Let me first preface this by saying this was the second sailing of the Carnival Splendor since the now infamous fire debilitated the ship. Before I go on to my experience during embarkation, and while on the ship, I wanted to make a mention of the service I received (or lack thereof) prior to my sailing, as I promised I would to Carnival in an email I exchanged with them.

There are things that happen beyond our control such as the fire and situation which happened a few months ago, which thankfully nobody was hurt. There are also things we can control, such as knowing how long the repairs are going to take, and having a contingency for those who were booked on subsequent trips. If they said that the repairs were going to take a year, fine. But they were trying to minimize losses at the expense of people who have precious little vacation time and small windows to take them in, including myself. They canceled cruises in small batches, usually with about 3-4 weeks notice as they kept extending the date of when the ship would sail again. Do you want to know how I was notified? To an email address I hadn't used in years. No phone call, no personalized notification, an email to a defunct address. I only found out because I was going to book my flight, and I decided it would be a good idea to call just to make sure everything was still a go. When I was informed it wasn't, I was also informed that my refund had been processed, thereby tying up over $1200 which I could not use to re-book anything, or use for a change of plans. I had to let ten days pass and suffer through a multitude of price fluctuations before I could re-book my vacation.

I called a carnival agent, and mind you, when the phone picks up, it says "Press 1 for Splendor" meaning you were going to be connected with a sympathetic expert. Well not only was the person at the end of line 1 not an expert, they weren't sympathetic at all. I asked for something maybe they could or could not do, but her response was, and I am quoting "What, do you want me to wave a magic wand?" I work in hospitality and if I wasn't fired for saying that, I would at least be severely disciplined. These were the specialists trained to deal with people inconvenienced by the Splendor fire. Well after my deposit was refunded (I won't go into too many details) I finally spoke with a helpful lady who explained what price protection was. Meaning, the price I paid for when I booked my cruise 13 months ago would still be honored, and that the Splendor will indeed sail on the 20th of February. I booked the second sailing which was the 27th. And for all my trouble, I get what it is I originally paid for (I book a year in advance for good reason) and a $25 per person cabin credit. Read more