HELP! Need to get rid of cruise?

[sunluva]

Ok, so here's the story. My best friend booked a Carnival cruise for 2/7/10 on Victory out of San Juan. Cruise is paid in full. She got a balcony.

Her and her boyfriend split up and she had nobody to go with so she was taking her daughter. Carnival charged $250 to change BF's name to DD's name. Not a big deal. Well.... since moving out of BF's house, she is now paying her own rent, bills, etc... and now car broke down. She can no longer afford the airfare to San Juan. (i know... soap opera...!) She cannot get a refund??? Something about early saver? I don't know... I've never cruised with Carnival, I am not sure about all this. I am looking for suggestions. She is a single mom of 2 kids and I hate to see her lose out on $1600. She has tried asking friends to buy the cruise. What now? Can we try to sell cheap on Craigslist or something?

Is that even possible? Are there any ways that Carnival would give her some money back, or even credit on a different/future cruise?

She just wants to "forget it" and chalk it up to a bad experience. But I don't want her to give up. There must be something she can do.

Comments/suggestions would be appreciated.

[stephic411]

I really doubt she would get a refund with early saver. She could try to sell the tickets for a lot less money I guess? If I was her and if she already paid over $1,000 to go..then maybe she should go around begging for money for the plane tickets? That is what I would do because look at all the money she would now be wasting by not going. I don't have kids but I would go without my car and only eat roman noodles if it was me..ha. Good luck to her though..that is very sad:(

[Chacooe]

Did she take out travelers insurance? If she does cancel 30 days before sailing she will get 50% of her cost back minus the deposit, or she may want to just cancel this cruise and she can book another one within a year and she would only have to pay $50.00 per person to change it. She might then want to consider instead of flying to San Juan, leave out of a port in the states that also returns to the states so she does not have to worry about plane fare to San Juan. Did she book through Carnival or a Travel Agent?

[firefly333]

The reason it cost her $250 to change names was because early saver doesnt allow name changes, so they lost the first deposit .... now sounds like they will lose the rest of her money because even if they cancel, the they only get part of the money back, so the deposit is lost, because they are beyond final payment.

 

Tell your friend to read the cancel terms and see how much she can get back. She is already going to lose 3 deposits ... it didnt cost her $250 to change names, it was $250 to lose the first deposit. Sounds like your friend needs some money conseling and to have read the terms of early saver before she booked.

 

I hope she can find the money to fly to San Juan. Its the economy and hard times are hitting I guess, sorry for your friend. She can still get back part of her money by cancelling now.

 

If she needs the cancellation terms I can post them here ... the carnival site is acting up or Id post them now. Sorry again that hard times have fallen on your friend.

[firefly333]

Did she take out travelers insurance? If she does cancel 30 days before sailing she will get 50% of her cost back minus the deposit, or she may want to just cancel this cruise and she can book another one within a year and she would only have to pay $50.00 per person to change it. She might then want to consider instead of flying to San Juan, leave out of a port in the states that also returns to the states so she does not have to worry about plane fare to San Juan. Did she book through Carnival or a Travel Agent?

 

Sounds to me like she is past final payment, so standard cancellation penalties apply ... she cant just cancel and pay $50 to change to another cruise. Those terms only apply before final payment.

[firefly333]

Here is the cancellation terms for a 7 day which is what I assume your friend has.

 

6, 7 and 8 day cruises Up to 76 days None (except for Early Saver Fares*)

75 to 30 days Deposit

29 to 8 days 50% of Total Fare

7 days or less 100% of total fare

 

So, she can get back all but her deposit ... up until 8 days then its 50% back..

 

She would need to cancel before Jan 7th to just lose her deposit. .. Im not sure what you want Carnival to do ... your friend can still cancel and get back all but her deposit right now.

[Chacooe]

Sounds to me like she is past final payment, so standard cancellation penalties apply ... she cant just cancel and pay $50 to change to another cruise. Those terms only apply before final payment.

 

You are right, I forgot about that. Thank you so much for posting the cancellation timetable as well, I tried to find it but Carnival site is acting up.

