What to do? What to do?

[Bimmie Girl]

It is almost as if the reduced deposit is a bit of a "scam" in the fact that they say "Hey, book today and you'll get 50% deposit and don't worry if the price goes down later because we will match that" but in the fine print they will take away the reduced deposit if they have to do a fare drop price match for you. The reason I say it is a bit of a "scam" is because there appears to be no way to get BOTH the reduced deposit and price match in the future (unless it happens on a reduced deposit sale) and that is what they sell you on originally.

 

The truth is the marketing is not as sexy with:

 

"Book today and pay 50% deposit and don't worry if the price goes down in the future because if it does we will match that price and take away your reduced deposit and require you to pay full deposit".

 

Yup, doesn't sound too sexy. LOL

 

I understand your point and I know if not for these boards I would not know 1/2 of the small print stuff. I just hope the cruise you booked keeps dropping and you can make of the cost of what you lost. It can happen, with early saver. Good luck!!!

[Linerguy]

....that does not make the non-refundable deposit suck any less.

 

True, but the fact that it sucks doesn't make it a scam.

[Havingfun2010]

How come Carnival even play these games? Other cruise lines don't. Just makes Carnival look bad and leaves passengers scratching their head.

[NightOne]

This is how it advertised yesterday when I booked it doesn't say you pay more deposit if you use price protection:

 

I don't see it either but they will probably point you here:

 

http://www.carnival.com/legal/specials-terms-conditions.aspx

 

when you got the price drop and the deposit went up. In the Early Saver section behind that link it says:

 

"When re-pricing to a new promotion, guest assumes all terms and conditions of the new promotion and may forfeit any or all features associated with the original fare, such as cabin assignment, onboard credit, an upgrade, special deposit and payment terms, etc."

 

Notice some key words here:

 

1. "may" forfeit - then again may not - who knows?

 

2. etc. - that pretty much covers everything in the world

 

3. special deposit - there is the language that takes away the reduced deposit hidden in the fine print

[NightOne]

True, but the fact that it sucks doesn't make it a scam.

 

I put "scam" in quotes because it is not technically a scam but rather shady. In fact, I should have used the word shady instead.

 

Looks like I made another mistake.

 

Where do I line up for another 40 lashes? LOL

[NightOne]

How come Carnival even play these games? Other cruise lines don't. Just makes Carnival look bad and leaves passengers scratching their head.

 

That is exactly what leaves the bad taste in my mouth. :)

[SadieN]

How come Carnival even play these games? Other cruise lines don't. Just makes Carnival look bad and leaves passengers scratching their head.

 

 

 

Other cruise lines don't have a fare that can be reduced up to two days before Sailaway.

Edited July 1, 2015 by SadieN

[Linerguy]

Well, I would have had to pay for the insurance policy.

 

Uh, yeah, that's how insurance works. Man, you just friggin' want it all, don't you?

 

You got greedy over $30. You screwed up and it cost you. Now you have the audacity to say that it's Carnival who's being "shady"......it's time to put your big pants on, suck it up and move on.

[sfaaa]

How come Carnival even play these games? Other cruise lines don't. Just makes Carnival look bad and leaves passengers scratching their head.

 

Games? Did Carnival put a gun to OP or your head and force you to click the Buy Now button? Read and understand the darn contract. Analyze your options. Buyers beware. Spoon feeding is never part of the deal. As you said, there are other cruise lines out there if you don't like what Carnival has to offer. Feel free to switch.

[NightOne]

Other cruise lines don't have a fare that can be changed up to two days before Sailaway.

 

From what I have seen you are never going to see a fare below ES from final payment date until 2 days before sailing because they make all of those fares Guarantees which cannot be priced matched by people booked under ES.

 

So in a nutshell, the whole price protection until 2 days before sailing may sound good but never happens in reality and is yet another game they play.

 

Anyone ever get a price drop on ES fare between 2-75 days to non-guarantee fare?

 

I do not think this ever happens (or does very rarely).

