Carnival makes NO SENSE sometimes..

[ava_girl_123]

Ok, some of you seen the problem I had the other day with the new 123 Go rates.. Some of you even had the same problem..There was a huge thread started about it. Basically we went from an 8K to an 8N AFT cabin. The 123 Go rates are offering $160 OBC. I figured to myself that with ES I could pay the $200 difference to Carnival to upgrade to the 8N AND then receive the $160 BACK in OBC.

OK, after a ton of back and forth with Carnival they allowed me to do so. I paid the $200, they gave me back $160, we moved into an AFT and all was well.. :D

Now I see that a 9A suite Ubstructed view was available for the same price my 8N is. I call to see if we can move and the rep says "I would rather see you go into a 9BSuite for $1439 and we can take the $140 difference from the $220 OBC you have." I am like "cool.. I will take a suite.. Take the $140 OBC from me, whatever..":D

She re- looks over the account and says "Oh wait, I have to call a supervisor for this" :eek:

Long story short, Carnival says to move into the suite that is again, only $140 total more then our AFT, we need to give up the $160 OBC AND pay them $140??? HELLO.. THAT is $300 bucks more..

I said to the rep, "Would a passenger who was originally booked under this new 123 Go rate be able to use the promotional OBC towards an upgrade?" She tells me yes....? I proceeded to ask "On the norm can ANYONE use OBC as an upgrade??" She tells me yes...?

WHAT THE HECK? :mad:

Thoughts???

 

JUST RE DID MY MATH-- Still a $180 difference and not the $140 it actually is..

[ava_girl_123]

Anyone??:(

[flippr5657]

way too math complicated for me...

[mferris77]

Ain't that something.

[bplazo]

I think that all these different rates are getting to confusing. They just need to have one rate and that is it.

[dande123]

After calling Carnival AGAIN the other day...DH and me decided to just stay in the room we have and be happy. They are not standing by their Early Saver...cheapest rate anymore...at least not with me they didn't. :mad: I am sure you remember all the hassle I went through at the same time you did. I am definitely disappointed but tired of fighting it.

[Legend]

Well sounds to me that you got the $160 OBC from the promo and it isn't something you earned because the rates went down or you had a credit from a previous cruise.

 

That OBC is not something you can use to pay for your cruise which is what it seems you are trying to do. It's an OBC only and not money to spend before hand on an upgrade.

 

Obviously from your figures the suite is $140 more than the cabin you have and it's not being offered on the 123 promo therefore you have to give up the obc if you want to move.

 

The person at CCL should have read your booking history before she said you could use it to upgrade.

[PA Dutchman]

Its just a Carnival game Play it. Same as trying to get your rate changed if you can figure out what you booked and which cat the rate went down in. Just because you see a rate drop don't mean its your rate. It dosent show how we booked the dam cruises and we don't remember and is this new price just for new bookings. Play the game all they can do is say no and rile you up. 2 of our cruises one went down $40 the other $30 now its time to play the Carnival game.

[vacruizer]

The math lost me, but since when is a Cat. 9 room a suite? You might want to question that with whoever is telling you they are. There are some very nice Cat. 9 rooms on various ships, but they are classified as premium balconies and not suites so you won't qualify for the VIP boarding, etc. Just don't want you to think you are getting something you're not with a 9B.

[Ken076]

Ava....You're going to find that the rep(s) that stated (initially) that the Cash Back could be applied to Upgrade are INCORRECT: the Terms & Conditions clearly state that the Cash Back is Refundable OBC applied to S&S Account --and-- that the Cash Back may not be applied to cruise fare (which is effectively what you're asking for in asking to apply it to an upgrade). IMO you don't have a legitimate complaint on this. ken

[Frank12]

I just read your post and smoke started coming out of my ears! ;)

[ava_girl_123]

Well sounds to me that you got the $160 OBC from the promo and it isn't something you earned because the rates went down or you had a credit from a previous cruise.

 

That OBC is not something you can use to pay for your cruise which is what it seems you are trying to do. It's an OBC only and not money to spend before hand on an upgrade.

 

Obviously from your figures the suite is $140 more than the cabin you have and it's not being offered on the 123 promo therefore you have to give up the obc if you want to move.

 

The person at CCL should have read your booking history before she said you could use it to upgrade.

 

I didn't need to earn anything.. I gave them $200 and they gave me $160 back..

 

Ava....You're going to find that the rep(s) that stated (initially) that the Cash Back could be applied to Upgrade are INCORRECT: the Terms & Conditions clearly state that the Cash Back is Refundable OBC applied to S&S Account --and-- that the Cash Back may not be applied to cruise fare (which is effectively what you're asking for in asking to apply it to an upgrade). IMO you don't have a legitimate complaint on this. ken

 

Ok as long as I am not allowed to then I am fine with that. The rep originally said yes that I could and then no and THEN said that they wanted more money then the upgrade costs to begin with..That made no sense to me. If I was going to pull the money out of my pocket it would be $140, if I did it the other way it was my $160 OBC AND an additional $140 out of my pocket.. :cool:

[Tiffany1203]

Hey Gail- Are you staing in the 8N Aft or moving to a suite? xoxoox

[ava_girl_123]

Hey Gail- Are you staing in the 8N Aft or moving to a suite? xoxoox

 

 

We are just going to stay in the AFT.. ;) Was gonna ask to move to 7300.. Lol.. That would be funny right? Same one! :D

[firefly333]

You will love where you are. I hope you have the best ever cruise.