[GottaLuvCruising]

Changing both names is not an option. Carnival would consider that a cancellation and rebooking.

[Mrs.C05]

I would do what is best for her situation, but would hate to see her lose out on $250 deposit, and possibily half the cruise fare. Has she already cancelled? She has 8 days to cancel and get all but her deposit back!!! She better do it quick before the 30 day mark comes and she loses half her cruise fare.

[agmakar]

Here is the cancellation terms for a 7 day which is what I assume your friend has.

 

 

 

So, she can get back all but her deposit ... up until 8 days then its 50% back..

 

She would need to cancel before Jan 7th to just lose her deposit. .. Im not sure what you want Carnival to do ... your friend can still cancel and get back all but her deposit right now.

 

I hope she reads this soon.. Times' a wasting for her. I would cancel NOW and chalk it up to experience.

[Mrs.C05]

I hope she reads this soon.. Times' a wasting for her. I would cancel NOW and chalk it up to experience.

 

I agree!!!

[bplazo]

I really do not see much benefit for the early saver program.

 

I do not think that you can sell the cruise on craigslist because I thought that one original person's name has to stay on the reservation.

[CruzVinnieCruz]

I really do not see much benefit for the early saver program.

 

I do not think that you can sell the cruise on craigslist because I thought that one original person's name has to stay on the reservation.

 

The benefit is only 30% of reservations turn into bookings without a deposit. Now a reservation with a deposit that number goes to 90% then add a penalty on top of that the booking number is probably as close as they can get to 100%. The cruise line is willing to offer a discount to almost guarantee a booking.

[sunluva]

Thanks to everyone!

She was well aware of the cancellation terms. (She booked directly through Carnival) But I think she thinks

that she can't cancel at all. She was just going to "not show up" at the ship. So what you are telling me, is that eventhough she booked Early Saver, there's a chance she can get SOME of her money back?! That would be great news. She's thinking a total of $1600 down the tubes.

If she could get $500 back, I'd be happy for her! So would she.

I will have her call today and talk to Carnival.

I have cruised LOTS and informed her to let me help her book a cruise.

This was her second. Told her not to go to San Juan... flights are more expensive. Didn't listen. Told her to not go school break week in Feb as rates are higher. Didn't listen. So in a way, it's her loss. But... she's my BF, what can I say? Hope she learned from this experience.

(and I always buy trip insurance, but she couldnt afford it) I asked her if she could afford to lose out on a cruise. Oh well. Live and Learn.

I bet next time she calls me to help her book a cruise!:rolleyes:

[bplazo]

I do not think that insurance would help in her case unless it was cancelling for any reason .

[firefly333]

I really do not see much benefit for the early saver program.

 

I do not think that you can sell the cruise on craigslist because I thought that one original person's name has to stay on the reservation.

 

If its booked Early Saver NO name changes are allowed. I see two people mentioning one person has to stay the same ... thats why the OP had to pay a whole new deposit of $250 to change the person the first time ... NO NAME CHANGES with ES. This rule seems to keep getting lost in the fine print.

[NCTribeFan]

I really don't know if the ES is worth all the hassle, unless you are 100% absolutely positive about who will be sailing with you and that absolutely NOTHING will come up that could cause you to need to cancel/change the booking.

 

People jump on this rate because they see that it's a few dollars less, and then gripe about being bothered to submit the forms for the price drops, and complain when they want to change names in a cabin (not talking about the OP), and all the other stuff that's been posted here over the months since this fare was implemented.

 

I'd almost bet that Carnival is making more off fees on this fare than they're giving back on price drops. They're getting people to book far in advance and they're getting people to book using this fare when it really isn't suited to their situation.

[rvrgirl]

I really don't know if the ES is worth all the hassle, unless you are 100% absolutely positive about who will be sailing with you and that absolutely NOTHING will come up that could cause you to need to cancel/change the booking.

 

People jump on this rate because they see that it's a few dollars less, and then gripe about being bothered to submit the forms for the price drops, and complain when they want to change names in a cabin (not talking about the OP), and all the other stuff that's been posted here over the months since this fare was implemented.