 

(I have heard about people complaining loudly and getting switched to the guarantee but never a price match and keeping the ES cabin)

[crusinpsychRN]

This is one reason I call for price drops--to ask what the ramifications are like more deposit.

 

Off topic, I have a hotel for one night before my Nov. cruise. I found a better rate elsewhere. Called to cancel and he did then asked why, told him name of new hotel and he told me "you for sure don't want to stay there, it's a dump and in a bad neighborhood."

 

I asked him to undo the cancel and he said he couldn't! Just put me back in the same place. He couldn't. Gave me to someone in a call center and I didn't get nearly the same rate as the first time. The guy was really rude.

 

I called the hotel directly and one of the managers gave me government rate, for all my trouble, which was lower than the first one.

 

Seemed kind of dumb but the "promotion" rate was not available according to call center, which it was when I called the hotel and ended up with the gov't rate.

[sweetsixteencruisers]

Just a question? Why do you keep canceling or keep anticipating that you will?

[meatloafsfan]

It's not shady, or a scam and Carnival isn't playing games. In order for Carnival to guarantee the lowest price for Early Saver, it comes with certain restrictions. One of them is that when you price match, you match that entire rate - including exact room category, deposits, OBC, etc.

 

the way I see the situation is that if you don't pay the remainder of the deposit, you're out $50 and can use the rest of the deposit towards rebooking at another higher rate that is not early saver.

 

either that or you add to your deposit and keep your early saver rate.

 

Yes, big deposits aren't fabulous - I paid my deposits for the 10 & 11 day Pride Journey cruises in January ($1600 same as if 2 people were sailing) and my balance due is less than what my deposits were (so with my minimum required deposit I paid more than 50% of my cruise fare). It is what it is, the "cost" of cruising on Carnival.

[NightOne]

Just a question? Why do you keep canceling or keep anticipating that you will?

 

I rescheduled the Breeze cruise one time. When I called to reschedule they basically cancelled my current cruise because of the fare rules and then said they could book the new one or I could book it myself when I was ready.

 

So does postponing one cruise sound like a lot of cancelling? :)

 

The reason I am concerned is because I friggin lost $300 doing that reschedule so I try to minimize the amount of money I can lose in the future. hahaha

 

Also, a follow up to those who think that ES deposits are not non-refundable, here is the info from Carnival's web site:

 

"A $50 change fee per guest will be assessed for ship and/or sail date changes made prior to final payment due date. Remaining funds are nonrefundable/nontransferable and will be held as a future cruise credit to be applied to your cruise fare on a sailing within 24 months from the date of cancellation. Unused portions are forfeited."

 

So the bottom line is that you can never get a refund on your deposit.

[meatloafsfan]

I rescheduled the Breeze cruise one time. When I called to reschedule they basically cancelled my current cruise because of the fare rules and then said they could book the new one or I could book it myself when I was ready.

 

So does postponing one cruise sound like a lot of cancelling? :)

 

The reason I am concerned is because I friggin lost $300 doing that reschedule so I try to minimize the amount of money I can lose in the future. hahaha

 

Also, a follow up to those who think that ES deposits are not non-refundable, here is the info from Carnival's web site:

 

"A $50 change fee per guest will be assessed for ship and/or sail date changes made prior to final payment due date. Remaining funds are nonrefundable/nontransferable and will be held as a future cruise credit to be applied to your cruise fare on a sailing within 24 months from the date of cancellation. Unused portions are forfeited."

 

So the bottom line is that you can never get a refund on your deposit.

 

Cruiselines don't reschedule cruises. You've booked a specific cruise and that's the one you've put down the non-refundable deposit on.

 

It's like if I choose the pre-pay option for the advanced booking rate at many hotels. They give me a 15-20% discount for paying ahead of time. They don't let you "reschedule" that room if you change your mind. You are cancelling.

 

It's the same with cruises. You are either taking that cruise or cancelling that cruise.

[NightOne]

It's not shady, or a scam and Carnival isn't playing games.

