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Wow! I really doubt the damage was caused by this family. But maybe it was. Carnival made a huge PR mistake regardless. The family has enough documentation to make Carnival look very foolish. Sounds like a cleaner/cabin steward got in trouble for not reporting damage earlier and basically threw this family under the bus. But we'll have to wait to see if Carnival comments to get the "rest of the story" as Paul Harvery would say.
Those were my thoughts as well....The steward had a boo boo. and instead of documenting it, threw the family under the bus....The extreme penalty to this family seems so over the top though you woulld think that the pictures would have been the best kind of proof.......I want more details...
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Maybe Paul or someone can get to some Carnival big shots and get to the bottom of this one. This is nothing short of mind boggling and if the guy's story is true and he appears as if he might have the evidence at this stage to prove it, this could be an absolute disaster for Carnival.
If it turns out he is telling the truth, I also believe he'd have a pretty good tort action against the company for in effect, making him sign such a document under duress.
It's too late to cancel our next Carnival cruise, but we will be sure to take and use our camera. As of now, we are planning a cruise with RCI, and after that a return to Carnival, but that will have to wait until we see what response Carnival has to this matter.
We have already written off Celebrity for their stonewalling in a couple of other high-visibility cases, if this keeps up we may end up buying a houseboat
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Sounds like this is not the whole story. Pieces to the puzzle are missing.
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thanks to modern technology, most business travelers that rent cars now take pictures of the rented vehicle with their cell phones prior to signing and taking the keys just for situations like these
did Paul Harvey get his rest of the story handle from our Paul
Once again a cruise line is showing no tolerance. Things get damaged, thats life. I have never heard of a hotel or cruise blaming a passenger for accidental damage to a counter even if they did do the damage.
I got a call from someone who expressed to me what kind of effect these reports on having on people - especially non-dedicated vactioners thinking about a cruise. he said...
"The average person doesn't care about the captain's right to be absolute law onboard or the cruise line's policy on 'no tolerance,' all they know is that they want a vacation - which means an escape from your problems - and when they read stuff like this they just say 'forget it, it isn't worth the risk getting on a ship."
He was referring to Dean on Celebrity, but this is yet another example.
Once again - you probably won't get the cruise line's side of the story.
Just playing devil's advocate (I can't help myself), what if the cruise line had other reasons for not wanting these people back? Have you ever told someone you don't want to be friends with them anymore, but you really didn't want to tell them the real reason why?
Now, I am just being devil's advocate. But the truth is we see a LOT of stories in the media where they report what a passenger says but the truth is something else.
Remember the people who claimed the ship left them in Nassau? They didn't tell the news station that they disappeared in Atlantis and were missing for 40 minutes, beyond the ship's scheduled departure time.
I don't know either way - I am just saying there is usually more than meets the eye. That seems like an awfully small reason to ban anyone for life, and I have never heard of anyone being made responsible for accidental damage on a stateroom even if they did it.
That second photo actually looks like the cabinet had been fixed once already - so we can see it is susceptible to easy damge.
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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.
Wow! People are all excited about embarking on a cruise and all the distractions therein, such a kids, so who carefully examines their cabin for damage? The story shows that it's probably a good idea to take pictures and report anything that looks damaged or stained to the purser.
Come to think of it, taking pics might not prove your innocence, either. They could say that you took the picture right after the damage was caused.
I personally feel this is RIDICULOUS. I have never heard of a hotel or cruise line banning someone for damage, especially this relatively small amount of damage.
If I had not caused the damage I would have never signed anything and they could have kept me onboard until I was arrested or they gave up.
I guess I'm banned from Princess for life. I fell in my cabin on the Island Princess and my stainless steel watch put a fairly good scratch (diagonally across the door) on the bathroom door.
I told our steward about it and he said not to worry. Within a couple of days the scratch was covered up. I don't know how they covered it up but you could still see where the scratch was if you looked at the right angle. They must have used a paint.
This banning for life for something like this is going to give the cruise line a VERY bad reputation and backfire on them.
I know there are three sides to the story but unless they totally destroyed the dressing table or there is "another" reason then Carnival is in the wrong.
