Carnival Customer Service (How to get ship fixed)

[Cruise Cynic]

I recently booked a Carnival cruise for next February on their website. I was doing the happy dance.... for five days, that is.

Then I got one of their "cruise planner" emails which said my cruise was Feb 01, 2020... BUT I booked Feb 29th... I was certain of it.

I checked my documents more closely, and (lo and behold) I was indeed confirmed for the Feb. 01st sailing. How that little gem got past me is a mystery. Probably the font size on my printout (miniscule), and the fact that all sailings of this ship in February are otherwise identical. Either I made a gross error in booking, or the website somehow defaulted back to the first of the month on me. That is the problem I needed fixed pronto - in a nutshell.

 

I called Customer Service in a panic. They are having Cuba issues, so the wait to talk to a human ran about 3 hours. I waited the three hours (really, honest I did) and got the human. I explained the situation, and she was TEXTING the supervisor in the background. This took another 45 minutes. Result: DATE CHANGE DENIED. All penalties apply. And the price increased $200 to boot on the new booking.

I tried explaining that this was my 10th Carnival cruise.... didn't work. So I asked to escalate.... 3 hour wait to talk to the supervisor???? WHAT??? And the kicker: the agent was due to clock out in 10 minutes, and she "said" she was told to wait on hold with me for the 3 hours. Poor thing.

At this point, I realized I was being given the veritable bum's rush of total BS, and decided to end the call. No point to waiting since all penalties were to apply anyways.

 

I called back yesterday, having cleared my schedule, and fully anticipation a 3-hour wait again, as well as being mentally prepared to fight the good fight, as they say. About 30 minutes later, a very nice lady came on the phone. I explained the situation, and she CALLED the supervisor. Yes, CALLED. My situation was resolved within another 20 minutes to 100 percent satisfaction on my end. I ended up saving $50 with this date change also. And she apologised profusely for my ordeal.

 

Now, I ask you, what is the difference between the two agents? Same 1-800 number. Same time of day. Cuba issue had not gone away. Both reps were Stateside. One rep could handle the issue, and one rep could not. This is not the first time I have experienced Call Center stonewalling with other large, impersonal businesses. I have had similar results in the past, just by calling back and getting a different agent.

 

My advice? If you think you are in the right, keep calling....

Edited June 8, 2019 by Cruise Cynic

[MSseawind]

I've experienced this too!  Sometimes you can tell by their voice and attitude, I just hang up and call back and get someone else.  

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, Cruise Cynic said:

I recently booked a Carnival cruise for next February on their website. I was doing the happy dance.... for five days, that is.

Then I got one of their "cruise planner" emails which said my cruise was Feb 01, 2020... BUT I booked Feb 29th... I was certain of it.

I checked my documents more closely, and (lo and behold) I was indeed confirmed for the Feb. 01st sailing. How that little gem got past me is a mystery. Probably the font size on my printout (miniscule), and the fact that all sailings of this ship in February are otherwise identical. Either I made a gross error in booking, or the website somehow defaulted back to the first of the month on me. That is the problem I needed fixed pronto - in a nutshell.

 

I called Customer Service in a panic. They are having Cuba issues, so the wait to talk to a human ran about 3 hours. I waited the three hours (really, honest I did) and got the human. I explained the situation, and she was TEXTING the supervisor in the background. This took another 45 minutes. Result: DATE CHANGE DENIED. All penalties apply. And the price increased $200 to boot on the new booking.

I tried explaining that this was my 10th Carnival cruise.... didn't work. So I asked to escalate.... 3 hour wait to talk to the supervisor???? WHAT??? And the kicker: the agent was due to clock out in 10 minutes, and she "said" she was told to wait on hold with me for the 3 hours. Poor thing.

At this point, I realized I was being given the veritable bum's rush of total BS, and decided to end the call. No point to waiting since all penalties were to apply anyways.

 

I called back yesterday, having cleared my schedule, and fully anticipation a 3-hour wait again, as well as being mentally prepared to fight the good fight, as they say. About 30 minutes later, a very nice lady came on the phone. I explained the situation, and she CALLED the supervisor. Yes, CALLED. My situation was resolved within another 20 minutes to 100 percent satisfaction on my end. I ended up saving $50 with this date change also. And she apologised profusely for my ordeal.

