POOR SUBSTITUTE!!!!!!!

Carnival Splendor Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 9

Overall rating:

1 out of 5
Carnival Splendor

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: September 23, 2017

Ship: Carnival Splendor

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

Won't cruise with Carnival again --- ever ever ever ----- don't feel like I am getting my money's worth ---- very poor substitutes for the islands we were supposed to be going to!!

Embarkation

1 out of 5
Will leave Nov on a 7-day cruise to what was supposed to be some awesome islands. Because of the hurricanes, Carnival is substituting Nassau for what was supposed to be St. Thomas ----- POOR SUBSTITUTE!!!!! They are substituting Princess Cays for Puerto Rico ----- another VERY POOR SUBSTITUTE being that there's not even an island to explore on Princess Cay ----- basically just a place to sit on the beach. This will be my last cruise with Carnival!!!!! They could have at least taken us to a full island like Jamaica or similar!!! Definitely not getting my money's worth considering I've already been to Nassau!!! I'm done with Carnival!!! We tried to upgrade to a southern Caribbean Cruise and pay the difference --- but Carnival would not let us without a 50% penalty!!! Unreal!!!!!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Entertainment

1 out of 5

Children's Programs

1 out of 5

Service and Staff

1 out of 5

Ship Quality

1 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

1 out of 5

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

1 out of 5

Grand Turk Island

1 out of 5

Amber Cove (Puerto Plata), Dominican Republic

1 out of 5

Disembarkation

1 out of 5
Was this review helpful? 9

28 Comments

Summerholiday    7 years ago

In all this BS people should of had a chose to cancel or go ahead a change of port is one thing but change of itinerary is another its total BS ....

kkennedy35    7 years ago

if it's not acts of God, then it is acts of Carnival so all these passengers' financial loss is Carnival's fault for being substituted with something in lower value than being upgraded. The smart companies give upgrades to their customers in this type of situations.

kkennedy35    7 years ago

jim, this is not about selfishness or trying to go to islands where people suffered. I live in Florida and have lived in Texas and I know suffering from hurricanes very well. This is about our financial loss due to a trip destination change not worthy as the original itinerary. If you are happy going to western caribbean by paying more for eastern caribbean , then I have nothing more to tell you.

kkennedy35    7 years ago

dtrix, I have insurance but the insurance covers the reasons like hurricane not port closures so they dont accept Carnival's hurricane reason with port closures. They say there was no hurricane during that time at Eastern Caribbean and Carnival should change the itinerary to the open ports at Eastern Caribbean since other cruise ships were at Eastern Caribbean around that time. Also insurances with any reason cancellation costs almost 25% cruise cost which you get only 50-75% back so it is still a loss of 50% of what you pay. Loss is a loss and the customers don't like to lose.

dtrix    7 years ago

Sorry kkennedy35, I have to agree with firefighterjim on this one. I'm sure it's no easy task to reroute a cruise ship. Firefighterjim stated a number of good reasons and I am sure there are more logistics than we know of to get a ship to another port. No matter what course is decided on there will ALWAYS be somebody who's not happy. I have been cruising with Carnival for 14 years and I can't think of anything I could complain about and yes we have had our ports re routed. So if your cruising , I'm guessing your an adult, hopefully an adult with some common sense. So here's 3 things I would suggest to do after booking a cruise during hurricane season. 1. Get travel insueance. 2. Get travel insurance and last but not least 3. GET TRAVEL INSURANCE. 😊 The insurance we get list many specific reasons for cancelling and still get 100% back. Also, it states that we can cancel for ANY reason not listed and still get 75% of it back. So if you had insurance and the ports were a deal breaker, you would still have coverage. Don't blame the weather or your own shortcomings on the cruise line.

FireFighterJim    7 years ago

kkennedy35, I am a firefighter/paramedic I do not work for Carnival. I have sailed many times on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Disney Cruise lines. I primarily cruise during hurricane season so I have had to endure many port of call changes throughout my many years of cruising. Also St. Thomas and Puerto Rico are both eastern Caribbean destinations as are there substitute destinations Nassau and Princess Cays. Cruise lines can not just go where ever they feel like going. They have to get approval from the islands ports, there has to also be room for them to dock and the port fees must be paid for the stop. Because of all the islands that were damaged by the hurricanes there was a Limited number of locations in which the ships from every cruise line could stop at during the length of time and distance from the home port locations. I just feel that this was petty selfishness when so many people lost everything and all "tappytwo" is concerned about is they can not go to their island do to the damage that people are still suffering from. Just being able to vacation on a cruise and spending time with family and/friends even if you never stopped at any island is still better than what the people that live on those devastated islands have to deal with.

