Carnival Changed My Online Check In Day

[Tiger0613]

Yesterday(10/18/20) my cruise manager said I could check in for my 1/17/21 cruise today(10/19/20).  Now it says I can check in on 11/18/20.  My final payment due date is 12/18/20.  They also made the same change to my cruises on 6/21/21 and 1/15/22.

 

Online check in now appears to be 60 days out instead of 90 days.

[bury me at sea]

1 minute ago, Tiger0613 said:

Yesterday(10/18/20) my cruise manager said I could check in for my 1/17/21 cruise today(10/19/20).  Now it says I can check in on 11/18/20.  My final payment due date is 12/18/20.  They also made the same change to my cruises on 6/21/21 and 1/15/22.

 

Online check in now appears to be 60 days out instead of 90 days.

 

That is interesting.  Thanks for posting.

[MeganGC1983]

I believe they are trying to get boarding details worked out. Those of us that checked in for cruises coming up in the first 2 weeks of January, couldn’t select boarding times. With testing, they are trying to work it out. 

[Tiger0613]

27 minutes ago, MeganGC1983 said:

I believe they are trying to get boarding details worked out. Those of us that checked in for cruises coming up in the first 2 weeks of January, couldn’t select boarding times. With testing, they are trying to work it out. 

I was able to check in for my 1/10/21 cruise on 10/12/20(90 days out).  The change happened today.  It was 90 days out yesterday.

[MeganGC1983]

14 minutes ago, Tiger0613 said:

I was able to check in for my 1/10/21 cruise on 10/12/20(90 days out).  The change happened today.  It was 90 days out yesterday.

But could you select a boarding time when you checked in? I checked in for my 1/9/21 cruise at 90 days out as well, but no boarding time selection was offered. 
What I’m trying to say is they are changing the whole system. First, they stopped with the selecting boarding time and now they have pushed check in to 60 days out. 

[LadyMac72]

But final payment is still due 90 days out...

[Tjcalley]

My cruise is May 15th and online check in is March 31. The payment date is still 2/14 though

[Amadawn1]

Received this via FB today from my PVP:

 

Effective immediately, we have reduced the online check-in availability window to 45 days before departure instead of 90 days. The user experience will not change however the online check-in link on the cruise manager page will not show until 45 days prior to sailing with an “available on” date indicating when the guest can check-in.

 

Love having my PVP

[Tiger0613]

2 hours ago, LadyMac72 said:

But final payment is still due 90 days out...

The final payment on three of my four cruises is 30 days out.  In March, Carnival had a rate code that had a 30 day final payment due date.  I used Early Saver price protection on 3/19.  I price matched again on 4/2 and 4/17.  The due date stayed the same even though the rate didn't offer the 30 day due date.

[Tiger0613]

12 minutes ago, Amadawn1 said:

Received this via FB today from my PVP:

 

Effective immediately, we have reduced the online check-in availability window to 45 days before departure instead of 90 days. The user experience will not change however the online check-in link on the cruise manager page will not show until 45 days prior to sailing with an “available on” date indicating when the guest can check-in.

 

Love having my PVP

The three cruises(7 day, 4 day, 8 day) I haven't checked in for were at 60 days when I started this thread.  They reduced the window twice in one day.

[Bgcruising]

I sometimes dont even complete the online check in.

[Amadawn1]

3 minutes ago, Tiger0613 said:

The three cruises(7 day, 4 day, 8 day) I haven't checked in for were at 60 days when I started this thread.  They reduced the window twice in one day.

That's interesting.  This was the first time I'd seen this.  My check in changed from November to January for my February 27th cruise on the Carnival website today.

[kicia]

Our February 6 cruise still has a November 8 final payment but our check in has been moved to 45 days prior on December 23.

[trbarton]

26 minutes ago, Tiger0613 said:

The final payment on three of my four cruises is 30 days out.  In March, Carnival had a rate code that had a 30 day final payment due date.  I used Early Saver price protection on 3/19.  I price matched again on 4/2 and 4/17.  The due date stayed the same even though the rate didn't offer the 30 day due date.

Can you explain “Early Saver price protection”?

 

Thanks!

 

Tom😀

[Organized Chaos]

3 minutes ago, trbarton said:

Can you explain “Early Saver price protection”?

 

Thanks!

 

Tom😀

 

Price Protection allows you to match the new price of a cabin if the fare goes down after you book. If you do a mock booking for your cruise and find that the exact same cabin category as the one you booked has gone down, you can match to the new, lower price. If you haven't paid off the balance in full yet, they'll adjust the remaining balance. If you've paid it off in full, you'll get OBC in the amount of the difference. You do this by filling out an online form, contacting Carnival cust. service, or your PVP (if you have one) to submit a Price Protection claim. Hope that helps.

