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

[AdGuyMG]

Then that goes counter to everything every rep has told me at the toll-free number. Before I knew any better, I would call and ask questions and was always told they couldn't "see my booking."

 

Just an easy way to end the conversation without getting into Carnival's "don't talk to a TA booking" policy.

[bobandsherry]

I agree. My PVP has been worth his weight in gold. I love having him right there at Carnival and he knows exactly who he needs to get a hold of and makes sure things are handled. Any issues, and he gets it done. I have referred many people to him both friends, acquaintances, and family and they are extremely happy with the service he gives. It's wonderful having someone "on the inside".

 

I could book all my cruises online myself as I know what I'm doing, but it's so worth it to have someone there who can handle the unexpected. Plus I know I'm always getting the right answer with him. I dread having to call the 800 number because I know there's a good chance the info I'm getting is incorrect. Yay for my PVP! :D

Must be us, but in 17 cruises taken I've not yet seen an advantage to having a PVP. We used to use one, she was very friendly and was very good, she left Carnival a several years back and we've been doing it 'on our own' for past several cruises. Had to call into 800 # a couple of times and had no issues. We are thinking about using TA for next cruise we book to see if they provide anything more for being paid a commission. We did find advantage of not having PVP is we can call any time and get answers. PVP takes deserved time off so not always there to answer questions

 

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[BoDidly]

Must be us, but in 17 cruises taken I've not yet seen an advantage to having a PVP. We used to use one, she was very friendly and was very good, she left Carnival a several years back and we've been doing it 'on our own' for past several cruises. Had to call into 800 # a couple of times and had no issues. We are thinking about using TA for next cruise we book to see if they provide anything more for being paid a commission. We did find advantage of not having PVP is we can call any time and get answers. PVP takes deserved time off so not always there to answer questions

 

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Good observation , the only thing that my PVP can do is see rooms that are available on Carnivals site that the customer can't. Carnival made their site easy enough that basically any person can be in charge of their own booking. I think at one time Carnival made a corporate decision to shun TA's all together, now their back peddling that decision.

Edited December 14, 2016 by BoDidly

[AdGuyMG]

The way it was explained to me is that Carnival didn't want them to give us OBC, so they had to mail the check to us. She said they had been cracking down on perks given by TAs to their customers. We received the check after final payment, and before the cruise. This was before my first Glory cruise in May of 2013 so things might have changed since then.

 

I think that for competitive reasons, the policy eased somewhat since 2013.

 

Sending you a check after final but before the cruise is a dangerous move on the TA's part. What if you had to cancel say 20 days before your cruise and you were only in 75% penalty? The TA would be getting a "commission recall" netting them $0.00 and you would have the TA's rebate check in your bank as well as a refund to your credit card equaling 25% of the cruise fare plus taxes from Carnival.

 

What would you honestly do if the TA asked you for your rebate back? They're probably not going to sue you over $25 - $50, but it's an awkward situation.

 

The reason Carnival pays out the TC Tour Conductor credit (value of 1 free berth for every 8 cabins) to Groups after they sail is for that very same reason. Cancellations happen.

 

Sounds like you were hooked up with a bad TA.

Edited December 14, 2016 by AdGuyMG

[firemanbobswife]

Must be us, but in 17 cruises taken I've not yet seen an advantage to having a PVP. We used to use one, she was very friendly and was very good, she left Carnival a several years back and we've been doing it 'on our own' for past several cruises. Had to call into 800 # a couple of times and had no issues. We are thinking about using TA for next cruise we book to see if they provide anything more for being paid a commission. We did find advantage of not having PVP is we can call any time and get answers. PVP takes deserved time off so not always there to answer questions

 

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Oh I have had issues. From Carnival changing my cabin and not notifying me, to simply wanting to change cabins, and price drops. I have gone through the 800 number and got all kinds of wrong information. There was even a post on here a while back of someone that wanted to switch cabins or something simple like that and the CSR canceled their booking and they lost their selected dining time and other stuff (maybe FTTF). I can't deal with that type of stress.

