Carnival Cruise Worst Customer Service Long Beach California

April 14, 2014

To Whom It May Concern:

As Carnival being one of the most innovative and largest cruise lines in the world, I thought to myself when planning both my vacation and my boyfriend’s birthday, what better way to spend my short time off then to be on one of these floating party ships.  We embarked on our journey Friday May 2, 2014 out of Long Beach both eager and excited because it was both our first time ever on a cruise ship.  One evening, as my boyfriend was heading to the buffet to get water, he met a staff member outside of his room who stated that the water bottle in his room was complimentary and to take advantage of that to avoid walking to the other end of the ship (to save a trip).  My boyfriend proceeded to open it and drink it.  Long story short, my boyfriend spoke to a representative over the phone after and somehow the topic of the water bottle was brought up once again.  This time, the person over the phone kindly explained that the water bottle in the room was not free, but she will reimburse the charge as a courtesy. 

When Monday morning arrived, as we proceeded to check out of our room, we received a bill with an unrecognizable charge.  As we made our way towards the customer representative area before departing, I was met with Jelena (Supervisor) who I began to engage in the conversation with.  I asked if she could review the charge to explain to me what it was for.  Jelena informed me that it was for the water bottle.  I summarized the same information to her as I did previously above here in the letter and asked her if it was possible for a courtesy refund because my boyfriend was genuinely unaware.  Jelena demonstrated one of the worst customer experiences I have ever encountered in my life.  She was rude, snarky, and condescending in the short time frame that I had with her. 

Being in customer service myself, I personally tailor to 80% of the customers that enter our multi-billion dollar company on an everyday basis for over the past five years so I understand that difficult situations do arise but at the end of the day customer service is keen.  In the world of customer service, “Perception is 9/10’s of the law”, meaning that no matter how we the provider feel that we acted, at the end of the day, the customer’s perception on the scenario is what matters.  Interacting with Jelena made me feel as though I was being scolded like a juvenile delinquent by a parole office.  When speaking to her, she was extremely patronizing in her word choice.  For example, she accused me of being ignorant for opening the bottle when there is a clear price tag sign attached to it.  She wanted to further make an example by contacting the person managing the guests’ room over a walkie-talkie radio to confirm that they did indeed place the price tag on the water bottle (because that would be the only way she would reimburse the fee).  From the very beginning, she was reluctant to assist in the matter because she kept constantly stating that I needed to take this issue up with the person in charge of managing the rooms.  The issue was never about the fee but simply about the principle of the aspect.  Over that past weekend, nearly one dozen employees remembered my boyfriend’s first name because he is an extremely generous tipper (or your staff is just very well trained, if that is the case, then Kudos!) so $5 does not harm myself nor do I think it would hurt the company if there was a reimbursement, but the sole fact that Jelena repeatedly used “policy and procedure” jargon to act superior left a very sour taste in my mouth.   

I understand more than anyone how serious rules are to be complied with, but each case should be taken into different consideration, but maybe according to Jelena, my business is not needed there. Her unwillingness to accommodate left a tremendously negative impression of the company not because she was stern on not removing the fee, but simply because her character is terrible.  Mistakes do happen, and I also did discuss that with her on how consistency is important because each staff member provided me a different rendition on how the situation would be handled, but she once again gave me a discourteous reply.  Not once during our duration did Jelena express any consideration or empathy but yet just held forth a belittling argumentative display in action.  At this point, I was furious with my interaction with her and I questioned what steps would be taken to resolve the issue.  She told me that would file my complaint but literally just stood there and did nothing until I asked for a copy of the report and once again she referred me elsewhere to a 1-800 contact number.  I did not want to act on impulse and anger so I decided to give it a couple of days to see how I would feel about the scenario after returning home. 

It has been nearly a week and half since I have the left the cruise line, but the disappointment of that day is still with me.  I returned to work from my vacation today and once more reflected on my dreadful meeting with Jelena.  As I observed my employees conduct business with our customers, I would be appalled and disgusted if one of my co-workers or me treated our bank patrons the way Jelena treated me.  As a supervisor, you are supposed to set leadership examples on positive attributes to follow, but honestly with Jelena being in a management position, it is not surprising that Carnival was ranked last by J.D. & Power in customer service in 2013 if this is who the staff members are being trained by. 

With this being said, I do not want to make it seem as though my entire experience there was rotten but my final moments on the ship was so unpleasant that it completely overshadowed my whole trip that weekend.  I have always believed that, “A happy customer is a returning customer”, because essentially those people are the ones who keep your business thriving.  Additionally, customer service is also vital because it is a crucial component of generating new customers.  As proven, the most successful marketing strategy is word-of-mouth referrals in attaining fresh clients because people turn to those opinions that they can trust.  To conclude, my experience at Carnival will be my first and last.  I personally will never set foot on another Carnival Cruise line ship and I intend to pass this message along to my family, my in-laws, my customers, my peers, and my friends about this negative account. 

Never in all of my years have I ever filed a customer service complaint because as repeatedly stated, I know what it is like to be on the other end of the stick but meeting Jelena is a permanent dissatisfaction in my memory.  I wanted to write this letter to also make aware of situation that I think should be addressed so further incidents like this do not reoccur to possibly harm your reputation.  I really do hope that this letter will result in a positive resolution for your company.