Q on Carnival price protection

[habsfan4ever]

My wife and I are relatively new to cruising, 4 under our belts, all on Celebrity. We wanted to try a Mexican cruise on the west coast, and the Carnival offering out of Long Beach on the newly Christened Panorama looked interesting. I did my research, found the February 29th date worked best. I did a 48 hour curtesy hold on the room, and was happy to see the price protection was in place for 48 hours from booking. Now here where it gets picky. I’m interested in your interpretation of “Booking “ Is it from the time the curtesy hold, or time of down payment? I’ll follow up with the results, and the reasons ,after I hopefully get a few opinions. 

[Joe817]

2 minutes ago, habsfan4ever said:

My wife and I are relatively new to cruising, 4 under our belts, all on Celebrity. We wanted to try a Mexican cruise on the west coast, and the Carnival offering out of Long Beach on the newly Christened Panorama looked interesting. I did my research, found the February 29th date worked best. I did a 48 hour curtesy hold on the room, and was happy to see the price protection was in place for 48 hours from booking. Now here where it gets picky. I’m interested in your interpretation of “Booking “ Is it from the time the curtesy hold, or time of down payment? I’ll follow up with the results, and the reasons ,after I hopefully get a few opinions. 

FWIW, my interpretation of 'booking', is actually making the booking and making a down payment. Making a 'booking without the down payment is simply a "mock booking", done to just see what the final rate is.  With that said, YMMV. 

[Saint Greg]

I don’t think you’ve booked it until you’ve put money down. A hold is...a hold.

[jimbo5544]

It is a hold, as opposed to a true booking.  That said, the 48 hour hold does in fact guarantee the price until the 48 hour expires. 

[glrounds]

I agree with BOTH of those answers . . . A booking is most definitely not a hold.

[Nic6318]

Hi Habsfan

 

By the way you phrased your whole post while not actually stating what your issue is, I can only imagine that the cabin price went up while you were considering the purchase. 

 

My thought is clear, you hadn't made a purchase yet, so if the price had fallen you would have paid the lower price. Pretty much all the Carnival booking "rates" will give you price protection at least till final payment. Some "rates" will give you price protection till 2 days before sailing, with some restrictions. At the same time, you hadn't made a purchase yet (you just held a cabin), if the price rose within the hold period, that would be your price, unless otherwise agreed to.

 

If this is the issue, I personally wouldn't fret too much. You see the can prices fluctuate literally daily. If you book, keep an eye on the prices and there is a very good chance you may get a price drop. If not, you can be assured that you booked at a pretty good price. The thing about booking a cruise, is that you may see prices going up and down, but if you haven't been following the prices for months, you have no idea where the price started out.

 

have a great cruise

[Eli_6]

I have done a 48 hours hold before and it holds the price if you book in that time.  

 

If the price went down, just let the hold expire and book after the cabin shows back up.  

[jimbo5544]

8 hours ago, habsfan4ever said:

Good start, a little clarification. The 48 hour price protection I’m at issue with is, if I see a publicly available lower price through any other source other than Carnival’s web site. The Carnival web site gives a 48 hour protection from time of booking. I found a better deal on Vacations to go, $70 per person, plus $50 on board credit. I filled out the appropriate forms, and emailed it in 24 hours after payment. The claim was denied because it was more than 48 after the curtesy hold, not the payment.

I was on the phone with a supervisor ( they get paid to listen to complaints) for over an hour debating contractual law. No luck, I am amazed that for roughly $200 they would jeopardize any future business. We are still excited to go on the Panorama, and are staying in a Havana aft balcony, and compare it to Blu on Celebrity. When  we retire and start ramping up our cruise count, I can “Price Guarantee “ you it won’t be on Carnival.

Side note, the conversation with the Supervisor was good, agreed to disagree, and at the end of the day $200+/- comes out of our Beautiful Children’s inheritance.

 

Your last line of the post is head scratching material, looks like this little thing will make you look elsewhere in the future, happy cruising.

[habsfan4ever]

Correct Jimbo, it’s not the $200, it’s the Big Red banner on the Carnival web site about having your back, when it comes to price protection, then when you call them on it they won’t honour it based on interpretation of booking. I just believe the transaction didn’t occur until the deposit occurred. I’ll find away to get over it, just looking for opinions.

 Thanks all for your comments.

