Terrible Customer Service

Item: Carnival Splendor
Rating: 3.3
Author: estrelladee23

Carnival Splendor Cruise Review to Mexico

estrelladee23

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 61

Overall rating:

3.3 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Mexican Riviera (Los Angeles Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 16, 2019

Ship: Carnival Splendor

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 1042

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

I would love to share photos of the cruise but the flash drive that we paid for was empty--the photo services on board didn't load any photos despite the fact that we spent over $200 on them. This trip was one disappointment after the next. What a waste of money and vacation time.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

There was a lot of focus on sales of expensive luxury products disguised as "activities." I got tired of hearing over the intercom about the "special events" happening in the Fun Shops.

Beauty Salon

3 out of 5

Be prepared for hard sales pitches from rude employees to buy overpriced beauty products after spending too much on services in the first place.

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Service and Staff

1 out of 5

My concerns at guest services were met with flippance and open skepticism. I had serious concerns about several points of our trip (a bad shore excursion, an episode of food poisoning), but guest services was either difficult to reach, non-responsive, flippant, or downright rude.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

It looks like it's trapped in the 1970s.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

The "king-size" bed was actually two twin beds pushed together. My partner and I might as well have slept in two beds since there was a large divet between the two twin beds that made it impossible to comfortably sleep next to each other.

Ship tip

Don't book with Carnival.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Long Beach (Los Angeles), California

4 out of 5

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

3 out of 5

Shore excursion (Aqua Trio) was not at all as described. We did not get to use the power snorkels or stand up paddle boards at all. We had to get on the kayak ourselves and staff did not seem willing to help. Staff did not provide a tour (as described in the book) or even offer to show us how to use the kayak. Struggled with the kayak around the board for about 5-10 minutes before being told to get back in the boat because it was time to leave. Terrible experience.

Thumbs Up 1

Mazatlan, Mexico

3 out of 5

Did the Hop On Hop Off bus tour. Drivers didn't really help point out what to do at each stop.

Thumbs Up 1

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

3 out of 5

Did a wonderful dolphin excursion in the morning, but wasn't able to experience the rest of the port due to food poisoning.

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

No problems.

7 Comments

trenstravels 5 years ago

Thank you for sharing your cruise with us. Sorry you experience the Issues you did. I had several cruises with Carnival and I've never had any issues. Hopefully my cruise in 23 days will be good if not better then all the past Carnival cruises I've had.

Thumbs Up 1

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Patty4paws 5 years ago

Splendor's service was great in MDR. Cruise was not a bust, if my comment sounded that way. Our cabin was astounding (vista stateroom) and fellow passengers a delight. Our steward, Hadi, a gem. Many, many positives, just some hard disappointments.

Thumbs Up 0

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TheDust 5 years ago

I was on the same cruise as patty4paws there were some issues with food especially in the MDR. So I can confirm what she says. But overall the cruise was great lee is the best cruise director in carnival and the housekeeping staff is second to none.

Thumbs Up 1

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cruisingrandma1 5 years ago

I have heard all positive reviews for Splendor. So this sounds fishy to me. All the cruises with Carnival have never had raw fish or raw any meats.

Thumbs Up 0

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JoenTrish 5 years ago

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. In my experience they do push the fun shops real hard. It is a bit annoying but at the end of the day I always said. I am on a billion dollar cruise ship doing something most people would never dream they could do. I will be getting aboard saturday. Fingers crossed I don't have a bad experience.

Thumbs Up 1

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Patty4paws 5 years ago

Cod fish was cold & raw

Thumbs Up 0

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Patty4paws 5 years ago

We were on Splendor in December 2018 to Hawaii and had same problem. Ladies Fun Event to try products & play some games, was just huge push for the spa & spa treatments. I finally had to leave. Was served raw steak (not rare, RAW) chicken that was clearly microwaved, cold that was cold and raw. We got no response when politely complained. Told by guest services we were out and out wrong.

Thumbs Up 0

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Other reviews of this sailing

First time on a Carnival ship, we enjoyed it but it was very crowded and most of the entertainment revolved around kids. Trivia was fun and the food was alright. If you have kids this is definitely the cruise line for you! 😊

We had a fantastic time! Kyndall Fire and staff were fabulous!!

Too good to be true, but it was!!!