So What's The Deal?

[TNIris]

I'm hoping y'all can help me. :)

 

We've sailed Carnival twice, never had any issues, aside from the fact that Fantasy was an older ship, but we had a splendid time on Legend 5 years ago, no complaints at all.

 

When we went to book our most recent cruise, our travel agent informed us that her company no longer dealt with Carnival "because they had become so hard to work with". She said we would have to book on our own. But she warned us that they had so many "fine print" stipulations that we might find ourselves with a booked cruise, and a non-refundable deposit? :confused:

 

So we ended up going with Royal Caribbean. (I actually liked Legend better than Freedom of Seas!) My next cruise, I'm looking at Alaska, and I would like to use Carnival. But I'm confused about the prices. For the same room and date, the prices range from $1299-$1599. And it does say one of them is non-refundable. Does that mean if I pick that price and pay my deposit, and all the money along the way until the final payment date, that if I want to cancel anytime before my final payment that I would lose all of my money? If that's the case, the $300 or so you would save by using Carnival over a different cruise line you would lose by paying the higher Carnival price to be assured you wouldn't lose your money?

 

Thanks everyone!

[Lace]

If your TA doesn't want to book you on something YOU want to do, it's time to find a new TA.

[TMWTim]

What's a travel agent?

[Miller_KC]

Carnival has dropped a lot of the TA incentives since they have build up their web site and staff to do the same thing the TA is doing without having to pay the TA commissions. Therefore the TAs don't like to work with them as much.

 

There are 2 ways around the non-refundable fare. Buy the refundable fare, sometimes a little higher and doesn't provided you with price drops once the final payment is made. Or buy "cancel for any reason" trip insurance. It's good to have and not very expensive through reliable 3rd party insurance companies.

 

On the Non-refundable you can usually change to a different Carnival cruise for a $50 pp fee, that keeps you from losing most of your non-refundable fare.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I'm hoping y'all can help me. :)

 

We've sailed Carnival twice, never had any issues, aside from the fact that Fantasy was an older ship, but we had a splendid time on Legend 5 years ago, no complaints at all.

 

When we went to book our most recent cruise, our travel agent informed us that her company no longer dealt with Carnival "because they had become so hard to work with". She said we would have to book on our own. But she warned us that they had so many "fine print" stipulations that we might find ourselves with a booked cruise, and a non-refundable deposit? :confused:

 

So we ended up going with Royal Caribbean. (I actually liked Legend better than Freedom of Seas!) My next cruise, I'm looking at Alaska, and I would like to use Carnival. But I'm confused about the prices. For the same room and date, the prices range from $1299-$1599. And it does say one of them is non-refundable. Does that mean if I pick that price and pay my deposit, and all the money along the way until the final payment date, that if I want to cancel anytime before my final payment that I would lose all of my money? If that's the case, the $300 or so you would save by using Carnival over a different cruise line you would lose by paying the higher Carnival price to be assured you wouldn't lose your money?

 

Thanks everyone!

 

Nothing against Carnival but why would you want to book Carnival to Alaska?

 

They dont go to Glacier Bay unless it is the first or last cruise of the season, they run their cruises Tuesday to Tuesday, and since they only gave 1 ship in Alaska the prices are usually higher than HAL or Princess which have multiple ships in Alaska.

 

Alaska cruises are totally different than Caribbean cruises too so don't expect the same kind of experience in Alaska on any ship as it is very port intensive.

 

Bill

 

 

Sent from Iphone 4S using Cruise Critic App

[golfadj]

Either find a new TA or look for a pvp.

[Bluemoon319]

Nothing against Carnival but why would you want to book Carnival to Alaska?

 

They dont go to Glacier Bay unless it is the first or last cruise of the season, they run their cruises Tuesday to Tuesday, and since they only gave 1 ship in Alaska the prices are usually higher than HAL or Princess which have multiple ships in Alaska.

 

Alaska cruises are totally different than Caribbean cruises too so don't expect the same kind of experience in Alaska on any ship as it is very port intensive.

 

Bill

 

 

Sent from Iphone 4S using Cruise Critic App

 

Carnival uses a Tues. - Tues. schedule to allow passenger to get cheaper airfare. Tuesdays are notoriously the cheapest day to fly.

[winddawn]

Nothing against Carnival but why would you want to book Carnival to Alaska?

 

They dont go to Glacier Bay unless it is the first or last cruise of the season, they run their cruises Tuesday to Tuesday, and since they only gave 1 ship in Alaska the prices are usually higher than HAL or Princess which have multiple ships in Alaska.

 

Alaska cruises are totally different than Caribbean cruises too so don't expect the same kind of experience in Alaska on any ship as it is very port intensive.

 

Bill

 

 

Sent from Iphone 4S using Cruise Critic App

Bill makes some great points. You can see from my signature that I sail Carnival a lot. But I have been to Alaska twice and neither time did I choose Carnival. Pick a cruise line that does northbound or southbound instead of Seattle roundtrip. You will see more of Alaska. Glacier Bay or Prince William Sound are must sees.

[cocacola86]

Carnival is going to send the cruise brochures to TA now, so you will be able to pick up a brochure.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[cjknox]

If your TA doesn't want to book you on something YOU want to do, it's time to find a new TA.

 

I was going to say the same thing. That's absurd.

[cruizinisthebest]

There are some fares, early saver being one and the most popular, that's non refundable. But you don't lose your money per se. You lose $50 of your deposit and anything else you paid on the trip is credited to use on another booking within 24 months.