Are you as mad as me about the price gouging?

[picklebongo]

I have only read the first few posts.. but it makes me wonder.. have any of you "mad" people contacted carnival at the email address provided on this site and John's blog to help you get rebooked?

 

Yes, they have and that's why they are still mad!

[Litewait]

Supply and demand...I am so sick and tired of hearing this. These folks had their cruise cancelled with very little notice, why would it be so difficult for a major corporation like Carnival to allow them to book their cruise at the same rate they already had and for NEW bookings, charge them the higher rate?

 

There was NO DEMAND to drive up the prices until Carnivals ship caught on fire and it was their displaced guests that then created a demand. Why in the h-e double toothpicks are you gonna raise the price on them????

 

Prices should have been frozen until after they had booked. And IMO they should have been allowed to rebook at the price they paid for the original cruise in the same type cabin.

[Smart Arsenal Fan]

May I ask...what is Good Morning America going to do for you? You're better off dealing with Carnival, I would think. Sorry you're angry, but take the discount and run with it. Flexibility is key. The prices will come down eventually anyway.

 

Basically all she will get, in total:

 

"Up next, meet Janet... this is what happened... sucks to be her... and now, weather, and then ideas for Thanksgiving centerpieces made from leftover Halloween candy..."

[zqvol]

You can whine, gripe, and complain all you want but the simple fact is that no more than 25% of the people who were booked on Splendor cruises would have been able to book the same week on the Spirit, without regard to the price.

 

Why . . . because the darn ship wasn't empty to start with and it is smaller. Most of the people who really want to go the week they had booked are going to have to go to FL to cruise that week, there is just not enough west coast capacity. No carnival does not have a spare ship to bring to the west coast and cancel a ship full of other cruises.

 

Carnival is being more than generous in giving the 25%.

 

If you have to vacation a particular week this year find a land based alternative, or pay the higher fare.

 

Carnival is pricing based on demand.

 

BTW I have been on three canceled cruises, you just work through it and go on.

[picklebongo]

There was NO DEMAND to drive up the prices until Carnivals ship caught on fire and it was their displaced guests that then created a demand. Why in the h-e double toothpicks are you gonna raise the price on them????

 

Prices should have been frozen until after they had booked. And IMO they should have been allowed to rebook at the price they paid for the original cruise in the same type cabin.

 

Please reread my post because obviously you stopped after the first few words. You wrote basically the same thing I did, we are in total agreement!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Litewait]

Sorry if I confused.. I was quoting in agreement with you~ LOL!!:p

 

Just added my own thoughts after~

[friedshrimp]

I don't even know what to say.. Go Carnival cheerleaders..BS! I am cruising the end of December on the Paradise, been booked for almost a year. I have been price watching all the cruises in Dec. To see how they were selling due to the economy. This will be my 5th New Years cruise. I also have watched all the threads, the news and Port Cams being vastly interested in the Splendor since I'm booked on her later next year.

 

I can tell you for a fact that prices on ALL the cruises out of San Diego and the Paradise out of LA jumped dramatically the morning of the announcement. Before the emails had even gone out. I read about it early and went and looked at the cruises because I knew they would start filling up.

 

These are taken from emails I sent to a friend~

 

1.) Oh our crusie has sky rocketed. I paid $917 when I first booked them add the $30 for the upgrade so $947 for an inside midship/upper deck. There are no inside mids left today. A forward is $1351. The cabins we have now are going for $1505 for 2 today!!

 

 

 

 

2.)this is what they are asking for the insides on the spirit for 12/26. They are INSANE!!

 

8 Day to Mexican Riviera

 

Total Price: $3,424.44

 

Departing from: San Diego, CA

Sailing Date: 12/26/2010

 

I have no vested interest in the issue. But I have to agree with J&J on this one~ Those prises were raised in anticipation of the on slought of people who were going to have to re-book. Prices had not changed at all in days previous and I was infact offered and upgrade for $30 so they could try and fill the ship. Carnival absolutely took advantage of the situation.

 

No, Carnival is not the insane one. The people who will pay that kind of money are the insane ones! And obviously, people are paying it otherwise the prices would come back down. Supply and demand.

[katiel53]

EXACTLY!!! See, you really shouldn't just make a statement like "well, just do something else" until you stand in someone elses shoes!

 

I can understand how people with canceled vacations feel as the same thing has happened to me in the past. But, to go to GMA seems to me to be totally selfish!

 

Supply and demand are what happened and you want to go on a cruise that is close to sailing so of course the price will be high. I know it's inconvenient, but that's why you are getting an extra 25%.

 

I do believe that going to GMA will probably have Carnival as well as other lines re-think their policies, but perhaps not in the way you want. To me, it seems as though unless Carnival gives into your "demands" you are going to continue to bad-mouth them.

