Do you speak "carnivalese"? What does this email mean?

[dettlja]

Backstory: I tried to submit a price match on an excursion using the online form. It wouldnt submit. Tried multiple browsers, no go. So I emailed the cclsupport email address. No answer. So I emailed the excursion address on September 2nd. On the 15th I still had no answer so I resent the email. They responded on Sept 16th denying my claim because the independant excursion "strongly recommends" cruise visitors book directly with the cruise, therefore, the independent excursion is not available to book directly and my price match was denied. Whatever.

 

Then today, out of nowhere I get an answer to my original email. The answer doesnt make sense to me. I'm an attorney and I still cant make out what they are saying. Are they saying they want to approve it so resubmit it using the form? its denied? take this email to the shore excursion desk on board? I screen capped it so you could most of my original email and their response. Hopefully the pic comes out big enough for you to see. If not I'll cut and paste the text for you.

 

 

Jaimee

[dettlja]

Here is the text of their reply. Mind you this is 23 days later, after someone already denied it.

 

Good Day Jaimee,

 

Thank you for contacting Carnival Cruise Lines. We have received your e-mail message and appreciate the opportunity to be of assistance.

 

After checking Vallarta Adventures’ website we found that their tour which is similar to CCL’s Extreme Canopy tour is offered for $109 per person, with 15% discount their tour ticket price is $92.65 per person.

 

In case you have difficulties with the online Best Price Guarantee Claim form, please kindly submit your claim onboard the ship with our Shore Excursion team and our team will be more than happy to assist you. We do apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Before submitting your claim please review the Best Price Guarantee Terms & Conditions.

In case the claim will be accepted, the 110% of the price difference will be applied to your onboard account in form of onboard credit.

 

If there is anything else we can do for you please do not hesitate to ask.

 

Best Regards,

 

Tour Operations

Carnival Cruise Lines

[USNUZULOOSE]

Sounds like they will honor it , plus give an extra 10% for the difference. I remember these things when Circuit City was in business. So I would submit the form and save the emails and the screen shot so if there is any question when you board you have proof.

[dettlja]

I have tried submitting the form from 2 different computers in 3 different browsers and it would not submit. Maybe user error or maybe it was Carnival's wonky website, dont know. I guess I could try the form again. But the form not working is why I emailed them to begin with.

[calicostorms]

I had something similar happen to me on our last cruise - I couldn't get it submitted online either. I even called Carnival and they said they submitted it online for me since I was having trouble, but if I remember correctly I had not gotten an answer for something like 2 weeks and it was only a few days left before we sailed. I called Carnival again and they told me to print a copy of the competitor's website and take it to the shore excursion desk when I boarded.

Honestly I didn't think they would match in (figured they would find some reason not to) but they did and applied the difference plus 10% to my S&S account while onboard.

I would print out as much of the competitor's website as you can and take it to shore excursion desk when you board. Our tour was a few days into the cruise so I waited until the desk was not so busy to discuss it with them - I think it was the next day I had a note in my room saying the request was approved and credit was on my account.

 

I would go with the expectation that you are out the full price of the excursion and hope for the credit - that way no real disappointment...

Hope that helps

[SadieN]

Sounds like they will honor it , plus give an extra 10% for the difference. I remember these things when Circuit City was in business. So I would submit the form and save the emails and the screen shot so if there is any question when you board you have proof.

 

 

Bring print outs

[E&B]

I'm not sure why it's confusing. They apologize and say that if you're having trouble, handle it on board with the shore excursions desk. If it's that you got declined already, that happens. Different people, different answers. Bring this with you to shore excursions to show Carnival agrees with you.

[nydney1]

I had the same issue. I had to work the Carnival IT group to get it to work. This was on our cruise in August 2014.

 

It took about an hour with their IT folks and it finally worked.

 

sorry, I don't remember the specifics.

[zqvol]

Here is the text of their reply. Mind you this is 23 days later, after someone already denied it.

 

Good Day Jaimee,

 

Thank you for contacting Carnival Cruise Lines. We have received your e-mail message and appreciate the opportunity to be of assistance.

 

After checking Vallarta Adventures’ website we found that their tour which is similar to CCL’s Extreme Canopy tour is offered for $109 per person, with 15% discount their tour ticket price is $92.65 per person.

 

In case you have difficulties with the online Best Price Guarantee Claim form, please kindly submit your claim onboard the ship with our Shore Excursion team and our team will be more than happy to assist you. We do apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Before submitting your claim please review the Best Price Guarantee Terms & Conditions.

In case the claim will be accepted, the 110% of the price difference will be applied to your onboard account in form of onboard credit.

