Dozens of Minnesotans stranded after cruise booking mishap
Dozens of Twin Cities cruise passengers were left stranded in Florida after cruise ship booking issues with a travel agent and Carnival Cruises. FOX 9's Karen Scullin has the story.
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It’s funny that the travel agent’s cabin didn’t get canceled.
Travel agent might be required to be aboard if the group is under their name or they are the group organizer.
When I booked under a travel agent who is also my friend, she didn't sail on the same cruise my husband and I were on. She just booked the cruise for us and no, it was NOT this cruise. It was a few years ago for my husband abd I's 30th anniversary.
I wonder if she felt any guilt?
@@marilynmckenzie2111 nah. She is sipping on a Pina colada by the pool!
@@kathyweber6844 probably!!
Travel agent scam. You don't need a travel agent to book a cruise. We ALWAYS book directly with the cruise company.
Travel Agents aren't a scam just cause this one seemed to be scamming. A real travel agent would have had a Carnival login to make booking directly with Carnival and wouldn't need to collect money from people. This story is fishy.
As a ta your payment will always say the vendor not chase or your bank.
booking with a travel agent is suppose to add further security as you have someone to go to if your plans go off the rails. Many people are booking flights and hotels with their cruise. which agent you choose seems to be the issue here. Use a Travel agent that is larger in size (company) they associate with. has a good reputation etc. this agent is in for a lawsuit. not only was the cruise fare lost but the flights, hotels etc.
Not true.
@@sickwidit15obviously they’re not all a scam but they’re far from a necessity, only the simplest of MF’s would go through a travel agent though.
Those reservations weren't "canceled", they were never made. I would consider this to be criminal.
EXACTLY!!!!
That is also a possibility!
It’s possible that the reservations were made. Surely the client would have received a booking confirmation. In this case, it’s likely that the travel agent was charging the client’s credit card directly instead of having Carnival charge the card. The funds were then never applied to the client’s booking. As a travel agent, you have to pay attention to detail. Giving the benefit of the doubt, it sounds like a mistake was made. The client can sue for damages, including the flight and any hotel expenses. Merely providing a future cruise is not enough.
I would be cautious of making such claims as fact without any supporting documentation. Things like that land people on the wrong side of lawsuits these days. Wording matters.
@@QueenKayKay47 Don’t be afraid to make actual comments next time.
She said the tickets were canceled, however, she didn't bother to inform her customers or refund their money, and now she's taking the cruise herself. Sounds to me that she's on a vacation with her customer's money in her purse.
EXACTLY!!!!
She’s not on vacation. She’s leaving the country.
@@corneliusdinkmeyer2190 Both things can be true at once.
alll just a scam
Yep they should give her life in prison
that clown needs to be arrested
I sent Monica a message on messenger she ain’t giving the money back and she seems “Lovely” 😂 Yall should do the same 😂
She’s a big time crook
Refunding someone's money does not fully 'repay' someone for missing a cruise! What about lost air fare tickets; hotel stays; bus or Uber ground transportation, etc.? Those affected, should file a 'class action" lawsuit against the travel agency!
I agree..but thats what travel insurance is for
Don’t forget scheduling time off work! Loss of pay and a good chance that was their one and only vacation time for the year.. Seriously, even food is now going to cost them out of pocket! There really is no way to repay these poor people. Total BS
Totally agree
They can sue the Travel Agent for millions and it won't matter. Even if they win a judgment they'll never be able to collect.
Not to mention scheduling time off work, getting a house sitter, making arrangements for kids & pets.
I'd say this travel agent is a straight-up liar and she needs to be not only arrested but sued in court
This should go right to to state attorney general’s office
From you look at that lady face you could tell she’s thief
ARREST HER FOR FRAUD
What’s fruad?
@@pattimaeda6097 🙄 oh no I miss spelled something it’s the end of the world
@@pattimaeda6097yo moma
@@whodat1017lol idk why people care about spelling on youtube . It’s not English class
That is 100 percent on the travel agent.
I agree, I don’t think the cruise ever got any of payments from the agent so they canceled the reservations.
No surprises here with this one.
Totally agree with you. Literally Monica Lorena Faulkner only job is to make travel arrangements for her clients. Not only did she not get them on the cruise as promised, but she got on the boat herself and left them behind?!! Talking about betrayal.
