Carnival asking for a payment before final payment due

[EllieinNJ]

I am relatively new to Carnival, having only sailed once but do have 5 more booked, two in 2023 that is with a travel agent and 3 in 2024 that I booked myself online because I got a terrific offer direct from Carnival.  All of these cruises were paid with various amounts of down payments according to length of cruise.  The two for May, 2023 (b2b) final payment is due in February, 2023.  Final payment for one in February, 2024 is not due until November, 2023 and final payment for the other two in April, 2024 (s2s) is not due until February, 2024.

 

Today I got an email from Carnival asking for a payment on one of the cruises for 2024.  Is this normal?  I have never been asked for a payment before final on any of the other cruise companies before.  The only one I have done with Carnival I made the total payment upon booking because it was a last minute deal.

 

 

 

 

[sparks1093]

4 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

I am relatively new to Carnival, having only sailed once but do have 5 more booked, two in 2023 that is with a travel agent and 3 in 2024 that I booked myself online because I got a terrific offer direct from Carnival.  All of these cruises were paid with various amounts of down payments according to length of cruise.  The two for May, 2023 (b2b) final payment is due in February, 2023.  Final payment for one in February, 2024 is not due until November, 2023 and final payment for the other two in April, 2024 (s2s) is not due until February, 2024.

 

Today I got an email from Carnival asking for a payment on one of the cruises for 2024.  Is this normal?  I have never been asked for a payment before final on any of the other cruise companies before.  The only one I have done with Carnival I made the total payment upon booking because it was a last minute deal.

 

 

 

 

Sounds like a spam email, I have never gotten an email from Carnival about a payment. Normally when I book the cruise the card that I use for the deposit is kept on file with the understanding that it will be charged for the balance on the final payment date.

[groundloop]

No, that's not technically spam.  It's a legitimate email from Carnival just hoping to nudge folks into paying before they really have to.  

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 15, 2022 by groundloop

[MistyRo76]

8 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

I am relatively new to Carnival, having only sailed once but do have 5 more booked, two in 2023 that is with a travel agent and 3 in 2024 that I booked myself online because I got a terrific offer direct from Carnival.  All of these cruises were paid with various amounts of down payments according to length of cruise.  The two for May, 2023 (b2b) final payment is due in February, 2023.  Final payment for one in February, 2024 is not due until November, 2023 and final payment for the other two in April, 2024 (s2s) is not due until February, 2024.

 

Today I got an email from Carnival asking for a payment on one of the cruises for 2024.  Is this normal?  I have never been asked for a payment before final on any of the other cruise companies before.  The only one I have done with Carnival I made the total payment upon booking because it was a last minute deal.

 

 

 

 

I've never heard of this either...I would call the main Carnival # just to double check though. It may also be worth seeing if you can switch the bookings you made yourself online over to a Carnival Personal Vacation Planner. They can keep an eye out for stuff like this and alert you to any issues. Plus it's much easier dealing with issues with a PVP vs. calling the main service number and waiting. 

[ginabab]

I too have gotten emails like that for a cruise a year away. I asked my rep at Carnival. It confused her too. I'm ignoring it.

[Gamecock_Cruiser]

Yeah, they send emails saying payment is due, even though you have several months until its actually due. 

[pe4all]

 

20 minutes ago, Gamecock_Cruiser said:

Yeah, they send emails saying payment is due, even though you have several months until its actually due. 

Have never gotten an email saying payment is due.  On top of that, the op got the email for a 2024 cruise - not even a 2023 cruise.  Sounds very fishy.  Delete.

[cruisingguy007]

Yes, normal, you'll get them from time-to-time, just don't miss your final payment date and you'll be fine and can ignore them. 

[mz-s]

It could be you signed up for an easy pay arrangement for this booking, and therefore it is expecting payment. This is where you make a set number of payments for the cruise as time goes on, rather than a small deposit and then pay the rest off at final payment.

 

It may also be that Carnival is now sending out emails well in advance of final payment, either to get additional interest-free capital from unsuspecting cruisers, or to ensure people don't forget and lose their booking due to nonpayment when the final payment date does arrive.

[Gamecock_Cruiser]

51 minutes ago, pe4all said:

 

Have never gotten an email saying payment is due.  On top of that, the op got the email for a 2024 cruise - not even a 2023 cruise.  Sounds very fishy.  Delete.

 

We cruise in May and our final payment is due in March. We received an email about two weeks ago, and it was legit. They are just trying to get cash in their bank account.

[asalligo]

I got it for the cruise I am taking next week. Like others said it is just a please go ahead and pay now ask. I do not remember it before this cruise. 

[StephPS79]

I regularly get a payment reminder for a 1/2024 cruise I've had booked since 2021.  It's normal.  And just a reminder.

[shof515]

I too have also received payment reminders for upcoming cruises. the emails look something like this:

[BlerkOne]

Since nobody here is going to compensate you if Carnival cancels your cruise, CALL CARNIVAL and find out if you can ignore.

 

I can think of a reason or two why you might need to make a partial payment, but some here will want to debate endlessly without actually knowing.

