BEWARE - Carnival not honoring future cruise discounts for passengers on strand

[2beachlovers]

My Triumph April 8th cruise was canceled and we were offered a 25 percent discount for a 5 day cruise or a 15 percent discount for a future cruise of 7 days. I immediately got on the phone and booked the Magic for a 7 day cruise. I was on the phone for 4 hours. My Carnival rep was very nice and helpful, she kept checking back to let me know she was working on it. I put the phone on speaker, prepared dinner, drank wine, ate dinner and cleaned up the dinner dishes all while waiting to get my new cruise set up. I did the math to make sure we got the correct discount. All worked out well and we leave next Sunday, but it was quite a process...

[DevCruise]

What if the letter was misplaced or lost!?

 

Perhaps they're counting on this?

[jkjmt]

Oh I don't doubt that there can be problem when booking or getting the correct pricing. There could be computer problems and employee problems....but I don't think there is any company you can call these days without going round and round. DIAL 1 FOR ENGLISH, DIAL 2 FOR SPANISH, DIAL3 FOR PAYMENTS. The automated phones are annoying. Then there are the people who answer and read from the internet the same thing I've already read (This happens with Carnival a lot). When this happens I call back until I find a knowledgeable employee that can help me.

 

I don't think that was the OPs main complaint. It appears the OPs main complaint was they couldn't book multiple rooms with the 50% discount.

[Big_G]

Unfortunately the OPs post is attacking Carnival and either not clearly stating the situation or in our opinion, they're trying to abuse the 50%.

 

It's a possibility that Carnival didn't have records because the OP was booking the rooms under names that weren't even on the stranded ship. The OP asks the Carnival employee "Can I book several rooms with the 50% discount?" The Carnival employee thinks they all have the 50% so they respond "Yes you can book multiple rooms." The OP starts giving names that aren't showing up with the discount so the Carnival employees asks for confirmation. When only the OP can get the discount, the OP gets angry at Carnival and writes an eye-opening headline on CruiseCritic that is very mis-leading and not true about Carnival and an already touchy subject.

 

Wow! Talk about filling in the blanks. I'm sure the OP will appreciate you explaining what he left out...or maybe not. :eek:

[Guzzler]

Just wanted everyone to know that Carnival is not honoring the "50 percent off future cruise" for passengers that were on the recent stranded ships. They do everything in their power not to honor the discount. We had to email the original letter received from Carnival to them because "they didn't have a record of it." Spent an entire morning on the phone and countless hours of planning preparing for this trip. Spoke with Carnival several times previously confirming the details and was told that we could book several cabins under the same booking for the 50% discount. Well..... come time to book and their story changed.

 

SHAME ON CARNIVAL - Bad experience keeps on ......!!

 

Sometimes I dont know if many People just have no Societal common sence or if many people just always push the envelope TO ACHEIVE AS A METHOD, whatever they can get over on and gain value, funds or advancement. I see this often, almost everywhere. I find it Ugly.

 

G

[jkjmt]

Wow! Talk about filling in the blanks. I'm sure the OP will appreciate you explaining what he left out...or maybe not. :eek:

 

I was just trying to justify how the OP might have been confused. I can't imagine a Carnival employee telling the OP that they can have several rooms with the 50% discount. Especially if some of the people in the rooms had not been stranded.

 

Just trying to give the OP the benefit of the doubt.:o

[Sargent_Schultz]

The discount is not based on a per cabin basis but on the people who were originally booked.

[Big_G]

I was just trying to justify how the OP might have been confused. I can't imagine a Carnival employee telling the OP that they can have several rooms with the 50% discount. Especially if some of the people in the rooms had not been stranded.

 

Just trying to give the OP the benefit of the doubt.:o

 

Sorry, didn't mean to jump on you like that. I must have misunderstood your intent. At least you weren't accusing OP of trying to cheat like others here.

[billie5]

seeing how a couple thousand people were cancelled from my cruise last fall, by the time I called in to re-book 3 months later, don't you think that someone at Carnival realized the computer glitch that was giving only 7%...

 

I guess it is rather amusing to see how people think. You condemn those who think the worst of someone, but seem perfectly willing to think the worst of a corporation.

 

Computer glitches can show up at any time in a complex IT system. This particular glitch might have shown up the morning you or OP phoned in. Or, for that matter, two minutes before. I have seen that many times in systems I have dealt with.

