Something not cool is happening with Carnival

[MrPete]

PVP's have a quota to meet, but I don't think they receive a commission. TA's are paid a commission but not PVPs.

 

I've come to the conclusion some here "make it up" as they go along. :rolleyes:

[winddawn]

I have been reading reviews that say to check your prices, because they are going down again with the current Friends & Family sale.

 

So, I went to check our 5 cabins. What I found was very upsetting to me.

Made me re-think my opinion of Carnival.

 

We have 5 cabins of family and friends going on a Carnival cruise in May.

We were originally booked on Triumph,...until last week when Carnival cancelled 10 more sailings on her,...including ours.

 

Since we MUST travel the same week, we re-booked on Triumph. Even though the "hold" announcements on the phone said to call back next week, we feared that we wouldn't be able to rebook due to the only other option for our week, and departure port, is Magic. So we spent countless hours on the phone trying to book our cabins on Magic. Even though we got a 15% discount, we ALL had to pay more money. But we either do it, or cancel our cruise vacation completely.

 

What I find appalling, is that every single cabin category on Carnival has increased in price everyday, since the cancelled sailings. Our other families and friends that planned to go with us, can no longer afford to do so. And the ones that decided to wait until next week to call back as instructed by Carnival will now pay even more. An inside triple priced $1740 two days before the cancelled sailings. That same cabin category is now pricing $2370!!! Why would Carnival do this to their loyal customers? Customers whose vacations they cancelled??? Why??? To make US pay for the ship repairs/upgrades/fire compensations? Magic is our only option out of Galveston, now. So Carnival decides to price gouge the crap out of those of us that have to re-book/book on Magic!!!:mad:

 

SHAME ON YOU, CARNIVAL!!! You give us a 15% DISCOUNT, and then increase the fare 25%??? This is not cool. Now, our families and friends that wanted to come along, but were waiting for their tax refunds, etc, cant afford to come with us. So, what was going to be a great cruise vacation for all of us, has become a very bad feeling towards this cruise line.

 

This will most definitely be our last with Carnival. Perhaps this is why Carnival has received so much bad Karma lately. :rolleyes:

I have a friend who got rebooked on Magic with a situation similar to yours. Even though the Magic cruise was more expensive, Carnival did not charge them the extra to rebook them since it was Carnival's fault, and Carnival has also reimbursed them for the additional $600+ they had to spend in extra airfare to change their plans.

 

From reading all the posts on CC about this rebooking nightmare, it seems like Carnival representatives are using their own rules when handling customers.

 

I just tried to get upgraded on my cruise next month when the price dropped based on the communication Carnival put out on goccl.com. The Carnival rep denied my request, and it was only a $20 upgrade request. That sure doesn't make me feel appreciated as a loyal Carnival customer getting ready to embark on my 20th Carnival cruise.

 

Is Carnival coming apart at the seams?

[LSUcajunmom]

I have to agree w others about going from a 5 day cruise on older ship to a 7 day cruise on one of the newest ships, it's going to cost more. I was book on Triumph and got canceled in the first round of canceled sailings, rebooked on the Elation that was $60 less and then got upgraded for $10 to an OV w the latest sale and then received another $40 OBC when the prices dropped again yesterday.

[centurycruiser]

I am sure the problem with the Triumph cancellations would have had much less price impact here in Florida because there are so many other ships here.

[LHP]

Not sure this argument holds weight. It's exactly what a hotel would do in the event they overbooked you or were at fault if your reservation could not be fulfilled. They "walk" you to another property, even it is a more expensive or competing product. Often times offering you additional compensation(dinner voucher, future discount, etc)

 

I would expect no less from Carnival.

 

Please tell that to Hilton...

 

we had a room booked last year precruise....Hurricane came...power line repairers took over our room.... there was another Hilton product right up the road and the only room available was a suite.....

 

Hilton would do absolutely nothing..... we ended up having to pay more money for the room we needed.

 

And hubby has been Platinum Diamond whatever with Hilton for years.....

[firefly333]

Galveston is one ship down. You changed from a 4 or 5 day to a 7 day and surprised you had to pay more money? Maybe I am misunderstanding.. but a 7 day of course will be more money.

 

Why not change to Elation and drive to New Orleans?

 

The closer you get to summer ususually the higher prices will go.

[firefly333]

I have to agree w others about going from a 5 day cruise on older ship to a 7 day cruise on one of the newest ships, it's going to cost more. I was book on Triumph and got canceled in the first round of canceled sailings, rebooked on the Elation that was $60 less and then got upgraded for $10 to an OV w the latest sale and then received another $40 OBC when the prices dropped again yesterday.

 

Exactly .. you moved to a cruise more similar to what was cancelled.

[firefly333]

PVP's have a quota to meet, but I don't think they receive a commission. TA's are paid a commission but not PVPs.

 

Mine makes something on every booking, not a commission but she does get something. She says it doesnt matter what cabin I book, so it is not based on price, just numbers.

