PLEASE HELP! Cannot reach live person to make final payment...

[cruisin07family]

I booked thru an online agency (well known) and final payment is due today - Saturday. Just in case it was a problem, I tried yesterday several times to reach my agent and could only leave voice messages. I tried emailing him as well and have gotten no replies.

 

Late yesterday afternoon I received a final payment reminder email that said to reply "ok" to apply the final payment to our cc on file. I did that but apparently I replied after 7pm when the person handling final payments was already gone. I tried her voicemail and it says she works M-F 10am-7pm so she's not coming back to the office til Monday.

 

I have called the online agency repeatedly and cannot get a live person. What else can I do?? I am very afraid that my cruise will be cancelled. Can I call Carnival and ask if final payment has been made at least?

[firefly333]

I think all that happens is you will receive a past due statement, they wouldnt cancel. If you booked thru someone else Carnival will not answer any questions. Good reason not to wait until the last day to make the payment, scary.

[David-n-Rita]

Hi,

You can always call Carnival direct at 1-800 CARNIVAL. They always seem to answer fairly quickly even when we call on a Sat or sun night. We always book directly with Carnival. Did you get any booking number on any documents? It is usually about 6-7 characters and a mixture of Capital letters and numbers. If you have one, have it handy so they can find you in the system. If you don't, at least you will be talking to a live person so they can at least help you. You might not be able to pay direct through this phone call but at least they can flag your reservation so nothing is cancelled until you can reach the person who did the reservations. We always call and book with Carnival direct and usually pay less than people who book with TA's. I looked at one site after we had booked our cruise. They showed "GREAT" discounts off of cruises, but the figures they used were so high, you would never pay that much for a cruise and their great discounted price was $200 more than we were paying. Carnival cruises are not expensive, in fact ask how much your cruise would be if you book through them and you might find it's even cheaper than you thought. Another idea is to go to the Carnival website and put in your cruise in the type of stateroom and the date and ship you are sailing on. That will usually give you a price. We find when you call them you will find that the price is even lower than what is quoted and you can even pick your room and ask questions. They are never rushed and our calls with Carnival often last 15 minutes with all the questions we ask.

GOOD LUCK

[crusinmama06]

Hi,

You can always call Carnival direct at 1-800 CARNIVAL. They always seem to answer fairly quickly even when we call on a Sat or sun night. We always book directly with Carnival. GOOD LUCK

 

See, THAT's the OP's problem....Carnival will NOT usually answer a question from someone who is not booked directly with Carnival.

 

NO MATTER WHAT the question is.

[crusinmama06]

Let me give you one little piece of hope...but I am not 100% on this. But I have noticed that TA's make the "final payment" 10 days BEFORE the official Carnival payment is due. I guess so that teh money or CC is cleared though the TA's account before they make the payment to Carnival.

 

So if that's the case, you have a few days to spare.

 

For example...my final payment was due to my TA on 2/18 for a cruise that was leaving 4/29. I am betting that she added an extra 10 days cause the final payment would be due EXACTLY 60 days from the sailing.

 

So when are you leaving?

[cruisin07family]

Let me give you one little piece of hope...but I am not 100% on this. But I have noticed that TA's make the "final payment" 10 days BEFORE the official Carnival payment is due. I guess so that teh money or CC is cleared though the TA's account before they make the payment to Carnival.

 

So if that's the case, you have a few days to spare.

 

For example...my final payment was due to my TA on 2/18 for a cruise that was leaving 4/29. I am betting that she added an extra 10 days cause the final payment would be due EXACTLY 60 days from the sailing.

 

So when are you leaving?

 

 

I'm going to cross my fingers that that is the case. It's the cruise in my signature, so it's 80 days away.

[crusinmama06]

I'm going to cross my fingers that that is the case. It's the cruise in my signature, so it's 80 days away.

 

80 days away? Yeah that's a long time. Carnival doesn't request final payment for 60 days right? Even with a suite?

 

My 8/19 cruise with Carnival isn't due till mid June.

[GeoHack]

I'm going to cross my fingers that that is the case. It's the cruise in my signature, so it's 80 days away.

 

You've got time. I believe it is in the 60 day time frame.

[scar4711]

Let me give you one little piece of hope...but I am not 100% on this. But I have noticed that TA's make the "final payment" 10 days BEFORE the official Carnival payment is due. I guess so that teh money or CC is cleared though the TA's account before they make the payment to Carnival.

