@SirWired: I agree with you that finding a good travel agent is a difficult and error-prone process. There are some good travel agents that are on this forum and I wish that one or two of them were located in the PHX area.

Really, the only issue here is that the traveler claimed they stated they wanted to get off the ship and go home (and, by implication, invoking the guarantee.) Carnival states they did not invoke the guarantee. The specific complaints (food, activities, etc.), are beside the point, as they are either subjective or Carnival’s tush is well covered there by the cruise contract. (except maybe the basketball court… if it ain’t there, that’s a problem)

There are problems on both sides here. The traveler should have followed up before going ashore on Cozumel, since the guarantee is useless once the ship leaves Cozumel. Carnival should have made the promised phone call before the port visit.

On a single-port cruise (Galveston -> Coz -> Galveston,) what can the staff possibly do after leaving Coz? You aren’t getting a refund because you didn’t like the food, nor should you. It isn’t promised, and is unlikely to be given.

I think, in the end, there will be plenty of blame to go around. It appears like the pax was hysterical, and in such cases, any customer service rep goes into “nod politely and get the customer calmed down mode”. Is this the right thing to do? No. But, if you are sobbing, getting your specific request across is quite difficult, and it isn’t going to encourage the rep to go out of their way to do anything.

Oh, and for the folks that talked about the return airfare being more than the cruse… Carnival’s guarantee includes return airfare, gratis. It actually is a pretty good deal. It does mean, however, you’ll be stuck in the home port until your flight home though, unless you make other arrangements.

Fact is, if Carnival is allowing people to book from the website, then they and they alone have the responsibility to tell such well-known facts such as a queen bed is really two twin beds pushed together. And they should reveal a true profile of their customers, that is, how many parents with children go aboard the Ecstasy from Galveston. A party-hearty ship is not suitable for a child with a medical condition.

I think it is fairly obvious that the DeBorde family had a rather limited budget. They wanted a special experience for a chronically sick kid. So the wisdom here is to blame them for not using a travel agent. OMG. How often do travel agents turn the victim into the accused? Why bother with this column when the TA’s defend the cruise companies, the source of their paychecks.

On with the constructive comments. Should the DeBordes have used a travel agent? (Maybe? Probably?) Did they clearly state they wanted off the ship? (Maybe they thought so, then again maybe not.) There are lots of comments here that are thoughtful and raise excellent questions.

Now back to shoveling out the 20 inches of snow covering my Virginia steps and sidewalk. And it’s still snowing.

The tough luck attitude of cruise passengers is the number one reason why I’d never ever put my vacation time in the hands of the cruise lines.

Best
Anita