Complaint Against Carnival Cruise Lines

Hello,

I have a complaint that I need to share with someone.

My family and I (wife and two children) took a 5 day cruise on the Carnival Inspiration going to Cozumel, Mexico and Grand Cayman Islands departing on March 29, 2008 and returning on April 3, 2008 from Tampa, Florida. I paid $3107.12 for two rooms for this voyage.

We left port in Tampa, Florida and on the following day were notified that we would only go to Cozumel, Mexico and not Grand Cayman Islands due to mechanical problems with the ship’s propulsion system. We received notification via letter and over the intercom.

The only compensation we received for these problems is $50 added to our sail and sign cards and a 25% discount on a future 3-5 day cruise departing prior to December 15, 2009 and they say this excludes holiday travel.

I believe that the problems experienced by Carnival is a reflection of the organization cutting corners to save money to included taking short cuts on maintenance. I also believe that we should not bear the burden of their bad decisions. If I hadn’t paid the complete cost of the voyage, we would not have been allowed to travel on Carnival. It was their expectation to receive full payment prior to traveling. It was my expectation to travel to Cozumel, Mexico and Grand Cayman Islands on a 5 day cruise. That is what we (the cruise line and I) agreed to, that was what I paid for, and that is what I expected. The only circumstance that should have interfered with this plan was weather problems.

However upon these change of events, Carnival Cruise Line management felt that the only compensation we deserved was $50 and the opportunity to spend another $500-$1000 on their ships (my family and I spend about $1000 on this cruise outside of paying for the trip itself) at a future date, and then they place restrictions on using this discount. I have no intentions of traveling on Carnival again so I guess we are screwed.

I looked on the Carnival website and noticed that they have a 4 day cruise to Cozumel, Mexico from Tampa, Florida. In my opinion, we took a 4 day cruise because we only went to one location during this trip. The organization should take the lost on the extra day for inconveniencing their customers. I looked at the cost of the exact same accommodations my family had on this cruise and found the cost to be $532.74 per person including tax and the fuel surcharge. The per person cost for our voyage was $776.78 including tax and fuel surcharge. This is a difference of $194.04 after subtracting the $50 credit to my sail and sign card. This difference multiplied by 4 (my family) is $776.16.

I have no intention of traveling on Carnival Cruise Line ever again and believe that they owe me $776.16 for the maintenance deficiencies and not fulfilling their commitment to my family.

Respectfully,

Tyron