This is ridiculous, on phone over 2 hrs!!

[edgeman61]

I realize they may be UNDERSTAFFED but give me a break, transferring me to another department AFTER that department has closed for the evening (possibly so they could go home too) is terrible customer service.

 

I was very patient with the CSR but apparently they have no authority to do anything regarding refunding monies so she was just the intermediary between me and another department.

 

The 45 minute original hold time was expected but the fact that during a 1 hour phone interchange I cannot get a simple cancellation processed and get the necessary documentation sent on to me is unfathomable.

 

Then, to be transferred to a department who have already gone home for the evening was infuriating, hence the rant.

[Virga]

Phone times dropped a lot from last week to today - but the service is just as bad.  One person insisted on transferring me to the casino people to get info on the covid cancellation FCC/OBC terms, when my call was dropped, and the next seemed really eager to help but also managed to hang up on me and send me to the survey.  

 

I'm really, really tempted to rebook through a travel agency.  What good is booking direct if you can't get a straight answer?

[Alexintheboro]

THIS is why its advantageous to have a Personal Vacation Planner.  If I ever call my PVP and have to leave a voicemail, she will call me back soon after and usually will have my questions resolved within a few minutes.  If she has to check with another Department she will either ask me if I want to hold, or if she wants me to have her call me back.  

[klfrodo]

People have been reporting for months that the hold times are longer than normal.

 

What's ridiculous is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

You knew before you called that the hold time would be a couple of hours. You should have been prepared for the worse.

[edgeman61]

I was only on hold for 45 minutes, it was the inability of CCL to process a refund during the 1 hour time I was on the phone with them and then shuffling me off to a department who had gone home for the evening that irritated me.

 

If there had been no deadline to cancel with full refund I would have waited (our final payment wasn't due until late summer) but I wanted to break clean and not have yet another future booking to have to plan around.

 

Just to reiterate, my issue is not with the time it took for the phone to be answered, it was the inability of CCL to do what they needed to do in a reasonable time once they did answer.

 

Maybe if they could spend less time on each customer during the cancellation process the wait times on hold would be reduced.

 

[Wanna_Cruize]

On 2/9/2022 at 7:26 PM, luckybecky said:

I was on hold today for almost 2 hours today with a big box retailer's travel site, trying to make a room change on an upcoming cruise I had booked with them. By the time I finally got to speak with an agent, the cabin I wanted to change to was gone. 😞

 

What I've done sometimes if there is a specific cabin I want, is to put a hold on it, and then contact my PVP. Then, when I am on the phone with him, I can cancel the hold, and then he can grab it, and he gets credit for the booking

[edgeman61]

This is where it really gets choice.

 

When I rebooked the cruise that was cancelled in 2020 they made me pay an additional $100 deposit even though the monies that they were holding would have covered the deposit.

 

When I cancelled in February they asked if I wanted just the $100 back and that they would keep the $500+ from the original cruise as a FCC.

 

I told them that I wanted the entire amount.

 

So far... they have refunded only the $100.  Could they possibly refund the balance in another transaction????

 

Very frustrating.

[edgeman61]

On the subject of Personal Vacation Planers (PVP), I have never used the one from Carnival that sends me information on their promotions.

 

I have TRIED to use the one that I was assigned to from Holland America.  Every time I called her I would get her voicemail, I would leave a message but she never returned my calls.

 

A young man from Princess has cold called me a couple of times (very polite) and has emailed as well.  We just don't sail Princess enough to warrant his services.

 

Unless I'm getting a discount or extra perks for using one, nothing about the booking process is that difficult.

 

Now the CANCELLATION process... that's a different story.

[TNcruising02]

7 hours ago, edgeman61 said:

This is where it really gets choice.

 

When I rebooked the cruise that was cancelled in 2020 they made me pay an additional $100 deposit even though the monies that they were holding would have covered the deposit.

 

When I cancelled in February they asked if I wanted just the $100 back and that they would keep the $500+ from the original cruise as a FCC.

 

I told them that I wanted the entire amount.

 

So far... they have refunded only the $100.  Could they possibly refund the balance in another transaction????

 

Very frustrating.

When I cancelled a cruise, part of it was refunded to my credit card.  The rest was refunded to my debit card.  They should refund everything to whatever card you used.  If you used two different cards, they will refund whatever part you originally charged to each card.  If they don't, you might need to call again.

[bguppies]

On 2/5/2022 at 6:18 PM, edgeman61 said:

I am on the phone now for over 2 hours.  On hold for 45 minutes before a very nice lady attempted to cancel my cruise for November '22.

 

Was on the phone with her for over an hour while "the team" evaluated my refund options.  She tried to process the refund but ended up transferring me to "the resolutions department" where I am now... ON HOLD!!

 

Checking the time, its past Carnival's business hours back in Miami, not sure anyone will answer until 9:00AM EST tomorrow 😠

 

Approaching 2.5 hours, must be allot of folks cancelling before the 2/15 deadline.

 

Edited March 8, 2022 by bguppies
no reply

[bguppies]

DW was on hold for 3 hours while at work. then continued on hold for her drive home then another couple of hours at home.

Finally got through and had to wait on hold, WITH, the phone rep she finally got through to, until a supervisor could get on the line.

If Carnival makes their phone reps remain on the line while they wait for the supervisors, its no wonder the wait times are so long.

 

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, bguppies said:

DW was on hold for 3 hours while at work. then continued on hold for her drive home then another couple of hours at home.

Finally got through and had to wait on hold, WITH, the phone rep she finally got through to, until a supervisor could get on the line.

If Carnival makes their phone reps remain on the line while they wait for the supervisors, its no wonder the wait times are so long.

 

It does some like an extremely inefficient system to have the phone reps seemingly not empowered to do anything. It leads to exactly the problems you mentioned.