30 Day Rule to Transfer from PVP to TA-Is This True?

[ivycruise]

I recently moved my April 2011 Carnival Pride booking directly from Carnival to my TA company. Someone on CC had mentioned the rule but when I originally called my TA company, they had not heard of the rule and put me on hold to call Carnival to verify if it in fact existed. They came back on and said "no, not a problem after 30 days to transfer to us".

 

On the 30th day of my booking I called Carnival again to transfer to my TA and the agent (PVP?) at Carnival mentioned that was my last day to do so due to the 30 day rule. So, it appears that I got two different stories but did go ahead and move it. It wasn't a ES booking though as I had a military rate. I still don't see how this would benefit Carnival in the long run. If they had refused to move it, I just would have cancelled it as it wasn't an ES rate, well before final payment, and would have called and rebooked with my TA. I don't see where Carnival can control that. I want to get the $$ benefits of what my TA offers. Only reason I did it this way was due to the large TA firm I use (think warehouse club) now charges $25 for some changes and price reductions. So, its easier to first book with Carnival direct and then move it prior to final payment just incase there are reductions or changes. But normally the financial advantage of using this TA would still far outweigh a bunch of $25 fees for changes. I just try to limit those to maximize $$savings in my pocket. But if Carnival now enforces this must transfer within 30 day rule, it could be a hassle if I was set on a set cabin for instance and it was gone after I cancelled and tried to rebook with my TA prior to final payment.

[Ken076]

I tried to switch my Carnival cruise past the 30 day limit and got no where. I even went as far as emailing Carnivals complaint department asking them where it is written that I cant switch and got no where. I was told it is an unwritten rule that I should have asked or known about. Right. I lost out on $150 worth of OBC from my TA because of this rule. I learned my lesson. Carnival better WOW me because my next booking is back with Royal Caribbean and may never venture to Carnival again.

 

conversely - where is it written that you CAN switch? ken

[lillian marie]

I'd speak to CCL customer service for more details.

[parrotthead]

I'd speak to CCL customer service for more details.

And if you dont like the details you get, just call back and talk to someone else...(you'll likely get different details)

:p

[Ken076]

And if you dont like the details you get, just call back and talk to someone else...(you'll likely get different details)

:p

 

Sadly, TRUE -- but sometimes beneficial!! ken

[firefly333]

I could still get a discount, Im booked thru Carnival thru a PVP for Sept 26th, ...but my PVP said I waited too long ..from what people said here, if I call the TA, and they call up Carnival I could transfer. I am ES, so I cant cancel. ..besides the price went up.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I tried to switch my Carnival cruise past the 30 day limit and got no where. I even went as far as emailing Carnivals complaint department asking them where it is written that I cant switch and got no where. I was told it is an unwritten rule that I should have asked or known about. Right. I lost out on $150 worth of OBC from my TA because of this rule. I learned my lesson. Carnival better WOW me because my next booking is back with Royal Caribbean and may never venture to Carnival again.

 

Why didnt you just book directly with the TA?

 

If you take your bookings to RCI on most occasions you'll wind up paying more anyway so won't be any better off as far as money goes.

 

Bill

[firefly333]

Why didnt you just book directly with the TA?

 

If you take your bookings to RCI on most occasions you'll wind up paying more anyway so won't be any better off as far as money goes.

 

Bill

 

RCL doesnt have the 30 days limit on transferring to your TA. I like to book with the cruiseline and transfer before final payment, but only Carnival has stopped that.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

RCL doesnt have the 30 days limit on transferring to your TA. I like to book with the cruiseline and transfer before final payment, but only Carnival has stopped that.

 

you're right there. The cruise industry is like the airline industry. Once one company gets away with something they all follow suit.

 

Just like RCI recently stopped OBC's and price adjustments after final payment.

 

I think it's only a matter of time. I may be wrong, heavens knows I been wrong before.:p

 

Bill

[Happy0810]

Let me update and clarify a few things:

 

No, I'm not getting any TA perks with this transfer. Credit card rewards and TA perks are two different things. I have a credit card where I earn cruise currency (one of the older and better rewards programs out there) based on net purchases. The credit card company has a TA that the booking has to end up with so that I can redeem my rewards before or at final payment (in this case $800 off the cruise). I've done this many times in the past with no issue.

 

This travel agency that the credit company uses has changed over the years due to to the cc company being purchased by a different co./bank. There is no loyalty to the TA because it has changed as have the employees. Our Carnival PVP has stayed the same.

