HAL will not honor Carnival stock holders ship board credit

[hshowalter]

HAL will not honor the ship board credit to stockholders because they claim we got a good price on our cruise. The truth of the matter is I normally have a lower price per day on all my other cruise. I am really disappointed in HAL Does anybody have any suggestions to how I handle this problem. Our cruise is 12-12-07 on the Noordam.

[advocado]

Well... it's really a matter of what's in writing. If "weasel" language exists that permits to HAL/ Carnival to weasel out of giving you a credit at their discretion, or within certain limitations, then it's pretty much a no go for you. The type of statement you should look for are words to the effect that "This discount is not combinable with other discounts..." or, "The discount applies only to non-discounted fares" or some such statement that really leaves it up to HAL. The devil is in the details (and the small print!).

[hammybee]

I think Avocado nailed it. There are so many possible discounts, Mariner, early booking, state of residence, age, profession and CCL shareholder that if all were applied to the best price, the passenger might get paid for cruising.

[anthk333]

To the OP: Did you recieve any other OBC when you booked your cruise (for example part of a group rate or promo)? If yes, the stockholders annual report includes this line about the shareholder benefit:

 

...not combinable with any other shipboard offer...

 

RCI does not have this limitation on their shareholders.

[gizmo]

99% of the time Hal allows it. I was turned done only once. They would not honor it because of a very,very low discounted price I paid for a last minute cruise. The price was unbelievable. :rolleyes:

 

I have always booked at a discount and been part of a group more than once and received the credit except for the one cruise I mentioned.

 

Most of the time they will not allow you to combine it with other OBC. There are people on this board who book a future cruise while on board to receive a credit and still get the stock credit.

 

Every now and then I read that someone got turned down.

 

There is the fine print that appears to allow them to do whatever they want. :rolleyes:

 

Did you sumit the stock info yourself or did your TA ?

 

I would try faxing it again. You never know what could happen.

[prescottbob]

Ahoy!

 

As has been mentioned, a business, HAL in this case, can only offer so much in the way of discounts to keep the 'bottom line ' healthy (as a stockholder I'm sure you appreciate that). However, I would certainly try again. Nothing gained, nothing lost.

 

I personaly use email for the OBC's and recieve a response within 24 hours during the course of 'business week' (M-F).

 

I simply write a short note that includes name, address, contact phone #, booking number, name of ship and sailing date. I make the subject line:

Stockholder OBC Request.

 

I then simply cut and paste a recent online statement from the brokerage house (in my case Ameritrade) to include in the body of the message. Needless to say, you want to delete out or replace with X's your account number, various balances, etc. and have the CCL holdings / # of shares clearly visible (no need to have balances on it either).

 

The just email to worldcruisereservations@hollandamerica.com . I'd tell you the lovely lady that has always responded back to me in the past but I don't think it would be fair to publish her name. Be sure to ask for a confirmation to your email address (when I first did it the confirms we're going to our TA).

 

Hey, the worst they could do would be to have the Yum-Yum man whip you with a 'wet noodle' during the cruise, no?

 

Good luck and have a GREAT CRUISE!

 

Bon Voyage and Good Health!

Bob:)

[Comptech]

Here is wording right from the Share Holders web site... Notice the wording about cruising at a reduced rate.......

 

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=140690&p=irol-sharebenefit

 

This benefit is applicable on sailings through July 31, 2008 aboard the brands listed below. Certain restrictions apply. Applications to receive these benefits must be made prior to cruise departure date.

 

This benefit is available to shareholders holding a minimum of 100 shares of Carnival Corporation or Carnival plc. Employees, travel agents cruising at travel agent rates, tour conductors or anyone cruising on a reduced-rate or complimentary basis are excluded from this offer. This benefit is not transferable, not combinable with any other shipboard offer and cannot be used for casino credits/charges and gratuities charged to your onboard account. Only one onboard credit per shareholder-occupied stateroom. Reservations must be made by February 28, 2008.

 

Please provide your name, reservation number, ship and sailing date, along with proof of ownership of Carnival Corporation or Carnival plc shares (i.e., photocopy of shareholder proxy card, shares certificate or a current brokerage or nominee statement) and the initial deposit to your travel agent or to the cruise line you have selected.

[FLACRUISER99]

Ahoy!

