First time Carnival Cruiser - already disappointed

[JABrown104]

You could always call back and ask to speak to a supervisor and see if they can fix the situation. If not, cancel. You can always keep an eye out for another good sail, or just hold out til rci cruise next year.

[CruisingMainer]

I would cancel his reservation and go with a friend. He doesn't want to go on Carnival anyway. He has already decided he won't like it, so he won't. Go with a friend or other family member and enjoy yourself.

[joepeka]

I posted this a couple of days ago but it (and my other post to this thread) seems to have disappeared so I'll try again: it appears the OP hasn't been back to report the results of her follow up with Carnival to try and straighten out this situation - has she? I am curious to know if Carnival corrected (or offered to correct) what appears to have been their foul up.

Edited July 4, 2015 by joepeka

[Midwestgal]

I agree with just canceling only because you already have a bad taste in your mouth with Carnival and if you do go your going to look and focus on only the negative.

[dolphin2012]

I would talk to a supervisor . We have been on five carnival cruises and enjoyed them all Sometimes things happen. They usually try to make the customer cruiser happy

[RecoveryDude]

My boyfriend and I sailed RCI last year out of Baltimore and are going out of Europe next year on RCI as well. We had originally decided not to take a vacation this year to save money/time off, but I've slowly gotten him to agree to a less expensive trip to tide us over until next year (and it was a long uphill battle to get him there). Ever since I have met him, he has said he didn't want to do Carnival because his parents took a cruise on it once and had an AWFUL time and since then all he has done, and all his family has done, is RCI (talk about brand loyalty). In addition to agreeing to taking a vacation, I tried hard to get him to agree to maybe sailing on Carnival this year because how do either of us know we like RCI without ever giving Carnival a chance?

 

When the 12-hour sale went on on Monday, I found a great deal for $350pp on a 7-day on the Pride the week before Christmas. Perfect. We talked a little about it over dinner and I started to convince him but he was still a little skeptical - he wanted to read more about the ship, look at the itinerary, etc. So when we called to reserve and the booking agent offered a 24-hour hold before putting down a deposit, we immediately decided to do that. It gave us time to do research and think about it before putting money down. We were told we had until midnight yesterday (as we booked/put a hold on our reservation around midnight on Monday)

 

We did a lot of research on the ship, itinerary, etc. and BF decided it would be worth the money/PTO to go. I went online around 9 last night (well within the 24-hour time frame) to put the deposit down and for some reason my VIFP account couldn't find the reservation. The banner was in the corner though stating how long I had until my cruise, so I didn't think anything was wrong. Maybe I just had to call in because of the special sale?

 

After over an hour on the phone, most of it on hold, I found out that the agent who had put the hold on had not done it correctly. She had manually put in the time as noon instead of midnight. Therefore, we lost our reservation. The agent we had on the phone was able to reinstate the booking price we had plus 50+ each and the fees went up and we do not get a guarantee room anymore. They said there were some guarantees left, but because we didn't book during the 12-hour sale, they couldn't give them to us. Instead, we got a 4A room, at the bottom of the ship, all the way in the back.

 

I feel like this is a pretty bad state. I know that guarantee could have gotten us the same room, but at least we had the hope of getting a few decks up or with a porthole. Instead, we are at the bottom while paying more money. My boyfriend is very close to canceling as he says that this was a 'sign' we should never sail Carnival. I want to give Carnival a shot, but I'm not sure I can convince him. I wish Carnival had done something to rectify this situation when, in fact, they were the ones to admit that they screwed up (they admitted that the first booking agent made a mistake). I am still willing to try Carnival, but I do have a bad taste in my mouth as well. Any advice as to what we should do?

 

I read through this whole post ... patiently waiting to see what the outcome was .... then NOTHING. So, OP, WHAT DID YOU DO????????????????? Did you decide to cancel the trip or what? Enquiring minds want to know!

 

Thanks!

[joepeka]

I read through this whole post ... patiently waiting to see what the outcome was .... then NOTHING. So, OP, WHAT DID YOU DO????????????????? Did you decide to cancel the trip or what? Enquiring minds want to know!

 

Thanks!

 

I see where she posted earlier this month on the roll call for that Pride cruise that she had talked her BF into going and was looking forward to it. So I guess it worked out somehow?? :confused:

[NOSaints1]

What about if 24 hrs if he's still unhappy, they do have the Carnival guarantee

[Richjoxyz]

Tell the boyfriend to cough up the extra cash to book RCI or chill! Tell you the truth, I like Celebrity, Holland and RCI a little better than Carnival. But the differences are minor. I am platinum on Carnival and book Carnival a lot. Carnival has LOTS of ships, always in the Caribbean, and usually very low price. The product is only slightly different. In fact, all cruise lines are getting very similar in product type.

 

Think about what you do on a cruise. What do you enjoy? Are the other lines better? For example, I like being on a ship. They are all ships. I like a little booze on vacation. They all have booze. I like Caribbean ports. They all go to Caribbean ports. I like the casino, they all have casino. I like a couple silly shows, they all have it. I like food, never starved on a Carnival ship. If you really look, you can find things you like on Carnival that the others don't have. Any cruise should be a good time if your head is in the right place.

 

If he wants high end, fine, tell him to write the check. If you want a budget cruise, go on Carnival and expect it to be what it is. A fun week with some beach stops. Wouldn't hear any complaints from me.

Edited August 30, 2015 by Richjoxyz

[NOSaints1]

How do you know unless you try, sometimes for the price of one RC you can go on two Carnival cruises, any cruise is better than none

[Gallivanting Souls]

I don't even like to take my husband grocery shopping when HE doesn't want to go. A cruise would make me want to kill someone and I love to cruise! Either cancel or find someone else to go in his place. I vote for the find someone to go in his place. If HE wants to be the sour-puss here, let him stay home. He can stay home with my DH!:eek: He obviously hasn't cruised enough to know that any cruise can be a great cruise!

Good Luck!

[dickinson]

I see where she posted earlier this month on the roll call for that Pride cruise that she had talked her BF into going and was looking forward to it. So I guess it worked out somehow?? :confused:

 

Folks, it looks like this has resolved but the OP never came back. I looked up the roll call and the OP posted the beginning of August that they booked the cruise. This is long after this thread was started.

 

No longer any need to convince the OP.

[lauren0309]

She left us all hanging. I wonder what her final decision was? :rolleyes:

[RaiderFaninNM]

Just leave the BF behind as no matter what happens with his "brand loyalty" he is going to hate it and complain the entire time..............:o

 

 

I have sailed on both lines and they are similar, with IMHO the entertainment better on RCI and Carnival wins on the food front, other then that that, take the branding off and have fun!

[dickinson]

She left us all hanging. I wonder what her final decision was? :rolleyes:

 

Read my above post.