Bad news for all Cruise Critic Groups on Carnival

[deborahjo]

Ask Crucon. They are the ones that sat on the information for ten days.

 

Waiting on my response from Crucon.

[CruiserinCarlsbad]

Koval -- for our wedding group, the remaining deposit balance of $450 per cabin is due in mid-November. The point isn't that people "should have" managed their money in such a way that they would be covered in case Carnival changed its policy after they booked. And several of those here who smugly judge how people should save and pay for cruises say they are able to go on several cruises a year. Well, good for you. Most of us can't afford that, certainly not a group of young people who don't make much money and will be joining us on a cruise that will be their only vacation next year.

[LauraS]

Strange email received. We just opened an email from Crucon explaining the new policy of Carnival. The strange thing is that attached to this email is a letter from Carnival VP, Guest Services Vicky Rey, CTC. It is dated the 9th of September. So this policy has been in effect for over 10 days. We as customers were just informed yesterday the 20th of September. Why did it take so long for customers to be informed of this policy change.

 

I can explain this.

 

Knowing and working with this agency for many years (and I hope I'm not overstepping my boundaries here), they absolutely positively did their best to convince the cruise line otherwise with regard to this policy. Cruise Critic has booked a huge number of groups with Carnival, and we were hoping that they would reassess this new policy. The agency definitely tried their best.

 

I also wanted to review the email that was sent out to our group leaders and those who booked; remember the contract is between the agency and Cruise Critic. The email was to be sent out last Friday, I asked them to hold off until Monday of this week since their office is closed over the weekend.

 

Laura

[Kurbanfan]

Koval -- for our wedding group, the remaining deposit balance of $450 per cabin is due in mid-November. The point isn't that people "should have" managed their money in such a way that they would be covered in case Carnival changed its policy after they booked. And several of those here who smugly judge how people should save and pay for cruises say they are able to go on several cruises a year. Well, good for you. Most of us can't afford that, certainly not a group of young people who don't make much money and will be joining us on a cruise that will be their only vacation next year.

 

We have been thru 2 wedding cruises....one of them being my sons......they saved up before they booked and they only invited people that they knew could afford it without putting anyone on the spot......sure everyone would have loved to come on the cruise but in reality they couldn't afford it........the ones that couldn't afford it celebrated with them at the reception the week after the cruise....

The reality is regardless of the reduced deposit.......the bottom number is the same........whether you save and pay each week to the cruiseline or you save each week and bank it .......

I believe the problem lies with patience........people can't wait.....they are always in a rush.....cruises are not going anywhere.......they will still be there once the money is saved to purchase one.......

As far as the people like you that have already put the reduced deposit down I agree I think it is cheesy of Carnival to penalize customers that have already booked and put down a deposit......but Carnival has a history of chessyness:D

Congrats on your engagement and upcoming wedding! I hope it works out!

[Flynlo]

Thus my point of saving up for the purchase:D Believe me most people in the U.S. are on a budget.....

 

Except those in Washington!

[Cuizer2]

Wow. Redundant?

 

Sorry, force of habit. I work for the department of redundancy department. So it is a force of habit.

[Ship Addict]

sorry, force of habit. I work for the department of redundancy department. So it is a force of habit.

 

lol :d

[CanadaJulie]

Sorry, force of habit. I work for the department of redundancy department. So it is a force of habit.

 

I'm still laughing at this one !! :D:D:D

[vanislandcruisers]

Sorry, force of habit. I work for the department of redundancy department. So it is a force of habit.

 

You can say that again:D

[reggierail]

And that TA is at work 24/7 to take care of you? Carnival is, PVP probably not. TA's only interest in you is commission, don' kid yourself. Carnival has taken just about anything they can do for you away.

 

TA working for you? Who pays the commission?

 

My interest is not only commission but I do deserve to be paid for my work don't I?

I am available nights and weekends as I work from my home. Carnival pays the commission and I charge no additional fees. No booking fees, no change fees, no cancellation fees, no fees except those charged by the cruise line and I get no part of those.

Reggie :eek:

[reggierail]

TAs will be keeping lots of cancel fees over newCarnival policy. Bet they do not waive them when people cancel

 

 

Not all TA's charge fees, I don't.

If some one cancels a cruise I receive no compensation at all.

Even if they cancel during the penalty period imposed by the cruise line, the cruise line keeps the penalty amount, I receive no part of that. :p

If I may toot my horn a little, I also set up get togethers on the ship and since I travel with my groups I also am there to handle any problems that might surface during the cruise. I also arrange pre and post tours, private excursions and hotels. On our Alaska cruise I made many of these available to CC members that had not even booked their cruise with me.