Cheers

[TequilaJane]

Book through Carnival then transfer the reservation to the travel agent that gives you the biggest on board credit

[habsfan4ever]

Really?? Very interesting 

[jimbo5544]

24 minutes ago, habsfan4ever said:

Really?? Very interesting 

IF that is what you are going to do, just go thru TA.

[Jamman54]

I'm a tad confused. I thought the low price guarantee meant a) that if Carnival's price went up you would get whatever the price was when you put a hold on a cabin, or b) if the price went down since you put the cabin on hold you would get the lower price if you booked. You can't price match to an outside agency because if they are offering a lower price it's because they are holding group space or the reduction is coming out of their commission. Help me out Jimbo.😎

Edited November 6, 2019 by Jamman54

[jimbo5544]

2 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

I'm a tad confused. I thought the low price guarantee meant a) that if Carnival's price went up you would get whatever the price was when you put a hold on a cabin, or b) if the price went down since you put the cabin on hold you would get the lower price if you booked. You can't price match to an outside agency because if they are offering a lower price it's because they are holding group space or the reduction is coming out of their commission. Help me out Jimbo.😎

Jeff, I believe you understand the situation. I tried to explain to the op, but he/she thought Carnival should match.   

[habsfan4ever]

Just so there’s no confusion, the following is from Carnival’s web site.

If you find a better Carnival advertised deal somewhere else within two days of booking your cruise, we'll not only be very surprised — we'll give you 110% of the difference in onboard credit. You can be confident that our prices are the lowest, so you can get on to more important things... like counting down the days until you sail! 
 

• You'll have 48 hours from the time you book to find a lower price. 
• Carnival will give you 110% of the difference in onboard credit. 
• Lowest Price Guarantee only applies to publicly available rates.

[Nic6318]

Hi

 

I included the link here for the complete description of the guarantee. https://www.carnival.com/Popups/BookingEngine/Guarantee.aspx

 

Just to mention...I don't believe cruise critic wants us to name the name of the company.

 

I believe I remember someone else, some time ago, had the same problem trying to get a price match with that same company. I don't remember specifically the details. You haven't specifically stated their position in refusing you, either. Of course, with Carnival, the theory has always been, you will get a different answer each time you call. 

 

That being said, I think that part of their refusal might be from the wording used. "Lower rates must be publicly advertised fares", "available to the general public". To actually see the fares from that site you must sign in. Carnival could say that this constitutes some sort of a club. Also (I haven't used their services so I don't know for sure), but it appears that even if you do sign in you cannot see the full price, you do not see the taxes and port fees. 

 

Another point would be as stated, "the lowest price only applies to the cruise fare", they specifically say "will not apply to prevailing taxes, fees, and port expenses", as well as the OBC because it also says "exclude...other Travel agent promotions not offered by Carnival to the general public, including but not limited to travel agent rebates". 

 

Maybe this is what you were discussing with that supervisor??? It would seem that even if they did agree to allow you to price match with this company, the amount you could recoup would have been far less than amount you are suggesting. 

 

Even, from the way it went down, or even now, couldn't/can't you cancel and rebook with the other company? At worst it should be a learning experience. Complete your research before booking. If you feel the fault is with Carnival, so be it, it's your money. You have many other choices available. You must understand, that one of the main reasons Carnival is so popular is because of their prices. So, "punishing" them could end up costing you money, but if this is a matter of principle, I can understand. 😃

 

haver a great cruise

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, habsfan4ever said:

Just so there’s no confusion, the following is from Carnival’s web site.

If you find a better Carnival advertised deal somewhere else within two days of booking your cruise, we'll not only be very surprised — we'll give you 110% of the difference in onboard credit. You can be confident that our prices are the lowest, so you can get on to more important things... like counting down the days until you sail! 
 

• You'll have 48 hours from the time you book to find a lower price. 
• Carnival will give you 110% of the difference in onboard credit. 
• Lowest Price Guarantee only applies to publicly available rates.

I was not confused 

[pacruise804]

19 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

I'm a tad confused. I thought the low price guarantee meant a) that if Carnival's price went up you would get whatever the price was when you put a hold on a cabin, or b) if the price went down since you put the cabin on hold you would get the lower price if you booked. You can't price match to an outside agency because if they are offering a lower price it's because they are holding group space or the reduction is coming out of their commission. Help me out Jimbo.😎

 

15 hours ago, habsfan4ever said:

Just so there’s no confusion, the following is from Carnival’s web site.

