I started cruising with Carnival in 2001. I'll be taking my tenth cruise with Carnival in September of this year. However, if Carnival continues to play games with its customers, especially customers who have returned to Carnival on multiple occasions, then all it is going to do is get its core customers upset. At a time when Carnival has been making the news for all the wrong reasons, at at a time when Carnival is still the punch line in many of Jay Leno's jokes, Carnival should be at least treating people with a little more respect.
I booked a cruise in September. It is a drive to port for me. Around the end of last year the ship was chartered and I was booted off. No problem, I just booked the same cruise, on the same ship, in the same cabin, two weeks earlier (it actually works out better for me - though I didn't know it at the time and certainly Carnival didn't know it).
At any rate, now the price is $40 more. I my TA asks Carnival to honor the original price, since it was Carnival's choice to force me to move - not mine. Carnival refused. My original rate was an ES rate as is my new booking.
After I rebooked the price went up another $20. So everyone else is posting about price drops and I can't take advantage.
Finally, last month the price drops enough that I can ask for the new lower price. It is only $20 but at least it is something. Note - final payment is not due yet.
So Carnival tells my TA that they will not honor the new lower price, but will give me a $25 OBC. I'm okay with that. So far so good - except I'm still $15 over what I originally booked for.
Then there is another price drop and now I'm down to what I originally booked - I thought. Carnival tells my agent that it will honor the price drop, but I'll lose my OBC. Okay, $15 is $15.
However, it turns out I have a higher level than the level being quoted, so I'm not eligible for the price drop. Unfortunately Carnival doesn't catch the error until after the change is made. So now I'm out $5. My agent asks then to reinstate me to the price and OBC I had before they tried to make the change, but reservations cannot do that. Someone else has to.
My agent informed me today that Carnival will not agree to put me back into the same position I was in prior to the change. My agent is going to attempt to reason with someone else at Carnival next week.
Now I may not be Carnival's best customer, but still, I am booked on my tenth cruise. Why the is Carnival treating me like some they wished would go somewhere else? Especially now, when they should be putting an emphasis on customer service.
This is not going to ruin my cruise, nor is it going to prevent me from booking with Carnival. However, it is leaving a bad taste in my mouth and I'll likely book less often with Carnival as a result.
Uncle Bob was in marketing. I believe the current CEO is from accounting. Perhaps their new consultant can explain the advantages of customer respect to the accountants.
