Booking through Carnival or cruise agency

We’re not allowed to discuss that on here, unfortunately [emoji853]. Otherwise, I would have loved to help.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Forums mobile app

Be prepared to get a nasty gram for that.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Forums mobile app

Don't want to discuss on here. I would do it privately.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Forums mobile app

I understand. What I was saying was I can’t tell you on here but if I could I would. You’re not supposed to even tell people to email you with that info and that was what my other post was about. It’s against the rules for the other poster to give their email address straight up in a reply saying they will discuss a PVP or TA. So for that they will get a warning. It’s a shame they don’t have a PM function on here like Tapatalk does.

I understand. What I was saying was I can’t tell you on here but if I could I would. You’re not supposed to even tell people to email you with that info and that was what my other post was about. It’s against the rules for the other poster to give their email address straight up in a reply saying they will discuss a PVP or TA. So for that they will get a warning. It’s a shame they don’t have a PM function on here like Tapatalk does.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Forums mobile app

thanks for that info. I really wasn't aware you couldn't ask privately about them.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Forums mobile app

Well you can, but you can’t ask on here about it. Just get a hold of someone and do it.

Alright, here is the latest info I have on my problem/question that I started out with. If you remember, I had called Carnival toll free number, and always got an agent that said they would pass my info on, but I had not heard anything for almost two days.

I was getting ready to DELETE an email, as it had ONLY the person's name, which I did not recognize. Don't ask me why, but for some unknown reason, I decided to open it, and see who this person was. Are you ready for this????? It was a PVP from Carnival contacting me. Well to say the least, I let them know in a nice way, that I had been "waiting" all this time to receive a call, and if I had not opened his email, I would have not known he was with Carnival. I just let him know that I was not happy the way this was starting out. I don't know if he has responded back as yet, but time will tell. Yes, I could have told him at that time what I wanted, but I wanted to let him know first, how I felt the way he was contacting me was not really a good way, considering I had given them my phone number to receive the call.

Alright, here is the latest info I have on my problem/question that I started out with. If you remember, I had called Carnival toll free number, and always got an agent that said they would pass my info on, but I had not heard anything for almost two days.

 

 

 

I was getting ready to DELETE an email, as it had ONLY the person's name, which I did not recognize. Don't ask me why, but for some unknown reason, I decided to open it, and see who this person was. Are you ready for this????? It was a PVP from Carnival contacting me. Well to say the least, I let them know in a nice way, that I had been "waiting" all this time to receive a call, and if I had not opened his email, I would have not known he was with Carnival. I just let him know that I was not happy the way this was starting out. I don't know if he has responded back as yet, but time will tell. Yes, I could have told him at that time what I wanted, but I wanted to let him know first, how I felt the way he was contacting me was not really a good way, considering I had given them my phone number to receive the call.

In all fairness, this is the way a lot of businesses communicate now, after all, this is 2018. Not all businesses but a lot. I know you wanted a phone call and sorry you didn't get that.

I know for me personally, we haven't had a landline phone in over 15 years and I don't answer my cell for anyone except my wife. Everyone else gets sent to voicemail. If someone needs me bad enough, they know to text me or email me.

A PVP is your direct contact at Carnival. You can email/call them directly whenever you need to.

 

 

 

I am perplexed that people actually pay money to have someone make a booking for them? I'd never even heard of that. I always thought the people who used TAs got a free service out of them.

 

 

 

Not only would I never use a TA there's no way in hades I'd PAY someone to make a booking for me, that's FREE to make.

You don’t pay your travel agent. Carnival or what ever company you are booking pays the travel agent

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

You don’t pay your travel agent. Carnival or what ever company you are booking pays the travel agent

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I was responding to the person who said they paid for a travel agent.

If you use a local travel agent the taxes you pay stay local. If you call carnival the taxes go to Miami.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

If you use a local travel agent the taxes you pay stay local. If you call carnival the taxes go to Miami.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Say what?

... If you have booked through Carnival, have you run into any problems that you could not get resolved "before" the cruise?

