OPEN LETTER TO CCL ON THE MARDI GRAS CANCELLATIONS

[docsdrillers]

DEAR CCL

 

Firstly I understand that a delayed construction of a new ship is not your fault but that of the builder.

However since this can happen from time to time I’m assuming you take out insurance in the case it’s delayed to cover lost revenue on cancelled cruises and for paying out compensation to those passengers affected by the cancellation.

 

Your offer which on the surface seems generous doesn’t begin to cover all  the lost hours of phone calls,emails that have already occurred in preparing for this cruise via booking,air,excursions and transfers etc.

Now additional hours will be spent canceling ,rebooking,research etc to scramble and find an alternative vacation for the same time period.

 

Standard wait times on hold with AC is 45 minutes or longer just as an example.

 

For you it’s a business decision for us fellow travellers it’s about our emotions of frustration,disappointment and anger too.

 

Some affected have already been told of out of pocket losses for which they wont receive compensation from CCL..an example is premiums paid for insurance packages purchased from a company other than Carnival.

 

So here’s my suggestion to compensate all those affected by the cancelled cruises.

 

CCL owns HAL,Costa and Princess too.

Why not allow us to use our FCC on any of those companies?

To be fair I’d even consider the FCC amount as an OBC as opposed to a discount..this way customers are given extra options to rebook and it will only you cost you x cents on the dollar as opposed to a straight cruise discount.

 

Just my humble opinion that could make customers feel better about rebooking with you in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Joebucks]

I'm curious what they offered you. I'm also curious how many hours you spent planning this.

 

Reason #1 why I don't book the first itineraries of a new ship

[gatour]

First off, since you are disappointed with the compensation offered so far, you definitely should ask for additional.  Companies have been known to up the compensation offer

 

In regards to insurance, for things like this, I am pretty sure they would be self-insured.  However they may have a penalty clause in the contract with shipyard to recover some of the lost revenue.

 

You have to keep in mind that there  is a Carnival holding company and the actual Carnival Cruise Line.  That means that for corporate purposes  Carnival Cruise Line is a sister company to Holland America, Costa, and Princess.  While I imagine it is possible to work our the detail corporately it is not just something can just be decided on by Carnival Cruise Line subsidiary.  I have sailed on Carnival Cruise line ships, a Holland America ship, Princess and Cunard ships.  And have read about Costa when I have thought about trying one of their ships.  They are geared at different target audiences and have different price points. Most Carnival cruisers would not like Holland America or Cunard.  Some would probably like Princess.  May be a few for Costa (but I have read about Costa I would not recommend it.)

 

In regards to insurance premiums, has anyone attempted to contact the insurance companies to see if they can transfer the insurance to another cruise.  Since it is so far out and as long as you don't have a need to exercise any of this now canceled cruise, they may let you transfer it provided you change any of the provision.  Can't hurt to ask.

 

Again good luck with getting the compensation you desire.

 

 

[TomCruise48]

28 minutes ago, gatour said:

In regards to insurance premiums, has anyone attempted to contact the insurance companies to see if they can transfer the insurance to another cruise.  Since it is so far out and as long as you don't have a need to exercise any of this now canceled cruise, they may let you transfer it provided you change any of the provision.  Can't hurt to ask.

 

We were able to do exactly what you suggested on a cancelled cruise several years ago.  It was an expensive European cruise and we were able to apply the premium that we had paid to two less expensive Caribbean cruises.  There may have been a small amount deducted for processing.  Since insurance was purchased through TA, our TA took care of the details.

[jimbo5544]

Will never happen

[robc1972]

That is why you should never book on the maiden voyages of a ship, delays are to be expected.

The compensation offered is plenty, not surprised people are already asking for more.

