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Carnival launches money-back guarantee to win back confidence
Carnival has introduced a new money-back guarantee for its US customers in a bid to win back trust in its product.
The Great Vacation Guarantee allows dissatisfied guests to end their cruise early and get a 110% refund, free transportation home, and a $100 shipboard credit for a future cruise.
Customers must notify guest services of their dissatisfaction within 24 hours of boarding a ship.
It is more flexible than Carnival’s previous Vacation Guarantee, which allowed unhappy passengers to leave a sailing at the first port of call for a pro-rated refund.
But the offer only applies to US and Canadian citizens.
The new policy comes after a series of problems on Carnival ships, which damaged its reputation.
In the worst incident, the 2,758-passenger Carnival Triumph suffered a fire and was stranded in the in the Gulf of Mexico without power and working toilets.
"The Great Vacation Guarantee is designed to provide an assurance to those consumers who may be considering a cruise that we stand behind our product and, if they are dissatisfied for any reason, they have a simple and hassle-free means for receiving a full refund and more," said CEO Gerry Cahill.
The new guarantee is valid on all three- to eight-day voyages to The Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, Alaska, Canada and New England departing through April 30, 2015.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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