Carnival Cruises Customer Service Complaints - page 3

This was my 6th cruise, 3rd with Carnival.
Unfortunately Carnival has stripped from its cruises most of the things that people love about cruising, among them:

1. Customer Service, I had the impression that most employees were overworked and underpaid, most of them were rude or at least indifferent, except for those that depend on tips to make a living. Even the customer service desk was slow to respond and not very useful.

2. Food Quality, Carnival was never great for food, but this last cruise was really lousy, in one of the nights I ordered a steak and my wife ordered chicken, the steak’s flavor was nasty and the chicken was not fully cooked, the whole thing was disgusting, in the lunch buffet the burgers and hot dogs were fatty and lacked flavor or seasoning, most of the other food was mediocre at best.

3. Kids Club, even though it was a 4 day cruise, in the 1st day they didn’t open the club until 8:30 PM, which is past my kids bed time, so it was useless. The second day they were supposed to open at 7:30 am, and they changed last minute to 10 am, so most of the morning was gone and we had to cancel our spa treatments. On the last day they closed from 3:30 pm to 7 pm, it seemed that everything was around the staff availability and convenience and not about the guest’s needs, they even stripped the Freddy character’s appearance, my daughter was so disappointed that she said “I don’t want to come cruising anymore because Freddy didn’t show up”. Talk about branding for the kids!

4. Shows, the quality of the shows was poor to mediocre.

5. Spa, the service was decent but they charged more than the agreed price and refused to bring it down to what we had discussed prior to the service, they also are pushy with their products and creams.

6. In room entertainment, although they claimed to have several movie channels, we never found any movie showing, it was only the program list or CNN or channels that advertised the cruise paid services, not even pay per view was available.

7. Toast with the Captain, this even was reduced to its minimum expression, down from the glory of old days and other cruise lines, it was really a non-event.

8. Midnight buffet, this event had been eliminated in the cruise we took a year ago but had been replaced with a Mexican buffet on the day we went to Mexico, this time around though, the whole thing had been eliminated.

I cannot understand how if Starbucks spends billions making a simple cup of coffee become a whole experience, Carnival, a company in an Industry whose core business is the customer experience, had stripped it down with cost cutting measures to become like a fast food, mass production industry, where all that matters is quantity but not quality. Clearly whoever is in charge of the Company knows a lot about Finance and Cost Reduction, but nothing at all about the Cruise Industry, Marketing or Customer Satisfaction. It is a shame. We are extremely disappointed.

Our 7-day Carnival Cruise on the Pride was cancelled on Sunday 10/28/12 @ 3:00 after thay had everyone board the ship. This was after the entire world was alerted to the fact that there was no east coast water travel due to Hurricane "Sandy". We were travelling with a party of 17. Not one of us was ever notified by bemergency phone contact, or txt, even though Carnival insists on requiring these contact #'s. After arriving in our dirty, half-clean suites, with dirty rags all about our rooms, & unpacked in suites that were NOTHING like the pictures Carnival represented, an announcement was made, by the cruise director, NOT the Captain Alessabdri Galatto, half-jokingly that we were to leave the ship ASAP, & the cruise was cancelled. We ALL thought it was a joke. Then we realized Carnival never intended to sail the ship. The captain, & officers were never seen. Only attendants seen throughout the ship were the housekeeping people. We finally got our bags @ 6:00. No food, or drinks, not even water were ever available to anyone. There were 3 diabetics,& 1 asthmatic in our group. After we begged for something to eat, or drink, we were then told to go to an above floor & they would get some sandwiches for us. NEVER did anyone check on us, or anyone else we spoke to. We were just treated like cattle!!! All of usw have traveled on many cruises. Carnival should be ashamed for the way they treated all 2200 customers. 2 weddings were to take place on the ship on Sunday, & both brides were in their gowns, waiting to get marries with families & friends there...can't even imagine how they felt. Where was our beloved captain alessandro galotto??? Obviously he & his beloved officers were off ship, somewhere safe. Once Carnival told us to board ship, & we set foot on the ship, we became their responsability!!! What a joke. Oh, but they're going to refund our cruise, + 25% off on a future cruise. Are they kidding??? What a joke!!! 100% off & we would have to seriously consider going. 25% off is an insult for the way they treated their supposed 2200 guests. We purchased trip insurance so we get the same refund everyone else gets, less the $218.00 for the insurance. Oh yes, & what about all the passengers who arrived via air, how do you think they were able to get home when all airports on east coast were closing? Carnival didn't care? Oh yes, the Pride was a joke. Carnival absolutely misrepresented the rooms. No hangers, or robes, old TV's, very small deck on the VIP suites, & we never could find the closets we were told we had. All Carnival had to do is cancel the cruise prior to Sunday. Instead alessandro galotto left 2200 people to be attended to by a few hundred service employees who abviously had NO idea what they were to do, but they did try to keep insisting we get off the ship without our bags. When we all called Carnival on Monday 10/29 Carnival customer service was shoked that we were all on the ship. They were all told the Pride cancelled the cruise, but were never told we all boarded. alessandro galotto just wasn't there!!! All we expected is a little service, some food, & drink (water), white we waited 4 hours to leave the ship!!!

