Carnival Cruise Lines: The Fun Never Begun

[CCLSUX]

TLDR: Carnival proves they are the Spirit Airlines of the seas but worse.

 

In December we had a week-long Carnival cruise where some money was stolen from our cabin by the cleaning crew. I’m mad at myself for not having properly secured our property in the safe. But what really infuriated me was how security and supervisors treated us afterwards.

 

First of all, security refused to even begin a claims report until we consented to a full search of our cabin. After we reluctantly agreed, a complete search of our room including safe, drawers, closets, clothes, underwear, luggage, backpack, pockets, and wallet with interrogation lasted for two hours. It was clear security was more interested in trying to find contraband in our room so they could ‘bust us’ rather than finding our stolen property.

 

Secondly, security conversed to each other in foreign language even though all present proved they spoke English well when talking to us. They treated us as suspects and when they failed to find our money (i.e. contraband) or anything else that interested them, they then accused us of spending our money in the casino and not remembering.

 

Finally, a steward manager eventually made their way into our room and was present with security. We were informed that our cleaning crew would not be entering our room again and they would be swapped out for different staff. The next morning, no changes had been made and the thieving staff members thought they were going to enter our room again. This insult resulted in having to wait in line at guest services to complain when this should have been handled by the supervisor in our room the night before like they said they would.

 

In the end, we were never allowed to see our case documents created by the security staff (if they even existed). Carnival wanted to keep those hidden. Meanwhile, we were repeatedly informed that their staff are “not allowed to remove guest possessions from the rooms.” Carnival also said they would write us a ‘final letter.’ Apparently, they couldn’t be bothered.

[Jan115]

Wow, I’m sorry this happened to you and that the cruise line treated you like criminals. Unfortunately, Carnival isn’t about to accept liability for missing items or cash when there is no proof of theft;  it’s right in the cruise contract. You don’t say how much cash was taken, but did you have insurance in place at the time of the cruise? Maybe you can submit a claim.

In my 25 cruises, I’ve never had anything go missing from my cabin (unless you count the times I’ve absent mindedly misplaced things😳); then again, we always use the safe. I also have read that fellow passengers are more apt to steal than crew. It’s not uncommon during school break periods that someone discovers something missing after inviting a crowd of new friends to hang out in their cabin; or the cabin door is left open while a crew member is cleaning the bathroom and someone walks in and helps themselves to your stuff. I’m not saying that a crew member didn’t steal from you; it’s just something to consider.

If you had a travel agent, he or she can advocate for you by contacting the appropriate people to alert them to your experience and the way you were treated. You won’t get back the missing money, but maybe they will at last issue an apology.