Why Carnival can't answer a simple question when you're booked through Travel Agent?

[NavyCruiser]

After 13 cruises with Carnival over the past 15 yrs, we have a simple question of what's the cost/penalty fees if we have to change one person for another in our balcony stateroom.

Can't get a hold of my TA all day, so figured we can call Carnival's 800# to ask the simple question.

Well, not so simple. Spoke to 3 reps, all the way up to Supervisor, all said that they can't give me the "simple" answer since I booked through the TA. It's against Carnival's policy to give me any answers without TA's permission.

Would take One minute to answer, rather 10 minutes to repeat that they can't answer my question.

Never been so frustrated, figured in today's Tech & online world, the TA are virtually gone from airlines, hotels, & other travel agencies. As a customer, calling directly into Carnival, figured they could give me a simple answer without much hassle...

[easyboy]

Really annoying but that's how they deal with those with TA. Your TA should be returning your call. Ours does whenever we leave a message.

 

 

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Edited December 13, 2016 by easyboy

[n6uqqq]

Maybe it is because the TA could have their own cancellation rules that differ from Carnival's.

[rzscott79]

Some TAs will have their own Terms and Conditions, Cancellation policy, and/or change policy over and above the cruise line. So in order to avoid giving incorrect info and opening themselves up to liability they will decline to answer.

 

 

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[sanger727]

That's the same with other cruise lines. Had the same thing happen on a cruise I had with celebrity. If you book with a TA, they won't discuss anything about the booking with you. If it really bothers you, don't book with a TA. But the bookings I've had, I've had significant savings from the TA, so was worth it. If you can't get ahold of your TA, that would be the bigger issue to me. They're getting paid to book something you could have booked online, they need to be available or have a backup when they're not

 

 

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[sparks1093]

The TA owns the booking and is earning a commission from said booking. CCL wants them to earn the money they are being paid (and you should also want the same thing, a non-responsive TA is not a good sign). (And the 1093 in my handle is for the USS Capodanno, sailed on her 89-92.)

Edited December 13, 2016 by sparks1093

[StolidCruiser]

Those are the stipulations you agreed to when opting to use a travel agent.

 

What may seem a simple answer to you might not be, as others have explained.

 

Your frustration us with your TA, as it is they you could not reach to answer your question. Carnival (or any cruise line for that fact) is respecting your decision to use a TA to whom they are paying a commission to handle your booking and answer your questions.

 

If now find using a TA a hassle, don't use one in the future and you'll be much calmer.

[RuthlessBoss]

Now that he's done spouting off, maybe he could have asked here if anyone knew from past experience. Of course we'd need to know if it's ES. With luck he'll speak with his TA today, or another one can help in his absence.

[firemanbobswife]

Agree with the previous posters. You chose the TA over Carnival to service your cruise so all inquiries/issues need to go through them. If you can't get a hold of your TA, then they are the ones to be mad at, not Carnival. That's the trade off you get for not booking direct. Everyone needs to decide what is most important to them whether it's immediate answers, OBC, or whatever, and book accordingly.

[NavyCruiser]

This post is not about TA's.

This is about a Carnival's policy to not service nor answer questions about our booking when using a TA's.

For airlines, hotels, & auto rental reservations, no matter which 3rd party travel agencies we book through, we can always call the at the airline or hotel or auto rental company's 800# directly for service later.

Just wondering why cruise lines are the only ones today to do this...

[asalligo]

I have always booked myself, but over the summer at a party I start talking to my friends about my two upcoming cruises. One of my friends says, you know I am a travel agent, can I take over your booking? There will be no difference to you, and I get a commission. Why not, right?

 

Well I will never do this again. I am not sure I realized it previously, but I like to micromanage my cruise and compared to your average cruise critic member my friend knows nothing about cruises. Carnival will not speak to me about anything now and I have to guide her step by step on everything I need.

[asalligo]

This post is not about TA's.

This is about a Carnival's policy to not service nor answer questions about our booking when using a TA's.

For airlines, hotels, & auto rental reservations, no matter which 3rd party travel agencies we book through, we can always call the at the airline or hotel or auto rental company's 800# directly for service later.

Just wondering why cruise lines are the only ones today to do this...

 

Good point. If I booked through a TA for Airfare, I could still call Delta and get all the details like price and cancellation rules.

[firemanbobswife]

This post is not about TA's.

This is about a Carnival's policy to not service nor answer questions about our booking when using a TA's.

For airlines, hotels, & auto rental reservations, no matter which 3rd party travel agencies we book through, we can always call the at the airline or hotel or auto rental company's 800# directly for service later.

Just wondering why cruise lines are the only ones today to do this...

 

It might have to do with the contracts with the TAs. All cruise lines are the same so that's what I'm thinking. Different agencies do have different fees so I can see where it would be impossible for Carnival to know them all. Maybe someone who is a TA could answer properly.

 

They pay the TA to service your booking and I guess it's fair for them to expect them to do so. If everyone that used a TA called Carnival with questions, it would tie up the phone lines for their direct customers.

[firemanbobswife]

Good point. If I booked through a TA for Airfare, I could still call Delta and get all the details like price and cancellation rules.

 

Maybe the rules are different for airlines due to regulations? I really don't know. But I'm pretty sure you can see how much your flight costs and change/cancellation fees when you log in to Delta online when using a TA (but I'm not 100% on this one because the only time I booked airfare through a TA was long before the online stuff). Not so with cruises. The whole pricing thing remains hidden and even your payments have to be made through your TA with a cruise.

