M
Mahini
Guest
I have posted a review of my experience on the Carnival Fascination on the review board.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
D
dgregg
Guest
I just got finished reading your review on the Carnival Fascination. The way this was written you stated was a letter that you wrote to Bob Dickenson at Carnival. I was wondering why in your letter you talked about yourselves in the third person? If I were you, I would rewrite the letter and not talk about yourself in the third person, does not sound right. If it is your boyfriend Bob writing the letter than he can refer to you as Carol but not to himself as Bob if he is writing and if you are writing you can refer to Bob by name but not yourself as Carol.
Sorry you had such a horrible vacation but when you sail a 3 or 4 day cruise you should not expect that much. These ships that run 3 and 4 day cruises are on 24/7 and get alot of abuse.
Sorry you had such a horrible vacation but when you sail a 3 or 4 day cruise you should not expect that much. These ships that run 3 and 4 day cruises are on 24/7 and get alot of abuse.
F
frito
Guest
Read your review a couple of times. If as you say, you are a world traveler and accustomed to superior accomadations, food, service, etc., why would you book a 3 day cruise to the Bahamas on Carnival?
If the ship was as appalling as you say, then Carnival has no excuse for that. A ship should be clean, even if it is used only for " bus service " for 3 day trips.
I would think that one who has traveled as much as you say you have would have known that you were not going to get a nice, quite, romantic get-a-way on a 3 day cruise from Miami.
Methinks you were expecting way, way too much and can only speculate but I bet the
price was next to nothing too. You can always bank on the old saying " you get what you pay for".
If the ship was as appalling as you say, then Carnival has no excuse for that. A ship should be clean, even if it is used only for " bus service " for 3 day trips.
I would think that one who has traveled as much as you say you have would have known that you were not going to get a nice, quite, romantic get-a-way on a 3 day cruise from Miami.
Methinks you were expecting way, way too much and can only speculate but I bet the
price was next to nothing too. You can always bank on the old saying " you get what you pay for".
C
Cruzman
Guest
Careful Frito, Mahini will accuse you of flaming her. I also have a problem with all of the complaints, starting with the focus on bedding arrangements. Heck, everybody who has ever cruised on a main stream cruise line knows that a cabin can be configured either as a queen or two double beds; takes only a few minutes to make the change once the cabin steward is notified of one's desires. So what if she notified the cruise line ahead of time that she wanted the room configured as a queen. Seems to me that she was looking for things to complain about.
G
Gordon
Guest
I have read your review and I feel that some of your problems were due to misinformation by your TA. He/she must not know the Carnival line with some of the advice that was given.
I was on the Fascination in November of 2001 and it was the worst of my eleven cruises on Carnival. The ship was dirty through and through. I know that the ships doing the three and four night cruises take a little more abuse but this ship should be in better shape than what I experienced. We had a constant raw sewage smell in the hallway near our cabin the entire time. A moldy build up in the shower stall and on the shower curtain. The bedding cover was ripped on one of the beds and dirty/water stained carpets throughout the ship including the cabin. The ship just looked run down. Also just because a ship is running the shorter cruises why should one lower their expectations?I have cruised on the Majesty of the Seas twice within the last year on four night cruises and this ship ran circles around the Fascination. The bottom line is Carnival does NOT maintain their fleet like they should in the upkeep department. I am a Carnival fan or I would not have taken eleven cruises with them so this is not Carnival bashing 101. I keep reading comments from passengers that state to take the newer Carnival ships. This just proves my point about Carnival letting their older ships slip in overall care. I did cruise on both the Pride and Legend last year and yes they were night and day in difference from the other ships. Why? They were new but I give them about four-five years and we will hear the same complaints about them.