 

 

I don't know about other TAs.. but the ones Ive booked through in the past always were directly charged by the cruiseline... in fact my most recent booking I had 2 charged.. the booking fee from the TA.. and the cruise from Carnival..

 

I now know to book directly through carnival.com or something.. to save that other fee. :)

[cruisecrasy]

is why the cruiselines request their $ well in advance of their 'real' deadline. If I use my cruise TA (I also book online & direct with the cruiselines) they start requesting $ about 100+ days in advance with a TA deadline of 90 days.. However, I know from experience, I can easily pay within 60 - 75 days most cruiselines and not risk losing my booking. U are OK at 80 days. Believe me when I say your TA wld be on you to pay like a 'duck on a bug' if they thought 'they' wld lose the commission..

 

Don't panic - it is in everyones interest not to cancel a booking - GEE - the cruiselines wld have to 'refund' your deposit and we all know how 'long' :0) it takes to get a refund... U think there might be a 'benefit' to hanging onto the deposit $ hmmm? ;0)

 

Bad PR all around if cancelled.

 

Hoping u have a great cruise..

[bthorn1108]

Just to make things clear, final payments are due 60 days out for cruises that are 3-5 days in length. If you are on a 7 night cruise, or longer, the payment is due 75 days prior to sailing.

 

I usually give my clients a due date that is 7 days prior to the final payment date, just to avoid problems like this. Also, when I book the cruise and take the deposit, I ask if it will be permissible to make the final payment on the credit card on file, when it is due. Most people will OK this, I note the file, and no one has to worry about it again.

[cruisecrasy]

Just to make things clear, final payments are due 60 days out for cruises that are 3-5 days in length. If you are on a 7 night cruise, or longer, the payment is due 75 days prior to sailing.

 

I usually give my clients a due date that is 7 days prior to the final payment date, just to avoid problems like this. Also, when I book the cruise and take the deposit, I ask if it will be permissible to make the final payment on the credit card on file, when it is due. Most people will OK this, I note the file, and no one has to worry about it again.

 

from a TA. Have had a few poor ones but nice to know there are still 'professional' TAs that keep track of dates, etc..thereby saving their clients stress..

 

Thanks for posting..most appreciated!

[bthorn1108]

is why the cruiselines request their $ well in advance of their 'real' deadline. If I use my cruise TA (I also book online & direct with the cruiselines) they start requesting $ about 100+ days in advance with a TA deadline of 90 days.. However, I know from experience, I can easily pay within 60 - 75 days most cruiselines and not risk losing my booking. U are OK at 80 days. Believe me when I say your TA wld be on you to pay like a 'duck on a bug' if they thought 'they' wld lose the commission..

 

Don't panic - it is in everyones interest not to cancel a booking - GEE - the cruiselines wld have to 'refund' your deposit and we all know how 'long' :0) it takes to get a refund... U think there might be a 'benefit' to hanging onto the deposit $ hmmm? ;0)

 

Bad PR all around if cancelled.

 

Hoping u have a great cruise..

 

Just so you know, if you do not cancel your cruise and you do not get your final payment in on time (causing your booking to be cancelled), you do not get your deposit back. The cruise will be cancelled, due to lack of payment and you forfeit your deposit by not cancelling. I know someone whom this happened to, last September. They decided not to go on their cruise and just figured they would let the final payment date go by and the cruiseline would refund their deposit, WRONG. They lost their deposit by not canceling prior to the date final payment would be due, putting them in the penalty period.

[cruisecrasy]

Just so you know, if you do not cancel your cruise and you do not get your final payment in on time (causing your booking to be cancelled), you do not get your deposit back. The cruise will be cancelled, due to lack of payment and you forfeit your deposit by not cancelling. I know someone whom this happened to, last September. They decided not to go on their cruise and just figured they would let the final payment date go by and the cruiseline would refund their deposit, WRONG. They lost their deposit by not canceling prior to the date final payment would be due, putting them in the penalty period.

 

I didn't 'cause the payment date was well within the 60 - 75 days before the cruise..I agree one shld never assume anything..

[cruisin07family]

UPDATE

 

Thanks to those who replied with reassurances. I spoke today with my TA and sure enough, you guys were right. My final payment is actually due to Carnival this Friday.

 

Thanks again.