Reggie :rolleyes:

[Pistol Packin Mama]

Not all TA's charge fees, I don't.

If some one cancels a cruise I receive no compensation at all.

Even if they cancel during the penalty period imposed by the cruise line, the cruise line keeps the penalty amount, I receive no part of that. :p

If I may toot my horn a little, I also set up get togethers on the ship and since I travel with my groups I also am there to handle any problems that might surface during the cruise. I also arrange pre and post tours, private excursions and hotels. On our Alaska cruise I made many of these available to CC members that had not even booked their cruise with me.

 

Reggie :rolleyes:

 

And did a great job I might add.:)

[Koval]

And did a great job I might add.:)

Ditto that!

[scubareader]

Not really worried about this new policy. Always ok with paying the full deposit. Either they get it now or get it later. The interest earned is nothing and I know that when we book we are going to be on that cruise. We have only changed one booking ever and when we did we were given a better deal than what we had on the same ship, with a much better itinerary.

 

I think this new policy will actually be a benefit to the bottom line for us.

[jandjfun]

Been reading through this whole thread (not all that fun) and reading that Carnival is doing this because they are heartless, money grabbing b**ards.

Yeah OK but besides that is the problem that alot of these $25 dollar deposits are just like pool chair hogs? People can reserve their spot

in one case by the pool and in the other in a choice cabin and then decide later to take the spot or not. Perhaps Carnival has done the math

(I'm sure they have) and noticed that these group cruise people aren't pulling thir weight profit wise?

What with group perks and a bunch of smart CCers maxing their own benefits, perhaps Carnival sees that this is a very low profit group.

Flame away.

This is incorrect information. When a person uses the 25 dollar deposit, they don't get to pick their cabin right then. They only get to choose a cabin after the 2nd deposit is made. The second deposit is the amount of the total deposit due.

I sure do wish the person who started these threads had the option to go through and delete the soapbox posts. Nobody here has the right to tell someone how they should be booking their cruise...... The whole point of this thread, as I see it, was to inform everyone of a policy that was being implemented that would affect a fairly large group of CC members who actively book CC group cruises. It further was to point out that many "current" bookings will be affected because Carnival chose to change existing contracts that most of us thought were "binding". Good information that needed to be discussed but didn't need to be diluted by opinions on who should and shouldn't be cruising based on how they make down payments.

 

Happy cruising to everyone and can't we all just get along!:)

I agree. Sort of. I wouldn't want to delete anyones post, but I do wish that the thread wouldn't get diluted with all the nasty comments and opinions of people that don't know what they are talking about. And of course you have to include those that will never look at a situation through someone elses eyes. Their opinions are usually nasty remarks like "you shouldn't be cruising anyway".

 

Whatever the reason is that folks used used the 25 dollar deposit, nobody here can deny the fact that carnival had the most groups bookings on CC because of it. That will no longer be the case, especially if one can't trust that they won't change the contract between them and CC.

[Sargent_Schultz]

Considering most people have never cruised and most people who cruse have never heard of/don't read cruise critic, could some CCer's think they are more important that they really are?

[lnew1gd1]

 

Whatever the reason is that folks used used the 25 dollar deposit, nobody here can deny the fact that carnival had the most groups bookings on CC because of it. That will no longer be the case, especially if one can't trust that they won't change the contract between them and CC.

 

Seems that a lot of the posts/posters here are missing the point. Carnival reneged on a contract that they had made with customers. Not acceptable. Just you try doing that to them and see what the ramifications would be.

 

Doesn't matter what anyone personally thinks of the $25 deposit, doesn't matter what anyone thinks about why people take advantage of the offer or not, doesn't matter what others think of your "budgeting or lack of budgeting" skills. Point is Carnival just ignored a contract. Going forward with a change is OK, but back dating....not nice. Shame on them.

 

Also, there is absolutely no reason for anyone on this board to be slammed because of taking advantage of an offer of any type. Not nice people. You need to cool it and get back to the point of the original post.

 

Just a note...Going forward Carnival is still allowing the $25 deposit but only for 30 days from the creation of the group. So, it's not going away all together...just a much shorter time. You can still secure a future place on the ship when the group is formed/announced but not a personal confirmation until you pay the entire required deposit within the 30 day allotment.

 

The "Shame on them" is that Carnival thinks they can do anything they want, whenever they want, with no regard to a supposed legal and binding contract with a TA/customer.

[AuntieBon]

Seems that a lot of the posts/posters here are missing the point. Carnival reneged on a contract that they had made with customers. Not acceptable. Just you try doing that to them and see what the ramifications would be.....

 

 

The "Shame on them" is that Carnival thinks they can do anything they want, whenever they want, with no regard to a supposed legal and binding contract with a TA/customer.

