AGGRAVATED CRUISER!!!!!!! help :(

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LenaN

Guest
Okay, so here's the story. I booked a cruise on the Carnival Destiny for the week of March 14-21. It's a cruise me and the girls (only) decided to take together this time around, so I booked 2 rooms for the 4 of us. I told our Carnival Agent that I wanted 2 rooms, right next to each other, with 2 beds in each room...NO BUNK BEDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I remember be VERY specific with the details of how I wanted the rooms, because in past cruises, we've always traveled in large groups (up to 40 of us) at once and we always went with balcony rooms. This time, it's only my sister, my 2 cousins and myself, so we decided for a lower category room (since we don't spend that much time in them anyway) but as long as they we next to each other and NO BUNKS. So the agent went ahead and gave us the first 2 rooms on the ship which are Category 1A, and on the first deck. In specifics, she described the room "2 beds across from each other that can not be converted into 1, 2 portholes, no bunk bed" Well, I wasn't too crazy on having to be on the lowest deck, but the girls didn't really care and we went ahead on sorted it all out. Tonight, 2 of my other cousins decided they wanted to come along. So I called Carnival, and spoke to someone else because my agent was not there and I asked him if there were any rooms left right next to ours with the same layout. He said no, but they had one across the hall with one bed and a sofa bed, not like ours with a bunk. EXCUSE ME????????? BUNK BED????????? he said yes, and that a Category 1A is one bed with a bunk. OMG, maybe I'm over-reacting and you might say what's the big deal with a bunk, but when you SPECIFICALLY request something, and is told you were getting a certain thing, and you end up not....it's very upsetting. I guess I'll wait till Monday to talk to my agent and see what she says, but come on we're past cruisers and only cruise on Carnival, and the rest of our family cruises quite a bit as well. You would think they'd do something to fix the problem.

Anywho, I'm sorry I just needed to vent and I'm wondering if anything similar has happened to anyone and what they did. Any advice would be wonderful.

-An aggravated cruiser.
 
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Bob7

Guest
Lena all 1A's are bunks, bad advice from the TA. Since your cruise is more than 71 days away, you can cancel for no charge and rebook what you want. You could check some popular net agents like Vacations To Go, Cruise Magic, Cruise.com, Cruise411, Best Price Cruises. Vacations To Go has the best search engine. But if you have a local agent who specializes in cruises they will often match the Net prices.

That upper bunk is a bad place to be after an all-night party ... that first step out of bed is real dangerous :))
Good luck!
-Bob
 
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ljeanbrown

Guest
First I would get a better TA, then I would get a Carnival brochure. Or at least look up the ships deck plans online so you will know what cat. is what. You can find ships layouts on many travel sites like Cruises Only . com. Since you sail with Carnival more as you said I would order one of their brochures to keep on hand. You will be able to look up a ship and cabin before calling and booking and before being given the wrong info again. As to fixing this cruise I would turn it over to another agent. Good luck and enjoy your cruise.
 
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Sea Turtle

Guest
I beg to differ with Bob7. Not all 1a cabins are bunk bed, and I have yet to be assigned one that looks like the cheesy photo that is displayed on so many travel websites. I had a 1a on the Victory that was one of the best inside cabins ever. It was #2201 and it was quite large with a twin bed and a sofa that made into a trundle type bed.

<In specifics, she described the room "2 beds across from each other that can not be converted into 1, 2 portholes, no bunk bed" > This describes the cabin I had on the Victory which is a Destiny class ship.

It's probably not as bad as you think but then I haven't personally been on the Destiny so cannot speak for that particular ship.

Enjoy your cruise!
 
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Cruzman

Guest
Cat. 1A cabins, according to Carnival Cruise Lines, are ALL inside cabins, no portholes, and ALL have bunkbeds. Sea Turtle, if you were in a cabin as described, it was not cat. 1A.
 
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jester95008

Guest
I enjoyed the story Lena and as far as that goes , there are things you can do now since you've already been on this cruise.
I wrote to carnival after I had burned my feet from walking around barefoot on the sun deck aboard Destiny in '98. When I got back , I wrote a letter to CCL's executive (Bob Dickenson) and explained what happened.
In turn , they gave me a 10% discount on a future cruise good for a year , + $50 certificate and Upgrade.
They will load you up the same I'd imagine , just remember , written words are much more powerful with carnival then calling and talking.. Mark and remember!
 
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Sea Turtle

Guest
My intent is not to lead the originator astray but to inform based upon my personal experiences.

