1st time cruiser- a few questions

[BGsMom]

This is our first cruise and we booked straight through Carnival last week for April 2010.

 

Question 1: I gave the PVP our info over the phone. We have 3 children, the oldest is a girl, the other 2 are boys. The info online lists them all as boys. I called back today and let them know that dd is female, but was listed male. The PVP I used was busy, so I was speaking to someone else, who assured me that it showed Child on his screen and that it didn't really matter if it showed male on dd's. Is this correct or do I need to call again and request it to be fixed? I do not want to get there and they won't let her board because her sex is wrong on their part. She has a unisex name, so that wouldn't be a give away that she should be a girl.

 

Question 2: PVP recommended booking early saver and gave me the risks of cancelling, but then said if we need to cancel, the amount we paid could be used for a future cruise in the next 12 months. We did book early saver, but now reading about it, I can't tell if we would need to cancel before final payment or not to transfer it to a future cruise.

 

Question3: Also how would insurance help with early saver? I have Carnival insurance right now, but have been looking at 3rd party insurance options. Do we need to make sure we get something that covers "any reason canceling" or would that not work with early saver?

 

Thanks for reading this and I hope these are dumb questions. I have searched and searched on this site, but I seem to get more confused on the early saver and insurance the more I read.

[paul929207]

I am sure you will get answers here, but if not, re-post on the Carnival board.

[uppitycats]

This is our first cruise and we booked straight through Carnival last week for April 2010.

 

Question 1: I gave the PVP our info over the phone. We have 3 children, the oldest is a girl, the other 2 are boys. The info online lists them all as boys. I called back today and let them know that dd is female, but was listed male. The PVP I used was busy, so I was speaking to someone else, who assured me that it showed Child on his screen and that it didn't really matter if it showed male on dd's. Is this correct or do I need to call again and request it to be fixed? I do not want to get there and they won't let her board because her sex is wrong on their part. She has a unisex name, so that wouldn't be a give away that she should be a girl.

 

Question 2: PVP recommended booking early saver and gave me the risks of cancelling, but then said if we need to cancel, the amount we paid could be used for a future cruise in the next 12 months. We did book early saver, but now reading about it, I can't tell if we would need to cancel before final payment or not to transfer it to a future cruise.

 

Question3: Also how would insurance help with early saver? I have Carnival insurance right now, but have been looking at 3rd party insurance options. Do we need to make sure we get something that covers "any reason canceling" or would that not work with early saver?

 

Thanks for reading this and I hope these are dumb questions. I have searched and searched on this site, but I seem to get more confused on the early saver and insurance the more I read.

 

I can't answer your questions that are specific to Carnival -- you should post on the Carnival board and hopefully someone there will help.

 

But as for insurance: You really need NOW to look at 3rd party insurance, and buy some right away, particularly if anyone in your family has any sort of health issues, "pre-existing conditions". That insurance is only available within 10-14 days of booking (although some companies extend out as far as a month-- you need to check).

 

You buy trip insurance for these reasons: because you can't afford to absorb the cost of your cruise should you have to cancel -- but not just the cruise. The airfare to the port, travel to/from the port, protection on board the ship should someone be injured and have to be medically evacuated (a HUGE expense), paying for health care on the ship (which is VERY expensive, and generally your regular health insurance won't cover it), cancellation of the trip if someone in your immediate family becomes ill or dies, and you need to stay home -- in other words, all sorts of reasons.

 

3rd party insurance will give you the money -- not "pre-pay" for a future cruise -- which, depending on why you might have had to cancel, you may not be able to go on, anyway. 3rd party insurance will reimburse you for costs that the cruise line insurance won't cover.

 

You can call any of the trip insurance companies you're considering, and ask these questions, just to be sure you know what you're buying before you buy it. They really can be quite helpful walking you through possible options, which I think are really important in your situation with your family.

[6rugrats]

This is our first cruise and we booked straight through Carnival last week for April 2010.

 

Question 1: I gave the PVP our info over the phone. We have 3 children, the oldest is a girl, the other 2 are boys. The info online lists them all as boys. I called back today and let them know that dd is female, but was listed male. The PVP I used was busy, so I was speaking to someone else, who assured me that it showed Child on his screen and that it didn't really matter if it showed male on dd's. Is this correct or do I need to call again and request it to be fixed? I do not want to get there and they won't let her board because her sex is wrong on their part. She has a unisex name, so that wouldn't be a give away that she should be a girl.

 

Question 2: PVP recommended booking early saver and gave me the risks of cancelling, but then said if we need to cancel, the amount we paid could be used for a future cruise in the next 12 months. We did book early saver, but now reading about it, I can't tell if we would need to cancel before final payment or not to transfer it to a future cruise.

 

Question3: Also how would insurance help with early saver? I have Carnival insurance right now, but have been looking at 3rd party insurance options. Do we need to make sure we get something that covers "any reason canceling" or would that not work with early saver?

 

Thanks for reading this and I hope these are dumb questions. I have searched and searched on this site, but I seem to get more confused on the early saver and insurance the more I read.