[docsdrillers]

Let me clarify.

a) I’m not asking for more compensation.

b) I stated that since it was based on the amount we would have paid that what they were offering was generous.

c) I was proposing another form of compensation which would actually save CCL money and at the same time satisfy customers by giving them more options for rebooking.

d) if they gave us the amount in OBC’s on any of their ship lines then it would only cost them cents on the dollar...if they give you 500.00 off a future cruise it’s 500.00 of revenue lost..if they gave it to you as an on-board credit on Princess for say a drinks package it may only cost them 100.00.

Hope that clarifies my position and suggestion.

[cruizergal70]

Did you send this to Carnival? Why is this posted here on CC?

[docsdrillers]

Haven’t sent it yet since I’m on holidays now with limited computer access.

i posted it here to get opinions from others on my proposal and how they felt about my suggestion.

if enough of us feel this way and voice our opinion maybe we can get this approved.

[jamon]

Will you tell us what they offered???? Joebucks also asked this earlier and I did not see an answer from you. thanks

[jbethel11]

3 hours ago, docsdrillers said:

Standard wait times on hold with AC is 45 minutes or longer just as an example.

I can agree with this, I once waited over 1 hour for them to pick up!

[eroller]

Regarding insurance for a shipyard delay, I don't think it quite works that way.  When the initial ship building contract is signed, the shipyard agrees to a delivery date and is contractually obligated to deliver the ship by that date.  If the shipyard is unable to meet that delivery date, then penalties are imposed and the cruise line is compensated.  Those penalties are agreed upon in the contract by both parties, and of course can be quite severe.  So while not exactly "insurance", Carnival is most certainly being compensated by the shipyard for this delay.  

 

As others have said, booking an inaugural cruise or even the 2nd or 3rd cruise of a new ship is risky.  It's exciting being the first but there is always the possibility of a shipyard delay, especially when the ship is a new platform or incorporates a new technology piece such as LNG.  I had hoped MG would be delivered on time, especially since there is now experience with other ships of this platform from other brands, but honestly I'm not surprised.   

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

4 hours ago, docsdrillers said:

DEAR CCL

 

Firstly I understand that a delayed construction of a new ship is not your fault but that of the builder.

However since this can happen from time to time I’m assuming you take out insurance in the case it’s delayed to cover lost revenue on cancelled cruises and for paying out compensation to those passengers affected by the cancellation.

 

Your offer which on the surface seems generous doesn’t begin to cover all  the lost hours of phone calls,emails that have already occurred in preparing for this cruise via booking,air,excursions and transfers etc.

Now additional hours will be spent canceling ,rebooking,research etc to scramble and find an alternative vacation for the same time period.

 

Standard wait times on hold with AC is 45 minutes or longer just as an example.

 

For you it’s a business decision for us fellow travellers it’s about our emotions of frustration,disappointment and anger too.

 

Some affected have already been told of out of pocket losses for which they wont receive compensation from CCL..an example is premiums paid for insurance packages purchased from a company other than Carnival.

 

So here’s my suggestion to compensate all those affected by the cancelled cruises.

 

CCL owns HAL,Costa and Princess too.

Why not allow us to use our FCC on any of those companies?

To be fair I’d even consider the FCC amount as an OBC as opposed to a discount..this way customers are given extra options to rebook and it will only you cost you x cents on the dollar as opposed to a straight cruise discount.

 

Just my humble opinion that could make customers feel better about rebooking with you in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Really? My TA took care of everything. I had to do nothing. Re-booked the Mardi Gras for Halloween 2021 same cabin. $200.00 less in cost and booked the Sunrise for this Halloween. 25% FCC and $100 each for the OBC in addition was nice. My total ended up being $595.00 towards the next Carnival cruise which the TA took car of.

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, robc1972 said:

That is why you should never book on the maiden voyages of a ship, delays are to be expected.

The compensation offered is plenty, not surprised people are already asking for more.

More than it being the maiden voyage was the itinerary 

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

33 minutes ago, jamon said:

Will you tell us what they offered???? Joebucks also asked this earlier and I did not see an answer from you. thanks

A full refund. $25 of the cost of the cruise in future cruise credit and $100 OBC per person towards your next carnival cruise.

