Carnival Fantasy Nassau/Freeport June 16-21 Day one-June 16th Wednesday Embarkment: Charleston SC, Road signs easy to follow to Port, Able to drop of luggage early, People to assist in abundance, Handicapped parking was free, Shuttle to Ship easy. Once aboard: Go straight to Lido deck for lunch. Food seemed very good as we were all hungry. Problem number one: When we left the resturant we went to the elevator. On the way to the elevators we experienced great difficulty in manouvering the power wheelchair which had by that time run out of power and the person it. From room to room we found steep inclines and large rises on each threshhold. Each of these uneven threshholds were at everydoor that we had to go through. Everywhere there was this threshhold there was a sign saying watch your step. This indicates that these are dangerous to walkers not to mention how impossible they would be to a person in a wheelchair. All elevators out of service. We were stranded on the Lido Deck because a person in our party was wheelchair bound. Asked over and over for help getting up to our stateroom. All of the employees standing around were unwilling to help. They acted like they didn't understand English. I asked 4 different people for assistance in getting to state room. Nobody offered any assistance at all even when asked. It was very hot and uncomfortable. We were unsure how we were going to manage to get to our staterooms. Finally, after an hour had gone by, I left our group to go to Guest services to ask for assistance. The line went all of the way down the next hallway. (At least another hour of wait time was predicted) I walked the four floors of stairs to our stateroom. When I got there the rest of my party showed up with wheelchair and all. Evidently when I had become frustrated to the point of tears while asking for help it finally registered with an employee that the rest of my party needed help. An employee finally used the staff elevator to bring our person in the wheel chair to the room. This should have been done immediately. Problem number two: Wheelchair would not fit through the door of the stateroom. His wheelchair was 24 inches wide and the room door was 22 inches. He had to break his wheelchair down into sections in order to physically carry it sideways through the door. No employee offered to help as they saw his struggle. This was going to be something we had to get used to throughout the trip. We had indicated to our travel agent that one of our party was handicapped and it was listed on our boarding pass. Later when complaints were made about this... staff members tried to say that we must not have let anyone know about his special needs therefore it must be our fault. It was clearly marked on his sign and sail documents that he was wheelchair bound. We asked if the wheel chair could be kept in hallway but there was no way to charge it up. I went to guest services and asked for room change. I was told the ship was totally full and there was nothing anyone could do for us. I decided then that maybe down in medical someone there would show compassion for our predicament. We got to the third floor after pushing our friend to the other end of the ship to find an elevator that would work. The infirmary was on the deck directly below our stateroom. We wanted to find out if the wheelchair could be charged and stored there. When we arrived we were welcomed with the coldest, rudest attitude I have ever seen. They were not only unwilling to help but they again tried to blame the customer.... us. They said that the elevators were working and we must be wrong. The elevators were clearly marked not in service. No elevators arrived even after waiting for extended periods of time. After pushing the wheelchair up again to the stateroom, I again went to approach guest Services to try to solve this problem. I again was told the ship was completely full and that there were no other rooms available to move to. We decided to rent a Carnival owned push wheel-chair to assist us in his ambulation. We paid a fifty dollar rental feel and was forced to use this chair instead of his motorized chair due to the width of the doorways. This meant that one of us had to push him everywhere he went for the duration of the trip. In addition the floors were not clearly marked as third floor, fourth floor etc. There were names given to the floors such as Rivera, Main, Upper, Promenade etc. This caused much confusion among all of the guests we talked to. Problem Number Three: Our room in Rivera-8 had no working air conditioner. We called our stateroom attendant and reported the problem. A couple of hours later it was reported to us that the air conditioner had been repaired. There still was no change in the heat of the room. Ultimately we attempted to unpack our suitcases. This took a while in the heat and we were both dripping with sweat when we finished. We reported it five more times and even asked again for a room change. We were told again that the ship was completely full and this would not be possible. After each time they reported to us that it had been "fixed" the temperature remained extremely hot and uncomfortable. I made plans to sleep out on the deck that night to escape the agonizing heat. They provided a small fan for us to use the first night. It was a very long and hot night. My thought at that time was that I could rent a very cheap motel room for about $20.00 and at least it would have working air conditioner. At dinner my mother who