It sounds like a scam by the travel agency. I'm so sorry for all those people.
exactly
Why are you sorry? What did you do?
@@cwg73160 it’s called being empathetic..
all a scam
She is on the ship right now spending ur money 😂😂
LMAO!
Exactly
Enjoying pina coladas and Margueritas 😂
Why do people book cruises with agents? They’re easy enough to book online. I would only consult an agent if I was doing a month long vacation across Europe or Asia….
She’s at the blackjack table.. 🏧
No ma’am. I’ve booked cruises, not once has the cruise line ever cancelled the booking. You grifted their money, shameful.
I ALWAYS book directly with Carnival. After almost 100 cruises with them I've never had a cancelation. I suspect that agent never booked the cruises.
I’ve heard of them now since cruises have been oversold like flights. The mistake was that the travel agent didn’t let her clients know
The biggest red flag? That the travel agent showed up at the terminal to meet her stranded customers and ended up sailing away on the ship herself.
@@richardowens9061and enjoying herself in the meantime!
Bookings can get canceled, but I wonder if they ever seen the actual reservation on Carnivals site. A travel agent can for sure handle things that some do not wish, but you should still be able to actually see the reservation and make modifications if you want. And I wonder if they ever received any emails to print luggage tags and stuff like that. I just cruised with Royal Caribbean in December. It's very easy to keep up with this type of stuff and no matter who does your booking, you should still be able to access the info and be getting emails once cruise docs are ready. That is if you provided your email address, which you should always do. I know nothing about Carnival, but I can't imagine their process is much different.
Agent is on the cruise but everyone else got left behind? How does that work??🐒
I guess it was lucky that her reservation didn’t get canceled 😮😂
She should’ve gotten off the cruise ship & backed her customers! What a trash bag. I would be waiting at the dock the next week for that chick to exit off of that ship. We are fighting!
She’s running away from the problem
She stole that s**t. 😡
If the reservation was cancelled way back in February why didn't the TA tell her customers and instead allowed them to travel to Florida knowing they had no room.
BINGO!!! THIS IS THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION. Also, others discovered on their own days before cruise when they couldnt access the portal and reached out to that agent directly, who promised an immediate full refund but that never arrived. So, she was reminded about the issue a little under a week out...and still didn't notify folks. The lack of accountability and potential criminality here is off the charts.
all a scam, happens daily world wide
She should be arrested when she arrives
If they paid on a credit card, they should be able to get their money back. File a claim.
Nope, not if it's been over 60 days since the payment appeared on the CC statement. That's why they want you fully paid at least 90 days before the cruise date.
File a unauthorized charge with your credit card company. Most will refund and take up the fight with the company that took the money.
But it wasn't unauthorized. @@jgesselberty
We will sue! we want millions!
@@jgesselbertyYou are committing fraud then.
No ma'am. Been booking cruises for a decade. The money should go directly to Carnival. Period. No intermediary needs to hold folks money ever. Whole scam.
Exactly. I’ve never taken a dime from a client, the payment always is called into the cruise line directly. If a travel agent wants you to pay in cash instead of a visa, master, Amex or discover you need to run as far away from them as you can get.
Why didn’t she notify the customers about the cancellations. She had 3:25 those people travel to the port and get left behind. And she has the nerve to be on the cruise. I know why she didn’t get back off that ship. She didn’t want to face 50 angry customers. I would be steaming mad. Not only would she refund me all my money but also all my travel expenses, food and my wasted time. The nerve.
@@misstriciaskitchen8640 IKR! She had more than enough time to notify those folks their cruise was canceled. It only takes about 10 or 12 double occupancy booked rooms to get the tc credit on Carnival. She got her 20 besties, a free room and partied with those stranded peoples hard earned money. 🤬
This was not Carnival's fault. The travel agent could have booked the cruise, so she could show the customers it was held. But if she didn't pay the cruise line, they will automatically cancel the reservation. I think she knew full well what she was doing and she should be met at the pier upon return with the police and arrested for theft and fraud. I'm a travel agent and every payment I make I send an invoice from the cruise line showing the customer their money has been applied. Also, they have their confirmation number so they can do the pre-cruise online check in. Evidently, the agent did not give them their booking numbers nor did she advise they need to do online check-in and prebook specialty dining and excursions. She is the bad apple that gives the rest of us a bad name.
