Round 2: Don't pay for excursions with gift cards

[wemjam]

4 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Somehow "they suck at it" is not a very good excuse. They should get their act together!

Not making excuses.  Again, just fact.

 

I agree utter BS.  However, we all (obviously) are on this forum because we all cruise with them.  We choose to do this.  They have good points and bad. 

 

That's my point in all this.  I can choose to spend my money elsewhere.  They (and the passengers) do things that peeve me off all the time.  At this point I choose to stay.  No one is forcing me.

 

You can sit back and demand change and witch about changes you aren't happy with, but all you are doing is tilting at windmills.  The reality is what it is.

[wemjam]

35 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

@wemjam  If a company does substantial business in a state, they are subject to the consumer laws of that state.  Flagging their ships in a different country or even being registered in a different country doesn't absolve them of that.

Frankly, with interest rates going the way they are, I think that more and more companies are going to be doing everything they can to delay payments or refunds. If you take 30 or 90 or 180 days to issue payments or a refund, your company gets to earn interest on that money for that length of time.  When you are talking about large companies, that is cumulatively a lot of money in interest for them spread out over all of their thousands (or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands or millions) of customers.  That's why state legislatures pass various prompt pay acts, deceptive trade practice laws, etc.  

 

Is that what is going on with Carnival here?  Honestly, I don't think so. From what I am hearing from multiple different sources both on here and directly from Carnival is that it sounds like it is more an issue of incompetence/IT problems rather than purposefully holding on to refunds/payments.  But you better believe that many companies do make it a business practice to take the absolutely longest they can legally take to pay a claim or issue a refund.  Insurance companies, in particular, are notorious for this...along with denying legitimate claims knowing that most people don't have the knowledge, time, energy, or money to sue them over their wrongful denial.   

Interesting.  So like Amazon or Walmart (or Carnival) they are held accountable to the state the do business in.

 

That could get sketchy.  A lot of these big companies do business in every state.  Which rule would apply? 

 

Very intriguing 

[wemjam]

7 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

OMG.  Well now this is the least of my concerns. I just read where there is a strike at Heathrow the day we are flying into London and departing for Barcelona at Heathrow. FFS.  Every.stinkin.time. I go to Europe, there is some sort of issue.  Last year it was the issue in Dover and the trains shut downs due to heat.  Now there is a strike at the airport. I think I am Europe cursed. I NEVER have ANY of these problems on US cruises.  

GIRL you have my deepest sympathies.  NO vacation should be so stressful!

[wemjam]

31 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

I am more and more getting to that point as well because there is simply so little recourse on these gift cards that I am seriously starting to question if it is worth the ten percent it saves. It sucks because on a 7k cruise, that ten percent = $700.

 

Plus, I have even thought about the fact that I think a lot of the "benefits" I get for booking travel on some of my credit cards (like insurance) may not apply if I simply use the credit card to buy a gift card. I haven't ever looked into the issue, but I suspect that may be the case.    

Yep, I did.  Doesn't apply for buying the gift card.  You have to use the card direct for the travel.  Don't get the insurance benefit if you have that step in the middle.

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

8 minutes ago, wemjam said:

Yep, I did.  Doesn't apply for buying the gift card.  You have to use the card direct for the travel.  Don't get the insurance benefit if you have that step in the middle.

Two points:

If you get travel insurance anyway, it is generally much more comprehensive than what the credit card benefit is, so you probably aren't forfeiting anything by not using the credit card. 

 

It might vary card to card, but you don't need to pay for the entire vacation with the credit card, only a portion. You can therefore pay the minimum needed with the credit card to get any benefits you want/need, and pay the rest with discounted gift cards.  Best of both worlds!

[ontheweb]

21 minutes ago, wemjam said:

Interesting.  So like Amazon or Walmart (or Carnival) they are held accountable to the state the do business in.

 

That could get sketchy.  A lot of these big companies do business in every state.  Which rule would apply? 

 

Very intriguing 

It would apply to every state. And the applicable law would be the law in the state in which the transaction occurred.

[ontheweb]

29 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

OMG.  Well now this is the least of my concerns. I just read where there is a strike at Heathrow the day we are flying into London and departing for Barcelona at Heathrow. FFS.  Every.stinkin.time. I go to Europe, there is some sort of issue.  Last year it was the issue in Dover and the trains shut downs due to heat.  Now there is a strike at the airport. I think I am Europe cursed. I NEVER have ANY of these problems on US cruises.  

This trip is beginning to sound like the old Albert King blues song, If It Wasn't for Bad Luck, I'd Have No Luck at All.

 

I do really hope somehow this all works out for you and your family.

