Changing from ta to pvp question

[2snorkel/cruisers]

We made the mistake of booking a cruise with a TA for a group thing because she offered to let us book for $25 pp down. Only three people booked the cruise and one of us wants to cancel. The TA sent the $ directly to Carnival to hold the rooms and is telling us that the agency has a $50 pp fee to cancel that she did not tell us up front. We didn't even know about the fee until she sent us the booking receipt. Two of us still want to do the cruise but we do not want to continue to deal with the TA and want to dissolve the group thing and book individually with Carnival. How do we go about doing this, does anyone know?? We called our PVP and it seems that they personally don't do this but I know I've read where it can be done.

[shipty2]

So you have each only put $25 towards it? And she wants to charge you $50 to cancel? Is this correct?

[zqvol]

We made the mistake of booking a cruise with a TA for a group thing because she offered to let us book for $25 pp down. Only three people booked the cruise and one of us wants to cancel. The TA sent the $ directly to Carnival to hold the rooms and is telling us that the agency has a $50 pp fee to cancel that she did not tell us up front. We didn't even know about the fee until she sent us the booking receipt. Two of us still want to do the cruise but we do not want to continue to deal with the TA and want to dissolve the group thing and book individually with Carnival. How do we go about doing this, does anyone know?? We called our PVP and it seems that they personally don't do this but I know I've read where it can be done.

 

 

Unless the TA agrees it cannot be done. Once you book with them you are stuck with them for that cruise. I suggest biting the bullet and paying the cancellation fee to be done with them. You might alos consider that since you have only paid $25 pp as a deposit there is really no way that the TA will sue you for the rest of the cancellation fee, so just let them keep the $25 pp.

 

You also need to be aware that Carnival has changed the rules for booking group cruises. You need to check into that ASAP. Since I don't have any group cruises booked I am not sure of the details but you may have to pay the balance of the required deposit by November 1st or lose your booking which might make your issue moot, since Carnival will cancel the cruise instead of you.

[firefly333]

I think what the OP is saying is that the $25 pp fee X 2 =$50 that the TA keeps if she cancels the booking. (the TA CC uses as a for instance, even though they will put the $50 toward another cruise is you cancel the booking, you still have to book thru this TA not to lose the $50)

 

From what Iv read, the booking will be cancelled if the OP doesnt pay the rest of the deposit by Nov 1st, so the decision will be made for them if they do nothing.

 

In order for Carnival to take back the booking, you would have to convince Carnival the TA is being negligent and not taking care of the booking, like you call and the TA is not returning calls etc. You cant just change from a TA back to Carnival otherwise.

[superdave69]

Unless the TA agrees it cannot be done. Once you book with them you are stuck with them for that cruise. I suggest biting the bullet and paying the cancellation fee to be done with them. You might alos consider that since you have only paid $25 pp as a deposit there is really no way that the TA will sue you for the rest of the cancellation fee, so just let them keep the $25 pp.

 

You also need to be aware that Carnival has changed the rules for booking group cruises. You need to check into that ASAP. Since I don't have any group cruises booked I am not sure of the details but you may have to pay the balance of the required deposit by November 1st or lose your booking which might make your issue moot, since Carnival will cancel the cruise instead of you.

For Groups... come Nov 1st..if you dont have the full deposit done the $25.00 will be put back to the group Level as that 25$ is only to hold a "spot"..not an actual cabin assignment until the Full deposit is paid...Carnival has tons of new policies as of late...Now TA's are not allowed to discount fares upfront like in the Past either..they have to charge the same as Carnival rates..and if they want to do more for you it lowers their comission...I take a group every year and my TA is awesome and always gave us the rock bottom fare that no one could touch..she will continue to reward her loyal customers so thats why I always book with her.

[dickinson]

That is absolutely horrible what that TA has done to your mother. Maybe this is enough to show Carnival that the TA is negligent? If not she can contact her credit card company to dispute the charges.

