That’s no Miracle: Carnival faces mutiny

by Anita Dunham-Potter on September 4, 2008

There’s a passenger revolution on board the Carnival Miracle. The New York-based Miracle was scheduled to sail to the Caribbean, but could not do so because of Tropical Storm Hanna.

Where did the Miracle go? Well, to the dismay of the 2,124-passengers on board the ship headed north to Newport, Rhode Island.

Apparently, a ‘Norma Rae’ style protest was held in the ship’s lobby, according to USA Today’s cruise blog.

We’ll have more on the mutiny as it develops.

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Tagged as: Carnival Cruise Lines, Carnival Miracle, cruise itinerary changes, cruise vacation, Hurricane Ike, mutiny, Tropical Storm Hanna

  • SirWired

    Gee, I’ve read the linked website and I think the passengers may be out of line here. If you cruise during hurricane season, these things happen. Yes, it is unfortunate that the weather has completely messed up their itinerary, but I think the passengers would much rather spend the day in Rhode Island, instead of gettting the ever-living-#$#* kicked out of them by Hanna.

    It is not as if they will be missing glorious, sunny, weather in the Bahamas.

    SirWired

  • Wrona

    Being upset about a port change is one thing, although if they had read their cruise contract, the cruiseline does not guarantee making any ports on it’s published itineraries.

    The passengers are completely out of line to be taking this out on the crew by removing their tips.

  • Susan Liber

    Going to Newport RI is no hardship……it is a wonderful place to visit! Not the Caribbean, true….but absolutely beautiful.

  • Clearvoice

    Ok, the cruise lines usually do what’s in the best interest for the safety of their guest in these situations. So you have a bunch of cheap jerks form the NY Metro Area who couldn’t afford a paper bag and all they want to do is complain.
    I bet if Carnival sailed into the Hurricane or rough sea’s, this group of slime would have been screaming lawsuit.
    I hope Carnival takes them to the mat and charges them for the staff and security that was needed to keep them in order. Also, I hope they ban each and everyone of them from ever sailing on any of their lines. Then they can go and try to book passage on a Royal Caribbean Ship which they can never afford and the vermin will stay home in back yards scratching their heads.

  • http://tripso john indorf

    concur with the earlier comments, the passengers are way out of line, blacklist them from all cruise lines under the Carnival umbrella and forward their names to RCCL and Norwegian as a heads up, what a boat load of ugly New Yorkers–I’m from NY and the conduct and intellect of these louts is embarassing.

  • http://www.tripso.com/author/dunhampotter Anita Dunham-Potter

    Hi Everyone,
    I just spoke with Tim Gallagher, Carnival’s vice president of corporate communications.

    He says the term “mutiny” is an overstatement. He goes on to say that the vast majority of the passengers understand that the changes that were made because of the storm and in their best interest.

    Still, there is a group of guests who are still venting their disappointment. He says many passengers are telling the crew that they think they are handling the situation well and thanking them for their efforts.

    Gallagher says Carnival has “made every effort ” to keep guests informed about the hurricane/tropical storm and it’s movements. He says they’ve been putting color posters of the storm track and forecast in the lobby. Additionally, the captain has made many announcements and is staying visible around the ship.

    Carnival has apologized to all of our guests who have had their vacations disrupted by itinerary changes as a result of hurricanes. Still Carnival says their focus is safety for the guests and crew.

    Gallagher says, “In every instance we are seeking to find alternative ports that will allow us to keep the vessel in fair weather so that our guests may enjoy their cruise as much as possible.”

    One last thing: All the posts and quotes that USA TODAY used in their story have been removed from Cruise Critic. I was told when things get “dicey” they just delete posts.

