Vemnox

I

Mine are People who STOP on the threshold of the automatic doors going into the buffet area. I think they are waiting to be announced, but just get the heck out of the way and let others pass.

I LOLed at this one, but for a different reason. I will be eating in the Lido buffet and they will just stand there with that "whoosh" going on and the wind sucking out like a vortex and I'm having to dive onto my food and stuff to cover it from blowing away.

What happened to the OP is a bummer. However, consider it a lesson learned. So lets deal with a few of the posts. When it comes to cancellation fees, many cruise and travel agencies do impose some kind of fee. When dealing with any agency (and we routinely use 5) one should always ask (before doing business) about their cancellation and repricing (in the case of price drops) policy!

 

As to the person who posted they never use a travel/cruise agency...we can only offer the following first hand advice. We have booked over 100 cruises over many years, and have only once ever booked directly with a cruise line (a last minute very special deal with Celebrity). On all of our bookings we save money by using agencies....and on some of our longer more expensive cruises our savings have been in the thousands of dollars (for a single cruise). I think our record savings (versus booking direct with a cruise line) was about $3600 on a $21000 booking. As a general rule, one should be able to save 7-10% of the cruise fare by shopping around for the right agency. In our case, we cruise on many different lines (14 to date) and have found that certain agencies seem to have the best deals with specific cruise lines. For example, when we book RCI owned lines (RCI, Celebrity and Azamara) we tend to use one particular agency who always seems to have great deals. But when we book with HAL or Princess...we find much better deals elsewhere. The "shopping around" usually takes me about 30 minutes (mostly online with sometimes a quick phone call). i tease DW that its the best money we ever made....in that we have saved thousands of dollars for thirty minutes work.

 

So my advice is very simply. Do not be so stubbborn that you will pay hundreds or thousands more...just to prove a point :). Take a few minutes and shop around, among reputable agencies, and compare their overall offerings with what you can get directly from a cruise line.

Hank

Loved your post, Hank! Definitely lesson learned. I mean, worst case here is I'm forced to go on this cruise. Life could be worse. But I definitely will be "shopping around" in the future. Guess I got too cozy being with the same company for 2 decades.

Have a few...

- People who run, yell, or talk loud as heck in the hallways

- Nickel-and-diming

- Bingo bingo bingo bingo bingo advertising the entire cruise

- Cruise Directors who come on the PA like every 5 minutes (the worst was Carnival Miracle's "Big Tex" who was giving "Tex Messages" CONSTANTLY)

- Bad pizza or, worse, no one tending to the 24 hour pizza bar

- Unkempt, nasty ice cream dispensaries

- Bad mattresses (last two I went on were like rocks)

- People who leave massive nasty plates of food in the hallways outside their rooms and it sits there for hours and hours

- That awful "get the heck off the boat" attitude that cruises get on the second-to-last and especially the last day

Thanks for all the replies! I'll try to address the major points:

From the way you described things it sounds like it's your travel agent who has the $50pp cancellation fee. Your argument is with her, not Carnival.

Totally agree. I do not hold Carnival responsible in the least.

She explains to me that there is a $50 per person fee as well as the rest of the deposit is put away to a future cruise.

 

This statement is exactly what Early Saver is.

Sounds like your TA has some "splainin" to do.

It's actually NOT early saver. It's a group booking through a VFIP club rate. Carnival and TA both said, and I quote, "It's not early saver, but it's like early saver." Weird, right?

Early Saver and Early Saver Last Call: The deposit is non-refundable at any time after the booking is made. All cancellations that occur prior to the final payment due date will receive a non-refundable and non-transferable future cruise credit in US dollars in the amount of the deposit less a $50 USD per person service fee. The future cruise credit must be used on a cruise within 24 months from the date of cancellation and can only be applied to your cruise fare. Any unused portion will be forfeited.

 

Hope that helps you to understand what your travel agent may have done.

I'm not booked on either of those rate types.

Your travel agent booked you the lowest fare showing. She may not have understood the restrictions of Early Saver. I find it hard to believe that you have been sailing Carnival since 1997, twice in 2015, and didn't know the fare structure of Carnival. You haven't lost anything but $50pp, the rest is in trust for your next cruise. but you can't use it for the deposit. EM

It's not Early Saver. It's some sort of hybrid VFIP and Group Rate booking.

I'm not sure how you feel I am to know the fare structure of Carnival, though? I call the agent, I tell them I want to go and when, she tells me the price. Each time I always insist to not book me on a nonrefundable rate. Never had to cancel before, though, so it hasn't been an issue before now.

And $50 per person when I'm booked for 5 people is $250. This isn't pocket change. The deposit was $700.

If the travel agent didn't understand the restrictions of Early Saver, she is not doing a very good job, especially when OP stated they did not want that rate. I feel it is the agent's problem and she should make good. I would insist on proof that she did, in fact, communicate these terms to OP - if not, deposit should be refunded in full.

That's what I'm working on. She doesn't have proof, she's already admitted that to me.

Did you use a credit card to pay the deposit? Try to dispute the charges with them.

If it comes to that, I can try, but the charge went to Carnival and Carnival is only upholding the rules that the TA failed to pass onto me, so I really think I have no case against Carnival.

Move on and quit worrying about it.

$680 is not something I "move on" from, sorry.

Carnival does not allow any TA to charge less than their fees so a TA can give you some of their commission or OBC to lower their price but you must pay Carnival's price for the cruise. The $50 is going to your TA's agency. Take this up with the manager of the TA's agency. Explain you were never told of this fee if you cancel and you will not use them again!