[Illbcruzn4life]

6 hours ago, wemjam said:

Agreed, other than the fact that I don't think anyone has said it was the customer's fault.  It's about expectation and reality.  Reality is Carnival is not adept at processing refunds.  They are slow, make mistakes, and sometimes miss it all together.  So if you lead with that expectation, it makes for a lot less stress on yourself.

 

NOT saying I support the fact that they suck at it, but that is just the fact of life we have to deal with if we choose to do business with them.  There should be no surprise in this matter.  

One would think that a company that has been in business 50 years would be a little more efficient unless they are being like insurance companies, Deny and hope they go away.

[Eli_6]

My TA contacted her contact at Carnival yet again yesterday. (I have given up contacting Carnival myself as either I am disconnected accidentally after sitting on hold for 20-30 minutes or they tell me it is fixed and I never get the gift cards.)  Apparently, the second contact was enough to finally get it resolved as I got the virtual cards to my email at 12:30 am. Phew. Finally! From now on, if I buy excursions with Carnival, they are going on a credit card.  At least then I have the recourse of protesting the charge with Visa or Amex. 

[Eli_6]

Now I am just concerned about the security strike at Terminal 5 (the British Airways terminal) we will be flying into and out of at Heathrow. 

 

My husband said to me last night when I expressed concerns about the strike and being able to make our connecting flight and there not being any other options with openings at this late date (because I had looked at alternative dates when security isn't striking), "Well, maybe we could drive to Edinburgh or take the train if we had to." I just looked at him and shook my head. My husband doesn't even know where we are embarking from apparently!!! Lololol.  So, yeah, my kids and I will be taking a fun cruise from BARCELONA to Portugal, Gibraltar, France, Belgium, Spain, and ending in Dover while my husband is looking for the Pride in Edinburgh. 🤣 I guess you can tell who does the vacation planning in our house!

Edited May 13, 2023 by Eli_6

[ontheweb]

44 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

My TA contacted her contact at Carnival yet again yesterday. (I have given up contacting Carnival myself as either I am disconnected accidentally after sitting on hold for 20-30 minutes or they tell me it is fixed and I never get the gift cards.)  Apparently, the second contact was enough to finally get it resolved as I got the virtual cards to my email at 12:30 am. Phew. Finally! From now on, if I buy excursions with Carnival, they are going on a credit card.  At least then I have the recourse of protesting the charge with Visa or Amex. 

1. You finally got the new gift cards in time. YAY

2. For everyone who says a TA is an unnecessary middleman (or in this case middlewoman) note that that is how it finally got resolved because the TA had a contact at Carnival.

[ontheweb]

35 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

Now I am just concerned about the security strike at Terminal 5 (the British Airways terminal) we will be flying into and out of at Heathrow. 

 

My husband said to me last night when I expressed concerns about the strike and being able to make our connecting flight and there not being any other options with openings at this late date (because I had looked at alternative dates when security isn't striking), "Well, maybe we could drive to Edinburgh or take the train if we had to." I just looked at him and shook my head. My husband doesn't even know where we are embarking from apparently!!! Lololol.  So, yeah, my kids and I will be taking a fun cruise from BARCELONA to Portugal, Gibraltar, France, Belgium, Spain, and ending in Dover while my husband is looking for the Pride in Edinburgh. 🤣 I guess you can tell who does the vacation planning in our house!

You will at the end of the cruise need to get back to the airport. I don't know for sure if Carnival does this (Princess did) when we had to get back to Heathrow from Dover, in addition to a transfer straight to the airport, there was a transfer that included a walking tour of Dover and a stop in Canterbury. It not only was interesting and worth the extra cost, but also made it seem you were still on your vacation instead of off the cruise and on the way back to the airport.

[DanvilleCruiser]

I am glad you finally got this resolved.

[Eli_6]

6 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

You will at the end of the cruise need to get back to the airport. I don't know for sure if Carnival does this (Princess did) when we had to get back to Heathrow from Dover, in addition to a transfer straight to the airport, there was a transfer that included a walking tour of Dover and a stop in Canterbury. It not only was interesting and worth the extra cost, but also made it seem you were still on your vacation instead of off the cruise and on the way back to the airport.

The strike is when we are going out, not coming back.  I have to go to Corpus Christi College at Cambridge University after our cruise for some research so we will be taking the train there and staying a few days.  

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

The strike is when we are going out, not coming back.  I have to go to Corpus Christi College at Cambridge University after our cruise for some research so we will be taking the train there and staying a few days.  

OK, I did not know you were not flying straight back after the cruise, and thought I would make a siuggestion.