Many of you know, Melissa Colon (formerly “Duran”) is a great friend of mine. She wanted to blog again, and probably will many many times. She had quite the experience on her honeymoon. This story will stress you out, make you laugh a little, and…. you will FEEL HER PAIN! I wish something could be done to make Marc and Melissa feel a little bit better after this horrible experience!!
Here’s their story…..
Melissa & Marc
I’m baaaacccckk!!!
How is everyone?
If you follow Dayna regularly on this blog or on Twitter or Facebook, then you have probably seen some stuff from my wedding. It was AMAZING…everything I could have asked for! The weather was perfect, my bridesmaids were awesome, people danced, people laughed, people got tipsy. It was a party…just the way Marc and I wanted!
However, I’m not here to talk about the wedding. I’m here to talk about the honeymoon…our honeymoon from hell!
We were super excited for this honeymoon. We worked hard saving up our money and couldn’t wait for our week of relaxation and fun.
We decided to take a week-long cruise to the Eastern Caribbean on Carnival Cruise Lines. It was in our budget and the reviews were awesome. We even splurged on a room with a big balcony. We would make five stops on the cruise… St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and St. Maarten. Sounds nice, right? We booked everything including airfare and transportation through the cruise line. If you have done this before, you know the prices are a little higher than if you find air reservations on your own. Marc wanted to go through the cruise line to ensure a perfect trip. We even purchased the trip insurance. Our only concern was that Carnival wanted to fly us into San Juan, Puerto Rico the same day we were to embark. We fought this, but were told we didn’t have a choice. We reluctantly agreed.
Well, it happened. Our connecting flight in Dallas was delayed four hours. We would miss the boat. We didn’t panic. We bought the insurance, remember? They were supposed to fly us out to the first port (St. Thomas) to meet up with the ship. That should have been the next day, however, after two hours on the phone with Carnival we were told they couldn’t find us seats on a flight. We wouldn’t be able to get on the ship until mid-week. Marc wanted our money back. He was denied. We were stuck. This is when the tears came. I cried… and cried. These weren’t cute little sad tears dripping down my face. I was ugly crying… stuff coming- out- of- your- nose- ugly crying. TRUE STORY
Finally, the cruise line tells us they are going to put us up in Barbados for a few days until we could meet up with the boat. Heck, how bad could that be? Sounds like a plan! We were told how much they would reimburse us for food every day. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t horrible.
The next morning, we flew to Barbados. Our luggage DIDN’T fly there. Carnival apparently requested the airline to forward our luggage to St. Thomas where it was then picked up by a Carnival Cruise Line employee and put on the ship! Uuuummmmmm, what? Carnival sent us here! How in the world could they send our bags elsewhere??!?! Three days with no clothes, no toothbrush, no clean underwear. We rolled with it. We had no other choice.
We took a taxi to the hotel and quickly realized our adventure was just beginning. Our hotel was….um, cute. Like cute as in they pushed two twin beds together so we could sleep next to each other… cute.
We immediately started walking to find clothes and necessities. Shopping for Marc, in particular, was difficult. He ended up with a Barbados flag t-shirt and this…
Yup, that’s a lion smoking a joint. Don’t you also just love those neon purple shorts we bought?
Marc’s new t-shirt
We tried to make the best of it. Barbados is beautiful. Our first night there, we decided to walk across the street to a local bar. We never made it. On our walk, local men kept purposely bumping into Marc. It was so weird. They would either offer him drugs or try to fight him. Marc felt it was unsafe so we went back to the room and didn’t venture out past 5pm again. It gave us ample time to catch up on this past season of “Hoarders.” Thank God we had cable in our room.
The next day we hit a local beach and drank. Aside from the guy on the beach who kept offering us drugs, it was nice. He called himself “Dr. Feel Good” I’m serious.
The next day, we were to meet up with the ship. Thank the LORD! We wanted to get on the ship as soon as possible so we could eat breakfast and shower on the ship. We got there just like planned but were told the employee who checks people in didn’t start until 10:30. “No, that’s not acceptable. We need to get on this boat now!” I demanded. They didn’t care… so we sat there for 2 ½ hours in the sun… literally 100 yards away from the boat and THEY WOULDN’T LET US ON!