I was on the Fascination in November of 2001 and it was the worst of my eleven cruises on Carnival. The ship was dirty through and through. I know that the ships doing the three and four night cruises take a little more abuse but this ship should be in better shape than what I experienced. We had a constant raw sewage smell in the hallway near our cabin the entire time. A moldy build up in the shower stall and on the shower curtain. The bedding cover was ripped on one of the beds and dirty/water stained carpets throughout the ship including the cabin. The ship just looked run down. Also just because a ship is running the shorter cruises why should one lower their expectations?I have cruised on the Majesty of the Seas twice within the last year on four night cruises and this ship ran circles around the Fascination. The bottom line is Carnival does NOT maintain their fleet like they should in the upkeep department. I am a Carnival fan or I would not have taken eleven cruises with them so this is not Carnival bashing 101. I keep reading comments from passengers that state to take the newer Carnival ships. This just proves my point about Carnival letting their older ships slip in overall care. I did cruise on both the Pride and Legend last year and yes they were night and day in difference from the other ships. Why? They were new but I give them about four-five years and we will hear the same complaints about them.
D
dgregg
Guest
Well Gordon I have to say I see where you are coming from. It is true that Carnival needs to pay closer attention to their older ships. With all the money they make they should really consider some upgrading.
Back to the review, which has been posted on another site as well, someone made a very good point about her review. She mentioned in her review that they had lobster the first night. Well I think that we all know lobster is never served on the first night. To me, that puts alot of questions about the rest of her review. The lobster was obviously a lie and who's to say the rest is not as well.
With all said and done I think we all know this woman did not belong on a three day cruise on Carnival.
Back to the review, which has been posted on another site as well, someone made a very good point about her review. She mentioned in her review that they had lobster the first night. Well I think that we all know lobster is never served on the first night. To me, that puts alot of questions about the rest of her review. The lobster was obviously a lie and who's to say the rest is not as well.
With all said and done I think we all know this woman did not belong on a three day cruise on Carnival.
M
Mahini
Guest
dgregg, in response to your question about writing the letter in the third person, it was signed by both myself and my boyfriend; thus using the first person "I" would not have differentiated between us. Per your comment about lobster never being served on the first night, a person on the other board that you are referring to (cruisecritic.com) pointed out that they were on a Carnival ship which did serve lobster and prime rib on the first night of their cruise. You may want to check that posting.
J
Jeff & Susana
Guest
The bad cruise reviews that I have read about some of Carnivals cruises make me want to get first hand knowledge all the more!
In less than 3 weeks I'll know for myself what the deal is.
I can't wait!
In less than 3 weeks I'll know for myself what the deal is.
I can't wait!
J
JLTMET56
Guest
I read that review and my first thought was "my goodness..its amazing how different people can have such different opinions about the same exact thing" but I guess thats what makes the world go round and I was on that ship the week before that person was
on the first night dinner choices did include lobster and prime rib and as I mentioned I once ordered lobster that wasnt Maine lobster ( I was in Disney)...it was rock lobster and I'm sorry..its just NOT maine lobster so I just wont order lobster outside of New England,,,..I did get the prime rib, it was plenty *I dont even think I ate the whole thing) and it was tender and I'm VERY picky about how tender my meat is and how its cooked...as I had also mentioned I found the dinners to be better than what I found in the buffets but as far as I'm concerned unless I'm paying $50 for the buffet I'm sorry..a buffet is a buffet ... I didnt count how many artichokes were in my salad...and I never said "this is the best meal I've ever had" ,,the food was good, the service was good and I found between all the courses we both had enough to eat... breakfast was breakfast...and everyone we met were pleasant...
We had an outside room (again picked before we went and knew it was going to midship and look at the layout of the ship when we are picking the room...) quiet..very, clean yes (I dont stay in fleabag hotels on land so I would notice dirty if the room was dirty)...I constantly saw crew members doing some sort of cleaning somewhere... when we got to the room the beds were still twin...no problem...we just moved the beds together OURSELVES...NOT a big deal...
