Carnival Has No Customer Service Anymore

[pe4all]

First off, good luck with your upcoming heart transplant.  Next time it may be easier booking your own air. Then you would not have to work through an intermediary and could work directly through the airline.  

[BlerkOne]

One of the first issues I have with this is Southwest Flight 4389  was, is, and on Aug 6 will be a flight from Las Vegas to LAX.

[bgrmini]

You will not likely find much useful help on here. I suggest reaching out to someone at this website. https://www.elliott.org/

Best of luck, hopefully you can get this resolved before your sail date.

[BlerkOne]

4 minutes ago, bgrmini said:

You will not likely find much useful help on here. I suggest reaching out to someone at this website. https://www.elliott.org/

Best of luck, hopefully you can get this resolved before your sail date.

Well, it is beyond 60 days, and neither Carnival nor Southwest did anything wrong.

[vwrestler171]

So you book a flight that is risky to arrive as it is, then expect Carnival to pay extra because you think that they should drop everything to get you there on time, but YOU are the one that chose to fly in the day of the cruise.  

[ninjacat123]

1 hour ago, BlerkOne said:

One of the first issues I have with this is Southwest Flight 4389  was, is, and on Aug 6 will be a flight from Las Vegas to LAX.

Are you thinking this was a pot stirrer?  OP's first post ever.

[Moviela]

Paul, I hope your health problem is solved perfectly, and you enjoy a quality of life you deserve. See if you can drop the pooch's the night before flying, and arrive the night before. Grab a two star from Hotwire in Long Beach or Seal Beach and arrive fresh for boarding. You pharmacy can suggest an ice or dry ice carry bag for your cold storage medications. 

 

Airlines are a mess at the moment. Air crews, fuel, weather, and government regulations are all conspiring to change air travel for the worse. For sixty years I schedule my travel to land me where I need on the day of, unless I need a vacation day. Now I have a couple of rules. Only nonstop flights. Outbound always first flight in the morning (less likely to be delayed departing.) Two aisle aircraft if available, and if it ain't Boeing, I ain't goin'. No Scarebus for me. I will take an afternoon or evening flight inbound, because if cancelled little to no impact to me.  I am flying in September to Seattle and returning from Orlando. Delta has change the flight times three times. No day changes, and outbound is arriving two hours earlier. Maybe we can find a place that sells coffee in Seattle. 

[BlerkOne]

Personally, I would have opted for one of the nonstop flights from RDU-LAX, but I'm funny like that.

[Joebucks]

14 hours ago, LatinaInTexas said:

I understand all the posts about airlines having to make changes and all and people having to be adaptable. But what if you can't be adaptable last minute. Carnival doesn't provide a refund or FCC? When you book to fly thru them is this stated? Hope it somehow works out for the OP.

 

 

Without even looking at the policy, do you think it makes sense for a business to refund a "$3700" trip when airlines change their routes? Especially when cruise lines are already strapped for cash?

[ProgRockCruiser]

15 hours ago, LatinaInTexas said:

But what if you can't be adaptable last minute.

Then you should take out travel insurance.  That is exactly what that is for.

[firefly333]

23 hours ago, Paul321 said:

Now I'm going to be out over $3,700.00 because of their mistakes and that is not fair.

If your solution is them paying for a night of hotel and extra dog boarding fees, you obviously can still go right. Flights on all airlines are being changed. If you feel you need to fly in the day of the cruise and not the day before because of meds .. you did take on a huge risk assuming flights cant get changed.

 

Most people wouldnt over react as much flying in the day before their cruise. I dont think any lines would reimburse you tbh. Just go and try to enjoy.,there are carry on thing to keep meds cold. A cut rate carnival cruise doesnt sound like a good match for your needs. 

 

Not meaning offense but the news is full of people with changed flights. 

