We took our first cruise as a Honeymoon trip sailing out of Miami, FL on 4/30/06. We sailed on the Carnival Victory through the Eastern Caribbean stopping at San Juan, St. Maarten, and St. Thomas. Having heard so many good things about Carnival, we were really excited; maybe the reality of the bad service, bad food, neglected maintenance, sticky handrails, pushy sales people, and dishonest staff wouldnt have been so heartbreaking if we hadnt been.

When we arrived on the very large Carnival Victory we were map-less, and they werent offering any that day; we did receive a map the second day. But the ship is designed in a logical way and we didnt have any difficulty finding our cabin. Along the way we noticed all of the light bulbs that were out and had not been replaced. The Victory is designed with lots of indirect lighting and lighting as decoration. There are Octopus Tentacles with light bulbs in place of suckers in almost all of the public areas and on the glass Mid-ship elevators. Very few of these had working light bulbs. The last two days of the seven day cruise someone finally started replacing the burnt out bulbs, but they never got passed the elevators and into the other public areas.

Our baggage arrived to our room ahead of schedule and we unpacked before dinner. I got my CPAP (a piece of medical equipment that forces air into my lungs when I stop breathing in my sleep) and its padded travel case from my suitcase discovering that the baggage handlers had broken it. I asked the Cabin Stewart for help and he said that his Supervisor would have to talk with me. After waiting 2 hours without the Supervisor showing up, we let the Cabin Steward know that we were going to dinner but would be back immediately after. About 3 hours after that the Supervisor came to our cabin, agreed that the machine was broken and he sent me to the Purser. The Purser agreed that the machine was broken and that the Baggage Handlers broke it, but claimed that no one on board the ship was authorized to deal with my complaint and directed me to the Home Office. When I asked to speak with someone from the Home Office, I was advised that I would be charged the per minute rate for the Ship-to-Shore call to Carnivals Home Office. The purser gave me some tape and recommended that I duct tape the machine back together so that I could breathe. The Purser was polite, empathetic, and a gentleman. He explained that problem wasnt a lack of wanting to help, it was that by Carnivals Rules and Policies he was not allowed to help. Read more