kkennedy35    7 years ago

firefighterjim, you sound like a carnival employee. I agree with her comments as Carnival has a right to change the itinerary due to weather but not due to inconvenience and cost. The itinerary change was also a destination change from eastern to western caribbean which western is always cheaper. It feels like buying a trip ticket to Europe and being taken to Patagonia and they say it's OK. Unfortunately it's not OK and Carnival is abusing the ticket contract. Royal Caribbean made it to eastern caribbean to other undamaged ports. Also gave full or partial refunds for these type of destination changes and Carnival should do so too if really want to stay in business for a long time. I have heard from a lot of people while talking about their experiences and changes in the itinerary, they will not take Carnival cruises again. I was also very frustrated during the 80s British rock music show that a veteran guy and a woman was humiliated by being called a fool and a maniac by the pre show people. That was very inappropriate and unacceptable. I am cruising with Carnival almost 12 years and I can see the decline of the company very well.

FireFighterJim    7 years ago

You too. Happy cruising. 🚢

craftyma    7 years ago

oh thank you, Firefighter! I Don't like upsetting people. You have a great day!!

FireFighterJim    7 years ago

My post was for the original selfish poster Tappytwo who needs to stop whining because of an itinerary change due to hurricanes devastating people's lives and homes. The post was NOT intended for craftyma's post.

Shukonda    7 years ago

You too! You're very welcome. This weekend was our first time there and we enjoyed our little mini trip. I definitely want to go back. I'm good That I can reassure you that you will go back to the keys you remember. You have a great day also!

craftyma    7 years ago

Thanks, Shukonda! You are a very kind person. I wasn't sure who they were talking about. I've been on a cruuse to Key West before. It's one of my favorite places! So looking forward to going in November! Thanks again. You have a great day!!

Shukonda    7 years ago

Craftyma don't apologize. I think he was actually talking about that original poster. All you did was wonder if the cruise ship was giving you good information about key West being open and ready after the hurricane. As I did earlier they are open Ang ready for your business. I found nothing closed when I was there over the weekend. Just some areas where there's a lot of seaweed and tree debris but I was there Saturday and Sunday and all throughout the keys people have been working hard all weekend cleaning up. Key West wasn't hit as hard as Marathon and the middle keys. Now driving thru there was heartbreaking. By the time November comes it will be even less or no debris. Some docks did get messed up but they are up and running and need your business.

craftyma    7 years ago

Firefighterjim. Darn spell check!

craftyma    7 years ago

FureFighterjim and strip, I apologize for sounding selfish. I didn't mean to offend anyone. Sorry!!

TNTGreen    7 years ago

Craftyma: Ships have already returned to Key West (3+weeks ago). For the most part it's back to normal. Keep in mind Key West and the entire Keys thrives off tourism which is why they fixed it up so quickly.

TNTGreen    7 years ago

All of the cruise lines had to change itineraries due to the islands that were hit and you have the audacity to post this. It's also in your Cruise Contract "Itineraries are Subject to Change". Get over it.

Summerholiday    7 years ago

They had very little chose of islands .... or haven't your heard 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

dtrix    7 years ago

When you find a cruise line that can control the weather, be sure to let us know.

FireFighterJim    7 years ago

So let me see if I have this correct… You book your cruise, hurricanes devastated several islands and people are suffering because of no food, electric, water and there homes destroyed and all you are concerned is about is that your cruise itinerary was interrupted. Carnival and “EVERY” other cruise line had to change their itineraries to try to provide a great Cruise for everyone. So blaming Carnival for your issues is ridiculous. Only you can set the tone for your vacation. Stop being so petty. Please remember allot of people lost everything they have and the rely on the cruise ships to make a living so not only did they lose everything they have also lost their jobs and income which they need to rebuild. I primarily cruise during hurricane season (less crowded ships) and if they have to change ports so what, I am still on vacation and having a great time.

craftyma    7 years ago

What a great relief! I'm looking forward to our cruise!

Shukonda    7 years ago

You're welcome. We rented a scooter and scootered around. We went on a key West jet ski tour also. It was just a quick weekend getaway but we had no drawbacks because of the hurricane.

craftyma    7 years ago

Thank you for info Shukonda!!

dtrix    7 years ago

Did you have travel insurance ?

Shukonda    7 years ago

@craftyma we just came from key West yesterday(not on a cruise) and it was perfectly fine. There were some tree debris editing to be picked up but nothing was lacking. The middle keys were hit harder.

craftyma    7 years ago

okay! Thanks for info!

karlbro99    7 years ago

key West is fine...nassau

craftyma    7 years ago

That's pretty upsetting!! we are suppose to be going to Key West in November. Also Nassau and Freeport in the Bahamas. I was told by Carnival a few weeks ago not to worry about Key West , it would be fine. But I'm a bit skeptical about it. how can they rebuild the tourist areas that quickly? I'm just not sure about anything.

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