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Carnival Cruise Lines reverses course, throws a lifeline to disgruntled passengers

Posted on May 15th, 2009 – 1:40 PM
By James Shiffer

Kacie Wottreng, the unhappy cruise line passenger whose story I told in my Sunday column and earlier blog post, alerted me this week that Carnival Cruise Lines has shifted course in its treatment of passengers affected by Mexico’s swine flu quarantine. At first, Carnival told the passengers seeking a refund that they were out of luck. Now they’re matching Princess Cruises‘ offer, 50 percent off future cruises.

Here’s the email Wottreng got, the day after Carnival told her there would be no compensation, and that was final:

May 14, 2009
Dear Guest,
I want to take this opportunity to welcome you home and to thank you for sailing with us on the April 26th sailing of the Carnival Splendor.
I realize many vacations are chosen because of a specific itinerary and I sincerely regret we were not able to deliver the itinerary of your choice. The H1N1 influenza situation occurring in Mexico escalated quickly and the CDC advisory issued on Monday, April 27th left us with no alternative but to take immediate action and cancel the port calls in Mexico.
I empathize with your disappointment and want to extend my sincere apologies for this disruption to your vacation. I recognize many guests were unhappy with the manner in which we handled this situation. Guest satisfaction is very important to us and we regret we did not meet your expectations in this regard. I want to assure you, however, that we made our decisions with your best interests in mind given our commitment to the health and safety of our guests and crew. Considerable time was spent by my team researching port substitutions. Regrettably there were virtually no other warm weather port of calls available to us and given the duration of the cruise, we felt that a call in San Francisco would be a welcome diversion versus no stop at all.
I now realize these changes had a more substantial impact on your cruise experience than I had anticipated, and it was not the memorable vacation we had hoped to provide. We value our relationship with you and hope we can win back your confidence. We would welcome the opportunity of having you sail with us again and hope you will accept our offer of a 50% cruise fare discount on a future 3-7 day Carnival vacation, departing before December 2010.
Please make your reservations in your usual manner and inform your agent (or Carnival) of the discount at the time of reservation.
Most importantly, I want to thank you for choosing Carnival and look forward to having the opportunity to welcome you back on one of our ships.
Sincerely,

Gerry Cahill
President & CEO

Kacie wrote me in an email that she’s not jumping back in the boat. But she did think the pressure from her and other passengers made a difference:

The damage to their reputation in my mind is already done. My husband and I will not be using our voucher. However I am glad to see they have reacted to the collective voices of the people who matter most in this ordeal…..the customer. And the age old saying “the customer is always right” prevails.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 15th, 2009 at 1:40 pm and is filed under Businesses in hot water, Complaint sagas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

13 Responses to “Carnival Cruise Lines reverses course, throws a lifeline to disgruntled passengers”

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  1. Dave Says:
    May 15th, 2009 at 2:31 pm

    I’ll use your voucher!

  2. Unreal Says:
    May 15th, 2009 at 2:34 pm

    I’m sure you would have been writing a letter
    complaining that you got the flu if they would have
    stopped at all the ports.

    Some people just can’t be please!

  3. Nate Says:
    May 15th, 2009 at 3:27 pm

    The passengers had the choice not to continue on the
    cruise to Mexico. The warnings were out long before
    the quarantine. They decided to continue with the
    risk of being diverted. That is their problem, not the
    cruise line.

  4. WALT Says:
    May 15th, 2009 at 4:19 pm

    I felt that the cruise line was not obligated given the current health situation but in the end, they made a goodwill gesture and now she doesn’t want that? WOW! Why should they refund the cost or even half given that they did take the cruise and it is in the contract of carriage that the port of call may change due to circumstances beyond their control. Carnival did nothing worong AND they made a goodwil lgesture given the “furor” and now she wants to cut off her nose to spite herface? Puhlease! I would have been satisfied with the gesture and thought, you know, they didn;t have to do anything but they are giving me 50% off of a future cruise…. THAT is a big savings!

  5. sailor Says:
    May 15th, 2009 at 5:10 pm

    As I recall, the couple asked just before leaving about whether the flu epidemic woud affect their itinerary, and were assured that it wouldn’t. That makes it the cruise line’s problem.

  6. travis roste Says:
    May 15th, 2009 at 5:57 pm

    The couple contracted for a trip to mexico, they didnt get it, so the cruise line should give them a cruise to mexico. it’s just common sense, people! the cruise line should lump it and give the customer the best customer service they ever got, which is a trip to mexico gratis!

  7. notmetoo Says:
    May 15th, 2009 at 6:07 pm

    Ok, how about this: We shoot the captain. Will that make you happy?

  8. MaMa Mia Says:
    May 15th, 2009 at 6:13 pm

    we did the the carnival imagination two years ago to jamaica and the cayman islands. what a joke! we couldn’t port in the cayman islands due to “interruption in service” so we sailed at sea that day (many other passengers who have been on the cruise that it’s notorias for carnival not to stop in the CI.carnival DOES NOT compensate for anything. HOWEVER, they had the absolute best service we’ve ever had. private resorts have not come even close.

  9. jerry carpenter Says:
    May 15th, 2009 at 7:47 pm

    i spose if it rained during your cruise you would want a refund due to that also .i and my family have been on a few cruises and you are paying for your room and food on that ship nothing more. its like renting a hotel room that floats . if you are interested in selling that voucher i will gladly give you a hundred bucks for your inconvenince as we are going on carnival in feb.
    jerry c
    almena wisc.

  10. Senor Bruce Says:
    May 15th, 2009 at 9:22 pm

    My family cruises on Princess twice a year, mostly to the Caribbean. We have experienced situations in which the ship could not dock or was rerouted. The cruise lines do everything possible to accomodate passengers but in the end it is the safety of all on board that dictates what is done. Simple as that. The cruise line does not want to lose passenger good will but they also have a company to run. The newly weds should re-think there immature decision. They don’t know what they aretalking about. You can bet that they would be screaming for a refund and threatening to sue if htthey had contracted the flu. We see those types of folks all the time on the ship. Carnival shoould be doing handstands that the new Mr and Mrs aint gonna cruise again.

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