Warning: Do not book excursions just because you *MAY* want to go on them to hold the price because you won't see money

[bar1068]

13 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Carnival doesn't issue cards, but I think it would have to be a new card. I don't beleieve you can add money to an old one.

Well...they kinda sorta do, or thats what they did for us. We had a cruise we booked before the whole "COVID thing" that we paid for using discounted cards through AARP. When that cruise was canceled, we realized our "worse fears" of having several thousand dollars "tied up" in those gift cards. Oh well, so sad for us. We went through a few rounds of canceling and rescheduling and refunding. When the dust settled, Carnival sent us refunds in the form of eGift cards as what we ended up booking and finally sailing on was a lower cost cruise. Not sure if that was because the cards we originally used were ecards on which, but Carnival sent email with links to the refunded card. Even the email address was from Carnival Gift Card Refund etc.

[Saint Greg]

2 hours ago, KaiBlue said:

When we had a cruise and several shore excursions canceled, Carnival did reimburse us for everything with brand new gift cards.  And they came fast - within 2 weeks of the cancellation.  But we did have a PVP working for us so perhaps that helped expedite the issue.  

Fun shop purchases are always refunded first, super fast. Internet, cheers, excursions. Cruise fare takes longer. Months sometimes. Don’t ask me why. I just had a lot do them with covid cancellations, the freedom/splendor ship change and the jubilee cancellation.

[klfrodo]

Warning: Do not book excursions just because you *MAY* want to go on them to hold the price because you won't see money

Never even crossed my mind that people did this. Says more about them than it does about the possible ramifications when it comes time to cancel. Maybe Karma just helped with the find out section.

 

[Eli_6]

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

And her TA could do this, but it sounds like he or she won't. I'd consider shopping around for a new TA the next time she and her family want to book a cruise.

I also asked my TA to "move" a deposit from a less expensive cruise to a SUBSTANTIALLY more expensive cruise taking place at the same time.  (This was after the 2024 European schedule came out.) They have done this in the past. She said "Carnival won't do that anymore." I ended up calling Carnival myself, removing her from the booking and got my deposit moved no problem.  I am not booking anymore with any TA.  Everyone I have used has just made the problem more difficult rather than easier. 

[wemjam]

14 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

I'm sorry that the OP is having this problem,  but I have cancelled,  changed,  moved shore excursions countless times and gotten prompt refunds and adjustments. Who should I call? 😁

This.  I have cancelled and changed more cruise stuff than you can shake a stick at (cruises, gift shop, dinning, excursions, etc.).  I have always received my refunds.  Now, I will say there were long delays during Covid and it took weeks, but otherwise it is usually within 2 weeks or so if I paid with a gift card I'd get a new on in the mail.  Credit Card refund maybe an extra week or so.

 

I will say, sometimes it requires some of our time if there is a mishap (after all there are actual people processing these things, and with humans comes human error).  I have sat on the phone for hours (literally) before to resolve issues with company's because I am just that type of person.  I will fight with someone over 5 cents because I am a "it's the principle of the matter" kind of person.

 

Don't get me wrong, I am aggravated and frustrated the whole time, but I am not going to let them win and keep my money 😆

[Eli_6]

27 minutes ago, klfrodo said:

Warning: Do not book excursions just because you *MAY* want to go on them to hold the price because you won't see money

Never even crossed my mind that people did this. Says more about them than it does about the possible ramifications when it comes time to cancel. Maybe Karma just helped with the find out section.

 

Well, I did this because: 1) This is a European itinerary where Carnival is just in that particular port once or twice a year only and many of the excursions do sell out well in advance; and 2) Carnival has been dramatically increasing prices on everything including excursions. Some of them are 50 percent more now than they were 6-9 months ago.  

 

Carnival only had a few excursions out for this particular port when I booked it.  One was basically a winery tasting.  I booked it for my husband and I.  Later on, an excursion came out that looked like it was more "family appropriate" that I could take our kids with us on and we would all enjoy so that is also why I canceled it.

[wemjam]

14 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

Once a card is zero'ed out, Carnival can't reload it. They have to issue a new gift card.

 

But you may be right if that gift card had some balance left on it, they may have just added to the balance.

Piggy backing here - but relates to many comments on this above.

 

Carnival can not issue any refund back to any gift card (balance remaining or not).  If you use a gift card the money is gone off that card.  They always RE-issue a new gift card for any moneys owed.  In the past it was always new Carnival Card mailed to you (usually FEDEX).

 

I do know that they have also started issuing e-gift cards back to customers more recently too (probably to save on the FEDEX shipping).

 

So on this account, two suggestions I have are.  Is it possible they issued a refund via e-gift card and you missed it (spam or deleted it and didn't catch it)?  Is it possible they did FEDEX you gift card and it got lost? (I know our FEDEX drivers in the last year or so can't find our address to save their lives they always end up one or two houses off).  Side note, I am signed up with FEDEX so anytime a package is inbound FEDEX notifies me directly.  So I know when it is coming, have the tracking, and the day it is supposed to deliver if it isn't there and it shows delivered I start checking the neighbors houses.  

