Eli_6

As an aside, I am not trying to be some pompous know-it-all jerk or pound my chest with my legal knowledge. But I do think that it is good for people to know that not everything written in a contract is always enforceable. And there are consumer protection laws (that vary from state to state) that protect the consumer from deceptive practices.

I am not sure which card you are talking about with a 600 fee (amex platinum has 799 fee or venture x is 395???) or only 2500 medical, but the one I am talking about isn't capped at $2500. The card I have has 200k in coverage. That will go pretty far in Mexico. You can add AUs on cards for children, household members, and employees so they get their own card and are covered under the same benefits...so it is possible that 20-somethings could have one of those cards. Long story short: If you feel more comfortable with travel insurance, go ahead. You do you. I feel okay given the health of myself and family in just using our card insurance. I have traveled around the world and only one time had a health incident (noro)...and it wasn't enough to even make a claim on the insurance we did have. Admittedly, being married to a physician, I probably feel more comfortable than most because we can generally treat anything minor without going to the onboard doctor or getting treatment on land. If we had major health issues, I might feel differently.

No, they can't just sail in circles for no reason if they choose because it is written in the contract. There are certain laws that you cannot contract around. Not everything written in a contract is enforceable. SNS, but your google law degree does not equal my honors JD from a top law school or my 15 years of legal practice. I am now reminded why I try to make a habit of never getting into any sort of legal discussion with anyone on the internet...because the dunning krueger effect is STRONG on the world wide web.

Yeah, pp is wrong. There are absolutely some credit cards that cover emergency medical when traveling. There are also some that cover car insurance so you don't have to buy it from the rental place simply if you use your card. There are others that cover plane cancellation and delay, trip interruption, lost luggage, hotel stays, etc., etc. My guess is the PP simply doesn't have those particular cards.

I also was the victim of a scam where I actually ordered a high end dishwasher and they charged my credit card for it and then showed it ostensibly delivered. Only it was delivered to some other address and not my own. (In reality, I suspect just a small cheap package was delivered.) My CC gave me back the money, but I am sure they never saw it from the scammers. I wasn't alerted to the fact that it was a scam until literally the day of delivery when fedex said it arrived and it didn't and I noticed that the address of where they were shipping the item to had suddenly changed from my address to some other address. These scammers go to great lengths to look legitimate Even the website where I ordered the dishwasher from looked completely legitimate and had a business address you could look up in NY, etc. It had multiple reviews on the website and had reviews on google. They even answered emails I sent in asking about the dishwasher. I had even tried (before the scam) to contact the manufacturer to make sure their claim that they were a licensed dealer was correct, but the manufacturer never got back with me.

@jsglowThat's why I said "in this instance they have an Act of God defense." My original point was not to argue anyone had a claim against Ccl in this instance. It was to address the armchair lawyers suggesting the cruise contract gives the line free reign to skip ports as they please and the consumer has no recourse. Albeit, I concede I may have not communicated this point well. My main point was I feel for these people. Especially the ones who paid the full rates and weren't on a casino rate. If that had been my family and I and we had dropped 12k to 15k for 2 rooms, pulled the kids from school for two weeks (which means no more vaca until next summer because they can only miss so many days) and lost tens of thousands in revenue with my husband being away from his business and not gotten to see Greenland, we would have been devastated! And whatever some piddly insurance paid out for a missed port would not come CLOSE to touching the real loss in either money or frustration. Ccl should have done what ncl did in the same situation when a Greenland cruise could not dock at Greenland: Offered a 25 or 30 percent FCC. That would make the consumer happier and pretty much guarantee they would be back and spend more $$$. It may not have fully compensated everyone, but it at least makes it seem like ccl cares...

If they sold a cruise to Greenland and just decided not to go to Greenland, Carnival absolutely could have a DTPA claim brought against them. In this instance, they would have an "Act of God" defense since a hurricane prevented them from going; but as a general rule, businesses cannot advertise one thing and deliver a significantly different or inferior product without reason or excuse.

I much prefer the tervis tumbler to the fish/shark ones or the fish bowl. Fish bowl is glass and awkward and I always felt a bit silly walking around drinking out of a fish head.

You have to use one of the ones you buy on board because that is part of what they advertise is the benefit of buying the tervis tumbler or the blow fish or the shark or whatever. You get XX ounces for the price of XX ounces. (I don't recall exactly how many but like 16 ounces for price of 12 ounces or whatever.)

Yes. You just aren't supposed to hang out, but you can definitely leave your stuff.

I am not continuing to argue with yall. I wasn't on the ship and I have no dog in this fight. I don't agree with you on the reasonableness of a piddly $200 pittance as recompense for not going to Greenland on a cruise that Carnival undoubtedly advertised as a Greenland cruise and charged "Greenland" prices for. Despite what the cruise contract says, there are still consumer laws which prevent a cruise company from advertising one thing and delivering another. Carnival may have an out with the reason for not going being an act of God/the weather. But as a general rule, Carnival absolutely does have a duty to deliver what they advertise and sell...as does any business. Not to mention the fact it is just bad business. I am willing to bet a lot of the people on that Greenland cruise will never cruise with Carnival again. If they had given them even a small FCC, that story might be different. It is easier to keep a customer than gain a new one.

