rukkian

Thanks all, you are helping me be at ease.  I am the planner, and I figured it would all be okay, but always strive to get everything done to the little details.  My wife is one that will know we are doing Carnival, and probably the dates, but has not clue what ship we are on or ports we are going to.  I try to make it all seem really easy, but then I also obsess about the small things.

I have seen conversations comparing cove to regular balconies, and have been interested.  We just rebooked (4th try) for our first carnival cruise in 24 years (our honeymoon).  We have our 18 and 20 yo sons that will be in the room with us, and have a couple of questions.  The cove balcony are quite a but cheaper (240 for the 4 of us), so at this point that is what I picked, but I want to make sure it makes since.  

1. Are cove balcony rooms the same size as a regular balcony rooms?  From deck plans, it seems to be smaller, but was not sure.

2. We are currently in 2278 on horizon.  From the maps, it looks to be under shore excursions, which seems like it should be quiet at night, but I also see there is a dance floor near.  Is that going to be an issue?

3. Since this is fairly far forward, are we likely to get a ton of spray?

Thanks in advance for your replies, just trying to get the best experience for my family after all the headaches of this trip that we originally booked in 2018 with other family.

On 5/27/2020 at 12:27 PM, CruisinWithDLS said:

POINTSHELP for 15k

I don't even follow this that much anymore, as it will be a long time before I need more cards, and have 300k points, but 15k is very nice.  Thanks a bunch.

11 minutes ago, WashCoCruisers said:

You can drive from NOLA to Gulf Shores!  It's a beautiful drive, stay off of the interstate, take the highway and go on the ferry!  You can explore NOLA for a few days and then go east to GS!!  We did this exact vacation 2 years ago and it was really a good time!!

That is all true if things are open.  I am assuming they will be, however if cruises still aren't going, then you might see other things closed as well.   

I certainly hope things are semi-normal by then, but none of us really know at this point.  I never thought we would be where we are, or that our cruise for spring break would have been cancelled after we got to florida.

1 hour ago, NCTribeFan said:

I figured I'd ask here to see if anyone has any "real life" experience.  Of course, we know that Carnival isn't the most consistent in handling different scenarios.

 

She's been so swamped with rebooking, then those being cancelled and rebooking again (and again) that I thought I'd ask here before bothering her.  I have rebooked my Med/TA from October to next year, and have 3 other cruises booked.  Hey, I have to make up for my 3 cancelled cruises this year (still have a FCC from HAL to rebook!).

 

So, yes, every $ counts. 😁

It really depends on what is showing for the code in the booking.  I had a client that got offered a $40 upgrade from cove balcony to lido balcony, and took it.  In the booking, it still showed 7c (with an arrow showing the upgrade to 8f).  If yours shows that, you might have a chance (unlikely still), however if yours just shows your current category, then you would probably need to price match that new category from my experience.

8 minutes ago, Schoifmom said:

 

@ypcat is right.  Regardless of what your PVP said, you will get your refund in the same form of payment that you presented, in the same amounts. This is a legal requirement, not a Carnival choice.  The best thing for you to have done is applied those funds to your new cruise as OBC.  Then you would have been absolutely assured to have the funds available at the time of your new sailing.  It is May now, your new cruise is in August.  If you do receive your refund in time, it will be very close.

While you are correct, in this case, since she has overage and paid with multiple methods, they can choose up to the amount they paid using cc to get refunded.  Since she applied some of the amount to a new cruise, then she should be able to say that was the GC part, and refund the rest (up to the amount paid by cc on the original) back to a cc.

3 minutes ago, helene109 said:

Thanks I choose my credit card since I used so many forms of payment and have so much obc

thanks

I am still waiting on gc for my 3/14 cruise that was cancelled, but many people got refunds to cc awhile ago.  If you have until August, in theory, you should be fine, but I wouldn't bet on it.

My sister just got GC from our 3/14 magic cruise that got cancelled while we were in the air.  This was for for some of her excursions, but at least it means they are starting to process them.

35 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

No one knows but in order to use the FCC and get the OBC, you need to re-book same party

For the FCC part, there is a bit of a workaround - you can book the same people, and then switch somebody out.  The FCC will stay, but the obc will probably be lost.  I had a client that had me transfer her booking, knowing that the 2nd person in the room would not be going, and would be swapped.  I did the move, and then once she had the replacement, just swapped out the people.  She kept the FCC, but 1/2 the obc was gone.

We took the fcc for our 3/14 cancelled cruise, and transferred that over, but excursions, cruise cash, and drink packages are supposed to be refunded as GC, but I have yet to see any.  I am guessing it is because of the shipping involved and nobody is in the office to ship them, since they are mainly working from home.