[jbethel11]

33 minutes ago, twodaywonder said:

$25 of the cost

Quick correction. It is 25% off, not $25 off.

[MCC retired]

1 hour ago, twodaywonder said:

Really? My TA took care of everything. I had to do nothing. Re-booked the Mardi Gras for Halloween 2021 same cabin. $200.00 less in cost and booked the Sunrise for this Halloween. 25% FCC and $100 each for the OBC in addition was nice. My total ended up being $595.00 towards the next Carnival cruise which the TA took car of.

If you wish to book yourself and “ own your booking”  there is a price to pay when things 

go wrong , your time , effort and frustration . 

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

15 minutes ago, MCC retired said:

If you wish to book yourself and “ own your booking”  there is a price to pay when things 

go wrong , your time , effort and frustration . 

100% correct. Plus you do not get all the perks that you would with a great TA. The cruise price might be the same but sometimes it is less, a lot less. The cruise line will not tell you if the price went down. My TA does and if there was added perks since I booked. My cruise on the Island Princess for next year went down over $1,300.00. All I needed to do was accept a 100 OBC loss. A no brainer. Doing the booking yourself you may never know.

[PhillyFan33579]

3 hours ago, robc1972 said:

That is why you should never book on the maiden voyages of a ship, delays are to be expected.

The compensation offered is plenty, not surprised people are already asking for more.

I would never book a cruise on any ship within the first several months after it comes off the production line for a new build or a dry dock for a minor or major upgrade. So both of us agree on this issue

 

However, obviously this approach is not followed by thousands of people who book cruises right away on new ships and/or ships coming out of dry dock. I feel bad for those impacted by the numerous Mardi Gras cruises that were cancelled, but I think the compensation being offered by Carnival is more than adequate, although not everyone agrees with this. To me the bottom line is if you are a risk taker, and booking cruises on new/renovated ships is not a risk I would take, you have to accept the negative consequences that may occur (hopefully infrequently). 

[jimbo5544]

4 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I would never book a cruise on any ship within the first several months after it comes off the production line for a new build or a dry dock for a minor or major upgrade. So both of us agree on this issue

 

However, obviously this approach is not followed by thousands of people who book cruises right away on new ships and/or ships coming out of dry dock. I feel bad for those impacted by the numerous Mardi Gras cruises that were cancelled, but I think the compensation being offered by Carnival is more than adequate, although not everyone agrees with this. To me the bottom line is if you are a risk taker, and booking cruises on new/renovated ships is not a risk I would take, you have to accept the negative consequences that may occur (hopefully infrequently). 

We were booked on the initial sailing out of Copenhagen.  This would have been our very first initial sailing.  We booked it knowing there was some risk for all the known factors.  After the first Costa ship was delayed, that risk became more real.  When nothing transpired after those delays, we felt somewhat better.  Obviously, that was misplaced.  I am holding off with judgement till the sting subsides.  Was really looking forward to that sailing.  

[cc-riderslc]

You might ask the company that you used to purchase trip cancellation insurance. I know, for example, Travel Guard allows you to apply the insurance to another sailing for no additional fee. 

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

3 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

More than it being the maiden voyage was the itinerary 

Guess you never have been to these ports.

[jimbo5544]

12 minutes ago, twodaywonder said:

Guess you never have been to these ports.

 Not a one

[WhaleTailFlCruiser]

4 hours ago, jamon said:

Will you tell us what they offered???? Joebucks also asked this earlier and I did not see an answer from you. thanks

they offered all of us on canceled Mardi Gras sailings full refunds 25% FCC and if we rebook by February an extra $100 OBC.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

6 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

 Not a one

I can understand your disappointment. If you do go again to these ports make sure you take a tour, especially the Mexico ones. Mahogany Bay is the one we like the most out of these. It is a very nice port. Many ships go to these ports.