    Best,
    Anita

  • Josie

    I was a passenger on the Carnival Miracle 8/29.
    And yes I was VERY disappointed to say the least. Not so much the fact that the itinerary was changed but the way it was handled.
    Having cruised numerous times I am well aware of the technology aboard these ships, it was obvious the captain was well aware of the storms that we were heading towards BUT what Carnival did was hand out a memo on the way onto the ship stating that there was a possibility of an itinerary change, he told us about an hour after leaving port that we were headed to Port Canavaral, had we known we would not have boarded the ship. THEN once we LEFT Port Canavaral the Captain AGAIN announced a change in that we were headed to Nassau, not too long after that we were notified that Freeport Bahamas would be the next port we would go to. We tried to make the best of it BUT IT WAS POURING RAIN, they cancelled all the excursions because of the weather, now really tell me they didn’t know this. We left the Bahamas and once again the Captain announced yet another itinerary change… heading to Newport RI. Not exactly a tropical location… South Carolina would have sufficed at least there is a beach!!
    The Captain’s worst mistake was how he addressed the passengers.
    “You paid for 3 ports, I took you to 3 ports & ladies you still don’t have to cook & clean & make beds for 8 days” ” I could have told you to mind your business”! Now I am a business woman & I am also italian as is the Capitain of this ship & that day I was ashamed of being the same nationality as this barbaric fool. Knowing that you have disgruntled passengers on the ship at the very least address them with some level of respect, he showed absolutly NO CLASS & as a Captain he should have known better. I for one will address that issue with corporate directly. As for the crew, they were wonderful with the exception of 3 in the casino that have no business being in an industry that interacts with the public. Understanding that we booked this cruise during hurricane season ( mind you every cruise I have been on has been during hurricane season) I was well aware of the possibilty of changes but we were brought to places that were just the opposite of what we had planned, all the other cruise lines changed their itineraries but were still brought to tropical ports. We took a launch from the ship to Newport RI…. why could we not do this from Bermuda?? So many questions went un answered by the officers on this ship & although I do not agree in people taking it out on the crew that worked so hard trying to keep everyone as happy and comfortable as possible my gripe is with the Captain for the discriminating comments & arrogance & Carnivals Mgmt and their lack of being able to handle this properly.

  • John

    The passengers were completely out of line. I was there and saw how disgusting they were. It’s no wonder the Captain may have been sarcastic, the whole lobby turned into a scream fest led by immature children who clearly don’t know how to read a contract. I was happy with the cruise, but am even more happy these pathetic people had their vacation ruined. Grow up people. Cutting the gratiuity of the crew is the most disgusting thing I’ve ever witnessed by people who continue to call themselves victims.

  • J

    I work on the Miracle and know the Captain and when he spoke to the guest, he tried to make the best of a sucky situation. He is honestly a fantastic and accomplished man and no passenger has the right to judge him, especially not say that they are ashamed that he is also an Itlian because the only shame there was on the ship, were they disgruntle guest that were chanting “refund, refund!” like barbarians and yelling and treating the crew like it was our fault the weather had turned! The 300 so passenger’s attitude was disgusting to all crew, staff, officers and I spoke to several guest who were also disgusted by the behavior that they saw! Those 300 people put a damper on the cruise for themselves and for all those that had to hear their complaining and whining! My advise to all those who cruise at this time of year, BE AWARE IT IS HURRICANE SEASON!