Agree!
it looks like she knew and tried to fix it, but as an agent as well, I don't understand why didn't inform these people and process the refunds. 30 day window closed on them sadly
@@copycenteremail4614 When I make the flyer for a group cruise, I know the date of final payment yet I tell them that it is 2 months prior to the actual date so that they are not late making the final payment. No issues. If they have any problem, we have some wiggle room for them to still get it done before final payment. Never let a customer miss the final payment that is devasting. smh
No one with common sense is blaming the cruise line.
even with what you say false reservation may be made, happened now recently in South Africa about a travel agent who owes people millions of South African rands for "booking " a cruise upon the MSC cruise liner and sent the people an invoice with all the detail and numbers ,but when the passengers phoned the cruise liner their reservations was even confirmed by the cruise liner but shortly before the date to go on the cruise the found out he had never booked the cruise but took their money, he has been brought before the court and want to see the outcome, there are many shady travel agents,
Id be waiting at that spot when that ship comes back because she obviously has to get off and she wouldn't be sneaking past me. 👀
Foreal!!! That’s so messed up
LOL ... she will likely get off before it returns to the home port.
@@Bonjour-WorldMy thought precisely. Agent Scam & Sham will bolt like a rabbit at the first opportunity. She probably had potential exit strategies planned far ahead of time. Whatta shrew.
Amen!
The odds of you finding a single person disembarking a ship at an origin port while the embarking passengers are also arriving are slim to none. You’d be waiting all day because you’d never see them.
File a law suit, people!
Everything the agent has told them has been wrong. I wouldn't trust anything else she said. No amount of apologizing can make this OK.
Sounds like a dishonest travel agent as demonstrated by her disappearing and leaving so many on the dock.
They need to file a complaint with the association of travel agents. This sounds like the agent didn't book the cruises. She needs to be out of business.
If she sent them any receipt or invoice the travel agency that she works with is on it and they can contact them. If she has done something illegal or scammed, they can cancel her travel agent agreement with them. These people need to immediately file a police report for a scam and have i ton record so that they can sue her in small claims court. There is nothing the cruiseline can do about it especially if they never receive their money. There is nothing to refund back to them. It has to come from the travel agent.
Lol, there’s no such thing. There is CLIA, IATA or ASTA, but these are basically club type memberships. They have zero power to do anything at all. The overwhelming odds is she probably owns her agency and again, nothing a company can do to her. Something like this just doesn’t happen at an Amex, Costco, AAA type of travel agency. Very rarely do you see agents joining the guests in these types of agencies unless requested to be an escort for the group space. Depending on what the state has set up civil litigation or fraud charges are going to be the best case scenario. It’s incredibly easy to set up a travel agency. There’s no license or anything like that in most states. In Florida for example all you need to be a travel agent is a IRS EIN number, a $25k bonding letter and a $300 “licensed seller of travel” designation from the state. No test or anything, you give the state money and the bonding letter and boom you’re a travel agent. Most agents will join CLIA or IATA because most vendors register their agents within their agent portals like that but these bodies hold basically 0 authority when it comes to the agency.
No travel agent should handle the money or use a "third party". The payment goes directly to the cruise line, every single time! They need to go to the police and file a report.
Exactly. I am a travel agent and when I book for myself or a group, the payment goes directly to the cruiseline NOT TO ME. I send a receipt for the deposit and each payment made on the cruise and also tell them that the due date is 2 months earlier than the actual due date so that they are not late making the final payment. I tell them to print a copy of the final payment that has a zero balance and put it in their travel paperwork with their passport and ID. No issues all and I will not book anybody who does not want travel insurance either through the cruiseline or they can get it from another source. I explain now important it is to have it and also a passport vs ID and birth certificate. No issues. The travel agency that I work with also has checks and balances in that I have to get all the forms done that verify that all payments are made for a group and that it has a zero balance. They deal with the cruiseline who also makes sure that everything is in order. There is no excuse for what happened to these people. There are too many checks and balances to do it right for people to be left behind and no information yet the travel agent it gone. Maybe she booked her cruise separate the group booking?
