Is my PVP being pushy or am I too sensitive?

[AugustPearl]

So, DH & I are interested in booking our 2nd cruise. 1st one was back in Nov. w/Carnival & we loved it!!! Booked the 1st one all by my lonesome & felt perfectly capable of it & of doing it again. But we recently got a call & email from our assigned PVP introducing themselves, & thought I would talk to them. I did some research here first & opinions on using PVPs are mixed, but overall favorable. I have no problem "letting" them do my booking & get the credit for it. And I thought it might be nice to have a point of contact for questions/issues. So, I talked to the PVP last Wed. Let them know what I had been looking at online & what we were interested in, but that we weren't ready to book that night. "No problem, when can I call you back?" I said "Give me a week." Tomorrow will be a week and I've already gotten 1 voicemail & 2 emails from this PVP. What happened to call me in a week? ( I realize I should probably be asking the PVP this & not you, [but I wasn't talking to her until tomorrow, see. :) ])

I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, (DH says I do this TOO much) so I thought, maybe they're required to contact clients a certain amount of times, maybe work is slow right now so they're just calling everyone on their lists, maybe this PVP wants to make sure I take advantage of the early saver fare I want before it's gone (until I checked the website & found where it says that early saver is good until 3 months before sailing, I'm still 6-8 months out from when I want to go. So I don't guess that's it).

Anyway, my point (finally!!!:rolleyes:) is I kinda feel like my PVP is being a bit pushy. And if said PVP doesn't lay off, they're gonna push my right into booking by my lonesome again online.

Am I making too big a deal of it? Be honest, I can take it!

Thanks!

A.P.

[jandjfun]

I do not feel you are being to sensitive. I think I would absolutely just book it on my own! I hate pushy people, I don't care what the reason is!

[jnolan3199]

When I first booked my cruise, it was suggested that I use a PVP. This PVP was even recommended to me by a good friend. I didn't like her at all. I had already done a fair amount of research before hand and when I called, it seemed like I had to keep reminding her of the best deal that I wanted. She seemed to always want to put me in the most expensive room available. She really didn't explain about the Early Saver Rates, she would automatically include Carnival's insurance in the quoted price even after I told her that I wouldn't get insurance through Carnival, etc.

 

After that conversation, I just told her I would think about it and call back if I decided. Well, she called back about 6 times over the course of three days - until I just went ahead and booked it myself online.

 

I don't think you're being too sensitive...I thought my particular PVP was pushy as well.

[travelntreats]

You are making too big a deal on this... it's called "Follow Up" and you are considered a "lead" for them to take credit for if and when you book with them.

 

I see nothing wrong in what they did at all. The emails wouldn't bother me at all... the call maybe could have been considered "pushy" given you said call back in a week. You did not actually answer the phone right and be approached in a pushy fashion did you ? So whats the big deal ???

[elcuchio24]

Just another reason I book myself and never use a PVP.......

[cb at sea]

Just tell them "Thank you....I'll call YOU when I'm ready to decide and book"...and then, hang up.

[jaded99]

Mine tends to call a lot too, especially after we bought a FCC, and after the first cruise we were on she called to see if we liked it (we did) and asked when we wanted to book another. We told her we didn't have the money right then, but that we were interested maybe 6 months to a year later doing another one... about 3 months later she started calling and e-mailing at least once a week.

 

She is nice enough when we deal with her, but has never given us any "special" information that we can't get from CC - in fact, we were disappointed the time we did book with her for our first cruise with our cabin. We were under the gym and heard people on the treadmills at like 6 am and we are NOT morning people on vacation. All in all, we prefer to book by ourselves, we research the cabin on CC and then pick the exact one we want ;)

[cantwait06]

I personally felt like the PVP i used with a cruise last year was wayyyy to pushy, so when I called to book another one and they weren't available, I didn't hesitate to book with another PVP, which upset my first one since I recieved about 10 calls in the next few days from him. This year, I booked on my own. I can do my own research!

[nevadabadgirl]

A few years ago I did a fake booking on the website. If I remember correctly, at that time you had to enter all the pax info to get the final price. I used a fake phone number but a real email. I didn't purchase the cruise, just looked at the price. A PVP started emailing me several times a day and was quite flustered,, because in every email they mentioned they had the wrong phone number.

 

From that experience alone, I decided I would book myself or use a local TA.

 

Now my cruise is paid in full, all excursions bought, prepaid tips, etc. No one has called, but then I guess they have no reason to.

