Carnival Crusees Bad News

Carnival
Carnival is not the cruse line to use! If you have loved ones on
board and need to get in touch with them, it's impossible. Case in
point; The Conquest left New Orleans Sunday at 6:00 Pm. The first
effort to call the ship using the Maritime Network number,
877-225-7447 was between 11:25PM and 12:00AM. Five (5) tries were
made. Then again on Tuesday at 6:30 AM, No luck. I Called guest
services at Carnival and gave the following complaint;
My Name is Jerry Sparks, residing at 320 73rd street North,
Birmingham, Al 35206. The Phone numbers here are 205-838-1688 and
205-862-1866 a cell phone.

I wish to register a formal complaint against the Captain and his
crew of the ship Conquest. On the night of 10/20/03 between the hour
of 11:25 and 12:00 midnight I tried to reach the ship using the number
877-225-7447, 5 times. Each time the phone rang on the ship but timed
out thus disconnecting me. I then tried at 6:300 AM on the morning of
10/21/03 and got the same response.

I was trying to reach cabin 1279 registered to Ms. Linda Wilson. We
set up the 11:30 PM time prior to departure so that I would be assured
as to the rooms occupants being there.

I would like an explanation as to the behavior of the ships crew as I
know that the Maritime Network was fully operational at the time. I
need to reach the occupants of that room especially one Lee Ann
Brooks. She is staying in that room with Linda.

Carnival was told that I contacted the Maritime Network and Marie said
that there were no problems with their equipment. A check with the
weather maps showed no atmospheric disturbances in the area of the
boat. The ship just did not answer either because of faulty equipment
or because they did not want too.

I received no response to the complaint, nor did I get an explanation.
The were given the phone numbers where I could be reached.
Tuesday night between 11:15 Pm and 11:30 Pm five (5) more attempts
were made, no success. Wednesday Morning at 4.58 Am another
unsuccessful attempt was made. I then tried at 8:03 AM with similar
results.

Carnival was called again, this time speaking to Hose (sp). Still no
remarks about the lack of communication with the boat. He did say
that he would try and get a message to the requested party that I was
trying to contact her. The results are still to be seen and it's been
two hours. What if this were an emergency

This is not a responsible cruse line and I would not recommend it to
any one.

"Jerry Sparks" wrote in message
om...
Carnival
Carnival is not the cruse line to use! If you have loved ones on
board and need to get in touch with them, it's impossible.

snipped the goofiness...

Even your local phone company does not guarantee service. Give it a rest!

On 22 Oct 2003 08:22:43 -0700, (Jerry Sparks)
wrote:

My Name is Jerry Sparks, residing at 320 73rd street North,
Birmingham, Al 35206. The Phone numbers here are 205-838-1688 and
205-862-1866 a cell phone.

Please tell me that you did not post your real name and phone number
on Usenet.

"Jerry Sparks" wrote in message
om...
Carnival
Carnival is not the cruse line to use! If you have loved ones on
board and need to get in touch with them, it's impossible. Case in
point; The Conquest left New Orleans Sunday at 6:00 Pm. The first
effort to call the ship using the Maritime Network number,
877-225-7447 was between 11:25PM and 12:00AM. Five (5) tries were
made. Then again on Tuesday at 6:30 AM, No luck. I Called guest
services at Carnival and gave the following complaint;
My Name is Jerry Sparks, residing at 320 73rd street North,
Birmingham, Al 35206. The Phone numbers here are 205-838-1688 and
205-862-1866 a cell phone.

I wish to register a formal complaint against the Captain and his
crew of the ship Conquest. On the night of 10/20/03 between the hour
of 11:25 and 12:00 midnight I tried to reach the ship using the number
877-225-7447, 5 times. Each time the phone rang on the ship but timed
out thus disconnecting me. I then tried at 6:300 AM on the morning of
10/21/03 and got the same response.

I was trying to reach cabin 1279 registered to Ms. Linda Wilson. We
set up the 11:30 PM time prior to departure so that I would be assured
as to the rooms occupants being there.

I would like an explanation as to the behavior of the ships crew as I
know that the Maritime Network was fully operational at the time. I
need to reach the occupants of that room especially one Lee Ann
Brooks. She is staying in that room with Linda.

Carnival was told that I contacted the Maritime Network and Marie said
that there were no problems with their equipment. A check with the
weather maps showed no atmospheric disturbances in the area of the
boat. The ship just did not answer either because of faulty equipment
or because they did not want too.

I received no response to the complaint, nor did I get an explanation.
The were given the phone numbers where I could be reached.
Tuesday night between 11:15 Pm and 11:30 Pm five (5) more attempts
were made, no success. Wednesday Morning at 4.58 Am another
unsuccessful attempt was made. I then tried at 8:03 AM with similar
results.

Carnival was called again, this time speaking to Hose (sp). Still no
remarks about the lack of communication with the boat. He did say
that he would try and get a message to the requested party that I was
trying to contact her. The results are still to be seen and it's been
two hours. What if this were an emergency

This is not a responsible cruse line and I would not recommend it to
any one.


The only pertinent information that I got from this post was that the poster
cannot write and did not *think* his complaint post through!!! Maybe he
ought to go ahead and give us his social and driver's license numbers, as
well!

At any rate, this phone call was not an emergency. Whether it would've been
handled differently if it were an emergency, who knows! But, for general
staying in touch, email to the ship is the best route!

In article , Jerry
Sparks wrote:

Carnival is not the cruse line to use! If you have loved ones on
board and need to get in touch with them, it's impossible. Case in
point; The Conquest left New Orleans Sunday at 6:00 Pm. The first
effort to call the ship using the Maritime Network number,
877-225-7447 was between 11:25PM and 12:00AM. Five (5) tries were
made. Then again on Tuesday at 6:30 AM, No luck.

