BUYER BEWARE!! ABUSIVE BILLING PRACTICES FROM CARNIVAL! WORST TRIP EVER
Carnival Horizon Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 31
6 Night Western Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)
Sail date: January 15, 2023
Ship: Carnival Horizon
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: 2217
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 1 year ago
Review summary
What was supposed to be a celebratory cruise for my 47th Birthday on January 17th, our 7th Wedding Anniversary and my husbands 49th birthday, soon turned into a disaster. I noticed on monday, January 15th, that the charges on our account via our sail and sign account were not coming up right, and every single day between the hours of 3am-5am I went to guest services...I spoke with Kelly on Monday, Tuesday, Thurday, Friday and Saturday, and asked to speak with her supervisor or management, and was never contacted, she did tell me that she sent out emails, i did ask for a copy of said emails to which she never did give me a copy to.. I am not a first time cruiser, this was my 8th cruise, but only my 4th with Carnival and will definitely be my last.. had 3 Royal Carribean, 1 Disney cruise with both of my children. This Experience has made me lose my sense of adventure, the ability to trust people, and honestly I have never in my life felt so invisible to people...It is such a shame that a few rotton seeds has to ruin the experience for everyone. I am the type of person who watches her grocery receipts, and keeps track of every penny because i am on a budget... This could happen to anyone, and overheard alot of billing errors, I wasnt the only one.. There was just me and my husband aboard the ship so i didnt know anyone else there that could help me.. My New Tips that I have learned and will warn everyone that is going on a cruise, use a cash account only, don't have your sail n sign card around your neck--it is too easy for employees as well as guests to use your number, do not go to the spa, or hair salon, or nails, they are independant contractors, and can charge pretty much anything they want even if you agreed to said price, do not gamble in the casino, they were having all sorts of malfunctions and glitches, a lady next to me won a jackpot and they refused to pay her a jackpot, that was the last time i used the casino, plus i noticed it was paying accurately, and DO NOT PLAY BINGO OR DEAL OR NO DEAL, i won and they said they would credit my account and never did, i only wanted to buy one card and they would charge you the premium price on everything, ask them if they have any 2xl bingo shirts, the answer would be no, i got charged for said shirt though... I did tell Andy, one of the ladies that works for the ship, and she kept telling me to come back tomorrow or it would be credited or fixed tomorrow and never was, I talked to Apple, Moses and Janel on Wednesday and Saturday morning as well as 3 other people i had never seen, i had been there since 3am, and was the last person escorted off the ship. One crew member, name i do know but won't say, said you are a really nice lady, i hate to see this happen to you, whatever you do don't leave the ship until you settle your bill, or the cruise ship wins... So I used my sharpie and wrote a sign that i refuse to pay for things I did not get, fix my billing errors or i will not leave until you do, the captain gave me his business card and basically said to me that i was a little annoying peon that carnival is such a big corporate business that it doesnt care about a couple hundred bucks, i said well if it wasnt such a big deal then there should be no problem in fixing my bill right now then, few minutes went by with no reply, and then they said they were calling the miami cops, but i said maybe i should call the cops and press charges on you since i am the one being robbed, needless to say 3 miami pds came and i was escorted from the ship with no answers to anything...This has left a cloud on my vacation, we dealt with no air conditioning in our room, our fridge not working, our dinner reservations cancelled for no reason, both of my bags were sopping wet and one held my cell phone in it and it didnt turn of for 5 days still no idea how it happened, asked several crew members for help, Kelly--worst customer service agent ever-told her it was my bday and she said So---- Armand was our steward-cleaned our room twice, nothing special, was charged for room service we never received any food delivered to our room, Sean, Moses,.Apple, and Janel friendly but problems were ignored, Viktor was outstanding for a waitor, made me laugh when i didnt think i could, Cookie and Jacky both said they could only help with future cruises, which doesnt help me at all nor do i have any desire to come back, and we have 2 future cruises with carnival that i will lose money on by canceling but there is no way I would step foot on another one....People know the ones I liked because i offered them an expensive sea salt caramel and a twenty dollar bill in cash, and told them they were outstanding, but for everyone else that ignored or made me feel invisible, shame on them and i have to believe karma will come back some day to them.... Abused by Carnivals Billing Practices is a crime and I should receive Justice Sincerely,Embarkation
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Don't play the bingo or any other extra activities, you would ask for one card and they would charge you for the premium pkg and nobody in guest services would fix there mistakes, it was truly a horrible experience, i won at deal or no deal and they refused to pay me my winnings but still wanted me to pay for playing, don't gamble, either, watched a lady hit a jackpot and they would not pay her, tons of glitches and malfunctions with their machines, they had gross overcharges, and charged us for things we never got....
Entertainment
comedians were amazing! and shows and Cookie the cruise host, don't get me wrong they had some exceptional workers, just sad that a few bad seeds has to ruin it for everyone!
Children's Programs
did not bring kids with
Service and Staff
never felt so invisible in my life...you couldnt give my husband 50k and he will never go on a carnival cruise ever again...
Ship Quality
design was good, but our air conditioning went out, our thermostat in our room broke, our fridge broke twice, steward Armand cleaned our room twice, got charged for room service and no food was ever brought to our room, and our steward got both of my bags sopping wet ruining my cell phone, and refused to compensate us for any of it..Worst experience of my life, our sink also would turn on for no reason, and would not drain our entire trip...
Cabin / Stateroom
didnt realize it was twin beds that couldnt be pushed together we slept up top for the most part
Ship tip
Do not wear your sail n sign card around your neck, do not go to the spa, was overcharged $510 for the tip my acupunturist Dr. Varnaka decided to give herself, we agreed on one price, they charged something completely different
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
BOBSLEDS ALL THE WAY, ask for Devon with big dog tours, we took him on the bobsleds for his first time, this was the highlight of our trip, he made sure no one talked to us and he was just a wonderful tour guide, we also did the rafts...
George Town, Grand Cayman Did not visit port
I normally love cozumel, just mad that we had bought xcarat which i had been to before but specifically asked how much time we would have inside the park and was lied to about it and told 7hrs, when in fact we were only going to get 3.5 hours inside the park, this place is just too big to even go on one fourth of it, you are better not going here as an excursion but when you are in mexico visiting separately...
Disembarkation
This is where it got ugly, i just wanted to settle my bill and pay cash, and have them fix their mistakes, was completley ignored, told by the captain niksa Pelic, that i was just an insignificant peon and that carnival would not squabble over just a couple hundred bucks, and i said if its not such a big deal than why not just fix my bill now, and was refused, my bill should have been $723 and was charged $2,295, my husbands bill should have been $104 and was charged $604, never received my deal or no deal winnings of $819 they kept telling me it would be credited to my account and it never was, tons of glitches and malfunctions with there slot machines, after i figured that out i never went back in, they can charge you for anything they want and they can competely get away with it all, I have no problem paying for things that i received or services i received, but to give a $510 tip to my accupunturist and my skin was burned is grossly outrageous!! It has left me with a black cloud over our whole vacation, and post cruise they want nothing to do with us, there is no one to talk to that handles customer accounts, why is that? Biggest Scam I know of yet!!
Traveler Photos
11 Comments
4tanya 1 year ago
Dispute the charges with the credit card company you used …… had it been they refused to refund monies they owed me I would have been forced to remove all gratuities to help off set what was owed me …. That would be very unfortunate for the crew that work hard but they left no other choice … sorry this happened.