Shore Excursion Best Price Guarantee

[1019throw]

 

Anyone know who to contact at Carnival to discuss? I don't see John Heald has a messaging option on Facebook.

 

 

The "Best Price Guarantee" is posted everywhere. I found a shore excursion (Monkeyland in Amber Cove) that is $150 cheaper for our family by booking direct through Viator. The guarantee claim form does not work on the website for filing a claim,  so I called customer service.  They sent me over to the excursion group, and ultimately told me there are actually only a few excursions that qualify for the guarantee. I tried to get them to understand how that doesn't make sense, because every single shore excursion webpage notes this language "Find a better price for any excursion we offer and we will refund you 110% of the price difference!".  Trying to understand how Carnival can put the Best Price Guarantee on every page, but then state it's only available for certain excursions without any exclusions listed. 

 

I tried to ask for a supervisor or to escalate, and the rep just kept stating that this is the only department that handles the claims.

[Purvis1231]

39 minutes ago, 1019throw said:

 

Anyone know who to contact at Carnival to discuss? I don't see John Heald has a messaging option on Facebook.

 

 

The "Best Price Guarantee" is posted everywhere. I found a shore excursion (Monkeyland in Amber Cove) that is $150 cheaper for our family by booking direct through Viator. The guarantee claim form does not work on the website for filing a claim,  so I called customer service.  They sent me over to the excursion group, and ultimately told me there are actually only a few excursions that qualify for the guarantee. I tried to get them to understand how that doesn't make sense, because every single shore excursion webpage notes this language "Find a better price for any excursion we offer and we will refund you 110% of the price difference!".  Trying to understand how Carnival can put the Best Price Guarantee on every page, but then state it's only available for certain excursions without any exclusions listed. 

 

I tried to ask for a supervisor or to escalate, and the rep just kept stating that this is the only department that handles the claims.

You have to buy the Carnival excursions and then file the claim. It worked for us several times. They denied both of them at first and appealed and after an exchange of emails, they were approved. Once, we did one while onboard and this was approved right away by the shipboard staff. Good luck.

[nydney1]

Same with me. The first response was usually a No, but after a few emails. I was able to get the issue resolved 

 

but I will tell you, it has to be an almost exact match. 

Edited January 31 by nydney1
Spelling

[DallasGuy75219]

3 hours ago, 1019throw said:

 

Anyone know who to contact at Carnival to discuss? I don't see John Heald has a messaging option on Facebook.

 

 

The "Best Price Guarantee" is posted everywhere. I found a shore excursion (Monkeyland in Amber Cove) that is $150 cheaper for our family by booking direct through Viator. The guarantee claim form does not work on the website for filing a claim,  so I called customer service.  They sent me over to the excursion group, and ultimately told me there are actually only a few excursions that qualify for the guarantee. I tried to get them to understand how that doesn't make sense, because every single shore excursion webpage notes this language "Find a better price for any excursion we offer and we will refund you 110% of the price difference!".  Trying to understand how Carnival can put the Best Price Guarantee on every page, but then state it's only available for certain excursions without any exclusions listed. 

 

I tried to ask for a supervisor or to escalate, and the rep just kept stating that this is the only department that handles the claims.

I suspect what they meant was that from the probably thousands of claims that have been submitted, they've only found a few independent excursions that exactly match Carnival's excursion, and the Monkeyland excursion you were trying to file a claim for isn't one of them.

 

Do the two excursions exactly match in every advertised detail?  Even if yes, is this worth the extra $15 in OBC that you'll net?

[1019throw]

7 hours ago, Purvis1231 said:

You have to buy the Carnival excursions and then file the claim. It worked for us several times. They denied both of them at first and appealed and after an exchange of emails, they were approved. Once, we did one while onboard and this was approved right away by the shipboard staff. Good luck.

 

I did purchase and then immediately went to fill out the form. The drop-down list to pick the excursion only have 5 options, which I thought was a mistake since amber cove had 20+to pick from. Then the comments box gives an error code no matter what you tried, so I couldn't even submit the form. That made me call them. 

 

4 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

I suspect what they meant was that from the probably thousands of claims that have been submitted, they've only found a few independent excursions that exactly match Carnival's excursion, and the Monkeyland excursion you were trying to file a claim for isn't one of them.

 

Do the two excursions exactly match in every advertised detail?  Even if yes, is this worth the extra $15 in OBC that you'll net?

There are 2 excursions that are basically exact matches. Regarding the value, the price difference was about 120, so the net would be 130 in OBC.

[nydney1]

I would keep trying to submit the form, I have had issues with the error code in the past. Can’t remember how I fixed it but I do remember it was crazy frustrating.

 

My last cruise I had two rooms, they approved the match on one room and denied it on the second room. Same excursion and I even told them they had approved the other room. 
 

I finally gave up with email and when we got onboard went to the shore excursion desk with a copy of my approval email and had them add the second room. 
 

They had to show email to supervisor and it was approved and had the credit by the next morning.