Check out cabin 2201 (I've stayed in this one) and 2207 (I've been inside that one) on the Victory Deck Plan. Both of these cabins are listed as 1A and I can assure you they are not Upper/Lower beds. Also, I've seen inside cabin 2217 on the Victory and it does in fact have portholes.

Also, on the Imagination cabin U171 is not a bunk bed setup as indicated in this photo
<http://leisure.travelocity.com/Images/gall/3869.jpg>. It has one twin bed on the floor and one twin that pulls down from the wall and does not hover directly over the floor bed.

Enjoy your cruise no matter where you end up, Lena!
 
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Cruzmama59

Guest
Hi Sea Turtle,

You are right about cabin U171 the way the beds are. I had that cabin the first time I went on Imagination in 97 and then the last time I went in 2002......
Good size for a single traveler. And I booked a 1A Riveria when I did my bookings and was bumped up to the Upper cabins.
Marilyn(cruzmama59)
 
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Bob7

Guest
Hey Jester, what were you doing walking around on a hot deck barefoot? ... I'm surprised CCL didn't send you a 99 cent pair of flipflops :) Maybe they felt they owed you something after the armload of drinks you'd bought, huh?
 
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kate-nanna45

Guest
I had a cat 1A on the Destiny - 1 twin bed and an area with two full size sofas and coffee table. This room could accomadate 4 easily as there was another bed that could be pulled down from the wall.
 
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LenaN

Guest
Well, I called Vacationstogo, and they said if the room I have indeed has portholes, then it is not a Category 1A it is a Category 5A. I'm so confused, I would like to think that our TA did accommodate me with the specifics I wanted, but I keep hearing all these different things. Our cabin #'s are 1101 & 1105 on the Destiny...can anyone tell me what those rooms are before I go getting all upset with my TA? Thanks again guys, everything is much appreciated!!!! :)

-Lena
 
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LenaN

Guest
So it's all true. :( I'm so upset. It's like she booked exactly the opposite of what I wanted. Ughhhhhhhh :(



Post Edited (11-30-03 23:22)
 
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ljeanbrown

Guest
The cabins are almost exactly as your agent told you, but not quite. They are the 1st two cabins on the lowest deck, they are right next to each other, they do have portholes. But the only thing that is wrong, and for you it was important is that it states that these are bunk bed cabins. They are not on opposite sides of the ship from one another as another poster thought.
 
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Sea Turtle

Guest
Good lordy, Lena--no wonder you're aggravated. What with all the different posts (mine included) on the various cruise sites, and info from the TAs, I'd be pretty flustered as well.

As I stated before I can't speak from personal experience on the Destiny; however, the brochure does show your cabins to be side-by-side and have a porthole(s). It doesn't show your cabins as having the twin bed/sofa bed setup so one would assume your cabins are in fact upper/lower.

I'll bow out now but hope you'll keep us posted as to what cabin you actually end up sleeping in (category, setup, photo perhaps).

You'll be on a girlfriend cruise--ENJOY!!!!!
 
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ljeanbrown

Guest
Sea Turtle,
Thats what I said as well. The only thing the TA had wrong according to the brochure is they are bunk bed cabins. I was trying to make it less confusing :lol



Post Edited (12-01-03 21:13)
 
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LenaN

Guest
So here's the story morning glories...I called my TA today and she told me that she booked the rooms at the lowest price for past cruisers, which is $525.99 per person. That was not necessarily our main concern, but yeah we decided to go with cheaper cabins this time around since it was the 4 of us and spend more of excursions on the ports. Anywho, she did mess up though because I did specify that I didn't care if we were in inside cabins or not, but no bunk beds. She told me that she was going to take care of us and sort us out with the best deal. she told me that there were 2 portholes, 2 beds that can not be converted into a king, and they were side to side of each other. So that was all set, the rooms were booked.

Today when I called her I told her what happened and she told me that on "some" ships there were cabins like the one she told me about but not sure which ones. I told her I looked on Travelocity and they are showing me bunk beds. She said then yes that is probably what they are. I fell really bad about this, because I'm still pretty upset but she is a nice lady and I don't really want to get her in trouble. she told me she can put us in the rooms next door which are a Category 5A for $50 more a person. Well, that wouldn't be so bad if we didn't already pay for our rooms, and none of us really want to pay more with the holidays and all that coming up. I don't know, she told me there are 4 rooms left that are a Category 1A and when they get sold they will probably upgrade us for free.

I'm still upset!
 
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