Carnival Cruise Line
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Carnival Cruise Line Overview
The aggregated data is based on reviews and questionnaires provided by PissedConsumer.com users.
Carnival Cruise Line has 2.5 star rating based on 484 customer reviews. Consumers are mostly dissatisfied.
27% of users would likely recommend Carnival Cruise Line to a friend or colleague.
- Rating Distribution
Pros: Food was plentiful and good, Dining room and cabin stewart, Nice crew members.
Cons: Poor customer service, Customer service is a joke, Contacting them for assistance.
The aggregated data is based on reviews and questionnaires provided by PissedConsumer.com users.
Carnival Cruise Line has 2.5 star rating based on 484 customer reviews. Consumers are mostly dissatisfied.
27% of users would likely recommend Carnival Cruise Line to a friend or colleague.
- Rating Distribution
Pros: Food was plentiful and good, Dining room and cabin stewart, Nice crew members.
Cons: Poor customer service, Customer service is a joke, Contacting them for assistance.40% of users think that Carnival Cruise Line should improve its Customer Service.
40% of users say that they won't use Carnival Cruise Line in the future for similar services or products.Recent recommendations regarding this business are as follows: "Never go on Carnival.", "DO NOT LEAVE LUGGAGE WITH STAFF UNLESS YOU HAVE TOO", "Do not trust or believe guest service reps.", "don't pay up front or u will be in this boat with me", "Beware!".
Most users ask Carnival Cruise Line for the refund as a solution to their issues.
Review authors value the most Number of Destinations and Website. Consumers are not pleased with Exchange, Refund and Cancellation Policy and Customer service. The price level of this organization is medium according to consumer reviews.
Media from reviews
Top Carnival Cruise Line Reviews
"Failure to sign up for an interview"
I applied for a Healthcare Assistant position and i was invited for a hirevue interview but im failing to sign up and proceed with the interview. It seems the...
"Extremely poor experience on Carnival Magic"
Carnival Magic: The barely functional rust bucket of the sea My husband and I spent $2,600 on an 8-day cruise on Carnival Magic from February 24th to March...
This review is from a real person who provided valid contact information and hasn't been caught misusing, spamming or abusing our website. Check our FAQ
Verified Reviewer |
Miami, Florida
Extremely poor experience on Carnival Magic
Carnival Magic: The barely functional rust bucket of the sea
My husband and I spent $2,600 on an 8-day cruise on Carnival Magic from February 24th to March 3rd, which turned out to be the worst vacation we have ever taken. This was our first cruise every and we will never cruise again.
We were left feeling unsafe and uncomfortable. My sister and brother-in-law met on a cruise ship 20 years ago, so we were celebrating a variety of occasions with family. Carnival should be ashamed for how broken and rusty this ship is and how they have trained the majority of their staff. Carnival promises FUN, which was hard to find on any day on this cruise.
Carnival owes refunds for the experience it provided.
Note: We were prepared for the crowds, especially getting on and off the ship or waiting for food, but nothing prepared us the series of issues we experienced and the lack of accountability by Carnival so far.
Water Damage: Upon arriving on the ship and heading to our stateroom, the first thing we experienced was a water leak outside our room, with water running down the walls of the hall. Leaks happen, but not a single day went by where we didnt notice leaks on multiple levels of the deck, including a leak my sisters statement halfway through the cruise. The water damage is evident in many places and rust is unsightly and dangerous in specific areas if you arent wearing shoes.
Stateroom Issues: We struggled to report issues unless we were able to physically find someone to report as our stateroom phone did not work (it didnt work the whole cruise despite stating it was broken). Our toilet seat was broken only to be replaced with a seat that wouldnt stay open.
