Carnival Changed Itenerary... Do I have any recourse?

[btrbill]

Booked the Breeze out of Miami for March 1, 2014, Early Saver. Originaly going to Turks, San Juan, St. Martin, and St. Marteen.

 

Got an email this morning that says the itnerary has been changed to Turk, La Romana, Curacao, and Aruba. These may be great ports but it is NOT were I want to go, nor where I booked. Called Carnival to get a refund and they said it was not refundable since it is ES. AND, to change it to the original itenerary on a different date, they want to charge $50 each. I understnad the rules, and if I voluntarily changed I would pay the change fee with no problem. However, CCL changed it and this is not the cruise I want, or booked.

 

PVP, who I will no longer use, refused to let me spaek to a Supervisor!! Got any other ideas?

[firefly333]

Find the FAQs that say within 24 hours of being notified of a itinerary change you have the right to cancel.

 

I cant say for sure you will get a full refund .. they might try and give you a future credit.

 

You only have 24 hours to cancel .. dont let them talk you out of it.

 

Their search on carnival.com stinks..hard for me to find anything.. but its there somewhere .. you certainly have the right to cancel, ES or not. They either dont know their own rules (lots of untrained answers lately from people who answer the phone, did they just hire a bunch of newbies?) .. or they are wanting to dissuade you past the 24 hour window.

[tak81288]

Were they able to tell you WHY the itinerary changed?

 

Here is a copy of their itinerary change policy.

 

If you aren't happy with your PVP, I would call and speak to someone else.

 

Good luck!

 

ITINERARY CHANGE PRIOR TO DEPARTURE:

If Carnival has adequate notice prior to sailing that a vessel will deviate from the published itinerary it will promptly – upon making the itinerary change -- notify guests of the change through their travel agents or directly, in the case of a direct guest booking.

If the itinerary change is for reasons within Carnival’s exclusive control, guests will have the opportunity to cancel their booking without penalty prior to sailing and within 24 hours of the guest notification, and in such an instance, guests will have the option to receive either a cash refund or a future cruise credit. In the event a guest does not cancel the cruise on a timely basis, no refund of any kind will be available.

Due to the nature of a cruise vacation, itinerary changes sometimes become necessary for safety, weather or other reasons beyond the control of Carnival. If the itinerary change is for reasons beyond Carnival’s exclusive control, including but not limited to safety, security, weather, strikes, tides, hostilities, civil unrest, port closings, emergency debarkations of guests or crew, late air, sea, car or motor coach departures or arrivals, mechanical breakdowns or problems not known to Carnival, itinerary changes consistent with U.S. State Department travel warnings / advisories or other applicable US or foreign governmental advisories, guests will not be provided any compensation. Guests electing to cancel will be subject to the standard cancellation terms.

[btrbill]

Firefly,

 

Thank you very much!! I found exactly what you said on thier website... It is pasted below! Time to get back on the phone and demand a supervisor!

 

 

 

ITINERARY CHANGE PRIOR TO DEPARTURE:

If Carnival has adequate notice prior to sailing that a vessel will deviate from the published itinerary it will promptly – upon making the itinerary change -- notify guests of the change through their travel agents or directly, in the case of a direct guest booking.

If the itinerary change is for reasons within Carnival’s exclusive control, guests will have the opportunity to cancel their booking without penalty prior to sailing and within 24 hours of the guest notification, and in such an instance, guests will have the option to receive either a refund or a future cruise credit. In the event a guest does not cancel the cruise on a timely basis, no refund of any kind will be available.

[btrbill]

HAHA!! Thanks TAK!!! Looks like I was preparing my response as you sent yours!

 

Thier email said "Operational Considerations"...

[Brenna's Mom1]

Try again with Carnival. Before anything else get the name of who you are speaking to (full), their employee number, and a call back number in case you get cut off. If you need to call back ask for a Supervisor immediately without going into details.

 

I know, I know...it's a hassle but any call center contact is a hassle. I'd bet the peeps you are talking to don't work (per se) for Carnival, the first line of calls usually go to a contracted call center. Also, have all you data in front of you so that you know everything about your booking and have a copy of the email Carnival sent you with date and time.

 

Just be glad everything is on their 800 number...remember the day when all calls were on our dime.

[Duckie26]

The cruise I booked last year changed it's itinerary and I was able to change my cruise with out any issue or hassle and I had booked ES.

[StillPooh]

If a PVP refused to let me speak to a supervisor, I would hang up immediately and call back.

