Comments on: This Carnival cruise refund turned into a real circus

By: richard landau

richard landau — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:10:35 +0000

The cruise my wife and I just took was on the 8 day Spirit to Mexico. our suite was #8273 category 11. This cruise was a special one inasmuch that it was a 10th Anniversary as well as my wives 15th year of being cancer free. my agent put that info. in the records. I want to make this very clear, I was not expecting a bottle of Dom Per. but when nothing showed up in our room I was extremely disappointed .CARNIVAL YOU MESSED UP! IT WAS A SPECIAL TRIP COSTING MUCH DINERO..YOU MISSED THE BOAT…NO MORE CARNIVAL FOR US AND THIS WAS OUR 6TH CRUISE WITH YOU.

By: Carol Sadowski

Carol Sadowski — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 22:31:49 +0000

I don’t know why more people aren’t saying there should be a refund for one day’s travel, rather than a discount on a future cruise. What if you don’t want to or can’t take another cruise? If you buy something and don’t get the entire thing, you deserve a REFUND, not a credit. Evidently, Carnival must be really going downhill if so many people have problems. My son, daughter-in-law and 4 year old granddaughter recently took a 6 day Carnival cruise. Their cabin evidently was adjacent to or under a disco and they were unable to get any sleep because of how loud the music was in their cabin until the wee hours of the morning. They requested another cabin, but were told none were available. My poor granddaughter is on video begging her daddy to shut off the music, so she could go to sleep. Upon complaining to Carnival Customer “Service”, they also offered a discount on another cruise. There won’t be another cruise since, unfortunately, this was their first cruise and now they are soured on the whole cruising experience because they were so tired, they didn’t enjoy anything. I realize some people are never happy with anything, but it seems there are just too many complaints about Carnival. They obviously don’t care how many unhappy customers they have and evidently don’t care how much business they lose due to their unhappy customers telling everyone who will listen about their experiences. Very sad. When I relayed the story to a friend who is a very frequent cruiser, she asked which cruiseline, and when I said Carnival, she simply said, “No Wonder.”

By: Mona Palmer

Mona Palmer — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:09:37 +0000

I’m sorry the Olsens had such a bad experience, but at least they GOT a refund – which is more than I can say. I have cruised Carnival half a dozen times (each trip a little less wonderful than the one before), but my last Carnival cruise was the last straw. It was such a disaster (problems every day and no one on board would address any of them) that I sent a three-page single-spaced typed letter explaining all of the things that had happened. Carnival’s response? They were sorry we had had such a bad experience and they would have a “free gift” waiting for us in our cabin on our next Carnival cruise. I told them no thanks, I didn’t need another key chain and my last Carnival cruise was my LAST Carnival cruise. The sad thing is that it would have taken only $20 to make me happy. The only problem I could put a monetary value on was the shore excursion which cost $49. It was cut in half because of hurricane damage to the island’s infrastructure so we received only half of the tour we paid for, but we weren’t told of the shortened itinerary until after the trip was under way so we had no chance to opt out. Obviously it’s not the amount of money involved here; it’s the principle. Carnival’s attitude and the tone of the letters they sent me were so arrogant that it really wasn’t worth pursuing, but I have cost them more than $20 many times over in potential passengers that I have directed to other cruise lines (so far at least half a dozen families that I can name) and countless others that I have discouraged from even considering Carnival. I know it’s not a drop in the bucket compared to Carnival’s bottom line, but it makes me feel better knowing that I am probably saving my friends from unfortunate cruise experiences on the most customer satisfaction unsavvy cruise line out there. The Google ad at the top of this page offers Carnival cruises at 75% off. I’m not surprised that they’re having to discount so deeply. I have taken more than 20 cruises but never again will I sail with Carnival.

Mona P., Admin. Asst.
Friendswood, TX

By: Mona Stiles

Mona Stiles — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:33:01 +0000

I have sailed 3 times with Carnival. The first two times were great but this last one which ended on June 13 with Glory cruise ship was a disaster. The air didn’t work in my room and I reported it each day. A maintenance person checked it on the third day and they gave me a fan. I reported it again and they said it met the standards. My daughter had a room just two floors higher and the air was great there. I’m sure if all the rooms met standards ( like they reported mine to be) no one would cruise. The air was better in the hallway. I considered leaving the door open.

By: Linda Bator

Linda Bator — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:27:26 +0000

Actually, she probably had a cruise with airfare included, so the cruise line DOES only discount the base fare, not including port charges, taxes or airfare costs. As to how Carnival does not know they are rebating when they are sending in lower commissions, there is no way for the cruise line to know how the client has paid – if by credit card, check or cash, and the agency does not have to pay the total amount due, and may actually send an agency check for the balance due the cruise line MINUS their commision is paying by check! We always tell our clients to pay by credit card, as they have a valid chain of evidence as to what was paid, and one more advocate on their side in case of any problems. Otherwise, the client should ONLY work with a reputable company they are familiar with. Which is why we are members of ASTA and CLIA, as well as the Virtuoso consortium of travel planners.