They did...what is not mentioned in story is that very traveler interviewd indeed had cabin assignment was told by Carnival the agent cancelled her paid in full cabin months prior. Others were informed agent had only paid $100 deposit and when the deadline came and full payment had not been received by cruiseline the cabin was cancelled. Others reported having issues signing in to check-in days before departure only to call Carnival and learn they were not booked. They phoned the agent right away and was promised and immediate refund which still has not happened. Also, on Facebook just looking up Twin Cities Takeover Cruise with 2024 date filter, people were dropping that agents name or other agents were stating there were 4-6 cabins still available on Feb 20th, 21st, and 27th. So, how was it the agent "called" on the 22nd and couldn't get some of those rooms situated. I thought some rooms were left. All this seems shady and criminal...the math ain't mathin.
Thanks for details. I hope she's arrested when she comes back.
@@CurvaceousElite Oh, this is much worse than I imagined! There's no telling how many victims might be coming forward once all is said and done.
Exactly I’m a TA and I used to use Travel Joy which is a CRM and they don’t hold money ..she’s lying if she had paid Carnival in the first place they would have produced travel documents for the clients with check in infants baggage tags etc
That travel agent lied to them and stole their money.
Direct travel agency issue not the cruise company. Unfortunately they booked with an unethical outside travel agency and not carnival. You must book directly with the cruise company or a very reputable outside vendor. The agent traveled and went so obviously her fault. They were scammed.
When you do not book with a reputable agent this is what happens. Sounds like a SCAM. Get an attorney ASAP. How many other people fell for this SCAM?
Probably a scam but if it isn’t poor lady has name dragged through the mud while she’s off on a cruise and not paying attention to what’s happening online.
Put the travel agent under the jail. Leaving your clients stranded, after they've paid good money, made arrangements, taken vacation time, gotten baby sitters. It's shameful. And I hope she gets what's coming to her.
If it was me and that travel agent wasn’t criminally charged then I would be the one getting criminally charged.
The travel agent can refund the money until she returns?? She obviously has internet while on the cruise ship so why can’t it be done immediately?
Shes probably busy finding others to victimze to use for refund
That's what pushed this immediately into fraud territory when I was listening to the story: she can speak with the media, she can post to Facebook, but she can't contact a third party online to give refunds? Ridiculous!
Travel agents do not show up at the terminal to meet their customers. These people will never see their money again and the travel agent will likely be arrested, charged, tried, and convicted.
They can if they happen to be booked on the same cruise. Sometimes when it is a large group the agent will be on the same sailing.
You have some kind of imagination.
In this case they do because it was arranged in conjuction with event Twin Cities Takeover Cruise. She has been involved for a few years and arranges meetups for event group and other activities. This was a very different circumstance than she is just an agent booking. She hosts travel groups for various retreats and events she also attends.
If the travel agent knew before the client did that their cruise was canceled and rebooked to other people, why didn’t she informed the client before they even got to the port? It is a scam that travel is going to go to jail prosecutor her
They all must be first time cruisers. You have to check-in at least a few days before the cruise date to get the boarding document and luggage tags. You don’t head to the cruise port without those. If they said the cruise line canceled their reservations back in Feb, they would not have been able to check-in at all. They could have questioned the agent then. The story does not add up.
Agent probably told them to just show up and it would be handled once they got to the terminal. These people seem to be very new, probably their first cruise.....they kept calling it a boat.
Most people who use travel agents for these themed cruises have never been on a ship before. Especially since they were apparently going to be traveling with her, I'm sure she had assured them that she had everything taken care of and they just needed to show up day of.
My wife and I have been cruising for 30 years, NEVER used a travel agent and received the same deals. These folks got ripped-off and there is nothing they can do about it.
lol I wouldn't say there is nothing they can do about it... They know what she looks like is she going to remember the faces of everyone she scammed somebody is bound to catch up with her and it's not going to be pretty.
There's a TV show called Marketplace. Contact them, they are consumer advocates + will go after the travel agency.
She scammed them .
They got scammed! Sad!😢
Their cabins were cancelled because either their travel agent, OR the Travel Joy Company never paid the cruise line. Didn't they ever get a confirmation from the cruise line?
Exactly. When the rooms were cancelled would have been shortly after the time final payment was likely due.
Almost impossible to believe: the number of updates you get from Carnival about bookings. This travel agent is to blame. Guaranteed.
Well that travel agent is canceled. Hopefully. But I doubt these women will ever see a penny of their money. That’s the sad thing. There is no real justice when something like this happens. If you stole from a billionaire you’d be in jail immediately but steal from the working class? Nothing much is ever done.