The bathroom door didnt lock, the sink water sprayed the whole bathroom if you turned it on, and the plugs were so loose, most adapters and plugs just fell out if not propped up with items. The balcony was covered in areas of rust (watch your feet!) and the balcony divider was broken, so even the gentlest wind would send it flying open into our balcony furniture and waking us up in the middle of the night. Our TV remote was broken and most of the functions reversed when we could get it to properly turn on. Our king bed was really two twins pushed together and they had no way to secure the mattresses, so they were constantly sliding away from the wall.
I expected weak water pressure, but it was bad enough that I wasnt sure I was ever able to get soap off my body the whole trip. We eventually stopped complaining as nothing outside the toilet seat was fixed.
Ship Features: We opted to pay for the chat feature, as our party was 8 people and it was would be important to stay in communication. I found other reviews on this after the trip and most folks are in agreement that it works about 40% of the time, with Wi-Fi being constantly disconnected, unavailable or messages being delivered HOURS after they were sent or simply never delivered. Dont worry though, they will deliver you notifications to your phone consistently to try to get you to purchase the more expensive internet plan.
There was no enforcement of the majority of the no smoking areas, even when reported, so you could pretty much smell smoke on most parts of the ship. They werent running enough water on the slides, so even for light kids, the slides were painful, so we only took one trip down the slides. There were never enough chairs for people on the ship, so you could spend hours trying to find a place to lay down if you wanted to relax. The 21 and over Serenity deck was simply people holding places to lay (and often people not returning for hours), so you were never able to find a place to relax there either.
We were on the 7th floor, which was outfitted with 3 washers, with only 1 washer ever working at any moment, creating an hours long back up of people wanting to wash clothes. The hand washing and sanitization machines were constantly breaking, along with the water stations and the ice cream machines. Hours upon hours spent trying to find working items to only be met with long lines as everyone was funneled to what was working. On several days, the upper decks smelled like sewage, but we never found out why or what the problem was.
Ship Staff: We had only a couple highlights here, mostly because our stateroom attendant was incredible.
However, the majority of the staff are trained to upsell over making customers feel comfortable. The alcohol upsells in the dining room were incredibly uncomfortable, to the point, we didnt go as often as we wanted, because we didnt want to constantly hassled multiple times by the same person every meal despite saying NO. We went to the first art auction because we wanted to experience it as well as enjoy some of the incredible art on the ship. But once the art auctioneers knew our names and stateroom, it was an onslaught of harassment to come back and try to convince us to spend money, even after saying NO.
We eventually stopped walking anywhere near the art to avoid this staff.
Excursions: We had 1 good excursion on St. Thomas, where we got to snorkel, but our excursion on St. Maarten (Regatta) was a disaster. The Regatta staff were focused on winning the race, even at the expense of safety.
The staff originally tried to put an 11-year-old on primary grinding (which is a very hard job for a child). We were afraid he would be injured so we swapped to have my sister do it instead. About 1/3 of the way in, one of the main ropes came off and flew taught and hit my sister in the head, knocking her to the ground. The staff were more concerned about their liability than her safety.
They insisted on finishing the race with my sister on the deck in pain with a head injury. We filed a complaint and the ship was notified of the injury and my sister was asked to go to medical. She went during their operating hours and no one ever showed up to help her, so she simply just left. We went to Guest Services to try to get any sort of refund for our party given the experience, only to be met with resistance and empty platitudes that someone would get back to us.
No one ever got back to us and nothing was every provided to us.
Grand Turk: We were unable to dock in Grand Turk due to wind or at least that was the complete story by Carnival. However, there were other ships docked. The story they told might have been half true, but the engineers and staff had the real story. There was a broken main thruster and Grand Turk didnt have a tug boat big enough to assist.
There was also additional flooding they were trying to fix. Carnival pushed the story about the wind, but if the ship wasnt broken, we would have been able to dock. All excursions cancelled. Grand Turk was replaced with Nassau (Bahamas), but the excursions were pricier (and it was cloudy/rainy) so many folks stayed on the ship.
