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Friday, November 14, 2025

How to write a complaint letter and to who when you are encountering issues on a cruise

First of all I hope you never need to write a complaint letter while on a cruise.  However if you have ll legitimate issues while on a cruise below are my suggestions for what to do.

I recently had ongoing plumbing issues in my  original cabin on my Explorer of the Seas cruise. The first day no hot water- I called the front desk who said it was ship-wide. Then the next morning still no hot water I called again and a maintenance person arrived and did something that got it to work. However when I took a shower within a minute of being in the shower the water went down to a trickle. I called again and they sent maintenance while I was out of the cabin.  Again the next day after about a minute the water was down to a trickle. I then walked to Guest Services and explained what was happening. She took it upon herself to explain it to the maintenance person. However after they said they fixed it, I only got scalding hot water out of the sink taps and shower.  This had then been 4 days without a proper shower.  I went to front desk and they kindly moved me to another cabin.  However that was not the end of the issues. 

I had issues within the Dining Room for breakfast - twice it took them an hour to bring my breakfast and then it was cold. The first time I just let it go, but on the second time I told the waiter it was cold. The supervisor came and put her hand on the food to test if it was cold???  I went up to the manager and as I was doing so she waved her hand/finger towards me. Wow. 

At this point I think it's time to write to the Hotel Director.  Below is what I recommend. 

- always tell them how long and how many cruises you've taken and where this cruise ranks with all the others (this was 3rd worst) of over 40 cruises

- advise them of your membership status 

- Tell them what has been great/good on the cruise to date - mention the names of the staff that have given great/exceptional service

- Then factually tell them about the issues you have had, who helped you and who didn't.  

- Always ask what they will do for you given the circumstances. 

- thank them for taking  the time to consider your concerns.  

Will this always work?  I have no idea, as out of the 40 plus cruises I only have written a letter 3 times.  The first time on Carnival (several years ago)  it was bad for everyone so no one helped - However head office gave us all 75% of the cruise value back (not 100% as they said we ate food).  The second time on Regal Princess the director had the issues corrected (second day at sea) and I sent a thank you note for their prompt attention  Now on this one, I was given a 25% future cruise credit of the value of my current cruise.

Hope this helps

Marcia


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