I did something about the fuel surcharge

[kf4zra]

I unfortunately paid it, very reluctantly though. My GF REALLY wanted to go, and I couldn't tell her no. I couldn't break her heart.

 

I tried to tell the people at Carnival my side of the story, and after getting passed up the supervisor chain of command, was met with 3 options; cancel, pay it, or call the CEO.

 

So, i paid it. I will be enjoying my last Carnival Corp cruise in Feb.

 

I had a week off before Christmas, and didnt want to sit at home. So I booked another cruise. (I live in FL, I have 5 major ports within a 5 hr drive)

 

I purposely chose something other than Carnival because of the way we were retroactively billed, not because of the charge itself. I was paid in full when they added the extra charges.

 

I know I will hear the "they can do that cause their contract says so" and the "fuel prices have gone up" and the "is $70 really gonna kill you?" arguement. Spare me your effort, you are not going to change my mind, you have already tried in several other posts. Carnival chose to do business this way because they wanted to, not because the contract gave them the ability to. Because of this choice, I chose to take my current and future business elsewhere.

 

I also chose to go to another company to satisfy my conscience. Maybe it will be worse than Carnival, not sure, I have always blindly booked Carnival. I guess I will find out in less than 2 weeks. I know it will not make a bit of difference to Carnival, at least I feel better about it.

 

I am simply posting this as a response to all those people that told me if I didn't like being back billed, that I should go to another line. Just letting you know that I decided to follow your advice.

 

I'm donning my nomex suit, as I fully expect to get flamed for my thoughts and actions.

[alpal1993]

It is not just Carnival I am booked on a RCCL cruise for next summer and they also are charging us for a fuel surcharge.I think it is industry wide.

[melika091900]

all cruiselines are doing this ... not just carnival,

carnivals is actually cheaper than alot

 

I understand what you mean, but this is everywhere not just carnival,

[Wennfred]

Its part of the Travel game, everyone is doing it, other cruiselines, hotels, airlines, trains, taxi's etc.

 

 

 

Fred

[lvtotrvl1]

In essence, you made up for the cruiser on the other line that cancelled due to the surcharge....and they probably did the same thing and booked with CCL, which made up for your cancellation...goes round and round.

[Kurbanfan]

I may be wrong but I believe the op is cancelling because of the ultimatum he was givin on a paid in full booking. Not the surcharge;)

[gtalum]

I managed to get Carnival and my TA to give me OBC to negate the charge, so I was happy. I'm not happy with them implementing it on already-booked cruises. They should have only charged it on new bookings.

[Wennfred]

I may be wrong but I believe the op is cancelling because of the ultimatum he was givin on a paid in full booking. Not the surcharge;)

 

I was fully paid also for April 08 and got hit too, I just called them and hand over my wallet, just like when I go to the casinos :D

 

I'm not going to let a little thing like Fuel Surcharges ruin my vacation.

 

 

 

Fred

[tbjl24]

Enjoy your new cruiseline.

[kf4zra]

Kurbanfan is correct

 

i know fuel prices have risen, not upset about that. if i was told in advance i would be charged, it would have been no big deal.

 

carnival absolutely would do nothing for me, regarding having fees tacked on, so i will no longer do business with them.

 

by the end of feb, i will have taken my 3rd cruise in 13 months. i am only 29 now, and at the rate of 3 a year, the way i see it, they are missing out on a lot of money.

 

doesnt really matter to me, i will be having fun on someone's ship, just not one that belongs to the carnival group. i sent corporate an email letting them know that i have already booked my next cruise with RCCL, but i dont expect anything from it based on their prior attitude. if they gave me $70 OBC, or upgraded me, i would sail with them again.

 

if $70 was really too much money for me, do you think i would have booked an additional cruise?

[Shipbound]

I got hit with the fuel charge also. I was also kind of amused that the current and paided bookings got hit too. You can not fight these big cooperations, they have to many lawyers and to much money but the one thing you can bet is that Mickey and CEO 's are still making their millions. You know the old saying %%%% runs down hill.

 

Happy sailing

[EastTex]

.

 

by the end of feb, i will have taken my 3rd cruise in 13 months. i am only 29 now, and at the rate of 3 a year, the way i see it, they are missing out on a lot of money.

 

 

 

One of the weakest arguments for an individual to use on any business. Ranks up there with I'll tell my friends, family and my whole company and they'll lose bizzillions.

[martinchem]

My wife and I are going on the CCL Freedon 01/19/08, then CCL Triumph 01/26/08, thank goodness there fuel surcharge doesn't effect our cruises because they kick in feb 1st. Otherwise we would be screwed too, I mean after scheduling our flights, hotel and transportation we're locked into this vacation. Norwegian Cruise Line announced there fuel surcharge in the beginning of november, and it is charged to new bookings placed december 1st or later. Anyone who has deposited or fully paid bookings before that date are secure from this extra fee. We are going on the NCL Sun 03/02/08, and I think of all the big cruise companies out there, NCL, if they had to impement a fuel fee, did it right! Shame on you CCL and RCL.

[kf4zra]

its nice to see that you obviously didnt read my original post where i said

"I know it will not make a bit of difference to Carnival, at least I feel better about it.

 

i never intended to hurt carnival. i never expected them to care one bit that i left.

[nrdsb4]

Kurbanfan is correct

 

i know fuel prices have risen, not upset about that. if i was told in advance i would be charged, it would have been no big deal.

 

carnival absolutely would do nothing for me, regarding having fees tacked on, so i will no longer do business with them.

