Poll for people who book for Big OBC

[cruisercrazy69]

What will you do after July 31?

[firefly333]

I think you are assuming that those who gave OBC before under the table, more than allowed will suddenly say .. OH DUH, now Im not going to do it anymore. Its not like they were allowed to give that much OBC before.

 

If the pax has a good relationship with their TA, Im betting nothing changes.

 

This sounds to me like the same crack down as before. .. but this time Carnival says they mean it!!! (scared).

 

My TA is obviously still heavily discounting and not changing.

[Gig103]

Never mind

[twindaddy]

I think those that have an established relationship with their TA will still get some "perks", and I am not talking about mug or Carnival t shirt

[mizLORInj]

Need another voting option: I will be weighing other cruiseline options more seriously; in the past I may have given more preference to Carnival.

And it is not an "under the table" OBC if it shows on my cruise documents on Carnival's website, and Carnival prints a paper and leaves it in my cabin about the OBC $ the TA has given me. :)

 

IMO this is poor decision #3 by Carnival in the past few months : 1) many cutbacks we're all talking about (ok, most lines have had cutbacks), 2) the new and (NOT) improved VIFP program, and then this 3). . .

[cccer]

Our first six Carnival cruises we booked through the big warehouse. This year since they no longer offer them, we booked directly through Carnival. Next cruise depends on the offer, not the cruiseline, but Carnival is usually the best deal.

[cruzn buckeye]

It wont change things

[halos]

I think you are assuming that those who gave OBC before under the table, more than allowed will suddenly say .. OH DUH, now Im not going to do it anymore. Its not like they were allowed to give that much OBC before.

 

If the pax has a good relationship with their TA, Im betting nothing changes.

 

This sounds to me like the same crack down as before. .. but this time Carnival says they mean it!!! (scared).

 

My TA is obviously still heavily discounting and not changing.

 

If you deal with a person/Brick & Mortar this is possible. If you're like me and do an on line agency that automatically calculates the OBC while processing your on line booking, this won't work.

 

OBC helps us when booking a cruise. On my upcoming cruise I have $700 OBC..that's a nice chunk. I am truly hoping NCL does NOT follow Carnival's lead here....

[firefly333]

Need another voting option: I will be weighing other cruiseline options more seriously; in the past I may have given more preference to Carnival.

 

And it is not an "under the table" OBC if it shows on my cruise documents on Carnival's website, and Carnival prints a paper and leaves it in my cabin about the OBC $ the TA has given me. :)

 

If it shows on your cruise docs ....then the OBC came from Carnival, not from your TA.

 

I dont know why you would think OBC you got from your TA would ever show on Carnival's cruise docs, but it doesnt.. maybe your TA made you believe it came from them, but it was a Carnival promo?? something wrong here though.. TA OBC never will show on your carnival edocs.

 

I do agree about getting the piece of paper .. that is a dead giveaway if you get that in your stateroom.

[halos]

If it shows on your cruise docs ....then the OBC came from Carnival, not from your TA.

 

I dont know why you would think OBC you got from your TA would ever show on Carnival's cruise docs, but it doesnt.. maybe your TA made you believe it came from them, but it was a Carnival promo?? something wrong here though.. TA OBC never will show on your carnival edocs.

 

I do agree about getting the piece of paper .. that is a dead giveaway if you get that in your stateroom.

They not only leave the paper in your stateroom, you have to sign a card that they will take, acknowledging receipt of the OBC. I have had this happen on several cruises.

[firefly333]

They not only leave the paper in your stateroom, you have to sign a card that they will take, acknowledging receipt of the OBC. I have had this happen on several cruises.

 

My point was just that if you are seeing the OBC on your edocs, it did not come from the TA. I do know some TAs who advertise and make it sound like it came from them.

 

The OBC came from Carnival or it would not show on your edocs.

[halos]

My point was just that if you are seeing the OBC on your edocs, it did not come from the TA. I do know some TAs who advertise and make it sound like it came from them.

 

The OBC came from Carnival or it would not show on your edocs.

Yes. I agree with you there. My TA OBC never shows on my docs, however that doesn't mean CCL or any other cruise line isn't aware of it.

[michelle1836]

I must have missed something?? what is going on after July 31 with OBC?

[mara93]

We'll consider all lines now vs. budget.

[gobucks_43228]

I must have missed something?? what is going on after July 31 with OBC?

 

Me too. What's up?

[firefly333]

I must have missed something?? what is going on after July 31 with OBC?

 

Me too. What's up?

 

There is a sticky (so many threads, I guess they decided it needed a sticky).

 

Carnival again has decreed that this time no more discounts (OBC is in effect a discounts), or cash perks .. and this time they mean it (though they said pretty much the same thing to me last fall)

[gobucks_43228]

Thank you. I found it. Up until we booked the Breeze I always booked through my PVP. I used a TA for the Breeze only because of the significant amount of OBC she offered us. The TA was referred by the couple we are cruising with.