 

I am running into issues because, yes, now it is Carnival's policy there there is this 30-day rule. This "rule" was not previously mentioned to me by my PVP and even she had to research some info on it on the phone today, but she never told me how I should know about a 30-day timeframe when she didn't even mention it to me back when I booked and specifically asked about transferring to a TA. I told her I looked at the ticket contract and agreement terms and couldn't find any info where I would have known this on my own.

 

Where I stand now - my PVP said to have the TA call during the day (before 5:30 p.m.) and have the TA speak to a supervisor to see if the transfer can be made. So, I still have no definitive answers.

 

Someone asked where it IS written that you can make a transfer from a PVP to a TA. I have an email where I asked if there would be any issue with this transfer taking place and the answer was "no, no problem at all". No mention of a timeframe any what-so-ever. If a timeframe is important, it needs to be mentioned.

 

I'll update as I find out more. If there is anything confusing about my situation, feel free to ask me and I'll be happy to answer.

[bitemyfly]

So I’m changing mind regarding booking direct with CCL. I have always got the best deal thru them and they have always did the right thing when prices went lower. Since they changed about 1 yr ago or so

( ES , price guaranty , blah blah blah) when I booked time I asked some questions and was assured by my PVP that the rates were going to be the lowest and since I did not book thru es I could cancel before final payment.

Well a couple days before final payment I found a same cat 8f room for a lower price with an OBC at a online TA. Emailed with a screen shot and called my PVP …she left for the weekend.. had to battle with a couple people , got to a solution consultant and he made the adjustment.

After the weekend my pvp came back called be said she couldn’t believe that the TA did publish those rooms as there were none available.. she also told be that the adjust was for the rate not for the OBC.

She did instruct me that I did have up to that day to transfers the booking… I called the ta and the rooms were not available.. oh well left it with ccl/PVP

Today a day after the deadline to transfer , on line with out calling the 8f rooms appear , the rate is the same I paid / they matched but there is a nice OBC.

The ccl site shows no 8F available … next time I will use a ta…

[Ken076]

"Someone asked where it IS written that you can make a transfer from a PVP to a TA. I have an email where I asked if there would be any issue with this transfer taking place and the answer was "no, no problem at all". "

 

The question was somewhat tongue-in-cheek. There is nowhere in Carnival's public documentation that you CAN transfer a booking to a TA and there's nowhere in Carnival's public documentation that you CANNOT transfer a booking to a TA after 30 days - so it's not publicly documented either way. The so-called TA Instructions Manual addresses this ad Policy for PVP's and TA's and was updated quite some time ago specifically indicating the 30 day requirement. The PVP's answer was uninformed and wrong - I was asking where the Policy even allowing a transfer is documented.

 

Fortunately many PVP's (and supervisors) aren't familiar with all policy and are willing/able to override it, so every so often someone gets a break - which is OK!

 

ken

[firefly333]

Ken on the other hand, if I could transfer to a TA now, I could get a price drop, my final payment is the end of next week. ...but I know I never get away with breaking any rules. So, I find it irksome that so many in this thread were able to do what I cant

[Happy0810]

Hi Ken, I did realize that the question was possibly tongue-in-cheek. However, my issue is not tongue-in-cheek. It's an $800 issue for me. So I really am wanting advice and information on how to handle this 30-day rule based on my situation and learning if others have had issues. The first I have heard of this "rule" was last night here on these boards.

 

Hopefully the TA will get a supervisor at Carnival who can override this rule. :rolleyes: I'm not trying to break the "rules". It's hard to break a rule that you didn't know existed and questions were asked upfront by me, and I have been able to do this in past years.

[Ken076]

Ken on the other hand, if I could transfer to a TA now, I could get a price drop, my final payment is the end of next week. ...but I know I never get away with breaking any rules. So, I find it irksome that so many in this thread were able to do what I cant

 

EXACTLY - which takes us back to your comments about inconsistent application of the rules (and my comment about some PVP's/SUPS aren't knowledgeable and go ahead and mistakenly override the rules).

 

ken

[familycruzer]

Originally Posted by familycruzer

I tried to switch my Carnival cruise past the 30 day limit and got no where. I even went as far as emailing Carnivals complaint department asking them where it is written that I cant switch and got no where. I was told it is an unwritten rule that I should have asked or known about. Right. I lost out on $150 worth of OBC from my TA because of this rule. I learned my lesson. Carnival better WOW me because my next booking is back with Royal Caribbean and may never venture to Carnival again.

 

Why didnt you just book directly with the TA?

 

If you take your bookings to RCI on most occasions you'll wind up paying more anyway so won't be any better off as far as money goes.

 

I had an early saver credit to use and did not want to transfer the booking to my TA until I was sure of my sailing and that my credit was moved to the new booking. In that time I went past the 30 days and was told no way could I swithc. I called more than once and then popped out the email to no avail. I am happy with my cruise and will have a good time no matter what but I now know the rules and wont make the early saver mistake again and go straight with my TA.