If you find a better Carnival advertised deal somewhere else within two days of booking your cruise, we'll not only be very surprised — we'll give you 110% of the difference in onboard credit. You can be confident that our prices are the lowest, so you can get on to more important things... like counting down the days until you sail! 
 

• You'll have 48 hours from the time you book to find a lower price. 
• Carnival will give you 110% of the difference in onboard credit. 
• Lowest Price Guarantee only applies to publicly available rates.

 

I think there are two different situations being discussed here.  The first is placing a hold, but not actually booking with Carnival and Carnival guarantees the price will be the lesser of Carnival price at time of hold or Carnival price at time of booking.  The second is a guarantee within 48 hours of booking with Carnival that Carnival will match (plus give the difference x 1.1 in OBC) of a publicly available rate from an outside agency.

[habsfan4ever]

Just an update on my posting, which the purpose of the question was to get opinions on when your booking actually starts,  curtesy hold, or down payment. Based on Carnival’s interpretation it is when the curtesy hold happened.(mental note for next time) The supervisor was firm on the the rules based on his interpretation, but promised to talk to his people up the food chain, and see what he could do. A few days later I received an email with new statement showing a $140 OBC

the explanation was, although they stand by their initial decision, (curtesy vs payment)

they would show some good Will and give us the OBC. Not sure if I can name the supervisors involved, but I appreciate their calm, none confrontational, approach to the confusing situation. Well done Carnival... My wife, and I will easily spend 6, or 7 times that on Spa, excursions, drink packages, casino. Now can they do anything about getting Feb 29 here faster. Thanks for all the varying inputs.

[jimbo5544]

9 hours ago, habsfan4ever said:

Just an update on my posting, which the purpose of the question was to get opinions on when your booking actually starts,  curtesy hold, or down payment. Based on Carnival’s interpretation it is when the curtesy hold happened.(mental note for next time) The supervisor was firm on the the rules based on his interpretation, but promised to talk to his people up the food chain, and see what he could do. A few days later I received an email with new statement showing a $140 OBC

the explanation was, although they stand by their initial decision, (curtesy vs payment)

they would show some good Will and give us the OBC. Not sure if I can name the supervisors involved, but I appreciate their calm, none confrontational, approach to the confusing situation. Well done Carnival... My wife, and I will easily spend 6, or 7 times that on Spa, excursions, drink packages, casino. Now can they do anything about getting Feb 29 here faster. Thanks for all the varying inputs.

Glad it worked out, happy cruising

[Retired_to_Cruise]

On 11/6/2019 at 7:32 PM, habsfan4ever said:

Just so there’s no confusion, the following is from Carnival’s web site.

If you find a better Carnival advertised deal somewhere else within two days of booking your cruise, we'll not only be very surprised — we'll give you 110% of the difference in onboard credit. You can be confident that our prices are the lowest, so you can get on to more important things... like counting down the days until you sail! 
 

• You'll have 48 hours from the time you book to find a lower price. 
• Carnival will give you 110% of the difference in onboard credit. 
• Lowest Price Guarantee only applies to publicly available rates.

You forgot to also list the 15 "Special Terms and Conditions" that are listed along with, and apply to,  the quote you showed us. Make sure your situation does not relate to one or more of these.

[Jamman54]

10 hours ago, habsfan4ever said:

Just an update on my posting, which the purpose of the question was to get opinions on when your booking actually starts,  curtesy hold, or down payment. Based on Carnival’s interpretation it is when the curtesy hold happened.(mental note for next time) The supervisor was firm on the the rules based on his interpretation, but promised to talk to his people up the food chain, and see what he could do. A few days later I received an email with new statement showing a $140 OBC

the explanation was, although they stand by their initial decision, (curtesy vs payment)

they would show some good Will and give us the OBC. Not sure if I can name the supervisors involved, but I appreciate their calm, none confrontational, approach to the confusing situation. Well done Carnival... My wife, and I will easily spend 6, or 7 times that on Spa, excursions, drink packages, casino. Now can they do anything about getting Feb 29 here faster. Thanks for all the varying inputs.

 

Congrats! Your persistence paid off. Enjoy your cruise! 😎