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Thread: Ship of doom
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Old Feb 15, 2009 | 5:55 pm
  #36  
BamaVol
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Originally Posted by CruisePro
I'm new here, but had to post my thoughts. I am a travel agent who specializes in cruises so I hear comments all day long from people about how their past cruises went. Regarding Carnival...I hear everything from "it is a trailer park at sea" to " We absolutely LOVE Carnival." People come from different walks of life and have different expectations. Certainly, no ship should go out in ill form...Two years ago I was on a Holland America sailing and part of the motor stopped working- Still had a great cruise because the service and ship were all in excellent form. I sell more Carnival cruises than the other cruise lines combined...why??? Because people want "the least expensive cabin." Very, very few people call me and ask for a suite or even a balcony...people tell me "who really cares what the room is like, we are never in it anyhow." My response is usually, "You might be IF you got a nice room to enjoy. It is easy to slam Carnival, but when people are calling because they want a 5 night cruise for two for under $500 total, you have to wonder what they are expecting....it won't be the Ritz! I sell a lot of Holiday and Fantasy (out of New Orleans) sailings, and strangely, people don't complain about it. If it is a health hazard it definitely should be reported. There is a great website called Cruise Bruise that reports issues on cruise ships. Take a look at it if you want to see what really happens on ships.
CruisePro, welcome to FT. I hope you'll stick around and continue to share your perspective. Most FTers are savvy when it comes to air travel and hotel stays. Fewer of us are as experienced regarding cruising. This thread certainly illustrates the range. I've cruised but my experience is limited. I've made a few mistakes of my own and avoided many more with good advice, primarily from cruisecritic.com. I know better than to believe advertising is unbiased, but I was a little surprised to discover just how little valuable information can be had from the various cruising magazine (whose titles I cannot recall). To read them is to hear that every cruise on every ship of every line is the perfect vacation.

To the OP, sorry for your loss. Thanks for the warning. I hope your next cruise is 1000% better.
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