Carnival Cruiseline Giving Away Free 1-Night Cruises

Mention going on a cruise to most people, let alone stepping on-board a Carnival ship, and people are bound to think you might be crazy due in part to the several incidents that stranded passengers at sea this year. Carnival has been working relentlessly over the past several months by making over $600 million dollars in improvements on their ships to try and provide backup power and redundant features should a system go kaput. In addition to hiring a new CEO, Carnival has also been forced to slash prices dramatically to try and get people on-board.

In a new effort to convince people that they should spend their money with Carnival, they have announced a new Great Vacation Guarantee.

Simply book a 3 to 8 day Carnival vacation to the Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, Canada/New England or Alaska.

Then within the first 24 hours of departure, if you are not satisfied for any reason, Carnival will refund you 110% of your fare, in addition to getting you home.

The real terms of the offer is found in the Frequently Asked Questions page. After pouring through the responses, once the ship arrives at its first port of call, Carnival will then fly the departing guest either home or the embarkation point. Carnival will also cover the costs of transportation and/or hotel should they be necessary.

The really wonderful thing about this guarantee, is Carnival plans on issuing the refund within three weeks. Here is the really remarkable part of the Great Vacation Guarantee; not only will Carnival refund the cost of the fare, but they will also cover all taxes and fees incurred as a result of the cruise. This is amazing because I anticipated some fine print that would have said they would cover the cost of the fare, but you were ultimately still responsible for all the taxes and fees, which can be several hundred dollars in some cases.

Great Vacation Guarantee Wrap-Up

The Great Vacation Guarantee is an incredible leap-of-faith on the part of the corporate cruising giant. I suspect very few will be taking advantage of this policy, and any abuse at attempting to game the system multiple times could be denied boarding on future cruises. However, I am sure there will be an attempt by some to try and get multiple one day cruises out of Carnival.

The key would be finding a cruise with two initial days at sea on the front end of the cruise. After reporting your desire to disembark on the cruise, you could potentially get multiple days out of the promotion by the time you reach your first port, which would include all meals and entertainment (drinks and ancillary costs incurred on the cruise are the responsibility of the passenger).

The purpose of the program is to ensure passengers that cruising with Carnival is money well spent. In the rare instance of having to follow through with passengers on a guarantee, the cost is minimal.

Personally, I have cruised with Carnival a couple of times when I was younger. Now, after getting the time off and all the hassle of actually getting to a departure port, I would never consider following through with the Great Vacation Guarantee unless the conditions were absolutely horrendous.

While it has been years since I was on a cruise ship, I personally would have to really think about stepping onto another one. My concern is not necessarily of safety, as the incidents that occurred on-board Carnival were isolated and really out of control of Carnival (can the company really be responsible for a mechanical issue?). Yes, cruise providers need to have backup systems and maintain the health and safety of the passengers, but sometimes accidents are called that for a reason.

My concern with boarding another cruise ship has more to do with the quality of life and value received. When I was a kid on-board a cruise ship, the experience was an event. People got excited to dress up for the Captain’s dinner, and the food and entertainment were top-notch. One of my favorite experiences was always witnessing the remarkable food displays during the nightly midnight buffets. Sadly, I have heard more cruises have gotten rid of the buffet tradition. Today, the cruise experience is quite different, with varying degrees in the quality of the food and entertainment. Not to mention the people who just show up to meals wearing whatever they wore to the pool.

While I might be young, I preferred the old, dignified experience of cruising in my youth. Garner me in a suit and tie, and my wife in an evening dress, and lets celebrate a vacation in style! Bring back the golden cruising experiences, and then you might get me on another ship. Until then, a guarantee is just a guarantee that means little to my bottom line.

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Source: Mommy Musings