Cruise newby
New Member
Hi,
I have booked a cruise online with a company called Cruise Direct. Scanning through their website you will see they have won awards, are rated highly and won't be beaten on price! Noting all these accolades I moved on to the booking process to check out their prices. They asked me some basic questions and asked where I was booking from. I told them the answer and was taken to their global site. The prices were good and quite a bit cheaper so after some online chat and price checking I booked it feeling confident about price guarantee etc.
I paid for my trip on credit card.
You can imagine my horror when I discovered the price was in USD! Normally with pricing from a different country you see say $2000 USD. This company doesn't do that and nowhere throughout the booking process does it mention the currency you are being charged for.
I contacted the cruise company who point blank refused to do anything about my booking. I ended up paying $1200.00 OVER what it would have cost me had I booked locally. I also missed out on $200USD onboard credit.
In very small writing on the bottom of their webpage it does say USD BUT wouldn't you think they would put USD after the price?
When I then asked about their price guarantee I was informed that it was only for 24 hours after booking and does NOT apply to people in different countries. I have had my holiday ruined. I am out of pocket and the extra fees the credit card company will charge is terrifying! I am a pensioner and have saved hard for this trip. I don't know what to do. I will contact ACCC and let them know what has happened. I will put in a complaint. Who do you know over the age of 60 who sits and reads all the terms and conditions on websites? This company takes no blame for this. I phoned Royal Carribean in the USA and told them. They were very supportive but can't do anything about it.
Please DON'T use CRUISE DIRECT without working out how much AUD your trip will cost. I also checked the RC website in the USA and they were offering onboard credit of $200 USD but Cruise Direct won't acknowledge this either.
I have been in tears on and off since yesterday. I don't know how I will be able to pay this off nor will I have spending money.
My holiday is ruined.
I have booked a cruise online with a company called Cruise Direct. Scanning through their website you will see they have won awards, are rated highly and won't be beaten on price! Noting all these accolades I moved on to the booking process to check out their prices. They asked me some basic questions and asked where I was booking from. I told them the answer and was taken to their global site. The prices were good and quite a bit cheaper so after some online chat and price checking I booked it feeling confident about price guarantee etc.
I paid for my trip on credit card.
You can imagine my horror when I discovered the price was in USD! Normally with pricing from a different country you see say $2000 USD. This company doesn't do that and nowhere throughout the booking process does it mention the currency you are being charged for.
I contacted the cruise company who point blank refused to do anything about my booking. I ended up paying $1200.00 OVER what it would have cost me had I booked locally. I also missed out on $200USD onboard credit.
In very small writing on the bottom of their webpage it does say USD BUT wouldn't you think they would put USD after the price?
When I then asked about their price guarantee I was informed that it was only for 24 hours after booking and does NOT apply to people in different countries. I have had my holiday ruined. I am out of pocket and the extra fees the credit card company will charge is terrifying! I am a pensioner and have saved hard for this trip. I don't know what to do. I will contact ACCC and let them know what has happened. I will put in a complaint. Who do you know over the age of 60 who sits and reads all the terms and conditions on websites? This company takes no blame for this. I phoned Royal Carribean in the USA and told them. They were very supportive but can't do anything about it.
Please DON'T use CRUISE DIRECT without working out how much AUD your trip will cost. I also checked the RC website in the USA and they were offering onboard credit of $200 USD but Cruise Direct won't acknowledge this either.
I have been in tears on and off since yesterday. I don't know how I will be able to pay this off nor will I have spending money.
My holiday is ruined.