Carnival Cruise Line Carnival Cruise Line is HEARTLESS. Tampa Nationwide

Carnival Cruise Line is HEARTLESS!!

I want to share a story that just happened to my family a couple weeks ago. We have been cruising since 1997 and have taken 3 cruises with Carnival; 2 of them have been over the past 18 months; which we spent over $6,000 between the excursions, entertainment and the cruises themselves. We just booked another one this April 2016 for August 15th. It was completely paid for ($1,500) and we were “over the moon” excited to spend that week in Mexico/Grand Cayman Island. My two kids (8 & 9), my husband and I have all fallen in love with cruising since trying it again with kids last year. On August 15th, we went to the Port of Tampa using the exact same documents that we have boarded all 5 of the cruises previous cruises (some were not on Carnival) we have been on over the past 19 years.

When we walked up to the counter, the Carnival Rep said, “I sure hope that you don’t have any issues today- that is all I’ve been dealing with”. We were then told that my birth certificate was unacceptable. I explained that I have never had any other birth certificate and that we just used this same one in Dec 2015 to go to the Bahamas on the Carnival Ecstasy out of Miami and the Splendor out of Miami in March 2015. She shook her head and told me that it didn’t matter and she wasn’t going to let me board the ship and some ports are different. She then walked over to a supervisor that told me the exact same thing. The supervisor then explained that I could call the state of California to get a copy of my Vital Records Birth Certificate. The phone number she gave me was out of service. I was crying for about an hour and trying to get through with the info that I got from the state of California.

When I finally got through, they let me know that they DO NOT allow you to get an instant copy in the state of California and that it would take a minimum of 6 days to get one. I was horrified! I then asked what my options were and they said that even if they talked to a person in the Port Authority, they would not allow me to board the vessel today. I went on to ask how to get a refund or credit for another cruise and they told me to call their customer care dept. This was at 2pm. We told them we had 4 bags on the ship and we needed them back. Two and half hours later, they only had 2 of the bags, rendering us without clothes for our children, or any of our personal effects for nearly a week. We were then asked by a security guard to leave the premises immediately. I asked if we could ask a question and he said, “It isn’t going to change anything, you need to leave now.” We simply wanted to know how to pick up our luggage when the ship returned.

I called the customer care immediately and was assured by a gentleman named Manny that Carnival would help us make things right, due to the fact that we used the same documentation we had used in the previous cruises. He told me to send an email explaining everything and they would take a look at the whole picture. While I take full responsibility for not knowing the proper policy for documentation (there have been zero changes in the expectations of proper documentation over the past 2 years); I strongly feel that Carnival certainly had a HUGE responsibility in informing us of improper documentation in March of 2015 when we sailed aboard the Splendor for a 7 day cruise. At absolutely no time was my birth certificate shown to a Port Authority rep on any of our previous cruises. This was Carnival refusing to accept an ID that they have accepted 2 times in the past 18 months.

This is the heartless, pre-printed email we got back 4 days later when I sent them a letter BEGGING them to have mercy on our family and our situation:

Dear Stephanie, Thanks for getting in touch with us. Your email has been forwarded to me for handling and it's my pleasure to respond. We know you were looking forward to your cruise and we can only imagine how disappointed you must have been when you were denied boarding. Given the time and effort that goes into planning a vacation, we're very sorry to learn of the circumstances that prevented your family from sailing. Most importantly, we sincerely regret any misunderstanding regarding acceptable forms of travel documentation as documentation requirements do change and as noted in our Cruise Ticket Contract, proper documentation is required at embarkation and throughout the cruise and is the sole responsibility of all guests. Please understand that we must abide by very strict requirements handed down to us by the Department of Homeland Security. Please keep in mind that in situations like this, pier staff must sort through thousands of pieces of luggage and we apologize that all of your luggage was not located and that you were forced to purchase new items and medication.Once again, we're very sorry you were denied boarding and were not able to enjoy your family cruise. While I wish I had better news, we can't respond favorably to your request for compensation since your cabin sailed empty. We trust that you understand our position in this matter. Sincerely, Deloris C. Long Guest Administration Coordinator Carnival Cruise Lines | 3655 NW 87th Avenue | Miami, FL 33178 | 800-438-6744 ext. 70450 iCare@carnival.com **What reputable business turns their backs on their clients when they have given them so much of their hard earned money over the past 18 months? What would cause them to not look at situations differently? I would completely understand if this was our first cruise and I blew it by not bringing the correct documentation. But, this was NOT our first cruise with Carnival! I would also understand if Carnival was willing to work with us for future on-board credit, a future discount on another cruise or anything for that matter to make ammends for what happened. At lease that would have made us feel less like we were raped and more like they acknowledge that BOTH parties involved had made mistakes along the way.