[Buckeyefrank100]

3 hours ago, MistyRo76 said:

I've never heard of this either...I would call the main Carnival # just to double check though. It may also be worth seeing if you can switch the bookings you made yourself online over to a Carnival Personal Vacation Planner. They can keep an eye out for stuff like this and alert you to any issues. Plus it's much easier dealing with issues with a PVP vs. calling the main service number and waiting. 

PVP won't be happy with that at all.  They may assist, but I was told by mine that they do not get paid for any cruises they don't personally book upfront.  Was told there is no provision to "transfer" it to her.

 

[urbanhawk]

In August, I booked a cruise for out of Australia in April 2023. Final payment is due in Jan. 2023.  For the past 3 months,  I've received emails from Carnival requesting final payment, which I've ignored. Personally,   I think CCL is wanting to  increase their revenues, sooner than later.

[ldubs]

1 hour ago, shof515 said:

I too have also received payment reminders for upcoming cruises. the emails look something like this:

 

13 minutes ago, urbanhawk said:

In August, I booked a cruise for out of Australia in April 2023. Final payment is due in Jan. 2023.  For the past 3 months,  I've received emails from Carnival requesting final payment, which I've ignored. Personally,   I think CCL is wanting to  increase their revenues, sooner than later.

 

At least the payment reminder pasted above by Shof515 provides the final payment date.  I'm curious if the emails you receive do that too?  A reminder is OK and can a good thing.  Being sneaky or trying to trick customers is not so nice.   

 

 

[DallasGuy75219]

37 minutes ago, urbanhawk said:

Personally,   I think CCL is wanting to  increase their revenues, sooner than later.

Carnival can't record revenue until a passenger sails (or cancels or doesn't make final payment, and thus incurs penalties or lost deposits).  They're trying to increase cash flow to avoid issuing more debt or stock, which will come at a high price given their current precarious financial position. 

[StephPS79]

TBH, I'm surprised payment reminders would cause such frustration.  I work for an independent insurance agency, where we send payment reminders frequently to get people to pay their bills.  People get angry when we don't send them and they miss their payment.

 

Not sure why this is cause for distress.

[cruisingguy007]

35 minutes ago, StephPS79 said:

TBH, I'm surprised payment reminders would cause such frustration.  I work for an independent insurance agency, where we send payment reminders frequently to get people to pay their bills.  People get angry when we don't send them and they miss their payment.

 

Not sure why this is cause for distress.

 

These are relatively new, I wouldn't call it frustration inasmuch as confusion from folks who aren't used to it. I was a bit confused at first when I got the first one because they hadn't sent unsolicited payment requests previously, unless near final payment date. It's a new thing is all. I also believe, as others stated, it's an effort to round up some cash; which is understandable, all things considered.    

Edited December 15, 2022 by cruisingguy007

[urbanhawk]

1 hour ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

Carnival can't record revenue until a passenger sails (or cancels or doesn't make final payment, and thus incurs penalties or lost deposits).  They're trying to increase cash flow to avoid issuing more debt or stock, which will come at a high price given their current precarious financial position. 

Yes, I should have said "cash flow"...thanks for pointing out, what I was really to say!

[mom2tcdx2]

I have occasionally gotten a payment reminder email, quite a while before the payment was actually due.  I just really think they are system generated in hopes that some people will just go ahead and pay before final payment is due.  You can also log into your Carnival account and you will see there as well when final payments are needed to be done for each cruise you have booked.  

[MistyRo76]

3 hours ago, Buckeyefrank100 said:

PVP won't be happy with that at all.  They may assist, but I was told by mine that they do not get paid for any cruises they don't personally book upfront.  Was told there is no provision to "transfer" it to her.

 

They may not gain anything from the initially booking that is transferred over. But they would certainly be incentivized to assist in hopes of gaining a future frequent cruiser as a customer. At least I would think so! I"ve had people who we've cruised with who booked themselves online before we booked, but then had our PVP take over the booking and then continued to use our PVP for many future cruises. Our PVP was happy to assist. 

[snowballs mom]

The ones I get have "your cruise needs your attention" in the attention line, and I seem to get them for every single cruise that I have booked. They inevitably are for cruises at least nine months away, not for anything that is due soon. The first time I received one I initially panicked, thinking one of my bookings that had been paid in full had been canceled for some reason. Instead, they were requesting money when final payment was months away. It gets pretty annoying if you have a bunch of them booked, since I feel like I need to read each one to make sure nothing is wrong.

[Illbcruzn4life]

9 hours ago, MistyRo76 said:

They may not gain anything from the initially booking that is transferred over. But they would certainly be incentivized to assist in hopes of gaining a future frequent cruiser as a customer. At least I would think so! I"ve had people who we've cruised with who booked themselves online before we booked, but then had our PVP take over the booking and then continued to use our PVP for many future cruises. Our PVP was happy to assist. 

Not always the case. My sons PVP was off the day he booked so he booked it online.

 

He had a couple questions a few days later and called the PVP who told him to call the 1-800 and hung up.