 

I'd say to you, (not just you, but you collectively) that if something else should ever happen, that you will only get your refund and that's it. No extras, because you aren't appreciative of the extras to start with.

 

I'd have more empathy for those who booked long ago than someone who booked recently. You have two years to use your credit, so if you think the price is too high now, wait until you feel the prices are low enough, then book.

 

I also feel that for someone who books groups, where I believe you get benefits for doing so, you are killing the goose that laid the golden egg. If I am incorrect, then I apologize.

[ALLMYKIDS3]

I just started another thread but this is what I posted, it looks like the price gouging may have come to an end:

 

Howdy,

 

So...having a splendor cruise booked next May I of course have been reading, as time permits, all that I can about the "event" and the related problems everyone has been suffering as a result. I checked on prices for my cruise just a couple of days ago and the price for our cabins (connecting OV cabins on Main Deck, Cat 6C) had jumped to well over $200 per person.

 

Now I just checked again, and the price is back down to the Pre-Fire pricing. I also double checked on a paradise cruise the wife and I were thinking about going on in January and it is also down as well.

 

 

Do you think Carnival got the message that giving people whose cruise was cancelled a %25 discount on a Future Cruise then raising prices by %20 - %25 might not have been the best PR move?

 

Everyone else see that as well?

 

 

I had nothing to do with the Splendor cruise ..but , I booked a cruise in Oct .for a March sailing on the Dream . Now my cruise has gone up 20% from what I paid in Oct. It happens every year that I have ever cruised >side note ,I received a 25% of my next cruise from a problem on the Valor.That was a nice discount on my next cruise...prices go up and down ..I watch everyday ..

[RuthlessBoss]

Supply and demand...I am so sick and tired of hearing this. These folks had their cruise cancelled with very little notice, why would it be so difficult for a major corporation like Carnival to allow them to book their cruise at the same rate they already had and for NEW bookings, charge them the higher rate?

Sounds logical. That being said, I doubt if it would please many. They'd want their choice of cabins etc, not pick from what is still available. Many like aft cabins, but they might already been gone. They will complain about lack of choice.:eek:

[pnjkeith]

If you are as mad as I am about the price gouging and the way Carnival is handling canceled guest then you should do what I did and contact Good Morning America.

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Site/page?id=3...ning%20America

here is the link, and I used "submit a news item" in the drop down menu

 

This link should work. But if it doesn't

1. search "good morning America"

2. click on Consumer

3. scroll to the bottom of the page (blue section)

4. click on Contact us

5. Click on Contact Good Morning America

6. Fill in the form.

 

I am not mad at Carnival for canceling the cruises on the Splendor. It had to be done. But they way they handled it was wrong!

Not allowing us to cancel and transfer the booking to another ship without penalty and then 5 days later, they cancel our cruises and that same minute the prices double and triple on the other sailings! That is price gouging at it's finest. I know all about supply and demand and the computers probably reacting to a sudden onset of cruises getting rebooked, but when we called in, we should have been allowed to rebook at the price the cruise was the day before!

I am not aking for anything for free. Just fair!

 

GIMME GIMME GIMME...............It never ends.

[jandjfun]

I have only read the first few posts.. but it makes me wonder.. have any of you "mad" people contacted carnival at the email address provided on this site and John's blog to help you get rebooked?

I did. They showed me 4 cruises that were all more money AND from the East Coast. They didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. When I told them I couldn't afford the air fare to the east coast, they said basically said to bad. So John's big "they really want to help you" statement didn't mean anything. I got the same response from that link that I did when I talked to them the very first day of the cancelations.

I can understand how people with canceled vacations feel as the same thing has happened to me in the past. But, to go to GMA seems to me to be totally selfish!

 

Supply and demand are what happened and you want to go on a cruise that is close to sailing so of course the price will be high. I know it's inconvenient, but that's why you are getting an extra 25%.

 

I do believe that going to GMA will probably have Carnival as well as other lines re-think their policies, but perhaps not in the way you want. To me, it seems as though unless Carnival gives into your "demands" you are going to continue to bad-mouth them.

 

I'd say to you, (not just you, but you collectively) that if something else should ever happen, that you will only get your refund and that's it. No extras, because you aren't appreciative of the extras to start with.

 

I'd have more empathy for those who booked long ago than someone who booked recently. You have two years to use your credit, so if you think the price is too high now, wait until you feel the prices are low enough, then book.

 

I also feel that for someone who books groups, where I believe you get benefits for doing so, you are killing the goose that laid the golden egg. If I am incorrect, then I apologize.

First of all, you can be asured I will continue bad mouthing Carnival if they don't do the right thing. Absolutely! Just like I would bad mouth any other company that is price gouging!

As far as me booking groups, yes I do that too. But I can also assure you that after the miracle group I have booked, I will not be booking a group with Carnival again. But that has nothing to do with this. It has everything to do with how Carnival screwed the TA's and how Carnival screwed the groups that were booking with Carnival.

