Carnival scummed my TA

[gospelle]

Definitely the 30 days.

 

Thank you.

 

At this point really this thread should have stopped. it was clear I had my answer. but oh no... people after this still needed to hammer me..

[gospelle]

I have transferred from Carnival to a TA several times and it has been the rule that you only have 30 days to transfer from Carnival to a TA for at least a couple of years now.

 

Your TA should have known this.

 

my TA called and ASKED CARNIVAL. how is she supposed to "know" this when CARNIVAL told her the wrong thing? really? how?? clairvoyance maybe??

[gospelle]

As soon as I learned the ship and cruise date of an industry group cruise I booked online so that I could choose my own room, I got burned on last industry cruise with a room I hated on the Freedom. I immediately contacted the TA handling group cruise and she put me off on handling my requests on how to transfer my booking to the group until it was much too late. She's been a Cruise TA for over 20 years and booked my very first cruise in '92 so should have known!

 

When I contacted Carnival they told me of the 30 day rule, TA was not happy and the TA was convinced that she could pull some strings to get me added so asked for booking number. I didn't want to be THAT customer asking for special favors so chose to keep my booking as it was and went on my own and have vowed to never use this TA again.

 

Your TA should have known, lesson learned for next time.

 

again, how exactly should she have "known" when she called carnival directly to ask them the policy?

[gospelle]

Yep, it's been 30 days. Doesn't sound like your TA is very informed. Not CCL's fault for this issue.

 

so the carnival rep who said we had until final payment is not at fault. ok. gee. that makes sense.

[gospelle]

If you are transferring to a TA, CCL requires it to be done within 30 days fo booking. This has been mentioned multiple times on the boards over a period of years.

 

so, to find the answers, travel agents should look on cruise critic for answers instead of contacting the cruise line themselves?

[gospelle]

Probably a lot like calling the IRS, if you talk to 15 different agents, you get 15 different answers. And if the information they give you is wrong, it's your fault for not knowing better..........

 

Doug

 

yes! exactly! I think half the people commenting on this thread work for the IRS

[gospelle]

The 30 days is correct.

not sure why you would transfer your bookings to someone else when you clearly did all the work yourself.. ???

kinda like cleaning your house and paying a housekeeper anyway..

 

my TA is my friend. I am her Realtor. She makes $100 or so off of me when I cruise. I make $5000 off her when she buys a house.

 

Still not sure? ;)

[gospelle]

If you have done this transfer thing before, why weren't you aware of 30 days? I choose to use a TA so they can do all the worrying and changing for me, to make life easier for me to travel....that's why they get the commission.

 

Thank you for saying this again just in case I didn't read it the first 3 times.

 

And there is no way your TA does what I do to my own bookings. Does your TA look EVERY DAY for price reductions? I do. Do they check all other cabin categories every time there's a price change to see if a better cabin, or view, or balcony has popped up? I do. The cruise I have booked on Sunshine has had 4 price reductions and 3 cabin changes since I booked it a few months ago. I do not wish to make my TA and Friend do this for a measly commission.

[gospelle]

gospelle you just got nine answers that said "30 days" so I think after the second or third answer of 30 days I hope you got the picture :p.

 

indeed. sorry I wasn't here to read it then and put a stop to the madness but my father died yesterday and I was travelling all day today so just got here now.

 

But I'm here now and I've responded to all posts.:)

 

I wonder if there's a few more who'll tell me I should know better, my TA should know better and it's all my fault? we'll see.

[gospelle]

Come on now. You lumped us all in with you folks. We didn't all pounce.

 

Bill

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

your right. my bad. you all did not pounce. and I did respond individually after that post with "thank you's" where deserved. :)

[bguppies]

I think the point that people were making about your travel agent/friend, is that a properly trained travel agent shouldn't have to be calling 1-800-CARNIVAL for answers to basic policy questions that they should have known from their training and day to day bookings. (hopefully you are not her only client)

 

The fact that you did not remember the 30 day policy is fine.

But a trained travel agent should have known the rules.

(I would expect my CPA to know the tax law without having to call 1-800-IRS-HELP)

 

Plus the way you intially stated your case, the fact that you do all the work and transfer it to her, made zero sense.

 

After you explained your realtor/TA relationship, it made more sense.

 

Hope you and your friend keep helping each other out...

 

Bill

[KCCruisin']

I typically transfer my booking to my TA after I've booked directly with Carnival because she offers me OBC. I still owe the same amount I booked with Carnival, plus I have OBC that I wouldn't have if I hadn't transferred the booking to my TA.

 

I could let her do all the work, but I like to see and compare the rates myself and feel confident that I'm getting my cabin choice at the rate I feel good about. If my TA didn't offer any OBC, then I wouldn't have a need to transfer the booking.

 

It seems to work for her, certainly works for me! :)

[CdrescherRBL152]

Your friend/TA should have known the policy, that is part of the TA's job. Now whoever at Carnival gave out the worng info is partilly at fault as well. However I fail to see how giving out worng info is scamming (scumming) her. As for being hammerred on that comes partly cause, your op like so many on here came across as. There is a problem and it is all Carnival's fault. I personally have no accountablity for it. And it is only Carnival who does these things. If not you then the TA is paritly at fault. And if you think that Carnival is the only cruise line where from time to time customer service rebs. give out the worng info. While then I have a nice bridge in Brooklyn for sale you might be intrested in.

