F...Hidden Costs, Fees and Magic Numbers

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by gibbsisgod

I am planning a cruise for the summer of 07 and Carnival is on my list of possibles. Was the cruise experience good or was the whole darn thing not worth the money?

First of all, and biggest of all, they messed up the billing, that is huge! Second, they sold me false art. I went to the auction they had the paintings on the computer and said they were "hand painted thomas kinkade's", I asked specifically if they were prints...they said "absolutely not, these are hand painted paintings from the Thomas Kinkade Gallery, not painted by Kinkade himself, but painted by his apprentices." I bought 8 totalling $1800 worth and knew I could resell them for $700-$900+ a piece. When I got them, they were prints, also could be called posters. What a scam. I got all but $300 back saying it's an "auction fee", if I don't like it I can sue. I looked into it and since it was done out in international waters and they register in the Bahama's our laws don't apply. I took that one in the ass. I had a room that was not told to me to be an obstructed view or any problem. It was over the galley, so at all times you'd hear a large BOOM and flushing water. It kept me awake a lot. They did not care one bit...no refund...no discount...nothing...we had to deal with it. They also missed our excursions at Nassua. We left at the SAME time that a Royal Caribbean cruise left St. Thomas, and we were 5 hours late to port. They first said that the waters were too rough, then said the perveyours in Nassua all cancelled. When we finally got to port, the same ship at St. Thomas was there and they were comng back from their excursions. We encountered a slew of other issues too, on the 2 carnival cruises we went on. But we have never once had a problem with Royal Caribbean. It costs a tiny bit more, but I am telling you, it's worth it. Royal Caribbean treats customers like gold, Carnival is more interested in getting you in and getting you out and taking as much money as possible along the way. I totally would not recommend Carnival.
To save space I did not mention the slew of other issues we had. Hope that helps in your decision process.
Which cruise are you looking for?