GIMME GIMME GIMME...............It never ends.

I am seriously affended by your smart arse remark. I am not asking anyone to give me anything. I am asking that the price gouging be stopped, and the right thing be done by all the people that had to rebook at rediculous prices. If the price gouging had never taken place, we would be booked on a cruise right now, wouldn't have had to cancel the hotel or the plane tickets. And most of all we wouldn't have spent the last 2 days trying to deal with this mess.

[pnjkeith]

I am seriously affended by your smart arse remark. I am not asking anyone to give me anything. I am asking that the price gouging be stopped, and the right thing be done by all the people that had to rebook at rediculous prices. If the price gouging had never taken place, we would be booked on a cruise right now, wouldn't have had to cancel the hotel or the plane tickets. And most of all we wouldn't have spent the last 2 days trying to deal with this mess.

 

What mess, I rebooked on Tuesday. Did not expect any grief and received none. Only negative I can find is no cigar bar on Dream.. Carnival in my opinon has handled this as best they could.

 

What the heck do you want from Good Morning America? Another Handout?

[jandjfun]

I started this thread for those folks that were completely fed up with the price gouging and the way Carnival handled the cancelations. I gave a link to GMA because they covered the Splendor while it was at sea, and wanted stories from the passengers getting off the ship. They might like to hear from the people who got screwed when they canceled our cruises and then price gouged us. If they are not interested, then so be it.

 

If you are not in this group of people, I wonder why you even opened the thread. It clearly states what the thread was about. If it doesn't include you, why would you bother reading it?

Cheer on!!

[zqvol]

If you are as mad as I am about the price gouging and the way Carnival is handling canceled guest then you should do what I did and contact Good Morning America.

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Site/page?id=3...ning%20America

here is the link, and I used "submit a news item" in the drop down menu

 

This link should work. But if it doesn't

1. search "good morning America"

2. click on Consumer

3. scroll to the bottom of the page (blue section)

4. click on Contact us

5. Click on Contact Good Morning America

6. Fill in the form.

 

I am not mad at Carnival for canceling the cruises on the Splendor. It had to be done. But they way they handled it was wrong!

Not allowing us to cancel and transfer the booking to another ship without penalty and then 5 days later, they cancel our cruises and that same minute the prices double and triple on the other sailings! That is price gouging at it's finest. I know all about supply and demand and the computers probably reacting to a sudden onset of cruises getting rebooked, but when we called in, we should have been allowed to rebook at the price the cruise was the day before!

I am not aking for anything for free. Just fair!

 

GIMME GIMME GIMME

 

I want more for less. What an offensive and selfish thing to do to contact an national TV program because you don't like a cruise lines pricing policy. Carnival could have just canceled and refunded what you paid and been within their rights. (That is what they should have done and will probably do in the future because of demands like the ones made in the original post.)

 

The prices went up! Get over it!

 

There is NO price gouging until the prices go over the published brochure prices. It hasn't happened and it won't. The only people complaining are the ME crowd.

[jandjfun]

What mess, I rebooked on Tuesday. Did not expect any grief and received none. Only negative I can find is no cigar bar on Dream.. Carnival in my opinon has handled this as best they could.

 

What the heck do you want from Good Morning America? Another Handout?

Well great! Then I guess my last post was directed towards you and the others like you.

As far as the handout...where did you hear me say or see me type that I wanted anything for free? Why do people react to things that aren't even there! They read a few words and make the rest of the story up as they go I guess.

[jandjfun]

GIMMIE GIMMIE GIMMIE

 

I want more for less. What an offensive and selfish thing to do to contact an national TV program because you don't like a cruise lines pricing policy. Carnival could have just cancled and refunded what you paid and been within their rights. (That is what they shoudl have done and will probably do in the future because of demands like the ones made in the original post.)

 

The prices went up! Get over it!

 

There is NO price gouging until the prices go over the published brochure prices. It hasn't happened and it won't. The only people complaining are the ME crowd.

The selfish ones are the ones that say carnival did wonderful,they are the best, go carnvial, and all because this mess didn't affect them! And refuse to even try and understand where the rest of us are coming from! Look at the facts. If you can't see that Carnival absolutely price gouged then you DESERVE to be price gouged and taken advantage of.

 

But anyway, I did what I did and I'm glad that I did! And I hope the others that are as PO'd as do it to.

And it won't matter if Carnival offers a 25% discount or not because they raised the prices by 50%!

[missdenman]

This is hilarious!! I had family on that sailing when the fire happened and thought the compensation they received was far more than they even expected. And here you are wanting to go to Good Morning America to complain because a BUSINESS is raising prices.

