new program replacing FCC - our next cruise itinerary isn't out yet

[bender031177]

We are cruising Dec 2-9 and we have bought FCCs the past few cruises. Now that they are not available, we would likely book onboard to take advantage of the OBC offered except for one thing...our next cruise was going to be a Mediterranean in the spring of 2014 and those itineraries haven't been released yet.

 

It used to be you had 2 years to book with the FCC but this new program cannot be used that far into the future.

 

Has anyone run into this? Have you asked onboard for a solution?

 

THanks

[MissKIA]

We have the same issue. We were thinking of taking a Hawaiian cruise possibly in spring of 2014 but they haven't been released yet. Considering we are sailing on Saturday I think we will be out of luck. We would have gotten the $200 OBC too for the longer cruise. :( Boo

[nitro2448]

Not really sure how it would work, but maybe you can book a cruise while on board, then when the cruise comes out that you really want you can switch to it. Just a thought, but I don't know

[gusandgidgetsmom]

I asked that quetion when on board and from the answer I got I don't think you would be able to switch as the OBC is just on that particular cruise, but I do book ES so maybe that is the reason. I booked on board to get the 200.000 off--we are going to Hawaii, but I liked the FCC's better as you would have more time to make the choice.

[bender031177]

Not really sure how it would work, but maybe you can book a cruise while on board, then when the cruise comes out that you really want you can switch to it. Just a thought, but I don't know

 

The problem with that is that since we are booking this far in advance, I would want to book under ES to get any price drops and when you book under ES, you have to pay $50 pp to make changes.

 

We too would have received $200 OBC because the Med cruise we're looking at is 12 days. DH says we should do it anyway because even if we have to pay the fine to switch our ES, we'll still come out ahead $100.

 

The other downside is that the downpayment on a 12 day cruise is $400 per person so that means we have to give them $800 now for a cruise we're taking in 2014. That's a far cry from the $100 we advanced them for a FCC.

 

I don't like this new program :(

[bender031177]

FWIW, if anyone from Carnival does read these boards for feedback - the result of all this will likely be that we won't book onboard which leaves us open to shop around to different cruise lines for our Med cruise. If we had a FCC in hand, we wouldn't even consider another line because we would want to use it for this trip of a lifetime.

[jenng1976]

The problem with that is that since we are booking this far in advance, I would want to book under ES to get any price drops and when you book under ES, you have to pay $50 pp to make changes.

 

We too would have received $200 OBC because the Med cruise we're looking at is 12 days. DH says we should do it anyway because even if we have to pay the fine to switch our ES, we'll still come out ahead $100.

 

The other downside is that the downpayment on a 12 day cruise is $400 per person so that means we have to give them $800 now for a cruise we're taking in 2014. That's a far cry from the $100 we advanced them for a FCC.

 

I don't like this new program :(

 

You could always book a different rate to start off with - such as Past Guest or whatever, then switch to Early Saver later. You can switch anytime along as the ES rate is still being offered for your sailing. (I have done this before.)

[OntarioTraveller]

A quick question about this...is the onboard credit for the cruise you are on or the future cruise?

We are cruising in February, 2013 but looking to book a med. cruise for June 2014, so that may work for us....

Thanks for the information.

Barb

[golfadj]

FWIW, if anyone from Carnival does read these boards for feedback - the result of all this will likely be that we won't book onboard which leaves us open to shop around to different cruise lines for our Med cruise. If we had a FCC in hand, we wouldn't even consider another line because we would want to use it for this trip of a lifetime.

 

We used to purchase one or two FCC's and thought it was great. Effectively this new thing means our cost of cruising is up $ 100 per cruise and we will look around and play the field. Next one is our first on NCL.

[nitro2448]

The problem with that is that since we are booking this far in advance, I would want to book under ES to get any price drops and when you book under ES, you have to pay $50 pp to make changes.

 

We too would have received $200 OBC because the Med cruise we're looking at is 12 days. DH says we should do it anyway because even if we have to pay the fine to switch our ES, we'll still come out ahead $100.

 

The other downside is that the downpayment on a 12 day cruise is $400 per person so that means we have to give them $800 now for a cruise we're taking in 2014. That's a far cry from the $100 we advanced them for a FCC.

 

I don't like this new program :(

 

I agree I don't like the new program either. You can book however you need to while on the ship, then you can always switch it to ES. When I booked a family member on the cruise I'm doing this December, I was told ES was not available anymore but they could still get price drops, but only up to two months out. When I called to get a price drop, the PVP asked if I wanted to switch the booking to ES.

[nitro2448]

A quick question about this...is the onboard credit for the cruise you are on or the future cruise?

We are cruising in February, 2013 but looking to book a med. cruise for June 2014, so that may work for us....

Thanks for the information.

Barb

 

The OBC is for your next cruise

[nitro2448]

I asked that quetion when on board and from the answer I got I don't think you would be able to switch as the OBC is just on that particular cruise, but I do book ES so maybe that is the reason. I booked on board to get the 200.000 off--we are going to Hawaii, but I liked the FCC's better as you would have more time to make the choice.

 

You might be right, I wasn't sure if it will work or not but figure it's worth a try.

[bender031177]

You could always book a different rate to start off with - such as Past Guest or whatever, then switch to Early Saver later. You can switch anytime along as the ES rate is still being offered for your sailing. (I have done this before.)

 

Thanks for this info - I hadn't thought to do that...that might work!

 

Oh wait - that doesn't solve the issue that itineraries for spring 2014 Med cruises aren't out yet :(

[sarahleebones]

FWIW, if anyone from Carnival does read these boards for feedback - the result of all this will likely be that we won't book onboard which leaves us open to shop around to different cruise lines for our Med cruise. If we had a FCC in hand, we wouldn't even consider another line because we would want to use it for this trip of a lifetime.

 

EXACTLY! We too are planning on a Med. cruise for Spring of 2014. If they still had FCC available, we would have for sure bought one on our upcoming March cruise - effectively locking us into booking at least another Carnival cruise. Now, I've already started looking at other cruise lines. Not that 200 bucks on board credit is going to make or break it when you will be spending THOUSANDS for a med cruise when you add in airfare, pre/post cruise stays...etc. but still, with it, we would have probably just stuck with Carnival....just because.

 

Now I'm curious to try other lines to see what they are like.

[jenng1976]

Thanks for this info - I hadn't thought to do that...that might work!

 

Oh wait - that doesn't solve the issue that itineraries for spring 2014 Med cruises aren't out yet :(

 

Well, if you booked a placeholder cruise to get the FCC credit - then hopefully when the real cruise you want to take comes out, Carnival will be nice and transfer the credit over. And you could cancel the original cruise without the $100 charge.

 

IF of course, Carnival allows the cruise to be switched. I think I read here on another thread someone else was able to do that. (If not, you're not really out anything since you would get your money back.)

 

Good luck!

[BamaCruiser20]

Could you book a 5 day cruise with the PG rate and a total deposit of only $500 instead of $800. Then when the European cruises for 2014 come out, switch over and pay the additional $300 deposit and then book the ES rate.

 

However, I would double check to make sure the OBC for booking on board carries over if you cancel and rebook later....especially if you go from a cruise that would only get you $75 OBC to one that gets $200 OBC.

 

Hopefully, you'll let us know how this works so we can all learn some ways to get around the roadblocks Carnival has put up for us when they did away with the FCC.

 

IF any Carnival people are reading this thread....big mistake...HUGE!