Issues With Shore Excursion Best Price Guarantee

[tdnosnhoj11]

 Hi Fellow Cruisers!
 

I’ve stalked the boards here at CC for years and it’s been quite a while since I last posted. In fact, I’ve only been on two cruises in the past six years 🫣 Due to the lack of cruising, I haven’t been around CC a lot, but I’m now seeing the things others saw years ago that pushed them away from what was once a wonderful cruise line. I suspect the threads here have only seen more of that over the past few years. 

While we aren’t as active of cruisers as many of you, my husband and I have been loyal to Carnival for over 13 years now. Family paid for us to go on a Disney cruise and we joked that we’d sneak onto a Carnival ship while in port at Nassau, we loved the brand so much! 
 

But… I want to talk about the straw that broke the camel’s back for us. Honestly, the reason I’m posting is because Carnival made me feel like I’m crazy, and I hope someone here can make me feel validated 😅

 

We currently have two cruises booked with Carnival, one being an Alaskan cruise next year. I came across the Shore Excursion Best Price Guarantee, which “guarantees” a 110% On Board Credit for the cost difference if you locate the same tour offered through an outside vendor for a lower cost. Of course, ALL the details of the outside excursion must match ALL the details of the Carnival Excursion. Fair enough! 
 

I don’t know that I can go into details as far as posting the vendor, but I assure you, every.last.detail of the excursion matched. I didn’t outright ask the vendor (who I emailed to make sure everything lined up), but I am highly suspicious that Carnival uses this vendor for their excursion.

 

So I booked through Carnival and submitted a claim form. I was quickly told that my claim was denied. WHAT? They told me that guests who book through Carnival have priority debarkation and that booking outside of Carnival could cause me to miss the excursion. I’m sorry, but, if that’s the case, how can this “guarantee” exist? They could use that reasoning for every one of the claims that comes in! Not to mention, that is not part of the terms. 
 

Being declined led me to cancel the Carnival excursion and book directly through the vendor. I no longer hoped for anything monetary from Carnival, but I wanted to make sure they knew this is an issue they lost money on, so I emailed CCL Support. I told them I expect nothing but assurance that the shore excursion team will be more thorough in the future.

 

I honestly wish they had not have even emailed me back. They doubled down on the response! The detail they provided is that guests who book outside of Carnival have to get to the tour meeting place themselves, whereas Carnival excursion guests are led to the meeting point. The meeting spot, while maybe different from where Carnival excursion folks will meet, is within walking distance. They’re considering this as different transportation, therefore it does not meet the criteria for the guarantee. 
 

Of course they offered for something to be sent to our room as a way to placate me, but I can live without a bottle of champagne that never gets opened and a plate of cookies we could get from the coffee shop. I would much prefer they adhere to their policies! 
 

Hopefully a few of you have stayed with me through this dissertation! I would love to know your thoughts so that I can decide whether I have lost my mind in feeling that Carnival has done me wrong or if I am in the wrong and completely don’t understand the conditions of the guarantee 🤷🏻‍♀️ 
 

Regardless, Alaska will be our last cruise with Carnival. Our two cruises since the pandemic have left a lot to be desired and the “cherry on top” is feeling like Carnival doesn’t value me. 
 

Thank you all! 

[young_k92]

I completely understand. We've been loyal to Carnival for nearly 20 years. After a less than stellar experience on the Magic last January (we canceled the second leg of our B2B it was so bad), our upcoming Alaska cruise is our last with Carnival. If I had known how downhill Carnival had gone post-pandemic, I wouldn't have booked the Alaska cruise before we sailed on Magic. It was too late to turn back once we figured it out. We're going to try Celebrity. You'll probably have the cheerleaders start rah-rahing for Carnival and tell you you're crazy, but you're not. Anyone with half a brain (who cruised pre-pandemic anyway) can see that Carnival has gone massively downhill in service, food, and ship upkeep (speaking specifically about the Magic here.) It's sad, and I hate it, but I refuse to pretend it hasn't happened. 

Edited Thursday at 02:00 AM by young_k92
Spelling

[ontheweb]

9 hours ago, tdnosnhoj11 said:

 Hi Fellow Cruisers!
 

I’ve stalked the boards here at CC for years and it’s been quite a while since I last posted. In fact, I’ve only been on two cruises in the past six years 🫣 Due to the lack of cruising, I haven’t been around CC a lot, but I’m now seeing the things others saw years ago that pushed them away from what was once a wonderful cruise line. I suspect the threads here have only seen more of that over the past few years. 

