carnival destiny drydocked 2/13/2010-cruise cancelled

[toussaint]

Two weeks before sailing we were told that our cruise was cancelled. We booked the cruise on the Carnival Destiny back in 7/2009 for 2/13/2010. My husband, myself and 3 children were so looking forward to it all those months. We also saved 96,000 Sea Miles for it. Well, when we called to rebook, they could not give us a comparable cruise out of Miami. We were given several other cruise options and told we would have to pay 1250$ for the difference in cruise cost. Now, we also would need to change the plane tickets to a different port destination at the cost of 175$/person (x5). We planned to cruise during the winter for a reason-to get some sun and get out of the cold. There was an exact cruise leaving 7/3/2010, 7/17/2010 and 7/31/2010 which we were going to consider but refused to pay the considerable difference in cost. We wonder why were not able to be compensated with the same cruise without having to pay the extra cost. As it was, we did not want to cruise in the hot summer and we would still have to pay the 175$ per person airflight change. WE did not cancel the cruise-Carnival did. The 600$ on board credit Carnival offered wouldn't even cover what we would have to spend to pay for the change in plane flights. I think this was all handled very poorly and am very disappointed in Carnival cruise line. We asked for a refund after finding out how poor their customer relations service was.

[butterfli]

Wow - what a shame! Did they tell you why the ship was drydocked? I'm just curious. I would think that they'd offer you the chance to go on the same cruise without incurring an additional expense. Sorry to hear about your unfortunate experiene - hopefully your next vacation will go perfectly!

[toussaint]

Thanks for replying. The Destiny was drydocked due to propulsion problems. Our cruise on Feb 13 was cancelled as well as the cruise the following week. One of our big beefs with Carnival was their reluctance to book us on another 5 day cruise for the price we paid for ours. The rates have gone up since we booked (last July) and they said we have to pay the current rate on another cruise. We found another 4 day cruise that leaves Miami on Feb 8 and goes to Key West and Cozumel. With our 55+ discount, we could get on that cruise for $259. But we have teens with us who go on their winter break from school the week of Feb 15, so we looked at the exact same cruise leaving Miami on the 15th. Now they want $1050 per person for this same cruise that is $259 the week before! We figure they know there are a lot of Destiny cruisers now looking for another cruise that same week, so they raised the price- not a little-but a whole lot. I think this is horrible the way they are treating the people that were on the Destiny and are now just trying to find another cruise. Not a fan of Carnival.