Are you as mad as me about the price gouging?

[zqvol]

NCL? You'll be sorry! LMAO

 

Why?

 

I cruise on NCL as often as Carnival and love it.

[alwayshappytocruise]

How in the heck did I even get in the conversation? Even when I'm not posting folks still like to poke me.

 

 

 

***** are you talking about "not posting"?? Posts as follows by Picklebongo:#72,74,75,76,80,119,121 and 168 on this thread alone.

[alwayshappytocruise]

Let's see if I can help.

 

alwayshappytocruise quoted a post by boaterette to which the JAMESH posted back to alwayshappytocruise saying he wasn't payiung attention.

 

alwayshappytocruise replied back that he was a she and that she was responding to Picklebongo but had quoted boaterette.

 

So that's how you got involved. :D

 

Bill

 

Bill, you are the man....I think I'm in love!!!!

[rickechambers1@aol.com]

How did your travel insurance help you?

[firefly333]

How did your travel insurance help you?

 

How did whose insurance help who?? Im lost.

 

I cant see how insurance helped anyone, since the cruise was cancelled and it was not for a covered insurance reason. So even if you went outside of Carnival I doubt people can file any insurance claims for incidentals. They got a 100% refund (ok it takes 10 days to refund, they dont have the money yet), so they cant claim on the cruise itself.

[rickechambers1@aol.com]

How did whose insurance help who?? Im lost.

 

I cant see how insurance helped anyone, since the cruise was cancelled and it was not for a covered insurance reason. So even if you went outside of Carnival I doubt people can file any insurance claims for incidentals. They got a 100% refund (ok it takes 10 days to refund, they dont have the money yet), so they cant claim on the cruise itself.

 

Guess I thought it would assist with the air also...fortunately never have had to use the insurance. Not sure if this was mentioned, but what about Princess, it's reasonably priced:

 

Filter By: Choose One Mexican Riviera Sort By: Nearest Embarkation Date Embarkation Port Destination Voyage Name Ship Name Length of Cruise

1 Result Found | Page 1 of 1 1

Mexican Riviera - Roundtrip Los Angeles 7 Days

Ship: Sapphire Princess

Embarkation Port: Los Angeles, California

Number of Days: 7 View Itinerary

Embarkation Date(s):

2010 - Nov 27

Select an Embarkation Date Nov 27, 2010

Interior Oceanview Obstructed Oceanview Balcony Mini-Suite/Suite

$599.00 $574.00 $599.00 $899.00 $1,099.00

[twinklen01]

How did whose insurance help who?? Im lost.

 

I cant see how insurance helped anyone, since the cruise was cancelled and it was not for a covered insurance reason. So even if you went outside of Carnival I doubt people can file any insurance claims for incidentals. They got a 100% refund (ok it takes 10 days to refund, they dont have the money yet), so they cant claim on the cruise itself.

 

How did your travel insurance help you?

 

We got insurance through a 3rd party. We were told coverage doesnt cover what happened. We told them we are getting a refund wewere just checking to see if we could get a refund from the travel insurance since we didnt need it because there was no cruise.

 

Carnival said they would not refund us the cost for travel insur. The travel insur co said no refund but if we booked within 10 days they would transfer it to new booking, we just needed to call them. Otherwise we had 730 days to rebook a cruise/trip and we would have to send a written request to get it transfered to new trip. If we arent able to travel within thattime then we lose our $98.00 that we paid

[Nemspy]

Thank you! It seems the flamers are missing the whole meaning of the post and concentrating on the Splendor "restitution". They obviously were not checking west coast sailing prices and saw what we saw. Oh well.

 

To the OP - I hope you get some answers from Carnival's guest relations. I have written my letters, and expressed my displeasure to my PVP.

 

Why is everyone so surprised that west coast prices went up?

 

You suddenly had a bunch of boatloads of cancelled Splendor cruisers wanting a new vessel.

 

The reason the prices went up was because people booked and cabins were running out.

 

My wife and I are booked on early saver on a Spirit cruise before the end of the year. Cabins were already getting lowish as it was.

 

Didn't everyone notice that the day after the big jump in prices there were no cabins whatsoever left?

 

Prices went up because of demand and low availability - not because of "price gouging"

[capndinghy]

I suspect there could have been an error. I checked some prices out of Galveston for Feb and March and they would bounce around up and down 500 for a cruise only a week later. Has anyone actually Called and talked to someone?

[Lovelylady226]

I am not sure if you are aware, but Carnival just had a HUGE sale that ended on the day you made this post. Is it possible you were looking at their sale prices and now that sale is over? I know I just saved over $300 by booking during their sale for my cruise in April-so perhaps that is why the prices went up suddenly on you. Just a thought, but I would def. call directly...computers don't know who you are when you are booking, but people def. do!