I booked a theme cruise for next year and i saw my invoice which is detailed. Name of the passengers, room number, cost of the fare, port fees, gratuities, taxes, deposit, ship name.... everything is detailed with the name of the credit card, not number. The invoice she received should have been a red flag. I am so sorry that they missed their cruise.
WOW sorry this happened to you guys, I don't think this booking issues was on Carnival but totally with your travel agent as all of the payments for this cruise went directly to her. Always booked your cruise directly with the Cruise Lines, if you going to work with a travel agent in booking your cruise make sure your booking is confirmed with that cruise lines.
I’m a travel advisor and this is a scam! If they were booked they’d be on that ship!
I’d be PISSED!
I have been on a lot of trips, one thing i always do is ... verify my booking directly with the airline or cruise line. Its as easy as a simple phone call or type in the booking number in their website or app if i didn't book it directly. You are supposed to have your boarding pass printed out or digitally on your phone. Most cruise lines let you do online check-in 2 weeks before the trips and 24 hours for airlines.
Yep, I get texts and emails in the 2 weeks leading up to the cruise. I pre-board through the app. The cruise line sends me my luggage tags via email.
Sounds like travel agent failed to make their final payment on time. But if she knew why would she let them fly to Florida knowing they did not have a cabin? Sounds like fraud on the part of the agent.
Never use a travel agent. Book directly yourself. It’s simple and you have full control. Travel agents are an out of date business model.
Travel agent is a hustler. Charge her for fraud
1:00 "The burgers that was going to be on the boat." Ain't nobody got time for that! 😆
oh yeah. That "agent" is on the ship drinking it up and staying at a big fat cabin.
I’m so sorry this happened, that is downright bad business. Sounds like this travel agent should fire up their indeed profile! Please release the name of the agent that was responsible for this, to ensure no one books another cruise with them again! There’s lots of wonderful travel agents out there, this agency doesn’t seem like their capable of running a business and should be ashamed of themselves
They did: Monica Lorena Faulkner is the name of the travel agent.
@@MM-jf1me Ty!
Carnival only cancels when final payment isn't made by a certain date. If that date comes and money is still owed, the cruise is canceled. This sounds like an event coordinator that scammed a bunch of people. Carnival needs to investigate and ban her from cruising with them if this turns out to be the case.
This is a great example of why you should ALWAYS book directly with the cruise line.
Not always. I booked twice with Priceline cuz they offered $100 credit each time w/c made it cheaper booking with them.
This is clearly fraud. A full refund is just the beginning. Probably gonna be some jail time.
The travel agents clients couldn’t get on the cruise, but she got on and enjoyed herself for a week. But then she told them that she would straighten it out, but never came back off the boat, she knew exactly what she was doing. She just didn’t want to come and tell them the bad news face to face. Lock her up.
I have been a Travel Agency Owner for 8 years and have never received direct payment for a cruise. I collect credit card information through Travel Joy and run the customers payment directly through the cruise lines booking system. Situations like this makes all TA's look bad but know that most of us are ethical and professional. We truly want to assist clients with traveling the world.
We have always booked trips through a travel agent and will continue to do so, hope this problem is fixed and the cruisers compensated very well
Travel Agents ROCK.
50 people??? I personally worked for a travel agency in Australia. Biggest difference is, i find many travel agents in the US are freelance and buy their way into comapnies. My company in Australia, it was a salaried job. With a known company and we worked for that company. Wayyyy more insurances and clear terms and conditions. This is insane.
Why do people use travel agents? Book your on reservations! It's not Carnival's fault, you got scammed!
because the ship lines work with the travel agents they are their emissaries... they often give better deals if you book with a travel agent
Because an honest travel agent would have advised them to the best deals.
My self booked cruises have always been better. I did an agent one time and said never again.
Most of the time travel agents are tied to the cruiseline. This travel agent obviously had no ties to Carnival
Because more then half the time they are cheaper then the cruise line and they give real perks not the stupid ones the cruise lines do
As a seasoned cruiser. I always prefer booking directly through the cruise line.
Contact a lawyer and call your credit card company. Cruise lines issue a full refund if they cancel YOUR booking. She never booked and probably waited until lower prices became available; this IS theft by conversion and is a criminal and civil legal issue. Contact law enforcement as well; it is probably a scam.