[Eli_6]

3 minutes ago, wemjam said:

This.  I have cancelled and changed more cruise stuff than you can shake a stick at (cruises, gift shop, dinning, excursions, etc.).  I have always received my refunds.  Now, I will say there were long delays during Covid and it took weeks, but otherwise it is usually within 2 weeks or so if I paid with a gift card I'd get a new on in the mail.  Credit Card refund maybe an extra week or so.

 

I will say, sometimes it requires some of our time if there is a mishap (after all there are actual people processing these things, and with humans comes human error).  I have sat on the phone for hours (literally) before to resolve issues with company's because I am just that type of person.  I will fight with someone over 5 cents because I am a "it's the principle of the matter" kind of person.

 

Don't get me wrong, I am aggravated and frustrated the whole time, but I am not going to let them win and keep my money 😆

I am not that principled.  At some point, I don't have that kind of time to invest hours and hours on hold over $150. I am about right now about to start working on an attorney letter to an insurance company because they owe my husband's medical clinic over $30,000 and have delayed paying for about 8-9 months. (I am attorney and practiced for 12 years full-time in commercial litigation and still do work for a few select clients, but took time off to raise my kids.)  I also have two young kids that consume a lot of time.  Only reason I post here as much as I do is that it is more entertainment for me...but I don't consider getting angry on the phone with Carnival as entertainment.  I did shoot carnival excursions an email and may try one more time on the phone later, but my max amount of time to invest in this before giving up is going to be about an hour.  

[Eli_6]

5 minutes ago, wemjam said:

Piggy backing here - but relates to many comments on this above.

 

Carnival can not issue any refund back to any gift card (balance remaining or not).  If you use a gift card the money is gone off that card.  They always RE-issue a new gift card for any moneys owed.  In the past it was always new Carnival Card mailed to you (usually FEDEX).

 

I do know that they have also started issuing e-gift cards back to customers more recently too (probably to save on the FEDEX shipping).

 

So on this account, two suggestions I have are.  Is it possible they issued a refund via e-gift card and you missed it (spam or deleted it and didn't catch it)?  Is it possible they did FEDEX you gift card and it got lost? (I know our FEDEX drivers in the last year or so can't find our address to save their lives they always end up one or two houses off).  Side note, I am signed up with FEDEX so anytime a package is inbound FEDEX notifies me directly.  So I know when it is coming, have the tracking, and the day it is supposed to deliver if it isn't there and it shows delivered I start checking the neighbors houses.  

Both of these are possibilities.

 

It would go to my husband's email and he doesn't have time to check it regularly. I have looked for him and haven't seen anything, though.

 

As for the mail--that's entirely possible. We live in a neighborhood where the houses are all on half an acre to 5 acres and the houses are far apart. It isn't always clear what the street address is. Sometimes our mail goes to other houses and no one seems to care enough to return packages to their actual owner anymore.  We used to know all of our neighbors really well, but all of them have moved off and we haven't really gotten to know the new people. 

[Eli_6]

As an aside, I also got gift cards in the mail from refunds from Covid, too, without any problems.   But I think they were sent out en masse.  

[mz-s]

1 hour ago, Eli_6 said:

I am not that principled.  At some point, I don't have that kind of time to invest hours and hours on hold over $150. I am about right now about to start working on an attorney letter to an insurance company because they owe my husband's medical clinic over $30,000 and have delayed paying for about 8-9 months. (I am attorney and practiced for 12 years full-time in commercial litigation and still do work for a few select clients, but took time off to raise my kids.)  I also have two young kids that consume a lot of time.  Only reason I post here as much as I do is that it is more entertainment for me...but I don't consider getting angry on the phone with Carnival as entertainment.  I did shoot carnival excursions an email and may try one more time on the phone later, but my max amount of time to invest in this before giving up is going to be about an hour.  

 

I guess I can see that, it's $150 - not life changing money obviously. It's possible to spend more than that at Chili's nowadays. I would be spending all day on the phone if it was my $150 but we're all different with different priorities. 

 

But if you actually want resolution you're not going to get it from Carnival. They've already demonstrated they don't care when they hung up on you twice. You have to take it to your attorney general, the BBB, or some other organization that will escalate the issue to somebody at Carnival that actually cares about their job and customer service.

[BlerkOne]

I don't know. $150 is the cost of a cruise for some. Post it on John Heald's FB page.

 

 

[mz-s]

9 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

I don't know. $150 is the cost of a cruise for some. Post it on John Heald's FB page.

 

 

 

Not including gratuities and taxes, I don't even consider Carnival cruises costing more than $150 nowadays.

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

I also asked my TA to "move" a deposit from a less expensive cruise to a SUBSTANTIALLY more expensive cruise taking place at the same time.  (This was after the 2024 European schedule came out.) They have done this in the past. She said "Carnival won't do that anymore." I ended up calling Carnival myself, removing her from the booking and got my deposit moved no problem.  I am not booking anymore with any TA.  Everyone I have used has just made the problem more difficult rather than easier. 

