(Raising my right hand) I hereby swear

[stargate fan]

that I will only book a Carnival cruise with my PVP from now on!

 

We had used the same PVP for a few cruises. We were at a cruise and vacation show last year and made the mistake of booking a cruise with an online agency represented at the show. Yes, we did get an incredible rate.

 

I called last night with some questions. I knew I was in trouble when I asked about a free past guest upgrade from an 8D to an 8F. He actually said it would not be an upgrade because the higher the letter the lower the deck. Seriously?!?!? The guy put me on hold every time I asked something. He called Carnival with a question and thought he was talking to the rep when he was actually still on my line. I got so frustrated that I hung up.

 

I wish I could transfer my booking to my PVP and drop this bozo like a hot potato!

 

So, lesson learned. I will ONLY book with my PVP from this day forward!

[gogetter]

Must have been a great enough deal, to not immediately cancel and book with your PVP.

 

Funny how money does that to people.....oh well happy cruising....

[elcuchio24]

You can't get a better deal then adverstised on the CCL site, so you might as well book it through them....

[firefly333]

You can't get a better deal then adverstised on the CCL site, so you might as well book it through them....

 

There are still some group rates that might be cheaper, that cant be advertised.

 

I just went on a special rate on Triumph and have a couple coming up on Elation .. or I would not drive to Mobile with Ecstasy in my back yard. Less than $300 total cost for Elation and I only paid $358 for Triumph 4 day. There are deals out there, just not advertised and we cant say who we booked with to get them to share the ideas on CC.

 

I love my PVP but unfortunately wouldnt be using her to book any more with the 200% rates for solos.

[hubofhockey]

You can't get a better deal then adverstised on the CCL site, so you might as well book it through them....

 

My TA, a large wholesale club travel club, gives me the best CCL rate and also a club gift card worth up to $200 (4% of my next cruise). I believe that other wholesale clubs offer the same benefit. They are great to deal with and I also use them to get great (much better than advertised) rates on Princess. OP just had a bad TA.

[LBumb]

many times rates are the same but TA gives obc

[sailawaykaye]

You can't get a better deal then adverstised on the CCL site, so you might as well book it through them....

 

 

I never book through CCL directly, and always find a better price! Most times with free basic insurance and OBC too. However I never ever receive a call from the "up sell" fairy either.

[firefly333]

many times rates are the same but TA gives obc

 

TAs can only give perks up to a value of $25 now ..

 

Thats why the ones left selling Carnival have to resort to other means .. like the above post stating she gets a card to use at the food warehouse she belongs to. I know they offered a big amount to book disney in food cards. I thought they quit selling Carnival cruises. .. because they can give perks on your cruise anymore.. but the food card would get around this. Its not part of the cruise price.

 

It just means TAs will be more inventive in their perks.

[golfadj]

The problem with the online agencies is every time you deal with them you deal with someone else who may or may not have a clue as to what is going on.

 

Better price is very good but service and expertise does count for something.

[Thirsty Cruiser]

You can't get a better deal then adverstised on the CCL site, so you might as well book it through them....

 

My TA, a large wholesale club travel club, gives me the best CCL rate and also a club gift card worth up to $200 (4% of my next cruise). I believe that other wholesale clubs offer the same benefit. They are great to deal with and I also use them to get great (much better than advertised) rates on Princess. OP just had a bad TA.

 

I have gotten free shore excursions with an online company, but I hate having to go through a third party to contact Carnival. Outside of group sailings, I go directly with Carnival. Having said that, I am still very careful about what I believe from the PVPs. In some cases, they not only have wrong/outdated information, but they stand behind it.

[hubofhockey]

When I was considering booking my cruise for next August, I called the Carnival PVP that I had done business with years before. I told her I was interested in the 8/5/11 Magic Med cruise. I also told her that I would probably wait a while to book it and that I was in no rush. A week later I got an e-mail from her saying that there was a good chance that rates for that cruise would be going up in a week and that it made sense to get my deposit down then. I relied on her e-mail to make a $1600 deposit. As it turns out, I could have waited much, much longer as all the rate has done is drop and drop more. There was no great harm done. But I did transfer the booking (I had one month to do it) to my wholesale club TA. They are available 7 days a week morning through night. I have gotten my ES price reductions three times on the day I requested them. My PVP is a nice person. But she is doing her job, which is to sell Carnival cruises. But, in the future, I will use the wholesale club TA from the outset. It doesn't bother me that they are a third party. I know that they are looking out for me and they have no interest in what cruise line I choose next.

