Cory
San Antonio,#2Consumer Comment
Sun, November 06, 2005
The comments about the travel agents sounds about right. Since they're just about out of the booking airline flights business, they promote themselves as cruise specialists. If I'd paid them to handle the cruise, that's were I'd be looking for answers and satisfaction. By the way, what does Liberty Travel have to say about all this? I take it, that's who you paid. I thought the travel agent made the arrangements. My folks had the same problem and he was on the phone to the agent and a cruise line overnighted the needed documents, TO THE TRAVEL AGENT, prior to their trip. He ought to know, they travel a dozen or more times each year.
Bernadette
Newark,#3Consumer Comment
Sun, November 06, 2005
I'm sorry I did not see this posting before because I truly think it is unfortunate that you went through what you did.it was also very unnecessary. Why are you putting all of the blame on Carnival? You went to a travel agent so why don't you think it was up to him/her to follow-up on the delivery of your documents? Did your travel agent simply make the arrangements then leave the rest up to you? Also, you said you had faxed pages of the confirmation but your vouchers were not on the paperwork, why didn't your agent contact Carnival to have this rectified? It was totally up to your travel agent to harass the cruise line (if, indeed Carnival was not getting it right) to make sure everything that you paid for was on that paperwork; you, as a client, are entitled to nothing less. Also, your agent should have called the airline to have seats assigned for you; granted the airlines do keep some seats in that unassigned block but there is no harm in trying and, maybe by relaying the urgency of the situation, getting the same results you did at the airport. I would expect that kind of treatment from an online discounter because when I pay economy prices, I don't expect first-class service. Contrary to your belief, the cruise line would not make more money off of you by booking your airfare at the last minute since they, like everyone else, would pay a premium rate for last minute flight reservations. However, the cruise lines have contracts with the airlines they work with and they pay a predetermined contract rate for the seats they use for their cruise guests. That is the reason why airfare through the cruise line would, in most cases, cost you more than if you booked the airfare yourself. There are times such as holidays when it can be less expensive to book the air through the cruise line (because of that same predetermined contract rate). Your travel agent should have informed you of the Carnival "meet and greet" times as well as the fact that Carnival does not offer a shuttle to the hotel for Florida departures. You can take the hotel shuttle if one is provided, if not, then it is up to you to get to the hotel on your own. As an alternative, Carnival offers a rental car at a minimal per person rate for those who wish to have their own transportation in order to explore the embarkation port city. On cruise departure day, you need to get back to the airport in order to catch the Carnival transfer shuttle to the pier. I'm sorry but I believe that the screw ups were caused by the failure of your travel agent to bring the omissions to the cruise line's attention. Believe me, the cruise line will promptly fix errors (as with anything else, if there is any question, then the agent needs to provide the facts). As a final comment: A truly good agent will ALWAYS have travel documents delivered to their office so that they can check to make sure everything is in order before the documents are delivered to the client. The onus should NEVER be on the client to verify their documents. The only exception would be for last minute travel where pier pick-up is the only available option. Even e-docs should be checked by the agent before the client gets them.
Bernadette
Newark,#4Consumer Comment
Sun, November 06, 2005
I'm sorry I did not see this posting before because I truly think it is unfortunate that you went through what you did.it was also very unnecessary. Why are you putting all of the blame on Carnival? You went to a travel agent so why don't you think it was up to him/her to follow-up on the delivery of your documents? Did your travel agent simply make the arrangements then leave the rest up to you? Also, you said you had faxed pages of the confirmation but your vouchers were not on the paperwork, why didn't your agent contact Carnival to have this rectified? It was totally up to your travel agent to harass the cruise line (if, indeed Carnival was not getting it right) to make sure everything that you paid for was on that paperwork; you, as a client, are entitled to nothing less. Also, your agent should have called the airline to have seats assigned for you; granted the airlines do keep some seats in that unassigned block but there is no harm in trying and, maybe by relaying the urgency of the situation, getting the same results you did at the airport. I would expect that kind of treatment from an online discounter because when I pay economy prices, I don't expect first-class service. Contrary to your belief, the cruise line would not make more money off of you by booking your airfare at the last minute since they, like everyone else, would pay a premium rate for last minute flight reservations. However, the cruise lines have contracts with the airlines they work with and they pay a predetermined contract rate for the seats they use for their cruise guests. That is the reason why airfare through the cruise line would, in most cases, cost you more than if you booked the airfare yourself. There are times such as holidays when it can be less expensive to book the air through the cruise line (because of that same predetermined contract rate). Your travel agent should have informed you of the Carnival "meet and greet" times as well as the fact that Carnival does not offer a shuttle to the hotel for Florida departures. You can take the hotel shuttle if one is provided, if not, then it is up to you to get to the hotel on your own. As an alternative, Carnival offers a rental car at a minimal per person rate for those who wish to have their own transportation in order to explore the embarkation port city. On cruise departure day, you need to get back to the airport in order to catch the Carnival transfer shuttle to the pier. I'm sorry but I believe that the screw ups were caused by the failure of your travel agent to bring the omissions to the cruise line's attention. Believe me, the cruise line will promptly fix errors (as with anything else, if there is any question, then the agent needs to provide the facts). As a final comment: A truly good agent will ALWAYS have travel documents delivered to their office so that they can check to make sure everything is in order before the documents are delivered to the client. The onus should NEVER be on the client to verify their documents. The only exception would be for last minute travel where pier pick-up is the only available option. Even e-docs should be checked by the agent before the client gets them.