Carnival cancels cruise for 110 passengers

This is the story that was just run on our local television news (WGAL) which is the major NBC affiliate in Central PA. A group of 110 from an area church had booked the Carnival Miracle for its Oct 17, 2004 cruise out of Baltimore. This group booked nearly one year ago. 47 days before their cruise, Carnival notified the group that they were all cancelled due to overbooking! Carnival told WGAL they routinely overbook cruises, but the Baltimore itinerary had an unusally low number of cancellations. The group was offered future discounts (no free cruises) or their money back (no interest on their money). The group is outraged (they were interviewed on the 6pm news and say they will never book another Carnival Corp product. As a long time frequent cruiser (more than 45 cruises), and a CCL stockholder, I have never heard of any line doing this type of cancellation at the last minute.

Hank

Baltimore has a few cruises that they bumped people off. THey did overbook a lot of their cruises in the hopes that people canceled with final payment but that wasnt the case. Seems carnival is bumping people off that live in the Baltimore area so they are not out the money for transportation. But people that are bumped are offered another cruise on the Legend out of NewYork which in 1 day more-- for the same price. Were these people not offered the same deal?

I have heard of cruise lines overbooking just like the airlines but I feel that this is wrong. There should be more compensation for those affected. Shame on Carnival for doing this. I cannot believe that they waited this close to those peoples vacation to tell them. I personally believe that there should be laws in place to stop this from happening. Maybe if the cruise lines were made to pay a certain amount for overbooking or received fines they might think twice about doing something like this.

Overbooking Leaves Some Cruisers Without A Berth

from

http://www.thewgalchannel.com/money/3759198/detail.html

This is the cruise I'll be on.

How do they determine who to bump off? I booked nearly 7 months in advance and I booked a penthouse suite. They obviously dont bump the most recent bookings so how do they determine it? My family would be crushed if this happened as we have never cruised and are looking so forward to it.

This isn't the first time this year that people have been bumped from the Miracle out of Baltimore. Apparently, it's for the reasons stated every time: overbooking and fewer than expected cancellations. I sympathize with those who were bumped. I know I'd be very upset if I were in their position.

I do not have an ace to grind with Carnival. We have only been on 2 Carnival cruises, but have also cruises on HA and Princess (many times). However, there is absolutely no justification for Carnival's actions. Many folks book these cruises as their "trip of a life time," pay their money, and have every reason to expect the company to deliver as advertised. Ok,,, ships have mechanical problems, weather causes problems, wars cause problems, etc. But to accept a deposit, final payment, confirm seatings, etc....and than cancel inside of 60 days! I am sorry...but there is absolutely no excuse! Yes, I do personally profit from the fact that Carnival Corp is doing well..and yes, my stock is up over $47 per share. And yes, Carnival can have an awful attitude towards customers when business is good. But, the economy and business will not always be good. This story was aired on a major network in an area that has many Carnival fans. I can't help how many will book with RCI on their next cruise (if they even book a cruise). These are working folks who plan their "lifetime" vacations over a year in advance, arrange for time off.. save their dollars....etc. Over the years I have helped many folks plan their cruises..but am at a loss to explain this attitude by CCL. Cruises are not like airline reservations where you usually have other options.. this rises to the level of a major travel outrage. Personally, I hope that the PA Attorney General's Office investigates what happend to these folks. It may rise to the level of outright fraud....and these nice folks deserve better than this!

Hank

P.S. If anyone from CCL is reading this thread they should post their point of view.

Hank wrote:

P.S. If anyone from CCL is reading this thread they should post their point of view.

You can be assured that no one from Carnival will make any kind of statement concerning this. There is nothing to say but we screwed up and Carnival nevers admits that. Again, this is totally ridiculous that Carnival is allowed to get away with this. I can only imagine how those folks are feeling right now after a year of planning. Bob Dickinson should be made to call each and every passenger affected and apologize.