[Happy0810]

Today's update and resolution:

 

Disclaimer - I am not requesting a transfer from the Carnival PVP to a TA to get any type of price drop or perk. I am simply trying to redeem my cruise currency (rewards) which is credited to my credit card when I pay off the cruise. I DID ask questions to my PVP prior to booking and was told via email that there was no problem transferring my booking to a TA - never any mention of a 30-day rule.

 

Okay, on to the update...When I called the credit crd's company travel agent, I explained the situation before she ever called Carnival to request the transfer of my reservation. After being on hold, she informed me that the agent with Carnival would not allow the transfer from Carnival to the TA. I asked to be conferenced in so someone would have to listen to all that had occured and answer my questions if they said no. The agent was ready to conference me in, and the second Carnival agent made the transfer based on these particular circumstances.

 

So all is resolved with this situation. The reservation has been transferred, the cruise has been paid off, and my rewards with the credit card company have been redeemed. All is good in my cruise world.

 

P.S. The only issue now is with the Early Saver...because my booking is now with a TA, the TA charges $50 as an administrative fee for any work beyond this point. A price drop will now have to be in excess of the $50 for me to submist an ES form. However, I am happy with the current price we have paid for our cruise so all is good!

[katiel53]

I'd like to see an example of this. I have never seen anything better/more from a TA (other than a bottle of wine or other gift, or discounts because of programs, such as the cc program this thread was originally started for) than I have found online on my own. I have done plenty of research, and booked through several different TAs over the years.

 

I think you are transferring to the wrong TA. We have booked ESA and as a matter of fact two of our next three cruises are ESA and have transferred them to a TA and have gotten OBC.

 

The transfers now have to be done within 30 days of the booking with Carnival. I can't remember when this went into effect, but I want to say last May. Anything booked before that could be transferred without the 30 day deadline.

 

We sailed on Dream in January and booked about a year in advance and transferred it to a TA several months later, and we were able to do it. I asked about our Dream B2B for next year and was told that we had to do it within 30 days. We are booked with ESA so that makes no difference.

 

I think you need to do more research regarding TA's that will give you OBC or something other than a bottle of wine. We did that for a long time too, then got wise. Good luck.

[Ken076]

I think you are transferring to the wrong TA. We have booked ESA and as a matter of fact two of our next three cruises are ESA and have transferred them to a TA and have gotten OBC.

 

The transfers now have to be done within 30 days of the booking with Carnival. I can't remember when this went into effect, but I want to say last May. Anything booked before that could be transferred without the 30 day deadline.

 

We sailed on Dream in January and booked about a year in advance and transferred it to a TA several months later, and we were able to do it. I asked about our Dream B2B for next year and was told that we had to do it within 30 days. We are booked with ESA so that makes no difference.

 

I think you need to do more research regarding TA's that will give you OBC or something other than a bottle of wine. We did that for a long time too, then got wise. Good luck.

 

You're not paying attention - it HAS to be THIS TA to redeem the OP's Travel Points. ken

[S.S.Oceanlover]

You're not paying attention - it HAS to be THIS TA to redeem the OP's Travel Points. ken

 

I thought it was Happy 0810 that had the points and not Mich3.:confused:

 

Bill

[Mich3]

You are correct, Ken. I also use a TA to redeem my credit card rewards. I used many different ones before this though, and did not find any better amenities by doing so. Guess I was using the wrong TAs then!

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Looks like I wasn't paying attention either.:D

 

message to self: Never question Ken:)

 

Bill

[Happy0810]

You are correct, Ken. I also use a TA to redeem my credit card rewards. I used many different ones before this though, and did not find any better amenities by doing so. Guess I was using the wrong TAs then!

 

Just make sure to transfer it from the PVP to the TA within 30 days of booking!! ;) Whew, I was sweating it....lol! $800 was a major issue for me! I mean, that is one of us going free!

[katiel53]

You're not paying attention - it HAS to be THIS TA to redeem the OP's Travel Points. ken

 

I know the OP said he was using points. I did not read where the person I was quoting was using points. I see that after I/you posted he said he was using points. He did not post on this thread that he used points until he posted after I did. So, it wasn't that I was not paying attention.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I know the OP said he was using points. I did not read where the person I was quoting was using points. I see that after I/you posted he said he was using points. He did not post on this thread that he used points until he posted after I did. So, it wasn't that I was not paying attention.

 

I see you edited your post. I thought the same as you as you can tell from my post a couple before yours.

 

You might want to check post #8.:)

 

Bill