People: We met some very nice people on the ship, but it was overshadowed by inappropriate behavior, including anti-LGBTQ rhetoric.
I was no prepared for profanity on t-shirts and angry political discourse. We even experienced a drunk individual was policing who could enter a hot tub (spoiler: you had to be Republican to enter), as well as a group of individuals yelling about LGBTQ individuals being pedophiles and anti-trans rhetoric (I wont go into the disgusting details here). We spent a lot of time in our run-down stateroom, because frankly we felt safer in there. Security almost impossible to be found and frankly, half way through the cruise we gave up.
This is just the tip of the iceberg of this horrible trip.
I do not recommend anyone ever take a cruise with Carnival, especially on the Magic.
Hopefully this statement will be read by Carnival and they are able to contact us to discuss our experience. I am happy to provide them more details about my experience in order to make it right for our party.
Preferred solution: Full refund
User's recommendation: Never go on Carnival.
Tampa, Florida
Issue w credit card
User's recommendation: Do not trust or believe guest service reps.
Springfield, Oregon
Was assaulted on board.
My i month old baby was assualted by a random guy on the ship. I say he was early 20's.
My son and I was in the 9th deck eating ice cream He came up and approached me asking me if he could take a picture with me and I said sure. Took the picture and then he proceeded To flirt with me and was belligerently drunk We're on some kind of drug and when I made it clear that I was Was married and had a family he didn't like what he heard and And start a getting belligerent and more violent by the second he kept placing His hands-on my arms gripping them hard. I asked him to please stop touching me, and just to leave us alone and he would not, he kept telling me, I needed to come party with him and his people, and I told him no thanks, and he just kept getting angrier and angrier. And then at that time my child started to cry and get upset.
And he told me that my baby was getting on his g***** nerves and then proceeded to kick him. Where his legs met the bottom of the stroller, kicked him in the legs and almost knocked his shoulder backwards and then I told him to take it off of my child and then He proceeded to yank the stroller out of my hands and And try to push him to a group of strangers and tell me that they could take care of him and I could come with him. I told him to keep his hands off of my *** baby. And that is when he grabbed me by my head of hair and pulled me down to the ground so hard that I about done a front flip.
I have suffered so much trauma from this incident. That I cannot stop thinking about it in carnival. Promise that they were gonna do something. Their security promise that they were going to take care of it.
And all they said was that they talked to his parents and that they were going to keep him under control that they were sorry, even though that the dad admitted to what his son had done, they did nothing they just told me that. The parents were going to keep him under control. And if I wanted to press charges and I kept telling them. Yes, that he did not need to be rubbed in the ship, because there were plenty of small girls and children running around, and if he can put his hands-on a woman and her baby, then he could put his hands-on anybody and I wasn't the only one he was belligerent with an.
D out of control, I have several witnesses that say that he was harassing them and wouldn't leave them alone. And every time he seen me he smiled and flipped me off like he ha ha, I gotta way with it. We told the people at the desk at carnival that we wanted a full refund in that. We would never sell through them again.
And they said that they would give us our money back in full and still have not heard nothing and have not gotten our money back. We want our money back now. And something done with the sick son of a b**** That likes to abuse women and children!!! He Was also walking around the ship asking anybody and everybody if they had cocaine.
And I told the security that I dealt with that. He was also doing that and also has a guessing. Other people beside myself and my son. And he still walked free and they did nothing!
Can somebody please help us do something about this!!! I also lost hair by the handfuls because of this and my neck had Been messed up. This Was our first cruise ever and it was the worst experience of my life. We paid way too much money to be treated.
The way that we retreated and nothing being done about anything just. A bunch of broken promises that they were gonna do this and they were gonna do that when in reality they did nothing.
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Verified Reviewer
2023 Christmas cruise ruined by Carnival family of 6
I booked a cruise 3 months ago. I booked 3 rooms and paid the deposit for 2 adults and 5 children.
