Princess Aussie Cancellation Policy

[rugbypopsie]

I just received this reply from Carnival...in Australia we must pay 30% of the fare as deposit and there are no refunds or transfers or substitutions of any kind. Nor is there any concession for discounts due to currency fluctuations.

 

":mad:Carnival Corporation is an American/British company, of which Carnival Australia is a wholly owned subsidiary.

 

The parent corporation, 'Carnival plc' is listed on both the New York and London Stock Exchanges.

 

That means there are a number of influences in terms of procedure...some are from the British model and some from the American; depending on the particular brand. Carnival Australia looks at the policies from both the US and UK models and we tailor our local products and policies to what we feel is appropriate for this market.

 

The Princess brand is an American company, originally designed for Americans and largely promoted to Americans; but growing in popularity with Australian and New Zealand travellers (and rightly so; it is an excellent product that suits many 'Kiwi' and 'Aussie' travellers).

 

I understand you have concerns about our deposit and cancellation policies; these have been developed over a long period of time but are always subject to review. It is a goal of Carnival Australia to be a world-leader in the cruise industry and our passengers are the most important part of our business. Those policies are not necessarily the same for all our locations around the world.

 

Princess in Los Angeles determine the alcohol policies and limitations for their ships; and these also differ from brand to brand (i.e. Cunard, Seabourn, P&O Cruises, Princess etc.) That is not something our Australian office is able to modify. We only control the 'berthing' for our local ships, which we do not allow any alcohol to be brought onboard.

 

Some other cruise companies (not affiliated with Carnival Corporation) may allow reductions in cruise fare due to exchange rate fluctuations but I am not aware of any Carnival affiliated company offering that. It may be that on occasion for US travellers, if a booking is made on a certain promotional fare and that exact same promotional fare reduces at a later stage in time, their booking may automatically reduce accordingly. However in this market, I am not aware of the exact same promotion being one price one day and a lower price another.

[Toto2Kansas]

We have friends in Sydney, for years they have complained about how things are IF they book in AU for their cruises. ;)