[CeleBrat]

A silver lining perspective (?):

 

So many flights are still being abruptly cancelled, making it actually risky to try and fly to a cruise day-of.  If that day-of flight was cancelled, you'd miss the cruise.  It is actually better to have that buffer day in there, to allow for flexibility in rebooking a flight in the event it gets cancelled.

[LatinaInTexas]

5 hours ago, Joebucks said:

 

Without even looking at the policy, do you think it makes sense for a business to refund a "$3700" trip when airlines change their routes? Especially when cruise lines are already strapped for cash?

I'm not a seasoned cruiser, I just thought if Carnival offered the product they would be responsible if using said product wasn't possible due to circumstances. I thought flying thru them would guarantee you getting to the ship. Learned something new.

So what is the benefit of flying thru Carnival?

[staceyglow]

1 minute ago, LatinaInTexas said:

I'm not a seasoned cruiser, I just thought if Carnival offered the product they would be responsible if using said product wasn't possible due to circumstances. I thought flying thru them would guarantee you getting to the ship. Learned something new.

So what is the benefit of flying thru Carnival?

Where flights are concerned, Carnival is acting more like a travel agent as opposed to the actual provider.  Would you expect your travel agent to reimburse you if your flight got rescheduled?  

We booked a flight through Carnival for a particular cruise because at the time, it was less expensive than what we could get on our own, plus it was refundable until a certain date, unlike what we were finding with the airlines/travel agents.

[wemjam]

1 hour ago, LatinaInTexas said:

I'm not a seasoned cruiser, I just thought if Carnival offered the product they would be responsible if using said product wasn't possible due to circumstances. I thought flying thru them would guarantee you getting to the ship. Learned something new.

So what is the benefit of flying thru Carnival?

The benefits are: 

 

1. You can book your flight with your cruise and have the same time frame to pay everything off.  You are not out of pocket for your flight in one big chunk right away.

2. You sometimes can get a better deal with Carnival then going direct (for same exact flight on same exact carrier)

3. Carnival includes a small insurance policy that includes things like lost baggage, and etc.

4. Carnival is "responsible" for making sure you get there.  So if your flights are delayed, cancelled, etc. they work to still get you to the ship.  Now you may not like the flights they put you on, but they still get you there.  Booking yourself the airline could care less if you make your cruise or not.

 

Drawbacks:

 

1.  You have no control in situations like this and can not try to work it out directly with the airline yourself instead of going through a 3rd party which just complicates it

2.  I did this a couple times and booked months out - and (it may have changed now, but then) I didn't get my seat assignment, and could not pick my seats until much closer to the cruise because your reservation was confirm with Carnival/Airline but essentially they just bought "space on the flight" and they don't get actual seat and such until much closer to departure.  I like to pick my seats and know where I am sitting up front!  I will refuse to book a flight if only crappy seats are left

3.  You have to book flights before/after their recommend arrival and departure times.  So if you want a flight at 12noon home, but their recommend time for that port is 12:30, they will not put you on the 12noon flight that may be available, you have to take a later flight (could be several hours later)

 

 

 

 

[ninjacat123]

44 minutes ago, wemjam said:

The benefits are: 

 

1. You can book your flight with your cruise and have the same time frame to pay everything off.  You are not out of pocket for your flight in one big chunk right away.

2. You sometimes can get a better deal with Carnival then going direct (for same exact flight on same exact carrier)

3. Carnival includes a small insurance policy that includes things like lost baggage, and etc.

4. Carnival is "responsible" for making sure you get there.  So if your flights are delayed, cancelled, etc. they work to still get you to the ship.  Now you may not like the flights they put you on, but they still get you there.  Booking yourself the airline could care less if you make your cruise or not.