[Jen1000]

It is most certainly possible until the ship is full on the same categories. People are not dumb, they understand when the ship is full it is full. Until then, they can fill the cabins with the Splendor passengers at the same price.

 

Jen in SoCal

 

You don't want just your price protected. You want your price and your week. With a limited supply that is not possible.

 

To completely protect your price you would have to have the same cabin on the same ship for the exact same week. Impossible.

[mrsgoofy98]

I can't believe you're saying this, Carnival has the right to do whatever they want. Are you telling me it's ok with you that you book and pay for a cruise with your hard earned money, they decide to cancel the cruise and keep your funds and you're ok with that? Do whatever they want, eh?

 

Excuse me, but how are they keeping their money? They are giving them a 100% refund and an additional 25% off of a future cruise. They are even offering people an onboard credit to try and lessen the pain of airfare loss. Most people can pay a change fee to go to another city on another cruise. Also, if they had purchased insurance, it is possible that they would get their airfare refunded due to trip cancellation. If they had reserved their cruise with a travel agent, it is also possible that their great travel agent would help them find an alternative for the original week they scheduled.

 

I understand feeling mad and disappointed. I would also feel that way. A land based vacation can be fun, too. Please don't feel that you don't have alternatives. Just go ahead and plan something else so you don't have to be miserable that week.

 

I was on a cancelled cruise a few years back. We departed Miami on the Paradise and within 3 hours they told us they were returning back to the port, because the ship was taking on water due to a failed azipod. Everyone was upset, but Carnival gave us the option of getting a 100% refund, or helping us to plan another vacation for that week. They told us they would help us pay for an alternative trip. They also gave us a free future cruise. They didn't really have to offer anything to us, but they did have to give us a full refund.

 

The one thing that you might not realize is that the prices that you saw were a planned cruise sale. It just so happens it was over and that is why prices increased. They couldn't tell you your cruise was going to cancel until their executives and engineers were able to see the damage and figure out if the damage required cancellations. They were relying on information being given by the crew.

 

Now please do yourself a favor and let the mad go. It is only going to fester and you are going to make yourself sick. Moving on is always the best thing to do.

[Hotflashn]

I hear ya Janet, and understand your being upset. We lost a lot.

 

For those who want to know how Carnival still has people's money. It hasn't been refunded yet - so if someone needed their cash for a new vacation its not there yet. I rebooked on the Dream the same day they cancelled (prices has started going up and went up between my first looking and finally getting through to get something - prices had been going down prior to that) I had originally booked 8 mos ago - early saver plus Costco Travel - great deal. Not the same deal doing a last minute booking near Christmas. Same goes for airfare, hotels, etc - great deals are gone. The 25% did not exist. It was closer to an even exchange.

 

Now one else in our group of 17 is going but us.

 

Carnival is not refunding the insurance costs, which adds up - I had bought 3 cabins. And though it has nothing to do with them, the cost for unneeded passports was a big waste for those not going.

 

Carnival said they would refund for airfare, but they aren't really. They said because Southwest offers voucher for flight cancellations (good only till July) that we get no refund because we have nontransferrable vouchers. Southwest doesn't fly to Florida, so we had to buy other flights. We don't need other airfare to anywhere Southwest flies now! So that is lost. I even asked for the onboard credit, and they said no, we would get the SW voucher, so woudl get no compensation - we would need to have been able to fly on the same airline and incur costs to get that!!! If we had to get totally new air - to bad! That is insult to injury.

 

We lost our earlybird dinner seating. Our new cabins placement isn't as as good. Whining? You bet ya. I lost crap I planned on and had worked out months ago.

 

Yeah, I am still a little upset. But I am making the best of it - even though it has costs me a lot more money, a lot of headache and last minute planning, extra hotels, expenses, etc, we are going for it. This is the time we had dedicated to this, time off, etc, and I was determined to go on a cruise. I don't feel like Carnival has been "so generous" or given us anything. They haven't. There has been NO compensation of ANY KIND.

 

What I hear is people who have NOT been affected by this situation telling those of us who have, to stop whining. We will whine if we want to and who are you to tell us not to. Jeez. Talk to me when you have the rug ripped out from under you.

 

Janet can put her energy anyway she wants, and being upset is perfectly reasonable. I put my energy into a new vacation while I sat blubbering on hold for 2 1/2 hours with Carnival and I intend to have a freaking great time, but don't fault her or anyone else for being sad/mad/feeling bad about losing their well planned dream vacation.

[airmj2123]

First off let me say that I am sorry to everyone who had their vacations plans messed up. I have been in the same situation with a cruise canceled a week before leaving from Athens. It sucks. No one is going to deny that.

