Friendly reminder - do NOT post your NCL reservation information

[ChiefMateJRK]

Kentucky family is out $15,000 after foolishly posting Carnival Cruise itinerary on social media (msn.com)

 

I kind of feel sorry for them, but the only reason I can imagine why they posted such info is to brag to their friends about their expensive upcoming vacation.  Fortunately, steerage passengers don't struggle with such nonsense.

[RocketMan275]

I realize you posted the title of the article but posting the itinerary isn't what lost her cruise.  She also posted her booking number.  

[Two Wheels Only]

Reminds me of.....

 

 

 

 

"We booked on the Presidential Excel suite. For those of you who don't travel or cruise a whole lot, it is the biggest room on the Carnival Celebration Ship.”

 

I'm waiting for the post from the person who got the sweet suite upgrade because of the last minute cancellation.😈

[ChiefMateJRK]

16 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

I realize you posted the title of the article but posting the itinerary isn't what lost her cruise.  She also posted her booking number.  

Yeah.  That was clear from context.  That said, I wouldn't even post my itinerary anywhere, especially under my real name on social media.  You've just told the world when you are going to be away from home.😬

[RocketMan275]

23 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Yeah.  That was clear from context.  That said, I wouldn't even post my itinerary anywhere, especially under my real name on social media.  You've just told the world when you are going to be away from home.😬

Good OPSEC. I’m amazed. At the info some post on Facebook. My neighbor watches my house when I’m gone. He has several firearms. 

[9tee2Sea]

I see no reason to tell total strangers anything about my upcoming vacation.   This is my only social media outlet.  The only reason I am on this site is to share whatever knowledge I may have on a certain topic..  

[cruiserbear55]

14 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Yeah.  That was clear from context.  That said, I wouldn't even post my itinerary anywhere, especially under my real name on social media.  You've just told the world when you are going to be away from home.😬

That's why they don't put addresses in obituaries anymore. Was easy pickings for the thieves, as they knew anyone living in the deceaseds home would probably be at the funeral.

[schmoopie17]

14 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I wouldn't even post my itinerary anywhere, especially under my real name on social media.  

Wait a minute. That's not your real name? I always thought your parents should win an award for their creative naming of their kids.

 

Call me disillusioned... (but that's not my real name, either).

[The Traveling Man]

2 hours ago, schmoopie17 said:

Wait a minute. That's not your real name? I always thought your parents should win an award for their creative naming of their kids.

 

Call me disillusioned... (but that's not my real name, either).

Surely you can't be serious.

I am being serious, but don't call me Shirley.

[Katie H]

18 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

"We booked on the Presidential Excel suite. For those of you who don't travel or cruise a whole lot, it is the biggest room on the Carnival Celebration Ship.”

 

I'm waiting for the post from the person who got the sweet suite upgrade because of the last minute cancellation.😈

When I first read the article it occurred to me that the person who booked the suite last minute may be the same person who canceled on them.

[david_sobe]

So someone used her booking number to cancel her cruise as a prank or just to be evil?  I am sorry I am confused reading the article. It's me, I know.

 

On another note, its never a good idea to tell anyone you are leaving on a cruise on social media.  Thieves will target your house.  Many years ago a Carnival cruise rep went into the system and found passengers at sea and gave that information to her boyfriend who would rob the house with his friends.  Police caught on when multiple Carnival cruise robberies were happening over south Florida.

Edited June 2 by david_sobe

[pcakes122]

I've been following this person's saga on TikTok. A few details she has shared that weren't mentioned in the article. First, what she posted to FB was a "cruise countdown" email that she received from Carnival encouraging folks to share on social media (these folks are not frequent cruisers and were excited, so they didn't know better.)  Next, her issue is WHY did Carnival allow someone who was not verified and did not have the same address, email or other identifying/contact info to add her booking number to their online "account" - especially when you can cancel bookings online. (I haven't cruised Carnival since before the internet (lol), but I can't cancel my NCL, Princess, MSC or Royal bookings online.)  I would think if the Carnival system allows that type of access/control, they SHOULD be validating/verifying who is managing the bookings.

 

Heck, NCL makes me verify my booking, sail date AND DOB before even speaking to me live about one of my bookings.

 

So, I do think Carnival has some culpability here.

[julig22]

40 minutes ago, pcakes122 said:

Heck, NCL makes me verify my booking, sail date AND DOB before even speaking to me live about one of my bookings.