 

1. Don't think it matters if she's listed as a boy or girl

 

2. If you booked an Early Saver fare, you won't receive your deposit back if you cancel; the deposit is nonrefundable. See here and scroll down to Cancellation by Guest Section. This should answer your question also about timing of cancellation:

 

http://www.carnival.com/CMS/Static_Templates/ticket_contract.aspx

 

3. A refund for any reason policy means just that. I suggest you go to insuremytrip.com and start reading. Cancel for any reason coverage is usually expensive. You need to hurry on this, as with most policies, you have about 15 days from the date of your initial cruise deposit to be able to purchase cancel for any reason and be covered for a pre-existing condition.

[grandmato4]

This is our first cruise and we booked straight through Carnival last week for April 2010.

 

Question 1: I gave the PVP our info over the phone. We have 3 children, the oldest is a girl, the other 2 are boys. The info online lists them all as boys. I called back today and let them know that dd is female, but was listed male. The PVP I used was busy, so I was speaking to someone else, who assured me that it showed Child on his screen and that it didn't really matter if it showed male on dd's. Is this correct or do I need to call again and request it to be fixed? I do not want to get there and they won't let her board because her sex is wrong on their part. She has a unisex name, so that wouldn't be a give away that she should be a girl.

 

You should request again that it be fixed just to insure no problems.

 

Question 2: PVP recommended booking early saver and gave me the risks of cancelling, but then said if we need to cancel, the amount we paid could be used for a future cruise in the next 12 months. We did book early saver, but now reading about it, I can't tell if we would need to cancel before final payment or not to transfer it to a future cruise.

 

The entire amount will not be transferred to another sailing- there is a $50 pp fee you will loose. And the amount that can be used on another sailing does not count as your deposit for another sailing just so you are aware.

 

I beleive that you'd have to canel before final payment in order to transfer your deposit minus the $50 pp as after final payment you'd simply loose your entire deposit and more depending on the number of days before sailing that you cancelled.

 

Question3: Also how would insurance help with early saver? I have Carnival insurance right now, but have been looking at 3rd party insurance options. Do we need to make sure we get something that covers "any reason canceling" or would that not work with early saver?

 

Insurance usually won't help in most situations as rarely is the reason someone wants to cancel before final payment a reason covered under their insurance plan. Cancel for any reason insurance is much more expensive and usually only returns about 75% of the cost of what you are lossing anyways so do a cost analysis first to see if it would really benefit you to get cancel for any reason insurance should you need to cancel.

 

Thanks for reading this and I hope these are dumb questions. I have searched and searched on this site, but I seem to get more confused on the early saver and insurance the more I read.

 

Not dumb questions at all and good that you are trying to sort this all out before purchasing insurance. Just a thought to help you better next time. Ask your questions before booking a cruise to be sure you understand the answers before purchasing anything.;):) Enjoy our cruise!

[BGsMom]

Thank You for all your help. I will definitely get the insurance within the next few days. I thought I knew what I needed to know, but then I didn't really. I know I didn't know much about the insurance, because dh's mom (she has cruised several times) kept telling us not to get it. That they never get the insurance and so on. So I never really researched it much, until I joined here and read so much about it. I will definitely be better prepared next time. Thanks again!

[grandmato4]

Thank You for all your help. I will definitely get the insurance within the next few days. I thought I knew what I needed to know, but then I didn't really. I know I didn't know much about the insurance, because dh's mom (she has cruised several times) kept telling us not to get it. That they never get the insurance and so on. So I never really researched it much, until I joined here and read so much about it. I will definitely be better prepared next time. Thanks again!

 

Your DH's Mom isn't alone as many choose not to purchase insurance and many are lucky that they never need to file a claim. When they have researched and still make an educated decision not to purchase I do feel that is one thing but when they make that choice only because they don't beleive anything could go wrong for "them" not such a good choice IMHO.

 

So far we've never needed to file a claim but I realize that having said that our odds increase with every cruise we do. And also realize that it wouldn't take a major disaster to repay every penny we've ever spent on insurance and much more;)

 

Hope you never need to file an insurance claim and hope you enjoy every minute of your cruise!:)

[BGsMom]

Thanks again to all who (or is it whom, I can never remember) responded.

 

I did speak to my PVP and he changed the sex listed right away, so that is taken care of.

 

I read more on ES, and we don't plan on having to cancel unless something happened right before the trip, so I think we are okay there. I did understand about losing the $50 per person, just wasn't sure if it even could be transferred to another cruise once you were past final payment.

 

I did end up choosing a 3rd party insurance (travelex) and it did not cover any reason canceling. But the reasons listed, would be the only reasons we wouldn't go (sickness, death, etc) I mostly wanted it for peace of mind concerning medical, evacuation. We wouldn't be hurt financially if we lost the cost of the cruise, we would be if we racked up a huge medical bill while cruising.

 

So all of that has been taken care of and I really appreciate those taking the time to give advice.

 

Brandy