So this alleged travel agent was going on the cruise with the people she booked for the trip, boarded without them, knew there was a huge issue affecting some/most/a majority/all(?) of the people she book except- conviently- herself, and she decided it was a good idea to board the ship and go on the cruise without them, leaving them SOL like "Oh well, I'll deal with that later 😎" No ma'am. She has known for at least a week that there was an issue, didn't call these people and tell them to stay home and reimburse their flights, and is blaming not only Carnival but some other 3rd party booking site (what, is she 4th party booking?) and ruined dozons of peoples' week. She should have had a block of hotel rooms reserved at the beach and been ready to grovel for forgiveness, giving these folks at least somewhere to stay, a mini vacay, and still planned to reimburse them money and a future cruise because she didn't stop them from flying down, didn't warn them, and messed up. She'd better enjoy that cruise cause I'd be shocked if she could still find travel agent work after this.
she's actually known since Feb 22nd that there was an issue
That is a stern lesson in why you only choose top notch travel agencies with long proven records
Agree, I used to work for a very reputable company and this would have never happened!
Exactly. There are checks and balances that have to be met and the travel agency keeps the travel agent aware an on point about that to be sure that they are properly handling the cruise and keeping the customers aware. That paperwork is going to be done way prior to the cruise. What agency is this person working with? She will not get a commission on this group. They need to get a full refund from her or whoever the group organizer is that this travel agent paid and they obviously didn't pay the cruiseline.
There is no reason she can't refund the money she took from them while on the cruise. If you properly manage your bookings you will know well before the day of sailing that someone who paid for the cruise didn't get a confirmation. That is just poor customer service on her part and considering she is offering a refund means that it isn't on the cruise lines end. I personally would only apply payments directly to a vendor and then provide the client a receipt of payment made to the vendor, I don't want to hold onto any amount of money myself. I also don't know how she is going to give them all a complimentary cruise package. I feel really bad that they didn't get to travel and what a wonderful week to choose to be on vacation and miss the snow. If they all get their money back that would be the very minimum of what they deserve.
And this is why its so important to be in control and on top of your booking whether you book through a TA or not. Being the primary traveler and having booked directly with the cruise line has saved me a lot of headache!!
They need to look into filing a lawsuit against the travel agent which sounds like she scammed them out of their money by having the cruise line cancel their booking, then having the money refunded to her (the travel agent) instead of the passengers that got cancelled.
Book cruises directly with the cruise line yourself. Inserting a third party creates headaches if things go left. I am sorry the women did not get to enjoy their cruise.
All the nerve in the world for the travel agent not to have bowed out to accommodate their client ?
But there were several clients, not just the two shown on camera.
@@robertewalt7789so
"Travel agent" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
So she knew about it feb. 22 but let all these people travel, take off work, etc. and didn’t ever tell them anything until she got caught by the news. She’s definitely a POS and a scammer and I hope they all sue her for everything she’s worth!!! She could’ve at the LEAST just told them it got cancelled so they wouldn’t waste time, money and vacation days for nothing! No way i would just be taking my money back and a “ complementary cruise”!
Shame on the travel agent! What a shame.
Travel agent … 100% at fault. Sue her for expenses
That "agent" is a scammer.
It’s wild people actually still use travel agents
The first thing I thought was, "Did the travel agent book them on a waitlist? That's unethical!" Then the travel agent promised a full refund? I mean, if they purchased travel insurance that covers cancellations, yes. But if not, best of luck.
The agent should be sued. She should also lose her credentials. Also, if it was an error or miscommunication that agent needed to come back off that ship, skip the cruise, and help her clients immediately regain their funds & help them adjust their travel plans. Shes a fraud.
Wonder if this is her reparations?
Is it guaranteed that they’ll be on that “complimentary cruise?”
Press charges against her with the police….she needs to be arrested and investigated.
it was a scam, not a mishap.. this is 100% on the travel agent..
That travel agent was living it up on that boat with their money. So wrong.
She having fun 🤩 ain’t it lol that’s why you don’t give these lowlife people too much money because it goes straight to their heads . And that’s when they start stealing . She basically told them have a good one
I see a lawsuit coming that agent's way. She's going to grow up real fast.