Can you believe we are only mid-week right now? This story is just starting!
When the employee came down to check us in, her first words were “oh Melissa and Marc, we’ve been expecting you. We are so sorry the airline ruined your trip.”
Me: “No, it was you guys”
Her: “we have no control over the plane.”
Me: “well, when your company sells plane tickets at a higher price, you guys are culpable.”
Marc: “and it doesn’t help that you all hijacked our luggage for the last three days”
Her: *laugh*
Yup, she laughed. WHATEVER
We got on the ship. We ate. We showered with our own toiletries. We relaxed by the pool. The rest of the day was good.
The next day was the best. We docked in St. Lucia. It was gorgeous. We shopped and went to the beach. I did some jet-skiing which always makes me smile. It was perfect.
Melissa & Marc
Friday we docked in St. Kitts. Keep in mind, we had prepaid for 3 shore excursions… like snorkeling and sailing. Because we missed the first half of the cruise, we missed two excursions. St. Kitts was our last chance. We were scheduled to snorkel. I was excited. After a morning of shopping and looking at monkeys, we went back to the ship to eat and get our bathing suits on to snorkel. As we were walking out of the room, our phone rings. “Hi, Mrs. Colon, we’re so sorry to tell you that your snorkeling excursion for the day has been canceled. The tour guide feels the visibility underwater isn’t that great. We’re sorry. We will refund your money.”
I hung up the phone and laughed. Marc and I joked that we were bad luck and would probably get thrown overboard any second. We decided to not go to the beach that day because our dinner server told us the cabs in St. Kitts were pricey. Remember, Marc and I were running low on cash because we had used so much of it at the beginning of our trip. We were told the next stop in St. Maarten was the best so we decided to save our remaining cash for the next day…and so ended our day in St. Kitts.
The next morning I was ready to go. I ordered us room service at 6:30am because I planned to take full advantage of our last stop, but five minutes after we got our food, our cruise director came on over the intercom system:
“Good morning, passengers. I have some bad news for you. The captain has decided not to dock in St. Maarten today. The swells are just a tad concerning so we are not stopping…but join us at the pool at noon for a trivia contest!”
I put down my bowl of cereal and went back to bed. Marc and I felt defeated.
Carnival ended up taking us to Puerto Rico where the cruise ended. We got off the ship and made our way to the airport. We flew from PR to Miami where we were scheduled to fly back to Las Vegas. We got on the plane in Miami…and we waited. We waited for two hours on the plane. That’s when the captain came on and said we could get off the plane if we wanted. They were waiting for a mechanical engineer to change a light bulb. They couldn’t find him. We got off the plane where we waited for another hour…then got back on the plane, waited another 30 minutes and then took off. 5 hours later, we were at McCarran Int’l. I climbed into bed at 3am. Thank God it was over.
I have done everything I possibly can to get some sort of refund, reimbursement, etc. Carnival hasn’t budged. We haven’t even been paid back for the clothes we had to buy or the food we had to purchase.
I’ve learned a lot though… Marc and I work well as a team. I knew that already but believe it even more now. I know how to comb the tangles out of my hair with my fingers…and I’m pretty good at it. Carry any medicine you have in your purse… not your luggage. When traveling, carry a clean pair of undies in your purse. You never know when you’ll need it!
This story exhausts me. I’m sure you’re exhausted too. I feel like Carnival Cruise Lines should be ashamed of themselves. We saved up for this trip and were disappointed. People keep saying I will look back and laugh. That hasn’t happened yet.
For now, we just put it behind us and pray we get a second chance at a honeymoon.
There are no words.What a nightmare!
After reading this, I’m actually glad after our wedding this April we will not be going anywhere for our honeymoon! lol Sheesh! Melissa, I think if you two can make it through that, you can make it through anything together!
Dayna, I feel her pain. What was supposed to be a beautiful, relaxing first vacation as husband and wife, turned into a hellacious trip, that reaffirmed their abilities to weather the storms. Hopefully, they will receive some monetary compensation…or a fully paid cruise on another cruise-line!! Best wishes to them!!
