Carnival Cruise Line is canceling some reservations after a website glitch allowed guests to book unusually cheap cruises following planned IT maintenance.
The issue appears to have surfaced after Carnival’s website underwent maintenance over the weekend. Soon after, cruisers on Reddit began reporting surprisingly low fares, including balcony cabins priced well below typical rates.
One Reddit user said they booked a solo balcony cabin for less than $50 per day on a 6-night cruise. Other Carnival cruisers reported seeing balcony cabins for as little as $130 per person because of the glitch.
One guest said they booked a balcony cabin on Carnival Mardi Gras for about $806 total, while another said they found a seven-day balcony cruise for $365.
Unfortunately for many cruisers, the deals proved too good to be true. By May 12, affected guests began receiving cancellation notices from Carnival confirming the cruise line would not honor the discounted reservations.
Carnival says the fares were caused by an IT maintenance issue
In the email sent to affected guests, Carnival said the unusually low prices appeared following a planned IT maintenance project over the weekend. Because the fares were “far below any reasonable promotional fare,” the cruise line said it would not honor those reservations.
The full email states:
“Dear Carnival Guest,
We are writing about a reservation you recently made with Carnival Cruise Line.
Following a planned IT maintenance project this past weekend, some guests saw a random display of prices that were far below any reasonable promotional fare. The reservation you made was one of them.
We regret to inform you that we will not be able to honor your reservation request. The reservation has been canceled and any monies paid will be credited to your original form of payment. Since your travel plans were just made with us, we hope you will find another itinerary that suits your vacation needs. As a gesture of our appreciation, a non-transferable onboard credit of US$100, per stateroom, will be applied to your future booking if made by August 31, 2026.
Thank you for your understanding.”
Before the cancellations were sent, cruisers had already been discussing the apparent Carnival cruise glitch online.
In one Reddit thread, a guest said they were able to book “a solo balcony on a 6 day cruise for $300” after the website maintenance. “Seems to be fixed now,” the user wrote. “Hoping Carnival will honor the price because it was quite literally a steal.”
Other commenters reported seeing similarly steep discounts across a variety of itineraries. One guest said they spotted balcony cabins for around $150 on Carnival’s Australia website, while another claimed to find balcony fares as low as $130 per person.
Several cruisers also shared examples of bookings they were able to secure before the prices disappeared. One guest said they booked an 11-day Southern Caribbean cruise for two people in an interior cabin for about $1,000 total, while another said they reserved a balcony cabin for four people on an eight-day Carnival Jubilee sailing for roughly $1,500.
Australian Carnival guests also reported unusually low fares
The apparent Carnival cruise glitch was not limited to the United States. According to Cruise Passenger AU, Australian Carnival VIFP members also reported seeing dramatically reduced fares after the website maintenance outage.
The outlet reported cruises priced as low as AUD$55 per night, including a 14-day Fiji cruise from Sydney starting at AUD$758, an eight-day Great Barrier Reef cruise from AUD$452, and a 10-day South Pacific sailing from AUD$554.
Some Australian guests said they were able to complete bookings and receive confirmation emails from Carnival before the fares disappeared.
At the time, there was confusion among cruisers about whether the fares were legitimate promotional offers or the result of a system issue. According to Cruise Passenger, some guests who contacted Carnival were reportedly told the fares might be honored, while others were informed the bookings could be refunded because of a website glitch.
One cruiser quoted by the outlet said, “I was one of the lucky ones and booked a bargain cruise for $500 for 9 nights for a balcony. My booking was confirmed by email – though it looks like we may well get a refund now due to it being a glitch in the system – not an actual sale.”
Cruise Passenger also reported that Carnival had warned customers ahead of time that its reservation systems would temporarily go offline for scheduled maintenance over the weekend.
Some guests say they already made travel plans
Understandably, the cancellations frustrated some guests who believed they had successfully booked a discounted cruise.
In another Reddit post, one cruiser said they booked a birthday trip, paid in full for a balcony cabin, and booked flights before receiving Carnival’s cancellation notice.
“I paid $400 for a 6-day cruise for one person,” the guest wrote. “The only thing ‘unreasonable’ about the fare was that they offered me a balcony room for the price I would have expected to pay for an interior.”
Another Reddit user said they had also received the cancellation email and already purchased plane tickets.
Guests disagree over Carnival’s handling of the glitch fares
Reaction from guests to Carnival’s handling of the glitch has been mixed. Some cruisers argued Carnival should have honored the fares as a customer service gesture, especially if passengers had already paid in full or booked flights.
One Reddit user wrote, “Sometimes when a company makes a mistake they should just take the loss.”
Others disagreed, saying the fares were clearly the result of a mistake and that Carnival was not obligated to honor them. Several commenters compared the situation to retail pricing errors, where online orders are often canceled if a product is listed at the wrong price.
Carnival told affected guests their payments would be refunded to the original form of payment. The cruise line is also offering a non-transferable $100 onboard credit per stateroom for a future booking made by August 31, 2026.
Some guests said their bookings had already disappeared from the Carnival app, while others said their reservations were still showing online after they received the cancellation notice.
The situation comes as Carnival has already faced pushback from some loyal cruisers over recent VIFP loyalty program changes, making the latest pricing issue another point of frustration for some guests.