  • Everette & Melodee McDaniel

    I was there! ARE YOU CRAZY? The actions of the lawyer who incited the little riot should be beaten with a cat o nine tails. The shyster lawyer endangered everyone on board. What started off as little mob could’ve turn into something much worst. But what do you expect from the “me generation”. He didn’t think of others safety, just his pockets. Shame on you mr. lawyer. (I haven’t capitalized your title because you don’t deserve the respect.) I’ve heard this not the first time you have done this? Is it true?
    To the passengers who followed the fool with the promise of free things and or refunds. Take a long look in the mirror if you can, your actions caused so much hate and discontent among passengers and the crew. I wonder out of all who pulled their gratuity from your sign and sail card actually paid the Workers cash? I wonder who went to the casino and burnt it there. The ones who took care of you during the cruise suffered because of your actions. Did you eat? Was your bed made? Did you have room service? I had the privilege of serving my country for more than 20 years, and I represented the United States of America in two wars. Yet it still shocks me when I see the true essence of greedy, hateful and unhappy souls. One is not satisfied with the misery they have, they feel they must spread it around trying to infect others. Too the individuals, who went beyond word and name calling, hope you get put in jail or at least fined a hefty fine. Of course there are those who will not care what I say nor give it one thought. Just remember what goes around comes around.
    I wasn’t happy with the trip as well, but as a Man I will lodge my dissatisfaction with and to the proper authorities. The Captain doesn’t make a move with that ship unless he gets permission. So he wouldn’t carry refund forms in his back pocket. A brilliant lawyer should have talked with all dissatisfied customers got all pertinent information and lodge a complaint to Carnival Headquarters.

    To the Captain and the crew: Thank You for taking care of us all. Even though we had a few problem children on board you guys did a great job. Sorry for the ones who cause you any problems! One day common sense will prevail.

    Mac and Mel

    P.S. We’ll never sail out of New York again.

  • NHal

    I was on this cruise. The captian did a great job of keeping us in the sun, and on the beach for 8 days. In fact, the only displeasure I had was listening to the rude passengers complain incessantly. I was on a Boston to Bermuda cruise about 4 years ago that went through a major storm on the way out. It was scary. Waves were crashing OVER the top rail into the pool. This was much, much better.

  • NHal

    Correction – that B – B cruise must have been more like 8 years ago now.

  • Darlene

    I was on the ship Miracle 08/29. Let me start by saying that Hurricane season is July to the beginning of December, so ALMOST EVERYONE cruises during hurricane season. I was NOT one of the people in the riot either. I was though VERY disappointed with this trip and let me tell you why.
    The captain WAS rude with his announcements. He made comments like “You paid for 3 ports, we GAVE you 3 ports” and “ladies you should be happy that you didn’t have to cook or make the bed for 8 days”. In my opinoin he was being rude with the way he said it with the sarcasm in his voice. Now, YES we paid for 3 ports (3 caribbean island ports) and yes we didn’t have to cook or make the beds (need I remind you we also PAID for that service).
    Now, we CANNOT blame Carnival for the weather, that it true. Yes, Carnival kept us away from the Hurricane, that is true. What is also true is that other cruise ships were in the SAME situation that the Miracle was in and they ALL managed to get their ships to an alternative island in the caribbean. The reason the Miracle didn’t go is because the ship had something wrong with the engines and couldn’t run to capacity and that is to the fault of Carnival. Had Carnival been forthright about the ships condition and that our ports were going to be compromised and leave the decision up to us BEFORE we went aboard, that would have been the correct route. They should NOT have had us board and take us to Florida. When we got off the ship in Port Canaveral Florida – the bussed us to WALMART. At the price we paid for the cruise for a family of four YES I am VERY disappointed with the way Carnival handled this situation. This is not my first cruise, I have sailed with Royal Caribbean and Carnival (Triumph). This was by far the worst vacation I ever had. You should not judge ALL the passengers the same or judge the passengers if you weren’t on this ship. There were piles of vomit all over the place and the over all ship was dirty in comparison to other cruises. You may have your retallying remarks however the truth still remains. This cruise was a BUST!
    There were many disappointments and it didn’t all have to do with Rhoad Island being one of the ports. Rhoad Island was the straw that broke the camels back.

  • Amanda

    As a travel agent and one of the passengers on the Carnival Miracle, I too was VERY disappointed. If at least we had been treated with respect and professionalism, I would have been OK with the whole change of itinerary, however this was definitely NOT the case.

    We were never given the opportunity to cancel our cruise beforehand even though Carnival knew that the ship would be rerouted to the alternate ports (you can’t tell me that they can just decide to stop in Port Canaveral a day before their arrival – there are certain things that have to be approved first and that takes TIME) .

