Topic: Cunard loyalty and lack of customer service!

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I experienced something similar last year on QE, booked an AA 11 months before the cruise and paid in full, only for prices to drop considerably.
My travel agent approached Cunard and got the same 'brush off' as Sarah, which we accepted, as we had been happy with the deal when it was booked.

However, around a month or so before our cruise, we found we had been upgraded to a P1 (which was at that time around the same price as we had paid for the AA), best of it was we also kept the $1000 obc which was no longer on offer.

Don't despair Sarah, you may well get a free upgrade nearer the cruise date.

We've just booked up again for November on QV, an excellent Princess Grill price, along with obc. If prices plummet then so be it, we are happy with the contract we have made.

As experienced cruisers we understand that prices change, it can be irritating but it is the choice we make, book early and get the cruise we want or hold out in the hopes that prices will drop.

Welcome aboard.

What a really great attitude and someone after my own heart. With an outlook like that I would also wager your level of enjoyment is also one hundred per cent.

On the subject of Christmas cruises, (seems we are going off subject a little - but never mind, I'm not surprised) I would certainly prefer the Caribbean when sailing from the UK and never really thought much of the Mediterranean as a Christmas destination. The guaranteed sunshine does it for us and anything less than three weeks wouldn't seem like a Christmas cruise either.

Christmas in the Caribbean on Aurora, Arcadia, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary. The only year we missed was 2008 because we were booked on QM2's World cruise in the January 2009, only as far as Sydney of course, but it was around South America.

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And what I find even more amusing at the moment is that since this thread started we Carnival Shareholders have seen our stock rise, as at 4.00pm today, a princely £1.53p per share or a rise of 8%.

Obviously not all publicity is bad publicity.

Oh, and I see the Dividend went into the bank this morning.

It would certainly appear from the number of responses that Cunard have made to Sarah's complaint - originally highlighted on the Forum on 6 March - that their Customer Service has been on the ball.

We so often hear of other cruise lines not responding for in excess of six weeks or more.

The fact that Cunard's answers have not suited Sarah is neither here nor there. Cunard have responded.

I think all points have been covered in this debate. In essense book early and get the cabin/dining arrangements you want at an AGREED contract with all the loyalty discounts. Book late get the cheap deals but take pot luck on cabin and dining arrangements BUT MIGHT get an upgrade. As I wrote somewhere ealier on this topic and repeated by some "you pays your money and makes your choice! By heck Richard you must be a rich ****** with all these cruises but good luck-why not?

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Excellent TA in US VacationsToGo.com they have a free phone direct to USA but remember the price you see isn't the price you pay -- Port charges and US tax have to be added. Its a great site we use it to see all the Cruise lines. When the $ is in our favour we use them

But I have an email from VTG last year saying that they are no longer allowed to sell to customers outside USA and Canada.

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But I have an email from VTG last year saying that they are no longer allowed to sell to customers outside USA and Canada.

I too have that email, but Last Year is no longer THIS YEAR............Things Change. I have cruised with VTG in the last 6 months...........Wilba

There are many US based TAs that will sell you cruises, but no non UK TA is able to sell you any flights. I have just got a quote from an American TA for five 2013 cruises and not only will they sell cruise only from Southampton, but they will also give a full refund of my deposit if I cancel for any reason, and will also honour my favourite cruise lines price match guarantee

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But I have an email from VTG last year saying that they are no longer allowed to sell to customers outside USA and Canada.

I do feel sorry for Sarah and feel she has been treated badly, but much has been written about this subject on this forum and I have said before I think when you book a cruise you have to be aware that the price may drop and what you bought turns out to be a poor deal. I think you just have to live with that, it seems to be how cruise lines work and all the shouting and crying in the world isn't going to change it, it's just big business. Maybe one day the consumer will have more rights in this area, but I'm not holding my breath.
If you aren't happy to pay the price the cruise is offered at, wait and see if the price comes down - if it goes up and you can't get on the cruise that you want, well that's the risk you take.

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... I think you just have to live with that, it seems to be how cruise lines work and all the shouting and crying in the world isn't going to change it, it's just big business. ...

That's not true. I know for a fact that Celebrity, Azamara and Royal Caribbean will honour (almost all) cruise fare price drops (if you ask them to) in the form of cabin upgrades, onboard credit or even a cheque back.

You have a choice. But if booking with Celebrity as an alternative to Cunard, or RC as an alternative to P&O please tell them why you are doing so - with consumer pressure the UK Carnival Group companies may be willing to revisit this alienating and loyalty penalizing policy and switch to their own US system instead.

I certainly hope they do. I am a Carnival PLC shareholder and i know it's costing them business. I know many people now who won't book their suites until the last minute.