2 minutes ago, 1st4our25th said:

I know previously you could receive OBC for a cruise that was already paid in full and could get a rate adjustment for those that weren't paid in full to reduce the total due. I am seeing the option for OBC or Upgrade on the form (can't remember what it used to say if it was different). Our cruise is not paid off yet, so I would prefer to reduce the balance over OBC. Did they do away with that? I don't want an upgrade, I like the cabins we chose. Is my only option now to pay the total due and just take the OBC?

Just call in, they can reduce it right there on the phone.

On 4/13/2020 at 11:16 AM, mek said:

So right now everything has stopped and future cruises are totally up in the air.

I thought it might be fun to talk about the last Carnival cruise you took.

 

Mine was on Elation in February 2020 - 5 nights, eastern Caribbean with few nights post cruise in Orlando where we went to Medieval Times and Sea World. We returned home on 2/15 and it had to be one of the last weeks where people cruised without much thought about the virus.

We had a wonderful trip - 4 generations sailed - 95, 69, 47, 31, and 5 years old.  We will probably never have the opportunity to do that again with the 95 year old, so we were so blessed to be able to complete this trip without any problems.

 

 

 

 

Fantasy in 97 for our honeymoon!

1 hour ago, Eli_6 said:

Is there any point of opting for the "refund" over the "FCC" if you paid for the canceled cruise with a gift card?  If Carnival goes bankrupt, would a holder of a gift card have a priority over a holder of FCC?  I know there are others in my situation so I was just wondering what you guys are doing...

 

I also have stock in all three major cruise lines so I hope none of them go bankrupt. 

 

 

I was wondering the same thing, and went with the fcc so I could rebook immediately, instead of waiting for the cards to (hopefully) arrive.  I figure that a reorg would leave any current bookings alone, no matter if they were from fcc or gc, or whatever, even if FCC or GC were rendered useless.  Obviously a chapter 7 is a completely different thing, I highly doubt that will happen, and if it does, we are in for much more hurt in general, as it will mean a long, long lockdown.

36 minutes ago, bafinegan said:

This is from the email sent to me canceling my AUg Alaska cruise.  Note the fine print where it says "The Future Cruise Credit (FCC) is based on the cancellation fees retained by Carnival for this voyage, "  Not trying to start an argument, just trying to clarify.  This goes along with what my PVP was able to do and what he told me could be done.  Have a great day all!❤️

 

baf

In my case, the cancellation fees would have been 100%, because they cancelled less than 12 hours before we were supposed to be onboard, so that would be the difference, I assume.  

In the end it does not matter.  You can use the fcc (or credit, or whatever you want to call it) for a deposit, as long as you have the new booking number first.  It does not matter if it is called fcc.  They gave me 100% credit, I applied to a new room (5 times) including the deposit.

2 minutes ago, bafinegan said:

But you COULD have gotten a refund, not an FCC.  If you rebook right away, the FCC is only for the amount of deposit. 

baf

 

I could have chosen a full 100% refund, deposit included, and then would have had $0 fcc.  I choose to get 100% fcc, it was not just for deposit.

Just now, bafinegan said:

FCC is only for the deposit used on the cancelled cruise.  The rest of monies paid on those cancelled cruise is yours.  Technically NOT an FCC.  That is how it can be used as a deposit on the new cruise.  Semantics, I know, but that is how Carnival us doing it.

 

baf 

We got an FCC for the full 100%.  We did not get money back.

13 minutes ago, mpdog42 said:

Thanks, I just had the $400.00 which was only a deposit

That is different.  It sounds like you cancelled versus the cruise line cancelling, which is why your FCC was only for the deposit, which makes more sense.  For those of us that the cruise line cancelled we had the option of 100% refund or 100%fcc +600 OBC.  We took the FCC, so we had the full amount of the cruise, and that simply transferred over to the new booking with no payment, and covered the deposit, and full fare.  Since we had also prepaid grats, that got paid as well.

2 hours ago, bafinegan said:

And to clarify about the FCC.  Those of you who were able to just transfer everything over to your new booking, I'm betting you had payments above and beyond the deposit of your canceled cruise to cover the deposit on your newly booked cruise.  The FCC can then be applied to the remainder of the balance of your new cruise.  Money shuffle I know, but this is how Carnival does it because they state in their basic rules that FCC cannot be used as a deposit ( don't understand why not, but there ya go🤨🙄)  

 

Remember, the FCC is in the amount of your deposit on the canceled cruise so you won't lose that money.  That is why the option for a 100% refund was also given.