The Colon’s should seek out a travel industry ombudsman. They are perfect for this type of diaster.
What a terrible experience. I definitely think Melissa and Marc should be reimbursed for their trip. I’m so sorry that this happened to them.
I have heard some horror stories about cruses, but none like this. I really hope there is some retribution for your loss. One would think that bad press would have an impact on the industry, as history shows it hasn’t.
One thing I do love is how you highlighted the good that came out of this realizing how strong you are together.
Many Happy years Together
BW
Wow…what a nightmare. One thing for sure, Mark & Melissa will never forget their honeymoon. They are a beautiful couple and I am sure,after this, they will be able to endure anything.
We need to call Ellen up, get you on her show and get you a second honeymoon!
Melissa and Marc… That royally sucks. I’m sorry you went through this
That’s just HORRIBLE!!! I think you Certainly DESERVE a second honeymoon.. I am thinking of booking a trip soon.. I am gonna hold off, Contingent to what happens to your “Do Over”.. I would hate to take a trip knowing , I too might NOT get any help.. Good luck to you Melissa and Mark., keep us posted.
OMG!!! That is horrible! Y’all definitely deserve a do over. It saddens me the complete lack of customer service some of these companies have. It truly makes you not want to trust anyone. I don’t have plans for a cruise anytime soon but I will definitely not go with Carnival if/when we decided to take one. I’ve heard way too many bad things about them before this but THIS takes the cake!
Nothing like “weathering the storm” week 1! I like the Ellen idea above as well as the ombudsman comment.
Whether Carnival reimburses you or not, and they absolutely should, it sounds like you and Marc will have a long future together and time for a do-over honeymoon. Until then: Honeymoon in Vegas!!
Beautiful wedding.(Saw the pics on Jamie’s blog.)
Congratulations!
Tracy J
What a hell of a trip! I am so sorry and I would be filing a lawsuit right about now.
The fact that Carnival allowed all this to happen is bad. But the fact that they refused to admit fault and tried to blame the airline and didn’t so much as apologize or offer any kind of compensation is unacceptable. Especially given the tweets and emails they received at the time of the honeymoon disaster.
My husband and I love to cruise and I will NEVER book with Carnival! I will be sure that my mom and my in laws who are all frequent cruisers know to never give Carnival a penny!
OH MEL…..
What I am about to tell you about your trip….You will later say….OMG you are right I should have called you! I should have known.
I have contacts with the Cruise Line and can make some additional calls, in turn I will send your info to a friend at one of the BIG shows in a big City who can possibly make some heads turn.
Now St Kitts…I just did a Getaway Segment there in June. Greg with Greggs Safaris is the BEST Way to see the entire Island and the Taxi Co-OP is the only “NO RIP OFF” Taxi on the Island Ya gotta ask for Leonard!!! (” St. Kitts Taxi Co-op they make every vistor feel special and at home while they are visiting our beautiful twin island federation.
When you plan to visit St. Kitts & Nevis let them know,they will take care of all your Taxi services and Tours.
The president “Leonard Herbert” was awarded Taxi driver of the year 2010.)
Anyway……to help…contact me…and……
I will give you 1 week (7 days) of mine “anywhere you want to go”…in my Interval Ownership (I can give you the details)! Then I will arrange ahead of time the perks of a GetawayTimeTV Getaway. You remember how my Getaways were….Yep! My friend. You have been awarded with the chance for a 2nd Honeymoon. In addition give me your info and I will make some groundshaking calls and get your Refund (or try …lol) Once a Trobleshooter…always a Troubleshooter! Hope this helps! C
That is the saddest honeymoon story I’ve ever read. Send it to the Today Show or GMA.. so then can do a story on u guys and get a new honeymoon
What a mess you encountered! Such a shame that Carnival Cruise lines doesn’t care enough to remedy the issues. Thank you for sharing your story, and, sorry it wasn’t the dream honeymoon you had planned.
I posted the link to the story on Carnival’s Facebook page. If that doesn’t get some type of a response, I don’t know what will.