 

I have my PVPs cell phone and can call him anytime night and day. Even got him to do a booking for me on New Years Eve :D. Plus when we have more than 1 cabin, it's super easy to get all our bookings linked and if I need anything for any of the cabins I can call and he gets it taken care of. No need to jump through hoops. And if he goes on vacation, he gives me his coworkers number to call if I need anything. The 800 number is there as a last resort as well but I try to avoid that all all costs.

[firemanbobswife]

I think that for competitive reasons, the policy eased somewhat since 2013.

 

Sending you a check after final but before the cruise is a dangerous move on the TA's part. What if you had to cancel say 20 days before your cruise? The TA would be getting a commission recall netting them $0.00 and you would have the TA's rebate check in your bank as well as a refund to your credit card equaling 25% of the cruise fare plus taxes from Carnival.

 

What would you honestly do if the TA asked you for your rebate back? They're probably not going to sue you over $25 - $50, but it's an awkward situation.

 

The reason Carnival pays out the TC Tour Conductor credit (value of 1 free berth for every 8 cabins) to Groups after they sail is for that very same reason. Cancellations happen.

 

Sounds like you were hooked up with a bad TA.

 

Yeah, I have to agree the TA was a poor choice. If you only knew the hell they put me through.

[jh2360]

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...

Why do you need two threads to talk about the same thing?

 

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[Computer Nerd]

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...

 

Sounds to me that your issue is with your TA, not Carnival. Just like in the Navy, carnival has rules and regulations it must follow. You choose to book with a TA instead of Carnival so you now have to deal with that TA. Why would Carnival pay a TA if they were going to go ahead and do the job of that TA anyway? This is a good reason to book directly with Carnival instead of third party.

[Computer Nerd]

& why can't whichever that Carnival dept who can answer my TA, can't give me the same answer yesterday...?

 

To make it simply, they can but they are under orders not to. Hopefully that makes sense.

[bobandsherry]

Oh I have had issues. From Carnival changing my cabin and not notifying me, to simply wanting to change cabins, and price drops. I have gone through the 800 number and got all kinds of wrong information. There was even a post on here a while back of someone that wanted to switch cabins or something simple like that and the CSR canceled their booking and they lost their selected dining time and other stuff (maybe FTTF). I can't deal with that type of stress.

 

I have my PVPs cell phone and can call him anytime night and day. Even got him to do a booking for me on New Years Eve :D. Plus when we have more than 1 cabin, it's super easy to get all our bookings linked and if I need anything for any of the cabins I can call and he gets it taken care of. No need to jump through hoops. And if he goes on vacation, he gives me his coworkers number to call if I need anything. The 800 number is there as a last resort as well but I try to avoid that all all costs.

As I originally said, must be us. 17 cruises and only cabin change we had was an upgrade to junior suite for our entire party. We only found out when we checked in, but I'll take that change any time....

 

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[firemanbobswife]

As I originally said, must be us. 17 cruises and only cabin change we had was an upgrade to junior suite for our entire party. We only found out when we checked in, but I'll take that change any time....

 

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You are fortunate then. You don't think you need a PVP until something happens. I compare it to insurance. Sure, you can get away with not having it for a long time, but the one time something goes sideways, you'll wish you did.

 

Everyone has to decide what's right for them. It is much simpler and easier to go through him and the excuse that they're not available all the time is pure nonsense. It doesn't cost me anything to use him vs me using the website and it's wonderful to have someone on the inside that can make things happen without me having to talk to multiple people. I don't have time to sit on the phone all day explaining something then having to ask for a supervisor and start all over again. Do whatever works for you. I felt the same way until I started using him. Now I'll never go back.

[cruizinisthebest]

As I originally said, must be us. 17 cruises and only cabin change we had was an upgrade to junior suite for our entire party. We only found out when we checked in, but I'll take that change any time....

 

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I have had that same fortune. On my second cruise, we were upgraded from am Oceanview to a suite. Loved it and it's the only suite or cabin with a balcony for that matter that we've ever had. Can't complain about a change in cabin of that sort.

