Now what do we do?

[zcruiser03]

Thought I would ask for opinions about this concern. We are booked on a 5 night cruise in the next few weeks. We have 2 cabins booked. Our son and one of his buddies will be traveling with me and my wife. We just recv'd our docs last week. We just found out that our son will be starting a new job this Monday and now will not be able to join us on this cruise. What a bummer since we have been planning this for months. Oh well, at least he's working after a while without a job.

 

I plan on calling our TA on Monday. What will be some of our options? Will we be able to take a credit for a future cruise for the one cabin and my wife and I go on? Is it to late for us to invite another couple to go with us and have the tickets changed with their names? Do we loose out on the second cabin? We would really prefer a credit for the one cabin. Thanks for your thoughts!

[glrounds]

I doubt whether Carnival will give you a credit since you are in the penalty period if its a "few" weeks. :(

 

However, I think you will have plenty of time to get another couple to go with you and make the name changes. :)

[jerrymac]

Yes you will be able to change names for $50

[zcruiser03]

Thanks For Your Information, We'll Find Out Monday!

[jjnha]

:) we are booked on carnival celebration for december 13 we have 2 rooms booked my husband started a new job and wont be able to go so i asked my sister inlaw to go and i called up carnival and they added my sisterinlaw and 2 neices they charged a 50 fee to change the names they also told me that we could just cancel the second room and they would give us a credit that was good for a year

[Cruise Cat]

I think you have up to 72 hours before the cruise to get the names changed. After that, I don't think you can switch due to security (post 9/11).

[sea_u_onboard]

Let us know what you find out.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Last March when our oldest son didn't go on our spring break cruise with us on the Glory (long story, but our youngest got to enjoy his own private cabin lol). We knew that we had basically lost the money and just didn't worry about it at that time because the change came the day before we left. We called carnival less than 24 hours before the cruise and they told us we could still do a name change, just make sure the new person brought a birth certificate or a passport.

 

About 3 weeks after our cruise, seven hundred and some odd dollars appeared in our bank account from carnival without our even asking. They refunded every penny of the cruise fare for our older son. I was and still am amazed!!! Who knows, maybe there is a Carnival Fairy lol.

 

cheryl

[afrayedknot]

I had booked a double and my friend wasn't sure if she could go.

 

Carnival said I could call the day before.

This was a 3 day to baja out of long beach, ca.

[amlindmark]

I have found that most companies if you tell them this was planned in advance with the family they will be accomodating. Did he explain this to them? If I had hired him for my company he would have had the five days off with out pay.

[bthorn1108]

I doubt whether Carnival will give you a credit since you are in the penalty period if its a "few" weeks. :(

 

However, I think you will have plenty of time to get another couple to go with you and make the name changes. :)

 

You usually have to keep at least one of the names in the cabin the same as it was, otherwise it is considered a new booking, which may or may not be subject to higher costs, if the price of the cruise has increased.

 

I also agree with another poster about your son telling his new employer he had a family vacation planned, that was non-refundable. I recently started a new job and told them I have a non-refundable vacation planned for 12/5 and they were fine with it. I will get the time off, without pay.

 

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

[zcruiser03]

Lots of great information here! Thanks to all. Our son started his new job today. Before I call our TA, I'll ask him if he said anymore to them about it. I'll post the outcome.

[zcruiser03]

Here's the scoop. We talked with our TA, explained the problem and she understood completely. She called Carnival to ask if we could just change the date to the 1/31/05 sailing. The answer was sure if we wanted to completely cancel the reservation and start over and loose 50% of our orignal sailing. That hurts! Oh well. We are now trying to find another couple to go with us. If we can't find anyone, my wife and I will go and loose the 50% of one of the cabins. Better than two. Our son was in a catch 22. New job, doesn't know anyone that well (first week). He is in training for three weeks and the cruise is week 3 of it. Not to sweat, we'll book the same cruise for him in May.

Thanks to all.