Carnival Doesn't Care.

I always look at the weather before leaving the ship. Storms have been going through the tropics lately & if I had seen storms in the forecast, I may just plan on staying aboard. Being flexible enough to try something aboard to occupy my precious time.

Security does not care if you are getting wet. They have assets to protect and they are simply doing their jobs. 

There have been times when I was not happy with food quality or I simply did not care for a menu item. I reordered something that would please me or I went to the lido deck. Again, stayed flexible & never went hungry.

Why are so many people connected to technology? Does it frighten them to disconnect? When I go on holiday it is to relax and get centered without technology screaming in my inner space. See, I am flexible enough to let technology take a rest for a few days.

The problem with millennials...they are not flexible and want everything their way & immediately. Sometimes stuff happens and you just gotta roll with it. If you can't...then everything & everyone 'sucks'.

The way I understand it, the security team is responsible for ingress and egress to the ship. No other person may grant access (other than the Captain, who is basically God on the ship). The authority to allow people onto the ship cannot be delegated to anyone other than the security team. (I am not an employee, but have been studying this for personal reasons)

I am pretty sure that the weather did not just happen all of a sudden -- surely the clouds were building up prior to the rain. If the ship was not leaving soon, then you could have left the line to seek shelter somewhere. If the ship was leaving soon, then you could have boarded earlier. In short, nobody forced you to stand in the rain; it was poor decision making on your part.

I'm really not sure what kind of "Protocol" could into play here for the cruise line. It was a passing storm. There were certain gangways available for passengers to return to the ship. As I posted earlier, the cruise line nor the Captain has any control over the weather and to expect crew to come running out with umbrellas or to open the gangways to allow everyone to board hastily (without a PROPER security screening) is absurd! As unfortunate as the situation was, the crew onboard has many things to concern themselves with for leaving the port. Yes, it was unfortunate but I am SURE the ships crew did all they could do in their power when you have 300 people scrambling to board at once with maybe 2 gangways. For anyone to compare the operation of a cruise ship with over 3000 passengers to a "McD's or Chic-Fil-A's" operation  is SO way out of context! It is time for adults to become RESPONSIBLE adults and plan as opposed to expecting everyone to provide for them. I have been on many cruises and have experienced adverse situations but unless the ship was sinking, I was able to fend for myself.

You might have a point if this were a mere rain shower.

However, this was a prolonged, torrential rainstorm complete with lightning, thunder, and high winds that lasted for no less than 20 minutes (the rain was coming down with so much force, it actually felt like hail striking you).  Add to that a panicked crowd of nearly 300 people begging to be let onto the ship, and the situation posed a legitimate safety risk to everyone left on that dock.

It is precisely because the cruiseline must control every entry onto the ship that there should be a protocol for handling sudden and severe weather during embarkation. Whether Carnival dispatched staff to the gangway with portable, handheld scanners to hasten embarkation (I imagine that if McD's and Chick-fil-a can do it, so can Carnival) or had security available to oversee an orderly process, something should have been done. Nothing any of you have said here has convinced me otherwise.

I guarantee you that there are hundreds of safety protocols and requirements that Carnival is required to follow but does not publish. For example, while there is also nothing when you get or off that says what happens if there were a shooting on board or if there is a hurricane, it does not mean there is no protocol.

Frankly, I would be shocked if there really is no protocol for severe weather. My best guess is that there is a protocol, but the Captain or whoever decided not to activate for whatever reason. If there is a safety protocol, guest relations staff should have been able to articulate it in general terms, but they could not. And that is a problem.

On the other hand, if there is no safety protocol, then God help us all.

If you are going to the Caribbean, plan on rain -- it is the tropics.

If it starts to rain and you decide to be outside, you will get wet. You (probably) won't melt, die, disintegrate, dissolve, or be harmed in any way.

The cruise line must control entry onto the ship.

Passengers should treat others with respect, not be pushing them in line.

The cruise line did not fail in this situation, the passengers who let it spoil their fun failed.

When you booked the cruise, there is no information stating that when you arrive to get on the ship that if its raining ---we will do this or that. In reality, the cruise lines do their job everyday....in the sun or rain... It's the cruiser that is not necessarily used to the weather conditions. My last cruise out of Miami-- it was a monsoon. However, I planned by carrying and umbrella, poncho and plastic suitcase covers. You cant let the rain ruin your cruise. It rains and It sometimes pours but we as cruisers have to think ahead and prepare for such situations. Now, you've seen the rain, the next time hopefully you will plan for such possibilities.  

