Booking through Carnival vs. TA

[RadChick]

Does anyone know whether Carnival will attempt to compete with TA quotes? I am trying to book a cruise in April and the TA quotes I have are a solid 15% cheaper than Carnival's lowest posted internet rate. I don't want to call them and waste their time and mine if the general response tends to be NO. :)

[Traveler353]

The only way you will know is if you make the call. No one here knows what a Carnivil rep will tell you. Let us know how it turns out.

[gargoyle999]

No they don't. What you see on the Carnival website is what you get if booking direct.

[zqvol]

Does anyone know whether Carnival will attempt to compete with TA quotes? I am trying to book a cruise in April and the TA quotes I have are a solid 15% cheaper than Carnival's lowest posted internet rate. I don't want to call them and waste their time and mine if the general response tends to be NO. :)

 

Be aware that you are probably booking into a group, and that all kinds of things can happen.

[Caribbean Grouper]

No they don't. What you see on the Carnival website is what you get if booking direct.

 

What about Carnival's price protection guarantee. http://www.carnival.com/CMS/fun/cruise_control/guarantee.aspx

[jonbgd]

I have asked my PVP to match and he has said he cant But be carefull with some TA make sure you can get price drops without penalty

[firefly333]

What about Carnival's price protection guarantee. http://www.carnival.com/CMS/fun/cruise_control/guarantee.aspx

 

that has to do with posted prices.

 

The OP is probably getting a TA who is cutting prices by cutting their commission. No, Carnival wouldnt match it ... or if the TA is quoting a group price.

 

If the OP was seeing it on the internet, then it would probably match Carnivals, since Carnival doesnt allow advertising lower prices. .. they rarely would have to give the 110% match.

[travelntreats]

Be aware that you are probably booking into a group, and that all kinds of things can happen.

Not necessaruly.... the agent may be rebating commission. And not always is being booked into a group a "bad" thing ! :rolleyes:

[RadChick]

I don't know what the "booked into a group" thing means?? These are quotes from a popular cruise website that lets you puts in your data and sends you multiple quotes.

 

I will probably just call them and see. I know that nobody can tell me what a Carnival rep would say. I was just wondering if anyone had experience with it, that's all.

[travelntreats]

Carnival is NOT going to match your TA discounted quote unless it is a fare that they also can offer.

 

If booked into a group... it merely means that you will be included into a group of staterooms that the TA has pre purchased or locked in at a lower fare than currently being offered.

 

Also you want to make sure you understand all the agencies policies regarding cancellation/change fee's, willing to lower fares if applicable before final payment, etc. Also if you book with any TA, understand that they are in control of your booking and the cruiseline will not discuss your booking with you over the phone. :)

[RadChick]

Oh yeah, I know about the pitfalls of the TA vs Carnival. We had an awful experience with a TA for the last cruise I took a month ago. I booked three cabins for myself and my friends. When the TA read the information back to me it was correct, but someone she screwed it up with Carnival and booked one of the men with the wrong name! She used his last name as his first name, and another one of the men's last name as his. ACK! After it was booked and I discovered her error, they actually tried to make me pay the $50 change fee!!! I argued and argued, all the way up to the OWNER of the travel agency. It wasn't my fault, why should I have to pay. It ended up fine, but it was crappy. I guess that could have happened directly through Carnival too though.