Went on Carnival Dream week of 9/29/12. This was my first and last Carnival cruise. Dream was a nightmare. Food lines leaving you waiting for 1/2 hour....cold food...curtisy and manners a thing of the past....dangerous ramp situations with 1/2 round highly varnished wood on walk areas. I fell on 2 day of cruise and severely scrapped the skin off my knee and ankle bone. Prevented me from going in the pool to cool off, thus stayed out of the sun. Prevented me from on short excursions . Wounds were cleaned and covered in the confirmary. I did get a letter from Guest Services Supervisor hoping I enjoyed my cruise. I found it a total joke........my cruise literally ended on day 2.....no sunning, no pool, no excursions, pain walking up and down stairs.......oh, yes, I had a wonderful time. I spoke to others who had sailed with Carnival before and said they never experienced dislike for other ships in fleet and definitely would NOT sail DREAM again.

Just got off of the Carnival Sensation we stayed on the Riviera Deck room #R-100 it was infested with Bed Bugs! We went to guest services they would not accommodate us to another room. There was blood spots on the mattress and sheets they never changed them or anything. Guest services were horrible!

Went to medical to treat the bits we had they didnt want to help us!

CARNIVAL CRUISES SHOULD BE SHUT DOWN!! They do not care about their passengers at ALL!!

I traveled on Carnival legend 9-30-12 the customer service we received was horrible. Not from the room attendees but the customer service desk. Really hope the can get it together fast.

We have tried for over a week to accomplish on line check in. Each time, including a trial where a carnival employee talked me through the steps, ended with a screen which said "how did you get here? We are sorry the page you are looking for could not be found...." etc If your tech support person has truly been working on the problem this long they are incoompetent. This is without a doubt the most user UNFRIENDLY system I have ever used. Don't expect us to use Carnival again. (My seond, wifes third)

Have just returned home from Med. cruise on board Carnival Breeze - left Barcelona 19 Sept. Well what a big disappointment this cruise was. See I have cruised with them before - 4 times on beautiful ships such as the Carnival Liberty, Splendour etc. This new ship was awful. Firstly we were in a cabin no. 8473 - twin beds, I had 6 inches between the end of the bed and the cabin wall. I had to squeeze past this numerous times a day - you try lifting a 20kg suitcase up and over the bed to the other side. Ridiculous.
There were no proper shows to go to in the evenings. What they did have was for teenyboppers - and I didn't see any. The food in the Blush Dining Room was second rate - it was lukewarm, dry and pathetic choice.
The films they showed included "Grease" - 40 years old!! No coffee/tea making facilities in cabin also no pens or writing pads and you now pay for room service. Also there were lots of now rich Russians on board who got drunk in the evenings would go to the Casino and yell and scream as they grouped around pokie machines - no one ever told them to behave as there are other customers present as well. I realise Carnival needs their "dirty" money-but consideration for others must take priority. Would I cruise with them again - NO.

I sailed on the Imagination on 9-10-12 thru 9-14-12. I have sailed with Carnival before and I will admit this is the 1st time I had no rest, bad/rude service, the food was not good and they even served me dinner with a bug in it, I was horrified. I don't get many vacations and this one was totally ruined. Customer Service must have become a thing of the past since my last Carnival cruise which was a dud also. I just want to talk to someone in person or on the phone, because this experience is unacceptable.

