poobears

If you pick the wrong booking category and screw yourself, you have no one but yourself to blame.

I didn't book the wrong category, I knew exactly what I was booking, no complaints and I didn't blame anyone else so not sure what your point was there. :p

Shoot me over an email at firemanbobswife at ymail dot com. I'll see if I can send the form to have the credit switched to you. I almost did this once myself. Had them send me the form just in case.

Awesome thank you, I will send you an email from poobears @ ymail :D

There was no gotcha here. I've booked ES several times. I know the risks going in and reaped the rewards many times. The $200 lost this time was nothing compared to what we've saved with last minute price drops in the past. As long as we can salvage the rest of the deposit it's no big deal at all.

Though prices rarely drop in our categories anymore since we book Lido now they sell out before they get a chance to so our ES days are probably about over.

The girls and I will probably sail this spring so no problem getting the credit used before it expires.

The big thing is make sure it's an actual certificate of birth, not the hospital issued birth certificate that you have a copy of.

Thanks for all the help, I guess I will wait until we rebook and hope for the best. Although Dh may not be able to cruise in the next 2 years so we will probably lose all the money anyways if it goes into his name. If they will let us use our portion then we will at least get that part back.

Which is exactly what the letter says, so I'm not sure why you are confused.

 

As for the money you paid above the deposit, I guarantee that it will be automatically refunded to your form of payment used to make the payments. It will just take a little while to show up.

 

Sorry you had to cancel.

 

 

 

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Because there's nothing in the letter that separates the amounts (the $50 you are losing vs the amount you can use later towards a cruise). It looks like all of the money is lost since the total is listed under penalty. You'd think they would break it down and say you penalty $200, future cruise credit $658 if that's what it actually is.

I did see the link to fill out for a future cruise credit for when we sail in the future but then I saw the penalty below and it showed the total deposit instead of the deposits -$50 like it should so that is what was throwing me off. I have zero issues paying a $50pp penalty that's part of ES bookings and DH's fault for insisting we switch because he was 100% sure he was going, that's no biggie at all. I just don't want to lose the whole $800 that's a biggie lol

From reading their website FAQs it says the future cruise credit is held in the name of the person who paid and that would be DH but this letter doesn't say that. Anyone know for sure?

We just booked through the website and a regular booking then later changed it to ES to take advantage of a price drop and OBC. No reason for it to be non refundable.

I mentioned in a post before that we weren't sure if we going to be able to go and was wondering when would be the best time to cancel. Well we decided not to go and went ahead and cancelled the cruise since our final deposit date was next month, I didn't want it to sneak up on us. I know since we are ES that there is a $50 pp fee and that the rest of the deposits paid will be held for a future cruise credit to be used within 24 months. But from the looks of this letter it looks like the took the whole deposit as a penalty, isn't that what it says? Also there's no mention of the other money we paid on the cruise, we paid over $1,300 so far on it.

I've cancelled one cruise before but it was booked during one of the special $50 deposit sales so there was no money in limbo with that one.

I'm so confused UGH :confused:

The problem is DH used the cc in his name instead of the one in mine because his was closer. According to the Carnival site the money held goes into the name of the person that paid, not the person who was booked so everything will be held in DHs name, not ours.

I will wait until our final payment date gets closer, there is still a very slim chance we might still go with DH being a no show. But if not I'll see if I can find a closer cruise for the girls and I to go on and see if I can't get a helpful rep that will transfer the held money onto the balance of another cruise without DH being booked on it. Maybe if I put Dh on the phone too and he gives permission it will be ok. I might get lucky.

I've considered Disney since I no longer use the casino on Carnival, too smoky for me now. But my kids that are left at home are older teens and I doubt they'd get enough from the experience to make it worth the cost. If they were still young I would consider it. I think for small kids the whole experience can be worth the cost, at least once. Just like going to WDW.

I'd like to go to their private island but love Carnivals private island so don't feel like I'm missing much there.

One thing I read recently about Disney cruising irritated me though and it's silly but I read they charge you for the popcorn they serve at the deck movies. Is that true? I mean popcorn costs them pennies to make, literally, surely they aren't charging kids for something as simple as movie popcorn after families pay thousands to take a cruise.

I just don't tip extra anymore. I figure I'm already paying extra for the same service so no reason to pay extra on top of the extra I'm already paying. So in the end it doesn't really matter. I have not experienced the once a day service yet, so far we've still had twice a day, even on our last trip a couple months ago.

I can't imagine cruising for $1,000. There are at least 3 of us going, sometimes 4. I have to figure in kenneling for the dog, gas to port, hotels pre cruise because I always drive in a day or two early, you never know what will happen, ports are 13-23 hours away from here, food pre/post cruise, tips & excursions. I'm sure there are other things I'm forgetting but that doesn't even include the cost of the cruise.

When we cruise we typically book a suite for the size of the room, same as when we book a hotel room. Our land vacations are almost always cheaper than cruising but on land we usually book a house with VRBO, not a hotel and not an AI because we don't drink and I'm not paying for unlimited alcohol and other drinks we aren't drinking. I can usually take a 3 week land vacation for the price we pay for a week long cruise (including pre/post cruise travel) but they are completely different vacations.

Same here we went on Halloween cruise out of New Orleans and they asked which we preferred

 

 

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We also went on Halloween cruise out of NO, we were never asked which we preferred and received twice a day service as always. We were on Triumph.

