Am I way off base?

[brooklynfc]

There are many things I like about Carnival and a few that they certainly could do better with, some from personal experience and some from just reading these boards (seeing the same thing again and again). However, obviously there is enough I like about them that I stay on. I think the biggest thing is know where the weakness is and learn how to work around it. Its sad, but true.

 

I always book things myself. I do the research, read, look up, check, and double check and then I call my PVP and make sure all the information he gives me matches what I have already have. I did do the future cruise certificates onboard, when they had them, but again I made sure I understood the program before I booked it.

 

Do I think Carnival employees should know how to do their job and do it without being rude, YES! Do I think you got a bit of a raw deal, YES. Do I think Carnival will do anything about it.........probably not.

 

If you still can find enough about Carnival that you like and want to stay, just look at this as a learning experience. Its sucks, but there it is. Now you know to either book things yourself or triple check. At least it was only $200 dollars. There have been people on these boards that have lost a lot more (though sometimes it was their own fault, even though they wanted Carnival to be at fault).

[WindsorFred]

I have had just the opposite with the Future Cruise Desk. I, along with several others, attended the information talk and while there was a push to sign up for the credit card, there was still alot of information given concerning the different ships and upcoming itineraries. After the talk, she took our names and set up appointment times for us to come to the desk and book our cruise.

 

Went at the appointed time, set up the cruise and all has been good. Admittedly, I do check on my booking on a regular basis, sometimes as much as every day, since I am always so excited to be heading out on another cruise.

 

NOT every Future Cruise Desk employee is incompetent, and I believe that there are more who are very knowledgeable then what we hear about, simply because we tend to not speak aobut the great service given, but more about the poor.

 

While Carnival has made an error and should make good on that error, it is also the responsibility of the cruiser to be sure all is good. I would never wait more then a day or 2, if that, after a payment was due, to be sure it had been done.

 

Same experience for us. Have always booked while on a cruise. Only complaint was one year I bought 2 future cruise certificates, one for us and one for DW's brother and his wife. When they booked a week later we were unable to use both certificates as they had booked their own room, something the rep neglected to tell us when I purchased them even though we had explained our plans.

[RuthlessBoss]

And to answer your question, no you are not way off base.

 

We usually have our cruise paid for before final payment date, but I think if I had autopay for final payment (which I didn't think they did any more), I would still probably check my cruise manager to make sure it had gone through.

Correct. NEVER ASSUME.

Mine is different. I ASSUMED initially that my cruise would automatically show my new platinum status, but didn't. I checked with a planner, it turned out it wasn't an automatic thing, but she filled out some special form, a few days later my confirmation showed up that I was indeed platinum. If I hadn't checked, I'd get to port without the perk of early boarding etc.

[MsMot]

My DW and I had a similar experience with NCL. We are Platinum with NCL and booked an anniversary cruise on the SS Norway (was our 10th sailing on her). Well, I had all our paperwork, however somehow NCL lost our booking. I was getting the typical runaround from the reps on the phone (this was back before everyone had computers, early 90's, so everything was over the phone). The chief engineer on the Norway at that time is a personal friend. I contacted him and he gave me the phone number of a VP at their corporate HQ. Needless to say after that one phone call I think we received at least 5 calls from various folks apologizing for the mix up. Also got a nice upgrade for the trouble :D. To answer you question (finally ;)) you as a Platinum member should be taken care of in a more professional and appreciative manner. You need to pursue this up the chain of command until you are satisfied with the outcome. Good luck..:)

 

One should receive courteous and professional service regardless of their status. Everyone uses their hard earned money to pay for their cruise and should be treated accordingly.

[Budget Queen]

Frankly, it is also the passenger's responsibility to pay for the cruise. There can be a lot of issues, so, I always, note my final payment date and get confirmation of the payment. I would think this should be a consideration for anyone?

[crusinpsychRN]

On 4/6/13 I booked on board Legend for 4/6/14 on Legend before she goes to Austrailia. I told the guy speciafically NOT to book ES. Yesterday I called Carnival (my 3rd call about this trip) re: price drop. I was told I had booked ES. I insisted I told the guy on board I don't like ES and told him not to book it that rate. They basically told me "Oh, well."

 

They don't seem up front at all on rate categories. She kept saying I was OAM. I asked her several times what that meant before she told me it's a code for booking on board. So I figured she was telling me I wasn't ES and she said, "OAM but you're still ES." ??!?!?!!?