[nancyfancy40]

I use the lines website, unless I use my timeshare as a trade. Both have worked, and are just as viable for me. I guess I have been very lucky with my bookings.

 

Nancy

[skittl1321]

You can't get a better deal then adverstised on the CCL site, so you might as well book it through them....

 

Can't use credit card points if I book through Carnival. A TA is a freaking hassle, but the $200 discount makes it worth it.

[firefly333]

Can't use credit card points if I book through Carnival. A TA is a freaking hassle, but the $200 discount makes it worth it.

 

Thats why I have a RCL card. The old CCL card, you had to book thru their TA only .. with the RCL card, I just say ok, I want to redeem my points, send me the amount for my $300 off my next cruise .. and they do.

 

RCL VISA card is good thru whomever you would normally book your RCL cruises thru, it doesnt affect the TAs commission even, so they dont cut any perks like OBC.

[skittl1321]

Thats why I have a RCL card. The old CCL card, you had to book thru their TA only .. with the RCL card, I just say ok, I want to redeem my points, send me the amount for my $300 off my next cruise .. and they do.

 

This is my regular Discover card. If I don't want a cruise I can use the points for any other thing (we like Omaha steaks!), cruise is just an option.

 

I don't cruise enough to make a cruise card worth it- the cost to fly to ports is too high (which is what my other discover card if for- miles!)

[crusingcouple]

I must say I was happy to have a TA when our Splendor cruise got cancelled. I called with no wait times, gave them a first and second option for rescheduling and got an e-mail 45 minutes later that everything was changed over!

[G8RH8R]

The problem with the online agencies is every time you deal with them you deal with someone else who may or may not have a clue as to what is going on.

 

Not so! I use an online agency and have the same agent every time simply by sending e-mails directly to him. He also gives us $50.00 obc's and a bottle of wine every time.:)

[BenjiRodney]

I'm sticking with a PVP, someone is always available via phone or email to answer questions or process rate reductions. Have yet to encounter a problem by going direct with Carnival.

[nydney1]

At the end of the day it is about the relationsip. There are good PVP's and ones that are not so good, same thing goes with TA's. My suggestion is to find one that works for you and build the relationship. Provide them referals who mention you as well as emails and old fashion snail mail letters to their Managers go along way.

 

And if you don't get good service, don't be afraid to take your business elsewhere. There are plenty of hard working PVP's and TA's that want the business.

[buddylover]

I'm sticking with a PVP, someone is always available via phone or email to answer questions or process rate reductions. Have yet to encounter a problem by going direct with Carnival.

 

Depends on the PVP.....I have had better luck and service with TA's and onlines I've used in the past than the current PVP we are using. And BTW, it is not easy to just get another PVP, they hold onto their customers and are not easily changed (we have tried)....need to climb supervisory levels and it has not been easy.

[nydney1]

Depends on the PVP.....I have had better luck and service with TA's and onlines I've used in the past than the current PVP we are using. And BTW, it is not easy to just get another PVP, they hold onto their customers and are not easily changed (we have tried)....need to climb supervisory levels and it has not been easy.

 

I disagree with the difficulty in changing PVP. I had a PVP that was not very good and I changed to another. All I had to do was send an Email to the new PVP and state that I no longer wanted XXX to be my PVP but that I wanted YYY to be the PVP.

 

The hard part is finding a new PVP as you cannot discuss who you use on many of the message boards.

[firefly333]

Depends on the PVP.....I have had better luck and service with TA's and onlines I've used in the past than the current PVP we are using. And BTW, it is not easy to just get another PVP, they hold onto their customers and are not easily changed (we have tried)....need to climb supervisory levels and it has not been easy.

 

I had zero trouble changing. I talked to the one I wanted. she said I just needed to send her a email saying I wanted to switch so it was in writing. no problem at all.

 

No supervisors needed either.