was traveling with us informed our waiter that she is seriously allergic to onions. She made it very clear and he indicated that he would watch out for her. Day Two-June 17th Thursday (Elegant Night) Problem number Four: The handicapped person in our party was unable to leave the room until after 2:00PM due to stress from the day before as well as swelling and pain in his legs. I prepared for the night I had looked forward to for months..... Elegant night. I had spent months before this cruise purchasing a dress, jewelry, shoes etc. Unfortunately I was unable to prepare for this important event due to the heat in my room. I had no choice but to spend even more money paying to have my hair and make-up professionally done. When I tried to do it myself I was wiping off sweat and make-up before I could even complete putting it on. My hair was ringing wet even after blow drying it so I was unable to fix it myself. This cost me about 200.00 to have it done. Right before our early dinner time. I received a phone call from Guest Services. They informed me that our air conditioner would take about eight hours to repair and we couldn't stay there. They also informed me that there was suddenly a cancellation. I found this difficult to believe because we had been at sea and had not stopped anywhere for a cancellation to occurr. Unless someone had fallen overboard this was not possible but it was a convenient excuse from Guest Services. I asked if we could move our things after that evenings activities. I did not wish to spend elegant evening sweating while having to repack everything. They told me at that time they were there 24 hours a day and we could move at our convenience. We decided that before turning in that night we would plan to pack and move to our new room. Later we received another phone call that came right after dinner. This one said that we could sleep in the new room however we would have to be out of our current room by 9:00 AM the next day, I informed them that I had a spa appointment that should I miss it I would still be responsible for half of it cost. They asked the Guest Supervisor who said we needed to be out by 11:00. By this time I was so frustrated and wanted to be able to cool down that we gave up all of the activities of Elegant night in liew of having to pack yet again and move to the room that had air. They assured me at that time that they would assist me and my friend in packing and moving. When it came time for us to pack, they were no where to be found. Only when we were finished did they help by wheeling our luggage to the next room. I asked the Guest Services woman if there were any comps they could offer for our pain and suffering. She replied no. She said because they were taking care of the problem "immediately" that should be sufficient. By this time we were all exhausted and slept a lot more comfortably in our air conditioned room. Day Three-June 18th Friday (Nassau day) Due to the exhaustion we all felt from pushing wheelchairs up and down uneven hallways and steep ramps non of us had the energy to leave the ship. We asked at the excusion desk if there were any excusions, in Nassau, that would be appropriate for a person in a wheel chair. We were informed that there weren't any. So instead of participating in Nassau we each found something to do instead. Day Four-June 19th Saturday (Freeport Day) We had chosen an excusion based on the recommendation of the Excursion Desk staff. When disembarking the ship for our excursion in Freeport we had a lot of difficulty getting off the ship. There is a rather steep ramp to go over that is definintely handicapped UN Friendly. The Carnival employees who were standing around watching our struggle only agreed to assist me when I asked them to do so directly. It was a four hour long tour of Freeport with a visit to Garden of Groves in addition to shopping. The handicapped person in our party was treated so much better by the tour guides who insisted on pushing the wheelchair to relieve me from having to do that in rough terrain. This was an enjoyable excursion and such a relief from the rude disrespectful treatment we had been shown on the Fantasy. It felt like a breath of fresh air. The tour guides didn't need to be asked to help us, He insisted. So while leading a large group of people on the tour he was also pushing a wheelchair. He also insured that the handicapped person in our party would be in the shade as often as possible to prevent him from getting over heated. Problem Number Five: On the way back onto the ship our person in the wheelchair needed assistance getting back over the ramp from the port back onto the ship. When asked to assist the Carnival employee stated that the chair would not fit through such a narrow opening. Keep in mind that the chair in question belongs to Carnival and they use it all the time on this narrow ramp for a variety of handicapped people on a frequent basis. Also keep in mind that this was the exact same ramp that he had been pushed over to get off the ship. My friend explained that to the employee who answered that he would just have to get up and walk because the chair would not fit. This Carnival employee had no way of knowing if my friend could walk at all or not. My parents who are ballroom dance instructors were told that there were no activities that would include any form of ballroom dancing. It was geared to the very young with Disco, Rap, breakdancing, line dancing etc. They had brought special dance shoes in