 

I'd almost bet that Carnival is making more off fees on this fare than they're giving back on price drops. They're getting people to book far in advance and they're getting people to book using this fare when it really isn't suited to their situation.

 

I agree! It's not worth it IMO.....there is no absolutes in this world.........

They are making up for all the losses due to the many cancellations from the year before when the economy took a dump.........

It's not that big of a savings and regular bookings can get price drops also.........

[hlb76]

I too hope it al works out. I know how when it rains it pours we have plenty of rain this summer. but now all seems to be better.

 

We normally dont book our cruises until 6-12 weeks before. It is a hassle for us to pay in full and not as much time to prepare as well. But we are a very busy family and work is not always easy to get away for a week. So we have to wait until all are ducks are in a row and checked twice. Then just pray nothing else comes up. We go crazy until the moment we board the ship then we can finally be at ease.

 

Each year I say we should book earlier to give us more time to pay for it. I just dont know if its worth it will all we stand to loose ( by reading these posts) I guess it really is all the same the $$ we would be making payments to CCL just goes into our travel fund to be saved.

[sunluva]

I really don't know if the ES is worth all the hassle, unless you are 100% absolutely positive about who will be sailing with you and that absolutely NOTHING will come up that could cause you to need to cancel/change the booking.

 

People jump on this rate because they see that it's a few dollars less, and then gripe about being bothered to submit the forms for the price drops, and complain when they want to change names in a cabin (not talking about the OP), and all the other stuff that's been posted here over the months since this fare was implemented.

 

I'd almost bet that Carnival is making more off fees on this fare than they're giving back on price drops. They're getting people to book far in advance and they're getting people to book using this fare when it really isn't suited to their situation.

 

You are SO talking about my BF! She saw the rate and jumped on it.

Never reading about anything about it and why it was cheaper. After she booked it, I researched it for her and found out all this stuff. (I have never cruised Carnival, so was not aware of what ES was).

She would be the poster child of why NOT to book Easy Saver. Unreliable cruise partner going with her and both financially unstable.

[A&Jfamily]

I really don't know if the ES is worth all the hassle, unless you are 100% absolutely positive about who will be sailing with you and that absolutely NOTHING will come up that could cause you to need to cancel/change the booking.

 

People jump on this rate because they see that it's a few dollars less, and then gripe about being bothered to submit the forms for the price drops, and complain when they want to change names in a cabin (not talking about the OP), and all the other stuff that's been posted here over the months since this fare was implemented.

 

I'd almost bet that Carnival is making more off fees on this fare than they're giving back on price drops. They're getting people to book far in advance and they're getting people to book using this fare when it really isn't suited to their situation.

 

In defense of Early Saver, for people like us, it has been great. We are both government employees, so we get off when we take off. We travel as a family and there are 4 (5 if mom comes), so the numbers and names don't change. We pay for the cruise with our tax return money, so I know that is covered. We get trip insurance to cover illness/injury/death that would prevent us for taking the cruise. If you fit this type of profile, it is great. And no, the price drop for takes 2 seconds to fill out - it is no big deal.

 

If you are booking with a boyfriend or friend, or your work or employment status is subject to change, then I agree, ES is probably not for you.

[eggypann]

I really do not see much benefit for the early saver program. quote]

 

The benefit is saving money on the cruise initially and being able to save more money when the rates go down. Our group of 14 has had several price decreases with the OV rooms going from $539 to $499 and the Balc rooms going from $729 to $610!! Two of the initial group ended up having to cancel but they knew the consequences and we found two more ladies more than happy to join us!

[jayesouthworth]

WOW! And who said Carnival isn't making a profit? Maybe they are betting that a certain percentage of passengers will not show up or cancel. Buyers remorse..... :( I hope it works out okay for your friend..

[sunluva]

Thanks for all of your comments/suggestions!

I will let you know how it all works out and what happened.

 

Kim

[salty dingo]

I really do not see much benefit for the early saver program.

Me neither! Do group cruises, and you will get a better price than ES without all the hassles. No need to price-watch for reductions, either! It's a bunch of hooey!