SAIL DATE:9-16 TO 23-12

THIS WAS MY HUSBAND'S AND I FIRST CURISE AND I MUST SAY IT DID NOT LEAVE US WITH AN OVER ALL GOOD FEELING I AM A FIRM BELIVER THAT FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE LASTING IMPRESSIONS FIRST OF ALL WE FELT THAT MOST OF THE STAFF WERE NOT GUESS FREINDLY AND AFTER TALKING WITH OTHER GUESS FOUND THAT WE WERE NOT THE ONLY ONES THAT HAD NOTICED THIS IT SEEMED THAT AT THE BREAKFAST BUFFET WE HAD TO ASK FOR MORE BACON FOR SOME REASON THEY SEEMED TO WANT PORTION IT OUT LET ME SAY FOR SOME GUESS BUT NOT ALL AND I AM GOING TO LEAVE IT AT THAT SECOND OF ALL I SLIPPED WHILE WALKING THROUGH THE POOL ARES TO GET TO THE OTHER END OF THE SHIP WITH MY HUSBAND BESIDE ME AND LANDED ON MY LEFT KNEE FIRST REPORTED IT TO A NEAR BY STAFF WHO COULD HAVE CARED LESS WE WENT TO THE INFIRMARY AND THE NURSE COULD HAVE CARED LESS I TOLD HER WHAT HAD JUST HAPPENED SHE LOOKED AT IT SAW THAT IT HAD BEGIN TO SWELL GAVE ME A BAG TO PUT SOME ICE IN IT AND SOME PILLS FOR PAIN SAID THAT THE DOCTOR WAS NOT IN IF I NEEED TO SEE HIM TOLD US WHAT THE HOURS WERE WE WERE VERY DISAPPIONTED IN THE LACK OF CONCERN I WAS TRYING NOT FOR THIS NOT TO RUIN OUR VACATION MY KNEE HAS BEGIN TO FEEL BETTER BUT WITH NOT BEING ALE TO REST IT I REALLY WANTED TO ENJOY MY VACATION SNICE WE REALLY HAS TO SAVE AND PLAN THIS VACATION WE FINALLY WAS ABLE TO SEE THE DOCTOR BEFORE OUR CRUISE ENDED I WANTED TO LET HIM KNOW THAT I WAS STILL IN PAIN AND TO SEE IF I COULD GET SOME ANSWERS AS TO WHY HE ENDED UP TAKING X-RAYS AND SAID THAT THEIR WAS NOTHING BROKEN SAID THAT IT WAS PROBLEY COMING FROM SOME BRUISING FROM THE INSIDE THAT WOULD HEAL OVER TIME I DID GET A COPY OF THE REPORT I AM STILL HAVING PAIN IN MY KNEE AS WE WERE TALIKING WITH OTHER GUEST THEY HAD EXPERIENCED A LOT OF THE SAME THINGS AND BY THE WAY I FELL ONCED AND SLIPPED TWICE AND SAW OTHER DOING ONE OR THE OTHER OVER ALL EXPERIENCE NOT VERY HAPPY.

WE WERE ON THE CARNIVAL PRIDE DECK #7 CABIN 7287
MR.& MRS. BRUMMELL

On August 25, 2012, I went on the Carnival Dream with my family and about sixty other people from my church. Embarking on a seven day cruise for my 40th birthday celebration, celebrating my MBA and most important being a two year breast cancer survivor! I thought this was gong to the the best trip ever; NOT! The Dream was a nightmare! The cabins were not cleaned tilll late in the evening, the cabins had a horrible smell and when we told the maintenance persons he said he didn't smell anything but everyone on the 7th floor did. Come to find out someone's toilet was stopped up! They turned the air off at night so my daughter woke up with a nose bleed! This was the worst trip ever! Thanks Carnival Dream for making my celebration into a Nightmare!

