Jennifer G

Age: 34
Occupation: Administrator
Number of Cruises: 1
Cruise Line: Carnival
Ship: Ecstacy
Sailing Date: May 30th, 2005
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

Our cabin was robbed the second day (Tues, May 31, 2005) between 11:45am - 2pm. $120 cash & a bracelet we had purchased that morning were taken. It was really slick how it was done. We asked 3 times for the key to the safe and were told by the cabin steward that they would get us the key (they conveniently kept forgetting).

The entire 2nd night was lost as two security guards came, made us fill out paperwork and completely searched our cabin (which we had done repeatedly). They were nice but had a "this happens all the time" attitude which didn't put us at ease. It was amazing how quickly the cabin steward was able to get us the key when the security asked for it. It appeared magically. How convenient.

We were told nothing could be done on the cruise and we had to wait till the cruise was over and contact Guest Relations. I just spoke with them. They are sending us a letter and we "might" get a Bon Voyage gift if we ever sail again. Needless to say, we are screwed.

Thankfully, my husband's wallet wasn't robbed and we had enough cash to do a couple of things. We had prepurchased our shore excursions and had fun on them. However, a dark cloud was thrown over the whole vacation. We were scared to leave our rooms and each time we left we made 3 or 4 checks to see that everything was locked up. The main cabin steward was very apologetic, but her asst. was rude to us from the beginning and he could never look us in the eye after the robbery. We are convinced it was him. After we were robbed, we came back to the room only to have him tell us to come back later - she came immediately and "scolded" him by saying that we could come and go if we like. Guest Relations asked today if we had any hard proof it was him and I said, yes, their employees are the only ones that had a key and the room was "made-up" by them the exact time we were burglarized.

In addition to being robbed and violated, Carnival makes you pay for a lot of things that other cruise lines don't. The coffee bar was not free and latte's, cappuccino’s and the like were all $3.50 or so, bingo was $10 - $20 for a card, almost all the fitness classes had a minimum of $10 for them.

We ended up making the most of it, but everything that happened, all the additional costs, being hit-up to pay for things daily, well it left a really bad taste in my mouth.

Luckily, we had wonderful companions for dinner who were veteran cruisers. They too were very disappointed and were quick to tell us that they have had great experiences on both Royal Caribbean & Celebrity - so although it will be a while before we cruise again - we probably will - albeit with another cruise line.

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