An Appeal to Carnival Passengers as the Executives at Carnival Don't Care

 I got another no-reply from the Carnival Cruise Line CEO and the customer service department.  I have been down this road before when Carnival tried to pull a bait-and-switch on me.  Their reply is not to reply beyond the automated reply that says (lies) we will get back to you.

But even if Carnival doesn't care about their loyal customers, I do and I have seen frustration over this issue that can be resolved with little or no cost.  You think Carnival might bother to read my suggestion and let me know they don't like it, if that is even possible.

The problem, as I explained it to various nonresponsive people at Carnival, was that there is no same-level egress from the main dining room. Scooters and walkers are not prime candidates for stairs, but there are no other options for the wheelchair-bound. 

As a result, people ride elevators down, then go back up after waiting 15 minutes to get one. My offering requires no restructuring of the ship. Do you think that might have been an incentive to at least look at my suggestion?

Here it is, ready to sign and promulgate and relieve som passenger frustration.  

Dear Carnival Cruiser,

At Carnival, we strive to be on the cutting edge of the cruise industry. Sometimes, we don’t catch a trend in time to update our ships during construction or dry dock, such as the growing number of cruisers who need scooters, wheelchairs, walkers, and other mobility assistance devices.

This issue is prevalent in the aft dining rooms aboard all but our most recent designs. Passengers often devise their own workarounds, mainly riding down to go up. This compounds the problem, lengthens the wait, and increases cruiser frustration. But what can be done? Reconfiguring the ship's structure is not viable once in use.

We have not ignored the problem, but we offer a course of action to mitigate it. If you require an elevator to the upper decks to transit the ship, consider riding down one level and traversing the ship in the living quarters passageways on the lower decks. This gets you to other elevators and makes the ride up available for the next group. There are fewer lower decks than upper decks. Thus, this will help all make quicker exits from the confined area outside the aft dining room.

We also offer deck 4 seating priority to those requiring mobility assistance. This provides access to the rear elevators and an avenue of egress out of the elevator area if they are crowded. For this reason, we will now be opening deck 4 for the Sea Day Brunch.

For all those who require elevators, please read our Elevator Protocol Guidance.

At Carnival, we want you to enjoy your cruise and reduce frustration. Thank you for your loyalty and patience as we educate passengers on these practices. Please help by sharing these insights with your fellow passengers.

Sincerely

*This would not be hard to produce. It could be posted near elevators, given a QR code for online reading, and played on the ship's internal television network. 

PUTT, PUTT, NO MORE PIZZA HUT.

 Putt, putt to the Pizza Hut. That’s what I grew up with.  I thought Pizza Hut was the top-shelf pizza company in America. Good product. Good times. Good stuff.

But it only takes one corporate-level employee to destroy 50 years of customer loyalty. I’m not sure what rewards this man will receive, but he pulled it off. In his efforts to defend his mistake, he sent 50 years of goodwill packing. He probably got a medal or a bonus for his efforts.

Here it is as quickly as possible…

I ordered a pizza for my wife and me after Sunday worship. It had been a while since we had a Sunday afternoon without grandkids, and my wife was up for it. I went to the app to order it. The store I use the majority of the time was closed.

That seemed odd, but the weather had been bad, the flu was in full swing, and Pizza Hut had had staffing issues at multiple locations. Not to worry. I went to my alternate location. Both are about 40 minutes one way by car.

The app confirmed my order at the designated time in Clinton, Oklahoma. I hit the road, only to arrive and find no record of an order.

I gave the info to the people behind the app, and this is what I received in reply.

We don’t know why our app said the store was closed.

We sent you an email.

I told them I don’t check my email when I drive, and I shouldn’t need to once you confirm the order. The order I made was confirmed, and I was driving. That was an hour and a half wasted.

I’m going to say this again. I DO NOT CHECK OR READ MY EMAIL WHILE I AM DRIVING.

The person from Pizza Hut (Patrick S.) said he would send a coupon to the location where I had not ordered my pizza. I had previously told him that I was through with Pizza Hut, so his option was not to address the fraud on his part but to give me an option in which I couldn’t kick Pizza Hut to the curb if I wanted any compensation.

I think Patrick graduated from the School of Bait and Switch with honors.`

This one went to the credit card company, and the charges were reversed. I have not heard from Patrick or any other Pizza Hut representative.

I understand that companies make mistakes. Sometimes, their tech and devices make them for them, but when you are talking human to human, most companies worth their salt want to do right by their customers. Most.

To date, neither Patrick nor Pizza Hut has responded to this article.

I will conclude on a positive note. The Pizza Hut employees here in western Oklahoma are fantastic. It’s a shame the company doesn’t care about them or their customers. The local people are great, though.

PUTT, PUTT, NO MORE PIZZA HUT.