I daresay in case of problems you might get a better result from Carnival than from a middleman TA. It's not a guarantee, but I imagine the odds are better booking direct with Carnival.

I also use an online TA. On our last cruise in April, I ended up with $225 OBC, $50 from Carnival and $175 from the TA. I have already booked a Thanksgiving 2019 cruise and I have $50 from Carnival and the TA is throwing in $200 OBC for a total of $250. The TA I use have never been hard to get in touch with and they have always gotten the price drops that I ask for in just a few minutes of me calling.

Sounds like the TA I recently booked with, same deal. I also found out years ago that several of the agents with this TA are very informed (or have very good info immediately available) about the staterooms/categories/locations on the ship I'm wanting to book. I never get that from Carnival CS.

But when I know for sure what I'm doing, and after extensive price-shopping, I end up booking with Carnival about half the time. I've used two different online TAs (called) and only one of them has actually given me something better than Carnival was offering.

We book ourselves. I don't really know how to go about getting a TA, as weird as that sounds. We do have some available through AAA, but when I checked prices through them, and Costco Travel, it was basically a worse deal. We got more OBC, but the price of the room was several hundred dollars more expensive, which negated the benefits of the OBC. Carnival had a really good sale where we got OBC, plus the price guarantee, so we were fine with booking directly through them.

We book ourselves. I don't really know how to go about getting a TA, as weird as that sounds. We do have some available through AAA, but when I checked prices through them, and Costco Travel, it was basically a worse deal. We got more OBC, but the price of the room was several hundred dollars more expensive, which negated the benefits of the OBC. Carnival had a really good sale where we got OBC, plus the price guarantee, so we were fine with booking directly through them.

I am neither pro nor con in this but something isnt right if the price wasn't the same. Maybe not comparing apples to apples.

Never heard of an agency who charged more than booking direct. Who would book for more money?

As for the price guarantee that is good no mater who you book with.

Bill

OK, here is the latest on this subject. The man from Carnival did call and left a message finally, and I returned it. We discussed what I was wanting, but................he told me he could NOT send me an email with this information of prices, which really threw me. He told me the reason was that the prices could change, and I told him I understood this. He did quote a price, so I'm going to check it against another quote I got, and see where this goes. He did tell me which I was surprised to know, but glad to know at the same time, no matter what room we get, the cost for taxes, fees, port charges, etc. will always be the same price.

I am neither pro nor con in this but something isnt right if the price wasn't the same. Maybe not comparing apples to apples.

 

Never heard of an agency who charged more than booking direct. Who would book for more money?

 

 

As for the price guarantee that is good no mater who you book with.

 

Bill

It was for the same exact category and room type. We thought it was really weird too, because like you said, who would want to pay more for the same room. The only difference was that Costco gives more OBC and a Costco Cash Card. But the difference was $200 pp for the booking, so it was not worth it. AAA had the same thing. They were running an Early Saver sale on Carnival when I was checking prices, so not sure if that's why.

I appreciate everyone's feedback on this issue, but I am still in a dilemma on what to do.

When comparing the TA price to the Carnival price, there is about $40 or $50 more. I find the taxes are about the same.

I don't really want to pay $40 or $50 more, but working with the same TA, I feel more comfortable, but maybe it is because the way the Carnival PVP started off with me, and then telling me he cannot send me an email with the prices.

Your thoughts on this????

I appreciate everyone's feedback on this issue, but I am still in a dilemma on what to do.

 

When comparing the TA price to the Carnival price, there is about $40 or $50 more. I find the taxes are about the same.

 

I don't really want to pay $40 or $50 more, but working with the same TA, I feel more comfortable, but maybe it is because the way the Carnival PVP started off with me, and then telling me he cannot send me an email with the prices.

 

Your thoughts on this????

I would never pay extra to have a middle man due to all the potential issues just because of an email. I can look up the different prices myself. How many different cruises are you trying to get prices on? Keep in mind they can change at any time. I would suggest you find a different PVP.

Firemanbobwife, thanks for your input on this issue. Yes, I believe that is what I should do, see if I can get another PVP that will do a better job this the one that contacted me did. If I see this PVP does the same way as the other one, that should tell me that is the way Carnival does its business.