[patseacruiser]

While I agree that it's not right what happened you were probably sent something before you put the money down that you didn't see that showed a $50 per person cancellation fee. If this happened, even if you change you cards there is still a connection to your old card and it would not be an unauthorized charge. It is authorized since it was part of the booking terms. I'm not agreeing with it but I don't think it's illegal for her/him to charge you if that is what you agreed to. I'm sorry this happened to you.

[yogimax]

We had a similar problem. We booked a group with a TA who lied and gave terrible service. But that was it. We couldn't dump her and move the reservation to Carnival without her permission.

 

No more TAs for me when it comes to Carnival. Rather book with a PVP.

[Tapi]

While I agree that it's not right what happened you were probably sent something before you put the money down that you didn't see that showed a $50 per person cancellation fee

 

I wouldn't be so sure. From personal experience, many of these shady TA's that charge bogus cancellation and change fees usually either don't disclose this information, or disclose it in such a way that you need to dig hard to find it. In my years of "shopping around", I've learned to actively look for this information, and if I can't find it, I ask flat out (something that first time cruisers, or cruisers that aren't as savvy may not think about).

 

That's why anytime I book a Carnival cruise, I stick to the same PVP I've been using for the last 6+ years. For my upcoming Princess cruise I booked through a TA who specifically didn't charge any penalties, and for my upcoming Royal Caribbean cruise I booked directly through the cruise line, since their rates are the same regardless of where you book.

[Tapi]

We made the mistake of booking a cruise with a TA for a group thing because she offered to let us book for $25 pp down. Only three people booked the cruise and one of us wants to cancel. The TA sent the $ directly to Carnival to hold the rooms and is telling us that the agency has a $50 pp fee to cancel that she did not tell us up front. .

 

OP, how much money will you be spending on your cruise? A couple thousand dollars? In the grand scheme of things, what's $50 when you're spending that much money on your vacation?

 

If your current TA is so bad, I recommend that you bite the bullet, pay their penalty, cancel, and book a new reservation through your PVP. Keep in mind, that If you keep your current reservation with this bad TA, he/she will continue having control over your reservation and vacation. There's NOTHING that you'll be able to do without having to go through this TA.

 

If you decide to cancel your reservation and rebook directly with Carnival, MAKE SURE THAT YOU SPEAK TO A MANAGER/SUPERVISOR and explain why you're cancelling this TA reservation and re-booking directly with Carnival. Tell them that you're so dissatisfied with the TA's service that you don't want to deal with them, and that you don't want the TA to be paid any commission on the new booking either (something that Carnival will do to maintain "good faith" with TA's even in these situations).

 

If this TA is a bad TA, they shouldn't be rewarded for their bad work by paying them commission on a booking that you clearly aren't happy with.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

What did this TA do to be considered a bad TA?

 

Bill

[2snorkel/cruisers]

I spoke to the TA a few times before my mom booked it to make sure that it was a cancellable cruise in case they had an emergency come up and at no time did she tell me there was a cancellation fee charged by the agency. We did not receive anything either in writing or verbally before the cruise was booked. All we were told was that we would get a full refund for the cruise as long as it wasn't in the 60 day phase before the cruise if we needed to cancel. The reason that I say the TA is not handling this well is because my mother did have to cancel and Carnival returned her $100 deposit but the TA kept my mothers credit card # and after Carvinal returned the deposit the TA turned around and made another "unauthorized" charge to my moms card and took the $100 back and deposited it to the Agency account as the cancellation fee. My mother had no idea that this had been done until she pulled her account up online and saw the transaction on her account.

[thinfool]

the TA turned around and made another "unauthorized" charge to my moms card and took the $100 back and deposited it to the Agency account as the cancellation fee.

 

Can we assume that your mom notified her CC of this unauthorized charge and has recovered it?

 

I think that your TA would happily waive any/all cancellation fees if you offered to 'not' sign a criminal complaint for the unauthorized charge.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Can we assume that your mom notified her CC of this unauthorized charge and has recovered it?

 

I think that your TA would happily waive any/all cancellation fees if you offered to 'not' sign a criminal complaint for the unauthorized charge.

 

I was going to say the same exact thing. I hope you don't let this go.

 

She was not authorized to charge your Moms card.

 

I hope this is worked out to your satisfaction, and soon.

 

Bill