 

You can read a little more about it here (about halfway down the page): https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2705/kw/early saver

[Tiger0613]

6 minutes ago, fyree39 said:

 

 

It's also a non-refundable fare and you pay a penalty to make any changes to the booking. That's really the most important part AND the part Carnival regulars have to explain to cruisers who learn this the hard way. There are many who refuse to book this type of fare because of the penalties involved. Caveat emptor.

I haven't seen any refundable fares in months, if not over a year.

[xDisconnections]

5 hours ago, LadyMac72 said:

But final payment is still due 90 days out...

So?

[xDisconnections]

19 minutes ago, Tiger0613 said:

I haven't seen any refundable fares in months, if not over a year.

I would never book any future travel that would carry a non-refundable deposit.

[tw67]

Last week I checked in for my January 4th cruise, today I can't see it.  Thanks for the heads up.   So if this cruise happens, I will have to do it all over again!

[PhillyFan33579]

2 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

Price Protection allows you to match the new price of a cabin if the fare goes down after you book. If you do a mock booking for your cruise and find that the exact same cabin category as the one you booked has gone down, you can match to the new, lower price. If you haven't paid off the balance in full yet, they'll adjust the remaining balance. If you've paid it off in full, you'll get OBC in the amount of the difference. You do this by filling out an online form, contacting Carnival cust. service, or your PVP (if you have one) to submit a Price Protection claim. Hope that helps.

 

You can read a little more about it here (about halfway down the page): https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2705/kw/early saver

 

Another point to consider is if you were provided OBC when you booked the cruise. For example, if you booked a cruise with $200 OBC, and the current fare is a total of $150 less but doesn’t include OBC, you would lose $50 if you switched to the lower fare. 

[PhillyFan33579]

1 hour ago, fyree39 said:

 

 

It's also a non-refundable fare and you pay a penalty to make any changes to the booking. That's really the most important part AND the part Carnival regulars have to explain to cruisers who learn this the hard way. There are many who refuse to book this type of fare because of the penalties involved. Caveat emptor.

The post you quoted addressed Price  Protection for bookings such as an Early Saver. There is no penalty for requesting a price match when a lower fare is available for the same cabin category. 

[xDisconnections]

24 minutes ago, fyree39 said:

 

 

Good for you! I'm proud of ya.

I knew you would be!

❤️

[trbarton]

4 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

Price Protection allows you to match the new price of a cabin if the fare goes down after you book. If you do a mock booking for your cruise and find that the exact same cabin category as the one you booked has gone down, you can match to the new, lower price. If you haven't paid off the balance in full yet, they'll adjust the remaining balance. If you've paid it off in full, you'll get OBC in the amount of the difference. You do this by filling out an online form, contacting Carnival cust. service, or your PVP (if you have one) to submit a Price Protection claim. Hope that helps.

 

You can read a little more about it here (about halfway down the page): https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2705/kw/early saver

Some additional questions. 
 

Do you have to book with this option when you make your booking?

 

if you make a booking with Carnival & transfer your booking to a travel agent what happens?

 

Thanks to everyone. 
 

Tom😀

[Organized Chaos]

16 hours ago, trbarton said:

Some additional questions. 
 

Do you have to book with this option when you make your booking?

 

if you make a booking with Carnival & transfer your booking to a travel agent what happens?

 

Thanks to everyone. 
 

Tom😀

 

Yes, you have to make sure the rate you pick up front includes Price Protection. But this is where it gets a little fuzzy for me. I was always under the impression that Price Protection is only included with Early Saver rates. The only time it's mentioned in Carnival's FAQ's is along with the Early Saver information. The top of the price match claim form states this: "Only bookings made with an Early Saver promotion are eligible."

 

However, many on this forum have said all rates (or nearly all rates) include Price Protection. According to them, the big difference is, the Early Saver rate allows you to make a price match claim up to 2 days prior to your cruise. With other rates, you can only price match up until final payment date. Some have said that they've booked a rate other than Early Saver and were able to price match, so I don't know why Carnival's information says it's only available under Early Saver. We always book ES anyway, so I've never been able to test it otherwise. If you decided to book a rate other than Early Saver, you could always confirm with the customer service rep./PVP that it includes Price Protection.

 

If your booking is handled by a travel agent, they have to submit the price match claim for you. So if you see a price drop, just let your travel agent know. Some TA's will check for price drops for you, but it doesn't hurt to check yourself, too. There's no limit on how many you can submit.

[LouChamp]

does it really matter when you check in? what’s the big deal?