 

While I understand it sucks to have nothing to do now for your vacation, I think you should look at the big picture. They are a business out to make money. They had to cancel all those sailings plus the "fire sailing" and the canceled sailing on the 14th. That's a huge hit for them. And to still offer a discount, cover air cost up to $200 PER PERSON and whatever else they're covering.

 

And Royal Caribbean raised their prices cause they saw this as an opportunity to make money.

Last time I checked, that's what Businesses did, find ways to make money.:confused:

 

[RuthlessBoss]

This is like the smoking issue, no one wins.

I do not believe prices inflated at this time just because of the Splendor. Check other cruise line rates, they are up too. It's almost Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Prices ALL go up. Except for a while the first of the year when there's a drop, you'll see the prices in full bloom till next fall again.

I guess the Splendor should have checked the calendar more carefully:rolleyes:

[missdenman]

The selfish ones are the ones that say carnival did wonderful,they are the best, go carnvial, and all because this mess didn't affect them! And refuse to even try and understand where the rest of us are coming from! Look at the facts. If you can't see that Carnival absolutely price gouged then you DESERVE to be price gouged and taken advantage of.

 

But anyway, I did what I did and I'm glad that I did! And I hope the others that are as PO'd as do it to.

And it won't matter if Carnival offers a 25% discount or not because they raised the prices by 50%!

 

I think if they did protect your price you still wouldn't be happy.:confused::rolleyes:

[saskcruiser]

I feel for everyone that has had their plans messed with but I really don't know what anyone can expect Carnival to do. Let's say Spendor was sold out on the date you are planning on cruising it would be impossible for everyone to cruise their exact date because the other ships are most likely close to full.

 

It is not like an airline that could just put another plane into service. Carnival is loosing millions of dollars and will lose millions more refunding airfare ect.

 

Carnival would love to accomodate everyone if it was possible, especially if they had a sail and sign like I did last week.

[pnjkeith]

Maybe OPRAH OR OBAMA could help OP.

 

:D:D:D

[jandjfun]

I think if they did protect your price you still wouldn't be happy.:confused::rolleyes:

Well, you can certainly think what you want. This is the U.S. afterall. But if you bet money on it you would lose your money. You don't know me, or anything about me so to say I wouldn't be happy if they price protected for a future cruise is just RUDE!

 

I am done explaining myself and defending myself. I stated earlier that if you read this thread and were not affected by the price gouging, you read it looking for drama. Sorry to disappoint you, you are not getting anymore information from me. Read it how you want. And I hope the ignorance you have displayed someday comes back to haunt you.

Go Carnival! Rah Rah Rah!!:p

[missdenman]

Well, you can certainly think what you want. This is the U.S. afterall. But if you bet money on it you would lose your money. You don't know me, or anything about me so to say I wouldn't be happy if they price protected for a future cruise is just RUDE!

 

I am done explaining myself and defending myself. I stated earlier that if you read this thread and were not affected by the price gouging, you read it looking for drama. Sorry to disappoint you, you are not getting anymore information from me. Read it how you want. And I hope the ignorance you have displayed someday comes back to haunt you.

Go Carnival! Rah Rah Rah!!:p

 

LOL!!!! You are very right I do not know you. However you mentioned on a message board that you want GMA to know about this. That right there tells a lot.

 

And no sorry I am not affected by this so called "gouging" because If I thought those prices were high, I wouldn't pay for it. You should be mad at your fellow cruisers who decided to pay for it, keeping those prices up.

 

Call me a Carnival Cheerleader, nice "comeback" I guess:confused:

Mention my cruisecritic name to GMA, I would love to be on TV :D

[theJAMESH]

This is hilarious!! I had family on that sailing when the fire happened and thought the compensation they received was far more than they even expected. And here you are wanting to go to Good Morning America to complain because a BUSINESS is raising prices.

 

While I understand it sucks to have nothing to do now for your vacation, I think you should look at the big picture. They are a business out to make money. They had to cancel all those sailings plus the "fire sailing" and the canceled sailing on the 14th. That's a huge hit for them. And to still offer a discount, cover air cost up to $200 PER PERSON and whatever else they're covering.

 

And Royal Caribbean raised their prices cause they saw this as an opportunity to make money.

Last time I checked, that's what Businesses did, find ways to make money.:confused:

 

 

It's shocking how many economists there are on these message boards. FYI, good business involves more than profit, and supply and demand are not the only factors when it comes to making business decisions.

 

And really, all of these ignorant posts are pretty childish (Obama and Oprah, seriously?) The lady already lost her vacation, if she wants to bad mouth Carnival for screwing up her trip (the fire was THEIR fault, after all), she certainly is entitled to it, just like you're entitled to come on here and needlessly bash her.

 

News segments like the one on GMA are intended to help people like the OP-- disgruntled customers who think they're being screwed. I've seen way lamer stuff shown on my local news channel.