Cancel vs. No-Show for 1st guest with casino offer

[nburns255]

We have 11 people going on a carnival cruise, well 10 now.  We booked 12, in 3 rooms with 4 bunks.  Our rooms are:  1) I'm the primary with 2 named guests and using my casino rate and have 1 paid to be determined person (empty paid bed).  Room 2 my cousin is the lead and using her casino rate and 3 named guests.  Room 3) a friend is primary using her casino rate and there are 3 other guests.  

 

My cousin (room 2) has a health concern and is likely not able to go 39 days before cruising.  I called to see what we could do.  We can move people around any which way as it doesn't matter who is in what room.  Nobody else in the party qualifies for a casino rate besides those already using one.  One of the other guests on my cousins room cruises a lot with carnival and would otherwise qualify for discounts/promos but they will not allow any promos this close to cruising.  

 

We asked what if we move extra passenger from room 2 to the paid empty bed in my room.  They will do that and charge $100 cancellation fee, even though we're not cancelling her and moving her to a different room, which they told me when I booked wouldn't be a problem if done at boarding.  If we remove my cousin her fare is fully non refundable including port fees? Which I know it is non refundable but they even refund port fees if you don't show normally.  And, for the two remaining guests in the cabin the rate would be $650 higher.  

 

So, basically they don't refund my cousins fare and we're charged a total of $750 more because we move one passenger to another room where we already paid for an additional passenger and now have only two remaining people in the room.  I think that this is ridiculous.  We basically dropped two people from the reservation and the remaining people would otherwise qualify for a discounted fare but they can't apply any because it is too close to booking, even though those people have been on the room since it was booked many months prior.  

 

This fully makes me not want to cruise with Carnival ever again.  I asked the agent what would happen if my cousin was just a no show and they said that it would be up to the port to decide but that they're "supposed" to reprice the rate to rack rate at the port but that it is up to the port customer service to decide how it is handled.   

 

I just wonder what other people think is the best thing to do?  It really sucks that we had paid for 1 extra person that to this point is not occupied and now we're also being charged another $100 for a guest to simply move to another room and $650 more for the main with discount dropping off of room 2.

[DallasGuy75219]

58 minutes ago, nburns255 said:

I think that this is ridiculous.  This fully makes me not want to cruise with Carnival ever again.

 

I just wonder what other people think is the best thing to do?

The best thing to do is for you, your family, and friends booking others into their casino offer rooms to explain the terms of casino offers to the others before booking.

 

The terms for casino offers clearly state "This offer is solely intended for the named VIFP Club® Member who qualifies for the stated promotion (which must be active at the time of booking). As such, the same VIFP Club® Member must sail to redeem this offer and any related offer benefits. No name changes allowed."  "In the event of cancellation or no-show, any possible companion benefits will not be honored. Carnival’s standard cancellation penalties will apply to cancellations and no-shows and they will be assessed based on the prevailing cruise fare. A charge will be made in the event of a cancellation, or no-show."

[2wheelin]

9 hours ago, nburns255 said:

I just wonder what other people think is the best thing to do?  It really sucks that we had paid for 1 extra person that to this point is not occupied and now we're also being charged another $100 for a guest to simply move to another room and $650 more for the main with discount dropping off of room 2.

Suck it up. People here complain all the time when Carnival is perceived to not enforce rules. When they do, people complain. Sorry your cousin can’t go but those are the risks. Casino players should be aware of risks. What if everyone a month before sailing decided to see what better promotions are out there and want to reprice. I realize that is not what you are doing, but others might not be so honest.

Insurance should cover all in the room and then they can rebook with the current promotions?

[mjkacmom]

I’m pretty sure if one books with a casino offer and can’t go, the cabin will be repriced to reflect that there is no longer a casino offer, on all cruise lines. 

[nburns255]

Thanks yes I know that is what they're supposed to do and I understand that but I think my complaint is that others in the room are eligible for offers, or were at that the time when they were booked, but they now will only give them rack rate even though they tell me that they can see the offers right there.  They don't have casino offers but they do have other offers available.

[mpacker]

15 minutes ago, nburns255 said:

Thanks yes I know that is what they're supposed to do and I understand that but I think my complaint is that others in the room are eligible for offers, or were at that the time when they were booked, but they now will only give them rack rate even though they tell me that they can see the offers right there.  They don't have casino offers but they do have other offers available.

They have offers but for that specific cruise, or a cruise 3 months from now?

[nburns255]

They said that there are offers on this cruise but because it is a full sailing at capacity they are not allowed to book any more available offers.

[Drazil65]

Makes sense really, example, we have a cruise in December and we have new offers now that cannot be used for that sailing because there are no current cabins available for our same cabin type, for the number of guests, so we cannot change it to new offer. 

 

Unless it is a brand new booking, there has to be an equal cabin type/category available for same number of guests you have to change the original offer.  

Edited October 4, 2023 by Drazil65

[highSeas22]

After reading this, it sounds like you tried to game the system 

[2wheelin]

12 hours ago, nburns255 said:

Thanks yes I know that is what they're supposed to do and I understand that but I think my complaint is that others in the room are eligible for offers, or were at that the time when they were booked, but they now will only give them rack rate even though they tell me that they can see the offers right there.  They don't have casino offers but they do have other offers available.

 

11 hours ago, nburns255 said:

They said that there are offers on this cruise but because it is a full sailing at capacity they are not allowed to book any more available offers.

That means they don’t have other offers available. Available being the key word. How is that so hard to comprehend?

[CruzinCpl20]

If everyone is still wanting to go then going with a no show and take your chances because it’s no worst than the option Carnival is giving you. Or, assuming those in the room bought insurance, cancel and use the insurance to get their money back. Sorry about your cousin, however you are mad at Carnival for doing exactly what they told you they would do if you took the offer and then can’t go.

[nburns255]

10 hours ago, highSeas22 said:

After reading this, it sounds like you tried to game the system 

In what way?  We had 3 people in our group who qualified for casino offers and we booked under them.  One of those people now has cancer and is ill and can't go.    I then called Carnival to discuss the situation knowing that they would reprice etc.  Please explain how that is gaming the system in any way?  I fully expected that they would need to adjust the rate and we were okay with that, and paying the fare for the person who isn't going because she cancelled during the full penalty period.  What I expected however was that Carnival would then apply other relevant promotions to that room or work with us to find a reasonable rate that we would have otherwise qualified for when we booked the reservation many, many months ago.  We have a number of people in our party that have cruised with Carnival many times and would qualify for good rates on their room.

[nburns255]

3 minutes ago, nburns255 said:

In what way?  We had 3 people in our group who qualified for casino offers and we booked under them.  One of those people now has cancer and is ill and can't go.    I then called Carnival to discuss the situation knowing that they would reprice etc.  Please explain how that is gaming the system in any way?  I fully expected that they would need to adjust the rate and we were okay with that, and paying the fare for the person who isn't going because she cancelled during the full penalty period.  What I expected however was that Carnival would then apply other relevant promotions to that room or work with us to find a reasonable rate that we would have otherwise qualified for when we booked the reservation many, many months ago.  We have a number of people in our party that have cruised with Carnival many times and would qualify for good rates on their room.

Also note, that I am one of those people that qualified for a casino offer.  

 

21 hours ago, mpacker said:

They have offers but for that specific cruise, or a cruise 3 months from now?

So what they explained is that they have promotions on that cruise, for example we have someone in the room who cruises with Carnival frequently and due to that they get special rates.  They could see that she has better rates for this cruising but they cannot apply those rates to her room because the boat is full and they lock them at that point.