[firefly333]

I just think there was a misunderstanding, which no one does on purpose. The OP understood the offer one way and Carnival had it another way that was not clearly communicated to the OP.

 

The letter I got the terms were not on the letter, you had to go to the pursers desk and stand in line to get them. Like how long you had to book .. which cruises were excluded (I think mine excluded Alaska for instance). They could avoid the misunderstandings by handing out the terms with the letter in the cabins?

[sparks1093]

I just think there was a misunderstanding, which no one does on purpose. The OP understood the offer one way and Carnival had it another way that was not clearly communicated to the OP.

 

The letter I got the terms were not on the letter, you had to go to the pursers desk and stand in line to get them. Like how long you had to book .. which cruises were excluded (I think mine excluded Alaska for instance). They could avoid the misunderstandings by handing out the terms with the letter in the cabins?

 

That's what it looks like to me and clearer communication would certainly go a long way toward removing a bad taste from one's mouth (just as bad communication can increase the bad taste in one's mouth from a rotten situation). From what I've read on here CCL will eventually get it right, but the passenger has to work at it.

[jkjmt]

That's what it looks like to me and clearer communication would certainly go a long way toward removing a bad taste from one's mouth (just as bad communication can increase the bad taste in one's mouth from a rotten situation). From what I've read on here CCL will eventually get it right, but the passenger has to work at it.

 

Exactly.....it's not like this is an everyday occurrence...thankfully. Mistakes happen, and God knows there are computer glitches.

 

I wish the OP would come back and explain the situation better. HIS communication isn't any better than Carnivals.

 

The situation with the Triumph was an unplanned event. Carnival is trying it's best to rectify this unfortunate accident. It's not a tragedy.

[dallas52]

you only get 50% off for the room or rooms that you had booked on the bad cruise, not for all the rooms you could book for the next cruise. who would have thought this?

[firefly333]

you only get 50% off for the room or rooms that you had booked on the bad cruise, not for all the rooms you could book for the next cruise. who would have thought this?

 

Not really .. as above each 50% discount is attached to the person, not to the cabin. So, if you have a 50% discount and your roommate does not.. it only applies to your fare, not to the whole cabin.

[DebJ14]

Not really .. as above each 50% discount is attached to the person, not to the cabin. So, if you have a 50% discount and your roommate does not.. it only applies to your fare, not to the whole cabin.

 

Firefly has this exactly right.

 

The fine print can get you on these certificates. Years ago we received discount coupons toward future cruises from a class action lawsuit against Carnival. We never did get to use the certificates. The hitch was that you had to book certain fare codes. Those fares, even with the coupon, were always a whole lot higher than fares that we were eligible for as either past guests, residents or seniors or other promos.

[Sargent_Schultz]

Somewhere lost in here is Carnival's EXTREMELY GENEROUS compensation offer.

[taszmom]

As a TA, I deal with CCL a lot and I can tell you for FACT they notoriously have system glitches.

 

Their reps also give out bad or incorrect information. They are not empowered to do too much without a supervisor's assistance. Most often than not when I call in I get put on hold so they can get in touch with a supervisor to answer a question or fix a problem. Some of them are really are uninformed about the product that they sell.

[halos]

Maybe this should be a good example of why its good to have a good PVP you book with at Carnival and have a relationship with already set up.

Firefly, I hardly think that it's fair to say that if people want good CS they need to have a relationship with a PVP.

Every PVP, whether it's your 100th time using them or the first, should give you good cs without making you stay on the phone or not applying the discount that the company gave to you.

 

and I have no clue what the OP was trying to say...I def think that was a total misunderstanding on their part (just to be clear)... But in cases like the one below, you should not have to have a relationship with a PVP. The one you speak to should be able to help you without all the fuss

I am not going to jump on the OP. They may not have stated things the way they meant to or maybe there was some misunderstanding with Carnival, but..

 

 

 

I had a cruise cancelled because of Sandy. Carnival was nice enough to give us 25% off a future cruise. I called this past January to set up our new cruise and the call took an hour.

 

 

 

First I was asked if I had the letter. I stated I did and I could fax it to them. The young lady at that point said that was ok but that she had to run it by a Supervisor. Next I was put on hold for 15 minutes. When she came back with our new cabin price I was dumbfounded. I quickly did the math and pointed out to her that it was only 7% off, not 25% off. She denied this, then once I explained the math, she agreed. I was put on hold again for 20 minutes. She came back and said that every time she or her supervisor put in the info, the computer automatically kicked back the 7% and that they were working on it. On hold again, when she came back it was finally the correct amount. (which I had done myself when first on hold).