    In addition, the people that commended the captain for not taking us into the storm have absolutely no idea what they are talking about. The day they told us we were heading for the Bahamas, I happened to turn on the TV and flipped through the different channels and landed on CNN. CNN was doing a story on T.S Hannah which according to the Hurricane Center was heading straight for the Bahamas!!! If the storm was heading into the Bahamas, why were we going there? No wonder we couldn’t make the stop in Nassau. Our stop in Freeport was a bust because of the rain. We got poured on the minute we got to the beach and the captain had promised a warm and sunny day.

    The water coming out of the sinks and showers was brown. Even the towels that were left in our bathrooms had brown streaks on them. Yuck!

    I have been on many cruise lines and this was by far the worst ever.
    As far as service is concerned, Carnival does not even compare with Norwegian which is far from being a luxury cruise line.

    I even saw the lady from the Barry Manilow song (Lola from the Copacabana) complaining about a service issue at the VIP desk. If this is how they treat their repeat guests, what does that tell you about the company?….

    The food was horrible (except for the first two nights in the dining room). Everything went downhill from there.

    Had our itinerary been changed entirely to stay away from the storm (i.e going to Canada instead) I would have understood , but the ports of call that were chosen made absolutely no sense.
    The shore excursions were so expensive (and I’ve been to Port Canaveral before but never paid $89 for the Space Center tour) that most people had to take a shuttle to the beach via the Wal-mart and the local mall. Huge 60+ passenger vans picked up passengers at the port, and dropped them off without warning at the mall in order to take another bus (this time an 8-passenger van!) to get to Cocoa Beach. There were about a hundred people waiting to get there….

    As one reviewer mentioned, the fact that the ship was going to stop in Rhode Island is just the straw that broke the camel’s back.

    On the one hand I did not agree that we should demand the 15% gratuity back (even though the gratuity is NOT mandatory), but on the other I did not think that the service we received on this ship was very good.

    I think that either something was wrong with the ship (I wish I knew how the previous reviewer had gotten her information) or that Carnival wanted to save money on the ports of call and fuel (we never really went past 16 Knots, and barely 14 Knots on some days). And let me tell you the ship was rocking around due to the rough seas.

    The captain’s sexist comments were uttered several days BEFORE the uprising (it was actually during his speech at the cocktail reception). He just repeated the same things over and over again on different days.

    What also makes me suspicious is the fact that Royal Caribbean actually did make a stop in San Juan (on Tuesday September 2nd, we were supposed to be there on the 1st). If they were able to stop there, why didn’t we?

    There are times when cancelling a cruise is the best thing to do and this was one of them, however we were never given that choice.

    I also want to mention that the captain said we would be entertained, however what he didn’t say was that the guests on the ship had to provide the entertainment. This was because some of the performers for the scheduled shows could not make it to the ship. We had to listen to about an hour of people singing (badly for the most part). I appreciate the fact that these people volunteered and were brave enough to do that, but I did not pay full price for a cruise to listen to a parody of American Idol!

    All in all, this was the worst vacation ever and I will never recommend Carnival to any of my clients.

  • Amanda

    P.S: As a matter of fact, why didn’t we stop in Bermuda? Bermuda was never affected by the storms….

    This is just another thing that reinforces my conviction that they stopped in Port Canaveral, Freeport and Rhode Island in ordet to save money.

  • R Fitzner

    Darlene said “I was on the ship Miracle 08/29. Let me start by saying that Hurricane season is July to the beginning of December, so ALMOST EVERYONE cruises during hurricane season.”

    It’s not the core argument of your post, but your sweeping generalizations here beg for clarification.

    While “Hurricane season” sweeps over almost half the year — actually from June 1st to November 30th — the storm activity peaks, and is exponentially worse, in August and September; almost no major hurricanes (Cat 3+) ever occur outside of this period. Cruising through the tropics in those months is virtually a guarantee of itinerary change, and is why staterooms tend to be cheaper during this period.

