People Are Not Happy About This! How Would You Feel? 

So it seems like a bunch of people took the cancellation option and now the cruise line is scrambling to re fill the rooms. could at least offer the people who stuck with it a bunch of OBC.

I don’t check prices after final payment because what I don’t know won’t upset me!!!

Wow. Legal, yes. Ethical, no. 😢

If they're like RCCL or P&O, you can ring and ask for a reprice if the price drops and you've fully paid your cruise. I did this with P&O and had $500 taken off and had the option to have it refunded or be given as OBC. I chose OBC for our upcoming cruise. The people already booked on could have asked for a reprice. They may not have got the extra OBC, but they still would have got the discount and could have had the savings either refunded or added to OBC.

Its given me full warning now, if I get a email about one of my upcoming cruises, to accept the refund and rebook the same cruise at the cheaper price....

This is not a one off, it happens regularly. Not all VIFP members were offered this deal. I had a similar deal on the Luminosa in it's inaugural season, a free cruise when you count the OBC. It doesn't worry me in the least, if you want to ensure a cabin on a certain cruise you book ahead, if the cruise for whatever reason isn't popular then you know it will be discounted. On the other hand if it's popular then it will sell out and you may miss out. It's the choice you make.

Carnival and other cruise lines should know this leaves a stain on their name and people that got burned won't book with them again.

This has happened to us unfortunately, we booked the whole family of 16, 4 cabins… we cancelled one cabin because of itinerary change, now we feel punished for sticking it out with carnival… Seeing people thanking on Facebook for the cancelled cabins and celebrating the ridiculous prices and OBC they got, it’s a bitter pill to swallow… It doesn’t feel right at all, hoping more to come for us holding onto our bookings🤞

I've always said once you buy something, Stop looking because you will always find it cheaper somewhere else... Thanks for the video

One of the reasons for this discount is due to previous casino play. Customers are offered hugely subsidised cruises due to their casino play. Plus, as any other cruise line would do, they are trying to fill the ship so it doesn't go around partly empty - which they are within their rights to do.

The email said "100% Future Cruise Credit" - NOT refund - BIG difference - they still had your money if you cancelled. There were no other cruises for my birthday with Carnival & nothing else I could afford now anyway, without the money back. John Heald put the "cruise credit" as compensation - sorry! compensation is an added extra from what you lost - you don't see American ships doing the East Coast of America from an International cruise, they still go to somewhere other than their own coastline. This would have been my first time overseas - so a passport & photos I've never needed, now still don't need - $400 - I had to get injections to cover me for overseas - I didn't need to get them or suffer from them either now - I had 11 in total of which I had to pay for 9 & that cost $1,115 in itself - so rounding down I'm already out of pocket $1500 odd & with all the little things I bought for going "overseas" too, I have lost alot of money I didn't need to & with the fares lower - that's more money wasted. Now they say it's the "Great Barrier Reef" Cruise - it's 1/2 the cruise to the GBR - it's not going to Port Douglas & Moreton Island - so it's not even the full GBR cruise - the fares are so low I could have got a cabin for myself with the money I put into this B2B & would have still had 1000 odd dollars left over to play with without including all the money gone from unneeded passports & injections - so yeah! totally WRONG! This was the big B2B for me for my 60th Birthday - being on a Disability Pension it was alot of money to save, over a very long period of years, to do this - to have a first of alot of everything for my 60th the BIG ONE & now.............NOTHING! So yeah! pretty damn peeved & that's puting it mildly - ARGH!

We booked a cruise on Princess in 2025. It was a from Sydney to USA 35 days. The cruise was unfortunately cancelled. We were offered other options like around Australia. Good option we thought. So we looked immediately., same day! There were no wheelchair accessible rooms available anywhere. Hence no cruising in 2025 for us

I would absolutely feel slighted. Whilst I understand it's all legal and within their rights, i would still feel like I have been taken advantage of and it wouldn't sit right. Some extra OBC would ease the pain but I would still be annoyed.

