Odd email from carnival or not?

[murph1031]

I got two emails today from Carnival. I assume two because on our booking we have two guests. No text within the email, only a PDF. Title of email is "IMPORTANT NOTICE-ESTA LETTER", below it states "important notice". I am always weary of emails with no text contained within the email. It seems like they could have written something like, "please find contained within important info about your booking" or something like not, but no, just a blank email with a PDF attached.

I made my final payment about a week ago. What would this email be? Should I open it? Is it a normal email from them? I would hate to get a virus, so that's why I thought I'd ask here first.

 

Thanks

Rob

[chocolatetraveler]

I got two emails today from Carnival. I assume two because on our booking we have two guests. No text within the email, only a PDF. Title of email is "IMPORTANT NOTICE-ESTA LETTER", below it states "important notice". I am always weary of emails with no text contained within the email. It seems like they could have written something like, "please find contained within important info about your booking" or something like not, but no, just a blank email with a PDF attached.

I made my final payment about a week ago. What would this email be? Should I open it? Is it a normal email from them? I would hate to get a virus, so that's why I thought I'd ask here first.

 

Thanks

Rob

 

Rob,

 

Call Carnival directly. Any information rolled out to you, they should know.

 

I am paranoid about these "phantom" emails. I never open them, especially the attachment to it. Email accounts and sites are constantly hacked, it's better to be safe than sorry.

 

Happy sailing, by the way!

[jenng1976]

We got an email like that ... It stated our cruise had been cancelled due to a charter! I would open it.

[Vitamin_Sea]

sounds like a scam email

 

contact CCL before you open it

Edited July 28, 2015 by Vitamin_Sea

[OCruisers]

Before opening I would call our travel agent. If no TA, call Carnival directly.

LuLu

[pbsteve]

Very odd, esta is

Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA)

All Visa Waiver Program (VWP) travelers are required to have an electronic travel authorization via the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). Homeland Security has developed a web based system that determines the eligibility of visitors from Visa Waiver Program countries (VWP) to travel to the United States. Please note citizens of the following countries who are NOT U.S Residents (ARC-Green Card holders), must fulfill this requirement or entry to the United States may be denied. ESTA applications must be submitted any time prior to travel into the following secure website: http://www.cbp.gov/esta, however, it is recommended that travelers apply when they begin preparing travel plans.

 

You seem to be from the US, according to your location by your name. Are you a US citizen?

[Fitzget]

Sounds like a scam to me. What is the actual email address from which it came? You can check the actual address. I would not open it.

[Nic6318]

never open a file unless you know what it contains.

 

if there is anything important about your cruise you should know they will tell you if you call Carnival. If it wasn't sent by them, you would be advising them so they can investigate.

 

take care

[joepeka]

I agree with the folks that are advising to call Carnival and do NOT open the attachment. I got stung by one that appeared to come from an airline that I had just (within the previous week) made reservations with - it had a pdf attachment but no text in the email. I stupidly opened the attachment thinking it was related to my reservation and BAM - virus.

Edited July 28, 2015 by joepeka

[murph1031]

Very odd, esta is

Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA)

All Visa Waiver Program (VWP) travelers are required to have an electronic travel authorization via the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). Homeland Security has developed a web based system that determines the eligibility of visitors from Visa Waiver Program countries (VWP) to travel to the United States. Please note citizens of the following countries who are NOT U.S Residents (ARC-Green Card holders), must fulfill this requirement or entry to the United States may be denied. ESTA applications must be submitted any time prior to travel into the following secure website: http://www.cbp.gov/esta, however, it is recommended that travelers apply when they begin preparing travel plans.

 

You seem to be from the US, according to your location by your name. Are you a US citizen?

 

I am a resident alien. I filled out all the green card info during my online check in. Been living here for over twenty years. This is my third cruise, and I never remember getting this before. I guess I'll call my PVP

[Seago2]

My husband is a green card holder and we seem to always get the ESTA email before the cruise. It's nothing. You don't need to respond to it. I clicked on it, semi freaking out and thinking we needed to do something, but it's just a block of text such as what pbsteve copied below (or above, depending on your CC settings).

[murph1031]

Called my PVP and she told me its real. Just like Seago2 said, visa info for entering the USA.

:):)

[love my grandkids]

For some silly reason they do send out emails like this.

[DebJ14]

For some silly reason they do send out emails like this.

 

They are not "silly" e-mails.

 

If someone does not know about the ESTA information and is coming to the US to take a cruise, they could be out the money for the cruise if they are not admitted to the US.

[disneylover89]

It seems Carnival sends out a lot of odd e-mails

 

I e-mailed my PCP that I needed a fridge for my son's insulin. He e-mailed me back that he put in the request. A little while later I got 2 e-mails. The first one was from HOSTFAX, with a subject line saying Medical Forms required. It just had odd information like it was sent from a fax machine (???) . The second e-mail came from Special Needs CCL with a subject line saying Medical Forms required and had a pdf only. When I opened the pdf it just had a lot of information about fridges and the temperature and no medical form to fill out.

[dioxide45]

They are not "silly" e-mails.

 

If someone does not know about the ESTA information and is coming to the US to take a cruise, they could be out the money for the cruise if they are not admitted to the US.

 

I think the silly part the PP was referring to was that the email didn't explain anything and just expected the recipient to open an attachment. IMO, that is silly.

 

I was a permanent resident and don't ever recall receiving this type of email in the past. We had always done online checkin and entered my green card information. If they validated the green card information before sending out the e-mail, they would know that the email didn't need to be sent to a US permanent resident.

[singbluesilver1]

My husband has a green card and we got the same email

 

I think it depends on what ports you are visiting as some may require visas depending on your country of residency

[RobertL88]

I am from the Netherlands and receive e-mails like that for every person in our booking. Just a reminder to apply for a visa to enter the USA.