 

baf

If you are saying you can take the FCC for the non-deposit on the cancelled cruise, and use that for deposit, sure, but that doesn't matter to the user.  It is just behind the scenes things. 

I had 5 rooms from 2 sailings that got cancelled, and all were able to get their deposit paid from their cancelled cruise fcc, but to do it, you have to have a new booking.  I simply booked each of the 5 rooms, and then called in, and had them transfer one by one from the old to the new.  The FCC took care of the deposit, and the full payment.  Only one had any extra, the others were either more expensive, or about the same.  

15 hours ago, mpdog42 said:

Just to let people know if you chose the FCC and the $600.00 OBC..You cannot use FCC to book your next cruise for your deposit...Carnival wanted another $400.00 Just tried and it didn't work.....Oh well guess I have to take the refund option...

That is not true, I did it for 5 separate rooms. No money out of pocket.  Only one has a balance due, and that is because the new cruise is double the price of the original.  All you need to do is put a booking on hold (no deposit paid yet), and then have your TA, PVP, or yourself call in and have them apply the fcc towards that new booking number.

10 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

The CDC no sail order for 100 days should help people on this board understand there are not going to be any cruises any time soon. Lots of people on this board have criticized people like me for being negative for stating the obvious that no cruise line is going to resume operations in the near future. There is a big difference between being negative and accepting the reality of the world we are currently living in and the COVID virus impacting everyone. 

All of this assumes facts not in evidence.  The order specifically says the first of the three conditions.  Basically according to the new guideline, it will be at most 100 days.  Now that could be changed, but nothing in there says it will be at least 100 days.  That is like a car warranty that says 10 years/100k miles.  If you go 500k miles during the 100 years, you lost coverage at 100k, even though the time is not up.

We may well not be cruising (or anything) anytime soon, but getting uptight that others have hope is odd to say the least.

35 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

I think they were def drawing a line in the sand for ANY cruise, current or future.

That would just mean cruising would no longer be affordable to most people if the cruise line has to do private flights for everybody on every cruise.  That is just not feasible.

14 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

By the time the cruises start operating again things should be back to normal. These guidelines are for current circumstances. 

I could see the guidelines applying to any ship with confirmed cases and an outbreak, once they start going again.

13 minutes ago, beachbum53 said:

I can easily foresee, not just for cruising, but for air travel as well, that once an inoculation for the Corona virus has been developed and proven effective, we will all need some type of shot record to prove that we've been inoculated prior to traveling. Just as it is becoming mandatory to have a passport, it will be mandatory to have proof of inoculation. Those that have chosen not to get an anti-Corona shot will not be allowed to fly on a plane or go on a cruise. 

That might be tough, as there are people that cant get vaccinations (allergies, or some other condition), and then you have the religious exemptions.  I agree it would be prudent, however.

1 hour ago, 48traveler said:

I called Carnival today and got a live person in one minute or less. He was very nice. He stated they are all working from home and that some refunds may take more than 90 days. What I wanted to know was since our May 11 cruise was cancelled , which I had pre paid gratuities on, would they still be included as part of our new, Sept 14, hopefully, sailing. He said they were not and would be part of my refund. I also asked his gut feeling on Sept sailings and he said Sept is looking good although I am a bit skeptical. I asked again about the over 70 letter and he said that requirement was for those early March sailings. Just wondering if anyone is hearing different than me ?

Not exactly the same, but our prepaid gratuities got credited to our new sailing that we used the fcc on.  Our excursions and cruise cash are (supposedly) getting refunded, but will be gc, since that is what I used to pay for them.

10 hours ago, ano said:

Or at least wait till a reopen date is announced and kept. There isn't any advantage to rushing. 

While I am not saying I would book this summer, there is some potential advantage.  Once they announce, there will be a mad rush to book, and prices will probably be raised a bit before the announce (since they know this). While there will be some people that will avoid cruising, others will be ready and willing to go as soon as they are open.  

We rebooked our spring break for this year that got cancelled for spring break next year, as I figure once many people get refunds/fcc, things will start filling up, especially peak times.  If the price goes down, you can always get that new rate, but if you have not booked, and the price goes up, you are sol.

We were supposed to be on the 3/14 magic southern caribbean.  I got the fcc and obc applied to a new cruise for next year, but still waiting on the gc for the excursions ($1100) and cruise cash ($350).  I called today to confirm it was going, and the rep confirmed it was submitted on 2/20 (excursions) and 3/23 (cruise cash).  Have not seen them, but I can see they may need to get many thousand more gift cards created to send out to people.