 

However I have experienced many issues with Carnival reps. They are nice enough but I have found through sheer experience that they often do not know what they're doing. I'm booked on a cruise in July. Added my daughter which meant we needed to change cabins from a double to a triple. This one I originally decided to book on my own since the trip is short and I really hadn't anticipated needing to make any changes or catch price drops since the room we had was very limited. It literally took me 2 hours on the phone for a rep to make the change. And then she wound up somehow screwing up the deposit owed even though I already had made a full deposit. It was a mess. And for absolutely no good reason. I called a friend's PVP and she fixed it the next day inside of 10 minutes. And that's just one example.

 

I'm very good at picking cabins. I always pick my own. I know about deposits and this was nothing to do with a reduced deposit or anything. She simply did not know what she was doing. And that's not the first time I've had an issue. The PVP I used suggested never call at night. But really, I was at work that day. Plus it shouldn't matter. So from my own experience, any Carnival cruise I book will always be with my TA or my newly found PVP. I have 2 bookings now. One with each of them. Love having them available.

 

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[easyboy]

I have had that same fortune. On my second cruise, we were upgraded from am Oceanview to a suite. Loved it and it's the only suite or cabin with a balcony for that matter that we've ever had. Can't complain about a change in cabin of that sort.

 

However I have experienced many issues with Carnival reps. They are nice enough but I have found through sheer experience that they often do not know what they're doing. I'm booked on a cruise in July. Added my daughter which meant we needed to change cabins from a double to a triple. This one I originally decided to book on my own since the trip is short and I really hadn't anticipated needing to make any changes or catch price drops since the room we had was very limited. It literally took me 2 hours on the phone for a rep to make the change. And then she wound up somehow screwing up the deposit owed even though I already had made a full deposit. It was a mess. And for absolutely no good reason. I called a friend's PVP and she fixed it the next day inside of 10 minutes. And that's just one example.

I've been through that long call too. I suspected that the phone rep was a newbie who was probably consulting a supervisor for answers, rather than endorsing at once my call to the supervisor. Really annoying.

[Doggielover68]

As I originally said, must be us. 17 cruises and only cabin change we had was an upgrade to junior suite for our entire party. We only found out when we checked in, but I'll take that change any time....

 

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It's not just you. I've never once had an issue and planning a cruise really is not as difficult as people make it out to be. Maybe it is a bigger deal if you are booking with a large party, but as a couple we just roll with the punches. The only thing that could ruin the trip is if the trip were cancelled, in which case, I would call the 800 number and have the problem resolved. Not a big deal

 

 

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[firemanbobswife]

It's not just you. I've never once had an issue and planning a cruise really is not as difficult as people make it out to be. Maybe it is a bigger deal if you are booking with a large party, but as a couple we just roll with the punches. The only thing that could ruin the trip is if the trip were cancelled, in which case, I would call the 800 number and have the problem resolved. Not a big deal

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I usually travel solo and always know which date, ship, and cabin I want. Nothing difficult at all about planning the cruise. It's when things happen beyond your control that you are glad you have one person to talk to and that can get things done the right way the first time.

 

I am no novice when it comes to cruising. I would much rather make one phone call to my PVP than get someone on the other end that doesn't have a clue. You think a simple call to the 800 number will get your issue resolved. And it just might. Or you could be amongst the horror stories I have seen on here where they totally screwed the whole thing up. No thanks. I almost had that experience once too.

 

So just because you or others have never had a problem doesn't mean you never will. I didn't see the value in using a PVP either until I started. Now I can rest easy knowing that I can call him anytime and he is there to help. Using a PVP isn't a sign of weakness. It's actually very smart if you have a good one. Time is money and I don't have a lot of extra to be spending on hold or getting wrong info.

 

But if you don't think you need one, then that's your right. I wish I had a dollar for every thread I saw on here about how so and so has this problem or question or needs to change this and they keep getting different answers from different CSRs. What's the answer people give them? Call back and speak to someone else. Well if they had a PVP that knows what in the world they are doing, you don't need to. It's one and done.

