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Would you complain on this?


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We have a cruise booked Nov 9th - we booked an interior room with a couple we are travelling with, on a lower level for the 409 cost.

 

We put the 250 down payment down in June, and tried to make the final payment in August - but the site kept telling me Oops - our manage our cruise page is down! When I finally called - they told me they had cancelled my cruise 7 days after booking!

 

When I asked why - they said I didn't put down enough money. I let them know they took the $250 off my CC, just like the down payment asked for. Then they said THAT was fine, but they didn't notify me because I didn't have an email address tied to it. I said that couldn't be true, because I got my confirmation email saying, Hooray - you're cruise is 5 months away email with all the details!

 

I had to fight and fight for 2 hours on the phone just to get my original cost of 409. No one wanted to help - they said everything on Riviera was sold out, and I had to pay the upcharge since I didn't call sooner. I'm so frustrated - this is AFTER the March 16th dream debacle where I was notified 8 hours in advance THAT cruise had been cancelled. Am I being petty? I'm just so angry with them - and nothing was my fault. Yet now we don't get to be by our friends, and I had was blamed for everything for 2 hours on the phone. Is Carnival known for trying to do the right thing, or will I just waste my time venting on the phone?

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I'm confused. Did you put down enough on the deposit for each person in your cabin or no? It doesn't make sense that the cruise would even be booked if you didn't. And if it wasn't, then there's nothing for them to cancel. I would be more irritated with sitting on the phone for hours and having to pay more than I would not being near my friends.

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We have a cruise booked Nov 9th - we booked an interior room with a couple we are travelling with, on a lower level for the 409 cost.

 

We put the 250 down payment down in June, and tried to make the final payment in August - but the site kept telling me Oops - our manage our cruise page is down! When I finally called - they told me they had cancelled my cruise 7 days after booking!

 

When I asked why - they said I didn't put down enough money. I let them know they took the $250 off my CC, just like the down payment asked for. Then they said THAT was fine, but they didn't notify me because I didn't have an email address tied to it. I said that couldn't be true, because I got my confirmation email saying, Hooray - you're cruise is 5 months away email with all the details!

 

I had to fight and fight for 2 hours on the phone just to get my original cost of 409. No one wanted to help - they said everything on Riviera was sold out, and I had to pay the upcharge since I didn't call sooner. I'm so frustrated - this is AFTER the March 16th dream debacle where I was notified 8 hours in advance THAT cruise had been cancelled. Am I being petty? I'm just so angry with them - and nothing was my fault. Yet now we don't get to be by our friends, and I had was blamed for everything for 2 hours on the phone. Is Carnival known for trying to do the right thing, or will I just waste my time venting on the phone?

 

Hmmmmm...this must be an on-going issue because we had EXACTLY the same thing happen to us for our 10/26 booking on the Dream.

 

I booked at the "reduced deposit" rate ($250 down) for our spa interior cabin back in April.

 

I was traveling extensively for work this summer -- all over the flipping globe -- and I was starting to worry about the upcoming final payment for the trip - I was pretty sure it was due in early August so I started going to the Carnival website to check.

 

At first, when I kept getting the "Oops!" towel animal page, I wasn't alarmed. But when it kept going there EVERY time I tried to log on? I got nervous. I was in Singapore at the time and 800 numbers are $$ from foreign countries so I told my husband to please give Carnival a call just to make sure we knew our final payment date and that everything was in order.

 

He called me back an hour later and told me that he had been on the phone with Carnival the ENTIRE time and that our cruise had been canceled due to "insufficient" deposit. They told him they emailed me -- which they did not - or if they did, it went to a defunct email address -- and when we didn't respond, they simply canceled our booking. They were happy to re-book at a higher rate - my husband argued with them and they finally agreed to re-instate our booking - we had to switch cabins (still a spa interior) but it's not really that big of a deal. Long story short? FIGHT THIS! WE DID! Let me tell you, I would have FREAKED if we lost this cruise!

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This is disappointing to hear but I am afraid to say it isn't surprising.

 

I love, love, love, my Carnival cruises because the crews on the ships are wonderful. I detest having to deal with corporate for anything though.

 

Anytime I have had an issue I have had to fight for anything with them. Eventually it gets worked out but not until I have had to be the kind of person I don't want to be just to get their attention. Usually it's something stupid such as my transportation refund for a cruise they canceled.