As for putting people from the Splendor on the Spirit at the same price, that is not really the best way of doing it. If you give all of the open rooms on the Spirit to those affected by this at the same rate, you are going to end up with thousands of people who got screwed by Carnival twice. (First cruise canceled, then Carnival allows some to rebook at same price and not others). That would be a much worse way of handling the situation than the way Carnival did. Honestly, would you be angrier if you learned that some of the people on the Splendor had re-booked at the same rate and you weren't able to?

 

Best of luck and hopefully you all are able to find alternative plans... and if not, find future cruise plans that work out better.

[nealstuber]

Excuse me, but how are they keeping their money? They are giving them a 100% refund and an additional 25% off of a future cruise. ..... Moving on is always the best thing to do.

 

You need to understand that "giving them their money" is not the same thing as "Gave them their money." It is understandably difficult for some to "move on" when they have a limited budget to do so and they DO NOT HAVE THEIR REFUND.

 

Sure many of us would just throw the cost of of new vacation on our Mastercard and trust that Carinval would get us our money back before it comes due - but not everyone is wired like that. Trusting a company that just blew up a 2 year old engine with a posisition that is, essentially, "the check is in the mail" is not for everyone particularly if you're on vacation and not able (or wanting) to deal with the situation.

 

There is nothing generous about giving passengers their money back for a cruise that was cancelled. Carnival needs to expedite these refunds so people can finanace their new vacation plans and take their vacation when they intended to take their vacation.

[mariemorgan]

Southwest doesn't fly to Florida

.

 

Southwest does to fly to florida! They fly to jacksonville, orlando, west palm beach, ft. lauderdale, ft myers, tampa, and panama city beach. Last time I checked these were in Florida ;)

[Kokopelli2]

Why is everyone so surprised that west coast prices went up?

 

You suddenly had a bunch of boatloads of cancelled Splendor cruisers wanting a new vessel.

 

The reason the prices went up was because people booked and cabins were running out.

 

My wife and I are booked on early saver on a Spirit cruise before the end of the year. Cabins were already getting lowish as it was.

 

Didn't everyone notice that the day after the big jump in prices there were no cabins whatsoever left?

 

Prices went up because of demand and low availability - not because of "price gouging"

 

Well, I can tell you for our cruise in January there are still plenty of cabins available. And amazingly, prices have come back down. The rate for an interior cabin jumped from 309 to 579 in that one day of the announcement. But now you can get a balcony for 439! Carnival took advantage of the thousands of people rebooking cruises. Period.

[stewpapa]

I have had to cancel Carnival cruises before and they credit my card the amount I get as a refund in about 3 days. They could speed this up if they wanted to help those out that need the money to plan something else.

[sharecruises]

I am a TA and how has Carnival screwed TA's? And how has Carnival screwed the groups that we book?:confused:

 

 

Well it is well documented...check the new information, you should know this ??

 

I agree that Carnival is screwing TA's (I am not a TA) and groups..and singles

 

TA's now can not list deals lower than Carnival prices (ie, they can't list lower rates giving back their commissions)....

 

groups?? TA's can only hold the group space for 30 days..then they "lose it"...so you need to get everyone to get their deposit in

 

and the deposit is now the full deposit...which is why those with CC groups are angry, they used to hold space with only $25 per person...

 

Singles?? they took away the 4a option of 150%...now singles pay 200% solo....plus the "invisable" person's port fees /taxes

 

a new rub is that for a group who books 10 or more solo cabins there is a surcharge of $40 per day on ALL the solo cabins to make up for the "missing" revenue

 

So....many singles want to book a cruise with roommate matching, a perk of a singles travel agent..however..that is no longer easy cause the TA must put together the group in 30 days...not easy

and.....before the TA could take a chance and put their own money on some cabins to round out the group but now they must have "real" people booked in them, real people with names, birthdates etc...

 

so it really hurts singles and groups. Carnival wants people to go 2x2 like Noah's ark I guess..

 

