Hurricane Irma and Carnival Nightmare

by Gwendolyn Brown
(Concord, NC)

Carnival Cruise Line refuses to refund my fare for a cruise on Carnival Vista 09/09/2017.

I was one of 25 guests scheduled to sail from the Port of Miami. Most of us were coming from Philadelphia, my nephew and his wife from Atlanta and myself, from Charlotte, NC. We were all going to Miami on 09/07/2017 to do some sight seeing before our cruise.

Hurricane Irma hit all four islands that we were scheduled to visit on our trip. Our cruise was 8 days sailing on Carnival Vista.

When the storm hit Miami, our flights were cancelled, as well as our hotels. On 09/06/2017, Carnival rerouted some voyages and cancelled others. On 09/07/2017, they announced the reroute for our group would be Mexico and another island. The website is where we went to get updated info because no one contacted our trip leader. Carnival cancelled several other cruises leaving on our day of departure but not the Vista.

Our cruise's departure was changed to 09/12/2017 and so I had to see if I could get a new flight. American Airlines was the carrier for my trip. I got first class seating for $299.00 for the 12th. After paying for my flight, I bought trip protection for 09/12/2017 for the new route. I purchased insurance for every leg of my trip because I was paying a whole lot of money.

Allianz Insurance was the company my trip protection was with.

We were then told that our trip would be from 09/13/2017 to only Mexico. We went from 8 days to 4.

I couldn't change flights, so the only people that got to go were the 2 from Atlanta because they drove down. American Airline fully reimbursed us for both flights without insurance claims. Our hotels refunded our deposits without any delay.

Carnival has a policy that the trip can be rerouted in order to keep passengers safe. This policy should not be in effect, because this storm was a natural disaster. They will not refund any money but are offering a future cruise. I no longer want to travel on a Carnival ship now or in the future.

I spoke to a woman from the cruise line that said I would be refunded in 3 weeks after the cruise. I never got it. I called and after 45 minutes of waiting and being transferred from one person to another, I was told I had to submit a claim to the insurance carrier. I did and was informed that I needed 5 different forms, like proof of itinerary, cruise policy etc.

On 11/09/2017, Allianz asked for another proof of payment from my bank. Frustrated I asked to speak to a supervisor. James was his name and after giving my outrage and total frustration, he gave me the general script and apologized over and over again. He said he would make sure it would get to the review board. Also send the second claim and they would process them both expeditiously.

Well last night I received an email from Allianz stating that my claim was more than the normal so I would be receiving $450.00. My cost was over $2,500.00.

No way am I letting them keep my money. I hope this gives others thoughts about how much power the Carnival cruise lines and their insurance carrier, Allianz have over our money. I am retaining a lawyer and am fighting for my money.