Carnival wont honor their own price as shown on their website

[applegam]

Wow, cant tell you how upset I am with them right now. We are sailing on the Breeze, March 26 2016 with an ES rate. We have a Cove balcony right now. So as with past cruises, I check every single day by doing a mock booking on their web site to see if the price has dropped. Right now, for 4 guests, 1 room if you do a mock booking you get a starting price for a balcony of 642.00 which is lower than we are currently at. But - if you hit the book now to select which type of balcony you want - the lowest price is 712.00 PP. So of course I called them. The first rep I talked to was as stumped as I was. I then talked to a supervisor and this was their explanation. That first price was the lowest price that was originally offered and not the lowest current price. I'm sorry - but I watch this thing every single day and have never seen this. Stating the price up front as the lowest price is was 2 years ago makes no sense at all. Shame on you Carnival.

[vwrestler171]

They might offer the $642 price as a military or Interline rate, but you don't qualify for it.

[applegam]

They might offer the $642 price as a military or Interline rate, but you don't qualify for it.

 

Nope. I just tried another mock booking and marked 55+ old and the Military rate and it still gives me the same lowest price of 712.00 If it was a special rate, I would have thought a supervisor at Carnival could have told me that. So basically if you were looking to book this cruise right now - they are showing you on the first screen a price of $642.00 PP but have no way of offering it to you as you go further into the booking.

[Valor2005]

I tried it and it showed no availability for a cabin for 4. I wonder if someone was in the process of booking the last one when you tried it.

Edited December 5, 2015 by Valor2005

[applegam]

I tried it and it showed no availability for a cabin for 4. I wonder if someone was in the process of booking the last one when you tried it.

 

Many available when I check for a balcony for 4. Just looking on the March 26 on the Breeze sailing for 4 people I see cabins 2262, 2283, 2279, 2287, 2317, 2333, and 2423 available mid-ship for a cove balcony. But - even it that was the case that they were sold out, shouldn't a supervisor at Carnival be able to tell me that vs. making up some story that the lower price was something that was offered more than a year ago an no longer valid? That's my main complaint. If the website is messed up and showing a price that isn't offered by mistake - just fess up and tell me. I'd be fine with that. Don't tell me Carnival would post a lowest current price available over a year ago. Think about it. Can you imagine seeing an add for a Car, and the price they are advertising is from years ago? No company in their right mind would do that.

Edited December 5, 2015 by applegam

[belkin]

I have seen this before. Once I seen a very good deal and as soon as I hit the book button the priced changed to a much higher rate. I am pretty sure it was a glitch in the system.

 

I looked and can see exactly what you are talking about but doubt there is much you can do about it. Sorry you feel so frustrated about it.

[ohiowilly]

It looks to me as though the lower balcony price that you saw may have been for a guarantee rate, which would be a downgrade from your Cove. The lowest price shown now is $679, which is for a balcony guarantee. The cove balcony was $6.70 pp/day higher. ES doesn't permit protection in a downgrade situation. Could this be what you are seeing?

[applegam]

It looks to me as though the lower balcony price that you saw may have been for a guarantee rate, which would be a downgrade from your Cove. The lowest price shown now is $679, which is for a balcony guarantee. The cove balcony was $6.70 pp/day higher. ES doesn't permit protection in a downgrade situation. Could this be what you are seeing?

 

Look at it from this point of view. Throw ES right out the window. Say you want to book this cruise from scratch right now. You select the Breeze March 26 sailing for 4 people. The first screen gives you a lowest price for a balcony of $642. You go further into the booking and that price is not available for any category at all. That's my main issue with this. If this price did not apply to my current category I would totally understand. But - the price on the initial screen does not apply to any category. That makes no sense to me at all.

Edited December 6, 2015 by applegam

[belkin]

The initial price is clearly $649 and as soon as you try to book it the price then changes to $712 and you have 2 choices.

 

The cove for $712 or to start the balcony process for an extra $6.30 a day.

 

If it was a guarantee rate it would give that rate and say something along the lines of let us pick your cabin.

[richstowe]

I have seen this before. Once I seen a very good deal and as soon as I hit the book button the priced changed to a much higher rate. I am pretty sure it was a glitch in the system.

 

I looked and can see exactly what you are talking about but doubt there is much you can do about it. Sorry you feel so frustrated about it.

Same thing happened to me but I didn't start a thread about it . :p

It shouldn't happen but I assumed it was based on a discount I wasn't eligible for .

 

Edited to add that on Princess the opposite happens . You see a "minimum" for your cabin category but when you try to book you can get a lower price for cabins with obstructed views .

Edited December 6, 2015 by richstowe

[StolidCruiser]

Glitch, misunderstanding, user error, Carnival shenanigans.... doesn't really matter. After inquiring as to the reason and getting the response you did, what are the alternatives?

[applegam]

Glitch, misunderstanding, user error, Carnival shenanigans.... doesn't really matter. After inquiring as to the reason and getting the response you did, what are the alternatives?

 

None that I can see. :) But, I would have been much happier if the supervisor at Carnival would have just told me they are having an issue with their web site pricing instead of making up some story that it was a price from over a year ago.

[LTS1960]

We have ES booked for March 26th Breeze. We are three people in a balcony cabin, category 8D. Yesterday I went on the fare viewer and noticed the ES rate was down over $150 total for the cruise before taxes etc. I called them and they gave me the webpage on Carnival to go onto to fill out a price reduction.

I filed it in, sent it and within 5 minutes I got an email saying that the rate I have is the cheapest so they could not do anything. I again looked at the fare viewer and then called Carnival and explained the situation.