 

Drawbacks:

 

1.  You have no control in situations like this and can not try to work it out directly with the airline yourself instead of going through a 3rd party which just complicates it

2.  I did this a couple times and booked months out - and (it may have changed now, but then) I didn't get my seat assignment, and could not pick my seats until much closer to the cruise because your reservation was confirm with Carnival/Airline but essentially they just bought "space on the flight" and they don't get actual seat and such until much closer to departure.  I like to pick my seats and know where I am sitting up front!  I will refuse to book a flight if only crappy seats are left

3.  You have to book flights before/after their recommend arrival and departure times.  So if you want a flight at 12noon home, but their recommend time for that port is 12:30, they will not put you on the 12noon flight that may be available, you have to take a later flight (could be several hours later)

 

 

 

 

Good info!  If you want to fly to the port a couple days ahead of embarkation, will Fly2Fun do that?  TIA!

[nwcruiselover]

Carnival doesn’t “guarantee” that you will get on your cruise.  They work on your behalf to try to get you there but if anything goes wrong with your flights, there there isn’t a guarantee, meaning they won’t hold the ship awaiting your arrival.  My understanding is that with covid changes, they can’t fly you to the first port of call to join the cruise.  I’m not sure about that, but maybe someone else can clarify.

Edited July 27, 2022 by nwcruiselover

[BlerkOne]

22 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

Good info!  If you want to fly to the port a couple days ahead of embarkation, will Fly2Fun do that?  TIA!

Yes

[tweak89]

21 hours ago, vwrestler171 said:

So you book a flight that is risky to arrive as it is, then expect Carnival to pay extra because you think that they should drop everything to get you there on time, but YOU are the one that chose to fly in the day of the cruise.  

 

I never understand the logic with this.  Why on earth, no matter how you book it, would you choose to arrive on the day of departure.  Way too much risk.  We fly Southwest almost exclusively for domestic travel and have had our last 3 flights changed without notice (and always changed to a bizarre connecting flight from direct).  A simple phone call to Southwest has gotten us on a comparable flight without extra cost. 

[wemjam]

30 minutes ago, nwcruiselover said:

Carnival doesn’t “guarantee” that you will get on your cruise.  They work on your behalf to try to get you there but if anything goes wrong with your flights, there there isn’t a guarantee, meaning they won’t hold the ship awaiting your arrival.  My understanding is that with covid changes, they can’t fly you to the first port of call to join the cruise.  I’m not sure about that, but maybe someone else can clarify.

I was speaking under "normal" circumstances (not Covid).  I believe part of the Fly2fun guarantee is they would fly you to "meet" the ship if you missed boarding.

Edited July 27, 2022 by wemjam

[LatinaInTexas]

1 hour ago, wemjam said:

The benefits are: 

 

1. You can book your flight with your cruise and have the same time frame to pay everything off.  You are not out of pocket for your flight in one big chunk right away.

2. You sometimes can get a better deal with Carnival then going direct (for same exact flight on same exact carrier)

3. Carnival includes a small insurance policy that includes things like lost baggage, and etc.

4. Carnival is "responsible" for making sure you get there.  So if your flights are delayed, cancelled, etc. they work to still get you to the ship.  Now you may not like the flights they put you on, but they still get you there.  Booking yourself the airline could care less if you make your cruise or not.

 

Drawbacks:

 

1.  You have no control in situations like this and can not try to work it out directly with the airline yourself instead of going through a 3rd party which just complicates it

2.  I did this a couple times and booked months out - and (it may have changed now, but then) I didn't get my seat assignment, and could not pick my seats until much closer to the cruise because your reservation was confirm with Carnival/Airline but essentially they just bought "space on the flight" and they don't get actual seat and such until much closer to departure.  I like to pick my seats and know where I am sitting up front!  I will refuse to book a flight if only crappy seats are left

3.  You have to book flights before/after their recommend arrival and departure times.  So if you want a flight at 12noon home, but their recommend time for that port is 12:30, they will not put you on the 12noon flight that may be available, you have to take a later flight (could be several hours later)

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer with facts since I had no idea how it worked.