 

Exactly! I went from needing to make a payment in November 2011 to one due in a little more than 30 days. :eek:

[Traveler353]

Well, it stinks but Carnival will no longer offer a reduced deposit of $25.00 to book into a CC group cruise. AND if you have one booked already, and the second deposit was due AFTER Nov. 1st. Your complete deposit is due by Nov. 1st, 2010 now.

You have the option of letting your booking cancel, and pay the rest of the deposit when you want to, but you will lose your booking number, dining time, excursions booked. etc.

Carnival will lose a lot of groups by doing this. The GREAT news is that because Carnival dropped the ball, Celebrity, NCL and Royal are all going to start offering the reduced depsoit for their lines!

 

Oasis/Allure here I come!~:D

 

This will have no effect on me as I cruise solo. We always get stuck having to pay the full deposit amount along with 200% single supplement. To top it all off we only get half of any monitory benefits, OBC, etc. for any promotions.:mad:

[firefly333]

I guess Im backing off my position that this is Carnival's fault. Their position is that they told these TAs well in advance of them taking these bookings. That the TAs thuoght/hoped that Carnival would relent or push back the date (as Carnival has done before). .. but the TAs knew 6 months ago, so its the TAs fault for not telling their clients that this might happen when they took the bookings.

[halos]

We have been thru 2 wedding cruises....one of them being my sons......they saved up before they booked and they only invited people that they knew could afford it without putting anyone on the spot......sure everyone would have loved to come on the cruise but in reality they couldn't afford it........the ones that couldn't afford it celebrated with them at the reception the week after the cruise....

The reality is regardless of the reduced deposit.......the bottom number is the same........whether you save and pay each week to the cruiseline or you save each week and bank it .......

I believe the problem lies with patience........people can't wait.....they are always in a rush.....cruises are not going anywhere.......they will still be there once the money is saved to purchase one.......

As far as the people like you that have already put the reduced deposit down I agree I think it is cheesy of Carnival to penalize customers that have already booked and put down a deposit......but Carnival has a history of chessyness:D

Congrats on your engagement and upcoming wedding! I hope it works out!

 

 

I have to agree on all counts...was it crappy they did this to existing bookings? Absolutely. But, the bottom line is the same.

 

We need to cough up $800 for our cruise depsoit by Nov 1st (2 people/15 day cruise)...ONE FULL YEAR before we contracted to pay it. (our cruise is April 2012)

Yeah, the timing kinda sucked because I am making final payment on my January cruise as well....not to mention holiday shopping begins in Nov too :eek:

BUT we wouldn't have booked this cruise if we didn't have the money.

 

I did write to Carnival to express my distaste in the matter, however. It was really crappy for them to pull this on existing bookings, and my heart goes out to folks that don't have that money right now. Although, I do know a few people who do book and cancel (sometimes often)...so I can see why CCL had to do this. I just think they should have implemented it on new bookings not existing ones. I also added that this little change on top of all the other little changes they are making, are turning off quite a few long time Carnival cruisers....especially solo cruisers who really get screwed up down and sideways.

I don't think for one minute the letter will help, but it needed to be sent so they know someone thinks what they pulled is not cool.

[English Tim]

In the UK, when we make a booking we pay a deposit (usually about 10% of the cost) and then we are contracted for the booking, losing money if we cancel.

 

We can of course book with a US TA.

[melodystrother]

I assume this will make a huge dent in those passengers that have 3,5 10 booked at one time. I feel a year in advance is plenty of time to pay off your balance and not tie all your money up totally in cruises. alot of things can and normally happen which cost more to rebook and loose cash.

[lnew1gd1]

I guess Im backing off my position that this is Carnival's fault. Their position is that they told these TAs well in advance of them taking these bookings. That the TAs thuoght/hoped that Carnival would relent or push back the date (as Carnival has done before). .. but the TAs knew 6 months ago, so its the TAs fault for not telling their clients that this might happen when they took the bookings.

 

Well, I am a TA and had no idea until I received the notice from Carnival this month.

[Cuizer2]

Whatever the reason is that folks used used the 25 dollar deposit, nobody here can deny the fact that carnival had the most groups bookings on CC because of it. That will no longer be the case, especially if one can't trust that they won't change the contract between them and CC.

 

Where are you getting your facts? I've heard that Carnival provided plenty of notice about this change and the TA did not tell their clients because the TA was hoping to change Carnival decision. Once it became clear that Carnival was not going to change, the TA then finally shared the information. Everyone thinks Carnival suddenly came up with this and it appears that in fact the TA sat on the information while trying to get Carnival to change back.

 

I'm not so sure the TA is providing ALL the information.