Carnival GOOFED---Advice?

[APDMOM]

As far as I can see, this new Onboard Credit promo fare that I accepted takes away the Early Saver.

 

Hopefully someone who knows for certain will chime in, but I THINK if the price drops, i'm ineligible unless I give up the OBC? Or will they just add the amount of the drop to the existing OBC now? It's SO darn confusing.

 

My cruise is 4 day Sensation for 12/6 with final payment due 10/7.

 

I've already received an e mail from customer service (boy they are QUICK!)....She was very nice and as per my final request is leaving my fare with the new OBC promo....so i'm going to keep it and enjoy my 70 bucks. :)

Personally, with that sail date, I would make sure I keep the Early Saver. It is very likely that the price will drop after final payment, since the early Dec cruises are usually the cheapest. Also, your net OBC gain is actually only $50 because you had potential to pay $20 less for your cruise, but gave that up for the increased rate with OBC you bought... :eek: It is confusing, I know.

 

So, my advice is for you to make sure you are still eligible for price drops, i.e. still considered Early Saver...and get a good PVP :)

[TerReuv]

You should stay ES unless you price match to a guarantee. That would be the only reason you would change from ES.

 

But, I have to wonder why all the e-mails? Why not just pick up the phone and call if you are confused?

[cruizinisthebest]

You should stay ES unless you price match to a guarantee. That would be the only reason you would change from ES.

 

But, I have to wonder why all the e-mails? Why not just pick up the phone and call if you are confused?

 

This is correct. You stay early saver in terms of the fine print regarding cancellations and changes, etc. unless you move to a guaranteed rate.

 

Carnival didn't goof. Price matching can get confusing unless you really know what you are doing. Especially if there are factors such as a reduced deposit and obc with the rate you are matching to.

 

I also agree. At this point, why not pick up the phone and just call.

[nsullivan]

I submitted one a couple weeks ago. it was $20 cheaper. I wasn't paying attention to already having $30 in OBC. They wouldn't do the price adjustment because I got more in OBC this way. So it's not automated. Someone responded to me and told me their reasoning.

[cruising maniac]

I decided not to do this promotion. We would have had a price increase of $270.00 for a $320.00 OBC. I figured that when the price goes down, I would lose my OBC anyway if I matched the lower price. I didn't want to take a change on the price not doing down the $270.00 and being stuck with a higher price and no OBC or keeping the higher price and the OBC. I guess it is a guessing game either way. Only time will tell what the right choice would have been.

[chris330r]

The OBC will be used to take care of your tips (if you haven't prepaid them) and any onboard expenses. If there is any OBC left over, go to any slot machine.

 

You will need to set up an account on the machine and press the button that says "charge to your account". Enter the amount that you want. It will show up on the invoice as "entertainment". Play a few times on the machine and then cash out. Go to the cage and tell them you want to cash out. This way you will not get a 3% or 5% fee (can't remember the percentage).

 

Thanks so much! I copied this info into my tablet so I can refer to it while on the ship.

[chris330r]

Once Early Saver fare, always Early Saver fare. You've price matched to the new promotion but haven't changed fares.

 

When checking for price drops now, you'll have to include your OBC in your overall fare. If you match to a lower fare, you'll lose your OBC as it is associated with your current price.

 

Thanks. That makes sense to me.

[chris330r]

Personally, with that sail date, I would make sure I keep the Early Saver. It is very likely that the price will drop after final payment, since the early Dec cruises are usually the cheapest. Also, your net OBC gain is actually only $50 because you had potential to pay $20 less for your cruise, but gave that up for the increased rate with OBC you bought... :eek: It is confusing, I know.

 

So, my advice is for you to make sure you are still eligible for price drops, i.e. still considered Early Saver...and get a good PVP :)

 

I will definitely be taking that advice and write to CCL today. I don't know why my e mail to my PVP returned instantly as undeliverable. I think that's probably a sign he's no longer there and will request a new one.

 

Yes, all these rates & rules are so confusing...and I have a strong feeling it's MEANT to be that way for us! :confused:

[chris330r]

You should stay ES unless you price match to a guarantee. That would be the only reason you would change from ES.

 

But, I have to wonder why all the e-mails? Why not just pick up the phone and call if you are confused?

 

Sorry, I don't think I clarified that I am hearing impaired and no longer able to use the phone, so e mail is the only way to go for me. It still gets the job done, and they're very quick with replies and help through e mail and on their FB site.

[chris330r]

This is correct. You stay early saver in terms of the fine print regarding cancellations and changes, etc. unless you move to a guaranteed rate.

 

Carnival didn't goof. Price matching can get confusing unless you really know what you are doing. Especially if there are factors such as a reduced deposit and obc with the rate you are matching to.

 

I also agree. At this point, why not pick up the phone and just call.

 

Carnival goofing was my original conclusion when I created the thread. I have since acknowledged in a following post that they did not in fact goof and don't know how to change the thread title....(or just too lazy to try and find out LOL)

[cortneyward]

Had this exact same thing happen to me. I called and they gave me the lower fare (with no OBC) but when I rationally thought about it, I was getting an extra $80 so I called back AGAIN, and took the deal. We are just waiting until we are onboard to book excursions and putting the credit towards that

[chris330r]

Had this exact same thing happen to me. I called and they gave me the lower fare (with no OBC) but when I rationally thought about it, I was getting an extra $80 so I called back AGAIN, and took the deal. We are just waiting until we are onboard to book excursions and putting the credit towards that

 

Yeah, it's an initial shock to the system until you sit down and actually think it through and realize that it's a good deal LOL.

[Disneynutbsv]

Happened to me too, but I didn't realize that if you book with a 50% deposit, they want the other 50% too. Mine went up $200, but I got $280 in OBC. I ended up calling them and they let me just keep the 50% deposit that I had already paid. So, we came out $80 ahead.

[guxu]

I would take the OBC. We never prepay nor remove the auto tip. So we never had problems to use our OBC.

[3Pelicans]

I don't have a lot of experience with this but based on what I have read in the past it seems like something strange is going on. We booked our August cruise several months ago. Our two sons room was booked as early saver with my husband and I at a casino rate (lower rate/no OBC). I noticed that the rates of the cruise had dropped by about $70 from the early saver rate that we booked our son's room at. We didn't want to price drop, but saw that aft balconies that hadn't been available when we booked had opened up. The price was $20 less than our son's cabin rate and $90 above what we paid. I asked to be moved and to pay the difference. Unfortunately we booked through a TA which made things more confusing and she came back with a rate increase of $280 total which we said not to however Carnival had made the changes already and I could see in the bookings the difference in cost was only $70 total not $280. It took two conference calls to Carnival and several booking changes. In the end we wound up with $70 of OBC due to the rate of our son's room decreasing and then paid $70 to get the upgrades. None if it made any sense and I actually tried to have them take back the OBC as I felt it was a mistake but they left it in. I'm not complaining but no one was ever able to explain where the $280 increase came from or the $240 or the $220 (all that were quoted before we ended up at $70)

[Havingfun2010]

So your overall cruise decreased and you are confused, so you send a letter to Carnival to put it back? chuckle.

[cruizinisthebest]

Carnival goofing was my original conclusion when I created the thread. I have since acknowledged in a following post that they did not in fact goof and don't know how to change the thread title....(or just too lazy to try and find out LOL)

 

Understood.

 

As I said, the price drop game can be a tad confusing.