Carnival Cruise LineReviews of carnival.com

So here we go. I booked a cruise out of Norfolk for my wife and daughter for my daughter's college graduation. I have worked in the online media realm for over 27 years and have completed MORE than my share of forms and purchased many, many items via online forms. BUT YOUR system is but far at the top of the most egregiously incompetent that all others pale in comparison. I purchased a drink package ( that never went thru) the same time I purchased the gratuities package (that went thru) as well as booked 2 "special dining" nights...NEVER went thru. Funny how some went thru and others did not when they were ALL DONE at the same time. So let's start with the drink package....THE SHIP did NOT even have a "smoothie" anywhere to be found, BUT you offered IT in the drink package. My wife went online once on the boat to rebook the "special dining" paid $90 for one and $45 for the other. $90 JUST to book a spot at the steakhouse and still paid $150 for dinner. Just like the Italian place. CAN YOU say RIPOFF...THERE was 3 other parties at the steakhouse when they went. They "won" a spa treatment on a raffle...the SPA would NOT honor it. FYI they stayed on the spa level. Now on to the "room". They stayed on the spa level as I mentioned...claiming to have access to its OWN pool...BUT guests from OTHER decks could access that pool...FYI it is a VERY SMALL POOL. Carnival cruise should change its name to Criminal cruise lines. One thing being in business for over 25 years has taught me... make someone happy they MAY tell a few people, MAKE someone UNHAPPY they TELL EVERYONE. Can YOU guess which category I am IN?

Awful cruise. Toilet smelled like a porta potty. Bed bugs. Had horrible bites. Brought it to their attention and they just said I’m sorry but there were no findings. Black mold in the bathroom. I have pictures to document it all. No compensation, nothing but a I AM SORRY! Will never cruiser again. Pool was sooooo small (Carnival Sunshine)

The only thing I have bad to say about the Carnival is that they need a policy on wearing bathing suits without coverups in the food areas. The women have gone too far with their butts out in the food areas. We do not wants to see their butt while we are eating. Some families are there with young children as well. Have some respect!

You would think Carnival would make it easy for families to reschedule without exorbitant fees but it’s $50 PER PERSON so a family of five has to pay more even though my kids don’t contribute to the fund. We were hoping to move our cruise up so we could start saving for another cruise but nope, it would cost us $250 to switch. So now we will just not book with them again in the future. We can book a hotel and change reservations no problem much easier.

Went on cruise Dec 27 forgot to cash out casino received email of balance but never received. $1079 always give excuse they’re behind in refunding but going on 7 months

Be warned - if you need to visit the medical centre on a Carnival Cruise you will pay more than you ever could have imagined! My husband and I both had to see the doctor on board for two different illnesses. On presenting to the medical centre we were each told that the consultation alone could cost $290. Being desperate for help, we agreed to that cost. At no other time we were advised the cost of tests or medication (and when you're feeling ill, you don't think to ask, you're just desperate for relief). Believe it or not, for a SINGLE nasal swab which tested both Covid and Influenza, we paid a total of $295 ($150 for Covid, $145 for Influenza)! A course of 10 Tamiflu tablets - $231.80. Bottle of cough syrup - $44.94. All up, when we received the bill the morning we disembarked, we were staggered to see a total of $1,555! To add insult to injury, my husband was taunted by the staff for not having had a flu vaccination! Another warning - be sure that your travel insurance covers medical costs. Don't be like me and trust when your insurance company tells you that because the cruise is a domestic one, your medical will be covered by Medicare. What a joke! And then when you try to make a complaint you go to Carnival's "Guest Care" page, type out your complaint, click Submit, and .......... nothing happens. It doesn't go anywhere. Never Again!!!

Down With the Ship (Literally): My Carnival Diary, Day 1 Welcome aboard, friends. I'm writing to you live from the bowels of the Carnival Spirit, somewhere below the waterline, serenaded by the gentle lullaby of what I can only assume is the engine deciding whether or not we'll make it to Alaska. Let me back up. I am NOT a blogger. I have never been a blogger. But desperate times call for desperate content, so here we are. Our party is 35+ people strong. A glorious floating family and friend reunion. When I booked, I did the responsible adult thing and requested a room on a higher floor. The Carnival representative—a REAL human being, employed by this company, presumably trained—confirmed that my room, beginning with the digits "11," would in fact be on the eleventh floor. Logical, no? Eleven. Eleventh floor. This is not advanced math. This is the kind of thing a five-year-old could pattern-match. Reader, I was not on the eleventh floor. I am in the ENGINE room. The bottom. The basement of the sea. The one place on this entire vessel where you can feel the boat thinking. All 37 members of my party are perched up top, sipping cocktails with a view, while we are down here bonding with the propulsion system. So naturally, I complained. Patiently. Saintly, even. I waited two hours—between being "helped" and waiting for the Supervisor, a figure spoken of in hushed tones, summoned like a sea creature from the deep. And when the Supervisor surfaced, he delivered Carnival's signature service with breathtaking confidence: It's your fault. You see, I should have known that a room starting with "11" is obviously the bottom deck. Known that their staff—who told me the opposite—knows exactly what they're doing. Known that my booking record, which mysteriously does not show my request, is the only document that counts. Carnival is, I must say, world-class at one thing: saying NO with a smile. But wait. It gets better. The room was so unpleasant (smelled chemical) that I asked to simply get off the boat. And here's where the universe really started doing improv. They told me sometimes a passenger doesn't show up—happens all the time on a ship with thousands of rooms—and if one opened up, we could move. One room. One single no-show on this entire enormous boat. It was the room next to ours. Folks, someone looked at the cabin beside mine, took one good look, and left the boat. They tapped out. They saw the engine room, weighed it against simply not going to Alaska, and chose dry land. I respect it. Honestly, it's the most useful piece of information Carnival has given me all day. And needless to say, by the time I got the news about the only avail room - the boat was at sea. So that's Day 1. We're down here with the machinery, my 37 friends are living their best lives several decks up, and the Supervisor remains very confident this is all working as intended. This is going to be a long week. Stay tuned. The engine and I have a lot more to talk about. To anyone choosing between Carnival and another cruise line: come for the respect, stay for the absolutely ZERO service. Best, Fifi

I had an Alaska 10 day cruise booked for July 20-30, 2026. On June 11,2026 I went on the Carnival Hub app to look at shore excursions to book and my cruise was GONE!!! I called Carnival right away and they told me that my guest/partner I selected to go with me, called and canceled the cruise!!! He has my pin # so I guess as long as he has that, he could do anything he wanted to MY CRUISE RESERVATION!!! How can they justify allowing that???? It was a cruise I was so looking forward to and now it’s gone!!!! Thanks a lot Carnival😭😭 I have been sailing with Carnival since 1998 and been on over 30 cruises with them, NEVER AGAIN!!! Take my advice and don’t tell anyone your pin or password no matter who your sailing guest with you is. Mine was my husband and now I can’t go on my dream cruise because I trusted him with my info.