 

Even though the issues are eventually resolved, I resent all the time and effort I have had to put forth to make it happen. In addition to feeling my time is valuable, I also feel devalued by the cruise line.

 

I as much as mentioned to JH that all at corporate should be forced to complete orientation on the ships so they would know what customer service is all about. If they tried half as much as the crews did, there would be no end to where the company can go. It has to start at the top.

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Consider using a good travel agent. In my case, I changed my rate code to get a better price that then invalidated the half deposit thing under the old rate code. My TA moved heaven and earth (voicemails to every contact number, texts, emails) to reach me since Carnival would cancel the booking in 7 days for insufficient deposit. You get the same price as Carnival but don't have to bother with their customer service. BUT find a good travel agent and stick with em.

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I agree with Davey Wavey...find a good, local, travel agent. I have used the same Travel Agency for the past 20 years and they have booked every cruise I have sailed on (35+). I never have to wait, they have all my contact information and that of my family members, they know exactly which deck I like to book my stateroom on, know when I like to eat in the main dining room, personally handled all my FCC's and Milestone certificate (I just signed everything and handed them over to her) and acted as the liaison between Carnival and myself when any problems arose. I have never spoken to a cruise line vacation planner and I never intend to.

 

The other reason I like this Travel Agency is their close proximity to my home...I like the personal interaction and I can drop in and pay my cruise off in increments with a PERSONAL CHECK...nothing goes on my credit card except the initial deposit. By the time my cruise rolls around, I'm paid in full without dreading my next credit card statement.

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FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!

 

I hate to see people be taken advantage of!

 

Please keep us posted on your results.

 

Remember, John Heald's fb page as well...lots of people read that, including upper management. Take it there, let them fight.

 

Then I'd send them a bill for my 2+ hours of time.

 

Good luck!

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We had a similar incident happen with RCCL, we booked a specific cabin, paid in full, we never got any confirmation her than our cc showed the payment. It was 8 day before the cruise and the cabin we booked was not the cabin they gave us. We went round and round with RCCL, let me rephrase that, we went round and round with RCCL customer service folks who did not put us off by saying computer is down, putting us on hold and never coming back.

 

They screwed up and knew it and no one wanted to correct the situation. We have not been back on RCCL since that screw up. If they had not put us off we may have thought we screwed it up. But there actions let us know it was their mistatake.

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I would fight it. Similar incident happened to us a few weeks ago.. I did however get an email saying our cruise had been cancelled. DH immediately called and after about an hour to an hour & a half on the phone got everything straightened out. We have the same rooms, but one of them had to be rebooked, and everything was put back to the price we were at. None of it was due to anything we did. Someone there messed up.

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No - my deposit specifically said $250.00 - when I re-created the issue, it said the same exact thing, 250.00 for a deposit.

 

Was this a 7 day cruise?

 

And, was it a 50% reduced-deposit special?

 

Had you made any changes to the booking after deposit?

 

Without more info, it's not clear if it was a customer service snafu or something else.

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Was this a 7 day cruise?

 

And, was it a 50% reduced-deposit special?

 

Had you made any changes to the booking after deposit?

 

Without more info, it's not clear if it was a customer service snafu or something else.

 

I agree. OP keeps saying deposit was $250 but was that total, which means for a 7-day it would have been a reduced deposit special running. Otherwise the deposit would be $500. And I can't see how the deposits on the shorter cruises for 2 people combined would total $250. And again, if they said you didn't leave enough of a deposit, how could it have been booked to begin with. Should be nothing to cancel if you didn't leave a sufficient deposit.

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Love cruising on Carnival, but this is where they totally suck.

 

Fight like a rabid dog. That's what I would do.

 

I couldn't agree more!! I'm really not sure who they hire and what amount of training they have to go thru but the majority of the folks that have "helped" me at the 800 number were definitely not the brightest lights in the harbor!!

 

OP: You need to work up the ladder and quickly. As far as I am concerned, based on the fact that you are not the first people that this has happened to recently, you have been victim of a bait and switch! They happily take your reduced 1/2 off deposit then turn around and cancel your reservation for insufficient deposit payment that they can blame on a computer glitch. Then they happily offer to rebook you at a much higher rate and deposit amount. BS.

 

Good luck and keep us posted!

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