Sail Date: 08/25/12
My husband and I took the August 25th, 2012 cruise on the Carnival Freedom and I am sorry to say that this was by far the worst cruise that my family and I have ever been on! From the rudeness of the pursers desk personal, to unorganized structure of the excursion desk when it came to problems, the cold powered eggs served at the buffet, and the lack of welcome by the general staff on board. It seemed almost like we intruding on the staff of the Freedom by just being there and cruising with them? This may have been the Carnival staff's 23rd or so cruise for the year, but to many people, this representatives their once in a year vacation. This is the first cruise of the year for the majority of the people on board, and the staff treated some people like they numbers-NOT as the Customers that they were!!!Remember, without customers-Carnival Cruise Lines would be just rusting hulls of steel on the water they sail on not to say the jobs lost by the crew and staff of the ship. Fortunately there is choice out there for the customer- and many people are fighting for our our travel dollar! Unless the customer stands up to be treated as the customer that he/she is, Mega Cruise lines like Carnival will treat their travelers as just numbers with open pocket books of money! Problems Observed: Rudeness of the pursers desk- Several times when it came to money issues, from cashing travelers checks (and your cruise ID card not being accepted as ID- even-though your C Card is tied to your ID at check in to enter the ship) I watched an individual have to go back to his cabin to get his wallet from his safe and stand in line another 20 Min. again. The Pursers desk is the only direct representative of the cruise line, and you would think that common courtesy would be basic(despite cultural differences from the staff from other countries) I also observed customers being treated like cattle through the lines, and not being treated as the paying customers they are when dealing in the Business transactions that they may have been preforming.
We had a problem with one excursion in Curacao and had to see the excursion desk later after our experience regarding the mishandling of my 87 year old mother-in-law. When my husband and I later talked to the Carnival excursion director about the incident regarding a contract tour group for the aquarium and country tour, we received a "What do you want me to do about it" response. I feel that It is not my job as a customer to decide what to do , its Carnival's job to help out if they could, and make the right decision on their own(not leaving it in the lap of the customer)! We explained to the excursion director that we were not trying to get anything free or get any type of perks in response to what happened, but we just wanted them to keep those who are elderly in mind for the future, so that this type of incident didn't happen again. There are a lot of retired customers who sail and that are elderly.(I feel as a professional cruise company, that they can always learn for past mistakes and always try to do better for the customer in the future).
Buffet: Same basic menu for breakfast every day. The powered eggs were not even luke-warm, and the bacon was a mass of greasy meat. This was indeed a "lets feed the masses, not let’s try to please those who paid for "as in the picture" type of meal. This was definitely a quantity made for the masses, not quality as paid for by the customer.
My husband called Carnival afterwards, and stated our concerns with the company. He received an apology letter for all the bad service we received. The only problem with an apology letter is that an apology does not cover the bad week on the ship itself, or the satisfaction guarantee given by the cruiseline (so much for that). When my husband tried to submit a review on their website, for some reason he was not able to submit the review. When I used a new ID, I was able to submit this review????

my luggage was picked up out side my state room door on the dream at cape canaveral by carnival workers an placed on dock where it was storming when i got home found out all my clothes were soaked took them to cleaners and lost 2000.00 dollars of clothes that cannot be salvaged carnival says so sad well lll remember this when i cruse carnival so sad ll not cruse with you

My husband and I went on Imagination Sept.3-Sept.7() I would like to stay we was VERY disappointed with Carnival. The food was not good.. only one night at seated dining was my food hot. one of the main server could not speak English so when I did ask for something I would have to ask two times... Safety issue with our room was that our intercom did not WORK! If there was a safety issue like the boat on fire or anything else we would not have known anything @ all... When was not notified when we could get off the boat in Mexico.. which we almost missed our excursion time because we was in line to get of the boat and one of the workers told us to find something to do for 30 mins very rudely because it wasn't time to get off the boat... well come to find out they didn't announce it or they did and we was in our room where the intercom did not WORK! Our room attendant was hard to fond when we need something.. I have been on many cruises before and this was by far the worst week my husband and I had on a cruise ( OUR FIRST YEAR ANNIVERSARY TRIP) Our Memory of our 1st year anniversary... not so good.... just thought I would let Carnival know how upset we were... I would like a responds on why our service was the way it was... I felt as if I was on a low end economy cruise but not a economy price....

