Terrible Guest Services- One Passenger Saved, 3900 Passengers Screwed
Carnival Magic Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
7 Night Western Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)
Sail date: July 09, 2016
Ship: Carnival Magic
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 8353
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 8 years ago
Review summary
Myself, my wife, my two daughters (18 and 21 yrs old), and my niece ( 17 yrs old), took the July 9th Western Caribbean cruise , on the Carnival Magic, out of Port Canaveral. It was our 8th cruise: 3rd with Carnival, and 2nd to these destinations. It was my niece's first trip outside the U.S.
The destinations are as follows:
- Costa Maya- exist only because of the cruise ships. You can take a short cab ride to Mahahual Beach, but that is all there is to really do.
- Belize City, Belize- book a snorkeling trip to one of the small islands around the barrier reef. Otherwise , you can take a tour of Mayan ruins, or hang around Belize City ( not real safe)
- Cozumel- we booked a swimming with the dolphins excursion through the ship.
- Isle Roatan, Honduras- Tabyana Beach is one of the most beautiful beaches on the Caribbean. Beautiful blue water, bleached white sand, tiki bars and a rock formation on one side of that provides for great snorkeling.
On the first day, a passenger had a heart attack on the track surrounding the pool. The captain made the decision to divert to Miami. He then made the announcement that we would not be going to Isle Roatan, Honduras, and would instead be going to Key West.
There was a mob scene outside Guest Services full of angry passengers who paid for and were looking forward to going to Isle Roatan.
Everyone sympathized with the ailing passenger, but when the captain made the decision to assist one passenger, he inconvenienced 3,900 other passengers. And when it was time for Guest Services to try to appease the upset passengers, they completely dropped the ball.
I am in sales, and when I have an upset customer, the first thing I do is get in front of that customer and try to defuse the situation. I have also had instances where I had to provide a substitute product, but I offer the customer some kind of incentive if they will accept the substitute. CARNIVAL GUEST SERVICES DID NOTHING !! Jorge Tasayco- Guest Services Manager even sent out a letter saying that they would offer nothing. Not even a free bottle of water. NOTHING!!! Carnival Corporate even sent notification that they would do nothing . Bottom line , we paid the same amount to go to Key West as we would have paid to go to Honduras.
On my third trip to Guest Services , I demanded a meeting with the Guest Services management. I met with Jorge Tasayco and Carlos, who I assume was his boss. I explained how the situation was mishandled from the start, and how many unsatisfied customers there were on that ship.I tried to explain that by basically ignoring the customer complaints, all they were doing was losing customers, and in the competitive industry of cruising, repeat customers are a large portion of their market. On my subsequent call to Guest Services (Corp), I was told that Carnival is about the cruise experience, not the destinations. HOW NAIVE ! What customer books a cruise , NOT based on the destinations.
I told him how my family was looking forward to seeing Tabyana Beach again, and how that and the dolphin excursion in Cozumel was to be the height of the cruise. Carlos did seem to get my point and he did upgrade our excursion in Cozumel, which was greatly appreciated. I just hated that I had to raise hell for three days in order to get any attention. I talked to other passengers who had similar experiences.
On the positive side, our wait staff , Augusto, Alfredo, and Kristina, were excellent. And the folks at the Red Frog Pub, Latoya, Orlando, Wilner, Elvis, Ryan , and Jesse Alan Horn on guitar, made it my happy place. The Cruise Director, Dr. E, was also very good. I kind of got the sense of what it would be like to be the cruise director on the Titanic.
I urge you to see the Western Caribbean. And if you have a chance to see Tabyana Beach on the Isle Roatan, take it. JUST DON'T TAKE CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES!!!!! Spend a little extra on Royal Caribbean or Norwegian , but get your money's worth.
PS. Carnival is in the process of taking down their Cruise Review forum in August. Just another example of how Carnival really does not care about Customer Service/ Guest Relations.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Do not take Carnival. Customer service is no longer their main objective. Pay a little extra and go with Norwegian or Royal Caribbean, and get your money's worth
Ports of call
Mahogany Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras
69 Comments
jesswallace24 8 years ago
I applaud the captain for making the choice to save a persons life. The cost of "inconveniencing" 3900 guests is well worth saving a life. You still got your vacation it was just a change in port. Would you also complain if they detoured around bad weather? I would have expected nothing from carnival and in their place would have given nothing to those throwing tantrums.
daleclan 8 years ago
Reesails 8 years ago
shelbym 8 years ago
tristang129 8 years ago
sandyloren14 8 years ago
I'm sorry you had a horrible experience. We had to MISS a port on our Carnival Cruise. But as the contract states, ports are not guaranteed. Carnival did not give us compensation nor did I expect any because we signed the agreement, but they did make sure that we had a wonderful time. I have always cruised Carnival and will continue to do so.
maggieworkman 8 years ago
It makes me sad that you value sitting on a beach more than saving a person's life. I'm sure you've been made aware by now that according to your cruise contract you are not guaranteed any particular port. And any cruise line would have made the same decision as Carnival, so it will be of no use to switch cruise lines.
dcaland2001 8 years ago
RzC7324tVTKaTW5Ie0KHHZ12H 8 years ago
dcaland2001 8 years ago
Lenny 8 years ago
The captain did the only thing he could. If things on board after diverting are as this guest describes about customer service he may have a point that it was not handled very well by c/s . Lets be clear Carnival or any cruise line does not owe anything when the itinerary has to be changed for any reason. A person life which with a heart attack is in danger and that has priority over a port of call. To expect to be given something for this is way out of line. Seems like here in the US to many people just expect something for nothing. The fact that he won't cruise with Carnival again is probably a good thing for everybody.
gifink 8 years ago
It happens and you move on. Missed ports are part of cruising. On our first RCCL cruise we missed Grand Cayman because the seas were deemed to rough to tender in. We didn't get a makeup port or any other offers. We got a "bonus sea day" and we enjoyed it. Carnival owes you and the rest of the passengers nothing. They were trying to save the life of a person. Accept it and move on. If you don't like the idea of missing a port and not getting compensation, I suggest you give up cruising.
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