Question- Cancelled cruise booked with Travel Agent

[fishteacher10]

Hello, we are currently booked for April 11th on the Magic. We understand that Carnival will be announcing if they are going to begin sailing again on March 27th. My question... if they cancel our cruise and we decide to re-book for a later date do we have to rebook through the same travel agent? I can only assume we would have to b/c we paid the travel agent directly and they would be transferring our funds to a new cruise? Any info would be appreciated! Thank you

[bury me at sea]

Interesting question.  Personally I would do so because I have a long relationship with my small town TA.

 

Quite a few TAs post here.   I hope one of them will give you a definitive answer.

[springssparrow]

When our cruise was cancelled the travel agent sent the cancellation letter from Carnival with the link to choose refund or FCC. They said due to the high volume of calls and long wait times it was best to just fill out the form. Some people have posted here that the new booking requires a new deposit, so we went ahead and did the form online, booked a new cruise and paid a new deposit, and when our cancelled booking works it's way through the process will apply that money then.

[ceilidh1]

You do not have to book through the same agent. Obviously, the agent will want you to book through them BUT the FCC is yours and you can choose to book with another agent or independently. Just be aware that if you have your current TA initiate the new booking then it will be considered booked through them and you could only get it transferred within the timeframe allowed. However, if you decide to book through Carnival yourself or through another TA, you just put down the inital deposit and then call to have the FCC transferred!

 

FWIW: Everyone with FCCs are a HOT ticket for us TAs right now as we are hurting. If you have a good TA that you have been happy with, stick with them. If not, look out for added value from TAs that will desperately need to drum up business!

[ontheweb]

12 hours ago, fishteacher10 said:

Hello, we are currently booked for April 11th on the Magic. We understand that Carnival will be announcing if they are going to begin sailing again on March 27th. My question... if they cancel our cruise and we decide to re-book for a later date do we have to rebook through the same travel agent? I can only assume we would have to b/c we paid the travel agent directly and they would be transferring our funds to a new cruise? Any info would be appreciated! Thank you

Question---when you paid the travel agent directly, did the charge on your card show up as the travel agency or Carnival cruise line? It should show up as the cruise line, and if so I do not see any reason that you would be obligated to use the same agent. However, if you are happy with the agent, that could be a good reason to use him or her again.

[fishteacher10]

Thank you for the insight. We payed for a majority of our cruise with gift cards. I know that I will not be returned any money (not expecting it either) I just am not sure if I will be told that they will keep my money as a “credit” or will they somehow return it. They were not physical gift cards so I do not have one to have the money added back onto. We find out tomorrow if the cruise is cancelled and I want to be prepared to rebook ASAP because we can only sail on very limited dates due to our jobs and I know they will sell out quickly. 

[ontheweb]

9 hours ago, fishteacher10 said:

Thank you for the insight. We payed for a majority of our cruise with gift cards. I know that I will not be returned any money (not expecting it either) I just am not sure if I will be told that they will keep my money as a “credit” or will they somehow return it. They were not physical gift cards so I do not have one to have the money added back onto. We find out tomorrow if the cruise is cancelled and I want to be prepared to rebook ASAP because we can only sail on very limited dates due to our jobs and I know they will sell out quickly. 

Just out of curiosity, how do you know they will sell out quickly? There are so many posts on the cc boards where people question whether the cruise lines will survive this crisis. There is the problem of will ports still allow cruise ships. There is the problem of people being afraid of quarantines if even one person on a ship becomes ill. There is also a question of can cruise lines financially survive as basically no income comes in while lots of deposit money is returned.

[ChattTenn]

You will only get Future Cruise Credit for your April 11 cancelled cruise and that money can be used a future cruise 1 year from April, 2021.

We cancelled our April 18 and booked another one later in the summer a decent price.  We are using the SAME TA, since she already spent time on other cruise.  By doing this her commission is protected (still receive).  As other stated above the small town TA is hurting so by using them again, it is win win for everyone.

[fishteacher10]

On the web... as an optimist, I would like to continue each day with the thought that one day everything will be “normal” again. As a realist, I know that there are only certain times of the year that I can take my family on vacation(peal travel times) and I am provided with a limited budget. Therefore, my post was asked so that I know how the financial situation will be handled at the given time so that I can make a purchase in a specific category before that is unavailable to me and my family. 

 

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, fishteacher10 said:

On the web... as an optimist, I would like to continue each day with the thought that one day everything will be “normal” again. As a realist, I know that there are only certain times of the year that I can take my family on vacation(peal travel times) and I am provided with a limited budget. Therefore, my post was asked so that I know how the financial situation will be handled at the given time so that I can make a purchase in a specific category before that is unavailable to me and my family. 

 

I hope you are right, and everything returns to normal, but I would expect a new normal. My analogy would be flying after 9/11. Before that there were no TSA checks and screenings.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

On 3/25/2020 at 7:28 PM, fishteacher10 said:

Hello, we are currently booked for April 11th on the Magic. We understand that Carnival will be announcing if they are going to begin sailing again on March 27th. My question... if they cancel our cruise and we decide to re-book for a later date do we have to rebook through the same travel agent? I can only assume we would have to b/c we paid the travel agent directly and they would be transferring our funds to a new cruise? Any info would be appreciated! Thank you

FCC is cah i hand to book another cruise. You can book with anyone for your next cruise.

[jean87510]

On 3/25/2020 at 7:28 PM, fishteacher10 said:

Hello, we are currently booked for April 11th on the Magic. We understand that Carnival will be announcing if they are going to begin sailing again on March 27th. My question... if they cancel our cruise and we decide to re-book for a later date do we have to rebook through the same travel agent? I can only assume we would have to b/c we paid the travel agent directly and they would be transferring our funds to a new cruise? Any info would be appreciated! Thank you

Yes you do. What i did was put a 24 hr hold online for a booking. I then called carnival who gave me a pin #. I then called the TA who transferred the FCC to new booking. I used the online TA company and just took 1st agent who answered.  The FCC I used for the new booking was through a TA booked cruise.

Edited March 28, 2020 by jean87510