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Carnival Waitlist Ripoff


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My husband and I received a week off with about a months notice. I found the Carnival Pride had a balcony open for $829pp. When I called to book it, they told me that we could not have our 2 year old with us. (The agent actually suggested we just leave her home, but that's a whole new subject). They suggested we put down a refundable deposit of $250pp and be put on the waitlist. If someone canceled, which was likely, we could book a room for 3. The agent quoted me that the final price would be around $2000 for an interior and $2200 for an oceanview, before our frequent cruise discounts. Great.

 

The week before the cruise, I called every day, sometimes twice. I got every answer you can imagine from; we are #5 on the waitlist, we are #3 on the waitlist so the line was moving, the waitlist has no order, you're on but you just haven't been assigned a cabin yet. Even talking to supervisors didn't help. I got a different answer everytime I called. 4 days before the sailing, an oceanview cabin had opened up when I called. Thank god! They then proceeded to tell me that it was $3200 total! They refused to honor my quote, any discounts, anything I had been told. They even threatened to keep my deposit if I didn't take the reservation. I found myself 2 days before my vacation without any place to go and everything is either sold out or out of our price range now.

 

I searched and searched and hadn't found much for waitlist success or failures so, I think it's important to share what they did to us so people don't hold out hope. The likelihood that a few groups with cancel a few days before is high, but don't expect them to not take total advantage of you! I was told by a supervisor that it's acceptable because it's "around the same price". Totally ridiculous as well as expecting me to pay $1000 for an infant to cruise. I'm holding out for an escalated supervisor to call back but, I'm sure that's fruitless. They told me I'll get a phone call within 72 hours. Well, let's see if that even happens before the boat sails. I will never book Carnival ever again!

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I just read your story and am very sorry that Carnival jerked you around ike that. You can be sure that your experience is one more reason I will definitely avoid that cruiseline.

 

I hope you enjoyed your week off with your baby even if you simply did a staycation.

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I just read your story and am very sorry that Carnival jerked you around ike that. You can be sure that your experience is one more reason I will definitely avoid that cruiseline.

 

I hope you enjoyed your week off with your baby even if you simply did a staycation.

 

 

 

Sounds like. Lack of experience of the sales rep and even 1st level supervisors that have no authority. Most likely what happened was the rep quoted a price for the lower tier priced category. And what freed up was a higher price category. Rooms even in the same deck are priced different if there forward, aft, mid ship etc. I think the lack of training is being seen among all the cruise lines as they are encouraging folks to contact a TA. Who in many cases have much more knowledge of the lines product.

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
My husband and I received a week off with about a months notice. I found the Carnival Pride had a balcony open for $829pp. When I called to book it, they told me that we could not have our 2 year old with us. (The agent actually suggested we just leave her home, but that's a whole new subject). They suggested we put down a refundable deposit of $250pp and be put on the waitlist. If someone canceled, which was likely, we could book a room for 3. The agent quoted me that the final price would be around $2000 for an interior and $2200 for an oceanview, before our frequent cruise discounts. Great.

 

The week before the cruise, I called every day, sometimes twice. I got every answer you can imagine from; we are #5 on the waitlist, we are #3 on the waitlist so the line was moving, the waitlist has no order, you're on but you just haven't been assigned a cabin yet. Even talking to supervisors didn't help. I got a different answer everytime I called. 4 days before the sailing, an oceanview cabin had opened up when I called. Thank god! They then proceeded to tell me that it was $3200 total! They refused to honor my quote, any discounts, anything I had been told. They even threatened to keep my deposit if I didn't take the reservation. I found myself 2 days before my vacation without any place to go and everything is either sold out or out of our price range now.

 

I searched and searched and hadn't found much for waitlist success or failures so, I think it's important to share what they did to us so people don't hold out hope. The likelihood that a few groups with cancel a few days before is high, but don't expect them to not take total advantage of you! I was told by a supervisor that it's acceptable because it's "around the same price". Totally ridiculous as well as expecting me to pay $1000 for an infant to cruise. I'm holding out for an escalated supervisor to call back but, I'm sure that's fruitless. They told me I'll get a phone call within 72 hours. Well, let's see if that even happens before the boat sails. I will never book Carnival ever again!

Um, they didn't give you a "quote"; they gave you an estimate. In your own words, they said it would be "around" X number of dollars. The closer to departure, the higher the price, (unless they have a WHOLE lot of unbooked rooms, in which case they play the upgrade game, free up the cheaper low-in-the-ship interiors, and give them for free to gamblers who they KNOW will, in total, benefit the cruiseline.) The waitlist is just that: you wait. Some people get a cabin, some people don't. I personally can't even imagine holding off on plans until 4 days before a cruise departure to make some sort of plan B. It stinks that you didn't get what you wanted for the fare you wanted, but honestly, you were being alittle more hopeful than realistic. JMO

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