If you have the capacity - it's best to wait for late deals. I scored a cheap trip on the Ovation a few weeks before it commenced its first season. It's ok for those retired or can quickly take holidays - but if these deals are there - just take them up

I can see the family’s slight. I would go by the old adage- if you don’t ask, you don’t get 😀. They should get in contact with customer relations and ask for compensation through onboard cruise credit, at the very least. Hope all works out to their satisfaction. I’ve always found positive resolutions from Princess Cruise when contacted. Definitely worth a go to contact the cruise operator.

I would’ve thought to offer as many complimentary upgrades as possible to start with, then, yeah, whatever they need to offer to get the ship full I guess. We don’t know the full story though. Those VIPs may very well be due for some special treatment.

The option go for would be not to cruise with them in the future but we are getting not much in options now outside of cruise season.

That sucks for those loyal cruisers sticking with it

This is a total ripoff. the least carnival could do is offer everyone who stuck with their original booking $500 OBC which carinival would get back as it would be spent onboard.

My family and I are booked on that exact cruise. The one before and the one after are going to Villa. We are going to Cairns. F Noumea and carnival. Look after your patrons. We were only going on this so some of my family could go overseas. It's rubbish

Hey this is my and my extended family's cruise. We would have canceled but because it is a chance for family that is spread out across Australia to get together, we are still going.

We’ll be on the Splendor on Oct21 and since we have all the other arrangements (hotel, air, visa, insurances, and meeting with family & friends), we just let it go! Things happen and I’d rather be safe than having to go to a place where all could be in danger. 😊

We are on this cruise. Have contacted Carnival and asked for even just some OBC as a sweetener as we accept that things like this can happen. It totally peeves me that they are filling cabins cheaper. What is worse is that we can't even book onshore activities which were promised would be promoted within 48 hrs and are still not advertised. Easy to understand why, Pacific Islands cater for tourists, Cairns and Airlie Beach cannot handle a sudden dumping of 3000 people with short notice so most tourist attractions are almost already booked out and there is not enough infrastructure to supply buses etc to ensure on time delivery back to port. The cruise around Willis Island is just a cynical move by Carnival to fulfil it's obligation to be classed as International and conveniently allow it to open it's duty free shop. This is my first time with any cruise line. I will never sail with Carnival again but instead attempt to do what i used to and travel by container ship.

Me and my children are on this cruise. This was going to be their first over seas trip. Paid for passports then got changed. I'm very angry. We are still going but I'm not happy. They still haven't put excursions up and offered people dirt cheap prices. They should offer OBC. I'm so mad

Only used Carnival once. Never again.

Yep we are on one of the three cruises mentioned a we are extremely upset and disappointed with Carnivals attitude and response. Cruise credit is fine but I believe the next year of cruises are booked out. We'd already booked travel and accommodation plans around this cruise date. More upsetting for those I've heard who this has happened multiple times to, they'd bought passports specifically for the international cruise (no longer international) and those who live in the location we are cruising to!! So their port call will now be going home and doing washing... Really a bad response in regards to customer service. I know it's all legal but...

You pay more to book early and guarantee you can get the cruise you want in the room you want. There are always going to be better deals for late bookings but you are getting the leftovers so it’s riskier.

It’s just life, the cheap cruises were sold at a loss to fill the ship and generate more revenue for the voyage to improve a depressed bottom line. A bit like you can buy shares for much less the day after a market crash but if you sit around waiting for the big crash you won’t buy any shares (unless you are incredibly lucky) or take advantage of the steady gains while you are sitting on your cash waiting for the big drop. I paid $38000 dollars for a new car in 1998 two years later an upgrade of the same model were selling for $32000. I had a growing family and our previous car was to small, I did what I thought was right on the day and have no regrets. Nearly everyone also has a windfall now and then you tend not to remember or even notice them.

Perhaps full disclosure when changing itinerary, options, possible price changes etc.

no probs - people pull out but the food etc is already to go on the ship - toss it out or let people eat it and still make a profit - plus a busy cruise is a good cruise. i was on the coral in 2022 when it missed three days trying to get into Brisbane and many people pulled out at the last minute and the ship was a bit of a ghost ship with only half the capacity on board and that took away a bit of the vibe for us

Happens all the time. My parents are avid cruises and are members of multiple cruise clubs all around the world with all different cruise lines. They are constantly sent emails offering them hugely discounted cruises. We’re actually going on a P&O cruise next week with 16 members of our family because my parents were offered a voucher for buy one adult fare, get one free and kids travel free. We’re going on a week long cruise that some families paid up to $4000 for $900 per cabin. Happens all the time…….