Not only did they do the price reduction over the phone but the rate ended up being even cheaper than online, a total of $230 savings.

I would persist and call them again as you might get someone that can actually help.

[LTS1960]

I use the fare viewer instead of doing a mock booking.

http://www.carnival.com/BookingEngine/FareViewer/

[Jedijohn]

I booked for the $649 price the night before Cyber Monday. It was for a guarantee balcony. That rate might be sold out now; before booking I was pricing several cruiselines and they all seemed to display rates that weren't available anymore in their searches.

[Tapi]

Have you tried other websites to see what rate is available on them? Sometimes it's easier to see the different rates that way.

[kindatravelsavy19]

It is like those Mega bus seats that they offer for a $1 or those really low airfare seats but when you go and book all those seats are gone.?..? not much you can do if the early bird gets the worm in those situations. As for a customer service person making up an answer... that happens a lot every where.

 

Go to a store and ask if they have something in back because the shelf is empty. Amazing in a split second with out checking they say, um no we must be out if it is not there.

[cruzelover55]

I use the fare viewer instead of doing a mock booking.

http://www.carnival.com/BookingEngine/FareViewer/

 

That's what I have always done. They are making it harder nowadays. Form to fill out is different, and as we don't want to change rooms have to be careful to make sure they know that. Used to take about 2 days for them to get back to me, now it is almost automatic. I let the 1st 2 rejections slide by. They emailed me that my booked price was higher than the one I submitted. Duh? Isn't that the point? But, on Cyber deals, I saw our balcony cabin $58. less. I did not accept the automated response. As LTS1960 said, it pays to call and persist. No matter how much runaround she gave me, I just kept saying, I know that I am correct and will stay on the phone with you for how ever long it takes. I finally got the OBC. My days of getting $800. and more drops are long gone. We book ES and usually almost a year out. If I don't get any drops, at least I know I got the best price.:)

[KathyF.]

We have ES booked for March 26th Breeze. We are three people in a balcony cabin, category 8D. Yesterday I went on the fare viewer and noticed the ES rate was down over $150 total for the cruise before taxes etc. I called them and they gave me the webpage on Carnival to go onto to fill out a price reduction.

I filed it in, sent it and within 5 minutes I got an email saying that the rate I have is the cheapest so they could not do anything. I again looked at the fare viewer and then called Carnival and explained the situation.

Not only did they do the price reduction over the phone but the rate ended up being even cheaper than online, a total of $230 savings.

I would persist and call them again as you might get someone that can actually help.

 

We're on the same cruise - March 26th Breeze!

So far we have had 4 or 5 price drops. For the first one I was able to fill in the form and got a positive result back. After that everytime I filled in a form I got declined. I would email the address given and very quickly get a positive reply with an adjustment to our price.

Not sure why this is but its very frustrating.

[ready2cruzagain]

I use the fare viewer instead of doing a mock booking.

http://www.carnival.com/BookingEngine/FareViewer/

Fareviewer is fine to use unless you are eligible for military, interline or vifp special rates, then you might as well throw fareviewer out the window because it does not show those rates.

 

If you are eligible for any of the rates I stated then you should do a mock booking.

 

OP, I see what you are saying but only thing I can state is that it has to be another Carnival website error.

[jenanderic]

This happened to me last year. I quickly screenshot it and called it in. They told me it was a glitch. I made a tweet about it with he screenshot. They too told me it was a glitch. I left it at that. The next day I saw my room changed! Somehow they realized it was their mistake and upgraded me to a balcony. I honestly think it was the tweet. Business don't like public negative comments.

[LTS1960]

We're on the same cruise - March 26th Breeze!

So far we have had 4 or 5 price drops. For the first one I was able to fill in the form and got a positive result back. After that everytime I filled in a form I got declined. I would email the address given and very quickly get a positive reply with an adjustment to our price.

Not sure why this is but its very frustrating.

 

 

Can't wait for this March cruise! I noticed the price drop for the past month but didn't really do anything until a few days ago.

The first Lady on the phone said they don't do adjustments over the phone anymore but thenI called the second time after the adjustment was denied.

The second person said that they were having some issues and since my initial request didn't work she would do the adjustment over the phone. I think I just got lucky actually.

[LTS1960]

Fareviewer is fine to use unless you are eligible for military, interline or vifp special rates, then you might as well throw fareviewer out the window because it does not show those rates.

 

If you are eligible for any of the rates I stated then you should do a mock booking.

 

OP, I see what you are saying but only thing I can state is that it has to be another Carnival website error.

 

 

I don't know how the fare viewer works but it does have boxes to check off for military, state of residence and VIFP #. I filled in all three as my husband is a 29 yr retired USMC officer.

Every time I have booked the military rate is never as low as past guest early saver.

[Oppalopa]

Glitch, misunderstanding, user error, Carnival shenanigans.... doesn't really matter. After inquiring as to the reason and getting the response you did, what are the alternatives?

Reporting them for bate and switch.

[ready2cruzagain]

I don't know how the fare viewer works but it does have boxes to check off for military, state of residence and VIFP #. I filled in all three as my husband is a 29 yr retired USMC officer.

Every time I have booked the military rate is never as low as past guest early saver.

Not sure what you are using but fareviewer does not have a box to check for military or your vifp #, it only asks if you are a past guest, it does not ask for your number which would provide individual offers.

 

Here is a link to fareviewer and as you will see there is no box for military and no where to put your specific vifp number.

 

http://www.carnival.com/BookingEngine/FareViewer/