 

Now, I ask you, what is the difference between the two agents? Same 1-800 number. Same time of day. Cuba issue had not gone away. Both reps were Stateside. One rep could handle the issue, and one rep could not. This is not the first time I have experienced Call Center stonewalling with other large, impersonal businesses. I have had similar results in the past, just by calling back and getting a different agent.

 

My advice? If you think you are in the right, keep calling....

My advice---use a travel agent, and let him or her spend all that time with the cruise line representative. Not only do you save all that time and effort, but they probably have a representative that they have dealt with over and over. 

 

Only negative is you lose control over your cruise booking. <sarcasm>.

[PhillyFan33579]

4 hours ago, Cruise Cynic said:

I recently booked a Carnival cruise for next February on their website. I was doing the happy dance.... for five days, that is.

Then I got one of their "cruise planner" emails which said my cruise was Feb 01, 2020... BUT I booked Feb 29th... I was certain of it.

I checked my documents more closely, and (lo and behold) I was indeed confirmed for the Feb. 01st sailing. How that little gem got past me is a mystery. Probably the font size on my printout (miniscule), and the fact that all sailings of this ship in February are otherwise identical. Either I made a gross error in booking, or the website somehow defaulted back to the first of the month on me. That is the problem I needed fixed pronto - in a nutshell.

 

I called Customer Service in a panic. They are having Cuba issues, so the wait to talk to a human ran about 3 hours. I waited the three hours (really, honest I did) and got the human. I explained the situation, and she was TEXTING the supervisor in the background. This took another 45 minutes. Result: DATE CHANGE DENIED. All penalties apply. And the price increased $200 to boot on the new booking.

I tried explaining that this was my 10th Carnival cruise.... didn't work. So I asked to escalate.... 3 hour wait to talk to the supervisor???? WHAT??? And the kicker: the agent was due to clock out in 10 minutes, and she "said" she was told to wait on hold with me for the 3 hours. Poor thing.

At this point, I realized I was being given the veritable bum's rush of total BS, and decided to end the call. No point to waiting since all penalties were to apply anyways.

 

I called back yesterday, having cleared my schedule, and fully anticipation a 3-hour wait again, as well as being mentally prepared to fight the good fight, as they say. About 30 minutes later, a very nice lady came on the phone. I explained the situation, and she CALLED the supervisor. Yes, CALLED. My situation was resolved within another 20 minutes to 100 percent satisfaction on my end. I ended up saving $50 with this date change also. And she apologised profusely for my ordeal.

 

Now, I ask you, what is the difference between the two agents? Same 1-800 number. Same time of day. Cuba issue had not gone away. Both reps were Stateside. One rep could handle the issue, and one rep could not. This is not the first time I have experienced Call Center stonewalling with other large, impersonal businesses. I have had similar results in the past, just by calling back and getting a different agent.

 

My advice? If you think you are in the right, keep calling....

 

Sounds like you were wrong and got lucky. Like another poster mentioned, I would recommend using a TA in the future. This should insure you don’t accidentally book the wrong cruise by mistake. 

[phoneman69]

If you choose not to go with the TA so you can keep control of your bookings remember "measure twice cut once".

Glad you got it resolved 

[agp_mzk]

I highly recommend developing a relationship with one Carnival PVP. I've been using the same PVP for over 8 years now. She knows my preferences, keeps an eye out for deals I might be interested in, and doesn't harass me with phone calls otherwise. If I have a problem, it's always fixed with a single, short phone call. Easy peasy. 

[Cafedumonde]

Thanks for sharing your experience.  Glad to hear it worked out.

[teknoge3k]

I agree with agp_mzk, get a PVP with Carnival. That way you have full control over your booking, no middle man to deal with. You don't have to use them, but have one in case you ever do, such as in an instance like this. I have one in my back pocket in case I ever need her. That way if you have an issue like this again, you can text or email your PVP and they'll get the issue resolved. You can still call them if that's the method of communication you prefer. 

 

If you call the 800# at Carnival 10 times, you're going to get 10 different answers on any issue you have. 

[Illbcruzn4life]

OP glad it all worked out for you. So you didn't want to watch the Super Bowl on the ship? 😋

[bakersdozen12]

With all due respect, “How that little gem got past...” you is that you didn’t pay attention to what you were doing. I’ve managed to book 14 cruises with Carnival and have never booked the wrong date. That said, while I’m glad things worked out for you, technically they should have held you to the cancellation penalties. Because that’s what you were doing: cancelling one cruise and booking another. The fact that they bent the rules is not good customer service because it means that people reading your post who don’t receive the same treatment are going to be mad at Carnival, when they have no reason to be. Honestly, you really should have just thanked your lucky stars that Carnival fixed your mistake, rather than taking it one step further and bragging about it here. Which is just going to open up a can of worms. 