I’d be very annoyed too. They should provide a price guarantee to protect early bookers. And with a change of itinerary they should compensate those who don’t cancel with onboard credit or future cruise credit. That’s only fair. We got no compensation from Virgin after a massive itinerary change. It felt very wrong.

They're rewarding loyalty, but I wouldn't be happy at all.

They do not value this customers business SO they will never have it again and the whole world will find out why. Catch of course these offers are to their ''Hi Rollers" They are the most valued customers. Thanks for exposing this Travel Guy.

It takes forever to get any refund. Flights are affected too.

If it was my ship I would offer free upgrades/perks to those who didn't claim a refund and then sell the remaining lower value rooms for less... sure they paid peanuts for the trip but it makes it a bit more palatable if you have gone from inside box to swanky suite!

If I got one I would book in a heartbeat! But if I had already booked at a much higher rate I would be p*ssed, even though there is nothing I could do. To be honest I keep seeing these discounts come up on Facebook, but whenever I look the prices are a lot higher. I am also an VIFP member even though I have never sailed with Carnival (have done P & O, Royal and Celebrity). How do people even get these offers?

This is common! Happens a lot.

this happens in nearly everything in life. airlines, hotels, car hire, etc. You booked when you did at the price because you thought it was great value. No one else did. That's the way the cookie crumbles.

Similar story here. This time HAL, booked our cruise to Iceland (Took place already in July !) in October 2023, because of high prices we chose an inside. Only to learn that HAL had reduced the price by more than 51% in April! Since we are European, it is booked under that law making it impossible to have the price adjusted. 🤮 After big negotiations we received an obc of 100 US$. Then we tried to upgrade since a balcony was now available for the almost same price as our inside !! okay - it worked out, but only with permanent aggressive negotiations and some extra money. What do we learn? HAL is dropped off our list (maybe, maybe only for short notice! - and only for those Super Sale prices) I might add that we have done almost 70 cruises since 2005 and have always been happy with the pricing but that was where we felt so ripped off 😡

Where was the loyalty from carnival?

I think the economics of this are pretty simple - essentially it is the same as hotel rooms. If you pay full price for certainty, knowing that you can get a certain product at a certain time, then you do so. Some people have more flexibility and can wait till the last minute to make bookings. So this is an extension of that. Another example is with electricity pricing - some people shop around regularly and get better pricing, some do nothing and pay more. So the consumer should try and be active, look at alternatives and so on. But the latter is human nature.

Also, I have joined carnival's vifp in preparation for p&o's upcoming brand merge and have never cruised carnival or played their casino's and was still offered a players club deal (not this exact one, but one on cruises up until 2026) was able to book a 12 day fiji cruise for $400 pp twin share (interior cabin) with $300 onboard credit, $100 players credit, a "cheers" drink package and premium WiFi! For the grand total of $800! I was asked how I even got vifp if I've never cruised with them (literally clicked join) have been told it's to "con" me into cruising with them, even abused by other vifp members for being selfish and accepting a deal that was only meant for "true vifp's" thankfully most were supportive and happy for me.

3 times we cruised to Port Lincoln 3 times for safety reasons captain decided to do U turn safety important however only once we got offered $100 free on board credit each nice bottle of perfume for wife

Might be as you say “perfectly legal” but not ethical, after all it is Walmart of the seas. Carnival don’t care as long as the boats sail at max capacity, more fool the people who keep booking and sailing with them.

It sucks however corporations are there to make $ and in the end if they didn't make $ then these cruises lines would not be here. I feel for the people affected and it's very much a bitter pill to swallow especially for those who are travelling to the port for the cruise so have less ability to cxl and get full refunds or credits for hotels/flights ect but this is the risk of pretty much any type of travel that you have to accept when you click that payment button

A big rip off more so for the ones that paid and got no extras etc

it is way way beyond the time that our Government and other governments told cruise lines if they wish to sail out of say Sydney then the ship must be registered here in Sydney and come under Australian law.

