Thread: Carnival Changes Their Group Policies - NOT a Good Thing!

Carnival has changed their group policies and how groups are now being handled. If you're looking to do a group with Carnival, this is a must read.

I'll try to keep this brief and paraphrase some of the items, so this is just a short summary comparing the old policies and the new policies.

Up until now, Carnival allowed us to establish a group and the only amount required for a deposit to secure a space within the group was $25 per person. While this did not secure a cabin, it did secure guarantee space. When the deposit was made, we would make a reservation for the passenger/s, it would be put into Carnival's system, they would be given an individual booking number, and provided a confirmation. They could go onto the Carnival website and double check that they had a reservation. Simple and easy. Once the passengers paid a total of $250 per person in the cabin, then a cabin was secured.

Now, Carnival will still allow us to establish the group and still allow the $25 deposit per person. However, the deposit is now NOT placed on the individual reservation - it is only applied on the group reservation. What this means is that an individual booking number is not given, a confirmation is not provided, and the deposit is made at the group level and not the individual level. When the deposit totals $250 per person in the cabin, then the agent works with Carnival to have the money moved from the group level to the individual level, a booking number is issued, and a confirmation is provided. Then, and only then, can the passenger go onto the Carnival website to double check their reservation.

So now, the agents, if the group has been booked through an agent, or the group leaders, if the group is booked directly through Carnival, have to keep track of all the money to insure accountability prior to the full deposits being made. Obviously, this is causing a major wave of discontent with Carnival and all the agents I know are screaming about it because it places alot more work on us, especially when we have large groups. And this could possibly lead to alot more fraud on the part of unscrupulous agents.

And to top it off, Carnival is trying to make everyone believe this is better for the agents and better for the groups, which is obviously a huge pile of crap as the only one benefiting by this is Carnival.

But the bad thing about all this is, as I told Carnival, we don't mind that they changed the policy. All cruise lines change policies all the time - it's a fact of life in this business. But what we have objected to the most is the fact they made these changes to all groups, including those that have already been established. In other words, they changed the policies in the middle of the contract. This to me is the same as their first rounds of the fuel supplement. They implemented it after people had already booked, it pissed people off, they got sued, and they backed off. Evidently, they didn't learn anything by the fervor that created. Bottom line, if they are going to change policies, that's fine. But grandfather the changes in, make them affective for new groups only, and work with the agents to make it an easy transition for everyone. Don't shove it down our throats!

So if you're considering establishing a group with Carnival, I have two major suggestions for you; first of all, work with an agent who specializes in groups. Group leaders must now take a much more active role in their groups and insure they get a copy of the group confirmations every time an individual deposits money. This will help to insure the money actually made it to Carnival and alleviate problems. And if you don't want to work with an agent and want to try to work with Carnival directly, you're in for a huge nightmare of bookkeeping problems as you will have to keep track of all the deposits, who made them, and when. While the group confirmation shows who made payments and for how much, I'm not sure group leaders may want all the information in the group to be sent to all the individuals.

And second, forget the $25 deposit enticement. Let your group know up front that the deposit is $250. This will not only insure better and easier accounting, but will also secure a cabin right away and will make life simpler for everyone.

As I've always said, after you make a reservation you should go onto the cruise line's website to verify your reservation. This helps eliminate alot of problems. People should get very nervous if their reservation does not show up. With this new policy, if you make less than the full $250 deposit, you will not be able to see your reservation online since the money is in the group and not in an individual reservation.

Let me know if you have any questions, but I felt this important enough to post it for all to read and consider so you are aware of this new policy.

Pete

Well that sucks Pete If I were a TA I would require the $250 up front and no more $25 to start with. When I was a group leader on CLF I would have refused to have any part of the money. Too many fingers in the pot and one mistake could be a disaster for the TA. I had no clue they were allowed to do that. I wonder what is up with the cruiselines, even RC with the 60 day limit to the transfer of a booking from the cruieline to a TA. Thanks for posting the info.

This sure does change the way a lot of groups have been formed in the past. I know several that we had here that relied on the $25 initial deposit.

I'm with Sue---don't even mess with the red tape---go right for the full deposit.

Thanks for posting this, Pete. I have copied it over to the Carnival forum so those folks won't miss this change.

This does stink. As Pete can tell you. The group I have booked thru Pete has been effected by this. If it was not for Pete. I think I'd probable would have canceled. The people in my group likes the idea of paying over time. Thats one of the big reasons we booked this cruise so far out. 11/27/11.
Thanks to Pete he the best TA I have worked with. He has walked us through this change.

This is what GOOD travel agents do!

We are so fortunate to have a bunch of good travel agents who are members and share their knowledge with all of us.

You would think Carnival would leave the established bookings alone and just apply the new policy toward new bookings.

Originally Posted by cruisin' chick

You would think Carnival would leave the established bookings alone and just apply the new policy toward new bookings.

That's my biggest complaint about this whole thing! As I said, I don't mind that they changed it - changes happen all the time in this business. But to change the policy in the middle of a contract is just plain wrong. They just don't see this as a big deal, but to me when people put money down on a cruise, they deserve the right to have an individual booking number and receive an individual confirmation.

I agree that just putting $250 deposit down solves all the problems. But as already stated, the ability to put a small amount down and then make payments is what attracts alot of people. Of course, Carnival's comment to this is that the statistics say there is a much greater chance of people canceling their cruise who do it this way. Those who put the full deposit down are more committed and usually don't cancel. My question to that statement is; So what? And then my response is if you don't want the extra work of dealing with multiple payments, then don't offer them at all. But don't make changes under the guise that it's better for us. We're here for our clients and if they want to make a small deposit and then make payments, that's what we do.

And now you know why I always tell people that you do NOT want to book directly with the cruise line or an online site.

In fact, I was watching the show the other night on TLC called Extreme Cruise Ship about the Oasis of the Seas. They showed several people who had problems with their proper documentation and I would be willing to bet that none of them booked their cruises through an agent.

Pete

Carnival is really getting harder to deal with. ugh!

I always shoot for full deposits, but if I book a group that is over a year away, I liked giving them the $25 option and pay over time.

They have also changed their group policies regarding conference space too. We can no longer block the space for the duration of the cruise, we have to share the space. And work out a schedule of session times etc. Which means continually setting up and taking down the conference rooms, and hauling stuff back and forth to our cabins as they do not provide storage space. Berfore we were able to just set up once and the room was ours.

This really affects my Hawaii cruise as the per person deposit is $400 per person and over a year away.

Originally Posted by ScrapperJen

Carnival is really getting harder to deal with. ugh!

They have also changed their group policies regarding conference space too. We can no longer block the space for the duration of the cruise, we have to share the space. And work out a schedule of session times etc. Which means continually setting up and taking down the conference rooms, and hauling stuff back and forth to our cabins as they do not provide storage space. Berfore we were able to just set up once and the room was ours.

So I will not book any conference space with Carnival. I'll now start with Royal Caribbean or Princess.