May 28th Pride sailing update

[Eli_6]

So, some of us had concerns about the fact it disappeared from the website a month ago when there were still plenty of open rooms just days before and CCL now claims it is booked up. I asked on JH's page and no response.  We are the first sailing after Pride goes in for an extensive dry dock.  I emailed Carnival a week or so ago and finally got a response that, inter alia, said: Thanks for being a loyal customer and per your Cruise  Contract we can cancel at any time.   No "yes it is going forward " or "no it is canceled."  An entire paragraph verbatim from the cruise Contract.   I felt like the response was very evasive and it makes me all the more think something is up...  I suspect they just don't know but have concerns the dry dock will run over.

 

I am on my phone and at a playground with my kids so can't cut and paste the lengthy letter.  Will try to do that in a couple of hours when I get home.  

[Eli_6]

And no insurance doesn't help us so no need to suggest that.  

[ninjacat123]

Following

[Eli_6]

Below is the email.  And, yes, it literally ends just as written below with a comma in it and without  anyone having their name signed to it.  Very weird. It is almost like an incomplete email was sent to me.... 

Happy Holidays Ms. -----------, 

Please accept our apologies, for the delayed response. Due to a higher than normal volume of correspondence our turnaround time is taking longer than usual. 

Thank you for taking the time to contact us and keep us informed. My name is Shelly and your email was shared with me as concerns of this nature fall under my area of responsibility and it is my absolute pleasure to be of assistance. Please know that our Executive team has an obligation to delegate certain responsibilities. While they are kept informed of guests' feedback, comments and concerns; requests of this nature will continue to be forwarded to my attention for handling as they fall under my purview.

First, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for your ------------ loyalty, continued support and valuable feedback. Without loyal guests such as you, we recognize we would not be where we are as a company, today. For that, we say "thank you".

We empathize with your comments and concerns regarding your Carnival Pride 05.28.2023 bookings # ----------- and # ------------- and we recommend our guests purchase Carnival’s Vacation Protection Plan as a safeguard from financial losses. 

 

 As noted in your Cruise Ticket Contract https://www.carnival.com/about-carnival/legal-notice/ticket-contract.aspx?icid=CC_Footer_84

Carnival may change the duration and/or itinerary of the cruise at any time. The Vessel shall be entitled to leave and enter ports with or without pilots or tugs, to tow and assist other vessels in any circumstances, to return to or enter any port at the Master’s discretion and for any purpose, and to deviate in any direction or for any purpose from the direct or usual course, and to omit or change any or all port calls, arrival or departure times, with or without notice, for any reason whatsoever, including but not limited to health and safety, security, adverse weather, hurricanes, tornadoes, strikes, tides, hostilities, civil unrest, port closings, emergency debarkations of Guests or crew, late air, sea, car or motor coach departures or arrivals, mechanical breakdowns, declared pandemics, public health emergencies or outbreak of communicable disease, quarantines, national or regional emergencies, US or foreign governmental advisories or travel warnings, all such deviations being considered as forming part of and included in the proposed voyage. Except as provided in Clause 8(c) with respect to mechanical failures, Clause 5(e) for COVID-19, as provided in Carnival’s change of itinerary policy in effect when the Guest or Guest’s agent accepts the terms of this Ticket Contract, or as required by federal regulations, Carnival shall have no liability for any compensation or other damages in such circumstances for any change in itinerary,

[ninjacat123]

Weird.  At least it was personalized with a "Happy Holidays" which acknowledges that it is December.  Everything else looks copy and paste.

[Eli_6]

Just now, ninjacat123 said:

Weird.  At least it was personalized with a "Happy Holidays" which acknowledges that it is December.  Everything else looks copy and paste.

Copy and pasted and they forgot to add the salutation, lol! 😂

[ninjacat123]

Are you using miles to buy airfare?  I have Fly2Fun added to my final payment.  If Carnival cancels (which would suck) at least my airfare is on them.  My cruise on Pride is Oct 18, 2023.  I'm watching all this with fingers crossed that it goes well for you!

Edited December 21, 2022 by ninjacat123

[TxTeach79]

Wow. That's not great. Ill wind blowing for sure. JH has given me and a few others a "your cruise is definitely going forward!" on facebook, but I doubt he really knows. 

 

I suspect you're right, and they're concerned about how long the drydock will run. What was originally a two week DD is now four, so who knows what's up. Still, this far in advance, with everything in their control, it's highly frustrating not knowing. 