If I had cancelled this close to the sailing date, I would have lost "x" dollars... it seems only fair (and yes, this should be LAW) that if THEY cancel YOU, then they should have to pay you that SAME amount, in addition to a full refund...

..who knows, perhaps there was some analysis here.... as one could assume that a "church" group might not be as profitable (drinks and gambling) as some other random group of people...hmmmm :rolleyes:

Tom

I would be so mad if we booked off our time from work, got grandma to also book time off her work to watch the grand kids and purchased our plane tickets only to have Carnival call us and say "We overbooked and you can't come now because we've decided to gamble with our passenger list but here... why don't you try our cruiseline again for a small discount" I'd be telling someone to shove it where the ship doesn't sail.

I believe the reason they bumped the group is that it is easier just to notify one person (their TA) to dump 110 people.

I wonder what happens to the ones who got the free cruise because of the large group?

This is a crock of BS!! That's such a large group to have CCL just pull the rug out from under them and take their cruise away. I remember being excited for the year before I cruised...all the planning, the packing, the researching...and then to have your hopes just dashed in a minute. It makes me very mad, and it doesn't give me warm, fuzzy feelings about Carnival either. If they are willing to do this to a church group, who's to say they won't do it to anyone else? Who's to say they won't do it to the group I am travelling with next year? Who's to say it won't happen to you?

If CCL continues with this sort of shady business practice (overbooking cruises, no matter what poor excuse they have to offer for it) they will lose a lot of loyal customers. That is the bottom line. CCL just came off like it was picking on a church group. People will remember this for a long time...

Insane Ketchup Dance

from

http://www.flowgo.com/funpages/view.cfm?page_id=43697

How to do "The Ketchup Dance"

from

http://www.acetj.com/scrapbook/ketchup.htm

'The Ketchup Song,' The Next Craze

from

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/10/18/earlyshow/leisure/music/main526093.shtml

I feel they were booted cause they got cheaper group rates and ccl canceled those that paid less money! I think I will wait to book Carnival at this time :(

If cruiselines insist on overbooking they should put people on wait lists so that if someone cancels they can have that cabin. It just isn't fair to their customers to do this the way they are.

Wonder why Carnival isn't coming back to Baltimore in 2005?:mad:

I was planning my next cruise and was considering Carnival. However, I am adamant now that I will not book with Carnival. I intend to book with RCI who will not intice me with the "guarantee cabin", but instead will let me pick an acutal cabin at the advertised low price.

This is insane! These people were booked for over a year! They should have bumped the people who just booked recently.

Wow, my heart really goes out to those people. A few things I don't get -

Carnival has done this a few times - how many times does this have to happen before they realize that there are fewer cancellations than expected in the Baltimore area?? I could see this happening once or twice, but I have read about this somewhat frequently.

How the heck can you overbook by 110 people??? That is insane - even the airlines don't overbook by that many people!!!!!!!!

My first thought is that another group wanted the space - a group more likely to drink & gamble.

I feel very bad for these people!!

Carnival is not returning to Baltimore in 2005 due to the lousy terminal facilities and the indifferent attitude of the MPA. Overbookings occur in every area of the travel industry. Airlines, hotels, car rental agencies and, yes, cruise lines all routinely overbook based on computer models and past experience. Unfortunately for Carnival, the cancellation rate in the Baltimore market has been much less than expected. All the cruise lines have had overbooking problems at some time. To condemn Carnival for using normal/standard travel industry practices is a bit unfair. However, I do believe a better compensation package should have been offered. Bumping this group so close to their cruise date has a tremendous psychologial impact as well as a monetary impact.

Hitler, or anyone....

Has anyone heard directly from any of these affected people to hear EXACTLY what they have been offered? Or are we relying on the media for the story?

Or are we relying on the media for the story?

What are you doughting the media?

I have been trying to do a search on

Carnival

Miracle

church

Waynesboro

Nothing yet

What are you doubting the media?

Fair and balanced are terms expected as the weather on my days on a ship, the ship itself, and my news source.