 

 

 

While the young lady was very nice, Carnival left the impression it was going to fight tooth and nail to not give us the 25%. Anyone.. and of course there are now thousands with various discounts.. be sure to do the math and don't give in until it's right! While I am not saying its a conspiracy, I am saying that if they are given the opportunity, they will short change you.

 

 

 

48 more hours to go!

 

[firefly333]

Firefly, I hardly think that it's fair to say that if people want good CS they need to have a relationship with a PVP.

Every PVP, whether it's your 100th time using them or the first, should give you good cs without making you stay on the phone or not applying the discount that the company gave to you.

 

If you read my whole post you know I referred to people asking if they should book online or with a PVP.

 

I said this is a good example of why they might want to have a relationship with a PVP instead of booking online

 

My point was not the PVPs should not give good service all the time. geez. :confused: Talk about reading into something and coming out with something not said or meant. I simply meant that once I got the info to my PVP she took care of the discount and I knew I could trust what she said were the terms (because we do have a relationship). If I booked online and was dealing with a random telephone rep, I know they dont have the info about my terms for the cancelled terms in front of them and it will be harder. My PVP would keep the letter on file and get it done and I didnt have to worry about following up.

 

My point was booking online vs a PVP.

[halos]

If you read my whole post you know I referred to people asking if they should book online or with a PVP.

 

I said this is a good example of why they might want to have a relationship with a PVP instead of booking online

 

My point was not the PVPs should not give good service all the time. geez. :confused: Talk about reading into something and coming out with something not said or meant.

 

Well, my point is that PVP's should give consistant and good service so there should be NO need to have a relationship with one.

 

If I book all the time on line, but then circumstances (like a 50% discount due to a 'snag' on CCL's part), which would have me need to call Carnival directly to book, am I just to expect a run-around because I usually book on line and don't know a 'good' pvp??:confused:

That's kinda crappy.

[ib4cruzn]

Just wanted everyone to know that Carnival is not honoring the "50 percent off future cruise" for passengers that were on the recent stranded ships. They do everything in their power not to honor the discount. We had to email the original letter received from Carnival to them because "they didn't have a record of it." Spent an entire morning on the phone and countless hours of planning preparing for this trip. Spoke with Carnival several times previously confirming the details and was told that we could book several cabins under the same booking for the 50% discount. Well..... come time to book and their story changed.

 

SHAME ON CARNIVAL - Bad experience keeps on ......!!

 

This surprises you?

 

That was for the press...

[firefly333]

Well, my point is that PVP's should give consistant and good service so there should be NO need to have a relationship with one.

 

If I book all the time on line, but then circumstances (like a 50% discount due to a 'snag' on CCL's part), which would have me need to call Carnival directly to book, am I just to expect a run-around because I usually book on line and don't know a 'good' pvp??:confused:

That's kinda crappy.

 

My point was its good to have a "go to" person already lined up so I dont need to make random calls looking for someone to talk to, to get it done.

 

I guess we will have to agree to disagree that its good to already have a PVP who you can just call up, rather than have to call in and find who will handle it. If you disagree that its nice that I have a go to person to call, I guess we just dont agree.

 

My point had nothing to do with service or that its ok that you have to call around (I never said anything about service, you just read that into my post).. just the ease of finding someone to handle the discount.

 

I didnt say a word about service or anything about getting a run around. I said I thought that the first person the OP talked to, there was a misunderstanding. I can see from her post she seems to think it was cabin specific discount, not person specific. Just because there was a misunderstanding on the OPs part does not mean she got the run around, just that there was a misunderstanding.

 

But I personally never said a thing about service or getting a run around being ok.. not sure where you got all these arguments with me from. Saying it is easier to have someone to call, does not mean better service there or elsewhere, it just means I trust her to explain the terms if I was not understanding them.

[ib4cruzn]

Somewhere lost in here is Carnival's EXTREMELY GENEROUS compensation offer.

 

Made to the presss and, somehow, not happening IRL.

[Sargent_Schultz]

Made to the presss and, somehow, not happening IRL.

 

Of course it is happening. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

Alarmist's and Pessimist's MMV. :p

[jkjmt]

Sorry, didn't mean to jump on you like that. I must have misunderstood your intent. At least you weren't accusing OP of trying to cheat like others here.

 

 

Apology accepted..... ;)