 

I'd look into Fly2Fun, but we were planning a few days before and after in Barcelona and London. 

[rhammond]

Unfortunately, these rumors almost always prove to be true. I've had multiple cancelled cruises that have started this way.

 

Too bad I didn't check the forums sooner, I just booked my flights yesterday! I hope they give us a definite answer soon so we can re-book.

[luv2trvlnow]

1 hour ago, ninjacat123 said:

Are you using miles to buy airfare?  I have Fly2Fun added to my final payment.  If Carnival cancels (which would suck) at least my airfare is on them.  My cruise on Pride is Oct 18, 2023.  I'm watching all this with fingers crossed that it goes well for you!

I am on the 2 cruises just before you.  On a different site people have been talking about not being able to book Fly2Fun.  When they call Carnival several have been told to just book the airfare themselves.  This also sounds strange.  And we are nowhere near the drydock time.  All round trip cruises from Rome have also disappeared from Carnival and from all port schedules.

[ninjacat123]

1 hour ago, TxTeach79 said:

Wow. That's not great. Ill wind blowing for sure. JH has given me and a few others a "your cruise is definitely going forward!" on facebook, but I doubt he really knows. 

 

I suspect you're right, and they're concerned about how long the drydock will run. What was originally a two week DD is now four, so who knows what's up. Still, this far in advance, with everything in their control, it's highly frustrating not knowing. 

 

I'd look into Fly2Fun, but we were planning a few days before and after in Barcelona and London. 

 

31 minutes ago, luv2trvlnow said:

I am on the 2 cruises just before you.  On a different site people have been talking about not being able to book Fly2Fun.  When they call Carnival several have been told to just book the airfare themselves.  This also sounds strange.  And we are nowhere near the drydock time.  All round trip cruises from Rome have also disappeared from Carnival and from all port schedules.

Yeah, I just booked Fly2Fun to Rome arriving 4 days before embarkation and then leaving the day after embarkation through my PVP a week ago.  I was only allowed to book round trip to Rome, which I wanted to fly roundtrip to Venice but I thought the rate is pretty good and I don't have to pay for it till final payment.  We'll see how it goes....🤞

[jsglow]

We have our Fly2Fun for B2B out of Dover 'booked' but have yet to receive any form of confirmation apart from the line item on our Invoice.  It's been about 10 days and after the holidays my crack PVP is going to 'get to the bottom of it' with corporate.  It shows our F2F on her computer as 'pending'.  We know the flights just from the interaction to book them into the computer but still don't have any paperwork.  Plenty of time but a tad disconcerting. Our B2B is late August.

[TxTeach79]

26 minutes ago, jsglow said:

We have our Fly2Fun for B2B out of Dover 'booked' but have yet to receive any form of confirmation apart from the line item on our Invoice.  It's been about 10 days and after the holidays my crack PVP is going to 'get to the bottom of it' with corporate.  It shows our F2F on her computer as 'pending'.  We know the flights just from the interaction to book them into the computer but still don't have any paperwork.  Plenty of time but a tad disconcerting. Our B2B is late August.

 

Yikes. Thanks for the info. Really curious how this shakes out. Or more WHEN it shakes out really.

[BlerkOne]

33 minutes ago, jsglow said:

We have our Fly2Fun for B2B out of Dover 'booked' but have yet to receive any form of confirmation apart from the line item on our Invoice.  It's been about 10 days and after the holidays my crack PVP is going to 'get to the bottom of it' with corporate.  It shows our F2F on her computer as 'pending'.  We know the flights just from the interaction to book them into the computer but still don't have any paperwork.  Plenty of time but a tad disconcerting. Our B2B is late August.

I don't think Carnival is going to confirm until after you pay for the flights. You can certainly do that before final payment for the cruise.

[jsglow]

2 minutes ago, TxTeach79 said:

 

Yikes. Thanks for the info. Really curious how this shakes out. Or more WHEN it shakes out really.

What's weird Tx is that many of the folks scheduled for this summer on Pride are getting unusual signals.  Ports cancelled on the schedules; F2F flights that aren't showing up normally; Sold Out signs for all 3 Rome cruises in October, fully 10 months from now... really? 

I'm no conspiracy theorist but it is getting a little weird.

It's great folks bring there stories here.  We all stay better informed that way.   

[jsglow]

Just now, BlerkOne said:

I don't think Carnival is going to confirm until after you pay for the flights. You can certainly do that before final payment for the cruise.

I certainly know we won't be ticketed yet but to simply have some paperwork in the anticipated itinerary?  I mean I know it in my head, sort of.