[BoDidly]

After 13 cruises with Carnival over the past 15 yrs, we have a simple question of what's the cost/penalty fees if we have to change one person for another in our balcony stateroom.

Can't get a hold of my TA all day, so figured we can call Carnival's 800# to ask the simple question.

Well, not so simple. Spoke to 3 reps, all the way up to Supervisor, all said that they can't give me the "simple" answer since I booked through the TA. It's against Carnival's policy to give me any answers without TA's permission.

Would take One minute to answer, rather 10 minutes to repeat that they can't answer my question.

Never been so frustrated, figured in today's Tech & online world, the TA are virtually gone from airlines, hotels, & other travel agencies. As a customer, calling directly into Carnival, figured they could give me a simple answer without much hassle...

 

For simple questions don't tell them your booked through a TA . If they ask say no. Don't even tell them your booked or your real name. Your just a person with a simple question.

[firemanbobswife]

For simple questions don't tell them your booked through a TA . If they ask say no. Don't even tell them your booked or your real name. Your just a person with a simple question.

 

Yeah, but in order to give them specifics, Carnival will need their booking number. There are variables to be able to answer that question accurately (such as what rate they used). Once they pull up the booking number, they will see they use a TA and that will be the end of that.

Edited December 13, 2016 by firemanbobswife

[BoDidly]

Yeah, but in order to give them specifics, Carnival will need their booking number. There are too many variables to answer that question (such as what rate they used). Once they pull up the booking number, they will see they use a TA and that will be the end of that.

 

True , and good morning, but the key words used was simple question ;)

Edited December 13, 2016 by BoDidly

[SadieN]

I have always booked myself, but over the summer at a party I start talking to my friends about my two upcoming cruises. One of my friends says, you know I am a travel agent, can I take over your booking? There will be no difference to you, and I get a commission. Why not, right?

 

 

 

Well I will never do this again. I am not sure I realized it previously, but I like to micromanage my cruise and compared to your average cruise critic member my friend knows nothing about cruises. Carnival will not speak to me about anything now and I have to guide her step by step on everything I need.

 

 

Be careful if you book a cruise onboard this 'TA controlled' cruise. The system automatically puts the TA in. Make sure the Future Cruise person is able to take the TA off the booked onboard cruise.

 

***

 

Carnival will talk to you about about technical things like your VIFP account etc, just not anything related to a TA controlled cruise.

[broberts]

This post is not about TA's.

This is about a Carnival's policy to not service nor answer questions about our booking when using a TA's.

For airlines, hotels, & auto rental reservations, no matter which 3rd party travel agencies we book through, we can always call the at the airline or hotel or auto rental company's 800# directly for service later.

Just wondering why cruise lines are the only ones today to do this...

 

Some TA commit to selling blocks of cabins in return for better rates. They operate under different rules. TA also have some latitude in changing names without involving a fee. And some may be willing to absorb a change fee in the interests of better customer relations.

 

Cruise line customer service reps cannot reasonably be expected to know all the possible variations. Nor which apply in any particular case. Heck, they have enough trouble keeping the cruise lines regulations and policies straight.

[firemanbobswife]

True , and good morning, but the key word used was simple question ;)

 

Good morning to you as well! :D However, the OPs question is not a simple one.

[katiel53]

I agree with others who state that the agency might have additional fees for changes or cancellations. Carnival also pays them a commission, so they want the agents to answer the questions.

 

I think one of the differences with the airlines is that the commissions, if any, paid to an agency are very small. Commissions to agents for cruises generally are much higher.

 

If you make the choice to use an agent for a cruise, it's their booking and not Carnival's so they don't want to take the chance on giving you wrong info. It would be used against them if they did, that's for sure.

[crusinpsychRN]

I had a cruise booked with a TA, a former Carnival PVP, and noticed final payment date was 3 days past. Called TA, no response after many calls. Called Carnival and no one would talk to me. Finally got a supervisor who was able to give me a phone number for the parent company TA worked for and they helped me. Messy!

[BoDidly]

Good morning to you as well! :D However, the OPs question is not a simple one.

 

What if they re-worded the question from.

what's the cost/penalty fees if we have to change one person for another in our balcony stateroom

 

To, Hi , we're just curious if we booked a balcony room through Carnival would there be any extra charges if we decided to change one person to another in our balcony state room ? Just thought we would ask before we booked :D. You want get the exact charge but you will get an idea if there is one.

[Doggielover68]

Policies are policies. Having worked in a call center before, I can tell you that it is equally frustrating on the other end when you aren't allowed to give out basic information, especially when that call ends up getting escalated.

 

There are few benefits of booking with a cruise with a TA nowadays. I know it is the preference for some and that is fine, but I really hate having to rely on someone else for every detail of the cruise. I guess take it as a lesson and book it directly through carnival next time.

 

 

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[firemanbobswife]

What if they re-worded the question from.

what's the cost/penalty fees if we have to change one person for another in our balcony stateroom

 

To, Hi , we're just curious if we booked a balcony room through Carnival would there be any extra charges if we decided to change one person to another in our balcony state room ? Just thought we would ask before we booked :D. You want get the exact charge but you will get an idea if there is one.

 

Then they would probably say that it will depend on a variety of factors such as what rate you book under, when the change is made, etc. Those things can be looked up on the website. It still doesn't answer their question.

 

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3527/~/name-changes