We haven't used a TA in years. We book directly with Carnival, usually on line.

This is what's going on. It's something to do with the OBC. I've already left a message for the TA owner who I've booked with for 20 years, so I'm waiting to hear back. I imagine he won't be happy.

It sounds like your TA booked you under Early Saver, in which case there is a $50pp cancellation fee and the rest of the deposit is held by Carnival for a future cruise. As mentioned above it cannot be used toward the deposit, only the balance.

 

This is a restrictive fare that Carnival offers as an incentive to get passengers to book early and allows you to price match up until two days before your sailing. Your TA should have mentioned the restrictions when you were in the process of booking, but these fees are charged by CCL, not the TA. There is not much you can do at this point, but perhaps these are questions you may want to ask when booking in the future.

Not Early Saver. Also, no restrictions were ever disclosed to me either verbally or in writing. I wouldn't have booked it otherwise. I specifically said "no early saver" which, in the TA's defense, she did not book me on. But she did book me on a different type of rate with the same or very similar restrictions and failed to inform me.

About a month ago I booked a November 2016 Carnival cruise through my travel agent. Unfortunately, we need to cancel it due to something that came up that week, so I called the agent to cancel. She explains to me that there is a $50 per person fee as well as the rest of the deposit is put away to a future cruise. I don't normally pull the ignorance card, but this was never disclosed to me. Not verbally nor in the confirmation e-mail I received. In fact, the one reference in the e-mail to Carnival cancellations simply links me to their generic policy saying as long as you cancel more than 76-ish days out it's refunded in full unless you are on Early Saver in which case it's non-refundable.

I called Carnival and they sent me a copy of a Guest Confirmation that - quote - "she was supposed to send you" which does indeed state:

"Cancellation prior to final payment due date will receive a future cruise credit in the amount of the deposit less a $50 pp service fee."

I looked and searched through the entire invoice correspondence sent to me by the travel agent when I originally booked and this was never disclosed to me. Apparently she booked me on some special group rate which comes with this stipulation. (It is not an Early Saver Rate which I know is completely non-refundable.)

Any suggestions on how to handle this? Am I just dumb for not asking before I booked if I was on some special rate? What's funny is I specifically said "Do not book me on Early Saver since it's non-refundable." Carnival, obviously, won't do anything and I also don't think they're obliged to since they sent the confirmation to her. What if the travel agent doesn't budge? Am I just "out to sea?"

TIA!!

Edit: Sidebar note, that Carnival Guest Confirmation says: "Cancellations made after 9/13/16 will be assessed appropriate cancellation penalties." I guess this is overriden by the Guest Notes at the bottom?

Weird semi offtopic question but does the Lido Deck have food immediately upon boarding? Or when do they first open up the food like the deli and the pizza bars?

Thank you for the review - we sail on the 11th.

Traveling on the Carnival Elation soon and curious:

Do the TVs have a USB port so that I can bring jump drives with movies?

AND/OR

Do the TVs have a HDMI, DVI, or VGA input for which to hook up a laptop to play movies on?

Thanks!

The AI will not cover jet ski, parasailing, paddle boards, water toys, etc. - just food/drinks. You'll pay extra for the jet ski/parasail, but at least they offer them

That's what I thought. So now I have to figure out which place is the cheapest combined jet ski and parasail....

The Money Bar can arrange this too. Great food and drinks, cheap prices and an activities hut that works with the local vendors. They (the para-sailing and jet ski vendors) pick you up right at the pier at the money bar. The snorkeling right in front of the location is really good too, and they offer rental equipment if you don't bring your own. Had a great stop there last Spring, and really enjoyed the day. Take a look at their website and you can find out the rates.

It appears just to get in the place is $40 plus then I'd have to pay individually for the vendors. :(

Would you mind giving me an example link? I see All Inclusive packages on their sites but I don't see one that says it's all inclusive including use of jet skis, parasailing, etc. Just the beach and beach-related amenities.

I can find half a dozen ATV + Jet Ski packages but none that combine a Jet Ski with Parasailing. Does anyone know if one exists?

If the answer is "no," can anyone recommend a place where I can do both for the best value?

Thanks for the update! Solidified it for me!

This was my first cruise. Went out of New Orleans sometime in 1997, I believe. I was only 14 years old or so. Only thing I remember about the ship is this karaoke bar with little clouds on the tables I thought was cool. I also remember a New Orleans streetcar-style bar. Also a weird vague memory of hating the maitre'd (spelling?) of all people.

When I get to my room for the first time!

Yep, plus better facilities (IMHO) and a HUGE pool - but you'll pay $3 each for admission.

Paradise Beach it is; thanks for your expertise!

Thanks so much for the replies! It looks like Mr. Sanchos or Paradise Beach for us then.

Does Paradise Beach also offer lounge chairs like Mr Sanchos does?

There are no prescriptions needed in Mexico.

I'm interested in simply going to a beach in Cozumel, exclusive of a pricey excursion. Years ago we simply took a cab to a nearby hotel and used the beach there then hopped a cab back. Unfortunately this was so long ago I can't remember to where.

I'm seeking advice on somewhere I may be able to simply walk off the boat and take a cab to a beach. I don't want to just tell the driver "take me to a beach" but rather to a specific location where there is a public beach we can enjoy.

As a "for example" can I get a cab to Mr. Sanchos and then just pay the entrance fee to get in the area?

Thanks in advance for input!