I think I can guess what the problem is. The times you are calling. I
have not been on Carnival but on other cruise lines I have been on
there may be only certain times that the communications center is open.
It may be in their documents. It varies on different cruise lines but I
doubt it is open at 11:25pm or 6:30am.

--
Charles

I think maybe you guys are bein' a little tough on Jerry. And Jerry is bein'
a little overboard. He sounds like he is just venting a little frustration
about not being able to reach a loved one.

Jerry,
Phone calls at sea are at best unreliable. You are relying on literally a
million miles of a satellite link and sometimes that just doesn't work. Sun
spots, flocks of geese, improper adjustment of the equipment and about a
hundred more things besides incompetence or negligence on the part of the
crew could be to blame here. Oh, and if this is your address, I hope you
don't get hate mail sent to you. That wasn't a smart thing to do. Email the
host of this NG and ask them to pull this post. For your own good.

All,
Honestly, a few constructive suggestions would have been better than the
bash fest you guys were having here. Truth is, Carnival and all the other
lines boast in grand terms about how each room has it's own ship to shore
telephone for passenger use 24 hours a day. I've never heard somebody say,
"Phone service is only available during the hours when the radio operator is
on duty." Horse hockey! It's supposed to be available all the time. Suppose
it WAS an emergency or God forbid that this person wanted to tell someone
how much they missed them and loved them? Is that such a crime? And let's
not forget that the person calling wanted to talk bad enough to pay the
exorbitant $7.95 per minute for that privilege. Maybe this person doesn't
have a computer at home and had no other way to reach someone. If you
believe the poster, they had planned ahead of time to talk at that time. Why
is it up to the ship to tell them when they can talk and when they can't?

Lighten up, all of you. Have a reasonable discussion of the issue, which is
"How do I reach someone by phone at sea?" Offer some useful information that
someone else might benefit from, rather than taking a poke at someone who
just might be missing someone at sea. Isn't that what this NG is supposed to
do?

MrTractor
"Jerry Sparks" wrote in message
om...
Carnival
Carnival is not the cruse line to use! If you have loved ones on
board and need to get in touch with them, it's impossible. Case in
point; The Conquest left New Orleans Sunday at 6:00 Pm. The first
effort to call the ship using the Maritime Network number,
877-225-7447 was between 11:25PM and 12:00AM. Five (5) tries were
made. Then again on Tuesday at 6:30 AM, No luck. I Called guest
services at Carnival and gave the following complaint;
My Name is Jerry Sparks, residing at 320 73rd street North,
Birmingham, Al 35206. The Phone numbers here are 205-838-1688 and
205-862-1866 a cell phone.

I wish to register a formal complaint against the Captain and his
crew of the ship Conquest. On the night of 10/20/03 between the hour
of 11:25 and 12:00 midnight I tried to reach the ship using the number
877-225-7447, 5 times. Each time the phone rang on the ship but timed
out thus disconnecting me. I then tried at 6:300 AM on the morning of
10/21/03 and got the same response.

I was trying to reach cabin 1279 registered to Ms. Linda Wilson. We
set up the 11:30 PM time prior to departure so that I would be assured
as to the rooms occupants being there.

I would like an explanation as to the behavior of the ships crew as I
know that the Maritime Network was fully operational at the time. I
need to reach the occupants of that room especially one Lee Ann
Brooks. She is staying in that room with Linda.

Carnival was told that I contacted the Maritime Network and Marie said
that there were no problems with their equipment. A check with the
weather maps showed no atmospheric disturbances in the area of the
boat. The ship just did not answer either because of faulty equipment
or because they did not want too.

I received no response to the complaint, nor did I get an explanation.
The were given the phone numbers where I could be reached.
Tuesday night between 11:15 Pm and 11:30 Pm five (5) more attempts
were made, no success. Wednesday Morning at 4.58 Am another
unsuccessful attempt was made. I then tried at 8:03 AM with similar
results.

Carnival was called again, this time speaking to Hose (sp). Still no
remarks about the lack of communication with the boat. He did say
that he would try and get a message to the requested party that I was
trying to contact her. The results are still to be seen and it's been
two hours. What if this were an emergency

This is not a responsible cruse line and I would not recommend it to
any one.

Use a cell phone!!

In article , Kowboyguard
wrote:

Use a cell phone!!

Not a great suggestion. Cell phones only work in some ports and close
to shore where there are cells.

--
Charles

I've used my cell phone in San Juan, St. Thomas, sailing along the coast of
Florida at night and sailing up the Mississippi River to New Orleans.
Anytime you are within reach of a cell on land, a cell phone will work. But
at sea and in different countries where the cell phone standard is different
or they don't recognize the "SIM" card on your phone, it won't work.

It will save you a lot of money if you use a land line. Get a list of
numbers and locations that you can use your telephone credit card from and
schedule a call home in port. If you can only schedule a call during times
that a ship is out in the open sea, then you will have to take your chances
with the ships phone. Good luck!

HTH,
MrT
"Charles" wrote in message
d...
In article , Kowboyguard
wrote:

Use a cell phone!!

Not a great suggestion. Cell phones only work in some ports and close
to shore where there are cells.

--
Charles

My son had to try and contact me also for an emergency last year and couldn't
get through with the phone, did manage to contact via Email though. BUT an
important point- even though he dialed so called "toll free" numbers- there
were charges amounting to about $12 for the 2 unsuccessful calls. SO call you
local phone provided and verify if you have any charges and dispute- It took me
months to get them removed.