would reimburse up to $200 per person to cover change fees.  What your letter did not state was that if you had driven (1600 miles round trip) to the cruise, you would get nothing.  Now I have a real problem with this!!!!  That same letter stated that refunds would be processed in less than 2 weeks.

In a statement dated 9/3/2005, when Carnival canceled cruises on the Ecstasy, Sensation and Holiday based in Galveston, Mobile and New Orleans, due to Hurricane Katrina, a full refund was offered along with a $100 per person ship credit on a re-booked Carnival cruise.  Now I realize that this incident in no way compares to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, but you offered people who had not even been out any expenses a $100 ship credit.  And for us who did have expenses, nothing.  I don't understand your reasoning here at all.  My sister and I each had one, and only one drink each during the 5 hours on board the Fantasy.  We did not use our room except to store our luggage, we were out looking at the ship, it was not messed up at al, never slept in the beds or used the towels or showered.  Basically, we caused you no problems or unnecessary work and you even felt it necessary to charge us for the two drinks we had.  I would really like an explanation.   In the same statement dated 9/3/2005, you stated that Carnival is protecting travel agent commissions on cancelled cruises.  Our travel agent looked my sister in the eyes and stated that they do not receive any commissions on cruises.  She told her this after her son was in getting information on cruises.  She was hoping for another sale.  We knew that was a lie as soon as she said it. 

Lies, lies and more lies from your employee's to the travel agent.  And all we have is a lighter pocket book and no vacation.  I have to tell you that I am deeply disappointed with your policies, customer service, and attitudes.  We will be sharing our story with anyone who will listen including internet sites and public agencies.  I think this is extremely unfair.  I hate it for my niece more than anyone.  She tried to do something good for her mother and father and then her father walks out, the boat didn't sail, and now her mom won't be able to go at all due to Carnival not compensating her properly. 

I have attached copies of the receipts that we do have, along with a list of estimated expenses that we do not have receipts for.  Anyone can look at our receipts and see that we could not have traveled 1600 miles on the receipts we have.  I have included everything that the travel agent faxed to Carnival.

I'm sure you could care less about our story and our loss.  You may not have even read to the end of this letter, so be it.  But if you have an ounce of compassion, do the right thing.

By the way, your 25% off of a future cruise, well explain to me how you fell that is compensation.  I have checked at Orbitz.com, Vacationstogo.com, Cruisedeals.com and several other internet sites and can get 25% off, and more, any day of the week.  So your 25% off is no deal at all.  In fact, it's a joke.  And I would really like to know how these sites can offer cruises at a much cheaper rate.  Now I realize we are not seasoned cruisers and maybe I should know the answers, but I don't, so enlighten me please.

After seeing the picture of the hole in the boat, I don't understand why we were even allowed to board.  I was told the accident happened at 5:15 AM.  By the time we boarded that boat, you want me to believe that you thought it could be fixed and we could sail?  Boarding the boat did two things.  One, It let us know what we were missing, thus making the disappointment even greater. And two, it caused us to have to drive after dark Saturday evening leaving New Orleans and Sunday evening getting home. 

I am very disappointed with Carnival.

We look forward to hearing from you, but we won't hold our breath. 

Sincerely

Tammy Weider