 

If you get no satisfaction from email, I suggest printing the screen shot with the error code, a copy of your attempts to contact them and resolve and go to the shore excursion desk once onboard.

[1019throw]

22 minutes ago, nydney1 said:

I would keep trying to submit the form, I have had issues with the error code in the past. Can’t remember how I fixed it but I do remember it was crazy frustrating.

 

My last cruise I had two rooms, they approved the match on one room and denied it on the second room. Same excursion and I even told them they had approved the other room. 
 

I finally gave up with email and when we got onboard went to the shore excursion desk with a copy of my approval email and had them add the second room. 
 

They had to show email to supervisor and it was approved and had the credit by the next morning.

 

If you get no satisfaction from email, I suggest printing the screen shot with the error code, a copy of your attempts to contact them and resolve and go to the shore excursion desk once onboard.

 

Thanks, I may have to try that.  Is there any way to email customer service other than calling in and wasting 30 minutes on the phone again?

 

I just tried the form twice again, didn't encounter any error on the form itself, but the next page says it encounters a problem and to try again.

[DallasGuy75219]

1 hour ago, 1019throw said:

There are 2 excursions that are basically exact matches. Regarding the value, the price difference was about 120, so the net would be 130 in OBC.

What is the Carnival excursion and what are the Viator excursions you are matching to?

 

The net for you is actually $10, not $130.  If you booked through Viator you wouldn't be paying the extra $120 in first place.  So $120 of the $130 Carnival OBC makes you whole vs. what you would have paid with Viator, and the other $10 is your net.  Is all this trouble worth $10 to you vs. canceling your Carnival reservation and rebooking with Viator?

[1019throw]

13 minutes ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

What is the Carnival excursion and what are the Viator excursions you are matching to?

 

The net for you is actually $10, not $130.  If you booked through Viator you wouldn't be paying the extra $120 in first place.  So $120 of the $130 Carnival OBC makes you whole vs. what you would have paid with Viator, and the other $10 is your net.  Is all this trouble worth $10 to you vs. canceling your Carnival reservation and rebooking with Viator?

I tried, and the excursion company won't allow cruise customers to book with them, need need to pick a hotel pickup location.

 

Also, it's 110% of the difference. I believe it's $350 with carnival and 240 viator. So we'd get 110% of the $110 difference which is $121.

[DallasGuy75219]

1 minute ago, 1019throw said:

I tried, and the excursion company won't allow cruise customers to book with them, need need to pick a hotel pickup location.

Then it's not comparable because your 'comparable' tour doesn't include transportation from the port.  Full stop.

[1019throw]

14 minutes ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

Then it's not comparable because your 'comparable' tour doesn't include transportation from the port.  Full stop.

It includes transportation from about 20 hotels, so yes it does include transportation. I could probably just pick a hotel that is close to the port if I wanted to.

 

So is Carnival specifically not allowing the excursion operator to pick up at the port so they can carve out their weird exclusions?  I'm still booking and will attempt to get the difference.

Edited January 31 by 1019throw

[DallasGuy75219]

3 minutes ago, 1019throw said:

It includes transportation from about 20 hotels, so yes it does include transportation. I could probably just pick a hotel that is closer to the port.

 

So is Carnival specifically not allowing the excursion operator to pick up at the port so they can carve out their weird exclusions?  I'm still booking and will attempt to get the difference.

Transportation from a hotel is not a "exact match" (Carnival's requirement to invoke the guarantee) to transportation from the port.  Your options are to pay Carnival $120 for the convenience of port pick-up or go to a hotel for pick-up to save $120.

 

Part of Carnival's contract with the companies that operate their excursions is that they cannot sell the same excursions to Carnival passengers.  This pre-dates the best price guarantee.  The company running the Viator excursions either 1) runs the same excursion for one or more cruiselines or 2) doesn't want to bother with the uncertainty of late ship arrivals, getting cruise passengers back to the port in time to not miss the ship, or ships missing port altogether. 

[mz-s]

14 minutes ago, 1019throw said:

It includes transportation from about 20 hotels, so yes it does include transportation. I could probably just pick a hotel that is close to the port if I wanted to.

 

So is Carnival specifically not allowing the excursion operator to pick up at the port so they can carve out their weird exclusions?  I'm still booking and will attempt to get the difference.

 

Carnival says the excursion has to be exactly the same. Many of Carnival's excursions serve ham sandwiches as part of the price, but the independent tour doesn't. So a 50 cent ham sandwich lets them get out of the price match. That's why Carnival says very few tours qualify for the price match. They have all these exclusions and gotchas.

 

If the independent tour won't pick you up at the pier, then it is not comparable because all of Carnival's tours do.

 

Don't shoot the messenger - we're just trying to save you time.

Edited January 31 by mz-s

[teknoge3k]

1 hour ago, mz-s said:

 

Carnival says the excursion has to be exactly the same. Many of Carnival's excursions serve ham sandwiches as part of the price, but the independent tour doesn't. So a 50 cent ham sandwich lets them get out of the price match. That's why Carnival says very few tours qualify for the price match. They have all these exclusions and gotchas.