Take care,
Mike
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The guy's letter is signed by the captain of the ship - not corporate, and it just says Carnival Cruise Lines.
I just think this is amazing. We now have two cases of people being either thrown off the ship or banned by the captain.
I would think this is a corporate decision - not a captain's. I guess captains have a lot more clout then they used to have.
But this also tells me something else - that since the cruise lines agreed to start reporting all incidents onboard the heat as comedown on the captains to make it happen. It appears they have gotten notice from the cruise lines that they are now responsible for keeping their crime totals low, and they have to be the front lines to identify potential trouble makers and get them off the ships before anything worse happens.
We never heard about captains making judgements like this before.
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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.
Today's (Thursday, September 3) St. Petersburg Times reported this with a color picture of the family plus the shot of the little boy and the dresser in the first picture. Seems the family is from St. Pete Beach.
To quote: "On Wednesday (9/2), Harvey described the August 23 incident on his company's Web site. After inquiries from the St. Petersburg Times, Carnival called to apologize and lifted his banishment.
"'Senior management wants to take a look at it to find out what happened, and if anything internally needs to be clarified,' said Jennifer de la Cruz, a Carnival spokeswoman. The cruise line 'will ensure that guidelines for what warrants this tpe of action are clearly defined on the vessels,' she said."
Betya they still don't want to sail on Carnival again!!!
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At this point for my honor the gentleman must find a lawyer who deals with MARITIME LAW..no more, no less.. and present his side of the story..and the pictures.. It is their reputation.. I have never heard of anything like this.. we did have an incident on an old, old ship that had broken drawers and I mentioned it to the room steward and by the time we came back from breakfast there was somebody working on the drawers..
How about reiterating the old cliche': "Aim before you shoot!" ???
The fact that Carnival Corp called to apologize is taking the high road; I hope it's not too late.
Regardless, hundreds of thousands love Carnival and will still be true to their brand. I hope the senior leadership at Carnival makes some changes internally with policy or with personnel.
There are plenty of lawyers who look for publicity...the fact this family had their "moment" will bring a few to their beckon call. Ugh...there's the other dilema...wasting the court's time and taxpayer's dollar. Hopefully they made things right...
sorry, couldn't see the response from Carnval.. but this man is going to be in tv quite a bit being interviewed and/or being a laughing stock and I can just imagine the embarassment to him and his family.. Oh yes.. the negative publicity to Carnival in their handling of the situation.
So, Carnival lifted the ban and apologized...NOT ENOUGH!!!! Did they give them their $$$$ back for the cruise...did they offer them another free cruise... I'm sure the family had to sign a "secrecy" agreement which would be even more insulting since their names has been all over the boards and media.. Would I be vindictive..YOU BET.. Let's face it.. Carnival owns the majority of the other cruise lines and they are pretty powerful.. Do I sound like I am steaming...well I am.. Oh yes..to set the record straight...after an accident the first day out on a new cruise ship, because of poor design of the jacuzzi, I slipped and suffered a serious Colles fracture on board.. Parrot Pop took pictures documenting the problem and the attempts by the crew daily to rectify it. I was interrogated by the Safety Officer as if I were a criminal and had been drinking at 9:00 a.m...and spent the rest of the cruise in a cast and having surgery within a week or returning home..Oh yes, I sued the line and there was a settlement..btw it was a Royal Caribbean ship..
I know there are three sides to the story but unless they totally destroyed the dressing table or there is "another" reason then Carnival is in the wrong.
If there is another reason, the ship's staff should have been "up front" about it with them.
If the facts are as reported (and this is a pretty big "if" because we don't know Carnival's side of the story), the family should bring suit, naming Carnival Corporation, the ship's master, and the cabin steward(ess) as defendants, even though they never intend to cruise with Carnival again. At the very least, they could seek reimbursement of any expenses incurred as a result of being detained, damages for defamation of character, lifting of the ban, and destruction of the paperwork that they signed under duress, and reimbursement of expenses for the lawsuit. It's more likely that the corporate lawyers, when shown the evidence, would agree to a reasonable settlement.
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Banned for life by Carnival
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