Great Vacation Guarantee

[pittsburghcruise23]

Saw someone mention this in another thread. Got me wondering has anyone ever gotten this to work? Or know any statistics? I can't imagine Carnival eating the cost and flying you home after 24 hours for free? Seems like they would find loop holes.

 

That being said I would never use this. I make the best of any vacation. It is better than a day of work. Just got me thinking.

 

Any one have input?

[salty dingo]

The only glitch is that you have to cancel your cruise before arriving at the first non-USA port of call. That is about the point you are feeling relaxed and the last thing you want to do is pack and get onto an airplane.

 

I think this would be very rarely used, but I am sure it happens occasionally. Maybe someone who gets a call that a family member has died just as they leave the home port, and did not buy insurance... they could game the system and use the guarantee to get home earlier.

[bnorris10]

I don't think a family member dying is going to cut it I mean that is what insurance is for

 

I think you would need to have legitimate reasons why the vacation is not going well such as issues with the room that could not be resolved etc

[salty dingo]

I don't think a family member dying is going to cut it I mean that is what insurance is for

 

I think you would need to have legitimate reasons why the vacation is not going well such as issues with the room that could not be resolved etc

My scenario was for someone with no insurance, and who is willing to make up an excuse. Of course you won't tell Carnival you are leaving because of a death in the family. You tell them you are leaving because, and I quote from the guarantee: "...they are not completely satisfied with their cruise experience"

 

So, those gaming the system simply have to find something they are not completely satisfied with (which Carnival cannot do anything about.) Here are some ideas:

• I don't like the food
  
• I don't like the size of my room
  
• The hallway smelled like a sewer
  
• I don't like the other passengers
  
• The ship moves and makes me seasick
  
• I just don't like this cruise (that says it all!)
  

[sparks1093]

When they say something like "The Carnival Great Vacation Guarantee™ is the greatest guarantee you’ll never need to use. If you’re not happy with any 3–14 day Carnival vacation you take to The Bahamas, the Caribbean, the Mexican Riviera, Bermuda, Canada/New England or Alaska, just let us know within 24 hours of your departure. We’ll refund 110% of your fare and our Guest Services will get you back to your home, free of charge. With no hassles and no questions asked." it makes it easy to game the system and they must not be worried about it since they've made no changes to the guarantee since they rolled it out. The only way that I could see us invoking the guarantee is if there was something so wrong with the cabin that it was inhabitable and the ship couldn't move us or make the fix by the time we called at the first foreign port.

[DallasGuy75219]

You have to invoke the guarantee within 24 hours of departure, not just before the first non-US port call.

 

If the first call is a US port, Carnival says they will pay the PVSA fine. The biggest kicker (and what probably stops most people who would otherwise invoke the guarantee) is that you have to have a passport to fly back to the US from a foreign country.

 

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[Micahs Grandad]

And anyone who invoked it would probably be banned for life by all cruise lines

[sparks1093]

And anyone who invoked it would probably be banned for life by all cruise lines

 

Don't know why all cruise lines would care, but even CCL evidently doesn't ban anyone since they will give passengers who invoke the guarantee a $100 credit toward another CCL cruise if they choose to book one in a year.

[salty dingo]

The biggest kicker (and what probably stops most people who would otherwise invoke the guarantee) is that you have to have a passport to fly back to the US from a foreign country.

Yep... I am amazed there are people who will take their family out of the country without a passport. The $110 or so per person is cheap compared to what would happen if they needed one and did not have one.

[sparks1093]

Yep... I am amazed there are people who will take their family out of the country without a passport. The $110 or so per person is cheap compared to what would happen if they needed one and did not have one.

 

This isn't a thread for that but passports for a family add up.

[salty dingo]

And anyone who invoked it would probably be banned for life by all cruise lines

No but repeat offenders may be banned from Carnival. Usually they only ban people for illegal behavior, and I don't think there is any sort of industry-wide blacklist, at least none I have heard of.

[pittsburghcruise23]

I don't think a family member dying is going to cut it I mean that is what insurance is for

 

I think you would need to have legitimate reasons why the vacation is not going well such as issues with the room that could not be resolved etc

 

They do say "no questions asked"

[salty dingo]

This isn't a thread for that but passports for a family add up.

Yes, but think of it as part of the insurance you buy to protect your family.

 

Even if you do buy insurance, if you have to get back home in a hurry due to a medical or family issue, the insurance will not help you if you do not have a passport. They exclude any sort of "government problems" and not having a passport is a problem you will have with the government, and the insurance is not going to cover costs due to failing to comply.

[Keys2Heaven]

You have to invoke the guarantee within 24 hours of departure, not just before the first non-US port call.

 

If the first call is a US port, Carnival says they will pay the PVSA fine. The biggest kicker (and what probably stops most people who would otherwise invoke the guarantee) is that you have to have a passport to fly back to the US from a foreign country.

 

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Right, which means you pretty much have to be ticked off with embarkation or something goes horribly wrong that first night.

[Micahs Grandad]

No but repeat offenders may be banned from Carnival. Usually they only ban people for illegal behavior, and I don't think there is any sort of industry-wide blacklist, at least none I have heard of.

 

Been awhile but believe I have heard that there really is a list. If someone invokes the guarantee and the cruise line thinks they had no good reason too, why let them back on their ship and take such a risk.

[jas1178]

Couple of things:

 

1. No you aren't banned if you invoke the guarantee. In fact it states that you receive a OBC on your next cruise in addition to the refund etc.

 

2. I know someone that had to use the guarantee. They do try hard to fix any problems, but in this persons case - the noise faced in the cabin was causing health issues, and carnival couldn't move them. Honored the guarantee to the letter, still sails with them.

 

3. I had a cruise that I SHOULD have invoked the guarantee, but didn't. Realized it after the fact. (Cabin has ZERO air flow. After they moved us on this cruise day 6 - they found that someone in the next room had stuffed a pillow up into the HVAC system preventing air from flowing to the next room).

 

 

4. Since that time, if I have a problem (like air conditioning) that is a big deal and I'm getting the put off/excuses, I asked to speak to the GSM, indicate that I am considering invoking the guarantee, and in most cases the issue has been resolved within the hour.

 

Note that I do not just threaten to use it to get things done, its just when something may be put off for 3-4 days and will adversely effect my cruise, I rather get the right people involved. It seems this has been the only effective tool in a small number of cases.