[marlynnp]

I have to agree w others about going from a 5 day cruise on older ship to a 7 day cruise on one of the newest ships, it's going to cost more.

 

 

I agree with this.

 

And since the OP even acknowledge that they've seen others post about their price drops for the 'replacement' cruise - it was obviously priced much higher when they originally booked a cruise.

 

If you select the cheapest product to begin with you have to expect that the other choices will always remain higher.

[Blurgh]

You guys realize what's he's complaining about, right?

 

It's that once his cruise was cancelled, the price on the MAGIC went up more than offsetting his discount for the cancellation....

 

I swear the literacy rate on this site must be sub 25%.

[firefly333]

You guys realize what's he's complaining about, right?

 

It's that once his cruise was cancelled, the price on the MAGIC went up more than offsetting his discount for the cancellation....

 

I swear the literacy rate on this site must be sub 25%.

 

then maybe he should have considered Elation which is close enough to drive to also... and does the same length cruises and there are still 2 ships out of that port.

 

Magic is now the only ship going out of Galveston so supply and demand is up.

 

I think this point has been addressed in several posts.

 

I have done several cruises now on Conquest when I live in TX and prefer Magic because Magic is so darn expensive .. and it aint getting any better with only one ship now out of Galveston.

 

If the OP had considered 7 days on Conquest even .. People do understand what the OP said and are trying to explain it to the OP.

[Blurgh]

then maybe he should have considered Elation which is close enough to drive to also... and does the same length cruises and there are still 2 ships out of that port.

 

Magic is now the only ship going out of Galveston so supply and demand is up.

 

I think this point has been addressed in several posts.

 

I have done several cruises now on Conquest when I live in TX and prefer Magic because Magic is so darn expensive .. and it aint getting any better with only one ship now out of Galveston.

 

If the OP had considered 7 days on Conquest even .. People do understand what the OP said and are trying to explain it to the OP.

 

No, I think people are focusing too much on the first half of the post, which is the breaks. The Magic is going to be more expensive.

 

What is lame, is releasing everyone from their reservations, giving them 15%, and then jacking the prices on the other boat way up, so with their discount,

they're paying MORE than they would if they had booked rack the day before the cancellations happened.

 

That's crappy customer service, and driving to NO to downgrade their vacation isn't very much of a "make good." Seems to me that they're trying to drive away the people who have discounts.

[aggieastrosfan]

We must've gotten lucky. We rebooked 5/6 Triumph to 5/5 Magic. We had 4 in an 8C. We switched to a cove, and including the extra tips, are paying about $200/pp more. (We could've gone up to Lido for $10/pp more.) But since we're getting two more days, and on a newer ship, I thought that was fair. And we had a dirt cheap price on the Triumph to begin with, so the fact that it only went up $200 was surprising, really (granted, this does include the discount).

 

I also had been keeping an eye on this sailing just for this reason. We put a cabin on hold the day the cruise was cancelled just in case the rate went up, but it never did. They have so many cruises that there's no way there's a human adjusting prices - it's all a program. Can it be modified manually? Sure it can. But I highly doubt Carnival went around and intentionally raised the prices on the corresponding Magic sailings. If they did, they didn't do all of them, because ours never went any higher. It's actually over $100/pp cheaper than it was about a month ago.

 

 

Meredith

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[LSUcajunmom]

You guys realize what's he's complaining about, right?

 

It's that once his cruise was cancelled, the price on the MAGIC went up more than offsetting his discount for the cancellation....

 

I swear the literacy rate on this site must be sub 25%.

 

Very rude assumption on your part.

[firefly333]

That's crappy customer service, and driving to NO to downgrade their vacation isn't very much of a "make good." Seems to me that they're trying to drive away the people who have discounts.

 

So upgrade it .. and do conquest instead of Triumph?

 

Conquest is newer, has a steak restaurant and all the new 2.0 stuff and prices are usually low.

 

We dont know exactly when prices started to go up on Magic .. but when more people start booking it the prices are going to rise... and with so many cancellations, prices probably did go up that day.... as I said because of supply and demand.

 

Bad luck?? Or dont use the 15% off and stay home if finding a better alternative does not work for you and you are upset Magic prices started to immediately go up when people heard about the cancellations and started to call.

 

Expecting them to hold the line on the price on Magic as people started to call and book it up isnt how it works. Its automated... more call and book, the prices go up, controlled by a computer.

 

I once had to deal with them swapping out ships and some were cancelled and some a new ship etc out of NOLA that Carnival did.. and then prices dropped and the TA would not do price drops and I wound up getting upgraded twice is all I could do. Sometimes after planning our best, Carnival changes things and all we can do is decide what to do that is best for us.

 

I was also on Conquest when Ike wiped out Galveston and my car and didnt go back to Galveston where it left from. (zero compensation and nothing off a future cruise) and on Conquest when it missed 2 out of 3 ports. also when it could not do Mexico. With cruises .. things seem to happen, and Carnival doesnt do as much to compensate perhaps as other lines, but it has lower prices so people come back.

