Unable to cruise due to border restrictions

[clairebearinaus]

Does anyone have any experience with being booked on a cruise that looks to be going ahead, but you're locked out of the departure country due to Covid restrictions?

 

I am in this situation and final payment is due soon.  I paid a non-refundable deposit for this cruise but am wondering if Carnival will be flexible given a) we booked before the pandemic started and b) we want to transfer the deposit to another Carnival cruise.

 

I do understand that they're entitled to keep my deposit according to the T&C, but wondered if others could offer me any hope based on their own experiences.  I did call the customer care line a few weeks ago to enquire and was fobbed off to a 'review' email address who eventually replied telling me to call the customer care line... so not a great help so far and now the payment's almost due I really need to push for a firm answer.

[mondello]

Yes, they have been very flexible with guests needing to rebook because of all the changes that have occurred with the Covid 19 pandemic. Best thing to do is call Carnival and see what your options are then decide. It would help if you already have your new cruise picked. They may even make exceptions on the "non-refundable" deposit and/or cancellation fees if you rebook. They have been dealing with this for many months. Sorry you have to call from outside the U.S.

[BlerkOne]

I think you can transfer if a cruise from the US. It seems clear.

 

Cruise Cancelled by Guest

• If, following a declaration of a Public Health Emergency, you cancel a booking for a cruise scheduled during the declared emergency, or must cancel your booking because you are prohibited from traveling to the vessel due to a governmental travel restriction, but the cruise is not cancelled, you are entitled to a FCC for the amount paid to Carnival. In all other cases our standard cancellation policy will apply, as set forth in the Ticket Contract for your cruise.

https://www.carnival.com/Legal/covid-19-legal-notices/covid-19-refund-cancellation-policy

[ontheweb]

5 hours ago, clairebearinaus said:

Does anyone have any experience with being booked on a cruise that looks to be going ahead, but you're locked out of the departure country due to Covid restrictions?

 

I am in this situation and final payment is due soon.  I paid a non-refundable deposit for this cruise but am wondering if Carnival will be flexible given a) we booked before the pandemic started and b) we want to transfer the deposit to another Carnival cruise.

 

I do understand that they're entitled to keep my deposit according to the T&C, but wondered if others could offer me any hope based on their own experiences.  I did call the customer care line a few weeks ago to enquire and was fobbed off to a 'review' email address who eventually replied telling me to call the customer care line... so not a great help so far and now the payment's almost due I really need to push for a firm answer.

So the phone people said to go to e=mail and e-mail said to go the phone route, passing the buck and absolutely no help for you as a customer.

 

I would think it would be better to have a TA to deal with them, but I guess those who think having a TA makes you lose control of your booking would disagree.

 

[Wave61]

As of now, we are in the same position, border is closed between Canada and US.  Our cruise isn't until March but I am already concerned so I called last week.  For now, Carnival is waiving the change fees and said that your deposit would transfer over to a future cruise.

[Enggrl]

17 minutes ago, Wave61 said:

As of now, we are in the same position, border is closed between Canada and US.  Our cruise isn't until March but I am already concerned so I called last week.  For now, Carnival is waiving the change fees and said that your deposit would transfer over to a future cruise.

The border isn’t completely closed, you can fly into the US. I wish they would open the border for Canadians to drive over now but they seem to be dragging their feet.

Canada opened the border for tourist Americans to go over by car now with few restrictions. I think the US needs to do the same. 

[kelkel2]

I think you can transfer and that shouldn’t be a problem. We did that. We moved our cruise from this January to next. They made us pay a fee since it was our choice (not really, clearly covid caused the decision) but we were glad to do it and not lose our deposit. 

[K_e_short]

2 hours ago, Enggrl said:

The border isn’t completely closed, you can fly into the US. I wish they would open the border for Canadians to drive over now but they seem to be dragging their feet.

Canada opened the border for tourist Americans to go over by car now with few restrictions. I think the US needs to do the same. 

 

Actually it has nothing to do with whether the borders are open by land or air. In Canada our government has stated to "avoid all non essential travel.". Based on Carnival's language in their rules:

 

"...prohibited from traveling to the vessel due to a governmental travel restriction..."  that means you can get a FCC.

 

 

[Enggrl]

5 minutes ago, K_e_short said:

 

Actually it has nothing to do with whether the borders are open by land or air. In Canada our government has stated to "avoid all non essential travel.". Based on Carnival's language in their rules:

 

"...prohibited from traveling to the vessel due to a governmental travel restriction..."  that means you can get a FCC.

 

 

That’s not what she said. She said the border was closed and it’s not. Just because the Canadian government says don’t travel, lots of Canadians still are and have been doing for months. 

[K_e_short]

16 minutes ago, Enggrl said:

That’s not what she said. She said the border was closed and it’s not. Just because the Canadian government says don’t travel, lots of Canadians still are and have been doing for months. 

 

Exactly. The OP was asking about having to cancel/reschedule because of a travel restriction.

If you are able to travel now. and yes Canadians are travelling, then great.

 

My point is that Carnival will give you FCC because their policy says that if there is a travel ban in your country. Currently there is a travel ban from Canada.

[clairebearinaus]

Thank you so much for all your helpful replies, I feel a lot more positive about calling and arguing my case now.

[vamartha]

It will be a lengthy phone call but they will work with you. I was able to make several changes to a couple of different cruises with no issues at all other than the phone call wait. One on of them, they went over and beyond my expectations.

 

I used to do this late at night years ago but their phone hours are not as long as they were pre-Covid. The first call wait was 1.5 hours and the second one was 2.5 hours but I sort of knew that going in. 

 

Carnival has been wonderful in working with people in making changes without penalty. They do understand when you face adversity in trying to travel or meet protocols to board. But you have to have patience and know that it will involve a long wait for a representative to answer.

 

 

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, vamartha said:

It will be a lengthy phone call but they will work with you. I was able to make several changes to a couple of different cruises with no issues at all other than the phone call wait. One on of them, they went over and beyond my expectations.

 

I used to do this late at night years ago but their phone hours are not as long as they were pre-Covid. The first call wait was 1.5 hours and the second one was 2.5 hours but I sort of knew that going in. 

 

Carnival has been wonderful in working with people in making changes without penalty. They do understand when you face adversity in trying to travel or meet protocols to board. But you have to have patience and know that it will involve a long wait for a representative to answer.

 

 

My workaround for having those long phone waits is to have a book to read in front of me. Just have to periodically check that you are no longer on hold.

 

And glad everything worked out for you. 

[sfaaa]

You should be ok. Recently, I moved my Nov 21 ES NRD to a new cruise in Oct 22 without penalty. Carnival was happy I booked a new cruise with them.