 

When Carnival sells you a cruise with a reduced deposit and promises you price protection if the fare goes down and they know at that point that using the price protection negates the reduced deposit ... then you tell me the word for it. I call it shady because the only time you could ever be price protected is against another reduced deposit fare.

 

the way I see the situation is that if you don't pay the remainder of the deposit, you're out $50 and can use the rest of the deposit towards rebooking at another higher rate that is not early saver.

 

and if I don't use it in 24 months I lose the other $200 and would be out the entire amount in worst case scenario.

 

Yes, big deposits aren't fabulous - I paid my deposits for the 10 & 11 day Pride Journey cruises in January ($1600 same as if 2 people were sailing) and my balance due is less than what my deposits were (so with my minimum required deposit I paid more than 50% of my cruise fare). It is what it is, the "cost" of cruising on Carnival.

 

Big deposits don't bother me so much bug big non-refundable deposits do. :)

[meatloafsfan]

When Carnival sells you a cruise with a reduced deposit and promises you price protection if the fare goes down and they know at that point that using the price protection negates the reduced deposit ... then you tell me the word for it. I call it shady because the only time you could ever be price protected is against another reduced deposit fare.

 

 

 

and if I don't use it in 24 months I lose the other $200 and would be out the entire amount in worst case scenario.

 

 

 

Big deposits don't bother me so much bug big non-refundable deposits do. :)

 

Funny how you didn't quote the one part of my post that you can't spin. When you price match, you price match the entire thing - cabin, deposit, OBC, number of people - everything.

 

And if non-refundable deposits bother you, why did you book early saver? Oh right, because you wanted the lowest price, want to price match to the lowest possible price but don't want any of the restrictions that the rest of us have to abide by?

[NightOne]

Cruiselines don't reschedule cruises. You've booked a specific cruise and that's the one you've put down the non-refundable deposit on.

 

It's like if I choose the pre-pay option for the advanced booking rate at many hotels. They give me a 15-20% discount for paying ahead of time. They don't let you "reschedule" that room if you change your mind. You are cancelling.

 

It's the same with cruises. You are either taking that cruise or cancelling that cruise.

 

Cruises are not pre-paid hotel rooms.

 

I guess airlines don't reschedule your flight either. You cannot pay a change fee and go on another flight. You just lose everything. :(

[Sillyjilly]

I thought I did good job of explaining why I booked how I did.

 

Of course, maybe my real mistake was asking for advice on Cruise Critic and expecting to get back non-snarky helpful replies. :(

 

Can't you have your past deposit applied to this cruise? That's what I did when I cancelled ES.

[NightOne]

Funny how you didn't quote the one part of my post that you can't spin. When you price match, you price match the entire thing - cabin, deposit, OBC, number of people - everything.

 

And if non-refundable deposits bother you, why did you book early saver? Oh right, because you wanted the lowest price, want to price match to the lowest possible price but don't want any of the restrictions that the rest of us have to abide by?

 

But you DON'T have to match the OBC - so NOT everything.

 

You could have $50 OBC and take a $100 price drop and lose the $50 OBC and thus gain $50 in price.

 

I was pretty clear in my OP was to why I did not want to pay $280 more to go vs. losing $250 not to go. Not sure how I further translate that into Canadian. :)

[NightOne]

Can't you have your past deposit applied to this cruise? That's what I did when I cancelled ES.

 

Nope, they kept it. I posted their terms regarding that earlier in this thread. See post #20. :)

[Sillyjilly]

Nope, they kept it. I posted their terms regarding that earlier in this thread. See post #20. :)

 

My goodness. They are so confusing in their terms. Was it after final payment?

[NightOne]

My goodness. They are so confusing in their terms. Was it after final payment?

 

No, it was around 7 months before the cruise.

[Sillyjilly]

No, it was around 7 months before the cruise.

 

And they wouldn't budge on this? That truly leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

 

It's ES with added on terms. Hmmmmm

Edited July 1, 2015 by Sillyjilly

[easypeasy55]

I am really trying to understand ES. You are not really out that much money? It will be a future cruise credit, correct?