Just return from my first cruise the Carnival Destiny cruise to the Grand Cayman Island and Jamaica. All we got to see was Jamaica. Due to rough winds all we never got to port Grand Caymans, which was the reason for my trip. My cabin steward was very nice, and so was our experience in the Universe dining area. The workers were very pleasant. Many of the others workers on deck were quite unpleasant and seem frustrated. The day we were to port the Caymans and was sent away, they had no alternative itinerary. They mention games at the Lido deck which never took place. I witnessed a cook deny a passenger a well cook egg as she requested. He stated there was no time. Two fights occurred and security pranced 1 hour later. The ride was quite choppy due to inclement weather. When we were stuck on ship, they had the nerve to still charge full price on drinks, instead of accommodating us with better service due to unfavorable weather. People ended up purchasing cards (as they were not provided) to keep ourselves entertain being they failed to. This was not what I thought I would experience. Many fellow shipmates raved on their experiences of the NorwegianCruise, Princess Cruise and The Royal Caribbean. They never had this bad experience and if the weather was bad, they had a load of entertainment. I tried calling Carnival, and even that was disheartening. The attitude was that so sad but to bad. Never will I travel through Carnival again and will stop anyone I know who plans to do so. I will do all in my power to make sure they either change their current rules and or loose as much credibility to get them out of business. With enough bad reviews and reports to better business bureau, something should happen.
A Very Upset and Disgusted Passenger!

Just returned from a Carnival Miracle Cruise to Bahamas. The cruise was wonderful but was tainted by the treatment we got from excursion mgr Myron. I paid close to $3000 for an excursion to Atlantis. It was for Dolphin Interaction and Aquaventure. We were told there was 30% chance of rain. Well, it turned out to be a tropical storm. We did the dolphin interaction in a hard rain with thunder and lightning. Then they closed the park. We were refunded less than $20 a person.I am sure Carnival was aware of storm. They told us slight rain and had us sign saying we were aware of it.We did not mind rain but did not expect park to shut down. Now they are saying we did dolphin interaction and still should be charged for that. Park is only worth and I was refunded less than $20?? If you pick Aquaventure separate it is $125.00? A bunch of word playing.
If i was warned park would shut down and it would possibly be lightning, I would have cancelled. I would like half of money refunded. Visa is fighting for me right now. Here I had a great cruise and because of this and that nasty excursion mgr Myron, I will not do another carnival cruise.
A very disappointed grandmother.

I had left a wallet in the safe on the cruise. It should be easy, they should just be able to open the safe and send it to me. Instead, the people who work in guest are are extremely rude and I have had no results. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that whoever cleaned the room has taken my wallet. It is very frustrating.

We just got off of the Carnival Dream yesterday 7/7/12 and we were celebrating our daughter's graduation. We were only on the ship approx. 2 hrs and we had $1500..00 in cash stolen out of my small wristlet purse from our LOCKED room safe while we were at the manditory safety briefing". What a fast, easy hit for them;. We talked to security almost every day, had our rooms, beds and luggage torn apart like we were the criminals and of course there was no money to be found! We were told our cleaning girl had a lot money in her locker after they checked, but then defended her by saying that she always makes good tips so that's why she had large amounts of money|. Talk about defended your own employees even when they're committing crimes|. So we didn't get any help on the ship and were told to contact the carnival offices when we get home". This matter was handled so poorly and ruined our vacation beyond belief|. It is so upsetting that they treated this like it was our faults?. They really didn't care..........will never recommend anyone to sail with them again.

I was booked on Carnival Glory July 2012 and was billed 6x for the same room on the same ship with the same passenger names. Having received only one confirmation email I only discovered the over booking when my credit card statement arrived thousands over the correct balance. I called Carnival waited 20 minutes and was told to call my credit card company becuase I couldn't get through to the Carnival accounting department. The story ends with a Carnival saying they would 5 of the 6 and save the one booking i had a confirmation email for. The night before the cruise i go to print my boarding docs and get an error message, call customer service and they tell me ALL bookings under my name were canceled. They say they refunded me for all 6 but they had only refunded the 5. They spent 2 hours trying to convice me it was my fault and becuase the boat was full there was nthing they could do. When I asked if they would waive the cancelation fees for the other people in my wedding party they said "oh no they would be in full penalty". Customer disservice. The real Carnival is the service. I guess I will have to dispute the money Carnival still owes me that they claimed they refunded. Boycott Carnival Cruise Lines they SUCK.

Carnival lost a booking of mine that I had a deposit on. When called them they could not find the booking and refused to help. Told me there was nothing they can do.