 

Sometimes you just have to do your best.. as the above person did rebooking magic for only $200 more ..they probably called up right away and got it changed .. some waited and now upset prices went up.. even a one day delay you had to know prices would increase. Its common sense.

 

Believe me.. ive been thru worse with Carnival and survived.

[rjrpar]

Most of Carnival's current fares are very low. We are paying about $225/nite for a balcony for both of us; that is about 25% less than Royal Caribbean or Princess for a comparable cruise. Just remember, in the long term we will all get what we pay for. I say this because so many posts complain about Carnival's cost cutting, which will only get worse as so many Carnival cruisers insist on cheap rates

[ib4cruzn]

I have been reading reviews that say to check your prices, because they are going down again with the current Friends & Family sale.

 

So, I went to check our 5 cabins. What I found was very upsetting to me.

Made me re-think my opinion of Carnival.

 

We have 5 cabins of family and friends going on a Carnival cruise in May.

We were originally booked on Triumph,...until last week when Carnival cancelled 10 more sailings on her,...including ours.

 

Since we MUST travel the same week, we re-booked on Triumph. Even though the "hold" announcements on the phone said to call back next week, we feared that we wouldn't be able to rebook due to the only other option for our week, and departure port, is Magic. So we spent countless hours on the phone trying to book our cabins on Magic. Even though we got a 15% discount, we ALL had to pay more money. But we either do it, or cancel our cruise vacation completely.

 

What I find appalling, is that every single cabin category on Carnival has increased in price everyday, since the cancelled sailings. Our other families and friends that planned to go with us, can no longer afford to do so. And the ones that decided to wait until next week to call back as instructed by Carnival will now pay even more. An inside triple priced $1740 two days before the cancelled sailings. That same cabin category is now pricing $2370!!! Why would Carnival do this to their loyal customers? Customers whose vacations they cancelled??? Why??? To make US pay for the ship repairs/upgrades/fire compensations? Magic is our only option out of Galveston, now. So Carnival decides to price gouge the crap out of those of us that have to re-book/book on Magic!!!:mad:

 

SHAME ON YOU, CARNIVAL!!! You give us a 15% DISCOUNT, and then increase the fare 25%??? This is not cool. Now, our families and friends that wanted to come along, but were waiting for their tax refunds, etc, cant afford to come with us. So, what was going to be a great cruise vacation for all of us, has become a very bad feeling towards this cruise line.

 

This will most definitely be our last with Carnival. Perhaps this is why Carnival has received so much bad Karma lately. :rolleyes:

 

Because, contrary to popular belief it's not YOU they love. It's your money.

[halos]

I think their system is automated to increase the price based on demand!

 

Automated???:confused:

NO...

There are revenue managers (live people) that dictate the fares. Absolutely if the ships are selling the prices will increase, (which under normal circumstances is absolutely fair) but if the ships are selling out because people have to leave disabled ships to book others ships, this kinda sucks.

Not 'normal' circumstances' here at all.

[tgunn1978]

Why is Carnval doing this to loyal customers you ask?

 

Because Carnival is not loyal to you. They are not your best friend. They are a business trying to make as much money as possible.

 

Well. I own a small business, and I can tell you that if I did any of this to my customers, I would lose everyone of them, plus many future customers when word got out! If they want to be a business that makes money, they damned sure better learn to care about their customers like they get on TV and their web page, and say they do!!!

[tgunn1978]

Not sure this argument holds weight. It's exactly what a hotel would do in the event they overbooked you or were at fault if your reservation could not be fulfilled. They "walk" you to another property, even it is a more expensive or competing product. Often times offering you additional compensation(dinner voucher, future discount, etc)

 

I would expect no less from Carnival.

 

Absolutely!!!

[tgunn1978]

Sorry.

 

I missed a cruise due to a blizzard.

 

They rebooked/put me on a new ship a month later, in a better room, with an even better itinerary, and no money ever traded hands.

 

I would expect the same or better, in a situation where THEY cancelled the cruise.

 

OMG, THANK YOU!!!! That's my thinking EXACTLY! We didn't call up and say "Um, yeah. We was thinking on bookin a ship,...and um,...we wanna go on a new boat for 7 days for 'bout the same money as an old 5 nighter. WHAT??? You can't do dat??? That pisses me off! Where's my lawyer?". LMAO! THEY CANCELLED OUR OLD 5 NIGHTER!!!!

[CdrescherRBL152]

PVP's have a quota to meet, but I don't think they receive a commission. TA's are paid a commission but not PVPs.

 

Sorry to let the secert out but, PVP's are sales people not friends. And as with any sales person PVP's pay is commission based. THe wording may be different and call it a quota system. Just means they get a base salery and if they book over a certian dollar amount then they get commission (of excause me Bonous) on the amount over the quota. This is an old trick started by GM with their Saturn line to make customers think that the sale person was tring to upsell them to make more money.