 

 

 

[DrSea]

17 minutes ago, tweak89 said:

 

I never understand the logic with this.  Why on earth, no matter how you book it, would you choose to arrive on the day of departure.  Way too much risk.  We fly Southwest almost exclusively for domestic travel and have had our last 3 flights changed without notice (and always changed to a bizarre connecting flight from direct).  A simple phone call to Southwest has gotten us on a comparable flight without extra cost. 

There are a lot of reasons. For me, it's work. 

 

Getting time off can be a stretch. It impacts many people's schedules. With COVID, we sometimes have to pull people from their days off just to have boots on the ground. We can't exactly close up shop. Sometimes I have to fly the day of...and without travel insurance. It's risky, but that's half the fun. 😉

 

But in all seriousness, work is a very legitimate excuse. I just book the first flight out of there and hope for the best. I have done this during summer and winter and have missed many snow storms flying the day of. I haven't missed a cruise thankfully. ~25 cruises under my belt. TBH, domestic flights are not a big deal. It's international flights that are tricky. You miss a flight and there may not be another flight until the next day. 

 

I recently moved and now live next to a cruise port. So things are nice in that I don't have to fly anymore if I don't want to. But I was chancing it for years. 

[Lane Hog]

On 7/26/2022 at 11:16 AM, bamaone said:

It's not Carnival. It's the airlines. They're cancelling flights to save money. I've had mine changed 2 times in the past month. I'm expecting a couple more before September. You can't expect Carnival to supplement your dogs kennel service or pay for a hotel room when they had nothing to do with flight changes. 

 

No, they're not canceling flights to save money.  Flight schedules change constantly due to a variety of factors (available crew, available airplanes, runway construction, and customer demand just to name a few).  Your actual flight times probably won't be locked in until 20-31 days ahead of departure.

 

 

10 hours ago, CeleBrat said:

A silver lining perspective (?):

 

So many flights are still being abruptly cancelled, making it actually risky to try and fly to a cruise day-of.  If that day-of flight was cancelled, you'd miss the cruise.  It is actually better to have that buffer day in there, to allow for flexibility in rebooking a flight in the event it gets cancelled.

Always at least one buffer day. Two is even better.

On our last cruise, we'd planned to arrive two days ahead of time and spend some time chilling before cruising....  And then an ice storm hit, and flights were canceled.  The best that we could get for a rebooking were two days after our planned departure.  We wound up driving Chicago to Galveston and getting there on-time.  Not really an option for the OP to drive Raleigh to Los Angeles, but I'm pretty certain that unless a hurricane hits Raleigh, it should be possible to get alternate flights. 

The big problem with being booked on Southwest, Frontier or Spirit is that nobody else accepts their tickets.  Had you booked on Delta, then American or United would have probably accepted your tickets as a rerouting.

Edited July 28, 2022 by Lane Hog

[DrSea]

2 hours ago, Lane Hog said:

 

No, they're not canceling flights to save money.  Flight schedules change constantly due to a variety of factors (available crew, available airplanes, runway construction, and customer demand just to name a few).  Your actual flight times probably won't be locked in until 20-31 days ahead of departure.

 

 

Always at least one buffer day. Two is even better.

On our last cruise, we'd planned to arrive two days ahead of time and spend some time chilling before cruising....  And then an ice storm hit, and flights were canceled.  The best that we could get for a rebooking were two days after our planned departure.  We wound up driving Chicago to Galveston and getting there on-time.  Not really an option for the OP to drive Raleigh to Los Angeles, but I'm pretty certain that unless a hurricane hits Raleigh, it should be possible to get alternate flights. 

The big problem with being booked on Southwest, Frontier or Spirit is that nobody else accepts their tickets.  Had you booked on Delta, then American or United would have probably accepted your tickets as a rerouting.

This is why I hate flying to cruises. It's annoying.

[jsglow]

16 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

Good info!  If you want to fly to the port a couple days ahead of embarkation, will Fly2Fun do that?  TIA!

Absolutely.