[BoDidly]

It's not just you. I've never once had an issue and planning a cruise really is not as difficult as people make it out to be. Maybe it is a bigger deal if you are booking with a large party, but as a couple we just roll with the punches. The only thing that could ruin the trip is if the trip were cancelled, in which case, I would call the 800 number and have the problem resolved. Not a big deal

 

 

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Believe me ,large group cruises brings new vocabulary to a persons lips.

[firemanbobswife]

Believe me ,large group cruises brings new vocabulary to a persons lips.

 

 

No kidding! I usually go by myself or sometimes with 1 additional cabin, but this next cruise we have 12 people going in 5 cabins. My PVP got everything handled super easily including linking our cabins together for dinner. And since he knows me so well, I can call him and get any changes, price drops, etc on any of our cabins with 1 call.

 

I don't anticipate ever going with a large group again, but you never know. But whether it's one cabin or 5, he is awesome and makes it super easy. Wouldn't trade him for a free dinner in the Steakhouse [emoji846].

[Melissalcsw]

So what's the best way of finding an efficient, knowledgeable and hard working PVP?

 

 

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[firemanbobswife]

So what's the best way of finding an efficient, knowledgeable and hard working PVP?

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You would have to contact a friend or family member outside of here. Wish I could straight up tell you his name.

[cb at sea]

When you book through a travel agent, THEY own the booking, until YOU board the ship. That's why the cruise line won't talk to you!

[WetToes]

I haven't read all the replies, but why not omit the fact that you already have the cruise booked? Just ask the question as someone who may be interested in booking.

[Doggielover68]

I haven't read all the replies, but why not omit the fact that you already have the cruise booked? Just ask the question as someone who may be interested in booking.

 

 

Because there are a lot of variables. It depends on the final payment date, booking type, possible TA charges outside of carnival, etc etc.

 

 

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[Computer Nerd]

I usually travel solo and always know which date, ship, and cabin I want. Nothing difficult at all about planning the cruise. It's when things happen beyond your control that you are glad you have one person to talk to and that can get things done the right way the first time.

 

I am no novice when it comes to cruising. I would much rather make one phone call to my PVP than get someone on the other end that doesn't have a clue. You think a simple call to the 800 number will get your issue resolved. And it just might. Or you could be amongst the horror stories I have seen on here where they totally screwed the whole thing up. No thanks. I almost had that experience once too.

 

So just because you or others have never had a problem doesn't mean you never will. I didn't see the value in using a PVP either until I started. Now I can rest easy knowing that I can call him anytime and he is there to help. Using a PVP isn't a sign of weakness. It's actually very smart if you have a good one. Time is money and I don't have a lot of extra to be spending on hold or getting wrong info.

 

But if you don't think you need one, then that's your right. I wish I had a dollar for every thread I saw on here about how so and so has this problem or question or needs to change this and they keep getting different answers from different CSRs. What's the answer people give them? Call back and speak to someone else. Well if they had a PVP that knows what in the world they are doing, you don't need to. It's one and done.

 

It's a shame firemanbob doesn't get to go on all of those cruises. :p

[firemanbobswife]

It's a shame firemanbob doesn't get to go on all of those cruises. :p

 

 

Hey, that's on him! I invite him and he declines. When the boys were small, it was our yearly family vacation. Now that they're older and too big for the kids club, they are bored of cruising too. Firemanbob has to stay busy and with the boys they would go play in the arcade and whatever. I'm perfectly content lounging by the pool and he's not. Soooooo he stays home. It works out good because I don't have to hear he's bored, and I always leave him a honey do list [emoji3].

[Jilpo]

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.

 

 

This^

 

I never use a TA, but I got a "free" cruise that I had to book with one. I booked a future cruise and didn't realize until I got home that the TA was involved. I tried to get it changed, but the TA told me repeatedly that it was taken care of, but no. Finally, the TA told me (rather gleefully) that after 90 days it cannot be changed. So I cancelled. I lost out on $100 credit, but I couldn't handle a TA that is only open M-F 8-5. I do my travel plans at 11 PM on a Saturday