Do Solo Cruisers Feel Discriminated Against By Carnival

[letscruisegd]

Wow, yeah, that definitely looks a lot different from the other photos I've seen! Thanks for posting that! The booking site photos do make the room seem quite tiny.

You're welcome. Here are a few pics of a 1A room on a Fantasy class ship (Fascination). Although this room is smaller than the 1A on the Destiny, it's not as tiny as the booking site photos make them appear. BTW, this is an inside room so a wall is behind the curtain.

 

 

 

[Quampapetet]

Actually, RCL also includes port charges in the cruisefare .... as do ALL cruiselines for over 10 years now. There was a class action lawsuit that it was (cant think of the word now) adding them on like they did in the old days. ... ALL cruiselines have to add port charges into the cruisefare. Its over $50 per port pp, so thats over $300 for 2 people in a cabin, and is too much to add on without showing it in the fare. FL AG brought them to court back in the 1990s...not sure when the last time you booked was, but its been added on for a pretty long time. I booked some cruises back in the 1980s before it was added in is why I know some of the port charges.

 

I wonder why they referred to them as "taxes and port charges" on my cruise a couple years ago then? :confused: Strange!

 

But if the charges are $50 per port and my Carnival cruise has four ports, that's $200 the cruiseline should automatically remove from all single bookings instead of them pocketing the amount! Plus the cost of food for the imaginary person.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I wonder why they referred to them as "taxes and port charges" on my cruise a couple years ago then? :confused: Strange!

 

But if the charges are $50 per port and my Carnival cruise has four ports, that's $200 the cruiseline should automatically remove from all single bookings instead of them pocketing the amount! Plus the cost of food for the imaginary person.

 

In the Caribbean port charges are nowhere near $50 per port.

 

How do you determine the price of food per person?

 

Bill

[firefly333]

In the Caribbean port charges are nowhere near $50 per port.

 

How do you determine the price of food per person?

 

Bill

 

Even back in the 1980s, port charges ran $37 per port and up for the Bahamas and its gone up since then to average over $50 per port... TAs know the prices of the ports, they call it non commissionable rate of the cruise fare. There is a auction site that breaks out the port charges from the cruise fare, where they break out as much as $59 per port ... and you bid on the rest of the cruise fare, and they tack back on port charges plus the usual taxes and fees.

 

Here is one thread that the TA broke out the port charges to the OP and got them confused .... usually the TA dosnt show port charges (better known as non commisional part of the cruise fare).

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1037877

 

TAs only get paid on the part of the cruise fare that isnt port charges ... so they know ... food isnt broken out ... but port charges are because Carnival doesnt pay TAs commission on it.

[firefly333]

I wonder why they referred to them as "taxes and port charges" on my cruise a couple years ago then? :confused: Strange!

 

But if the charges are $50 per port and my Carnival cruise has four ports, that's $200 the cruiseline should automatically remove from all single bookings instead of them pocketing the amount! Plus the cost of food for the imaginary person.

 

I agree, and Carnival used to remove the noncommisionable part of the cruise fare (port charges) from the 2nd cruisefare up until a year ago last summer. They were sneaky, and changed how they calculated the solo fare summer of 2008 and hardly anyone here noticed it or complained.

 

Now even on the 150% for a 1A you are paying 1/2 of the port charges and no one knows it so they dont complain. The 150% used to come to a smaller amount when they subtracted out the noncommionable part of the cruise fare.

[Quampapetet]

In the Caribbean port charges are nowhere near $50 per port.

 

How do you determine the price of food per person?

 

Bill

 

The cruise line knows exactly what the price of food per person per day is. They buy the food for the ship. I know ppl have posted on these boards in the past either what it is or what they estimate it to be. I don't know what the figures for Carnival are, but the cruise line certainly could take it out of the fare if they wanted to.

[Quampapetet]

I agree, and Carnival used to remove the noncommisionable part of the cruise fare (port charges) from the 2nd cruisefare up until a year ago last summer. They were sneaky, and changed how they calculated the solo fare summer of 2008 and hardly anyone here noticed it or complained.

 

Now even on the 150% for a 1A you are paying 1/2 of the port charges and no one knows it so they dont complain. The 150% used to come to a smaller amount when they subtracted out the noncommionable part of the cruise fare.