I have traveled extensively throughout the country, have been to many islands and have eaten from fast food restaurants to 5 star dining as well as having stayed in low budget hotels to upscale hotels .. Now, am I saying that I will tolerate just about anything..absolutely not... if there was a problem with something if it wasnt a big deal (and nothing was a big deal enough to let it ruin my vacation) I handled it...example,.,when we booked the cruise we requested late dining...when we boarded we found we were given early...could have freaked out..but we just went to the dining room and had it changed to the late seating,.,.,it wasnt a big deal and I wasnt going to let it be a big deal...and have also decided on the next cruise which is May 4 on the Destiny if we happen to get early seating and for whatever reason cant change it of course I'll disappointed but its NOT going to ruin my vacation...
and the things that ARE a big deal are probably going to be things that I have no control over anyway... but like I said in another review "I'm on vacation and I'm happy..I'm not going to let little minor things bother me and ruin something I've looked forward to ...
We are going on the Destiny on May 4th and I just KNOW we are going have a GREAT time...perception IS reality...!
MY glass is half full
on the first night dinner choices did include lobster and prime rib and as I mentioned I once ordered lobster that wasnt Maine lobster ( I was in Disney)...it was rock lobster and I'm sorry..its just NOT maine lobster so I just wont order lobster outside of New England,,,..I did get the prime rib, it was plenty *I dont even think I ate the whole thing) and it was tender and I'm VERY picky about how tender my meat is and how its cooked...as I had also mentioned I found the dinners to be better than what I found in the buffets but as far as I'm concerned unless I'm paying $50 for the buffet I'm sorry..a buffet is a buffet ... I didnt count how many artichokes were in my salad...and I never said "this is the best meal I've ever had" ,,the food was good, the service was good and I found between all the courses we both had enough to eat... breakfast was breakfast...and everyone we met were pleasant...
We had an outside room (again picked before we went and knew it was going to midship and look at the layout of the ship when we are picking the room...) quiet..very, clean yes (I dont stay in fleabag hotels on land so I would notice dirty if the room was dirty)...I constantly saw crew members doing some sort of cleaning somewhere... when we got to the room the beds were still twin...no problem...we just moved the beds together OURSELVES...NOT a big deal...
I have traveled extensively throughout the country, have been to many islands and have eaten from fast food restaurants to 5 star dining as well as having stayed in low budget hotels to upscale hotels .. Now, am I saying that I will tolerate just about anything..absolutely not... if there was a problem with something if it wasnt a big deal (and nothing was a big deal enough to let it ruin my vacation) I handled it...example,.,when we booked the cruise we requested late dining...when we boarded we found we were given early...could have freaked out..but we just went to the dining room and had it changed to the late seating,.,.,it wasnt a big deal and I wasnt going to let it be a big deal...and have also decided on the next cruise which is May 4 on the Destiny if we happen to get early seating and for whatever reason cant change it of course I'll disappointed but its NOT going to ruin my vacation...
and the things that ARE a big deal are probably going to be things that I have no control over anyway... but like I said in another review "I'm on vacation and I'm happy..I'm not going to let little minor things bother me and ruin something I've looked forward to ...
We are going on the Destiny on May 4th and I just KNOW we are going have a GREAT time...perception IS reality...!
MY glass is half full
S
Stacey419
Guest
JLTMET56 (and everyone else)
I'm glad you brought up the other side of the argument. I completely agree with you... some things just are not that big a deal. It is an individual's prerogative to decide whether or not they are going to enjoy the time spent or nit-pick over little things. Like you, I do my research (probably overdo it, haha) before choosing a vacation, so I basically know what I'm in for.
I sailed on the Fascination in December 02 (first time on Carnival) and yes, I did have reservations from things I had heard about in the past. I was very pleasantly surprised however... I had a wonderful time, everything met or exceeded my expectations, and I have 2 more Carnival trips planned in the upcoming months.
I'm glad you brought up the other side of the argument. I completely agree with you... some things just are not that big a deal. It is an individual's prerogative to decide whether or not they are going to enjoy the time spent or nit-pick over little things. Like you, I do my research (probably overdo it, haha) before choosing a vacation, so I basically know what I'm in for.
I sailed on the Fascination in December 02 (first time on Carnival) and yes, I did have reservations from things I had heard about in the past. I was very pleasantly surprised however... I had a wonderful time, everything met or exceeded my expectations, and I have 2 more Carnival trips planned in the upcoming months.