TheTxTravelLady

I have cruised many times but I recently booked a group through a travel agent for a CArnival Cruise next year (2015). I and the members of my group have been sending money to the agent since April 2014. Not everyone is getting an invoice from the agent showing their payments/current balance. No one has been given a confirmation number. The agent says the final deposit must be in by 11/26/14 and we would get confirmations numbers then. The final payment have to be completed in Feb 2015. Is the a normal process when working through an agent with a group booking? Some of the folks are getting nervous about being scammed. I use a TA that was recommended by a mutual acquaintance. CArnival won't tell me anything because they say it is a privacy issue. The TA demanded all deposits be paid in cash or money order. Subsequent payments have been made on debit or credit cards.

Eschew

Confirmation number should be given at time of booking and deposit. You can log into the cruise line's web page and check information. Call BBB and find out more about that TA you have. Carnival should be able to confirm at least your own personal booking, no privacy issue there.

jan47ete

Did you get cabin numbers? You might be able to check if they are available or not?

Contact the BBB or the police in your city.

Did your mutual acquaintance use them or it was just a name?
Method of payments and no info make me concerned.

Are you in Austin by chance? I have a Carnival rep I use all the time, maybe he can get you some info.

Luv2travel15

Sounds a little weird to me! I would contact the TA and demand that she email you an invoice immediately. Whenever I book a cruise thru a TA I get an immediate confirmation outlining all the details, ship, cabin # (unless you book a guarantee cabin), deposit, etc. You are always able to pay your deposit w/ a cc.

If the agent balks at doing this, then there is definitely something not right. I would call Carnival and demand to speak to a supervisor, explain the situation, and tell them you want a resolution of the problem. The cruise lines usually do not want to speak to you when there is a TA involved with the booking as they are the booking agent. However, I would stand firm and tell Carnival that you are not going away until you resolve the issue.

Just re-read your posting - sometimes if multiple bookings are made by one person, then that person is the main contact. I have booked cruises w/ multiple cabins and the agent sends me all the info. I find it easier to keep track of things this way.

If you do not get this issue resolved to your satisfaction, I think that I would recommend cancelling the cruise, get your deposits back, and re-book w/ a reputable agency.

Good luck. Keep us posted.....

Luv2travel15

Just found this info on Carnival website:

"if you have any questions about the cruise you will have to call your agent, Carnival can not answer questions for you since you did not book with them"

So you will have to be pro-active with the TA and insist that you want a confirmation email of the booking for all passengers who booked the cruise. How many cabins did you book and how many people going on the cruise?

Are you getting any "perks" from the TA for your business - bottle of wine, OBC, etc.?