Carnival Price game is making me sick

[goldwinger88]

The present price drop on the Carnival Glory has me really upset.

 

Last Nov. I booked the Carnival Glory on May 24th out of Charleston with the Military rate of $849. I put down my deposit and made our payments. I paid the balance on March 25th which was the deadline.

Yesterday I find out that the price dropped down to $549/599. I immediately called my new PVP since I was not pleased with the person who originally booked my Glory cruise and had switched to the new one who is working on a group I am putting together on the Fantasy

She said the best Carnival would do was to upgrade us from a 8C to 8D which gave us a balcony on the Lido deck. We had a balcony on the Verandah deck.

That might be $100 difference, but does not make up for the remaining $450 -500.

 

We really like Carnival, and will continue to sail with them. But I am going to keep a very keen eye on how they do my bookings.

 

I've learned a valuable lesson, but it is still making me sick to my stomach.

[gargoyle999]

You should book using the Early Saver program if price drops after final payment are going to upset you. ;)

[amc80]

The present price drop on the Carnival Glory has me really upset.

 

Last Nov. I booked the Carnival Glory on May 24th out of Charleston with the Military rate of $849.

 

I have found that while the military rates used to be great deals, that's not really the case any more...early saver and past guest seems to be cheaper.

[Upandadam]

Sorry this happened to you. I hope you can allow the feelings to slide away so you can enjoy your cruise to the utmost.

[Cuizer2]

I have found that while the military rates used to be great deals, that's not really the case any more...early saver and past guest seems to be cheaper.

 

 

I see you are on the last cruise the Carnival Spirit is going to make to Acapulco. I'll be debarking on the day you are embarking.

[Cuizer2]

The present price drop on the Carnival Glory has me really upset.

 

Last Nov. I booked the Carnival Glory on May 24th out of Charleston with the Military rate of $849. I put down my deposit and made our payments. I paid the balance on March 25th which was the deadline.

Yesterday I find out that the price dropped down to $549/599. I immediately called my new PVP since I was not pleased with the person who originally booked my Glory cruise and had switched to the new one who is working on a group I am putting together on the Fantasy

She said the best Carnival would do was to upgrade us from a 8C to 8D which gave us a balcony on the Lido deck. We had a balcony on the Verandah deck.

That might be $100 difference, but does not make up for the remaining $450 -500.

 

We really like Carnival, and will continue to sail with them. But I am going to keep a very keen eye on how they do my bookings.

 

I've learned a valuable lesson, but it is still making me sick to my stomach.

 

You should book using the Early Saver program if price drops after final payment are going to upset you. ;)

 

I have to agree with Gargoyle. If late price drops brother you this much, then book Early Saver.

[onthehighseas606]

I have found that while the military rates used to be great deals, that's not really the case any more...early saver and past guest seems to be cheaper.

 

Agreed.

[goldwinger88]

I would of had I known.

This is one of the reasons we changed PVP since the dude, that I had used was nothing more than a used car salesman.

Like I said early, I learned a valuable lesson from this mistake

[firefly333]

I would be sick too if my cruise price dropped $500 and I couldnt get the price drop. OP I feel for you.

 

No one likes that you cant get price drops on other rates. .. except probably Carnival who rubs their hands in glee.

[CruisingAgain]

You should book early saver OR don't look at the prices after your final payment!!! If you got the reduced rate what would be the point of anyone using early saver?

 

The other thing I don't understand ...and I know it's been said before - but you don't expect to get a refund if the airfare goes down. You don't expect to get a refund if something goes on sale a month after you purchased it. Then why a cruise refund???

[AdrenalineRush]

The other thing I don't understand ...and I know it's been said before - but you don't expect to get a refund if the airfare goes down. You don't expect to get a refund if something goes on sale a month after you purchased it. Then why a cruise refund???

Several airlines and many stores will indeed give you a refund/credit voucher if the price drop, so people do expect that from other businesses.

[firefly333]

I think folks are being too hard on the OP. He didnt know and no one told him the rules that he couldnt get price drop. heck, other cruiselines give them on all rates, RCL does.

 

Who could guess that only on one rate Carnival will give a price drop?? Not everyone lives on CC. Give the guy a break. I would feel terrible about booking $500 too high.

[cccer]

Cruising, I like your idea of not looking at the cruise prices. That is like asking someone on board how much did you pay for your cruise or how much did you pay for your airfare. Why open yourself up to be disappointed if you can't do anything about it?

[jfulcher]

You should book early saver OR don't look at the prices after your final payment!!! If you got the reduced rate what would be the point of anyone using early saver?

 

The other thing I don't understand ...and I know it's been said before - but you don't expect to get a refund if the airfare goes down. You don't expect to get a refund if something goes on sale a month after you purchased it. Then why a cruise refund???

 

Actually a lot of people do. And you can do it still on the airlines - after a $150 change fee of course.