By: Buckster

Buckster — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:06:09 +0000

Over and over these articles scream the same message: DO NOT USE A TRAVEL AGENT. DO NOT USE A TRAVEL AGENT. DO NOT USE A TRAVEL AGENT. DO NOT USE A TRAVEL AGENT. DO NOT USE A TRAVEL AGENT.

By: Ed

Ed — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:35:35 +0000

why does it always seem that the shadiest of travel practices always involve cruise lines? When ever I read something in the travel industry that makes me sit up and say “WTF” a cruise line is usually involved in it somehow. I’ve never taken a cruise…and honestly, I don’t think I ever want to! the more I read about issues on cruise lines involving massive illness, shady billing and roulette dockage, it doesn’t make me feel good about cruising!
Ed
web/gadget guru

By: Joe Farrell

Joe Farrell — Sun, 31 May 2009 19:35:50 +0000

@Katt – under any mathematical arrangement I can think of 20% off a cruise also gives you 20% off the tax too. If tax is a percentage of the fare then the fare is also reduced. Similarly, I cannot imagine that the fare here was $635 and the taxes and port fees amounted to $900. Something is not right in Denmark . . .

I can see the Cruise being $479×2 – plus $299 for a third person sharing the cabin – which brings you to $1257 – add $120 each in taxes and fees and you are too the $1520+/- figure mentioned. Thus – the credit should be around $191 – does anyone not see it as weird here that it seems like Carnival is only given the 20% off to one person? In which case, depending on the costs, might only be somewhere around the $64 actually credited . . .

Hey – I hope that the travel agency remitted the funds to Carnival – since most times the commission is paid first which then means the last payment goes to the cruise company!

By: Karen

Karen — Sun, 31 May 2009 14:12:49 +0000

The client should have been upfront about the coupon. And once she heard that the agent wouldn’t deal with the coupon she should have left and either dealt with Carnival directly, or preferably found another agent.

This all started because of a total fare difference of $86.00. By the way, can anyone tell me what other industry gives back a portion of their commission?

By: mindy

mindy — Fri, 29 May 2009 12:38:59 +0000

Well, except that Jerri’s agency closed. So in this situation. Notsomuch.

By: Ann

Ann — Fri, 29 May 2009 05:05:28 +0000

Most agencies that rebate cruise prices also discount the credit as it reduces their commissionable cruise fare, so they can no longer give as large of a discount based on the higher cruise fare/commission. Regardless of that, I have always found a discount agency, even with a cruise line fcc is better than going with the cruise line direct for the final price. The couple times I had one, it still worked out so much better in my favor. I am sure that Jerri still came out ahead.

By: Carver

Carver — Thu, 28 May 2009 18:09:03 +0000

@katt

It is not a true statement that discounts do not apply to taxes and other charges. It depends on the structure. If taxes and other charges are based as a percentage of the base rate then a discount will usually reduce taxes and charges. If the taxes and charges are a fixed sum, then you would be correct.

Regarding rebating as an unethical practice, that crap. For a business practice to be unethical, at the very least is needs to harm the consumer. However, in many industries, the various power that be have removed that fundamental rule and replaced it with one which states, anything which harms the financial structure of the industry.

That’s the basis for claiming that back to back tickets are unethical. That’s the basis for claiming that a real estate agent undercutting the market is unethical. And its the same nonsensical reason that a travel agent shouldn’t rebate a portion of their commissions.

Basically, it adds competition to the marketplace and forced people to compete either on price or service.

Shame on Carnival.

By: Katt

Katt — Thu, 28 May 2009 16:08:26 +0000

I have to say that I am behind Carnival 100% on this one. Let me explain. Carnival did nothing wrong by giving the customer a 20% discount on a future cruise. Most people know that anytime a discount is given, it does NOT apply towards taxes and other charges. When was the last time you had a coupon for something, read the fine print, you are still responsible for the taxes. So Carnival upheld their end of the deal.

The travel agency is completely at fault here. In some cases Carnival does not send out commission checks to agencies. If the client pays the agency with cash or check, and yes this happens frequently, then the agency can with hold their commission and just send the cruise amount to Carnival. In this instance it would be easy for the agency to “adjust ” the cruise rate the client pays.

I hate to say it but with the agency out of business. I think the client is out of luck.

By: Aaron Gold

Aaron Gold — Thu, 28 May 2009 15:21:25 +0000

I’m still stuck on how 20% of $1528 is only $127. And I’ve barely gotten over the bit about Carnival giving a 20% discount for a lost day of cruising, rather than a refund for the part of the trip they couldn’t deliver. If the folks from Carnival (and other cruise lines) are reading this — now you know why I take road trips instead of boat trips. Seriously. If you were honest and straightforward in your pricing, I bet you’d have a lot more business. — Aaron

By: SirWired

SirWired — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:26:15 +0000

Quick question for Chris, or any travel agent that reads this blog… why are commission refunds considered unethical? I don’t consider “undermining the commission structure” (from the linked article) to be a valid reason not to give customers a price break. To be frank, how much a particular agent gets paid is between the agent and their customer. This practice may make other agents unhappy, but I don’t see the ethical problem here.

SirWired