[Cruise Cynic]

I've cruised 21 times previously, and have always used a cruise-knowedgeable Travel Agent.

Unfortunately, this was my first time booking directly with Carnival, as I wanted to make full use of the EasyPay option, which is offered more reluctantly by TAs here in Canada than it is Stateside. Not sure if you can do it in the USA either.... (book directly with Carnival, use EasyPay, and transfer the booking to a TA afterwards) 

Here in Canada, it's more difficult to book a cruise without paying in the "old" manner (deposit right away and final payment 90-100 days prior to sailing). However, we do pay into an "insurance" fund designed to protect the consumer from Travel Provider insolvency.

If I do go this route again in the future, I will be ridiculously vigilant regarding my bookings. However, using a TA is more likely next time. It's the EasyPay that complicated the matter - I would have waited until at least September to book if EasyPay was not offered. You have to book at least 6 months out from the final payment date to make full  use of the EasyPay option

[AAAAmerican]

Booking Cruises with accredited well ASTA Travel Agents works best. They even save you Many US or your Canadian Dollars too.

 

When dealing with the cruise lines directly they do save the commissions paid to Agernts, but yet the Agents save you manmy more dollars and does make more sense.

 

In all the cruises we have taken in decades only One was less. That one was with a Cruise Line Carnival took over.

[HillBilly Bob]

On 6/8/2019 at 2:33 AM, Cruise Cynic said:

so the wait to talk to a human ran about 3 hours. I waited the three hours (really, honest I did)

What a shame....my PVP Chris, answers his phone on the second or third ring...or I leave a message and he calls back in 5 minutes.    Find a professional that you can work with.   Yes, CCL is working overtime with the Cuba situation.   

[Aplmac]

On 6/8/2019 at 7:11 AM, ontheweb said:

My advice---use a travel agent,

and let him or her spend all that time with the cruise line representative.

Not only do you save all that time and effort,

but they probably have a representative that they have dealt with over and over.

 

Exactly and precisely why I'll never book/pay online!

 

I have a superb local cruise-only travel agent.

I go to them, do the deal face-to-face, across her desk

and if any problems arise, I return to do more face-to-face with her.

 

Said local cruise TA

even fixed a Carnival website login problem for me because

as mentioned above, they know ppl at Carnival Booking, on a first-name basis

that they've been dealing with for years now!

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, Aplmac said:

 

Exactly and precisely why I'll never book/pay online!

 

I have a superb local cruise-only travel agent.

I go to them, do the deal face-to-face, across her desk

and if any problems arise, I return to do more face-to-face with her.

 

Said local cruise TA

even fixed a Carnival website login problem for me because

as mentioned above, they know ppl at Carnival Booking, on a first-name basis

that they've been dealing with for years now!

Thank you for agreeing with me. I once had an issue, IIRC with Princess. I called my TA and he called Princess hooking up with his contact there. He said he had me on the line, and we proceeded with a 3 way conversation to deal with the issue. He then left me on the line with his Princess person in case there was anything else I needed. (But of course as the no TA people would say, "I no longer had control of my booking.".

[Don Kehote]

On 6/8/2019 at 7:18 AM, PhillyFan33579 said:

Sounds like you were wrong and got lucky.

Extremely, on both counts.  

[bingomamma19]

On ‎6‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 1:33 AM, Cruise Cynic said:

I recently booked a Carnival cruise for next February on their website. I was doing the happy dance.... for five days, that is.

Then I got one of their "cruise planner" emails which said my cruise was Feb 01, 2020... BUT I booked Feb 29th... I was certain of it.

I checked my documents more closely, and (lo and behold) I was indeed confirmed for the Feb. 01st sailing. How that little gem got past me is a mystery. Probably the font size on my printout (miniscule), and the fact that all sailings of this ship in February are otherwise identical. Either I made a gross error in booking, or the website somehow defaulted back to the first of the month on me. That is the problem I needed fixed pronto - in a nutshell.

 

I called Customer Service in a panic. They are having Cuba issues, so the wait to talk to a human ran about 3 hours. I waited the three hours (really, honest I did) and got the human. I explained the situation, and she was TEXTING the supervisor in the background. This took another 45 minutes. Result: DATE CHANGE DENIED. All penalties apply. And the price increased $200 to boot on the new booking.

