Got my cruise price dropped + thanks to all of you

[spideygirl]

I live in the UK and booked a Baltic cruise through a TA last year. I got hooked on these forums and through all your expertise learnt that Carnival work differently to other cruise lines I have been on. The price of the cruise had dropped so much the outstanding balance was more than a new booking! Normally once you have booked a price through a TA then that is it. Through a few phones to the US, the UK carnival office and my travel agent managed to get my cruise price dropped to a lower rate. As I was outside of final payment. I was on the verge of cancelling a rebooking, so glad I got the rate changed it is now about 25% cheaper than last year.

 

Thanks to you all I now understand how Carnival works and next time I will book online and use that wonderful early saver rate.

[gelo7]

Glad that it worked out for you.

[WetToes]

YAY!!! Good for you! :)

[heatherbelle]

Well done.:D My UK TA has a suppose to book me on ES rate, but didn't:mad:

 

They have said they will look into it, no very hopeful of a positive result.

[spideygirl]

Well done.:D My UK TA has a suppose to book me on ES rate, but didn't:mad:

 

They have said they will look into it, no very hopeful of a positive result.

 

I would take control by phoning the US, using the free phone number on the .co.uk website. If you phone out of hours it takes you through to the US customer services. He confirmed I was booked on a rate that could be changed. I then confirmed that with .co.uk and they asked me to get my TA to phone up. They initially said no as i was not booked on ES, but i think they dont understand how Carnival works? I said the US said yes. This has taken me about 2 months to get to price reduced. My emails were ignored and I was told twice by my TA that it is not allowed. I think persistance is needed and speaking to the right person. Carnival have lots of rates that can be changed if you are outside the penalty period. Hope you sort it out.

[SkyMaster]

BRILLIANT! I'm proud of you! ;)

 

"SKY"

[heatherbelle]

I would take control by phoning the US, using the free phone number on the .co.uk website. If you phone out of hours it takes you through to the US customer services. He confirmed I was booked on a rate that could be changed. I then confirmed that with .co.uk and they asked me to get my TA to phone up. They initially said no as i was not booked on ES, but i think they dont understand how Carnival works? I said the US said yes. This has taken me about 2 months to get to price reduced. My emails were ignored and I was told twice by my TA that it is not allowed. I think persistance is needed and speaking to the right person. Carnival have lots of rates that can be changed if you are outside the penalty period. Hope you sort it out.

 

I have already been down this route. Carnival US say I need to talk to my TA and the TA says they will do what they can, the early saver rate is no longer available, so I can't switch to that. So basically I am stuffed. They won't even tell me how much I actually paid for the cruise, both the TA and Carnival. It was all priced together. I know they price matched it to ES, as I had priced it all up DIY. My TA deals with .com anyway and not .co.uk. It's a famous one that has an airline too. Do you have a contact at Carnival.com? The one I had has moved departments. I have been in contact with the TA for around three weeks now. I have kept screen prints of all of the price drops too and dates, while we try and resolve the matter.

 

If you can be of any further help and don't want to post here, my email address is tonerheather at aol dot com

 

 

I will see what happens following my email sent a couple of hours ago, not hopeful though.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. Any fellow Brits reading this, do not book with a UK TA, either book it yourself or find a good US one.;)

[spideygirl]

I don't have a contact at .com. I think it is a matter of luck if you get someone who can help.

 

Did your TA tell you they deal with .com? All my carnival invoices are in dollars and my TA's in £'s. The UK site change them to $'s, when the booking is created. My TA said that they had to go through .co.uk.

 

I asked .com on the phone if my rate was one that could be changed and they said yes, but all my emails to the .com were ignored. The TA doesn't have much incentive to change it as their commission will be less. However since my outstanding balance was more than a new booking I threatened to cancel and rebook directly. Maybe that got them moving :)

 

Sorry I couldn't be more help. I would keep ringing .com until someone answers your question.

[heatherbelle]

Sorry I missed your reply.

 

I have emailed top dog at Carnival.com and have a reply from the Diamond Department that confirms my rate can be switched to anything so long as it's before final payment. Sent that off to the famous red company, they have spoken to .UK, who say no can do. TA has now sent them email from.com that I have and we are waiting an investigation.

 

Apparently TA is saying they make their bookings through UK. So I have looked at all of the booking documents on my cruise and they all look like they are booked with.com. When you read the.UK terms and conditions it refers to ABTA etc. so I think I am definitely booked with.com. What a blinking mess. One wonder people get confused. I have now sent a copy of the email from my TA, that says.uk won't have it to the diamond specialist at .com.

 

On the actual contract on line it doesn't show any prices at all it just says as agreed. So I have no idea how much I actual paid for the cruise element on it's own. I have a rough estimate, as I do know how much my flights and transfers would have been had I booked DIY.

 

Because I have booked with a UK TA, if I did cancel I would loose the cost of all of flights £520, plus transfer around 40.00 plus cruise deposit around £700. So I can't cancel as that would cost more.

 

By the time it is sorted out, the latest sale rate will have disappeared.:eek: I have taken a screen shot though.;)

 

Did you book with a UK TA?

[spideygirl]

Yes i did book with a UK TA. The .co.uk office changed their system in Dec which means that bookings made since then have access to their booking records and contract all in £'s. prior to December it is through the .com site which is in $'s and the contract appears to the US one. But the booking is definitely through .co.uk and they will not allow price drops. I was at a point that my outstanding balance was far greater than a new cruise. I was on the verge of cancelling and rebooking via .com losing my deposit. Not sure how it came about but I did get some money off.

 

Could you not ask your TA to just cancel the cruise part and rebook? Even if the TA rebooks it may work out cheaper.

 

I also was told by the US my rate could be changed, but .uk said that they we not allowed.

 

It is all a mess, the trouble is we need two cabins together so not sure if we can cancel and rebook. Have you tried upgrading ?

[heatherbelle]

Yes i did book with a UK TA. The .co.uk office changed their system in Dec which means that bookings made since then have access to their booking records and contract all in £'s. prior to December it is through the .com site which is in $'s and the contract appears to the US one. But the booking is definitely through .co.uk and they will not allow price drops. I was at a point that my outstanding balance was far greater than a new cruise. I was on the verge of cancelling and rebooking via .com losing my deposit. Not sure how it came about but I did get some money off.

 

Could you not ask your TA to just cancel the cruise part and rebook? Even if the TA rebooks it may work out cheaper.

 

I also was told by the US my rate could be changed, but .uk said that they we not allowed.

 

It is all a mess, the trouble is we need two cabins together so not sure if we can cancel and rebook. Have you tried upgrading ?

 

 

My booking was made in September, so it should still show in dollars.

 

UK have said I am booked on easy saver rate, they keep changing their mind as to what rate I am booked at as that's the third different one I have now been told about. When I have queried the new friends and family rate on .com, they say this is only open to those who have Carnival members and not the general public.:eek: I have sent the TA copies of all of my contacts, copies of screen shots. I am currently booked at an 8c, so there's not much room to upgrade and those cabins left are not great in the higher categories. When I asked about a spa cabin, they wanted another £300 it's only an extra $60 on .com.

 

The diamond specialist has even suggested that my TA phones her directly and she will work it all out, but the TA can't do that. They must be tied into.uk. I am tearing my hair out as US says yes, but UK says no. I feel another email to mr Cahill coming on. I wish they would get their act together. The current sale finishes tomorrow. They won't tell me what the cruise cost, so I can't work out if it is better to cancel and rebook. It was all done as a package with flights to Europe.