Poor service on the Valor

[littlebit]

I have sailed Carnival Cruise lines 4 times. Most recently the Valor on 9/25. We experienced very poor customer service on this trip. I use a wheelchair and a walk with a cane. I could not reach many of the items on the buffet lines. In fact, I could not see some of the items. NO staff member offered to help in any way. At times I was balancing a tray in one hand and my cane in the other. Many staff members passed by me but never offered to help with my tray. I couldn't see over the counter in the Deli or the Grill. The floors are very slippery in Rosies. Especially the tiled areas.

No staff members helped us with my wheelchair on the gand way ramp at port. Several times my husband asked other passengers to assist. There was no ramp to get onto our balcony with the wheelchair in our cabin.

Our cabin steward was pretty good, however slow. The first 2 days our room was not cleaned until nearly noon. We are early risers and put our "clean room" sign out when we left for breakfast so that he knew we were out to the cabin.

Embarkation was great. We were on the ship in no time! However, they took wheelchair passengers off the ship last at debarkation. And they were only taking one person at a time. We were given a number (10) and waited over a half an hour for someone to take us off the ship.

If you are a non smoker, you will not want to spend much time in the casino. There is only 1 non smoking table game (Blackjack) and it is surrounded by smoking tables. There are not any non smoking slots at all.

If this had been our first Carnival Cruise - I think it would have been our last. Or at least, we would think twice about going on Carnival cruise lines again.

 

[Richsap]

Just for clarification... did you ask for assistance, and were refused... or did you not ask for assistance and were disappointed that no one offered?

I work part time in a service environment, and note that many physically challenged people come through the door and actually refuse any help offered, almost as if they are offended that I imply they can't do things by themselves. I have therefore made it a rule of thumb to wait until my assistance is asked for (verbally or by observing body language or facial expressions) until I step in. I think that were I a crewmember on a ship and saw you trying to balance a tray/plate with one hand, I would probably offer to help, but as I said earlier, some people actually take offense to this gesture.

As for the accessability issue of a wheelchair, were you staying in a cabin for the physically challenged, or was it a normal cabin? I would hope they would have made access to the balcony and other areas of your cabin easier, unless there was a design issue that couldn't accomodate you. Did you ask a crewmember on the ship?

I personally look forward to cruise ships going totally non-smoking, though I'm sure this will never happen in my lifetime. For the most part the smokers I've met were very polite, but those few that aren't and the stinky cigar smokers more than make up for the polite ones.

 

[Cori]

I agree with the comment that many physically challenged people would refuse help if offered, but I don't think it would be out of line for ANYONE to at least offer to help. That doesn't mean you rip the tray out of their hands and ask them where they want to sit! But a simple "Could I offer you some help?" would seem entirely appropriate and should NOT be considered rude to ask.

This goes for ship staff AS WELL AS other passengers; if you see someone who may need some assistance, don't just assume it's someone else's responsibility to help them. It's a strange quirk of human nature that the MORE people there are around, the LESS likely you are to get help in an emergency, or even with simple tasks like what the original poster mentioned.

Still, if you required staff assistance on a regular basis, I think that sort of thing would need to be arranged ahead of time, or at least brought to the manager's or maitre'd's attention at the beginning of the cruise. You can't reasonably expect the staff to automatically know if you have special needs. I'm not saying that excuses poor customer service; I'm just saying that the responsibility goes both ways, you know?

So, a note to people who need assistance-- don't be afraid to ask, and a note to everyone else, don't be afraid to offer. That's pretty good advice for just about everything in life, isn't it?

 

[Richsap]

"if you see someone who may need some assistance, don't just assume it's someone else's responsibility to help them."

Excellant observation, Cori! I couldn't agree more.

 

[littlebit]

First let me state that YES I was in a handicapped accessible cabin. I should not have to ask a crew member for additional access to MY balcony (the one I paid for) when this room was "designed" for a wheelchair. Did I ask for assistance in the buffet lines, Yes. Was I refused, No. Should I have to ask when it is obvious assistance would be helpful - NO.
I did not REQUIRE assistance on a regular basis. Therefore, I did not arrange for it other than getting on and off the ship. I DID speak with Customer Care prior to our cruise to discuss using a wheelchair at embarkation and debarkation. They told me they would have a crew member assit me at this times as they prefer to do that. I was also asked if I needed any other assistance. I was assured their would be members of the crew available if I needed anything during my cruise. YES they were available. They just did not offer the assistance.

I have been on 7 previous cruises on various cruise lines, Carnival included. I have never had to ask for assistance when it was obvious I needed some assistance. It has always been offered. I just think that THIS TIME, Carnival crew members were not showing much customer service. I think the Valor service was lacking in many areas. There were other problems on this cruise that had nothing to do with being physically challenged. For instance; the crew did not clean tables off in Rosies in a timely manner. We saw several dirty tables during busy times and not so busy times. There were crew members standing at the edge of the dining rooms chatting instead of clearing the tables; We had no hot water for a half a day. It took them all morning to fix the problem. No one informed us the problem was fixed. I just kept trying the water until it was fixed (that was the morning that half the passengers were sea sick); Our wait staff was extremely slow.

RICH - You made the comment "I work part time in a service environment, and note that many physically challenged people come through the door and actually refuse any help offered, almost as if they are offended that I imply they can't do things by themselves. I have therefore made it a rule of thumb to wait until my assistance is asked for (verbally or by observing body language or facial expressions) until I step in." I know that some people become offended when offered help. I think it is silly to get offended. BUT it may be the way someone is asked or approached. But don't you think it is better to offer in this situation then to not offer and leave someone in need of help. Have you ever considered that maybe this "physically challenged" person is embarrassed to ask for assistance? All that needs to be said is "May I help you ...... open the door,..... carry your tray,.....carry out your groceries" It never hurts to be courteous. At least you know you tried.

 

[Richsap]

Just for clarification, EVERY customer of mine gets greeted the same, regardless of race, creed, sex, challenged-status, etc.. So I ask EVERY customer "Is there something you need help with?" (or some variation thereof). What I DON'T do is ask every physically-challenged customer 'can I get something down for you?" or "do you need me to tag along and fill your basket for you?". Why? Because 9 times out of 10 these folks have (most of the time politely) refused my help and tell me in one way or another that they can fend for themselves. If they come by my way again and ask for help I of course do, or if I can readily see they need it then I will again offer my help. I look at it as respecting their abilities, however diminished they may be, rather than magnifying their disabilites. I think that they appreciate this as opposed to me hovering over them.

I can see in your case why this is different. Trying to balance a plate while using a cane would be next to impossible. I have often assisted elderly people in resturant buffet lines in similar situations. Maybe this was just an isolated series of incidents on your cruise. I would only hope so, as I intend to grow much older and will problably need assitance myself one day!

Have a great weekend!