Shore Excursion Cancellation Woes. :(

[t4jes]

Just want to vent a little bit and give a warning to others who may end up in the same boat as me. Don't cancel a shore excursion anywhere near your sail date if you purchased with gift cards unless you do it onboard! I learned this the hard way.

 

My husband to be and I will be celebrating our honeymoon on Aug 9th on the Legend for an Alaskan cruise.

 

I found out last week that an excursion we booked wouldn't be the best thing for me to do due to new dietary restrictions that I have (it was a crab feed in ketchikan), so we decided we'd book a different excursion as the money would be wasted on us. I actually don't remember at the time whether or not I remembered that I had booked on gift cards, so that's my fault. But even so, I thought they could get the gift card quickly, or I could just immediately re-apply to another excursion. We had bought these gift cards from AARP specifically for this sailing.

 

I was wrong.

 

After cancelling, I called customer service last Wednesday (e solutions) who told me they'd find out whether they could expedite and would let me know within 48 hrs. Well, they didn't, so I called back this morning, only to find out the couldn't expedite, and that it could take upwards of 2-3 weeks to get the gift cards back in the mail. He said there was a chance I could get it (and I know some people have), but not likely before the date I'd need it for my wedding. After quite some discussion and frustration, I realized there is nothing I can do about it and I know there was nothing he could do.

 

The only solution I could come up with is if it arrives at my parents place when we're traveling, that they send me the gift card number via e-mail as we're on the cruise stopped at port and I see if I can apply it onboard without the actual card. He said he thinks it should work, but no guarantees.

 

Bummer. As it's $400 that we won't be able to use on this cruise and we have no intentions of taking a cruise again any time soon (first time for him, so we're not sure when we'll cruise again).

 

I'm not expecting sympathy here. Technically, Carnival didn't do anything wrong. They followed their own rules, though I wish they were a little clearer when we cancelled the excursion at the amount of time to get gift cards (they do mention that credit card takes 7-10 days) that it'd take when you're close to sail date. Just wanted to vent a little bit.

 

Moral of the story: if you purchased with gift card, don't cancel an excursion online if you're within a few weeks of sailing. you're better off cancelling onboard where they'd give you OBC.

[winddawn]

Just want to vent a little bit and give a warning to others who may end up in the same boat as me. Don't cancel a shore excursion anywhere near your sail date if you purchased with gift cards unless you do it onboard! I learned this the hard way.

 

My husband to be and I will be celebrating our honeymoon on Aug 9th on the Legend for an Alaskan cruise.

 

I found out last week that an excursion we booked wouldn't be the best thing for me to do due to new dietary restrictions that I have (it was a crab feed in ketchikan), so we decided we'd book a different excursion as the money would be wasted on us. I actually don't remember at the time whether or not I remembered that I had booked on gift cards, so that's my fault. But even so, I thought they could get the gift card quickly, or I could just immediately re-apply to another excursion. We had bought these gift cards from AARP specifically for this sailing.

 

I was wrong.

 

After cancelling, I called customer service last Wednesday (e solutions) who told me they'd find out whether they could expedite and would let me know within 48 hrs. Well, they didn't, so I called back this morning, only to find out the couldn't expedite, and that it could take upwards of 2-3 weeks to get the gift cards back in the mail. He said there was a chance I could get it (and I know some people have), but not likely before the date I'd need it for my wedding. After quite some discussion and frustration, I realized there is nothing I can do about it and I know there was nothing he could do.

 

The only solution I could come up with is if it arrives at my parents place when we're traveling, that they send me the gift card number via e-mail as we're on the cruise stopped at port and I see if I can apply it onboard without the actual card. He said he thinks it should work, but no guarantees.

 

Bummer. As it's $400 that we won't be able to use on this cruise and we have no intentions of taking a cruise again any time soon (first time for him, so we're not sure when we'll cruise again).

 

I'm not expecting sympathy here. Technically, Carnival didn't do anything wrong. They followed their own rules, though I wish they were a little clearer when we cancelled the excursion at the amount of time to get gift cards (they do mention that credit card takes 7-10 days) that it'd take when you're close to sail date. Just wanted to vent a little bit.

 

Moral of the story: if you purchased with gift card, don't cancel an excursion online if you're within a few weeks of sailing. you're better off cancelling onboard where they'd give you OBC.

Sorry this happened to you, and thanks for providing valuable info for others. Hope you get the cards in time. Congratulations on your wedding.

[kctwinmommy]

Good to know! We have some of those gift cards, but didn't use them yet. We have an upcoming cruise too, which we'll need to pay for.

[Freckle53]

That really stinks for you. I don't see why in this day and age it would take them so long to refund the money, especially when purchased using their gift cards. Today I canceled part of an Amazon.com order I had paid with using a gift card and the money for that item was immediately credited back to my gift card balance.

 

IIRC, when I was last onboard, at the kiosk you could type in the gift card numbers and apply them to your account. I had bought online Carnival gift cards to pay for the cruise and then had a promotional gift card from that purchase that I applied on board. I had just brought my print out with the numbers on it and was able to apply to to our account. I hope your refund shows up before you leave, or at the very least, you're able to get the numbers from your parents and apply the funds.

[firemanbobswife]

Yes you can use the gift card numbers without actually having the card. Just go to GS. I have done this personally.