Leaving from Miami on 12/22/23. A month later I received an email that I needed to make the final payment. I paid and went about. Last week I went online to add drink packages and check in only to discover they canceled one of our rooms.
I called immediately only to be told there was nothing they can do. That my payment went through for the 2 rooms but not the 3rd. I never received a call nor an email. Now Im told the ship is completely sold out but I could pay $300 to be put on a waitlist.
I asked what happens if nothing opens up and again told there is nothing they can do. I said then can we at least get a refund for the other 2 rooms so that we can all be together for Christmas and use that money for something different or maybe another cruise during a different time? Nope . Sorry your out $5000!!!
Not including my flights from NC to Florida. I have called everyday. One sales lady suggested I leave my kids with family and me and my husband go alone. Are you kidding me!!!???
Thats your solution?? Leave my kids at Christmas??? There has to be rooms that Carnival puts aside for mess ups and emergencies. I have called everyday now for a week and nothing.
I have pleaded for some type of management to reach out. Nothing. If it wasnt Christmas I would say ok but the fact that our options are forfeit $5000+ or breakup our family over Christmas is so upsetting. We came to the conclusion today that if 2 people have to stay behind my husband and one of my sons offered to stay back so I called Carnival to change the name of the reservation for my son staying behind ..
I was told in order to do that I would have to pay $638!!!
Wow! Ok Carnival!! Home of the family boat???
I get this is a business but $638 to change a name on a reservation. How sad!!
Shame on you! Shame on your company!!
It truly is disgusting. This will be my 10th cruise with carnival bu
- Say they are family friendly
- Awful customer service and no back up plan for software mistakes
Preferred solution: The room back that they canceled If it’s a smaller room that’s fine If I have to pay more that’s fine Our family needs to be together at Christmas!!!
User's recommendation: Stay clear !
Stay clear or pay for your third room.
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Verified Reviewer |
Harare, Mashonaland Central
Resolved: Failure to sign up for an interview
Company fixed the issue and I have been provided with apology.
Chino, California
Very unsatisfied with treatment received by Carnival Cruise during our cruise
On August 26 we went on a cruise with Carnival panorama. We caught the virus a couple days after we were quarantine in our room for 3 1/2 days and it was a seven day cruise so we lost most of the cruise in our room, we also had money on our CASINO card Which was approximately $2200 and change to this day we have still not got our money from the casino and nothing from carnival cruise panorama.
We lost more than half of our cruise we expected to at least have carnival cruise, give us a courteous cruise to make up for the time that we lost and also while we was quarantine, our food came was very cold, so we ate potato chips and stuff that we had in our room which was very dissatisfied that food came cold and another thing. When the pastors got off the ship we were the last ones to get off. We were going down the gang plaint where are my wife and I was going down I was in a wheelchair. My wife was holding my walker, halfway down the plane, the guy behind her that was bringing our luggage down just push the luggage to her and said here we cant go all you take the luggage so the person that was carrying me down in the wheelchair and I she tried to push me back and help my wife after she had fell trying to stop the luggage from getting away.
We asked that we could if we could go back to the infirmary and have her checked out because her leg and foot was bothering her. They said no your cruise is over . We are requesting some kind of compensation for the time and trouble that my wife and I lost on our cruise which were supposed to be for our anniversary and both of our birthdays and also when we went to the tables to eat the service never mentioned our anniversary or our birthdays at all. All the people at our table got their anniversaries and birthdays, but not us what made us very sad there are four I wish you would take our complaints and review them and also update our card from blue all the way to diamond if you could would appreciate it if you would answer this as soon as possible You can call me at 626-367-**** or 818-862-**** Your immediate response would be appreciated every time we call Carnival Cruise.
Nobody wants to do anything for us over the phone so please take this complaint very seriously.
We have sent at least three letters, explaining everything that happened for us during the cruise, we feel mistreated and not considering all the inconveniences we live through. Please respond as soon as possible James and Maria Charboneau thank you.