anticipation of being able to dance while on the ship. On other cruises they had always been able to do this and enjoyed it very much. They were also told by a Carnival Employee that the dance band had been cancelled. It had always been included in the past but no longer. Problem number Six: Even after informing the waiter about her allergies to onions on day one. He still told her that there were no onions in her choice of quisine for that night. However when her dinner was brought to her she spotted many onions in her potatoes. When she pointed this out to the waiter he offered only to bring her something else, and seemed very unconcerned about the whole thing. Day Five-June 20th Sunday Carnival Fantasy is the most handicapped unfriendly setting, I have ever seen. Being a Special Education Teacher I am aware of laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act which require public areas such as cruise ships to make accommodations for people with special needs. Every where we went there was a new obstacle with nobody who represented Carnival in anyway offering to help. Problem number Seven: This was the most serious of all. It is for this reason that I am posting this here. I want to be sure that this doesn't happen to anyone else because the results of their actions could have been fatal. My beloved mother who did exactly what she needed to do by informing her waiter of her allergy to onions was served a piece of Salmon. Underneith this large piece of fish was a big slice of onion. It was completely hidden and most people would have dug in and began eating it. I believe God was watching over her by allowing the fish to move just before she cut into it. If she had eaten this she could have died. I am thankful that this didn't happen but due to the carelessness of the staff it could happen again with more dire consequences. The waiter seemed more involved in flirting with the women he was supposed to be serving than doing his job. This behavior was unprofessional and continued throughout the cruise. This may be unprofessional and rather tacky but what concerned me was his being unfocused on his job could have caused my mother to lose her life. I wasn't going to complain I just was counting the days that I could leave this "fun" ship. But when this happened it was the last straw. I went to Guest Services yet again and asked to speak to someone higher up. I was invited back into the office of Mr. Avinash Sawant; Senior Guest Services Supervisor. I attempted to explain all that had transpired and all I got in return was excuses and interruptions. He also tried to say that his employees would never act in this way. I must have made a mistake, that maybe the people who I dealt with were not actually employees of Carnival..... etc and it goes on and on. I also expressed my concern about what could have happened to my mother due to their carelessness and he still remained unconcerned. It was then I decided that I will send this lengthy but important report to anyone who will read it. It may save a life or even just save you some money and a wasted vacation. Problem number Eight: After dinner we visited a piano bar that was a lot of fun. In fact it was the highlight of our trip. If you do go on one of these cruises from hell check out Rick. He is a great piano player and overall entertainer. After this I wheeled my friend up to the Lido deck for his nightly midnight snack. I left him by the elevators to wait for me while I returned to the room for a moment. On the way back to the lido deck my ankle twisted and I fell in the hallway just outside out room. I am recouporating from bi-lateral knee replacements and I was concerned about falling on my knee and needing further surguries. I ended up breaking my fall with my right elbow/arm yet still landing on my left knee. I layed on the ground for about ten minutes groaning in pain until I could manage to get up again. Once back in my cabin I needed ice for my knee and elbow. My friend called the stateroom attendent which I guess was forwarded to room service due to the late hour. He requested ice for my injuries and let them know that I had just fallen. They said they would send it right up. A few minutes later he called again to ask for room service and they told him that since I had already ordered ice it would take 45 minutes. They also told him that these two items should have been ordered at the same time. When I heard that I became very upset at their lack of concern for me. I spoke to them to assure them that we didn't need the ice for a party of some kind but because I was hurt. Their only concern then was did I trip on something left in the hallway? I informed them that I had twisted my ankle and fallen. Never even one time did they ask me if I was ok. Or if I needed Medical help, or if there was anything they could do..... etc. That really hurt. Day Six-June 21st Monday Halleluiah!!! Our Cruise from hell was over. While we were waiting for our numbers to be called my dad who was diabetic needed something for a low sugar event. Everything within walking or wheeling distance was completely shut down. You could not even get a drink of water. I asked an employee one of the only two good ones I had found on the entire ship for a snack for my dad. He immediately went to Room Service and brought him Apple juice, a muffin and some bread. After that he pushed me in my wheelchair right behind my friend and his wheelchair. We were racing because we could not wait to get off this ship.