All I can say is it is a shame that you have not found a great TA.

[BlerkOne]

4 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

Not including gratuities and taxes, I don't even consider Carnival cruises costing more than $150 nowadays.

Only one of these is mandatory.

[icft]

11 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Only one of these is mandatory.

Yeah, but for some of us our conscience effectively makes it mandatory. But you be you...

[n6uqqq]

12 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

and Carnival doesn't directly issue cards.

That is correct but the company that does is under the CCL umbrella and they should be able to issue a bit more smoothly.

[BlerkOne]

8 minutes ago, icft said:

Yeah, but for some of us our conscience effectively makes it mandatory. But you be you...

Not once, as in never, have I ever cheated cruise staff, seen and unseen, out of well deserved gratuities. In fact, I almost always tip extra. I am no cheapskate.

[BlerkOne]

10 minutes ago, n6uqqq said:

That is correct but the company that does is under the CCL umbrella and they should be able to issue a bit more smoothly.

Where it is under the Carnival Corp umbrella is debatable, as the named director of CCL Gifts, LLC is a corporate officer for Carnival Corp. Plus a lawyer. Plus lives in London? But primarily Carnival Cruise Line. It is all so confusing.

[2wheelin]

1 hour ago, mz-s said:

 

I guess I can see that, it's $150 - not life changing money obviously. It's possible to spend more than that at Chili's nowadays. I would be spending all day on the phone if it was my $150 but we're all different with different priorities. 

 

But if you actually want resolution you're not going to get it from Carnival. They've already demonstrated they don't care when they hung up on you twice. You have to take it to your attorney general, the BBB, or some other organization that will escalate the issue to somebody at Carnival that actually cares about their job and customer service.

This is a problem now days. Such a litigious society. Not everything can be fixed to everyone's satisfaction in one phone call.  Should it be? Maybe, but get real. Not blaming the OP one bit for being frustrated and considering giving up but that is her priority choice. (She maybe could sit on hold while typing in CC and kill two birds).

 

[shiner6]

I had a very similar experience. I called the Fun shops people on several occasions until I finally got someone to help me last week. I received my gift card refund today via email. Be persistent and pleasant. The regular empoyees do not know how to handle gift card refunds and the TA cannot help you either.

[Eli_6]

OH.MY.GOODNESS.  Against my better judgment, I just called them back to try once again to get this sorted out. Called me main number because can't find one for the carnival shore excursions. They told me there is no separate number for the shore excursions department.  They asked me for my booking number. Told me that it was invalid. Then tried to look up under my husband's name. Told me that there was no one in the system with that name. (We are platinum so I think there is.)  Then they looked under my name and found the booking linked through me. Then told me the booking was made and canceled in Sept all on the same day and the money was never taken off of a gift card or from my account. No it wasn't. I have a receipt and the cancellation letter from MARCH.  It was made in September. Canceled in March.  Now I am on hold while they are researching.  Sigh.  

[Eli_6]

53 minutes ago, 2wheelin said:

This is a problem now days. Such a litigious society. Not everything can be fixed to everyone's satisfaction in one phone call.  Should it be? Maybe, but get real. Not blaming the OP one bit for being frustrated and considering giving up but that is her priority choice. (She maybe could sit on hold while typing in CC and kill two birds).

 

That's what I am doing right now.

 

I hate talking on the phone is part of it, too.  I much prefer texting.  I have a hard time understanding people on the phone.  And every time I start talking on the phone, my parrot starts screaming in the background because she thinks I am a "bird" in her flock and we are "communicating" and needs to join in. And Macaws are LOUD when they start screaming.  I often have to go outside and sit in the heat to even have a conversation.

[wemjam]

12 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

OH.MY.GOODNESS.  Against my better judgment, I just called them back to try once again to get this sorted out. Called me main number because can't find one for the carnival shore excursions. They told me there is no separate number for the shore excursions department.  They asked me for my booking number. Told me that it was invalid. Then tried to look up under my husband's name. Told me that there was no one in the system with that name. (We are platinum so I think there is.)  Then they looked under my name and found the booking linked through me. Then told me the booking was made and canceled in Sept all on the same day and the money was never taken off of a gift card or from my account. No it wasn't. I have a receipt and the cancellation letter from MARCH.  It was made in September. Canceled in March.  Now I am on hold while they are researching.  Sigh.  

I feel your pain... we are all cheering you on.  Just keep telling yourself:

 

IT'S MY MONEY AND I NEED IT NOW.

 

🤣

 

 

 

 

Edited April 21, 2023 by wemjam

[Eli_6]

Still on hold. 30 minutes in, she lady who was helping me trasnfered me to someone in the web services department and that the conversation was going to be about getting me the refund. Thought I was home free. Nope. Had to go through everything I had told her and all of the information again and now she is investigating the entire ordeal..  She now has me on hold and is talking to someone with the fun shops.  They are wanting to know the gift card I paid for with it.  No, I don't still have the gift card I paid for with it in September.  It wasn't a physical card anyway.