While we aren’t as active of cruisers as many of you, my husband and I have been loyal to Carnival for over 13 years now. Family paid for us to go on a Disney cruise and we joked that we’d sneak onto a Carnival ship while in port at Nassau, we loved the brand so much! 
 

But… I want to talk about the straw that broke the camel’s back for us. Honestly, the reason I’m posting is because Carnival made me feel like I’m crazy, and I hope someone here can make me feel validated 😅

 

We currently have two cruises booked with Carnival, one being an Alaskan cruise next year. I came across the Shore Excursion Best Price Guarantee, which “guarantees” a 110% On Board Credit for the cost difference if you locate the same tour offered through an outside vendor for a lower cost. Of course, ALL the details of the outside excursion must match ALL the details of the Carnival Excursion. Fair enough! 
 

I don’t know that I can go into details as far as posting the vendor, but I assure you, every.last.detail of the excursion matched. I didn’t outright ask the vendor (who I emailed to make sure everything lined up), but I am highly suspicious that Carnival uses this vendor for their excursion.

 

So I booked through Carnival and submitted a claim form. I was quickly told that my claim was denied. WHAT? They told me that guests who book through Carnival have priority debarkation and that booking outside of Carnival could cause me to miss the excursion. I’m sorry, but, if that’s the case, how can this “guarantee” exist? They could use that reasoning for every one of the claims that comes in! Not to mention, that is not part of the terms. 
 

Being declined led me to cancel the Carnival excursion and book directly through the vendor. I no longer hoped for anything monetary from Carnival, but I wanted to make sure they knew this is an issue they lost money on, so I emailed CCL Support. I told them I expect nothing but assurance that the shore excursion team will be more thorough in the future.

 

I honestly wish they had not have even emailed me back. They doubled down on the response! The detail they provided is that guests who book outside of Carnival have to get to the tour meeting place themselves, whereas Carnival excursion guests are led to the meeting point. The meeting spot, while maybe different from where Carnival excursion folks will meet, is within walking distance. They’re considering this as different transportation, therefore it does not meet the criteria for the guarantee. 
 

Of course they offered for something to be sent to our room as a way to placate me, but I can live without a bottle of champagne that never gets opened and a plate of cookies we could get from the coffee shop. I would much prefer they adhere to their policies! 
 

Hopefully a few of you have stayed with me through this dissertation! I would love to know your thoughts so that I can decide whether I have lost my mind in feeling that Carnival has done me wrong or if I am in the wrong and completely don’t understand the conditions of the guarantee 🤷🏻‍♀️ 
 

Regardless, Alaska will be our last cruise with Carnival. Our two cruises since the pandemic have left a lot to be desired and the “cherry on top” is feeling like Carnival doesn’t value me. 
 

Thank you all! 

We actually had them once approve the guarantee. It was in 2013 (in Barbados). The only thing I saw that might be different was that the private excursion said they would "pick you up at your hotel". I e-mailed the vendor and asked if they would pick you up at a cruise ship, and their answer was yes. I included that in my request for the Carnival guarantee. (BTW, my TA was surprised that they did accept it.)

 

I think the guarantee was new then, and maybe they are now finding new ways to deny the requests. But it is really foolish as they have just lost you (and quite possibly others who reacted the same way) for future cruises over what really amounts to a very small amount of money. 

 

And I do hope you enjoyed your private tour. Pretty sure you did.

[jimbo5544]

Enjoy your cruise, forget the little stuff.

[kdr69]

its 110% of the difference.  How much we talking bout here?

[kdr69]

9 hours ago, young_k92 said:

Anyone with half a brain (who cruised pre-pandemic anyway) can see that Carnival has gone massively downhill in service, food, and ship upkeep (speaking specifically about the Magic here.) It's sad, and I hate it, but I refuse to pretend it hasn't happened. 

1 ship and the Magic at that and this is your last cruise on Carnival? Not the forgiving type are ya. Having cruised pre pandemic as well i have to disagree because the Excel class ships (speaking specifically NOT about the Magic here) are massively uphill in terms of service and food and ship upkeep (well its a new ship unlike the Magic). Guess this makes me a cheerleader.  Nonetheless enjoy Celebrity i too would love to sail on them some day but i haven't reached that age demographic yet where i would enjoy it.