 

I read all the time people call in for fare viewer rate drops and they get changed to ES without their knowledge.

[MNLIvin]

I feel you and Carnival are both at fault...hard to claim Platinum (a pretty expert cruiser) and also claim ignorance. You -assumed- auto payment. Ive read so many of these threads...what I also don't get is that people check rates everyday but don't check their booking? Now I just pay in full when booking. Done. Please make sure your future boomings are in good order. Best.

 

 

I agree there is enough fault to go around. Carnival had an employee act in an incompetant manner and I was cancelled, then had to pay extra for fix his screw up. Should I have checked? Apparently but have never ever had a problem before so really did not feel I had to this time. Lesson learned. I at least was smart enough to check on the Hawaii cruise I had booked at the same time I booked the TA and he had that messed up the same way. Got that fixed. Also checked on a B2B on the Freedom in Jan that I had booked through Carnival direct and that was perfect.

[MNLIvin]

There are many things I like about Carnival and a few that they certainly could do better with, some from personal experience and some from just reading these boards (seeing the same thing again and again). However, obviously there is enough I like about them that I stay on. I think the biggest thing is know where the weakness is and learn how to work around it. Its sad, but true.

 

I always book things myself. I do the research, read, look up, check, and double check and then I call my PVP and make sure all the information he gives me matches what I have already have. I did do the future cruise certificates onboard, when they had them, but again I made sure I understood the program before I booked it.

 

Do I think Carnival employees should know how to do their job and do it without being rude, YES! Do I think you got a bit of a raw deal, YES. Do I think Carnival will do anything about it.........probably not.

 

If you still can find enough about Carnival that you like and want to stay, just look at this as a learning experience. Its sucks, but there it is. Now you know to either book things yourself or triple check. At least it was only $200 dollars. There have been people on these boards that have lost a lot more (though sometimes it was their own fault, even though they wanted Carnival to be at fault).

 

Re:your last paragraph. I agree that $200 is nothing. Back when you could have a open bar tab that would not have covered mine at the local American Legion. What bugs me is I have to absorb the cost of their mistake, which I will, but, what would have happened had I not tried to run my cruise documents before my flight and ended up standing in England without a cruise but with a flight to London, flight from NYC to MSP and tours and London Pass and on and on. That is what caused my angst.

Carnival can say what they want and what they want, we are playing in their sandbox but I can share the issue with folks being as truthfull and honest as possible. There were 5 couples that hung around on the TA. Two of us couples are booked on another cruise line together, two couples just opted for an RCI cruise in Nov and one couple is still on the fence. All of us were very serious about the August Australian cruise. I think the others are more upset than I am to be honest. I have no plans to buy a short rope and find a tall tree. Just more frustrated I think.

[rosestar2013]

On 4/6/13 I booked on board Legend for 4/6/14 on Legend before she goes to Austrailia. I told the guy speciafically NOT to book ES. Yesterday I called Carnival (my 3rd call about this trip) re: price drop. I was told I had booked ES. I insisted I told the guy on board I don't like ES and told him not to book it that rate. They basically told me "Oh, well."

 

They don't seem up front at all on rate categories. She kept saying I was OAM. I asked her several times what that meant before she told me it's a code for booking on board. So I figured she was telling me I wasn't ES and she said, "OAM but you're still ES." ??!?!?!!?

 

I read all the time people call in for fare viewer rate drops and they get changed to ES without their knowledge.

What does ES mean? Sorry I am new.

[tonit964]

Maybe I missed something, although I did read the responses.

 

I would have checked my credit card statement to make sure the payment went through.

 

So sorry this happened to you.

[MNLIvin]

Maybe I missed something, although I did read the responses.

 

I would have checked my credit card statement to make sure the payment went through.

 

So sorry this happened to you.

 

 

You missed nothing. We should have but did not as 1)never had a problem before so blind to the issue 2)we had 4 cruises booked and the wife was totally confused by what we had at what point.

 

Leaving now to join my fellow vets for a toast or many. To all vets, thank you for your service.

 

If anyone wants to weigh in I will be back in the morning and have to say I am enjoying every ones thoughts and your keeping this civil.

[halos]

The best way to book a cruise is on line through a cruise travel agency. There are a good number of reputable ones and I always makle out better when booking myself and not going through a cruise line (ANY cruise line). There always seems to be some good on board credit available through the on line agencies.

 

OP, I am sorry you had this trouble.

