Any BAD experiences aboard a cruise ship?

[cruisetarp]

The only bad cruise experience I can think of is having get of the ship when the cruise is over . I guess everyone has that though.........

Kathy

Kathy - I think we have all had that experience. It really is a downer. lol

It's good to see you posting. Come visit us in the Daily Dock.

[cruisetarp]

It was 1993 in Ft. Lauderdale on the REGAL PRINCESS. We had a bomb threat just an hour before we were scheduled to leave. Everone with main seating for dinner (back when that was still the norm for dining) was asked to go to the dining room, while everyone else was asked to go to the lounge in the forward part of the ship. As the ship was searched, which took 4 hours, we were asked to switch places with the other half of passengers. What a nightmare! We were not allowed to go to the restroom until we switched; we were late sailing and missed our first port of call; we could not enjoy our first night onboard until the all-clear was given; etc. BUT, after all that, it was smooth sailing. Hope that doesn't happen again.

That is definately NOT the way to begin a cruise but glad all worked out well.

[deb1220]

Mike - I can't even imagine having a bomb threat onboard. At least the rest of your cruise was good! I think your story trumped all of ours

Kathy - I think that has to be the worst thing that's happened on all 7 of our cruises - LOL!

[smoothsailingmoose]

We have had some bad experiences on cruises, but I believe the top one was on a little ship out of Port Canaveral about 1998, was so bad I can't remember the name of it. It was a 2 or 3 night cruise that was so bad they gave us a free one when we got home and we wouldn't go. They told us that they had just refurbished the ship. We got on the ship and first thing we saw was old carpeting up on top deck. The elevators didn't work. The telephones didn't work. We went to bed and had brown water dripping on our head, they said from a water leak in the deck above us. ( Patched it with duck tape) At our dining table the first night one man said that he sailed on it some way through time share and he had sailed on it several times. (I asked Why?) The food was bad, the entertainment was bad. I have never wanted to be off a cruise ship but I did that one. I have been on some very bad seas (24ft) Gulf of Mexico in 1998 on NCL Dream, this "tugboat" has to have been the worst! Smoothsailingmoose

[MrsAmanda7]

Wow! You guys have had some really bad experiences! July 2008, the Caribbean Princess lost one of its engines. (They can operate without one if all others are functioning properly.) Anyway, the air conditioning was not that cool throughout the entire cruise. The stabilizers were not working as well as they should've, and we got to spend 2 hours in Bermuda instead of a full day. Our cabin steward accidentally threw away my medicine that needed to be administered every 4 hours. He had to dig through the garbage to find it. He was pretty awful. Next time, I would save myself the hassle and switch stewards early on at the passenger service desk.

I have always had a great experience on the Caribbean Princess. That cruise was pretty frustrating. Thank goodness everything was fixed and updated since its drydock. We also received a shipboard credit as well for our inconvenience.

I purposely did not write a review for this cruise, because I think it was just a one-time bad experience. We have always been happy with Princess and look forward to our cruise in July 2010!

[waterboy27]

Bad experiences? Well, set's see:

Weather:

Two days on the Carnival Liberty with seas so rough you had to hold on anywhere you went. Rocked to sleep at night. Shorex boat to St. John's like a carnival ride.

Missed two ports in Hawaii due to a storm at sea.

Other:

Norwalk virus once for each of us on different cruises.

Once on Celebrity Horizon, we were pulling in to St. Thomas. 0730, we were about to dock at the wrong pier. Ship made a HARD left turn and heeled over sharply. Whereever you were, you went with the inertia. Broke some 1,400 dinner plates. Topic of the rest of the cruise was "Where were you when--?"

Stranded in Lahaina due to a motorcycle wreck on the narrow road to Kahalui (sp?). Lasted about six hours, late at night, no direction. Finally got word to gather at the pier, and the Norwegian Star came around the island to pick us up. Back on the ship about 0130. To the line's credit, they had a full buffet prepared for us and included the wine. Found there were some 700 of us there. No way was the ship going to leave that many passengers and go on to the next port.

Absolute worst:

Carnival Jubilee out of Galveston. While underway, the ship had a deep vibration that made everything rattle that wasn't nailed down. The glassware at the pool deck bar would vibrate not in time with the repeated tape or CD music. Even the small clip-on night lights on the headboards of the beds would vibrate to the point of having to put tissue under the clips to get to sleep. Had 2-3 days with no towels and washcloths. When asked, our steward told us they couldn't wash while at sea. There had to be enough stock on board to handle situations like that, if indeed they did exist. Had a blast on the trip, but the ship was past due for replacement.

Nothing ever made us want to stop cruising. Just some we know we will not repeat.