[young_k92]

37 minutes ago, kdr69 said:

1 ship and the Magic at that and this is your last cruise on Carnival? Not the forgiving type are ya. Having cruised pre pandemic as well i have to disagree because the Excel class ships (speaking specifically NOT about the Magic here) are massively uphill in terms of service and food and ship upkeep (well its a new ship unlike the Magic). Guess this makes me a cheerleader.  Nonetheless enjoy Celebrity i too would love to sail on them some day but i haven't reached that age demographic yet where i would enjoy it.

I'm glad you are at an age where you enjoy the amusement parks of the sea. I, however, am 50 and remember the days of actual cruising. No, I work too hard for my money to forgive crappy service, 1 to 1-1/2 wait times for dinner, once daily room cleaning, poor ship upkeep, and a clientele that has devolved from Walmart of the Seas (I'm a Walmart person BTW) to Roadhouse-at-3am of the Seas. But thank you. You proved my point about Carnival cheerleaders quite well. The OP is 100 percent correct.

[tdnosnhoj11]

1 hour ago, kdr69 said:

its 110% of the difference.  How much we talking bout here?

It’s truly not the money. It’s the fact that Carnival has a practically impossible “guarantee” and isn’t honoring the guidelines. If they had a perfectly reasonable explanation, this wouldn’t be an issue for me. 

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, young_k92 said:

I'm glad you are at an age where you enjoy the amusement parks of the sea. I, however, am 50 and remember the days of actual cruising. No, I work too hard for my money to forgive crappy service, 1 to 1-1/2 wait times for dinner, once daily room cleaning, poor ship upkeep, and a clientele that has devolved from Walmart of the Seas (I'm a Walmart person BTW) to Roadhouse-at-3am of the Seas. But thank you. You proved my point about Carnival cheerleaders quite well. The OP is 100 percent correct.

Seems you are unhappy with the product and people who post here.  What does age have to do with it?  I always love when people say they work too hard for their money, does that imply the majority here do not?  The point is, if you do not like the product, the people who sail them, then move on.  Glad we now you have approved the Op's view, we can all rest easy.

Edited Thursday at 01:34 PM by jimbo5544

[jimbo5544]

42 minutes ago, tdnosnhoj11 said:

It’s truly not the money. It’s the fact that Carnival has a practically impossible “guarantee” and isn’t honoring the guidelines. If they had a perfectly reasonable explanation, this wouldn’t be an issue for me. 

But how much is it?

[Pyxie]

I agree that I would be frustrated in this situation too, but I'm not sure I'd completely write the cruise line off over it.

 

I did actually have this guarantee approved once, but it was pre-pandemic and I wouldn't be surprised if they are finding ways to be more stingy with it these days.

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, Pyxie said:

I agree that I would be frustrated in this situation too, but I'm not sure I'd completely write the cruise line off over it.

 

I did actually have this guarantee approved once, but it was pre-pandemic and I wouldn't be surprised if they are finding ways to be more stingy with it these days.

Being 35 Billion in the hole will make you do things you never did before.

[BlerkOne]

Seems petty to me. I don't understand the drama. If you don't want to cruise on Carnival, fine. Nobody is forced to. You will miss it. Or not.

[sparks1093]

We've sailed a few times since the restart, a couple times on Legend, once on Glory and once on Mardi Gras. I did not experience any decline in service or quality. Changes? Yeah, a couple here and there, but nothing that detracted from our experience. In any event, I have seen many of the same comments made on the other cruise line forums (including Celebrity) so it almost seems like no matter which way you go it isn't the same as it used to be.

[aborgman]

21 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

We've sailed a few times since the restart, a couple times on Legend, once on Glory and once on Mardi Gras. I did not experience any decline in service or quality. Changes? Yeah, a couple here and there, but nothing that detracted from our experience. In any event, I have seen many of the same comments made on the other cruise line forums (including Celebrity) so it almost seems like no matter which way you go it isn't the same as it used to be.

 

I find that hard to believe.

 

I can totally believe that you experienced no decline in service that you cared about.

 

...but I have a hard time believing Carnival is still servicing your room twice a day post restart.

 

 

[sparks1093]

4 minutes ago, aborgman said:

 

I find that hard to believe.

 

I can totally believe that you experienced no decline in service that you cared about.

 

...but I have a hard time believing Carnival is still servicing your room twice a day post restart.