[victoryred]

I thought everyone had caller id nowadays......screen your calls..

[SportsMomof4]

I'm confused when everyone says PVP. Is this PVP from Carnival or an outside source?

[elcuchio24]

I thought everyone had caller id nowadays......screen your calls..

 

Oh ya, after we book they call at least a few times, leave a messege. We just never call back......they get the hint eventually.

[cruzeluver]

I'm confused when everyone says PVP. Is this PVP from Carnival or an outside source?

 

Stands for "personal vacation planner". They work for Carnival. Sort of like an in-house travel agent.

[elcuchio24]

I'm confused when everyone says PVP. Is this PVP from Carnival or an outside source?

 

They work for Carnival. They may be helpful, but keep in mind who cuts thier check....

[mandakate42]

I absolutely love my pvp. she is never pushy, always very nice and bubbly. She sends me the emails but only calls when I let her know Im interested in booking another. This upcoming cruise is the 4th Ive booked through her. Crazy thing is, yesterday I was looking at the Carnvial website at my documents then yesterday afternoon I get a call from another PVP. I informed her that I had already booked a cruise with another PVP and she still kept talking and asking me questions. It was very annoying!

[richstowe]

From that experience alone, I decided I would book myself or use a local TA.

 

Now my cruise is paid in full, all excursions bought, prepaid tips, etc. No one has called, but then I guess they have no reason to.

 

Besides PVP or booking direct with Carnival , there is the TA option either local or internet.

 

I really liked using an internet agency (think William Shatner) and was very happy.

I ended up with a specific TA who was great who I could call or contact on line.

Price drops from Carnival were handled quickly.

I e-mailed a screen copy of price cut and poof my new reduced final payment invoice would be e-mailed.

This is in addition to a $100 rebate I received for booking with them.:)

[golfadj]

Used a pvp for past 6 or so cruises. He would call back when I called him but generally he would never contact me unless I called him.

 

In any case called to book cruise last weekend and found out he is gone.

 

Wound up booking with TA that was highly recommended to me by new friends we met on our last cruise and we will see how this works before deciding on what we do next.

[dogbert's mom]

We have a very nice PVP. She only calls me after I have left her a message to call me. The reason I use her is that I'm kind of picky about cabin location and she is able to tell me all of the available cabins. She has it on our records not to call unless requested and she is able to see that I log on to Carnival website a few times a week and never bothers me.

[lego7191]

I really like my PVP. He also calls quite often, but he knows that I am not going to answer the phone when he calls, so his voicemails are always pretty funny because he refers to the fact that I am not going to talk to him until I am ready to book. I reminded him one time that when I am ready to book, I will definitely talk to him and no one else, but he said he gets reports of people looking at the website, etc and he has to call. Figured it must be some sort of requirement for them to make those "cold calls." Which is fine with me. I always let it go to voicemail and then when I have researched enough and figured out my schedule, I always call him to book.

 

ETA: One of the other reasons I like my PVP - he takes his time when it comes to cabin selection, even if I *think* I have already selected one prior to calling him, he notices things I may have missed about a certain cabin's location (under dining room, next to elevator, far from entertainment, etc.) and always wants to make sure I am happy with my location prior to locking it in.

[SMSACE6]

Op, you are not being too sensitive! I would let that PVP know asap, that you will call him/her when you are ready, and that they should not call you! I have had a good experience with the PVP I deal with, and she knows that she is wasting her time calling me, and that I will book when Im good and ready. She gives me her xt number and her working hours, and 80pc of the time when I call she answers right away, and the other 20pc of the time she gets back to me within 30 mins. Let that PVP know how you like to deal, and if he/she doesnt like it, I would call the 1 800 number and request another one, or if you are comfortable with booking on your own, do that. JMHO.:)

[AugustPearl]

I do appreciate everyone's opinions. And yes, I totally understand "follow-up" which is why when I was asked when they could call, I gave them a specific day. They even quoted the date of this Wednesday back to me. And I do screen my calls, hence the voicemail.

Although, I cognitively realize that "Big Brother" is all around me every day, it was a tad creepy to get an email after being on the site, saying "Hey, we saw you on our site. Do you have any questions?" No, if I do I'll contact you. (Ok, go ahead & flame away about how I shouldn't be using the Internet at all, much less posting to a message board, and if I don't want to participate in modern society, I should go off the grid & be living under a rock in Nepal! :p...... BTW, are there any ports I could drive to from Kathmandu? ;))

Additionally, in any relationship, but especially a business one, I think it undermines your credibility when you don't do what you say you would (when or how). In this case, that was to contact me back on a certain date.