They should give you the money on casino card back plus refund the cost you paid for the cruise. IF you sign that you agree to never book again. With your limited ability to ambulate and issues with luggage, a cruise is not for you.
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Verified Reviewer |
Doral, Florida
Refund
- Need my refund
Preferred solution: Full refund
User's recommendation: don't pay up front or u will be in this boat with me
Galveston, Texas
Missing item
Preferred solution: Full refund
User's recommendation: DO NOT LEAVE LUGGAGE WITH STAFF UNLESS YOU HAVE TOO
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Verified Reviewer |
Ulan-Ude, Far Eastern Federal District
Bait and switch
- Food cheap
- Customer service is a joke
Preferred solution: Price reduction
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Verified Buyer |This review is from a real person who provided valid contact information and hasn't been caught misusing, spamming or abusing our website. Check our FAQ
Verified Reviewer |
Northridge, California
Charge on my card
Prescott Valley, Arizona
Sexual assault
This was my first cruise ever, 6 days to Cabo.
First day in Cabo we were having the best time on the whale watching tour and then decided to get some lunch.
As we were unfamiliar with the town we stopped at senior frogs and had some margaritas and lunch. We sat with another couple who was happy to share the table with us.
I had to go to the restroom and there was an attendant in the ladies room cleaning the sinks and he stated that I was OK to use the restroom so I did.
I washed my hands then was pushed against the wall by the attendant and sexually assaulted.
I was in shock. I wiggled away from the man as he was trying to *** with me and got out of the bathroom as he had the door blocked with a trashcan to keep others from coming in.
This was a horrible experience but when I got back to the Panorama ship and went to guest services to let them know I was told repeatedly that this happened because I was drinking and they couldnt do much about as I did not go to the federales and report this, when I explained this happened because I went to bathroom and this man is going to rape someone at some point.
Well needless to say I got really upset after this and was kicked off the ship the next morning.
Im pissed about how carnival handled this and some kind of training needs to happen regarding situations like this.
Its a never again for Carnival cruise and Mexico entirely.
Why wouldn’t you find the authorities? (If that’s what you wanted).
No one working on that ship has any authority there.
They also aren’t speaking on your behalf to law enforcement. That is your story to tell.
Replying to
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Verified Buyer
Over charged
- Drinks
Preferred solution: My money in my account
This review is written by an individual who has purchased the reviewed product/service and/or confirms being a paying customer of this company. Check our FAQ
Verified Buyer |
Miami, Florida
False advertising
So last night I entered a raffle to win a Rolex watch out here on the carnival cruise celebration ship. We left port on the 9th.
So I won the raffle and the associate comes over to put the Rolex on my wrist to adjust links to fit my wrist and I had asked so am I getting a box with this and the associate said yes so me and my fiance are standing there in disbelief for 20-25 minutes for the associate to come back over and say how are we going to be paying for this today. I told them I won it and he replies with a laugh saying you didn't win a Rolex and hands me some trash DIY bracelet.
These folks owe me a Rolex. I have the flyer I got with the raffle ticket clearly saying enter a chance to win
- Food and staff
- False advertising
Preferred solution: What i won
User's recommendation: Don't buy into their lies
Columbus, Ohio
Never was accommodated for my allergies to butter.
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Verified Reviewer
Resolved: Dispute on account
Company fixed the issue and I have been provided with apology. Sent an email.