 

If the independent tour won't pick you up at the pier, then it is not comparable because all of Carnival's tours do.

 

Don't shoot the messenger - we're just trying to save you time.

 

Bingo!

[jam19872016]

4 hours ago, 1019throw said:

 

 

So is Carnival specifically not allowing the excursion operator to pick up at the port so they can carve out their weird exclusions?  I'm still booking and will attempt to get the difference.

Bingo. That is exactly what they do, they have a contract with the companies they do business with so that they do not actually have to honor a price match in most cases.

 

It can be something as simple as a 15 minute difference in pickup time, if there is not a 100% match in the terms, they don't have to and will not honor it. 

 

In your case the pickup location does not match so they will use that as the reason it is not an identical excursion and will deny your claim.

 

 

Oops should have kept reading, I see several other people already said the same thing.

Edited January 31 by jam19872016

[KLUTZYJO]

I also am trying to fill out the form and get an error message every time I hit submit.  I also only see 4 tours listed in the drop down menu despite many more being offered.  I am trying to match a dog sled tour in Alaska that is 50 pp cheaper and even has the exact same name!  I would prefer to book through carnival since many years ago I booked through another company and then the cruise diverted due to weather in cabo and we had to fight for refund but I might risk it for the difference if carnival  doesn't price match 

[1019throw]

1 hour ago, KLUTZYJO said:

I also am trying to fill out the form and get an error message every time I hit submit.  I also only see 4 tours listed in the drop down menu despite many more being offered.  I am trying to match a dog sled tour in Alaska that is 50 pp cheaper and even has the exact same name!  I would prefer to book through carnival since many years ago I booked through another company and then the cruise diverted due to weather in cabo and we had to fight for refund but I might risk it for the difference if carnival  doesn't price match 

Based on what they told me on the phone, I'm going to guess they will only price match the ones in the drop-down list.

 

Lots of different opinions in the thread, but I'm still going to try to get ours honored and adjusted if I can.

[DallasGuy75219]

29 minutes ago, 1019throw said:

Based on what they told me on the phone, I'm going to guess they will only price match the ones in the drop-down list.

 

Lots of different opinions in the thread, but I'm still going to try to get ours honored and adjusted if I can.

Not sure what part of "it's not an exact match if the comparable excursion doesn't pick you at the port" is so difficult to understand.

[ontheweb]

2 minutes ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

Not sure what part of "it's not an exact match if the comparable excursion doesn't pick you at the port" is so difficult to understand.

I used this successfully once for a Carnival excursion in Barbados. The comparable excursion did say pick up at the hotel, but I e-mailed them and asked if they would also pick you up at a cruise ship. They e-mailed back yes, and I included that it my request.

 

To the OP wishing you good luck getting it.

[ABQrobin]

We have used it 3 times and it was approved each time, no issues. 

It does have to be the same, like if Carnival includes lunch then the matching excursion has to, also.  I think that is the sticking point for many matches.  

[Purvis1231]

12 hours ago, 1019throw said:

 

I did purchase and then immediately went to fill out the form. The drop-down list to pick the excursion only have 5 options, which I thought was a mistake since amber cove had 20+to pick from. Then the comments box gives an error code no matter what you tried, so I couldn't even submit the form. That made me call them. 

 

There are 2 excursions that are basically exact matches. Regarding the value, the price difference was about 120, so the net would be 130 in OBC.

Keep trying sorry you are having a problem.

[nydney1]

I like a challenge. 

 

Which exact tour are you booked on so I can look for an exact comparison?

Damajagua Waterfalls & Monkey Land $129.99/$109.99

Monkey Land & Puerto Plata City Tour $94.99/$79.99

Monkey Land & Dominican Flavors for Families $89.99/$79.99

 

This will tell me which one to try and find a comparison.

[Testifying]

Any update on why all excursions offered were not populating in the drop down?  Was wondering if only purchased excursions were showing up and the original poster hadn't given enough time for it to load?

[1019throw]

On 2/3/2024 at 8:03 AM, nydney1 said:

I like a challenge. 

 

Which exact tour are you booked on so I can look for an exact comparison?

Damajagua Waterfalls & Monkey Land $129.99/$109.99

Monkey Land & Puerto Plata City Tour $94.99/$79.99

Monkey Land & Dominican Flavors for Families $89.99/$79.99

 

This will tell me which one to try and find a comparison.

 

It was Monkey Land & Dominican Flavors for Families. We were unsuccessful but kept it anyway. It was about 5 emails back and forth and they kept coming up with new excuses.

 

 

On 3/5/2024 at 2:13 PM, Testifying said:

Any update on why all excursions offered were not populating in the drop down?  Was wondering if only purchased excursions were showing up and the original poster hadn't given enough time for it to load?

 

From the one time that they called, they said those were the only ones that they guaranteeing. I'm guessing those are the only ones they might be exactly the same. Part of my complaint is that they list the guarantee on every single page, not just the ones they are matching.

 

Regardless, we had a good time, albeit at a premium.