 

The just email to worldcruisereservations@hollandamerica.com . I'd tell you the lovely lady that has always responded back to me in the past but I don't think it would be fair to publish her name. Be sure to ask for a confirmation to your email address (when I first did it the confirms we're going to our TA).

 

I have delt with Karen Stuart at World Cruise Reservations and never hsd a problem and sailed at a very low rate.

[Two if by Sea]

or anyone cruising on a reduced-rate or complimentary basis are excluded from this offer.

 

But that is EVERYONE! Even if you book direct from HAL at their highest real rate, you are still paying much less than their rack rate. I don't think the website ever shows the rack rate except when a category is totally sold out.

[booklady26]

As anthk333 mentioned, I think the key is probably whether or not you've received any other OBC's.

 

We sailed on both HAL & Princess earlier this year. We received the full shareholders OBC on our HAL cruise, but on our Prioncess cruise, the credit was reduced by the amount of the OBC our TA was already giving us.

 

If your TA was already giving you a credit that was equal to or greater than the shareholder credit, chances are the request qwould be denied.

[cruiseco]

As anthk333 mentioned, I think the key is probably whether or not you've received any other OBC's.

 

We sailed on both HAL & Princess earlier this year. We received the full shareholders OBC on our HAL cruise, but on our Prioncess cruise, the credit was reduced by the amount of the OBC our TA was already giving us.

 

If your TA was already giving you a credit that was equal to or greater than the shareholder credit, chances are the request qwould be denied.

 

This should only make a difference if the TA was passing along an OBC credit offered by the cruise line. If the OBC is coming out of the TA's pocket it should have no bearing on anything. The two are handled differently with HAL's accounting.

[hshowalter]

Thank you jtutak for your help. I will call Karen tomorrow. I sent the proof of ownership drectly to HAL & after 20 days not hearing from them I talked directly to HAL & they said I had to call my T/A.I did not receive any special credits from my T/A.

[Grumpy1]

I always fax my request and request that it be acknowledged by email. If I don't get the acknowledgement, I follow up by phone in a few days. I suspect that there may be a set percentage off of "rack rate" or some other formula they use to determine cutoff. On one of my followup phone calls, the young lady said "Yes, I see that you paid enough for the cruise to qualify". That particular cruise was pretty steeply discounted.

 

I think onboard credits may also be factored in to determine a total discount level from the "rack rate", as I have received the SBC and an onboard credit on a couple of cruises.

[hshowalter]

I called Karen Stuart who was busy & another young lady took my call. Her response was that I got a special deal & they will not allow the credit. I told her I got a much better deal with Carnival using the military rate & still got a SBC; her response was that was Carnival & this is HAL.

[ginagirl]

Was planning to buy some stock in Carnival since we cruise so often. Thanx for the heads=up. Will throw my money somewhere else.

[Cruising-along]

Was planning to buy some stock in Carnival since we cruise so often. Thanx for the heads=up. Will throw my money somewhere else.

 

 

My thoughts exactly :rolleyes: This thread came just in time.

And we don't cruise often (nearly as often as I'd like!) so there isn't much point in getting this stock in hopes of OBC that may or may not be available to us.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

In fear on jinxing myself :o I will still state this we have cruised and have booked 12 cruises since we purchased our stock in 2004 and never ever have been denied the CCL Stock credit. We have always paid a discounted rate and almost everyone of these have had other OBC credit involved. Heck, this one next week I have $300 coming. The buying of the CCL stock has saved me and made me money. Not sure why these others are being denied, maybe it is how they asked or applied for the credit, maybe because the own exactly 100 shares (I do own more) I cannot answer that question. I even received the credit when I found the unbelievable deal for the Oosterdam in October 2005 for a 2 Suite. We paid $2200 total price for both of us whne rack rate was over $4000. Yes it was only $1100 PP and the CCL stock credt was applied no questions asked.

So I would not let comments being posted keep you from investing in CCL stock. If you in fact have the money to invest, now is a good time while the stock price is down. It is one of the few stocks that still pays a nice dividend plus if you plan to cruise frequently on any CCL ship then it pays.

[hshowalter]

I would recommend buying 100 shares of RCCL. they give 200.00 SBC on 9-13 day sailings whereas CCL gives only $100.00 RCCL is also good on Celebrity & Azera. CCL has been good on SBC; but Princess reduced my credit because I had recommended 4 new passengers. I personnaly own stock in both companies