[BO HANSON]

I found out the hard way about the difference with "early saver" and waiting till the last minute for bargain deals too. I have a paid in full, and the rates went down............... not as much as the OP's but, I couldn't get any OBC either. I'm a past guest as well.

 

...early saver from now on!

[cruisee<3]

i feel u on this one! i didn't know about early saver b/c i've only cruised w disney and rccl .. and i've always gotten plenty of obc w rccl .. and when my glory cruise price dropped by almost $200 i got denied and only then did i learn about "early saver" :( booo! and we don't get a upgrade b/c we booked interior gtd :( double boo!

[S.S.Oceanlover]

i feel u on this one! i didn't know about early saver b/c i've only cruised w disney and rccl .. and i've always gotten plenty of obc w rccl .. and when my glory cruise price dropped by almost $200 i got denied and only then did i learn about "early saver" :( booo! and we don't get a upgrade b/c we booked interior gtd :( double boo!

 

even if you would have known about early saver you wouldn't have been eligible for it anyway since you booked with less than 5 months before your cruise.

 

Hope if you book CCL again you get to book ES and get tons of reductions.:)

 

Bill

[lollylew]

I'm not very familiar with military rates and such but, is it possible for you to cancel and then rebook ES to get those rates? I know that I would be upset if my cruise went down $500 :eek: $50 (or even $100) I could live with and just chalk it up to experience.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I'm not very familiar with military rates and such but, is it possible for you to cancel and then rebook ES to get those rates? I know that I would be upset if my cruise went down $500 :eek: $50 (or even $100) I could live with and just chalk it up to experience.

 

OP is past final payment so ES is long gone. If they cancel now they would lose the deposit. Would pretty much be a wash unfortunately.

 

Bill

[firefly333]

I'm not very familiar with military rates and such but, is it possible for you to cancel and then rebook ES to get those rates? I know that I would be upset if my cruise went down $500 :eek: $50 (or even $100) I could live with and just chalk it up to experience.

 

some are booking ES and then if military is less putting in for the rate drop on the military rate. That way they have price protection and can get the military rate.

 

Just book ES first, you are thinking right.

[goldwinger88]

I have contacted Carnival about it and will see what happens.

 

I wasn't looking for a cash refund, but an OBC equivalent or future cruise credit would be appropriate, even if it was just $100 per person

 

As a business traveler, I know the airline game very well. But being this is my 2nd cruise (3rd overall ) that I booked personally makes the cruise game new to me.

 

And as I said before that our first Carnival agent made me have the feeling he was a shady type. I feel that they need to explain things to new customers in more detail or Carnival needs to post explanations in a more clear and concise manner. This guy heard I was a Vet and he pushed that hard. After the sale he just disappeared or would never answer our questions. So we switched to one that folks from another forum suggested and she has been pretty good in working with me and group cruise I am putting together in Sept.

 

But it will either be ES or wait til the last minute to book from now on.

 

Lessons learned

[abacophil]

I don't know why CCL is so stingy about giving OBC. They already have your money. And how do people spend their OBC?

 

Pictures that only cost CCL pennies to print

Drinks that only cost a small fraction of what they charge to make

Bingo, if you loose (which you probably will) only costs CCL a penny or so for the bingo card

Donations to the casino

They make money in the steakhouse because they buy food in bulk and I'm sure at a very good rate, they have bargaining power

 

And the list goes on

 

Things they are loosing on

The large profit margin on all the above if you don't have OBC

 

The only item I cant think of where they may loose with OBC is shore excersions. They still have to pay the tour operators.

 

Now I don't have alot of experience cruising like most of you do so this is just an observation.

[zqvol]

For at least 18 months, Carnival has made it abundantly clear that they do not give OBC for prices drops that occur after final payment unless you book with ES. Carnival PVPs are not TAs, they are nothing more than phone agents and it is not their job to act as your travel agent. When you use one you are basically booking on your own and you are responsible for knowing all the rules, etc.

 

To think that carnival should modify the rules because a person who took your info over the phone and booked a cruise for you didn't mention everything is expecting too much.

 

If you want white glove service and someone watching out for your interest use a real TA, NOT a carnival employee who job is to protect Carnival not the passenger.

[skittl1321]

On my last cruise I made it a point not to look at rates after the final payment. (This was before early saver, so final payment was final price)

 

I was happy with what I paid- I didn't want to know what other people were paying! It's very similar to airlines when you find out the guy sitting next to you got his ticket for half the price.

 

 

I am not happy with their military discounts right now- the rate on my cruise is like $10 off- and $40 more than ES, so I booked ES. Last time the discount was signifigant enough that we decided to get a balcony instead of an inside.

[DaytonCruiser]

On my last cruise I made it a point not to look at rates after the final payment. (This was before early saver, so final payment was final price)

Hmm if your last cruise was before the Early Saver program, you should have been able to get a rate adjusted after final payment for any price drops.