With all that being said, I still hope to hear from the PVP tomorrow. I think I'll explain my concerns and see how it goes from there.

Thanks again!

A.P.

[momonthego17]

Hmmm, I have booked both of my Carnival cruises through the same PVP and although he is very friendly, I was the one who found out that cabin 6232 was available after I booked (he said he wanted me in the best cabin, and didn't mention this one that was in the same price bracket) and so I found out about 6232 on CC and called quickly to change my cabin.

 

He told me he would "look out for me" with regard to pricedrops. Well, I check the Carnival site at least once a day and lo and behold there was a pricedrop. I tried to call his number but it was after hours, so I emailed my info in and got my pricedrop.

 

I've heard of other passengers getting a little box of chocolates when they board, in their rooms. Heck, a card would be nice!

[csunshine860]

So, DH & I are interested in booking our 2nd cruise. 1st one was back in Nov. w/Carnival & we loved it!!! Booked the 1st one all by my lonesome & felt perfectly capable of it & of doing it again. But we recently got a call & email from our assigned PVP introducing themselves, & thought I would talk to them. I did some research here first & opinions on using PVPs are mixed, but overall favorable. I have no problem "letting" them do my booking & get the credit for it. And I thought it might be nice to have a point of contact for questions/issues. So, I talked to the PVP last Wed. Let them know what I had been looking at online & what we were interested in, but that we weren't ready to book that night. "No problem, when can I call you back?" I said "Give me a week." Tomorrow will be a week and I've already gotten 1 voicemail & 2 emails from this PVP. What happened to call me in a week? ( I realize I should probably be asking the PVP this & not you, [but I wasn't talking to her until tomorrow, see. :) ])

I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, (DH says I do this TOO much) so I thought, maybe they're required to contact clients a certain amount of times, maybe work is slow right now so they're just calling everyone on their lists, maybe this PVP wants to make sure I take advantage of the early saver fare I want before it's gone (until I checked the website & found where it says that early saver is good until 3 months before sailing, I'm still 6-8 months out from when I want to go. So I don't guess that's it).

Anyway, my point (finally!!!:rolleyes:) is I kinda feel like my PVP is being a bit pushy. And if said PVP doesn't lay off, they're gonna push my right into booking by my lonesome again online.

Am I making too big a deal of it? Be honest, I can take it!

Thanks!

A.P.

 

 

No, you are not making a big deal. We sailed twice within a month with CC this past December which I booked myself online and once with another line that month as well. Well, after the first cruise we completed I was getting messages on my cel from PVP. She kept on calling non stop right until we arrived home after being away a total of 35 days- no not all sea days, some land time in FL. Well, we get home mid January and there she is again, calling on my cell. Since I had not answered any of her calls while we were away, I answered one call. Well, told her we just completed 3 cruises and was not ready for another one as yet. Would you believe it,

the next week, there she was with 3 different emails..... If I received these calls and I never used a PVP how may would I have received if I had???? We will be booking ourselves......for Dec.2011

[Mybearsbaby]

I had major issues with a PVP from Carnival also. He was calling EVERY day, calling both me and my MOTHER, after repeatedly being asked politely to stop, because we always book on our own, and it was using up our phone minutes...he kept calling!! And emailing...several more times. I finally emailed Carnival directly, and they said that they would handle it, and when even that didn't completely stop the contact, I called the main number and told them that this was unacceptable and that I wished for my number to please be taken off the call list, and I would call if I need help, but liked to book on my own. The girl had the nerve to "scold" me, and tell me that I shouldnt ever book on my own because they dont get the money then. Finally the calls stopped, but the other day, they called my mom again, asking for me...grr!

 

Somebody said if you do not log in on the website, they wont call as much. This does seem to cut down on the calls and emails.;) I did notice they put an "enter your phone number here and someone will call you" box on the website.

[yesterdaystime]

Sounds like we have Carnival's best PVP - to date, we've booked 20+ cruises through her. She is extremely knowledgable, very helpful, knows our likes and dislikes, is never pushy.

 

As I said she knows what we like and yes, sometimes like the Godfather, she make me an offer we can't refuse!

 

For our money, she's the only way to go!

 

Lastly, if you don't like the one you have, or feel like you are not getting outstanding service, ask to speak to a supervisor and ask for another CVP.