As an aside, I agree with you on this last statement. That does seem to have been the situation before Covid. But things seem to be different now. I am sure it is because they are strapped for cash, but I think in this situation they are being penny wise and pound foolish.

You are correct. I don't expect them to sail through a hurricane. I do think they should have given the customers some sort of FCC that would at least have given them a head start towards taking another cruise. The cruise was undoubtedly billed and advertised as a cruise to Greenland. The prices on those Greenland sailings were literally running $7k-8k for a balcony when I priced them. $200 per person of OBC is downright insulting. A 25 or 30 percent FCC (like what NCL did in the same situation) is more in line with what should have been done in this situation. In fact, it was what WAS done when the initial Mardi Gras TA sailing was canceled...and it was even canceled a year-and-a-half out! (Guests were given a full refund and 25 percent FCC to use on a future sailing.) When we had a Vista sailing canceled because of propulsion issues, we got a 100 FCC (plus full refund of cruise.) I don't expect them to do that, but something like what they did with the Mardi Gras delay would have been appropriate. Presumptively the difference between then and now is Carnival was in a better financial situation back then because that was pre-Covid. However, I don't think they are going to get back to being solvent by screwing over their best customers...and I guarantee the people on a Greenland cruise are generally speaking the people with the money and time to cruise frequently and not the blue cards who are cruising because they got a $99 deal for an inside cabin. It seems like Carnival is more worried about just getting new cruisers in the door with super low rates who will probably never cruise again than keeping their current loyal customers and treating them well. This Greenland cruise is just another example in a long line of examples.

So if you paid $8k+ (which is what the rooms were running for a balcony) for a Greenland cruise on an old boat about to go into dry dock in order to go to Greenland (on a cruise that was billed as a Greenland cruise and had a price to match) and then did not go to Greenland, you would feel that $200 on board credit was adequate compensation? I find that VERY hard to believe.

I check my credit cards regularly, too, and have my alerts set to send me texts or emails for certain suspicious activity like online purchases and foreign purchases. I was able to catch fraudulent charges on my card within an hour or two last time some went on my card. However, my point to the post was just that the "Amazon" scam is actually a real scam. It sounds farfetched, I know, but it actually is happening.

My take away from this thread is that I'm not booking a cruise to Greenland...at least not with Carnival. And missing a single port is not the same as missing the entire country. It would be like taking a cruise to Alaska and not going to Alaska. Or taking a cruise to Hawaii and just floating around in the Pacific Ocean and then turning back to California.

Me, too. Just got the $129 credit back a couple of days ago. I think the trick is to do it one transaction and just put it towards the cruise.

And fwiw, I dealt with insurance companies for over a decade (often times resorting to suing them) and I also think insurance is primarily a scam. They write the policies in such a way that it is a flip of a coin whether they will pay. They have a team of attorneys figuring out ways to NOT pay you. (I also used to work with a fellow attorney who had been an insurance attorney and his stories were bad.) When our house flooded with 7+ feet of Water in Harvey, I had to fight them for 9 months to get paid. Home insurance wouldn't pay (as they shouldn't) because it was flood damage. And flood insurance said my damage (from 7 feet of water mind you!!!) was undamaged. They even sent out an unlicensed "expert" structural engineer and took pics of the undamaged portions of my house and claimed that there was no damage. If I had not been a lawyer who literally practiced in this arena, I would have been screwed. Similarly, my husband recently was owed over 50k by Aetna due to their screw up. He didn't get paid for a 5 months period for over a year because they lost a contract. It took me blasting out a demand letter to every board member and the CEO for him to finally get paid a year later. Probably 200+ hours were spend by him and his staff trying to collect this money. And I have seen it worse in a business situation where companies owed millions in liability and had to be sued to be paid. Took it all the way up to the 5th circuit and won. So, 7 years after the claim, my client was finally paid. SEVEN years and 100k in attorney fees. But the company wins at this game because most people won't fight it for seven years and don't have 100k to spend in lawyer fees. I have hundreds of other stories like this. Every insurance company out there makes money by NOT paying you. Some are worse than others. Yes, I still have home owners insurance, professional liability insurance, car insurance, and health insurance. But for anything that won't be "catastrophic" to my financial situation, I don't buy insurance for. And a lot of credit cards provide travel insurance if you pay with them anyway...including even car insurance.

This actually is a legitimate Amazon scam. They send packages you didn't order to your address, and charge your card. Oh, and they send you some item of little value and overcharge you for it. When you try to dispute it with the cc company, the seller shows them a pic of what was delivered to you by amazon so you look like the liar and they get to keep the money. And the seller is someone who doesn't take returns or you can't find a return address or they claim you are not sending back the item they sent you. My Mom had a friend who had this happen to her.

Then how much more upset do the people on this cruise have a right to be because they didn't get Greenland or Norway or a 30 percent FCC???

Free drink? Do you get a free drink for being the first on board?

I think if people had received a 30 percent FCC and alternative ports, they would have been a heck of a lot happier than a pittance of $200 per person OBC.

Welp, I can say after reading this thread that if I do ever book a Greenland cruise, it won't be on Carnival.

Yeah, the only time I have been on a cruise following dry dock, it boarded late.

Wow! That must be a record.