Weather can be unpredictable.. They were calling for rain for 3 days here at home and nothing... When you are on an island or in the Caribbean, it can be unpredictable. Like I said, I've never cruised Carnival, but I'm sure they have a definition for emergency storm weather, and maybe that was not it... It's easier to make water available for everyone coming onboard that an emergency temporary shelter... especially when they have the job of screening and clearing everyone to re-enter the ship... 

As far as people pushing other people and if there were elderly people around as well... That is just their personal level of human treatment of each other... I see it every day... Some people are just mean and nasty and only care about themselves... 

Sorry for the bad experience once again... Maybe contact Carnival if you have not done so and propose a solution to the issue? Who knows, they may be thinking about something, or never have thought about it until someone says something

This is not a matter of personal responsibility, this is a matter of poor customer service and inattention. When I spend literally thousands of dollars with a company, I expect better whether you do or not.

The forecast, as far as we knew, did not call for rain or any bad weather (we asked). The weather was gorgeous until it wasn't. Second, the rain was so bad, that I seriously doubt a poncho or umbrella would have done much to help the situation.

What we needed was to be allowed onto the ship, or redirected to appropriate shelter until the storm passed. It is common sense proposition to me that there should be a method to hasten the embarkation process in the event of an emergency. For example, portable, handheld, electronic scanners might have helped to get people back on the ship and out the rain faster. I understand the need for appropriate security screening and I am not suggesting that security check should have been foregone, just quickened.

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The fact that the crew could not articulate whether there was a protocol for emergent situations (whether they thought this one qualified or not) is disturbing.

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The scene was chaotic and scary. People were pushing and shoving one another trying to force their way onto the ship. There were elderly people and small children on the dock; someone could have gotten seriously injured. Which is precisely why you need to have leadership, controls, and order in situations like this. The Carnival Splendor crew failed woefull at this. Carnival takes some heat related precautions; there is usually water at the docks for people to stay hydrated while they wait to board the ship. Similarly, Carnival needs to develop some weather related protocols as well.

Next time you go on a cruise, I recommend you take ponchos or umbrellas especially if the weather forecast at a particular port is looking iffy. As far as making people wait in the rain, unfortunately in this day & age they do have to follow security procedures. If they just let everybody run back on the ship, who knows what somebody might bring onboard. And it's also possible somebody could stow away on the ship.

On our very first cruise and our very first stop --We were in Hilo Hawaii-- It was Feb 2009 we had an excursion booked to Kayak up to a waterfall after crossing one of the bays on the island. Well it poured........ the guide was so upset the poor girl was almost in tears. Monique and I informed her that back home in Edmonton it was about 30 Below Celsius and just before we left we had a few feet of snow. In Hilo it was raining... 85 Degrees F. and the rain was as warm as a shower....She had nothing to feel bad about..

In Costa Rica.. we had such a torrential downpour and we were on a tram in the rainforest...."kinda expected that"

Point is..... baby the rain must fall....

Yes it has BDRebel...Yes it has...

If the Captain cannot control a couple of raindrops, how can we trust him to control the entire ocean?

Has personal responsibility completely disappeared off the face of the Earth?

Always carry a small umbrella and poncho in your bag. If you really want to be ready for the rains---bring plastic suitcase covers. 

Now that is down right funny!  

After a day in port in the Caribbean islands the humidity has me to the point that I take a shower soon as I get back on the ship...... Look at the rain as a time saver you got your shower while in line,  multitasking.  You also got your clothes washed.

The cruise line cannot control the weather,  nor do they build the ports to have cover from a freak rain storm. I have been caught in rain when boarding in Miami and worse stuck lined up outside in over 100 degree heat when boarding in Los Angeles.  I can not give the ship a bad review for what is not in its control. 

Sadly, if they had of handed out ponchos and they ran out just before they got to you, what then.  They you would have been ripping that they didn't give you one because some of the others were closer to the ship...  Sorry that you had such a negative time but really, they cannot control mother nature.  Perhaps purchase ponchos and bring them on  shore with you.  After all, you are in the Caribbean and she can blow up at any time.  Make the most of it and laugh it off, you alive, and on vacay.   Singing in the rain, I'm singing in the rain....  :)

We were coming back from St. Marteen and it was hotter than blazed, an a long line. They had water out for us, and a tent out. They can't control mother nature, but we also have to expect the worst. Sorry it was a bust, hopefully next time will be better

" the response was a blunt ƒ‚‚ "We cannot control the rain." . Sorry but yes, that pretty much sums it up! I just got off the Oasis of the Seas yesterday in Port Everglades and it was monsoon, torrential downpours when we disembarked. We had umbrellas. That took care of the issue. We didn't expect the cruise line to hold our hand. " Carnival could do much more to target millennials like me and my friends.". Um, why???