New Email From Carnival - Change of Ports, Masks, Full Refunds

[K_e_short]

4 minutes ago, scendro said:

in Early December the Breakaway (out of New Orleans) was required to test every passenger the day before  disembarking because they had what the Port Authority deemed an outbreak. anyone positive had to go to hotel to quarantine unless they drove. We were on the Glory at that time - which was also out of New Orleans, and we were paranoid that we would all have to be tested too (per the New Orleans port) but luckily our ship didn’t have an outbreak.  so just know any Port can require a cruise line to test all passenger 

 

Oh yes good point. 

I guess to clarify that would not be U.S. border security requiring a test to 'enter back into the U.S.' , it would be teh CDC imposing testing requirements.

 

Fun time 😞

[Drazil65]

one of my biggest concerns is how much things can change in a week. Mandatory quarantines when we get back, missing work…. Things completely out of my control. 

 

Totally agree with this, although, all of these issues and unknowns are a direct result of the virus continuing its aggressive romp through the country.  They are saying that at this current rate of infection, the next 6 weeks will be very critical and trying before it starts to wane.  As long as there are  new hosts to attach to and be more aggressive, no control! 

 

Our cruise isn't until March but we got a 30 day extension on final payment date (from 12/29) so we could watch and wait it out before making our decision to move cruise.  We are vaxed and boosters so not much else we can control at this point except wait it out.  We have no issue staying healthy but with so many not being healthy, it affects all of us in some manner along the way.

[akeka]

I called to cancel my January 9th Magic sailing about 8 hours too early.  It was lose my fare or move to a future date.  I pushed it out to a future date rather than lose the fare.

[my kids mama]

1 minute ago, akeka said:

I called to cancel my January 9th Magic sailing about 8 hours too early.  It was lose my fare or move to a future date.  I pushed it out to a future date rather than lose the fare.

Will they let you do that?  I am supposed to cruise on the 31st.  It was a very, very cheap fare!!! That deal is now expired.  Will I be able to change the dates and keep that fare? 

[loohoo1]

4 minutes ago, akeka said:

I called to cancel my January 9th Magic sailing about 8 hours too early.  It was lose my fare or move to a future date.  I pushed it out to a future date rather than lose the fare.

I'm not sure what you mean. According to the latest email, you should be able to cancel for a full refund for any future sailing. Did you cancel before this policy went into effect?

[akeka]

3 minutes ago, my kids mama said:

Will they let you do that?  I am supposed to cruise on the 31st.  It was a very, very cheap fare!!! That deal is now expired.  Will I be able to change the dates and keep that fare? 

No, I had to go with the pricing available for the new date.  

[akeka]

Just now, loohoo1 said:

I'm not sure what you mean. According to the latest email, you should be able to cancel for a full refund for any future sailing. Did you cancel before this policy went into effect?

I called 8 hours before that email so yes before the policy went into effect.

[happywife0921]

52 minutes ago, Drazil65 said:

one of my biggest concerns is how much things can change in a week. Mandatory quarantines when we get back, missing work…. Things completely out of my control. 

 

Totally agree with this, although, all of these issues and unknowns are a direct result of the virus continuing its aggressive romp through the country.  They are saying that at this current rate of infection, the next 6 weeks will be very critical and trying before it starts to wane.  As long as there are  new hosts to attach to and be more aggressive, no control! 

 

Our cruise isn't until March but we got a 30 day extension on final payment date (from 12/29) so we could watch and wait it out before making our decision to move cruise.  We are vaxed and boosters so not much else we can control at this point except wait it out.  We have no issue staying healthy but with so many not being healthy, it affects all of us in some manner along the way.

I actually didn’t know you could request an extension for final payment date, probably because I never needed to but this is good info. We have a cruise booked in March as well and I would love the extra time to monitor things in case we need to rebook, especially since several family members that are cruising are over 65. 

[my kids mama]

7 minutes ago, akeka said:

I called 8 hours before that email so yes before the policy went into effect.

The total price of my cruise for the 2 of us is only $445.00.  That includes $200 OBC, $200 for me to play with in the casino, and cheers for me.  This is for a balcony cabin.  I think the biggest reason I am so bummed about the prospect of canceling is that I know I will probably never get a deal like this again.  I just wish they would let me save the deal and change my dates. I understand why they can't though.  

 

By the way, I never did receive this email,  or the one from last week about the new safety protocols going into place. I wonder how they decide who gets notified about changes. 

[Drazil65]

I actually didn’t know you could request an extension for final payment date, probably because I never needed to but this is good info. We have a cruise booked in March as well and I would love the extra time to monitor things in case we need to rebook, especially since several family members that are cruising are over 65. 

