The upper/lower bait and switch

[Out to sea!]

Another thing that's misleading is "two category upgrades"... Two categories sounds like interior to balcony but it's only a "better" location within the chosen stateroom type. That stumped me in the beginning.

 

I have seen the lowest price listed and none of those staterooms were available' date=' but later the base price listed on the search page was updated to show lowest price of cheapest AVAILABLE... still, I agree the booking engine needs to be more clear.[/quote']

 

Two categories is changing from say a 4A to a 4C. Cruise industry standard.

[Frank12]

It's a common sales practice. I've found you can almost always count on paying more than the "advertised" price when booking a cabin.....unless you are good with bunk beds! :)

[Mutumbojimbo]

I don't think it's technically a "bait and switch" but I think it is disingenuous to offer pricing like this.

[ray98]

Another thing that's misleading is "two category upgrades"... Two categories sounds like interior to balcony but it's only a "better" location within the chosen stateroom type. That stumped me in the beginning.

 

I have seen the lowest price listed and none of those staterooms were available' date=' but later the base price listed on the search page was updated to show lowest price of cheapest AVAILABLE... still, I agree the booking engine needs to be more clear.[/quote']

 

That would only be true if there were not different type rooms in each cagegory. It could only confuse you if you think a interior on deck 3 should be the same value as an interior on the Lido.

[Indytraveler83]

Different case, but in my opinion a real bait and switch.

 

I booked an inside guaranty, then about 2 weeks ago got an email offer for a $60 upgrade to OV. Replied 3 hours after the email was sent and got the response "offer expired". They were happy to redirect me to other offers...for a higher price.

 

Note, the reply did not say "all available cabins booked up, sorry". It said "offer expired", with a redirect to a more expensive option. To me an offer that expires after 3 hours isn't much of an offer.

 

Maybe their wording was bad. But they're a big company and can afford to hire someone to get it right. Drawing a customer in on a (nonexistent) offer in order to get them to look at a more expensive option is pretty much the definition of bait and switch. That's how I'm taking it.

 

I agree that the wording was not correct, but it wasn't a bait and switch. I received an offer like this and immediately opened it. There were 14 or 15 cabins available for the upgrade. I then called my cruising partner, described the deal, got approved to upgrade and opened my email again. At this point there were 2 rooms left. It really just matters how many people respond, and how quickly. In my case, I wouldn't have been able to upgrade had I waited just 30 or 40 minutes to open the email.

[cruizinisthebest]

Different case, but in my opinion a real bait and switch.

 

I booked an inside guaranty, then about 2 weeks ago got an email offer for a $60 upgrade to OV. Replied 3 hours after the email was sent and got the response "offer expired". They were happy to redirect me to other offers...for a higher price.

 

Note, the reply did not say "all available cabins booked up, sorry". It said "offer expired", with a redirect to a more expensive option. To me an offer that expires after 3 hours isn't much of an offer.

 

Maybe their wording was bad. But they're a big company and can afford to hire someone to get it right. Drawing a customer in on a (nonexistent) offer in order to get them to look at a more expensive option is pretty much the definition of bait and switch. That's how I'm taking it.

 

That was simply an upsell offer. And they can expire quickly. If you don't want it or don't jump on it quickly, chances are somebody else will. For you it was expired. They probably had a taker within the first few minutes of sending out that email.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I'm sure plenty of people will tell me how I'm wrong, but I just have to vent.

 

 

 

It seems to happen more and more that Carnival will trumpet a price only to discover that it's only for bunk beds! Seriously, just how few people would find that acceptable?! The baseline price should be a regular room and you can elect to save if you want a bunk bed.

 

 

 

To make it even more irritating/confusing the sale may say "free two category upgrade", but then it still wants to charge you extra p.p. per day for a normal cabin stating upgrades included in price...

 

 

 

:mad:

 

 

Im right there with you. Had a vifp offer with best available upgrade but all upgrades cost more money.

 

I guess Im a new cruiser and just don't understand how to read

 

Bill

[sahm2alexis]

Like most people said, I don't think bait and switch is the right term, but it's definitely annoying. I wish they would put the bunk bed cabins as a separate category so you didn't have to go throw the whole booking before seeing what price you're really going to pay for an interior WITHOUT bunkbeds

 

 

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