 

I agree that they are trying to run the time clock out on your 24 hours. :mad:

[martinchem]

Actually the new itinerary is awesome!

[Scooterpi]

I feel dumb because I thought St. Martin and St. Marteen were the same place....

 

Edited: I googled and now I think they are again. I'm confused about the original itinerary then.

[serene56]

i thought so too.

 

I would hit Aruba before St Marten for sure.

unless they only had me in the port until 1pm --

[Stilles]

I think he is upset about missing out on the Puerto Rico port day. Just a guess though

[Brenna's Mom1]

I think he is upset about missing out on the Puerto Rico port day. Just a guess though

 

Some people really do book a cruise for the ports and that is a really good reason. Lots of us have been there done that so don't care. Either way....it is a "scheduled" change and the OP should be given the opportunity to cancel or change. The cruise is a year and a half out, for heaven's sake.

[bluwes]

Actually the new itinerary is awesome!

 

That is the itinerary we are looking at just now, 3 ports that we haven@t done before

[Rena921]

I feel dumb because I thought St. Martin and St. Marteen were the same place....

 

Edited: I googled and now I think they are again. I'm confused about the original itinerary then.

 

They are the same island. One side French, the other Dutch. If memory serves me corretly, you port on the Dutch side.

[southpaw_1979]

Having read the policy it is still possible that the schedule change is still beyond the control of Carnival, which would mean that it is not eligible for a cancellation. Carnival could have prior knowledge of a port closure in one of the islands, this is not something they can control and therefore outside of Carnival control (just playing devils advocate, some will say that part of my job is looking for loopholes)

[NMCRUISERS]

The original itinerary was probably Grand Turk, San Juan, St Marteen and St Thomas.

 

I love the Southern itinerary!

[Stilles]

Some people really do book a cruise for the ports and that is a really good reason. Lots of us have been there done that so don't care. Either way....it is a "scheduled" change and the OP should be given the opportunity to cancel or change. The cruise is a year and a half out' date=' for heaven's sake.[/quote']

 

 

Couldnt agree with you more!

[LWiening]

I wonder if it is St Thomas they meant . Usually if they do St MArtin then they do St. Thomas. I do not think there is another cruise port on the french side. Unless the other island is Maarten. Can't spell but I know there is another island similar to St Martin but with out the St added at the begining.

[fergusonvt]

I wonder if it is St Thomas they meant . Usually if they do St MArtin then they do St. Thomas. I do not think there is another cruise port on the french side. Unless the other island is Maarten. Can't spell but I know there is another island similar to St Martin but with out the St added at the begining.

 

I believe Maarten is the Dutch spelling and Martin is the French. There are two cruise ports but I think they are both on the same side of the island.

[golfadj]

You should have the right to cancel. Would speak to a supervisor and of course never use that pvp again.

[golfb4cruzing]

This is exactly why the letter was delivered in cabin last week on Destiny about maybe missing HMC. Ship wasn't full to start and didn't want cancellations. Nowheres to go and it was another sea day. It's all very calculated...

[cruzn buckeye]

I wonder if it is St Thomas they meant . Usually if they do St MArtin then they do St. Thomas. I do not think there is another cruise port on the french side. Unless the other island is Maarten. Can't spell but I know there is another island similar to St Martin but with out the St added at the begining.

St. Maarten / St. Martin are the same island. One side is french, the other side is dutch. There is another island with a similar name... it is also a french island ... it is Martinique. Carnival used to stop there, but they don't anymore...

[ketchum]

I got the same e-mail today If we want too change our trip they said they would wave the $50.00 admin fee if we called back by 11pm tonight:confused:

[beachbum53]

Two years ago, when we booked our Western Caribbean cruise on the Valor, about a week (maybe two?) after we made our deposit, we got an e-mail stating that the itinerary had been changed to the Eastern Caribbean. I went on Carnival's web site and noticed that the itineraries for the Valor and the Liberty had been switched. I called our PVP right away and asked her if we could change our booking to the Liberty, since we wanted to stick with the Western itinerary. There was no problem making the switch, and we didn't have to pay any fees. It actually turned out to be lucky for us, since the Liberty went into dry dock for the 2.0 upgrades prior to our cruise.

 

Have you checked to see if there's another ship doing the itinerary you want on the sailing date you've selected? If the itinerary is more important than which ship you sail on, call Carnival and see if you can make the switch without losing any money or paying any additional fees. And I would definitely be asking for a new PVP if I were you.