 

If there is anything else we can do for you please do not hesitate to ask.

 

Best Regards,

 

Tour Operations

Carnival Cruise Lines

 

It seems to me that the highlighted phrase is what is causing the confusion. It is really poorly written, and probably means "If the claim is accepted".

 

You specific case seems to be one where the two responses crossed in the mail so to speak. The quoted response is telling you how to process the claim, not that it will be accepted. It seems CCL went ahead and processed your request based on the your requests prior to the 15th, and on the 16th they denied your request.

 

I suspect that it is not worth the effort to follow up any further.

[Big_G]

 

 

In case the claim will be accepted,

 

It seems to me that the highlighted phrase is what is causing the confusion. It is really poorly written, and probably means "If the claim is accepted".

 

You specific case seems to be one where the two responses crossed in the mail so to speak. The quoted response is telling you how to process the claim, not that it will be accepted. It seems CCL went ahead and processed your request based on the your requests prior to the 15th, and on the 16th they denied your request.

 

I suspect that it is not worth the effort to follow up any further.

Good eye. That's the disclaimer. I'm surprised the OP didn't zero in on that line being an attorney.

 

 

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[silvercrikhix]

I think this phrase may also yield some light on this,

"which is similar to CCL’s Extreme Canopy tour".

The excursions must match EXACTLY.

But, yeah, bring copies of everything and try it.

Can't hurt.

[katiel53]

My thought is that they are not going to accept the price reduction because the email says "similar" to the Carnival excursion. Having said that, I would take all the info on my cruise and go to the excursion desk and see what they will do.

 

I wish you good luck.

[E&B]

Id give a try at the excursions desk anyway. I think it's worth a shot. Just tell them you couldn't submit the form online and show them the email. Worst case is they say no. Best case is you get some OBC.

[dettlja]

Thanks for the replies.

 

The tours are identical. They should honor the pricing. Their excuse for the original decline is that the vendor "strongly encourages" cruise passengers to book with the cruise line. They actually sent me a screen shot of the vendors website and said they were declining because the tour isnt available for me to book directly.

 

I did pick up on the language, and that is why I posted here. It was not clear waht they meant by "in the case it is approved".

 

I'll take some print outs but my guess is that it isnt worth the battle. I hate this new price guarantee. Its caused the independent vendors to stop offering tours on days ships are in port and also caused them to raise their prices. I have a much harder time finding good independent excursions now. It sounds like its a good benefit for the customer, but it all honesty it just gave Carnival a monopoly on the shore excursions.

[mistycruiser]

I don't know if this will help or not, but I've found that occasionally on Carnival's website when things won't submit that I have to go to "Tools" and turn on the compatibility setting and it works. Might be worth a try.

[tazza_0712]

Their response isn't giving you any conclusion one way or the other. It's actually asking you to read the terms and conditions of the guarantee before submitting your claim. It then goes on to state that "In case the claim will be accepted". You need to ask for their determination as to whether or not it will be accepted. The email you've received isn't worth a thing to you at the moment.

 

 

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[cath32]

I have had problems submitting Carnival forms as well. I press submit and nothing seems to happen. I have had success when I have refreshed the screen and then pressed submit again.

[kteachcruiser52]

Thanks for the replies.

 

The tours are identical. They should honor the pricing. Their excuse for the original decline is that the vendor "strongly encourages" cruise passengers to book with the cruise line. They actually sent me a screen shot of the vendors website and said they were declining because the tour isnt available for me to book directly.

 

I did pick up on the language, and that is why I posted here. It was not clear waht they meant by "in the case it is approved".

 

I'll take some print outs but my guess is that it isnt worth the battle. I hate this new price guarantee. Its caused the independent vendors to stop offering tours on days ships are in port and also caused them to raise their prices. I have a much harder time finding good independent excursions now. It sounds like its a good benefit for the customer, but it all honesty it just gave Carnival a monopoly on the shore excursions.

 

Carnival has agreements with some vendors that they will not accept independent tour bookings from cruise ship passengers. For example, Sky Safari zip line in St. Kitts website advertises a price cheaper than the exact same thing through Carnival. There is a disclaimer on their website that says cruise ship passengers can't independently buy tickets to go on the zip line. Therefore, Carnival would not price match for the zip line excursion as it was not available for booking to cruise ship passengers. (Our request was denied.) I know they also have this agreement with the train in St. Kitts. Also on a different island, a vendor would take private booking for some of their tours, but not their 4X4 excursion which was available for booking through Carnival.

Edited September 28, 2015 by kteachcruiser52