I've been able to make changes to NCL bookings that weren't mine (family traveling with me) - I believe I was able to even cancel the airfare on the reservation. However, those changes were mostly done through my PCC who knew that I'd made the original booking but I also added excursions by calling the excursion desk - just needed to give them the reservation info & name on the reservation - and of course my CC #. 

Note - I've never been asked for my DOB when calling NCL.

Edited June 2 by julig22

[pcakes122]

1 minute ago, julig22 said:

Note - I've never been asked for my DOB when calling NCL.

I only book through CAS, so perhaps since the cruises "free" they want to ensure no one is using someone else's casino standing to abuse the system? 

 

It's actually scary that you were able to change other guests' bookings. Just about every site I use online now has "dual-authentication" - at least any site having to do with my $$.  I think it should be standard.

[2bc cruisers]

That’s a kick in the Azz.  Dang 

[schmoopie17]

4 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

Surely you can't be serious.

I am being serious, but don't call me Shirley.

I speak jive.

 

Okay, not really. But I do like gladiator movies.

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, pcakes122 said:

It's actually scary that you were able to change other guests' bookings.

The NCL rule is that agent's can't change reservations unless a) the person on the reservation is the one calling or b) the reservation shows a third party's name as authorized to make changes.  I've had DD call NCL before to add my name and then I'm able to manage the reservation without any issues.  That said, armed with enough information (i.e. the full reservation information that the person posted on social media), NCL can hardly be held at fault for unauthorized changes.

[pcakes122]

The Carnival countdown email the person received had a big SHARE COUNTDOWN button on it (which is what they clicked to post to FB.) I don't know how this hasn't happened to more people if Carnival is including the confirmation # in what is shared when you hit the button they provide.

 

I might feel differently if the people involved wrote a FB post of their own to talk about their trip and either added or included a screenshot of their booking - but that's not what happened here (according to the folks impacted.)

[ChiefMateJRK]

21 minutes ago, pcakes122 said:

(according to the folks impacted.)

There it is!

[ontheweb]

7 hours ago, Katie H said:

When I first read the article it occurred to me that the person who booked the suite last minute may be the same person who canceled on them.

Yeah, I posted the same speculation about this topic in a thread on a different cruise line board.

 

And I wondered if Carnival had checked that out.

Edited June 3 by ontheweb
added second paragraph

[reeinaz]

1 hour ago, pcakes122 said:

The Carnival countdown email the person received had a big SHARE COUNTDOWN button on it (which is what they clicked to post to FB.) I don't know how this hasn't happened to more people if Carnival is including the confirmation # in what is shared when you hit the button they provide.

 

I might feel differently if the people involved wrote a FB post of their own to talk about their trip and either added or included a screenshot of their booking - but that's not what happened here (according to the folks impacted.)

The email has your booking number but the countdown that is shared when you click the link does not. Did they just copy and paste the email?

[pcakes122]

Not really sure. They never even got an email from Carnival that their cruise was cancelled. They would have found out at the pier except they DID receive an email that an excursion was cancelled which is what prompted them to call Carnival. It was then that they were informed that their cruise was cancelled (and that it had been cancelled online.) Further research led to what was shared in the news article. Someone in British Columbia set up a fake Carnival account and added their booking number to the fake account, and then cancelled the cruise 48 hours before sailing.  No email or notification of the cancellation was sent from Carnival to the actual passengers (who had paid $15K.)

 

They did attempt to board since they had already flown to Florida and had all their documentation that they had paid in full, but were denied boarding and referred to shoreside customer service.

 

Since this was discovered PRIOR to sailing - and Carnival KNEW and had acknowledged that this was not cancelled by the actual passengers - why not let them sail? (and if Carnival was able to upgrade someone else into that cabin, why not just give the original passengers a refund?) They were not offered ANY actual money back - just a partial FCC (which they did not accept because it came with a stipulation that they post on social media that Carnival offered them a positive resolution.) 

[craig01020]

Carnival requires you to create a 4 digit PIN when calling about your cruise, but that's for phone only. You can cancel a cruise online with only the booking number, but first you need to log in to your online account. Not sure how one would cancel with only the booking number without logging in. 🤔

Edited June 3 by craig01020

[DCGuy64]

We live in a safe neighborhood and our neighbors always know when we're out of town, plus we have a house sitter. I think some people are overly paranoid about mentioning when they're traveling, but that's just me.

[cruiseny4life]

On Carnival I can go online to cancel my cruise? Yet, NCL requires me to call in (or chat) to cancel a dining reservation? Can I cancel a NCL online? When we did cancel a cruise, we did so with our PCC over the phone so I don't know.