[CruisingAgain102]

I simple answer. THANK YOU! I wish this was how this board worked. Someone asks a question, someone answers it. instead one person answers it and 6 tell you how stupid you are for asking.

 

Thank you Bill.

 

How true, has it always been this way?

 

I took a year off of cruising due to a new job, just back and really sad about all the insulting and name calling. I don't remember that from before.

[winddawn]

my TA is my friend. I am her Realtor. She makes $100 or so off of me when I cruise. I make $5000 off her when she buys a house.

 

Still not sure? ;)

Sounds like the Golden Rule should apply.

 

Like if you were to spend hours of your time and your gas to drive a client around looking at houses, and then after doing that, the client signs a contract to buy a house through another realtor at the last minute.

 

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

[rufflesmom]

ok. thank you. to answer the question some have raised,.. why don't i know the rules if I do this all the time?

 

answer, look at my signature. I do not just cruise 1 cruise line, nor to I cruise every week. I average 1 or 2 a year and sail 4 different cruise lines. I don't know how good all your memories are, but I sure as hell can't remember each line's policy, nor do I assume they are the same year after year.

 

Why do you folks like to pounce on people on this forum? It's a question. does that really deserve ridicule?

 

Do you realize that you are doing the same thing to the posters? You attack the posters for attacking you.

 

The problem is that you blamed Carnival for something that a competent TA should already know. If a TA has to call Carnival to ask a basic question, then that isn't a TA that should be handling cruises. This whole thing sounds more like a scam on Carnival. Your TA is getting a commission from Carnival for doing nothing.

[ItsAllAboutTheSass]

Why would you transfer it anyway? If you are as high maintenance as you make yourself sound and create a huge workload, the person doing your bidding is the person deserving the commission of the booking. If this is the only reason you transfer your booking, Carnival isn't the one doing the scamming. ....er...scumming as you say.

 

Actually, booking via CCL online there is no commission paid. Even if you book via a PVP, they don't make commission. They still get credit for making the booking even if that booking is transferred to a TA.

[ready2cruzagain]

my TA called and ASKED CARNIVAL. how is she supposed to "know" this when CARNIVAL told her the wrong thing? really? how?? clairvoyance maybe??

I merely stated that a TA should know this policy. Is it the first time she has ever booked with Carnival?

 

I was not attacking anyone just stating the facts. And clairvoyance has nothing to do with it but basic rules do, which imho a good TA should know the basic rules.

[tree.critter]

Do you realize that you are doing the same thing to the posters? You attack the posters for attacking you.

 

The problem is that you blamed Carnival for something that a competent TA should already know. If a TA has to call Carnival to ask a basic question, then that isn't a TA that should be handling cruises. This whole thing sounds more like a scam on Carnival. Your TA is getting a commission from Carnival for doing nothing.

 

*Like*

[LHP]

Yep...it is 30 days...

 

I knew that and I am not even a TA.....

 

so no, Carnival did not "scum" you...you just used a TA that does not know what they are doing it appears.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

indeed. sorry I wasn't here to read it then and put a stop to the madness but my father died yesterday and I was travelling all day today so just got here now.

 

But I'm here now and I've responded to all posts.:)

 

I wonder if there's a few more who'll tell me I should know better, my TA should know better and it's all my fault? we'll see.

 

My condolences to you and your family on the passing of your father.

 

Bill

[Roscoe13]

In reality, is sounds like you "scummed" Carnival.

 

When your friend buys a house from you don't you earn your commission by doing all the work required to make the sale?

 

Whatever, sounds like you two have a symbiotic relationship that works for you.

 

Best of luck on you future cruises and very sorry to hear of your fathers passing.:(

[hftmrock]

Thank you for saying this again just in case I didn't read it the first 3 times.

 

And there is no way your TA does what I do to my own bookings. Does your TA look EVERY DAY for price reductions? I do. Do they check all other cabin categories every time there's a price change to see if a better cabin, or view, or balcony has popped up? I do. The cruise I have booked on Sunshine has had 4 price reductions and 3 cabin changes since I booked it a few months ago. I do not wish to make my TA and Friend do this for a measly commission.

 

 

i'm still not sure I understand why you didnt book it with the travel agent right away. If I book with a travel agent, I STILL look every day for price reductions. I still check all cabin categories if a better cabin, view or balcony pops up and if I find something, I contact them and they take care of it for me right away. I dont trust my travel agent to be as diligent as I would for my cruise. I do however trust them to make the change for me if I find something. that is really what you should do. I dont think that is asking too much of a travel agent (even a friend).

[hftmrock]

and if you are really just looking for a simple answer... ask a simple question without a back story.

 

"What is carnival's policy for when I can switch my booking from me to a travel agent?"

 

 

if that's all you wrote, no one could have added anything further. when you write a back story, you invite others to comment on the back story as well. that is how forums usually operate.

[MMastell]

That's a nice arrangement for your TA friend. Do little or nothing and get a commission. Plus your TA friend didn't know Carnival's 30 day transfer policy that has been in effect for over two years. I guess all those free commissions are making the TA lazy and not forcing them to keep up with the industry.

 

No: Your TA or you were not scummed or scammed by Carnival. It sounds more like it's the reverse with your TA coming out on top.

 

Take care,

Mike