C. JENKINS

Age: 31
Occupation: Small business owner
Number of Cruises: 1
Cruise Line: Carnival
Ship: Holiday
Sailing Date: September 11th, 2004
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

This was a nightmare on the sea. If I leave out the fact that they took us right into a hurricane and we never should have left port, I still have plenty to talk about.

We had always been told how great the food and the entertainment would be aboard the ship, neither was true. The food was barely edible and reminded everyone of school cafeteria food. The same thing was served everyday for breakfast and lunch. The dinners in the dining room had a beautiful presentation and a bland taste. They started running out of some of the food by the 3rd day. On the last 2 days, the only drinks you could get other than alcohol were apple juice, skim milk and tea.

The Las Vegas style shows were horrible and reminded you of a childhood talent contest. All of the activites on board were extremely limited and horribly un-organized. The guest involved shows appeared to try to humiliate people as much as possible. The people that had unknowingly been involved in these shows seemed extremely embarrased and ashamed of what they were put through.

The shopping on this boat consists of 3 stores the size of a large closet one liqour store a watch shop and a tuxedo shop. The largest store was mainly selling Carnival related products and expensive souveniers. From the minute you get on the boat to the minute you leave you are bombarded with people selling you things... jewlery, art, liqour, photos, videos, excursions, towels, and much more. It never stops !!!! 4 0f the 9 TV channels are dedicated to selling you things.

One the 3rd day a pipe busted in the room next to ours and flooded our room. They said they could not move us to another room even though the boat was not at full capacity. They brought a huge fan and set it on our floor. The smell was horrible and the floor remained wet until we left the boat for good. On the last day they put an envelope under our door apologizing for the water and offering us %10 off of our next cruise. NO THANKS !!!

The boat never stopped shaking. Many people on the cruise were walking around holding their life jackets because the water was so rough. They posted Nausea bags all over the ship for people to use. The storm was so bad they did not take us back to our port. They dropped us off in Galveston, TX and we had to make our own arrangements to get back to our cars in New Orleans.

This was by far the worst experience my wife and I have ever been through and we travel alot. Despite the storm the cruise was bad due to the rude information desk, horrible food and a dated ship that was in bad repair. I still cannot believe our room flooded and they did nothing about it.

I have contacted Carnival about this trip and they said they do not refund money and again they offered us a discount on a future cruise (NO THANKS)

Now for the positive:
They room steward who cleaned our room was very friendly. The 2 waiters at dinner were very nice. We met 4 very nice couples who all worked as a support group while on this nightmare of a vacation. That is all the positive I can find to talk about.

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