 

by the end of feb, i will have taken my 3rd cruise in 13 months. i am only 29 now, and at the rate of 3 a year, the way i see it, they are missing out on a lot of money.

 

doesnt really matter to me, i will be having fun on someone's ship, just not one that belongs to the carnival group. i sent corporate an email letting them know that i have already booked my next cruise with RCCL, but i dont expect anything from it based on their prior attitude. if they gave me $70 OBC, or upgraded me, i would sail with them again.

 

if $70 was really too much money for me, do you think i would have booked an additional cruise?

 

 

Did you know that RCI did the exact same thing to its customers with the exception that if you had already paid in full, you didn't have to pay the surcharge? Everyone else was charged after the fact, after they had agreed on the price and paid their deposits.

 

The RCI customers are hopping mad and they are getting the same attitude from RCI as you are getting from Carnival. I don't know that you have made a big change in terms of going to a company whose policies are better from an ethical viewpoint.

 

I have enjoyed my RCI cruises, however. Their ships are beautiful, though the food leaves a lot to be desired.

 

At any rate, I hope you enjoy all of your cruises. It's nice of you to consider your girlfriend's feelings.

[Snorkel2Much]

its nice to see that you obviously didnt read my original post where i said

 

 

i never intended to hurt carnival. i never expected them to care one bit that i left.

If previous posting history holds true, most people that reply to you have already decided how they feel about this, and will apply their own rationale to your situation, without ever actually reading and comprehending what you've actually written.

 

Good luck with your future vacations, and thanks for not being another sheep.:)

[Cardinala]

 

 

Didn't you hear about us lumberjacks and curlers up here in the north?

 

As for the OP, I agree with you, as I have read many of your postings on the subject. At some point people have to stand up for themselves, as big corporations are really bullying the market in most fields. I too will look at my options for holidays next year before instinctively choosing Carnival for my winter holiday cruise next year.

[kf4zra]

Did you know that RCI did the exact same thing to its customers with the exception that if you had already paid in full, you didn't have to pay the surcharge? Everyone else was charged after the fact, after they had agreed on the price and paid their deposits.

 

The RCI customers are hopping mad and they are getting the same attitude from RCI as you are getting from Carnival. I don't know that you have made a big change in terms of going to a company whose policies are better from an ethical viewpoint.

 

I have enjoyed my RCI cruises, however. Their ships are beautiful, though the food leaves a lot to be desired.

 

At any rate, I hope you enjoy all of your cruises. It's nice of you to consider your girlfriend's feelings.

 

 

but rci didnt back bill people that paid in full prior to their announcement

[bgbaird]

OP

 

OK, I hope that's working for you.:)

[blindrid]

I agree to a certain extent with OP. One thing I believe is that most people have short memory and they will book with Carnival next time. Personally, I have no problems with them adding a surcharge and doing so retroactively is no big deal as there surcharge is less than most lines. Obviously to each there own......

[kf4zra]

Did you know that RCI did the exact same thing to its customers with the exception that if you had already paid in full, you didn't have to pay the surcharge? Everyone else was charged after the fact, after they had agreed on the price and paid their deposits.

 

The RCI customers are hopping mad and they are getting the same attitude from RCI as you are getting from Carnival. I don't know that you have made a big change in terms of going to a company whose policies are better from an ethical viewpoint.

 

I have enjoyed my RCI cruises, however. Their ships are beautiful, though the food leaves a lot to be desired.

 

At any rate, I hope you enjoy all of your cruises. It's nice of you to consider your girlfriend's feelings.

 

but rci didnt back bill people that paid in full prior to their announcement

[kf4zra]

Did you know that RCI did the exact same thing to its customers with the exception that if you had already paid in full, you didn't have to pay the surcharge? Everyone else was charged after the fact, after they had agreed on the price and paid their deposits.

 

The RCI customers are hopping mad and they are getting the same attitude from RCI as you are getting from Carnival. I don't know that you have made a big change in terms of going to a company whose policies are better from an ethical viewpoint.

 

I have enjoyed my RCI cruises, however. Their ships are beautiful, though the food leaves a lot to be desired.

 

At any rate, I hope you enjoy all of your cruises. It's nice of you to consider your girlfriend's feelings.

 

but rci didnt back bill people that paid in full prior to their announcement

[nrdsb4]

but rci didnt back bill people that paid in full prior to their announcement

 

Yes, that's true as I mentioned. That's no solace to all the extremely pissed off passengers that thought that they had already agreed upon a price and made a deal, lol.

 

You will likely love RCI. They are similar to Carnival, better in some ways, a little worse in others. But great ships.

[Bruce&Pam]

To the OP: Kudos for doing what you think is right. While I don't have a problem with the fuel surcharge in general, I do think Carnival is wrong to have added it to cruises already booked. I admire you for standing your ground.

 

I hope that you'll continue to have enjoyable cruises on RCL.

 

---Bruce

[EastTex]

its nice to see that you obviously didnt read my original post where i said

 

 

i never intended to hurt carnival. i never expected them to care one bit that i left.

 

 

Oh I read your original post. For the record I have no opinion on the fuel surcharge one way or another. I've got a back to back in February and already received my adjusted bill. Oh well.

 

My point rests solely on the argument that's frequently used by disgruntled customers, namely that revenue will be lost due to an individual's dissatisfaction with a company because they will stop using them. It's usually an argument without teeth and so I wouldn't use it to make my point. Didn't mean to offend, although in retrospect I guess I was being a little picky. Sorry