We went on ATV trail to Jade cavern and the cave on Tuesday, June 5th. We were picked up from Carnival Paradise at 12:30 We were the couple that lost a tire, switched out the ATV and then broke the wheel rod. Got another vehicle that was really slow. We came in last. Also a couple ran into the trees in front of us. It took 3 people to get them out.
I brought the Video and the van was waiting on me so you did it hurriedly and missed some of it. We didn't get the cave diving, etc. Please get it to me, either facebook, youtube or mail. My address is: Dorothy Pratt 1106 Groves Drive Rockledge, FL 32955. My phone is 321-636-0379. I paid for something I didn't get.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

It's been almost 2 weeks and I haven't hear from anybody.

I had book a cruise on 02/10/12 online i had put my friends past cruise number online under Stacey and i had researched it and found it right away. But for some reason the online system didnt put it in there and screwed up other information. Stacey called and spoke to a representative regarding this matter and said they would get this fix and since we had problems she would upgrade out reservation to a bigger balcony. At that time for some reason they were unable to find Staceys past guest number. Stacey was advise to call back and they would set her up another past guest number.Since then Stacey has called over 6 times, and keeps getting the run around. She has spoken to couple of supervisers and they have been very rude and didnt seem to care what the issue was and every one keeps telling her to call a different number. I am a first time cruiser and so far my experience with Carnival cruise hasnt been very good. I work for a call center and ususally if you get a superviser they work the best they can to keep a customer and to help them out. Your area does not they make you feel like they dont really care. I am hoping that Stacey can get this resolved on her next call because she was given another number to call today 06/18/12 after speaking to a very rude supervisor. If we can not get this resovled then we will be looking at canceling our cruise and I will let everyone know in my call center not to go with carnival cruise. We do have 2 employess that go with carnvial at least twice a year. I know we are just 2 people so us complaining really doesnt matter to carnival. Thank you Shanna

Rude people. You need to change your call center. Called in because they posted the money to the wrong cabin. Lady was rude and we asked to speak to a manager. She told us their was no managers. What a liar. They need to fix this or lose cruises. All these negative comments on here shows that their call center sucks!!

I had almost EXACTLY the same experience as Lori below...went to look up my cruise online and found out it had been canceled due to non-payment. They emailed me (I never got it). It is ridiculous that email is their form of "warning", despite having phone numbers. Prior to booking, any time I had accessed their website, a salesperson named "John" would call my house the same night, without fail. This happened over a dozen times. Yet, when I am in danger of losing my booking, somehow they can't find the time to contact me. This is TERRIBLE customer service, and unfortunately for Carnival, they have lost my business. Perhaps they don't care...that's how it seems anyway

I'm so dissappointed in Carnival. I scheduled a cruise for 2 balcony's & set up for autopay because 1. That's the easiest way & 2. I was on a Carnival Cruise the day my final payment was due. Unbeknownst to me my cabin was cancelled due to non-payment & I WAS NOT contacted in any way. I had even called Customer Service on 5/10 regarding a certificate I was interested in using but was told I could not because it was only for new bookings. The rep did not mention anything about my Cancellation due to NON Payment". I had already filled out all the check in information on line, printed our luggage tags and recently had been trying to enter our passport info. I couldn't find my cruise under "Manage My Cruise" so finally I called again. Reluctantly because there is typically a 15-30 wait time on hold. Thank goodness for speaker phones. Finally, after speaking to Beverly she told me my Balcony cabin had been cancelled & $400 forfieted. OMG!!! How could that happen? She said it was due to non payment & they had tried to reach me at my home email address. My emails for both home & business go to my BB & I received nothing from them in May except Advertisements. Why didn't they call any of the 3 #'s I provided them? We're traveling with another couple so I couldn't just not go. I was offered another balcony with an increased price of $500 which would be a total rip off. Progresso is a crappy port & not worth an additional $500. I settled for an inside cabin on an upper floor but I assure you this will be my 7th & final cruise with Carnival. Their service over the past 9 years I have cruised with them has deteriorated and is disappointing.

As I completed my booking for inside room & reinstated my original deposit I asked for the confirmation emails to be send to both home & work email addresses & received both Surprising, no issues. I feel like Carnival should have reinstated my Balcony and albeit not the same cabin, should have given me the same price. They do not care about their passengers, only their money & will take it any way they can. This is another example of BIG BUSINESS not caring about the customer only the $$ and offers nothing for poor service because there are very few other options for cruises out of Galveston. I HAVE A CHOICE and it will no longer be Carnival if they don't step up and show honor & integrity.