 

Yes, this is possible (we did it another time a few years ago when we thought of moving to another ship with some friends).  The customer service rep asked me if 30 days would be sufficient (and I could probably get one or two more if needed and said she put it in the notes online just in case). 

 

She said Carnival understands the situation and wants to accommodate where they can so it was not a problem.  If you happen to call and get a different answer for some reason then just call back until you get service rep that is informed.  It seems that they have many new service reps now a days.  

[stellarose]

never got this email. only that I needed to do my health assessment. hmmmm.

[CC Rider 69]

4 hours ago, CC Rider 69 said:

We got up this morning, had the discussion. We decided to take our home test, we both passed. Then we said, "let's flip a coin, heads we go, tails we cancel, it was heads. Then we said two out of three. That being said, we canceled the dog sitter and have been on hold with CCL to cancel our cruise. We were lucky enough to go to Alaska in August and the Caribbean in October, so why take chances of not be able to make ports of call, and/or being stuck in our cabin for a week.

The good thing is I'll be able to play golf next week.

Y'all stay safe and have a Merry Christmas.

UPDATE:

Full TOTAL refund from Carnival, including excursions and steakhouse,

Able to cancel parking minus $15.00 admin fee,

Able to cancel pet sitting fee at no charge

Able to cancel Victor Bodden tours in Roatan, no fees 

All in all, not to bad for cancelling two days prior to sail date.

Thank you Carnival.

PS wait time for an operator was only 1:37:07 hours.

Again, Merry Christmas y'all

[kconn]

7 minutes ago, CC Rider 69 said:

UPDATE:

Full TOTAL refund from Carnival, including excursions and steakhouse,

Able to cancel parking minus $15.00 admin fee,

Able to cancel pet sitting fee at no charge

Able to cancel Victor Bodden tours in Roatan, no fees 

All in all, not to bad for cancelling two days prior to sail date.

Thank you Carnival.

PS wait time for an operator was only 1:37:07 hours.

Again, Merry Christmas y'all

We are still in debate mode for our Jan 8 on the Vista - seeing above makes me feel better about our options to cancel - thanks for posting and Merry Christmas!!

[Girlincube]

10 minutes ago, CC Rider 69 said:

UPDATE:

Full TOTAL refund from Carnival, including excursions and steakhouse,

Able to cancel parking minus $15.00 admin fee,

Able to cancel pet sitting fee at no charge

Able to cancel Victor Bodden tours in Roatan, no fees 

All in all, not to bad for cancelling two days prior to sail date.

Thank you Carnival.

PS wait time for an operator was only 1:37:07 hours.

Again, Merry Christmas y'all

Unfortunately…. I booked through a travel agent!! And he won’t answer 

[guxu]

I saw the email yesterday and tried to call them to see if we could just push the date and keep the deal. The waiting time was too long so I gave up.

 

Apparently we cannot keep deal, which is understandable. We will monitor the situation and keep our booking for now. Thank you all for the information.

[ehc]

5 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Most all ships carnival or rcl booked to close to 100% for the holidays and now both are pulling back. Rcl isnt allowing new bookings thru mid January. This variant is probably peaking mid January and then should be dying off somewhat. But it is moving higher toward a peak right now. I cruised a week ago and it was lovely but more kids expected over the holidays unvaccinated for another consideration. The higher percent of kids I'm sure worrying.

 

Me I'd go since it's just me and both b2b between now and march I'd lose some money and good deals. I'd lose money for either hotels or parking in Galveston. I noticed march parking I reserved in Galveston has a $50 canc fee for instance. And I'm driving so if I got it I could still drive home most likely. Everyone has different considerations why they would go or not. 

 

I'm hoping carnival has cancellations and puts up rates again with no solo supplements. Irks me to pay double. People made fun of me booking drive to ports this year, I'm getting the last laugh. Hopefully 2023 I can do more exotic like Panama canal. Glad I'm not flying yet. That's a added risk imo.

Which website I can check how many passages will be on the ship I will be on?

Thanks!

[cocomango]

17 hours ago, K_e_short said:

I just received this email as I'm cruising on the 26th. I'm sure others have well.

 

https://view.carnivalcruiselineemail.com/?qs=c77e5e59b973f05d6f00c504624fd9e5869118035a3e1bb51b366f486e2b52b2c2974004e651f67c5c9155010fc2be39b45b57c3e2aa413769fa228920330f790020b0dd52048f6f8afe493fe3b5f157

Thank you for posting. I have not received any emails for our Jan 2 sailing but I did notice on this email that it applies to sailings through Jan 14, 2022. 

 

Does anyone know what the window for a refund would be?  - such as how many days prior to sailing? 

It does not specify it on this email. 