Preferred solution: Full refund
This review is from a real person who provided valid contact information and hasn't been caught misusing, spamming or abusing our website. Check our FAQ
Verified Reviewer |
Davie, Florida
WORSE CRUISE EVER
STARTED OUT THE AC DID NOT WORK IN OUR ROOM AND MANY OTHER ROOMS, WE SWEATED AT NIGHT AND THEY BROUGHT US THIS SMALL FAN, THEY NEVER FIXED THE AC THROUGHOUT THE CRUISE, SMELL OF URINE IN THE HALLWAYS. THE STAFF WAS MOSTLY RUDE AND SERVICE WAS TERRIBLE, IN THE SPORTS BAR THERE WAS TWO THINGS TO ORDER AND ONE OF US HAD PAID TO HAVE FOOD DELIVERED FROM THE SHIP TO THE SPORTS BAR, THE BAR TENDER TOLD HIM HE COULD NOT EAT THAT FOOD ON THE BAR AND MADE HIM LEAVE THE BAR WITH HIS FOOD.
THE SPORTS BAR WAS PACKED AND NO ROOM FOR OTHERS THAT WANTED TO WATCH THE GAMES, I HAD GONE TO GUEST SERVICES TO ASK FOR THEM TO PUT THE GAMES ON THE TVS IN THE CASINO BAR AND WAS TOLD BY GUEST SERVICES THEY WILL NOT DO THAT I ASKED FOR HERE TO CALL TECH AND SHE DID NOT WANT TO I INSISTED AND SHE PRENTENDED TO TALK ON THE PHONE AND SAID TO ME LIKE I SAID THEY CAN NOT DO THAT.. I ASKED TO SPEAK TO A SUPERVISER AND THE LADY TURNED AROUND FROM ME AND THEN TURNED BACK AND SAID "MAY I HELP YOU"!!! I SAID SO YOUR THE SUPERVISOR YES NO ONE IS HIGHER. WHEN I WENT BACK TO THE BAR THERE HAPPENED TO BE A TECH GUY THERE WORKING WITH THE TV'S AND I ASKED HIM IF HE CAN PUT THE GAMES ON THE CASINO BAR TV'S AND HE SAID YES NO PROBLEM AND IT WAS DONE.
WHEN I GOT MY BILL THERE WERE CHARGES ON IT THAT I DID NOT AGREE TO I WAS TOLD THAT YOU ARE THE CONTROLLER OF YOUR PARTY AND BECAUSE YOU ALL ORDERED DRINKS AT THE SAME TIME (WE WERE IN THE DINING ROOM) YOU WERE CHARGED FOR THE DRINK (WE ALL HAD DRINK PACKAGES) BUT IT DID NOT MATTER I WAS TOLD SINCE IM THE ONE ON THE MAIN CONTROLLER WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BUY DRINKS AT THE SAME TIME WE ALL HAVE TO WAIT 5 MINUTES TO ORDER DRINKS,. WHAT A SCAM!!!
DEISLHILA FROM CARNIVAL CUSTOMER CARE WAS COMPLETLY RUDE AND ARGUGED WITH ME THAT ITS IN THE RULES. I TOLD HER WE ALL DRINK PACKAGES AND WE ARE IN THE DINNING ROOM YOU WANT EACH OF US TO WAIT 5 MINUTES TO ORDER A DRINK THERE IS 6 OF US???SHE SAID ITS IN WRITING ON YOUR DRINK PACKAGES AGAIN I SAID WE ALL PAID FOR A DRINK PACKAGE DEISLHIA SAID IT DID NOT MATTER THEN SHE STARTED SAYING HELLO, HELLO, HELLO ARE YOU THERE, ARE YOU THERE OVER MY VOICE ON THE PHONE AND THEN HUNG UP ON ME.
I TOLD HER I WAS GOING TO POST THIS ONLINE AND WAS TOLD GO AHEAD WE LIKE FEEDBACK.
WORSE CRUISE EVER.
- Cost
User's recommendation: STAY AWAY
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Sounds bottom of the barrel. What did you expect for $2,600 for 8 days, 2 people?
I think you would find that $2600 base price (just the trip, no upsells, no specialty dining, no excursions, not including flights or anything else) is expensive for quite a large group of people in the United States. I guess one would expect things to be functional?
I’m well aware what the $2,600 covered. You went cheap. You got the same in return.