    Further, peak time for Caribbean cruises is between the start of Christmas school break and the end of Easter break — which is why several ships head to Europe and elsewhere between May and September. Your “ALMOST EVERYONE” statement could not be more incorrect, related to cruising in the Caribbean.

  • LauraNJ

    I was on the cruise and while we didn’t get where we were going we certainly didn’t let it ruin the vacation. As far as I am concerned we got plenty of sun and the ports were bad. The excursions for the original itinerary were expensive so the substitutes weren’t very different. I didn’t think the food was bad at all – I managed to find something quite good to eat every night…the entertainment was ok and we missed several of the big shows and opted to see a band in frankie and johnnies.

    As far as bermuda….we talked to some of the staff and even the captain mentioned that we couldn’t go to bermuda because there were already 2 ships in port. Carnival also doesn’t have a contract this time of year with bermuda and we didn’t have priority. I heard 800 times that we could tender in….BERMUDA didn’t want us!! We can’t just go there and say were here.

    As far as Hanna – that storm did weird stuff and it was really large. I really think they were hoping it would pick up speed and get out of our way and it didn’t and we couldn’t get around it. I don’t know I just think that if you choose to travel this time of year this can happen. If you let it ruin your trip then that sucks for you.

  • LauraNJ

    sorry – I should have said the ports weren’t bad….heheheh

  • Steven

    First off – the captian’s words EXCATLY “ITS OK WE’LL HAVE ANOTHER BOAT OF SUCKERS NEXT WEEK” WHICH WAS CAUGHT ON TAPE FOR ANYONE TO CALL ME A LIAR!

    Second off – Everyone on the boat had a diffrent “story”. no one had anyidea what the hell was going on. COMPLETLY A MESS!

    I understand totally about the weather but come on! a company this big! not having any “backup” plan?! to take us to RHODE ISLAND?! THATS A JOKE!

    AND ON TOP OF IT ALL!

    After much digging, I managed to get some inside information from an insider at Carnival Operations Centre. The reason we never made a run for San Juan, St Thomas, and Grand Turk had nothing to do with sailing into the Hurricane or through the tail of it. As had been reported months earlier, there is a problem with the Miracles engines that affected the vessel’s top speed. The isuue was the return leg to New York. As we all know Hurrican Hannah moved up the East Coast, and hit New York on Saturday. The folks at Carnival were worried that the ship would have been moving up the coast to New York with the storm/Hurricane seeing that we were due in New York on Saturday as well, and that the ship would not have been able to outrun it at the current top speed. The only safe option was to send the ship up the coast a day earlier to avoid traveling with the Hurricane, which is the unfortunate reason that we had to go to Rhode Island and not say Virginia or Bermuda.

    Yes taking the tips away to everyone was a HORRIBLE move…. but to the captian and his people….HORRIBLE!

  • Steven

    ON TOP OF THAT ALL I OVER HEARD THE CAPTIAN SAY IT HIM SELF WHEN SOMEONE ASKED “WHY CANT WE JUST HEAD BEHIND THE STORM SINCE IT’S HEADING UP THE COAST.”

    AS PER HIM “THAT WOULD BE OUT OF THE WAY…”

    HE COULD HAVE VERY WELL WENT AROUND IT. HE DECIDED NOT TO. IT WAS SIMPLY ONE BAD CHOICE AFTER ANOTHER. SAN JUAN WAS NEVER EVEN HIT! AND ONCE THE ENTIRE BOAT KNEW THIS HIS RESPONSE “HOW COULD WE PREDICT IT…”

    THE ONLY MISTAKE I SEE WAS PUTTING HIM IN CHARGE

  • LauraNJ

    I think you need to stop yelling….