My family of three [Platnum members of Carnival] just returned from Magic, June 3rd. These are a few of the positive things from that cruise.

We had a Cove Balcony which felt much smaller than our other Carnival Balcony rooms, but the room was clean, comfortable and our stewart was excellent.

Our room was deck two mid-ship and convienent to the forward and mid-ship elevator, however at least a football field away from the Southern Lights dining room where we had breakfast, Tides pools etc. at the back of the ship. This is one big ship and there is an enormous amount of walking.

For example, Our anytime dining was in the Norther Lights dining room forward near the Lobby Bar, this was close and the shows were also forward in the big showroom. However, because of the scheduling it was almost impossible to catch a comedy show etc. at the back showroom without running like a banshee! The saddest thing about this dining room was that the lovely large windows looking out over the sea were blocked by the Lifeboats. Who thought this was a good idea?

The Northern Lights Dining room staff were very, very sweet and accomodating, the waiters etc. tried to make each dining meal an event. We were however a bit dissapointed in the smaller menu selections on the Magic....our Lobster looked smaller than a big Southeast Texas Crawfish. We could have asked for more but did not. As I said the food was good in the dining room.

NOW: The negative problems, we have been on 12 Carnival cruises and 10 others on different cruise lines, so we are not novice cruisers and have come to expect certain things.
1. There was NO adult pool area, we were told the Tides Pool was for adults only but this was not the case. This area was full of children screaming and jumping in the pool and hottubs... it was impossible for any semblance of quiet relaxation in or out of the pool or hot tubs. We inquired! No, there is NO adult only pool on the MAGIC SHIP. We were told to try the Serenity area which is adults only area and supposedly quiet!!!

Well, after tramping to the very front of the ship, to deck 12+ we found this Serenity area which was filled with loud, drunk 20+ folks who did not seem to understand that screaming and yelling and horsing around was not what Serenity Means!!!!Plus, the children's waterslide is right there so kids were also raising the roof right next to the Serenity area.

Did not find one publc area on Magic that was not overrun with loud rude children, teens and obnoxiously drunk adults, and music and movies loud enough to cause deafness ....so we spent a lot of time in our room, on our balcony to get any quiet space at all.

We decided to have a meal in the La Cuccina Italian Bistro on deck 11, lovely area, food was not great but still we wanted to give it a chance...several loud bangs to the ceiling and I thought the roof was falling in, so much so, that I litterally jumped out of my seat! Guess what, they have the BASKETBALL COURT directly over this lovely eatery. Not good design or planning.

We were told that the Steak House was very good but not for a romantic meal since all the folks in swim suits etc. walked by and knocked on the windows looking in etc. Romantic it was NOT!

Our Crusie Director Meagan, God bless her, had NO personality at all. Most of our former cruise directors were funny, told stories, jokes etc. but she was just so, so bad. Her vocabulary was laced with at least 3-5 LIKE,LIKE, UH! LIKE OR YOU KNOW, per sentence. Trying to watch her morning show was torture. I am sure she is a lovely person however she does not fit the title of Cruise Director.

The variety shows were good, but rather dated. The illusion show was the best we saw on this ship. The Mystery show was a joke, so bad people walked out, and the poor old Legend show has been done for at least 10 years...time to do something new with the passengers, perhaps just a talent show like they did a few years ago.

The young singer Chris from Scotland did an hour in the Lobby Bar one evening and he was outstanding. They should have more entertainment like that.

The Lobby bar area was very different, usually the singers, music etc. are close and you can really enjoy them...on MAGIC they are above your head, almost in a cage area and you can really not get the full experience of their music or singing looking up one floor.

The casino was okay and staff was friendly.

My major complaint is the lack of ADULT ONLY relaxing POOL AREA AND CLUB AREA. There were more teenagers in the comedy club than adults most of the show. They were told to leave....jokingly, and they took over that venue as well.

I do not think I would go on the MAGIC AGAIN, it may be newer and bigger but it defientely is NOT better. Since we cruise at least two times a year this is dissapointing to us since we live less than 80 miles from Galveston.

I know I happened to pick the worst time of year to book a cruise with over 1500 kids on board this cruise, however our family too has limited times we can cruise and we should not be punished by rude obnoxious children, teens etc. who took over EVERY AREA of this ship and made life for everyone over 50 a nightmare. Dr. Richrd C. Harrel Family