Citrus woman, passengers upset with missed cruise stops

Friday, May 15, 2009

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Citrus County resident Diane Toto said she caught the attention of Carnival Cruise officials when she became the de facto leader of a group of disgruntled passengers.

CITRUS COUNTY (Bay News 9) -- A group of passengers on the Carnival Legend said they raised the ire of the cruise line by complaining about missed stops.

Citrus County resident Diane Toto, who was on the cruise last week, said she caught the attention of Carnival Cruise officials when she became the de facto leader of a group of disgruntled passengers.

"I mean, I felt like a criminal," Toto said. "Any place we went on the ship, we were followed. "They should have bought me a drink if that was the case."

The cruise skipped stops in Mexico and Honduras, and the group of cruise passengers said they were unhappy because there was no back-up plan for those missed stops and only a limited attempt to make it up to them.

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"They said, 'Well, we're going to give you back your $20 port fee,' and I'm thinking we paid a lot more than $20 for port fees and taxes," she said.

A spokesperson from Carnival said the $20 port credit is standard protocol for missing a port of call, and that passengers get information about that possibility when they book a cruise.

The company also said they did not go to an alternate port because the logistics were not in place to do so.

Toto and a group of passengers, whose ranks swelled into the hundreds, met with the ship's officers and eventually the captain, but they said nothing changed.

The passengers said they were further upset when the extra day at sea meant the ship sat in Tampa Bay for over a day before it docked on Sunday.

The night before one of the meetings - a video of which was posted to YouTube - Toto received a letter from Carnival's senior vice president and general counsel indicating that the meetings should stop.

"Should it be necessary, when the vessel reaches port in Tampa, Carnival will be contacting local and federal authorities to meet the ship and assist as appropriate," the letter read.

The letter did not stop the meetings and no authorities were called. However, a Carnival spokesperson said the group acted inappropriately and acted threateningly.

Toto said she'll never sail with Carnival again.