[K&P Luv2Cruise]

I am a somewhat experienced Carnival cruiser with a question for some of you others weather I am being unfair or is Carnival or some combination of the two.

Last March while on board the Miracle my wife and I went to the future cruise desk to book a TA on the Legend and Hawaiian on the Miracle. The guy at the desk told us to come back the next day as he was busy with the people signing up for credit cards. There was no long at all. We were taken aback a bit as it seemed a bit rude from what we expect from a Carnival employee. We went back the next day, again no line, as asked about booking the 4 15 day cruises. He was very curt and almost put out we were bothering him but did do the booking but unhappy we did not know the price or what room number we wanted. Since we have cruised Carnival a number of times before (we are platinum) we always just have it set up to draw from our credit card when last payment is due so asked for that on these two trips. When we got a printed confirmation for the Hawaii trip but nothing for the TA. We left it ride for 24 hours and still noting on the TA so went back. He said the printer was not working but is now and printed the TA paperwork. Apparently the printer went down between the two but whatever, got it and all is good.

Fast forward. We got a guest confirmation on 5/1/13 and 2 on 6/28/13 all stating balance due 6/27/13. I cannot find anything to indicate we are to remit, we assumed the was to be drawn per our request of the guy on board.

On 9/16/13 we got a "say hooray" email from Carnival what we were close to cruise day with our name and booking number on it.

Another exactly the same on 9/17/13.

One that said"Cruise Fun is Here" in 9/19/13.

I cannot find anything amiss but go to do our paperwork and get a message saying cannot access booking. Knowing the web site acts up once in a while I waited and tried the next day. Same thing. Tried again a third time and got the same message so called Carnival. Was told we missed our final payment and were cancelled. Explained we should have been paid by credit card and we were concerned as all tours, flights etc were paid.

The lady from Carnival was very nice and rebooked us, waived the rebooking fees but still had to pay $100 each. At this point we had to pay as we had so much invested but we were pretty unhappy.

While on board we went to guest services to tell the and they said we will hear something back before the cruise is over. Nothing. I sent a letter to carnival on our return and got a letter telling us basically too back but enjoy your upcoming three cruises already booked.

We enjoy Carnival. We are platinum, have introduced 19 friends and relative to Carnival and plan to continue Carnival but no longer feel the loyalty was apparently Carnival feels no loyalty.

My question after all this story is, am I way off base to expect Carnival to man up and offer something as we strongly feel they were the root cause of the problem or am I way off base and happy even though I paid $200 additional and almost keeled over then they said we were cancelled?

Looking for opinion and advice.

 

Hi...we were also on the Miracle Panama repositioning cruise with you and also tried to book our Hawaiian cruise onboard.

 

The 'gentleman' (and I use that term loosely) was a moron, and couldn't/wouldn't give us the time of day to discuss/book with him. We had our cabin chosen, knew what the cost would be etc, and he basically brushed us off.

 

So, we came home and booked it on-line ourselves. The thought of the OBC was tempting, but when we realized he wasn't interested in the booking, just trying to get us to sign-up for a Carnival charge card, we walked away.

 

Sorry he fumbled the booking(s) so badly.

 

Also, THANK YOU for your service to your country.

 

Kathryn

Edited November 12, 2013 by K&P Luv2Cruise

[tonit964]

You missed nothing. We should have but did not as 1)never had a problem before so blind to the issue 2)we had 4 cruises booked and the wife was totally confused by what we had at what point.

 

Leaving now to join my fellow vets for a toast or many. To all vets, thank you for your service.

 

If anyone wants to weigh in I will be back in the morning and have to say I am enjoying every ones thoughts and your keeping this civil.

 

Thank you for your service!! :)

[cowgrlkirby]

I have tried to book a cruise while on a cruise myself and it took me all of 5 minutes to figure out that the woman on the other side of the counter was a moron! I think you should have gotten an OBC or something. I do check behind carnival with every transaction because I do not trust anyone that much with my money or vacation. Just found out myself that the cruise I will be taking in January has had changes to the itinerary..one of My friends that booked with us got an email letting her know about the change. I have yet to receive one and the other couple that is also going is yet to get anything as well. So I feel like you should always check behind them when it comes to your vacation. But I do feel that I should say this, someone replied that because you are platinum that you should have been taken care of...I feel that it should not matter how many cruises you have gone on that you should not be screwed over. I hope it all works out and you get some kind acknowledgment! GOOD LUCK!