No, I don't want to pay anymore, but (not always) generally I get a OBC with the TA, and that sort of makes up for the extra that I put out. I don't believe Carnival does any OBC, or when I checked with the PVP, he didn't seem to say that they did.

Firemanbobwife, thanks for your input on this issue. Yes, I believe that is what I should do, see if I can get another PVP that will do a better job this the one that contacted me did. If I see this PVP does the same way as the other one, that should tell me that is the way Carnival does its business.

 

 

 

No, I don't want to pay anymore, but (not always) generally I get a OBC with the TA, and that sort of makes up for the extra that I put out. I don't believe Carnival does any OBC, or when I checked with the PVP, he didn't seem to say that they did.

The trick is to find a good PVP. You could just as well get assigned another less than stellar one.

PVPs can only give OBC if it’s part of a sale that Carnival is running. Often times it’s tied to an Early Saver rate so be aware of that.

OK, here's another questions.

I did take the plunge "again," and ask to have another PVP call me. They said someone should get in touch with me in about 72 hours or less, so we'll see.

Another question. When I talked to the Carnival rep that was going to pass on my info to a PVP, she ask for my email address, so I gave it to her. The very next day, I received an email from Carnival where I could save about 20% which is not a lot, but I "wondered" if the PVP would be able to get me this deal, which is a tad cheaper than what the first Carnival PVP quoted me? In other words, to get the 20% off, would I have to book directly through Carnival, and not a PVP? Just curious.

OK, here's another questions.

 

 

I did take the plunge "again," and ask to have another PVP call me. They said someone should get in touch with me in about 72 hours or less, so we'll see.

 

 

Another question. When I talked to the Carnival rep that was going to pass on my info to a PVP, she ask for my email address, so I gave it to her. The very next day, I received an email from Carnival where I could save about 20% which is not a lot, but I "wondered" if the PVP would be able to get me this deal, which is a tad cheaper than what the first Carnival PVP quoted me? In other words, to get the 20% off, would I have to book directly through Carnival, and not a PVP? Just curious.

Booking with a PVP IS booking directly through Carnival. :)

I have appreciated ALL the answers I have received from the question. The bad part, I have NOT acted anymore since I have been on here, other than a PVP was "supposed" to contact me over 4 days ago from Carnival, and I have yet to hear from anyone. I just got my husband out of the hospital, so I have sort of let this ride.:(

I guess, yes even at my age, I'm a little scared of something going wrong, if I don't book through the TA, that I have always used, but I do know her prices are $40 or $50 more. I'm thinking that is where they get their cut.

Here is my question for those of you who have BOOKED through Carnival directly,as it doesn't look like I will be getting a PVP, as I have tried 3 times, and nothing seems to work.:( I know they will give me a quoted price, but will NOT send me an email with that directly. I don't want to give them my credit card #,etc. and then they tell me (I have no way of proving what they say to me over the phone) they did not quote that price to me, and charge something else. How can I prove what they have quoted me?

I asked a coworker who cruises every year for the past 20 years what she recommended. She gave me the number to her travel agent. It was the same price that Carnival quoted. The difference was the level of personal attention we received from the TA. Not only did she promptly answer my ph calls and emails, make any changes that I requested, and she even purchased a birthday surprise pkg for my husband! We liked her service so much that I recommended my daughter and her boyfriend use her for their recent All Inclusive Resort trip. The travel agent was able to save them over $500. So I’m sold on my TA and will continue to use her for all future trips! BTW, even with using a TA, you can still login to the Carnival site, make some changes to the booking (i.e. bedding, dining, check in time), you also can purchase excursions, fun shop purchases, spa treatments, cheers, cruise cash, etc.

There has been many stories of people losing all of their money from travel agents that have gone out of business or bankrupt and have lost all of their money. This just happened to a group of 18 booking out of Florida. Make sure you have a reputable company just saying. They prepaid airfare and cruise and it cost them $15,000. Check the travel agency with the Better Business Bureau