Ugg! It's not just the matter of getting money back for the cruise! These sisters and other passengers probably took time off of work specifically for the cruise and they may or may not be able to take another vacation any time soon. Most of them probably flew to Miami for that cruise, so they are out whatever money they spent on the flights plus a place to stay while figuring out what to do next (if they could find a place.) Their return flight home is probably the day the cruise is scheduled to return, so in the meantime they have to either find a place to stay in Miami, or make last minute airline changes (if they can get a flight) which will incur additional fees. It is so much more than "inconvenient" and that travel agent should be fired - or if it is her own agency, then shut down - - not only for the mishap, but for leaving the passengers standing on the pier while the ship sailed away without coming back to update them about the situation!
And this is why I always book direct when I can! Because this was a theme cruise, that might not have been possible…
Ugh you couldn’t pay me to be on that boat. Why was your travel agent on your trip that’s not normal.
Why not? You don’t like R&B music?
This agent plans retreats and had been a part.of the Twin Cities Take Over event in the past. So, think of her like a Travel Agent, Personal Guide and Travel Event Planner that is with you. Based on what I could find of her business she is more than just a booking 3rd party. As the TC Takeover Cruise Event is highly reputable and was developed out if a good place. The TCTE family is shocked by this and the founder, who is no longer involved is deeply upset by these events and the lack of compassion shown by many people defending the agent and not those 50 some folks left stranded...some who spent their last for them was a once in a life time trip.
This travel agent doesn’t seem to be taking good care of her clients. Time for them to initiate lawsuits.
Travel agents book through the cruise company, not a third party. Plus Carnival sends luggage tags for the customer to print prior to the cruise.
You always got to do your background checks on travel agents making sure they are real though BCA
This is unfortunate for these two sisters but everything happens for a reason. I sure hope someone resolves this issue. They need to be made whole.
This is why I always book with the cruise company directly regardless of the cruise line.
You don’t need a travel agent to book a cruise, it’s a DIY thing!
Why do people still go through a travel agent booking everything yourself is so much easier
Thank you
What a crook
Sounds like this was a music concert type cruise with an organizer and the travel agent booked through them. The organizer likely had a certain number of cabins for the event and the travel agent booked this group, collected their money and gave it to the organizer who should have booked everybody into cabins in the event group with the cruiseline. Now if that happened, they should have received a receipt for the payment from the travel agent validating that the organizer had paid the cruiseline. They should have been told to create a carnival account so that they could manage their cruise activities and set up their bed arrangements, book excursions, etc. If they didn't pay in full there should have been a suspense date for final payment. If they missed that final payment, their cabins were cancelled. If they had a carnival account and had travel insurance, read the contract it dictates how much money you get back for a cancellation. They said that there was a bunch of them not just two people and it's a music event cruise. Sounds like the jazz cruise or the fantastic voyage, disco cruise. They mentioned the names of the groups that were performing on the cruise. If you look at any information for these music cruises they have specific instructions on booking and they should have followed those instrucions. This is not a carnival issue it is a travel agent and group organizer issue. Obviously she made her final payment on time.
Well, what about the travel to the port costs? Who is picking up the costs for the flights?
Call the cops 👮♂️
They need a lawyer but unfortunately a lawyer will cost more than $2800 so unfortunately it’s not worth it. Hopefully the bad press will be enough to make the travel agent pay them back in order to save face.
Carnival Cruise Lines is the Spirit Airlines of the seas.
Maybe, but this is not the cruise lines fault. This debacle lies directly with their so-called Travel Agent.
Not Carnivals fault, this is on the travel agent. Why did Carnival cancel them? Did Carnival not get paid?
Maybe in price, but that is about all. Carnival is still a lot of fun and the employees give great service.
Get a lawyer and sue the travel agent BIG time!!!!!
"Oh yeah, I'll return your money just as soooooon as I get back from having a good time on the cruise YOU were supposed to be booked on". Got it. 👌 If she had an ethical bone in her body, she would have kept her azz on the docks with her customers who were stranded to start working on resolving the issue/refunding them - not AFTER she took her vacation.
Don’t know travel agents still existed. Booking a cruise is straight forward.
The travel agent should have given her room to clients and gotten off the ship to take care of the refund situation immediately. She didn’t even tell her group about what was going on when she tried to rebook the cruise in February!