Carnival Splendor Catches Fire Off Mexico, Ship in Limbo

My family had 16 people booked on the Splendor. Carnival of course is providing a refund of cruise and air fare expenses as well as the 25% discount on a future cruise. The problem I have with all of this is for those that opt to book another cruise to replace the one that was cancelled, Carnival is charging them current rates to do so.

In other words, if you want to still go on a cruise vacation around the same time as the cancelled one, you're going to have to pay more money. Carnival offers early saver fares for those that book early. My family and I have the foresight to book early to take advantage of this promotion. We paid approximately $350 per ticket for this cruise. In order for us to book a similar cruise to replace it, we're going to have to pay an additional $250-$300 per person. The reason? Rates have gone up since the time we booked (as they always do) AND Carnival is unwilling to swap one cruise (the cancelled one) for another similar cruise at no additional cost to the traveler!!! In my opinion, that's criminal!!!

Not everyone wants a refund. I'm sure many (as with my family) would have liked to simply be booked on a different but similar cruise without having to pay more.

At the very least Carnival should have given affected passengers the following three choices:

1. Get your money back
2. Book on a similar cruise during the same timeframe at no additional cost
3. If a similar cruise is not available, allow travelers to pick a cruise of their choice with a credit up to but not exceeding the CURRENT rate of the cruise that was cancelled.

That is the consumer friendly way to handle this not to mention that it’s the right thing to do. Doing things Carnival's way pulls the rug out from under people's vacation plans with little time to arrange for something else. This is particularly important in these tough economic times. Many of us have saved over a long period in order to pay for a cruise vacation. Most don't have the resources to simply buy another vacation while Carnival takes weeks or longer to sort out refunds.

Providing credit for the amount of the rate paid a year ago is little solace for those that still want to salvage their vacation plans now instead of waiting until next year.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not blaming Carnival for having the nerve to have a fire aboard one of their ships. I know things happen sometimes, and you deal with it the best you can. What I'm saying is that those future passengers who had their cruises cancelled should be held harmless when trying to scramble to make alternate vacation plans. In essence, those that took advantage of Carnival's highly touted promotion (Early Saver Fares) are getting the shaft!!

Have you all really look at ALL the circumstances regarding this "disaster"? Carnival reacted appropriately and did everything they could to keep passengers and their ship safe during this incident. Nobody was hurt and passengers were treated kindly and extremely generously. The media is just looking for the "bad" stories to make this bigger than what it was. The crew went above and beyond to make sure the passengers felt safe and taken care of... AND THEY WERE!!! Also, Carnival gave the passengers full refunds, including all of their on board purchases, open bars, and a future cruise equal to what they paid for that cruise. They also compensated crew for lost tips and income, accomidating them in hotels until the necessary repairs can be done. Really people, get the whole story before you bash an entire cruise line for something that could have happened on ANY cruise line.

Hello to all,

That is a intresting story to say when you come back from the cruise .... my brother is on that ship and think it is not so funny to me ... but we are Bulgarians so we will handled it :))))

All other have a nice trip to hell!!!

Enjoy the trip .. it is a little bit meen but, it is the way i am! GOD will make a disition ... Let's hope ...

I am beyond MAD. This was the exact ship I was supposed to go on in two weeks...... Awesome right?! I thought my mom was joking when she told me... Ridiculous.
just glad it wasn't me.
That sucks for them:(

I have friends on that cruise !!! They were taking their son on his first cruise for his eighteenth birthday. Such a shame the first cruise ends up like this. We'll of course raz them when they get home. It will be interesting to hear a first hand account !!

Since there were reports of missing passengers and other crime incidents, I say 'forget it'. The cruise business seem to be uncooperative on each incident. Forget it. My safety comes first.

Personally, I think as long as the cruiseline is making things right with their passengers and in this case, offering them a full refund with a great deal to rebook then their isn't a whole lot else they can do. Accidents happen, your car breaks down, the airplane stays on the tarmac for forever and you can't get off. Crap happens, it's how these folks in the industry deals with these things and how they treat their customers in the process that matters. I think Carnival has learned alot of lessons over the years and I am not gonna argue that they probably experince more than they should with these issues. But, the good news is they are offering the passengers compensation and are going to be getting them back top shore via the ship's own power or via a tug boat. I would sail them again if this happened to me as long as they handled situation well. And I agree with the poster that said free alchol and more lobster would also help. :)

Interesting to read those comments from people who repeatedly complain about all cruise lines yet continue to cruise!

My boyfriend and I are going to be sailing on this ship this coming Sunday. We contacted Carnival this evening and they told us that they might cancel our sailing also. It kind of sucks because we were really looking forward to going. But if they cancel ours to make the next set of vacationers safe then let it be so. This will be our 3rd cruise and I have had nothing but wonderful times. BTW...these ships are serviced pretty regularly so for all of you that think they aren't...try doing some research on them. It's amazing how much you can learn when you open your eyes and shut your mouth.

I'd go on Carnival if it was a freeby like my friend had a brother that paid for her...'heard of the rapes, missing women, and that it's a party ship. It
would be too noisy for me...love cruising.