[girlscruise2011]

OP, since you are platinum have you ever considered getting yourself a Carnival PVP? I understand why you would want to book onboard, especially if you know what cruise you want to take, the OBC is tempting but This is one of the main reasons I have a Carnival PVP. I book solely through her. She helps me with rooms, itineraries and most important payments.

 

At least if you book on board, you can come home and give all your info to your PVP and they will take over the booking from there and hopefully make sure everything is right and that final payment is setup or made.

Edited November 12, 2013 by girlscruise2011

[MNLIvin]

OP, since you are platinum have you ever considered getting yourself a Carnival PVP? I understand why you would want to book onboard, especially if you know what cruise you want to take, the OBC is tempting but This is one of the main reasons I have a Carnival PVP. I book solely through her. She helps me with rooms, itineraries and most important payments.

 

At least if you book on board, you can come home and give all your info to your PVP and they will take over the booking from there and hopefully make sure everything is right and that final payment is setup or made.

 

 

Actually the folks we are booked on a non Carnival cruise we replaced the Australia one with gave us the name of theirs. We have already contacted him, just wish it had been before this goofiness all came about.

[RuthlessBoss]

Actually the folks we are booked on a non Carnival cruise we replaced the Australia one with gave us the name of theirs. We have already contacted him, just wish it had been before this goofiness all came about.

Have you had your morning coffee yet?:confused:

[gusandgidgetsmom]

We have booked several times on board. We have had really good experiences and really BAD ones as well. I am always prepared before by having cruise plans in hand and then checking the computer (it's free for carnival site on ship) This saves on time and frazzled nerves. All future cruise people are not incompetent. It is like every big company--you have some great employees, some good and some not so good. Most of my bookings were transferred to my PVP at the time the future desk booked them but not all. I always check as the one time that I had a problem it was a big one. I have discussed it on here before so won't go into it--just say that I was tripled charged, paying one cruise off and double charging the other (b2b) . Took a long time to straighten out but i still use the future cruise desk as it is the only way to get OBC and friends and family vouchers.

Sorry OP you had such a problem, but thank you for reminding all of us that on anything involving specific dates and our money we have to keep on top of it as we are dealing with a large company with many different types of employees.

[Sparky2]

On 4/6/13 I booked on board Legend for 4/6/14 on Legend before she goes to Austrailia. I told the guy speciafically NOT to book ES. Yesterday I called Carnival (my 3rd call about this trip) re: price drop. I was told I had booked ES. I insisted I told the guy on board I don't like ES and told him not to book it that rate. They basically told me "Oh, well."

 

They don't seem up front at all on rate categories. She kept saying I was OAM. I asked her several times what that meant before she told me it's a code for booking on board. So I figured she was telling me I wasn't ES and she said, "OAM but you're still ES." ??!?!?!!?

 

I read all the time people call in for fare viewer rate drops and they get changed to ES without their knowledge.

 

Sorry you had a problem with booking onboard. However, I just checked my confirmation that was given to me when booking onboard. On Page 4 under Guest Notes, it clearly states the cancellation policy for ES. Check your onboard confirmation to see what it says.

[fireofficer5]

I spoke once to the future cruise person.

It was like talking to my shoe, until the credit card was brought up.

[RyanDMB99@aol.com]

OP... im a "cheerleader":rolleyes: ... But in your situation I don't think your off base. Try running it up the corporate plinko board and see what happens.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Forums mobile app

[swtbaboo36]

One should receive courteous and professional service regardless of their status. Everyone uses their hard earned money to pay for their cruise and should be treated accordingly.

 

You took the words right out of my mouth!

[Tapi]

Glad to know that something was learned and that you'll check from now on that final payments are indeed processed. Not checking is the only blame that you carry in this situation. At least everything was rectified. Can you imagine if you'd found out after the sailing was completely sold out?? :eek:

Edited November 12, 2013 by Tapi

[MsTabbyKats]

No...you aren't off base at all.

 

On the cruise I have booked...the rep told me final payment will be made automatically from my credit card. I happen to "work out of my home" and am on the computer just about all the time....so I'll give them a call a day or so before, just to confirm that it will be done. However, if I had "a busier life" and someone told me..."blah blah blah"....I would assume it gets done without me spending my time verifying.

 

You have a lot of cruises and I'm a bit confused. But I'd write "to someone" and tell them that unless they give you a $200 OBC that you'll be sailing with another company. After all...if they stick someone in that seat...whether he be a Carnival employee or a credit card company employee...they should take the final responsibility for whatever that employee does.