Things like this happen all around the world with cruise lines , suck it up

Comparison is the thief of joy as they say. Better to just ignore it. Im not quite sure what Carnival is to do , clearly they had a large bunch of people cancel and now need to move the inventory really quick. Not to many other ways to do it. Going back to the already booked wouldnt seem a smart move no matter how nice it maybe. I presume some of the cancellation people may have even rebooked on the new rate with their FCC - lucky them.

oh man im booked in for royale in november.....i hope this doent happen

Conversely how would you feel if the cruise line went up $4500 and demanded you pay or kept your money?

Why is it always Carnival. Something wrong there.

I am a Novice Cruiser having only been on The Luminosa for My Grandson Apollos` 18 th. Birthday. On this cruise there was a group of 4 women who were on a free cruise because one of them had spent a lot of money gambling on a previous cruise. So to this issue. I do not neither does anyone else know who onboard paid what amount or indeed paid nothing for their cruise. None of My Business. The Cruise lines will conduct their operations so that they stay profitable and still provide cruises for those who wish to holiday this way. These passengers had the opportunity to cancel and get a Full Refund. They chose not to so they accepted the new itinerary offered, no one forced them. As I said Mind Your Own Business. Regards. David.

I feel sorry for those who plan and book their dream cruise way in advance like I do 🛳️

It is well-known contracts are always without fail biased toward the cruise line never toward the cruisers. What they do as you say is not breaking the law but it is completely immoral and that is exactly what the cruise lines. are, immoral.

I'm a cheapskate who only every books last min anyway...lol

It happens more often than you realise. Less popular cruises it is all about their bottom line, “bums on seats” is always better than an empty cabin. Passengers in my experience are always trying to find out what you paid. Americans it seems, always pay less, that’s taking into account 🇺🇸$ to 🇦🇺$. Australians do pay more, it is a fact of life. From what I can ascertain, ships wouldn’t be able to operate and offer the cruise price they do, without the money made from the casinos. Those 🛳️ without casinos, have very high prices compared to the more family oriented ones. It is a business, they have to offset the price somehow.

if you arent a member of that VIP group then that pricing would never apply to you so no point worrying about it - its like comparing what someone at max loyalty paid vs what you as a brand new cruiser paid - why? you cant ever get it for that amount so its not a valid comparison. those people were always going to get the really good discounts, you arent. if you could have gotten the discount then yes, feel free to get huffy over that, but theres no point in getting stressed over what other people are paying i also fully understand that there are never any refunds for cruises, you only ever get future credit - now theres something you should be able to pi**ed off about if they alter the itinerary so drastically that its basically a completely different cruise and wont offer an actual refund.

Cruise lines whine about costs incurred in Sydney but offer really cheap fares out of Sydney only yet Brisbane pays top dollar. If Sydney costs for cruise lines are so bad come to Brisbane. There is no doubt the ships would be booked out. Cruise lines stop whining and give ALL Australians what they want.

THAT WOULD ANNOY ME TO HELL AND BACK, WE ARE ALL EQUAL AS FAR PASSENGERS GO. I CAN UNDERSTAND DIFFERANT TYPE OF BOARDING PRIVILAGE ETC FOR LOYALTY PASSNGERS, BUT DO THIS IN BLUNTLY IN PLAION SIGHT OF EVERY OTHER PAYING PASSENGER AS FAR AS FARES GOE THEY HAVE THE SAME RIGHTS. I AM A LOYALTY PASSENGER WITH PRINCESS AND I WOULD NOT LIKE THAT, ALLTHOUGH IT WOULD BE GREAT, BUT VERY UNFAIR.

I disagree with you Adrian, the people who play in the casino regularly get discounts and free cruises regardless (The VIFP is only for casino players). They pay for their cruise by spending thousands in the casino. So this entire video really does not make sense.

I would’ve thought to offer as many complimentary upgrades as possible to start with, then, yeah, whatever they need to offer to get the ship full I guess. We don’t know the full story though. Those VIPs may very well be due for some special treatment.