I think that the sewage situation, et al, was bad for some people. Most of us here are reacting to the coverage by CNN (which pretty much ignored Splendor) who repeatedly said the words "raw sewage" about 1000 times.
They made it sound like the whole ship was awash in it. They interviewed a lawyer about this and he said "Oh yeah, it's horrible, the whole ship could get Hepatitis A or encephalitis"
Then they asked their own doctor, Sanjay Gupta, and he said "well, really, I don't see any danger as long as they are doing things in a sanitary manner" - and repeatedly he said "I think it is wrong to over-react in this area."
But CNN just kept saying "raw sewage seeping down the walls..." etc.
It was just a matter of the media focusing on the worst of the worst, and not giving us even a real perspective of what is going on. I have yet to see a picture of any confirmed "raw sewage" - there was poop in bags in the hallways, and that could likely stink depending on passengers to seal their own bags, etc.
But I do think the sewage thing was portrayed as being throughout the ship, as if THAT was the reason people were sleeping on deck, not because it was hot inside.
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I am the editor, but I also speculate, ask questions and play devil's advocate. I reserve the right to change my mind.
If the man interviewed by the radio station link posted by Galveston is correct, it would appear at least part of the problem was passengers using out-of-service toilets even after being told not to do so.
If the man interviewed by the radio station link posted by Galveston is correct, it would appear at least part of the problem was passengers using out-of-service toilets even after being told not to do so.
And, no one brings out the reason for the sewerage not being contained in the toilet. Apparantly it all spilled out on the list they had early on, and not a continuous thing as reporters portrayed. An explanation wouldn't make the sewerage go away, but it might have been an explanation.
Great interview. That is the kind of person I'd love to have on a cruise with me.
It was a good interview. He was a first time cruiser with a very optimistic outlook on life. This was a four day cruise, so I think we can assume that there were not a lot of veteran cruisers aboard.
Last night as they interviewed people getting off the ship, almost all of them had praise for the crew, but much less so for Carnival. Overall, the experience seems to have been pretty miserable for most.
Truth is, no matter how much lipstick you put on this pig, it's still another in what seems to be a long string of closely spaced black eyes for the cruise industry, mostly for Carnival and it's subsidiary companies. (My two favorites are Princess and Holland and we have always been generally pleased)
Looking on the bright side it may mean some very good deals to attract people to cruising and to fill ships -- because these incidents definitely do not help to do that.
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RichStacy
Landlocked in Denver, but cruisin every chance we get.
Polynesia, Carib. '86
Cr. Odyssey, Scandinavia, '91, 30 Day S Pac. 2002
Crystal Harm, Aust., N.Z., '94
Royal Odyssey, AK,'96
Old Cr. Pr. Canal, '97
RCCL, Carib, 1998
Volendam, Car, 2000
Ryndam, 35 day S. Am., Antarctica, '03
Is. Pr., Canal, 2004
Statendam, 34 day China, Japan, AK '06
Cr.Pr., Carib. 08
Eurodam, Atlantic, Med. '10 Golden Princess
But Ruthless - as you said in another place Carnival could have cleaned up and contained that sewage quickly with a little forethought.
I don't believe I said that. The cleaning began after the generator. I believe the sewage might have been contained with my suggestion they carry water or fluid absorbtion materials.
I guess your quote of my quote can be read 2 ways. Not sure of what context was meant.
Looking on the bright side it may mean some very good deals to attract people to cruising and to fill ships -- because these incidents definitely do not help to do that.
CNN said that bookings on Carnival are up since this incident. They were surprised, but it was a significant increase this week.
I was surprised but maybe should have known that all the toilets on the cruise ships are electric, run off a vacuum system. I think this is why the toilet problems .. they did not have enough electricity.
We have been getting the same run around that it seems everyone is getting. We were told by our travel agent as soon our March cruise was canceled. Carnival never contacted us.
I did call Carnival that day (13 days ago) asking about a refund for the cruise and the flight. The Carnival rep told us that we needed to send the airfare receipts to our travel agent. We did. Then our travel agent got on the phone with Carnival and was told that we needed to send the receipts to Carnival at a specific email and that refunds would be processed within 7 to 10 days of us sending the email. Two days after we sent the email we got a reply saying that we sent the email to the wrong address and that we would have to forward it to another Carnival department. Why that Carnival rep couldn't just forward the email...I don’t know.
After we forwarded the email with airfare receipts to the second Carnival email we got a reply saying they would contact us in 7 to 10 days. Today was day 11. So I got on the phone with Carnival. Waited on hold 15 mins to talk with someone. I was transferred to five different people before I was told I was going to be transferred to Guest Administration. Then I was disconnected. I called back...waited on hold again. I was transferred to two different people before being finally transferred to Guest Admin. This is where I was told that refunds on flights would take more than a month to process. Further...they had no record of the previous emails that I had sent and that I would be at the back of the line. I forwarded the rep the email reply that Carnival had sent me acknowledging receiving my email...but that doesn't seem to matter to Carnival.
I am not upset that the cruise was canceled...these things happen. Two weeks ago I would have been happy to get on a Carnival cruise again. But Carnival's nonstop lying and lazy approach to refunds tells me "never again."
After we forwarded the email with airfare receipts to the second Carnival email we got a reply saying they would contact us in 7 to 10 days. Today was day 11.
I am not upset that the cruise was canceled...these things happen. Two weeks ago I would have been happy to get on a Carnival cruise again. But Carnival's nonstop lying and lazy approach to refunds tells me "never again."
I don't blame you for being upset. I agree with you that the main thing that matters these days is customer service. They should have lists ready of every single person who was booked on one of those cruises and process your request immediately.
When you are made to feel helpless and small, even though something was their fault, not yours, is the worst thing an entity can do to a person. It is tantamount to bullying.
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I am the editor, but I also speculate, ask questions and play devil's advocate. I reserve the right to change my mind.
You'd think Carnival would want to do whatever it takes to promptly resolve all guest issues regarding the Triumph, because the guests who had their cruises canceled deserve some priority in getting their costs cleaned up and because it avoids renewed media attention. I can easily see headlines of "Carnival dragging their feet on Carnival Triumph refunds".
This treatment you are getting from Carnival truly upsets me.. At this point they need the best customer service possible and keep past, present and future Carnival cruisers happy, this is not the way to do it...I don't blame you at all for being upset over this..
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