Oh Melissa, so sorry you and your husband went through that. I would be ashamed if I were a rep. for carnival. I hope you and Marc get that perfect honeymoon you want. this story made me exhausted I think I need to go lay down, LOL
Hi Melissa. This is Patti, Kate’s mother-in-law. We cruise a lot and I have sworn off Carnival for good many years ago. They put us at the end of a hallway right next to the crew lounge and the noise in our hallway and them in and out of their lounge ALL night was awful. I called and complained to be moved and they claimed there were no other rooms. I even had a security guard stand in our room (like 2 am) and listen to the doors bang every time a crew member went in and out, laughing and banging the door, music from the lounge. It was unreal. They did nothing for us on board. I wrote a letter after and they gave me a $50.00 credit on our next cruise with them. What a joke. I don’t know how they stay in business. Soooo sorry to hear about your honeymoon. Shame on Carnival.
Absolutely aweful!! Carnival should compensate accordingly and all who read this should reconsider doing any business with them!!
Wow, I swear never to cruise on Carnival. Also unreal they will not compensate her.
So much for the magical honeymoon…
I sure hope you are able to get the powers that be to make it right for you two. You deserve a vacation after dealing with that nightmare!
well ma’am, I’ve red your post and as a human, I feel very sory, even though you are an American and.. well, I live in part of world were we usualy hate americans. I use to work for Carnival Cruise Lines and.. I’ve seen people having so discusting, so ugly experiences with CCL. OK, now.. that’s what they are capable to do with their passingers, imagine what and how they treat their crew members! but anyway, you should get a lawyer and get a full refound, coz, believe me, nobody of them gives a damn about what you’ve been thrugh! I hope crew was ok with you! one thing.. not sure about you, but I will never sail again with Carnival!
I’m really sorry about that bad experience u had during ur honeymoon but i sadly can’t say that i am surprised. I used to be an employee of a big cruise line for 8 years & the things i personally experienced & i witnessed over there were really shocking for me. They always make u feel like a fish at sea!!They don’t need u !! After 8 years of service, i’m so happy that i’m not working there anymore. All the quality service that i gave to American people was only the reflection of their beautiful & kind behaviours towards me. I hope u will have a real honeymoon soon with no bad surprises like that!! I hope Carnival cruises will cover ur loss or give u another week of vacation. They can’t give u ur honeymoon back but they can help u make new happy memories at least. Good luck! Love from Turkey:))
…First, congratulations to both of you. Thank God you made it thru the storm. I know how does it feel when you’re into bad luck. I worked for CCL for 13 years and thank God I retired now. Your fate with CCL is only 1 in a million passengers story. I always told myself that it also happens to other cruiseship. CCL needs a big shake and we need you (guest)to help us make it better. When CCL change management since 2007, everything went wrong already. It’s not about “FUN” anymore but just to take your money. I hope you’ll get the reimbursement also….By the way, did they send you a cheap bottle of champagne too?
I worked for a big cruise line for almost 10 years. Your story is one of hundreds. I witnessed many of them, some were real like yours, so many others were made up by the same passenger trying to get something as “compensation”. In both cases the cruiseline always was nice and tried to make things better even though if the “issue” was just a lie from the passenger. Keep fighting with Carnival, they really should compensate. And the next time, you should not cruise with the white trash cruise line. Choose something more classy.
Horrors! I would get copies of your story and one week at a time, I would start sending it to every travel newsletter and guide publisher…Fodors, Frommers, Budget Travel, American Express Travel, Costco Travel, Trip Advisor, there’s 6 weeks for starters. I did this once for a bait and switch ad in NYC years ago and every week the company would get a new inquiry. I would keep at them until I ran out of pape or received a satisfactory reply….You make a great couple and looking positively surviving this ordeal proves you belong together. Stay well for many years ….
Just crossed Carnival off my list!
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How awful!! So sorry you guys had to go thru that. I hope sometime in the future you two will be able to have that dream honeymoon. Can I make a suggestion? How about Hawaii? Especially on the island of Kauai, it is my home, I was born and raised there,it is an absolutely beautiful place and believe me you guys will have a great time. God Bless you both!