 

Sorry you are dissapointed. I was unable to tell if the suite had the same cash back offer or not. If it didnt, thats why you would lose the $160 OBC, that is attached to the current booking, not because that is part of the cost. You cant just transfer the $160 OBC to another booking or use it to pay for another booking to a different cabin.

[blindrid]

way too math complicated for me...

 

Totally agree with you and BPlazo. It's bad enoughto select category much less all the various rates and/or options. That's even before you try to figure ut the inticacies of the ES rate.

 

Way too much brain damage for me. Next cruise, I'm thinking I'll keep shopping other cruise lines to avoid the brain hurt.

 

When will Carnival go back to making it simple? Think what it's like to be a PVP and continually upsetting people when they are asking for something they are not eligible for (and in their mind should be).

 

Maybe it's Carnival's way of getting people like me to give up?

[ava_girl_123]

You will love where you are. I hope you have the best ever cruise.

 

Sorry you are dissapointed. I was unable to tell if the suite had the same cash back offer or not. If it didnt, thats why you would lose the $160 OBC, that is attached to the current booking, not because that is part of the cost. You cant just transfer the $160 OBC to another booking or use it to pay for another booking to a different cabin.

 

Thanks Fire.. We will just stay where we are and just watch for drops in the 8N cat from here on out.. You are correct, that cat suite was not available with the cash back offer..

 

Totally agree with you and BPlazo. It's bad enoughto select category much less all the various rates and/or options. That's even before you try to figure ut the inticacies of the ES rate.

 

Way too much brain damage for me. Next cruise, I'm thinking I'll keep shopping other cruise lines to avoid the brain hurt.

 

When will Carnival go back to making it simple? Think what it's like to be a PVP and continually upsetting people when they are asking for something they are not eligible for (and in their mind should be).

 

Maybe it's Carnival's way of getting people like me to give up?

 

Being that Carnival is taking our "virginity" since we are first time cruisers, it is discouraging how discombobulated customer service is. Told one thing with one rep, and told another thing with another rep. I can tell that some of their reps are virtual at home agents being I have worked from home as an inbound operator for a company. We had the same problems as you are basically self trained with some computer tests before you can work.

Either way, I beat the horse to death. I will stay in the 8N and look forward to my cruise that will be here before I know it.. :D

[Ken076]

Totally agree with you and BPlazo. It's bad enoughto select category much less all the various rates and/or options. That's even before you try to figure ut the inticacies of the ES rate.

 

Way too much brain damage for me. Next cruise, I'm thinking I'll keep shopping other cruise lines to avoid the brain hurt.

 

When will Carnival go back to making it simple? Think what it's like to be a PVP and continually upsetting people when they are asking for something they are not eligible for (and in their mind should be).

 

Maybe it's Carnival's way of getting people like me to give up?

 

Alternatively you book the rate/cabin you're happy with and forget about price drops and such. ken

[jdyer09]

We had the same problem in February with our Conquest cruise. Everytime we called we got a different answer, then everytime we were transfered we got a different answer. Eventually we just stayed where we were and raked in the OBC. The last $200 of our cruise, gratuities and soda cards for 3 were payed off with OBC!!! In the end that was better than being an extra floor up (we were already on Lido) with a bigger room. We were never in it anyways.

 

I understand your frustration too though...it was so upsetting to get all excited just to be transfered and told no, the other operator had no idea what they were talking about!

 

You'll find once your on ship your room is the last thing you will want to see during the day. It's a place to sleep, shower and meet up sometimes. There's so much more going on!

 

Happy Anniversary and Happy Cruising!

[baylivin]

I did not book ES rates because they were not available when I booked. We usually book about a year out but this time it was just a few months. Our category has gone down $140 per person but they won't give me anything because we are within 75 days of sailing. Frustrating!

[Fergus]

Personally, I think you're working yourself up into a frenzy and you'll end up having a terrible time on your cruise...........if you're unhappy with things before you even get on the ship, you won't be happy with anything. Self-fulfilling prophecy.

 

My advice: stop the hassling, spend your time researching all the fun things you can do in ports and on sea days, make your packing list and have fun getting all the little things together.............and PLAN TO HAVE FUN!

 

We booked our cruise for next month back in the spring. I didn't even bother researching the early saver or whatever...........my experience has been that past guest rates are always the lowest, so I just talk with my PVP and go with it (not that I have money to burn, but I've never found a lower price after I've booked - ever.) We know we want a balcony and we know about where on the ship we want to be; if the price is right on about what we want, we go with it. HONESTLY, there is NOT that much difference in any of the balcony categories - they're basically the same size, same decor, same layout (with some exceptions, of course).

 

Just have fun and don't sweat the small stuff!!