Watch this video of the water in my cabin on the Carnival Legend May of 2009:

And I wasn't alone! But there's much more . . .

From October of 2004 to May of 2009, I arranged groups that traveled on Carnival cruises. These were groups of people who wanted to explore mysterious sites with me and my team. The usual group size was 30-100 people. However, after my latest voyage, on the Carnival Legend, that left Tampa, Florida on May 3, 2009. I'm no longer using Carnival.

There were a whole series of quality issues along the lines of the water in my cabin. But here's the twist: The 7-day cruise, for which some paid over $1000 (and traveled from places like India and Ireland to take), was scheduled for four ports, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize, and Roatan Island. Cozumel was cancelled in advance due to the swine flu scare. That's fine, but the EXACT same day we skipped Cozumel, I shot the video of the contaminated water, that smelled like sewage, in my cabin. Is this the good hygiene alternative? I'd have rather taken my chances with the swine flu, especially since I knew all along that situation was being greatly exaggerated by the media. For skipping Cozumel, Carnival refunded everyone $20. Whoopty doo--two drinks.

But everyone understands that sometimes plans have to change. Then the day before we reached Roatan Island, the captain came on the intercom to announce we were canceling our stop there, as well, due to labor protests at the port. But don't worry, here's another $20. OK, so with this policy you can pay $1000 to go on a 7-day cruise with four ports, they cancel all the ports and give you $80 back. So now you can sit in the middle of the ocean for 7 days with no choice but to spend your money in their over-priced bars and at their casino! (Unless, of course, you just want to pig out and do nothing for a week, which you can do for less than $1000 at home). But here's the bad part:

Other Carnival cruises, with our same itinerary, reportedly made adjustments to visit places other than Roatan, such as Jamaica or the Virgin Islands. Those passengers got a great alternative. The passengers on our cruise got nothing but a measly $20 refund. The cruise line was scarcely apologetic. It's true that they have the right to do whatever they want, but the passengers also have the right to complain about customer service. So a large group packed the lobby one afternoon respectfully demanding more than $20 back. One spokesman for the customers asked for the group to reconvene the next morning at 10am to see Carnival's response.

The following morning at 10am, a large crowd gathered again in front of the Colossus Bar. Uniformed crew members came and took the spokesman off into an office. After 10 minutes, he re-emerged without even glancing at the crowd, got on an elevator, and was never seen again, the rest of the cruise, by anyone I spoke with. He had clearly been intimidated, and perhaps confined to his cabin. Then one woman exposed a threatening letter Carnival had passed down overnight. She gave it to a man, with a louder voice, to read since the ship would not provide a microphone for the crowd. There were literally cries of mutiny, and a lot of angry people. Not only would Carnival do nothing, but Carnival said federal and local authorities were now involved, treating all their guests as criminals.

Check out this video clip of the Carnival threats someone posted on YouTube:

Since returning, a Bay 9 News, a TV news station has Florida has also covered the story. To see their coverage, click HERE.

The quality of a Carnival cruise leaves something to be desired. Therefore, they could at least PRETEND like they care about their guests' experiences. $20 refund for a canceled port means absolutely nothing. And for them to be so closed to making the experience somehow better for their guests is amazing.

In order to report on this to you in my usual frank, honest style, I not only asked to speak with someone in person, but I also sent numerous emails to Carnival, giving them an opportunity to respond on the matter and attempt to rectify it for guests. I have received no response at all.

If I have to be on a ship 5 days out of a 7 day cruise, it had better at least be a nice one. My guests and I are going with a better cruise line from now on.