Oh one more question. I always book and pay the deposit in my name, this time I booked in mine buy DH handed me his card instead of mine when I asked for a card to fill out the info. So the credit is going to go into his name. There's a very good chance he won't be cruising in the next 2 years before it expires. Is there anyway for him to transfer it into my name? Does he actually have to be on the cruise to use the credit or does he just have to call and book the cruise? Like can he call and book us on a cruise? I guess I could book him in as a 4th person and have him be a no show to use the credit but I'd still lose the amount of his 4th person fare.

Or I wonder if once I get him added and his credit added if I can remove his name (not booking under ES obviously) and the credit will stay there?). Hmmm

Ok, I think I figured it out:

 

7 night cruise = 250.00 Deposit per passenger - normally would have been 1000.00 penalty as per 4 pax, and under the Early Saver. BUT:

 

2 pax = 500

858-500 = 358

358 / 2 = 179

 

Is your rate for the kids 179 + tax each? That would make sense, as the deposit is 250 or the fare, which ever is lower. And they still will keep 50 per passenger for a total of 200.00, leaving 658.00 as your future cruise credit to use again within 2 years.

 

Hope that helps! (??) ! :D:D

So the penalty they are showing includes the money that is held for a future cruise? That is what I was trying to figure out. If it includes the held money I am fine with that. I just don't want it to be lost money. That makes total sense, yes passenger 3 and 4 are cheaper fares. Thank you, my brain can quit hurting now lol

We don't use Carnivals travel insurance. We find we can get higher coverage and better prices else where. If you are USAA members you can insurance through affiliates there. They don't sell travel insurance themselves but they have companies that offer military families discounted travel insurance, that is where we buy ours. Then for medical I go with Geoblue, I've found even if your medical covers out of country (ours has in the past) it's cheaper to buy a Geoblue plan with no deductible and use it if needed than to use my health plan and pay a deductible or co pays.

Could the $858 include the non-refundable insurance???

No I didn't buy insurance through them, I bought it through a different provider with USAA.

Poobears.

 

What is your final payment date as listed on the booking? If you have not reached it yet, something is wrong. I would call CCL not cancel on their website if this date has not been reached. If you are past the due date, but not into the next penalty, then just the deposit is completely forfeited. This looks like you have reached some kind of 50% or more level from the amount you are being quoted! :eek:

My final payment isn't until Feb 6, 2017. Our cruise isn't until April 22, 2017.

How are you going to be out $858 if you havent reached final payment date yet?

 

Bill

 

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I don't know that is just what it shows when I click the penalty link on the carnival website. That is what I sat down and tried to figure out today. We are booked ES but the #'s still don't come out right. There is suppose to be $50pp charge then $200pp held for a future cruise. So there should be $200 non refundable and a $800 future cruise credit right? But this looks like I will lose $858 doesn't mention anything about a future cruise credit or anything and still can't figure out where they get that amount from.

You couldn't pay me enough to use a public hot tub but eww at the thought of one full of kids. Although honestly one full of adults doesn't sound any better to me, especially full of half drunk adults, you think they are getting out to pee, heck no they aren't any better than the kids are. Which is why I repeat, you couldn't pay me enough to get in one lol

I know on our last cruise out of NO they were really good about keeping the kids out of the hot tubs. Every time I saw a kid hop in, it wasn't more than a minute or two and I saw a crew member shoo them out telling them kids couldn't be in the hot tubs. It was so cold on deck they were empty most of the time but they kept the little kids out of them.

You would get his taxes/port fees and prepaid gratuities back too.

Yeah in total we've paid $1336 so we'd get $478 back on our card after took off their penalty of $858 I guess.

No, everyone else is working so I can't think of anyone else that could go. I could drive down alone if I had to, I just drove to GA and back with one DD and picked up DS for his military leave for the holiday but that I made in one day easy enough, although thanks to hitting an ice storm on the way back it was a 15+ hour drive home.

PC is about 19 hours and that's more than I want to do in a straight drive, the girls wouldn't want to sit in the car that long either. We'd have to stop around the 12 hr mark probably, that would put us around the panhandle, then drive in the next day.

I already planned on driving down to Orlando next summer for a couple weeks at Universal so this would make 2 drives down by myself. I hate to cancel our summer trip but may have to if we do this one. I'm not sure I want to drive down there twice and I'm sure summer flights would be even higher.

It doesnt work that way. you will lost 50pp but 200pp will be held for a future trip - not to be used as a deposit

 

How did you come up with that figure of 858?>

$858 is what it shows when I click the link that say is there a penalty for cancelling my booking. This is what it says: If you cancel your booking today, the penalty amount would be $858.

I'm guessing it's $200pp + the $50 fee and $8 for???

Looks like it would run us around $1300-$1500 for 3 round trip flights. Not sure if I want to shell out that much more on top of the cruise that I still have left to pay off.

We're porting out of PC so flying into MIA would be a bit of a drive, I'd have to rent a car. Doesn't look like it would be any cheaper flying to there on the dates I'd need. Flying to Melbourne is the closest but it's higher with less flight options. May be worth it though if we go that route, Orlando/MCO would probably save $150 total over Melbourne but of course it's further away too.

I'm not sure what airfare would be but it's not usually very cheap from our airports to FL. I know I just paid $600 to fly my son to Colorado from here the other day after his Christmas leave. We don't get the cheap flights many people do, not enough competition.

I forgot about the future credit so you are right I wouldn't be out all the money, at least I will have $200 to use on the balance of the next cruise we book.