 

That stinks. :(

 

I know Carnival was nice enough to lower the price of my (solo) cabin by $200 - maybe that's what they did, take out the excess port charges (we're going to four ports). I was thinking maybe they did it 'cause they already know what the lowest price they are going to offer the cabin for is, but maybe they did the port charge thing instead. Either way, it was good of them to do. (I booked ES and asked for the $20 difference in price that showed up one day [other than that, the price I booked at has been the lowest I have seen my cabin category at since I started looking early this year]. Because I am with a group, I guess I didn't qualify, but they offered the $200 less price and I took it [via my TA].)

[Haligonian]

Solo cruisers who own 100+ shares of Carnival stock get an on-board credit when sailing any of Carnival's brands. RCCL shareholders get on-board credit ONLY if the cabin they've booked has TWO or more passengers booked in it.

[Quampapetet]

Solo cruisers who own 100+ shares of Carnival stock get an on-board credit when sailing any of Carnival's brands. RCCL shareholders get on-board credit ONLY if the cabin they've booked has TWO or more passengers booked in it.

 

That's crazy. Doesn't RCCL get that not everybody wants or can have or can get a second passenger in their room? :rolleyes:

 

I don't have stock in either company, so it doesn't effect me, but RCCL should change that policy. Although, I guess somebody could book Mr. Invisible and have him be a no-show (pun intended, haha).

[Tom Crusin]

Solo cruisers who own 100+ shares of Carnival stock get an on-board credit when sailing any of Carnival's brands. RCCL shareholders get on-board credit ONLY if the cabin they've booked has TWO or more passengers booked in it.

That's not true. I sailed RCCL on 8/31/09 and 10/26/09 and got the shareholder OBC both times as a single.

 

I even posted earlier in this thread that my 10/26 cruise on RCCL Monarch was advertised at $220 * 2 = double occupancy at the time I booked or $440 for the cabin. I was able to get it for $174 senior rate (plus OF COURSE only 1 tax & port fee). That was 79% of the advertised rate !!!!

[Haligonian]

Here is the link to the RCL Sharehold benefit page: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9MTYwOTd8Q2hpbGRJRD0tMXxUeXBlPTM=&t=1

 

If you read the small print at the bottom by the asterisk, you will see that a solo has to pay 200% (ie. two full fares) to receive the OBC.

 

I tried as a solo cruiser to get the benefit with a 175% Single-surcharge fare, and was flatly told by RCL staff that unless I paid 200% I was entitled to NO benefit. So I sailed Carnival instead!

[Haligonian]

Oh yah, and see point #4 on the RCL FAQ Shareholder Benefit page...it explicitly states "double occupancy" as a requirement for receipt of the benefit.

 

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=103045&p=irol-shareholderbenefit

[Tom Crusin]

Here is the link to the RCL Sharehold benefit page: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9MTYwOTd8Q2hpbGRJRD0tMXxUeXBlPTM=&t=1

 

If you read the small print at the bottom by the asterisk, you will see that a solo has to pay 200% (ie. two full fares) to receive the OBC.

Well I didn't !!!

 

I paid:

 

Fare: $174.00

Tax & Port Fees: $57.90

Investor OBC: -$50.00

 

[southbayer]

I don't know about 25% or 50% supplements... All I know is when I book a cruise, and it shows a rate of $559, and then I click 1 person, it jumps to $1118.00, so to me, that means double.

Only time I get a dirt cheap single rate is like a week or so before sailing, and thier dumping rates on some cruises. Otherwise, I always pay double.

[Tom Crusin]

I just went to the RCCL website and chose a cruise at random:

 

Dec. 7, Majesty, the advertised rate is $184 double occupancy interior "K" rate if you plug in 2 passengers.

 

Then go back and plug in 1. I then got a rate of $174 TOTAL.

[Tom Crusin]

Oh yah, and see point #4 on the RCL FAQ Shareholder Benefit page...it explicitly states "double occupancy" as a requirement for receipt of the benefit.

 

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=103045&p=irol-shareholderbenefit

I submitted proof. Do you need more?

 

Want proof of my OTHER (8/31 sailing)?

 

Want my credit card statement?

 

You think $299.90 includes 2 fares, 2 taxes & port fees, 2 pre-paid gratuities, 2 insurance?

 

I think not, It was for 1. I should know better than you. It was just me !