Complaint Review: Carnival Cruise Lines - Miami Florida

My girlfriend and I just got back from a 4 day Mexican Cruise on the Carnival Elation. Neither of us had been on cruise before so we chose a cheaper line that met our needs. After a fair amount of research, Carnival was definitely the cheapest line (Royal Caribbean Cruises were $100-200 more per person). Both of us enjoyed our trip. While everything wasn't perfect, for the money we spent, I wasn't expecting it to be. The food was decent. At the dining rooms, they tried to make it feel like it was something you could get at a 4 star restaurant. The atmosphere was spot on. But the food wasn't quite there. Most of it tasted good, but nothing spectacular and it was quite obvious everything was pre-made. For breakfast lunch and snacks, the buffets were pretty good. I'd rate it at just above what you'd get at a place like Country Kitchen or what not. Again, nothing special. But for the price we paid, it was actually better than I expected. The boat had plenty of free activities. Varied between shows, trivia, lessons on how to play table games at the casino, dance competitions, ect. Certainly there was a fair amount of down time. But we used that time to do what we got on the boat to do (lay in the sun). The staff was friendly. Our cabin stewert was wonderful and most of the other crew was polite and helpful. There were some cases where members of the crew weren't up to American standards of politeness, but often times there seemed to be cultural barriers and I don't hold it against the guy from Bulgaria who hasn't completely mastered the ins and outs of American culture. No crew member seemed to be intentionally rude and most went out of their way to attend to any needs or concerns. All and all we had fun. It was by no means perfect, but for the money we spent, I was completely satisfied and frankly it was more fun than I expected. For our next cruise, we are looking into something more higher-end (and we are willing to spend the money). But if something comes up and we end up having less vacation money than we thought, I would happily vacation with Carnival again.

First of all, if you are going to shell out thousands of dollars for a Caribbean cruise and do not want any issues with the ports of call, may I suggest not scheduling your trip during hurricane season?? Since you've stated that you've "just gotten back" from your cruise, I can assume that the three active hurricanes in the Caribbean had some impact on the way the ship was re-routed. Now on to the rest of your post. The Carnival Triumph is one of the oldest, most deteriorating ships of the Carnival line. It is also one of the cheapest. This is a cruise line used by families with children, college students looking for a party cruise, and low-class people who are not used to "real vacations." Carnival is not a luxury cruise line. Mass-produced food is never going to be cooked to your individual perfection no matter what the cruiseline, nor is service from third-world individuals going to be stellar. I find your comments about the "horrible sushi" interesting, as the Triumph is one of the few ships that does NOT have a sushi bar. So let me ask you this, at what point did you bring any of your complaints/concerns to the attention of on-ship management? It seems like certain issues like holes and stains on your sheets could have easily been addressed and rectified. If you did not like the "chicken fajita wrap," then why not try something else? The food choices are plentiful and do not cost extra. If you did not want your photo taken, why not politely say "no thank you" and keep walking? I find it hard to believe that you were absolutely helpless and at the mercy of Carnival for an entire week. There were many situations in which you could have had some control.