 

Thank you.

[RoperDK]

I am glad that Carnival is giving people the chance to move or cancel while Omicron is surging.  That should reduce capacity and the added stress on the crew.  Many of them will be taking on more work as others are required to isolate.  We sail on Jan. 15th, so this doesn't affect us...yet.  I can't believe that Omicron will dissipate and lead to a more normal time until at least the end of January.  Carnival is doing their best, I guess, but I feel that they know a lot more than they are informing guests.  I would expect slow service, missed ports, and cancelling of some activites.  These things have already happened on recent cruises.  Hopefully it won't elevate to closed casinos, closed shops, closed dining venues and bars, and most importantly being confined to your cabin.  We all knew about covid when we booked.  In our case, we felt comfortable to cruise over Halloween.  All went well, except for a "we're just back and getting our stuff together" experience.  We booked again for January.  Our expectations were that things would progress back to a more normal experience.  That won't happen for a while.        

[loohoo1]

3 minutes ago, cocomango said:

Thank you for posting. I have not received any emails for our Jan 2 sailing but I did notice on this email that it applies to sailings through Jan 14, 2022. 

 

Does anyone know what the window for a refund would be?  - such as how many days prior to sailing? 

It does not specify it on this email. 

 

Thank you.

I'm assuming you could cancel right up to the time of the cruise. Someone mentioned today they were cancelling for 12/26.

I checked my cruise "Cruise Balance details" today under the Manage My Booking section for my 1/9/22 cruise. I was hoping I could cancel online since call wait times are crazy long. It still shows that if I try to cancel my booking online, a $500 penalty applies. I guess they want you to call to cancel 😞 It would save people a lot of time if you could do it online.

[Girlincube]

1 hour ago, guxu said:

I saw the email yesterday and tried to call them to see if we could just push the date and keep the deal. The waiting time was too long so I gave up.

 

Apparently we cannot keep deal, which is understandable. We will monitor the situation and keep our booking for now. Thank you all for the information.

 

Has anyone successfully tried to cancel a casino rate?!?! My travel agent is saying he can't cancel my room until Monday.... 

[ChrisNCruiser]

4 hours ago, icft said:

I also have a greater fear of testing positive than I have of getting Omicron. We're boosted and in good health so Omicron will probably give us sniffles at worst, produce no symptoms at best. But a positive test stops your life.

 

One of my concerns is that the normal cycle of these things is they mutate into non-live-threatening diseases, like the Spanish Flu did. But with today's science we can still track them after they are harmless. With all the hysteria about covid I see the possibility that our brilliant politicians will have our lives shut down due to "covid" long after covid has mutated into nothing worse than the common cold. If one obese, diabetic, 80 year old cancer patient dies "with" covid they will still consider it a threat to public health worthy of masks, self isolation and all the rest for everyone.

I'd be on board with hoping to get it if it was limited to sniffles. However, a code work friend, who is mega-vaccinated, young, and careful tested positive last week. She feels 100% fine but the only reason she got tested was because she completely lost her sense of taste and smell. It's probably / hopefully temporary but if not that would suck. I'm still planning to go on my January 9 Magic cruise for now.

[nwcruiselover]

1 hour ago, ehc said:

Which website I can check how many passages will be on the ship I will be on?

Thanks!

To my knowledge there is no such website.  The cruise lines keep this information to themselves and we don’t know the numbers till we’re onboard.

[MrMarc]

I am on Mardi Gras, scheduled for 1/15, so not only am I not sure what the cruise will be like, I don't even know what my options are.  And you know what?  I'm fine with it.  I think all the cruise lines are doing what they can, but with things changing this fast, there is only so much they can do, and they cannot provide information they don't have.  I'm guessing we will hear about the second half of February next week.  I also think that a lot of Carnival Beards are not getting the Christmas Vacation they planned.

[K_e_short]

3 hours ago, ehc said:

Which website I can check how many passages will be on the ship I will be on?

Thanks!

 

Go onto the Carnival website and do a mock booking.

 

Click through all the different options and count how many rooms are available. Remember if it says 10 rooms on one deck there might be more but they will only list 10 (I think).

 

Then you will have a good idea of how many rooms they want to fill.

That won't count how many they are keeping empty for quarantine or to keep the capacity under 100%.

 

[K_e_short]

2 hours ago, Girlincube said:

 

Has anyone successfully tried to cancel a casino rate?!?! My travel agent is saying he can't cancel my room until Monday.... 

 

You just have to call the casino line, not the main Carnival number.

 

The Casino Number is 1-866-299-5859. According to the website they are open Monday to Sunday 8:00am - midnight.

There might be holiday hours though.

 

Is your TA calling the casino number of the regular travel agent number?