[BlerkOne]

4 minutes ago, jsglow said:

I certainly know we won't be ticketed yet but to simply have some paperwork in the anticipated itinerary?  I mean I know it in my head, sort of.

i just added someone to a Carnival cruise and flight  (not Pride) and Carnival couldn't add the flight unless I told them what I had already booked. It's crazy but you can get good prices (sometimes). I also don't like that they only book coach flights - I can't upgrade with the airline until after I pay Carnival. At  least that was what I was told today. That isn't how it works with Princess, Celebrity, Holland and others I have booked airfare through.

 

For now I'm keeping the flight booked through Carnival, but also booked a backup (and better) flight with FF miles, albeit more than I wanted to use. But have assigned seats on that flight and can upgrade anytime. I'll do that after Jan 1st.

[EllieinNJ]

I am also on the May 28th Pride.  I was one of the people who asked John Heald about this cruise and he told me we were definitely going.  Then I read that some say he is sometimes wrong so I wrote to the customer service department and got a reply to just check with my TA. 

 

[shiner6]

Wow!  This really makes me nervous, as we have B2B scheduled for June.  Will be watching. Thank you for posting.  Fingers crossed.

[Sailin_Pirate]

2 hours ago, EllieinNJ said:

I am also on the May 28th Pride.  I was one of the people who asked John Heald about this cruise and he told me we were definitely going.  Then I read that some say he is sometimes wrong so I wrote to the customer service department and got a reply to just check with my TA. 

 

JH is a spokesperson he can only say/share what his bosses allow him to say/share. Him being "wrong" is usually him just saying what he is told to say.

 

[EllieinNJ]

45 minutes ago, shiner6 said:

Wow!  This really makes me nervous, as we have B2B scheduled for June.  Will be watching. Thank you for posting.  Fingers crossed.

We are also on the B2B in June.  I was watching air fares for some months and the prices barely came down so wound up using miles plus cash.  I have also paid an additional amount toward this cruise because of a special credit card promotion.  I'm scheduled for another payment on this promotion in January but I might put it on the June cruise instead.  The promotion is for any travel.  I have pre paid the internet but didn't purchase any excursions yet.

 

Now I'm a little worried about the June 9th sailing seeing some who have Pride sailings later in the year may be having unusual signals, although it is still bookable and it is on all the port schedules, unlike the May 28th Pride cruise.

[BlerkOne]

3 hours ago, EllieinNJ said:

I am also on the May 28th Pride.  I was one of the people who asked John Heald about this cruise and he told me we were definitely going.  Then I read that some say he is sometimes wrong so I wrote to the customer service department and got a reply to just check with my TA. 

 

If you book through a travel agent, you are supposed to contact the travel agent and not Carnival. You should not be surprised by the reply or read anything into it.

[TxTeach79]

4 hours ago, EllieinNJ said:

I am also on the May 28th Pride.  I was one of the people who asked John Heald about this cruise and he told me we were definitely going.  Then I read that some say he is sometimes wrong so I wrote to the customer service department and got a reply to just check with my TA. 

 

 

Yep, @BlerkOne beat me to it and is exactly right. I used to work in the business on both sides, and if you're booked through a TA, the cruise line can't generally assist you directly before the sailing. The good news is, if I were you I'd lean into my TA to try and get some answers, cause they'll definitely talk to them!

[Eli_6]

On 12/21/2022 at 3:24 PM, ninjacat123 said:

Are you using miles to buy airfare?  I have Fly2Fun added to my final payment.  If Carnival cancels (which would suck) at least my airfare is on them.  My cruise on Pride is Oct 18, 2023.  I'm watching all this with fingers crossed that it goes well for you!

Yes, and a friend fly free with BA.  However, there are still 2k in fees associated with every ticket.  They are the lay flat business class beds.  Without the miles and friend fly free, they are about 6k a ticket.  But BA told me they will refund money and miles me so long as I cancel 24 hours before the flight. However, my husband has already taken off work so we might as well go on some sort of vacation.  If they let us know far enough in advance, I want to switch to the Venezia TA.  

[Eli_6]

7 hours ago, EllieinNJ said:

I am also on the May 28th Pride.  I was one of the people who asked John Heald about this cruise and he told me we were definitely going.  Then I read that some say he is sometimes wrong so I wrote to the customer service department and got a reply to just check with my TA. 

 

This is so weird because I booked through a TA and I got the letter I posted above.  Not that it tells us anything...