so yeah ta's and groups are screwed

 

~~~~~~~ regarding the "price gouge">> I do think it is supply and demand in this case....losing Splendor really puts a dent in the space available from West Coast

 

maybe try Royal ship out of California??

 

I do think it is just a business as usual decision that the prices went up...Carnival is taking a big hit on Splendor losses so I really can't blame them for raising prices to meet the demand

 

the 25% is good for 2 years, and you could always just vacation in California/maybe go to Vegas?

 

I am not happy with Carnival but at some level I understand their business decisions.....wonderful cruiselines like Home Lines, Sitmar , Windjammer fell by the wayside due to bad business decisions. Carnival Corp gobbled up others like Princess, HAL etc.

 

It is a business..not a fairy tale. However, as a consumer I am looking to lines that have more respect for singles and groups. NCL has some great ideas on the Epic....solo cabins with a singles lounge, singles host

that might be way of the future for those of us not on Noah's Ark <grin<

[firefly333]

Well it is well documented...check the new information, you should know this ??

 

I agree that Carnival is screwing TA's (I am not a TA) and groups..and singles

 

TA's now can not list deals lower than Carnival prices (ie, they can't list lower rates giving back their commissions)....

 

I think they were speaking in regard to the Splendor problem in particular, not in general how TAs dont like Carnival.

 

I know it said for this problem that TA commissions were protected... so in this regard (what the thread is about) they get their commissions, no matter what happens to their clients.

[TheSailinSOB]

You need to understand that "giving them their money" is not the same thing as "Gave them their money." It is understandably difficult for some to "move on" when they have a limited budget to do so and they DO NOT HAVE THEIR REFUND.

 

Sure many of us would just throw the cost of of new vacation on our Mastercard and trust that Carinval would get us our money back before it comes due - but not everyone is wired like that. Trusting a company that just blew up a 2 year old engine with a posisition that is, essentially, "the check is in the mail" is not for everyone particularly if you're on vacation and not able (or wanting) to deal with the situation.

 

There is nothing generous about giving passengers their money back for a cruise that was cancelled. Carnival needs to expedite these refunds so people can finanace their new vacation plans and take their vacation when they intended to take their vacation.

 

 

If it's paid for with a credit card, it's not necessarily the cruise line being slow with the refunds, but the banks. They submit the ref, but the bank has to release the funds. I always get irritated how the money comes off immediately when you purchase something, but it takes a few days to credit back to your card. It's the banks, NOT the cruise lines that slow up the refunds. Those banks gotta hang on to your money as long as they can.

[friedshrimp]

Excuse me, but how are they keeping their money? They are giving them a 100% refund and an additional 25% off of a future cruise. They are even offering people an onboard credit to try and lessen the pain of airfare loss. Most people can pay a change fee to go to another city on another cruise. Also, if they had purchased insurance, it is possible that they would get their airfare refunded due to trip cancellation. If they had reserved their cruise with a travel agent, it is also possible that their great travel agent would help them find an alternative for the original week they scheduled.

 

I understand feeling mad and disappointed. I would also feel that way. A land based vacation can be fun, too. Please don't feel that you don't have alternatives. Just go ahead and plan something else so you don't have to be miserable that week.

 

I was on a cancelled cruise a few years back. We departed Miami on the Paradise and within 3 hours they told us they were returning back to the port, because the ship was taking on water due to a failed azipod. Everyone was upset, but Carnival gave us the option of getting a 100% refund, or helping us to plan another vacation for that week. They told us they would help us pay for an alternative trip. They also gave us a free future cruise. They didn't really have to offer anything to us, but they did have to give us a full refund.

 

The one thing that you might not realize is that the prices that you saw were a planned cruise sale. It just so happens it was over and that is why prices increased. They couldn't tell you your cruise was going to cancel until their executives and engineers were able to see the damage and figure out if the damage required cancellations. They were relying on information being given by the crew.

 

Now please do yourself a favor and let the mad go. It is only going to fester and you are going to make yourself sick. Moving on is always the best thing to do.

 

Some people seem to prefer whining and carrying on. Others go "oh well" and get on with their lives. :(

[friedshrimp]

What I hear is people who have NOT been affected by this situation telling those of us who have, to stop whining. We will whine if we want to and who are you to tell us not to. Jeez. Talk to me when you have the rug ripped out from under you.

 

Should I start at age 8 when I didn't get the go-kart I wanted for Christmas and go from there? Or do you only want to hear about the adult years??

 

If you have the right to whine, I have the right to say I sick and tired of hearing it, especially when so many other options are available.

[Hotflashn]

Should I start at age 8 when I didn't get the go-kart I wanted for Christmas and go from there? Or do you only want to hear about the adult years??

 

If you have the right to whine, I have the right to say I sick and tired of hearing it, especially when so many other options are available.

 

Totally, you should start there, then just keep going abotu all your lives disappointments. Just make sure you post it under "Disappointed childhood Christmases" so people know to avoid it if they aren't into sharing such comiseration.

 

If you are so sick of reading it, why click on a thread that was obviously dedicated to complaining about the situation!? It was clearly titled by the OP. Obviously, you aren't sick enough of it, or you wouldn't intentionally subject yourself to it. You appear more interested in complaining about people complaining. Why take the time to even post?

 

Funny, you are actually the complainer about something that should not warrant any complaint by you at all - you PUT yourself right in the middle of this and it doesn't even apply to you, while you moan about others who have rightful frustration. That's weird. Why not jsut start a thread that says "Sick of Carnival Splendor whiners" then you can post all you want about it? And those of us affected can totally ignore it.

 

Skip a thread you aren't interested in, right?

[rkbeaux08]

Please, people lets move on......If you have any questions I suggest you go on Carnival forum and talk to Mary she is very helpful.....Stop beating this dead horse...