I tried explaining that this was my 10th Carnival cruise.... didn't work. So I asked to escalate.... 3 hour wait to talk to the supervisor???? WHAT??? And the kicker: the agent was due to clock out in 10 minutes, and she "said" she was told to wait on hold with me for the 3 hours. Poor thing.

At this point, I realized I was being given the veritable bum's rush of total BS, and decided to end the call. No point to waiting since all penalties were to apply anyways.

 

I called back yesterday, having cleared my schedule, and fully anticipation a 3-hour wait again, as well as being mentally prepared to fight the good fight, as they say. About 30 minutes later, a very nice lady came on the phone. I explained the situation, and she CALLED the supervisor. Yes, CALLED. My situation was resolved within another 20 minutes to 100 percent satisfaction on my end. I ended up saving $50 with this date change also. And she apologised profusely for my ordeal.

 

Now, I ask you, what is the difference between the two agents? Same 1-800 number. Same time of day. Cuba issue had not gone away. Both reps were Stateside. One rep could handle the issue, and one rep could not. This is not the first time I have experienced Call Center stonewalling with other large, impersonal businesses. I have had similar results in the past, just by calling back and getting a different agent.

 

My advice? If you think you are in the right, keep calling....

Not sure about thinking you are right in this instance.

 

I use a Carnival PVP--same one for the last 10 years.   I pick what I want and call him to book it.   We discuss all the details, I go over the confirmation email I get with the dates and room number as soon as it comes (within a minute of booking) and I also go online to carnival.com to confirm all is ok.  

 

You do not need a TA, what you do need is to check all your details immediately once you book to correct anything that may be wrong.   And look at getting a good PVP, they are invaluable in getting things done the right way.

 

Glad it all worked out for you in the end...hopefully a lesion learned in double checking right away.

[indy71]

Could someone please explain what a PVP is? Never heard that acronym before. Thanks. 

[bingomamma19]

35 minutes ago, indy71 said:

Could someone please explain what a PVP is? Never heard that acronym before. Thanks. 

Personal Vacation Planner...they work for Carnival and are the exclusive person that you would work with when planning, booking, issues etc.   You have their direct number to call.   Mine is excellent, always available or calls me back in minutes.  He also has his own facebook page to communicate with.

 

Mine never calls me to sell anything (as some others have experienced).   I am the one who calls him when I want to book.    He is incredible and knowledgeable on anything I ask about.

Edited June 10, 2019 by bingomamma19

[indy71]

Do you have to have a certain status to work with one? Or are they available to the newbies, as well?

[bingomamma19]

15 minutes ago, indy71 said:

Do you have to have a certain status to work with one? Or are they available to the newbies, as well?

They are available to cruisers of all levels...newbies too.   I was lucky to get my guy on my very first booking with carnival in 2009.   We cant give names here, but  If you contact me at bingomamma19 with the email server that start with a Y  (as in yahoo) LOL  I can help you out  :) 

Edited June 10, 2019 by bingomamma19

[ray98]

You were wrong....you got lucky....you should use a TA in the future so someone can double check your travel dates.

[Sparky2]

On 6/8/2019 at 8:26 AM, agp_mzk said:

I highly recommend developing a relationship with one Carnival PVP. I've been using the same PVP for over 8 years now. She knows my preferences, keeps an eye out for deals I might be interested in, and doesn't harass me with phone calls otherwise. If I have a problem, it's always fixed with a single, short phone call. Easy peasy. 

 

I was going to post the same thing.  Get a good PVP and stick with him/her.

 

[Cruise Cynic]

11 hours ago, ray98 said:

You were wrong....you got lucky....you should use a TA in the future so someone can double check your travel dates.

 

Perhaps you should take the time to read my posts.

[Noledad77]

I woke up on Dec. 31 (just under 6 months ago) and decided to log into Carnival's website and pay $150 towards my cruise. Well, I had to go back a screen (I was using my phone, which was a horrible idea, having literally been awake for 5 minutes) and I put in my CC number and ended up paying the entire amount due on the cruise, rather than the installment that I had intended.

I called Carnival in a panic, explained the situation and went on hold and got hung up on. I called back and talked to a nice lady, who immediately corrected my mistake, and then offered me the option to move up 2 decks, for an additional $50 (which I took). Got my money back that week.

 

Long story short, it's not the same as a date mix-up but I'm very pleased that Carnival could work out the issues for both of us.