 

 

They weren't doing that pre-COVID, either as I recall. At best the most they ever did was clean the room once and had turndown service. As I said, that change did not detract from our overall experience.

Edited Thursday at 04:57 PM by sparks1093

[BlerkOne]

8 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

They weren't doing that pre-COVID, either as I recall. At best the most they ever did was clean the room once and had turndown service. As I said, that change did not detract from our overall experience.

That is my recollection.

[staceyglow]

6 hours ago, kdr69 said:

its 110% of the difference.  How much we talking bout here?

That's what I am wondering.  Is it worth all this sturm and drang and hours on the phone for the amount of savings you might get?

 

I usually do all my price research before I book anything.  And if there are "identical" tours and Carnival's tour price is in the same ballpark, I book through Carnival because of the ease of finding the tour meetup spot and the guarantee that the ship won't leave without me.

[aborgman]

7 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

They weren't doing that pre-COVID, either as I recall. At best the most they ever did was clean the room once and had turndown service. As I said, that change did not detract from our overall experience.

 

Cleaning room + turndown service -> Cleaning room is a decline in service.

 

It's a decline I don't care about (actually, I kind of prefer it) - but it is a decline by definition.

 

 

[sparks1093]

17 minutes ago, aborgman said:

 

Cleaning room + turndown service -> Cleaning room is a decline in service.

 

It's a decline I don't care about (actually, I kind of prefer it) - but it is a decline by definition.

 

 

But since it happened before COVID and since the OP was talking about a decline in service following the pandemic it doesn't matter. 

[aborgman]

8 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

But since it happened before COVID and since the OP was talking about a decline in service following the pandemic it doesn't matter. 

 

Did it? My January 2019 cruise they were still servicing rooms 2x per day.

 

No bacon every day is a post COVID decline in service.

Charge for room service is a post COVID decline in service.

Pizza not being 24 hours is a post COVID decline in service.
 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

16 hours ago, young_k92 said:

We've been loyal to Carnival for nearly 20 years. Our upcoming Alaska cruise is our last with Carnival. We're going to try Celebrity.

We are going to try Carnival for the first time this year, but I just wanted to say - we just tried Celebrity this year as well, and it was great! Now, they are very expensive, and it weren't for their 3rd/4th person free promotion for next year sailings, I probably wouldn't have booked them for 2 more cruises, but only because of the price.

Our April cruise with X was somewhat reasonably priced.

We also like Princess - you could try them as well (newer ships only - Royal Princess and younger).

[Itchy&Scratchy]

7 hours ago, kdr69 said:

Nonetheless enjoy Celebrity i too would love to sail on them some day but i haven't reached that age demographic yet where i would enjoy it.

just curious - what age would that be? If that's your photo, then you look to be about the same age as us. And if 69 stand for 1969, as in the year of your birth, then you are older than me and my DH.

 

We were still under 50 when we tried it this year, along with our teen son. All three of us loved X Reflection. All the entertainment was surprisingly modern for my taste (most of it was from the last 20 years, except for a super duper fun Queen sing along). 

There were many people in the 35-55 year range traveling with a bunch of kids and teens on an 8 night cruise during spring break.

 

I hear the crowd on Edge class is even younger than on Reflection.

Edited Thursday at 07:03 PM by Itchy&Scratchy

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, BlerkOne said:

That is my recollection.

and mine

[jimbo5544]

42 minutes ago, aborgman said:

 

Did it? My January 2019 cruise they were still servicing rooms 2x per day.

 

No bacon every day is a post COVID decline in service.

Charge for room service is a post COVID decline in service.

Pizza not being 24 hours is a post COVID decline in service.
 

The real question is whether the changes they did set them apart from the rest of the industry.  It is fairly easy to cherry pick things, but we live in extraordinary times.  Let's compare with their competitors.  Your items mentioned fall in line with them.  Cruising is evolving.  We can debate whether it is a cutback, decline in service (two way different things in my eyes), or whatever label someone wants to put on it.  At the end of the day, if they are meaningful to someone (whether true or not is really not important) then that someone makes choices.  The pendulum swings both ways, and it will again.  Right now, cruising is going gangbusters, and if CCL (or any line) can make some hay, then good for them.  

 

If they become outliers with a service item (in a negative sense) then they will end up paying for it one way or another.  

 

Lastly, you did not bring this up, but Celebrity and Carnival are totally different, in every respect (Price being one).