Carnival and Belize??

[csaeroach]

Is Carnival ever going to make a final decision on Belize, or are they going to keep everyone guessing as to which ship will visit Belize each week? We are on the March 20th sailing of the Carnival Valor and we have a private excursion booked with Island Marketing Ltd, and I would like to know if we will actually be in Belize that day or should I be trying to cancel this excursion?

We had to pay a $90 deposit so I would like to get that back if we will not be going into Belize that day.

[jtdlmc]

Is Carnival ever going to make a final decision on Belize, or are they going to keep everyone guessing as to which ship will visit Belize each week? We are on the March 20th sailing of the Carnival Valor and we have a private excursion booked with Island Marketing Ltd, and I would like to know if we will actually be in Belize that day or should I be trying to cancel this excursion?

We had to pay a $90 deposit so I would like to get that back if we will not be going into Belize that day.

 

Apparently it's a secret :p The passengers don't get told until they embark whether they are going to Belize or not.

[zqvol]

Carnival likes to play games.

[pkrchkr]

Ok and then what happens?We are going in 17 days and we have made reservations with a cavetubing co.( no money exchanged until after we do the excursion).What kind of compensation will they offer for missing the port? Will we go somewhere else?

[BigDoug]

So far, Carnival has been substituting other ports for Belize. Discussion has been on this thread.

[Angelee]

csaeroach: Help. Where did you hear that Valor may not go to Belize.. We are also leaving on March 20,2011

[Zada]

We just sailed on Valor this past week and Costa Maya was substituted for Belize. As far as compensation goes, you really aren't entitled to anything beyond a refund of port fees if the shiop doesn't make an alternate stop. We were not notified of the change until mid-afternoon on the Monday after sailing. That gave us all of two and a half days to line something up. We opted instead to just visit Majahual as we hadn't been back to the bvillage since Costa Maya was flattened by a hurricane some years back.

 

We too booked an excursion with Island Marketing in Belize which was also cancelled. After e-mailing the company, our deposit will be refunded, likely on our next billing cycle (they said about 3 weeks). Their policy is if the weather is bad or the ship doesn't call in port for any reason, they will refund the deposit.

[caracol]

just thought...

 

If they do cancel Belize and substitute another port at which the port fees are different do they charge/refund the difference or just call it even?

 

Not a big deal as it probably wouldn't be enough to buy a drink with, just interested.

[csaeroach]

just thought...

 

If they do cancel Belize and substitute another port at which the port fees are different do they charge/refund the difference or just call it even?

 

Not a big deal as it probably wouldn't be enough to buy a drink with, just interested.

 

Not sure about Carnival but I would say probably yes. We were on a Princess cruise once where something like this happened and we had to change ports, and yes they refunded the difference to your on-board account... it was less then $2 so not even sure why they would bother with all the work for such a little amount but guess to make sure everyone is treated fair and only charged for what they were suppose to be charged for they went and refunded everyone's account the difference. So I would think Carnival would be the same.

[csaeroach]

We just sailed on Valor this past week and Costa Maya was substituted for Belize. As far as compensation goes, you really aren't entitled to anything beyond a refund of port fees if the shiop doesn't make an alternate stop. We were not notified of the change until mid-afternoon on the Monday after sailing. That gave us all of two and a half days to line something up. We opted instead to just visit Majahual as we hadn't been back to the bvillage since Costa Maya was flattened by a hurricane some years back.

 

We too booked an excursion with Island Marketing in Belize which was also cancelled. After e-mailing the company, our deposit will be refunded, likely on our next billing cycle (they said about 3 weeks). Their policy is if the weather is bad or the ship doesn't call in port for any reason, they will refund the deposit.

 

Thanks for your post! It is nice to know they will be refunding everyone who has paid a deposit if ship does not go into port. Makes me nervous to have to pay deposits with our credit card, as you never know, and all this just came about less than 2 weeks after booking the excursion. :(

[gogetter]

This seems like a no brainer.........Carnival isnt going to Belize. If you have an excursion, CANCEL and just be spontaneous. If it does go to Belize then contact the excursion again. You might get it cheaper.....

[csaeroach]

This seems like a no brainer.........Carnival isnt going to Belize. If you have an excursion, CANCEL and just be spontaneous. If it does go to Belize then contact the excursion again. You might get it cheaper.....

 

I believe it is not that simple, they will only refund if ship does not dock. You can not cancel and get full refund of your deposit just because you changed your mind, or we would be doing that for sure after all these tendering issues between Belize and Carnival.

[saskd]

This seems like a no brainer.........Carnival isnt going to Belize.

 

How is this a no brainer? From what I've heard Carnival is alternating which boats go to Belize and aren't telling anyone until they are already on the ship. Do you know something the rest of us don't know?

[klfrodo]

How is this a no brainer? From what I've heard Carnival is alternating which boats go to Belize and aren't telling anyone until they are already on the ship. Do you know something the rest of us don't know?

 

I agree it's a No Brainer.

Assume the ship is NOT going there until Carnival and Belize work out their differences. IF your ship does stop in Belize, consider it a win, and go with the flow. Not every minute HAS to planned via an excursion. It is possible to have fun with the unknown.

[mcwebber]

How is this a no brainer? From what I've heard Carnival is alternating which boats go to Belize and aren't telling anyone until they are already on the ship. Do you know something the rest of us don't know?

 

If you are not booking via Carnival, it's safer to assume you're not going. If you can cancel a privately booked excursion it's prudent to cancel and figure out what to do there if the ship does end up going. And, as the previous poster said, you might get the excursion cheaper. You can always use the Internet on board once you know for sure.

[jojocruisin]

Just a word of caution for cave tubing with a private tour.

We were in Belize after Christmas and booked with Carnival for 5 teens in our group to go on this excursion. They left at 8:30 in the morning and were expected back around 2:00. The last tender was leaving the port at 4:15. They didn't make it back until just after 4:00. There was another tour which left at 10:30 and the boat had to wait for them as they booked with carnival. We did meet some others who booked privately but they did make it back on time. The problem was that there were too many tours booked by the excursion operator and it was slower than normal on the river.

 

If the group leaving at 10:30 hadn't booked with Carnival they would have been left behind. :eek: So ensure who you ever you are booking with that you will make it back before the last tender.

 

The kids had a great time.:D

[saskd]

I agree it's a No Brainer.

Assume the ship is NOT going there until Carnival and Belize work out their differences. IF your ship does stop in Belize, consider it a win, and go with the flow. Not every minute HAS to planned via an excursion. It is possible to have fun with the unknown.

 

I think I get what your saying. It's a "no brainer" on how to handle the situation. I thought the poster was saying it's a "no brainer" that Carnival won't be going to Belize, as in it's a sure thing that Carnival isn't going to Belize.

[csaeroach]

I just wish for the courtesy to Carnival passengers that they could post some kind of schedule on which "one" ship will be visiting Belize each week, and which port the other ships would be going to. I am sure they must know in head office by now what they are doing with each ship until this gets resolved or a final decision is made. Why not share this bit of information with guests that are booked?? I do not think people really care which port they are going to, but would be nice to give a heads up as people do plan excursions, and need to know this kind of information. You plan a cruise on its itinerary usually, so it would be nice to know your itinerary since it may not be what we originally booked and planned for. I do not think people are upset with Belize or Costa Maya, it would just be nice to know ahead of time which port you would be visiting.:confused: