refund? or credit voucher? or switching ships? We don't want this cruise

[wantocruisemore]

I'm with all the others. Try to upgrade to a different room. If that is not possible I would still go and try to have fun. I've done 2 cruises with inside rooms and because I prefer a balcony I will not cruise unless I can have one. Some people love insides, it gives them the excuse to be out of the room more doing things.

[Sparky2]

I'm with all the others. Try to upgrade to a different room. If that is not possible I would still go and try to have fun. I've done 2 cruises with inside rooms and because I prefer a balcony I will not cruise unless I can have one. Some people love insides, it gives them the excuse to be out of the room more doing things.

 

We're ones that love inside cabins because we don't want to spend much time in the cabin.

 

With the money saved on an inside, we now only do B2B (14 days). So it's well worth it to us.

[singbluesilver1]

Or those of us who like it really dark to sleep like it indoors

[sweetsixteencruisers]

OP, any progress on your situation?

[cincicruisers]

OP checking to see what the status is on your cruise.

[styxfire]

So, here are your options as I see it. You can cancel your cruise all together and eat the loss (which is likely to be several hundred dollars at this point)... or look at upgrading to a different room that might be available. I don't think canceling is the smartest way to go as it likely will be the greatest loss out of pocket for you.

 

... You can NOT downgrade your room, Carnival will not do this; however, they will allow you to upgrade your room to any higher category and pay the difference. ... it can be any "upgrade" as long as it is a higher category than what you are in now. So an inside spa room category 4 to like a 6A (lowest ocean view room) would be an upgrade. You MAY actually find (depending on how prices have changed since you booked) that "upgrading" could be a lower cost. If it is more - you pay the difference, if it is less they will issue you a credit as OBC.

...call your TA endlessly...

...have them make the change immediately. I would even tell them specifically what room number you want.

I want to say a big thankyou to wemjam for the insightful tips, & to Tapi and the other posters who offered recommendations about looking to the positive side of enjoying whatever booking you have made. I do agree with you. However, in this case I made a different decision because I weighed the costs vs the value of getting the amenities we'd hoped for, and decided it was better to take the loss.

 

Cancelled the cruise. It took 20 seconds. The agent spoke ~2 sentences. From all the msgs I'd left the agent over 5 days, when he finally returned the call he had all the numbers prepared. Loss was 45%. Way too much to swallow, but I swallowed it anyway... here's why:

 

I had started getting quotes from OTHER agencies on Day 4 of no commo (after room-change request). A personal letter to an agent I'd worked with last year helped. So immediately upon cancellation of Sunshine, I booked Breeze. The new cabin has a WINDOW and a SOFA. The ship is 20 years newer and has more eateries and has the T-pool we wanted and has more entertainment. The price was much cheaper than the Sunshine cabin. The OBC was larger. Better itinerary (we gained another port). We get a T.A. who responds.

 

On a pure money basis, we lost a lot due to the cancel.

We gained some of it back due to the cruise being cheaper.

We lost some of the gain because of having to buy the Spa passes for the new cabin (instead of them being included).

We gained most of that back from the bigger OBC.

Overall, it's a net loss.

 

The loss can be labeled as "THE COST OF A LEARNING EXPERIENCE".

 

Lesson: I had convinced myself that a holiday cruise must be booked very early... but it's not true. Unless you need a very special room, just wait 'til last minute. The new reservation was $626/person. 1 month ago same room was $1194/person. Don't rush into a booking out of fear it's the last chance to buy.

 

Lesson: Do NOT take the lowest agent quote without first conversing with the agent. If he sounds condescending, or rushed, or takes 24 hrs to give you an answer, then reconsider. If you have a job that prevents you from calling travel agents during bankers hours, then look for an agent that works weekends instead. There's a chance that "lowest quote" = worst service.

 

Lesson: 99.98% of population has a non-cruise career. Internet is great... but Don't feel obligated to devote all your weekends & family time & work-leave to researching a cruise. Chances are that you'll miss an important tidbit, despite your best efforts. Rather, build a margin of error into your initial plan. Realize that you may have to increase your cost, or decrease your expectations, or take more days off, than your initial plan. If you've built in a margin of error, then a last-minute change won't be such a drama as this was.

Edited November 11, 2015 by styxfire

[kids-in-2-centuries]

Lesson: You can't take it with you, might as well spend it on what makes you happy :)

 

glad you found a solution that works for you.

 

I booked the Sunshine Christmas cruise I went on last year in November during a 36 hour sale. Paid $299 per person for an interior gty cabin that worked out wonderfully for us. It was an 8 day cruise. I felt like they almost paid me to take the cruise :)

[tinkr2]

So glad it worked out. My hubby lived in that thassolerapy pool on Breeze

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[styxfire]

I booked the Sunshine Christmas cruise I went on last year in November during a 36 hour sale. Paid $299 per person for an interior gty cabin that worked out wonderfully for us. It was an 8 day cruise. I felt like they almost paid me to take the cruise :)

Wow, jackpot!

[soccersharon]

Glad you were able to work this out :). Enjoy your cruise in the Breeze!

[KARTI1955]

Glad to hear that you worked everything out. The Breeze spa is fantastic! Have a wonderful time.