 

It's an interesting topic nonetheless

[kicia]

The policy change in 2010 was that no one else could advertise a lower price than Carnival. If you contacted the TA directly via e-mail, phone, or walk in, then they were allowed to give whatever they wanted. The current announcement states that no TA can give a value added benefit or cash equivalent of more than $25 per person no matter how you contact them. If Carnival finds a TA that is disregarding this rule then Carnival will stop them from booking Carnival cruises. I think a lot of smaller TAs will help police this because the small agencies can't afford to match prices with the large online agencies. I also think the other cruise lines will follow suit.

[Out to sea!]

I took "Call Carnival" as meaning call my PVP at Carnival.

[mizLORInj]

We also used to buy Carnival through the major warehouse company but they stopped selling them in 2010; not clear on who parted from whom though.

 

Anyway, the OBC we receive says it's from the travel agency, and if I booked through Carnival directly I would not get this OBC. I suppose that's why I believe it's from the TA somehow and not from Carnival.

 

The TA told us she "calls it in to Carnival" so only after that is done does it appear on the cruise docs (e.g. the one I am getting for September does not yet show on Carnival.com, but it will). Which is good because it's additional proof we are getting OBC, though we have never had an issue with it coming through.

 

In fact, on all the cruises and cruiselines where I get OBC, which is most, there is a document in the cabin showing the OBC and the agency from where it came. Not all show it on their online docs, but some do. And we have also gotten OBC from the cruiselines, but from what I recall, the cruiseline's OBC is listed separately from the TA OBC on documents.

[firefly333]

The TA "calls it in to Carnival" so after that is done, it appears on the cruise docs (e.g. the one I am getting for September does not yet show on Carnival.com, but it will). Which is good because it's additional proof we are getting OBC, though we have never had an issue with it coming through.

 

You will get a paper in your cabin showing it. It will appear on your onboard account.

 

If the OBC is from your TA it never has and never will appear on your edocs on carnival.com.

 

It is not from your TA if you are seeing it on your edocs.. check it next time... honest. Carnival does not put TA OBC on its edocs, never has. Just check it next time since you dont believe me.

 

halos above is a very experienced cruiser and she too confirmed this... there is some misconception if you are seeing what you think is TA OBC on your carnival.com edocs. ..

[halos]

We also used to buy Carnival through the major warehouse company but they stopped selling them in 2010; not clear on who parted from whom though. Not sure I'd say they fired Carnival.

 

Anyway, the OBC we receive says it's from the travel agency and if I booked through Carnival directly I would not get this OBC. I suppose that's why I believe it's from the TA somehow and not from Carnival.

 

The TA told us she "calls it in to Carnival" so only after that is done does it appear on the cruise docs (e.g. the one I am getting for September does not yet show on Carnival.com, but it will). Which is good because it's additional proof we are getting OBC, though we have never had an issue with it coming through.

 

In fact, on all the cruises and cruiselines where I get OBC, which is most, there is a document in the cabin showing the OBC and the agency from where it came. Not all show it on their online docs, but some do.

 

So I don't see how the OBC is from Carnival. We have indeed gotten obc from the cruiseline, but it is always listed separately from the TA OBC.

 

Are you seeing this on your confirmation from your TA or your edocs from Carnival??

I always have confirmation of ALL on board credit on my TA's confirmation paperwork...but Carnival (and NCL for that matter) do not show what you get from the TA on their documents.

This is not to say they aren't aware of it. Any gift you get from the TA will be in your cabin with a card. If you get OBC from the TA, a card with the amount will be in your cabin...but it will have not been in your cruise documnets.

[mizLORInj]

ok then. Learn something new every day.

 

Are you seeing this on your confirmation from your TA or your edocs from Carnival??

 

On Carnival it is on the TA document and it will be in my online Carnival docs sometime before the cruise. That's how it's been anyway.

 

Also, on NCL, my OBC from both the TA and NCL showed in my NCL account online, so both are technically from NCL then?

[halos]

ok then. Learn something new every day.

 

 

Are you seeing this on your confirmation from your TA or your edocs from Carnival??

 

On Carnival it is on the TA document and it will be in my online Carnival docs sometime before the cruise. That's how it's been anyway.

 

Also, on NCL, my OBC from both the TA and NCL showed in my NCL account online, so both are technically from NCL then?

 

yes...they are all from the cruise line if they show up on the cruise line's web site/documnets

[mizLORInj]

hmmmmm. ok. Guess I never really gave much thought to this process. I've just been glad to get the OBC to offset charges!

So is it that the cruiseline says to xyz agency you can sell XXX of these and we'll give an XX OBC (usually by cabin category) to those guests? If it's not a publicly-known process and is better that way, just say so, that's ok too. Just wondering how it works since it's not from the TA ultimately! :-)