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- Posted February 17, 2013 by
- MichelleAC Follow
Location
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
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Docking only the beginning of the nightmare for Triumph passengers
When we finally made it off the Carnival Triumph in Mobile Alabama, we were greeted with more of Carnival's ineptitude. There was mass chaos getting on the busses. The people who were supposed to be directing us where to go had no idea where we were supposed to go. Those directing the busses on where they were supposed to go had no idea where the busses were supposed to go. There was a desperate crush of humanity that just wanted to get home! There were no organized lines for the busses headed toward New Orleans, just a mass of people trying to get on a bus and hoping they were getting on the right one.
I got off the boat around 11:30 and didn't get on a bus until after 1am. We stood around in the freezing cold, exhausted, hungry and just desperate to get out of there.
What followed was a 2+ hour bus ride to a hotel in New Orleans. I arrived at 3:15am and was told I had to be on the airport shuttle by 5:30am. I had time to either shower or eat... I chose the shower.
I made my way to the airport shuttle a little before 5:30 (and I was clean, but all of my clothes still smelled of sewage from being in my cabin on the sewage-sogged Deck 2). We were told to get on the bus, so we put our suitcases down in the bottom of the bus and grabbed some seats. A few minutes later, a lady (Carnival Cruise Lines employee) came on and started yelling at us. She told us if we were on a charter flight, we needed to move our stuff over to a truck instead of the bottom of the bus.
A fight ensued between exhausted Triumph passengers and she yelled at us some more, and then stormed off the bus. A few minutes later, another Carnival employee boarded and told us that if we were on a charter flight to stay on the bus, but everyone who was on a commercial flight had to get off.
More fights and infuriated Triumph passengers getting off the bus. A little while later, another Carnival employee got on the bus and told us that this shuttle was only for a specific charter plane. If we were on that specific flight, we could stay on, otherwise we'd have to get off. We got off and asked which bus we were supposed to be on. There was just mass confusion among the Carnival staff. They had no idea what was going on.
Apparently the busses were supposed to be labeled according to which flight they were headed toward and no one had actually done it. Luggage was supposed to be labeled for specific flights as well as whether the passenger was going straight to Galveston on another bus from the airport or not. No one knew what was going on and everyone was telling us a different story.
We finally managed to get on the right bus and sit there for a while before they came back on and told us to get our luggage retagged and moved yet again. In the mean time, Carnival employees were literally throwing our luggage around. They broke things in my suitcase and I'm sure many others. It was like they were taking their frustration out on us and our luggage. Completely unacceptable behavior all the way around on the part of the Carnival employees.
Two hours after we were supposed to have left for the airport, we finally headed that direction, with no idea whether we would actually ever see our luggage again.
Once we got the the airport we were in the hands of Delta Airlines employees, where we experienced the first ounce of humanity and compassion we'd felt on the trip. The flight to Houston was organized, calm and civilized.
From Houston we were put on a bus to Galveston, a process which another Carnival employee tried to jump in and screw up, but our bus driver took over and actually got us where we were going.
I got off the boat around 11:30 and didn't get on a bus until after 1am. We stood around in the freezing cold, exhausted, hungry and just desperate to get out of there.
What followed was a 2+ hour bus ride to a hotel in New Orleans. I arrived at 3:15am and was told I had to be on the airport shuttle by 5:30am. I had time to either shower or eat... I chose the shower.
I made my way to the airport shuttle a little before 5:30 (and I was clean, but all of my clothes still smelled of sewage from being in my cabin on the sewage-sogged Deck 2). We were told to get on the bus, so we put our suitcases down in the bottom of the bus and grabbed some seats. A few minutes later, a lady (Carnival Cruise Lines employee) came on and started yelling at us. She told us if we were on a charter flight, we needed to move our stuff over to a truck instead of the bottom of the bus.
A fight ensued between exhausted Triumph passengers and she yelled at us some more, and then stormed off the bus. A few minutes later, another Carnival employee boarded and told us that if we were on a charter flight to stay on the bus, but everyone who was on a commercial flight had to get off.
More fights and infuriated Triumph passengers getting off the bus. A little while later, another Carnival employee got on the bus and told us that this shuttle was only for a specific charter plane. If we were on that specific flight, we could stay on, otherwise we'd have to get off. We got off and asked which bus we were supposed to be on. There was just mass confusion among the Carnival staff. They had no idea what was going on.
Apparently the busses were supposed to be labeled according to which flight they were headed toward and no one had actually done it. Luggage was supposed to be labeled for specific flights as well as whether the passenger was going straight to Galveston on another bus from the airport or not. No one knew what was going on and everyone was telling us a different story.
We finally managed to get on the right bus and sit there for a while before they came back on and told us to get our luggage retagged and moved yet again. In the mean time, Carnival employees were literally throwing our luggage around. They broke things in my suitcase and I'm sure many others. It was like they were taking their frustration out on us and our luggage. Completely unacceptable behavior all the way around on the part of the Carnival employees.
Two hours after we were supposed to have left for the airport, we finally headed that direction, with no idea whether we would actually ever see our luggage again.
Once we got the the airport we were in the hands of Delta Airlines employees, where we experienced the first ounce of humanity and compassion we'd felt on the trip. The flight to Houston was organized, calm and civilized.
From Houston we were put on a bus to Galveston, a process which another Carnival employee tried to jump in and screw up, but our bus driver took over and actually got us where we were going.
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