    FYI – I knew about the ships engine problems back when they switched from Tortola to Grand Turk. Secondly, I disagree with you about the captain. The “suckers” comment refered to the hurricanes coming through ike and Josephine…and he said we have some more of these suckers to deal with next week. The staff was attacked at every turn from people – I was there and saw how horribly they were treating people that didn’t make any of the decision. How would you feel if you got attacked and verbally assulted for days on end.

    Lastly, do you really think the captain makes these decisions?? The corporate offices has to tell him where to go.

    BOTTOM LINE – if you want to get to your ports don’t go this time of year….and let those of us who really don’t care enjoy the trip no matter where it takes us.

  • LauraNJ

    I also did a little checking and the top speed of the Miracle 22 knots – we were doing 20 knots for most of the trip….hmmmmm

  • Amanda

    I think that most people here don’t understand that the reason many of us (who actually were on the ship) are upset is not only because of the change of itinerary but how badly we were treated as paying customers.

    I do not think that paying $1500 for a trip should entitle me to step into an elevator that reeks of urine!

    As I’ve already mentioned, the food was not consistent at all. You can’t serve undercooked ribs and fish or meat that is completely dried out. I’m not a snob but I know when I’m being served bad food.
    The service on the ship was absolutely horrible. I was one of the only people out on the outside decks at night (most people stayed inside because of the wind) and there were plenty of food trays, cups etc.. still on the deck. On any other ship I have been on, everything was cleaned and removed constantly.
    I kept seeing trays of food on the inside decks and most had been there since morning. This is not a way to run a ship.
    Once again, Norwegian was 10 times better than Carnival and NCL is not even a “luxury” cruise line. I have been on other cruise lines such as Royal Carribean but if we get into that comparison, Carnival will get crushed.

    I repeat that it was not just the fact that the itinerary was changed that made people upset but rather a COMPILATION of things.

    The fact that the captain does not make the decisions (is he not in command of the vessel after all?) makes no difference whatsoever. The highest ranking officer on the ship should not say things like “the women should not complain because they won’t have to cook and clean for 8 days”. That is not only sexist but extremely unproffessional from someone in his position.

    Even if Bermuda was not an option, we could have gone somewhere else.

    ON THE OTHER HAND, IF THE SHIP HAD ENGINE PROBLEMS, THE DECENT THING TO DO WOULD HAVE BEEN TO CANCEL THE TRIP ENTIRELY.
    OF COURSE THE TIGHTWADS AT CARNIVAL WOULD NEVER GO FOR THAT….

    I DON’T UNDERSTANDHOW SOME PEOPLE WHO WERE ON THE SHIP STILL CAN’T FIGURE OUT THAT WE’VE ALL BEEN ROYALLY SCR–ED.

  • MrHNS

    ***If the crew was so wonderful how come my 10 year old daughter was hurt by security and not one crew member assisted us? All I asked for was an ice pack. When we found the infirmary the doctor was rude, gave me a plastic bag and told me to call room service for ice.

    This happened before the riot occurred. So an infirmary doesn’t carry instant ice bags for injuries? How is that possible? What a joke.

    The staff in some areas was awful. Prior to the riot we asked for a wait person at the adult pool why a plate of leftover fruit rinds was left out for 3 1/2 hours in the sun. Answers – Rudeness. First person said sure and walked away. Second one said it was because they were short staffed.

    I do agree the people on the boat from NY were quite hostile . But the crew was responsible for setting the tone and they did from the start. Rude and nasty.

    My next carnival will not be the boat. Never again.

    Those that were great at service I gave tips to directly. My waiter was awesome, as was my bartender. I had a good rapport with the staff who made up the room as well.

    However, Room Service was horrendous. Anyone who finally answered the phones was rude. The food wasn’t great. It was ok. The shows I did attend were fair.

    ****Please note I don’t complain once about the ports. ****

    I enjoyed Freeport with my family. It only rained on one side of the island for a short time so we had a great time on the beach for a couple of hours. We also enjoyed the shopping for a couple of hours.

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