A family’s $15,000 Carnival Cruise trip was last-minute canceled due to alleged identity theft.
Two days before Tiffany Banks’ family was supposed to embark on their Carnival Celebration voyage, the mom of four from Kentucky received the devastating news that they were no longer registered. Banks, her husband, and their children were meant to fly to Florida the next day to set sail on the trip, which she claims to have paid in full. However, after Banks accidentally shared their booking information online in a post counting down the days to the trip, someone supposedly canceled their reservation.
On May 12, Banks took to TikTok to detail her family’s situation. “I have to laugh, or I’m just going to sit down and cry and just absolutely lose my mind,” she started. She explained how she had gotten an email from Carnival the morning before to let her know two of their excursions had been canceled.
The frustrated mother called Carnival to inquire. To her surprise, the company representative allegedly told her that Banks had canceled their $12,000 reservation for the Excel Presidential Suite on the ship. But according to Banks, neither she nor her husband had made any cancelations.
“We have nearly $15,000 tied up in for this vacation including excursions. The room itself was I think $12,000 or $13,000, and then we’ve got a few grand tied up in excursions, and actually with almost $2,000 for flights,” Banks added.
While Carnival offered to rebook the family two interior rooms because now the Excel Presidential Suite had been taken by another family, Banks declined, arguing the replacement wasn’t much of a compromise considering they had planned to stay in a more expensive room.
Banks claimed Carnival had refused to give her a full refund due to their no-refund return policy within 15 days of the sail date.
In a ditch effort to see if the fate of their trip could be changed, Banks and her family flew to Miami, Florida, hoping they’d be able to board the ship. Unfortunately, things did not work out how they’d hoped, and the family of six ended up renting an Airbnb in Miami instead.
On May 13, Banks took to her social media page to address the online skeptics who accused her of not sharing the full story. To those criticizing her character and proclaiming she was wrong, Banks continued to say she was telling the truth and anyone who knew her would know she was being candid.
Finally, in a separate follow-up video with a recorded clip of her phone call, Banks revealed that she was a victim “of a form of identity theft” based on Carnival’s investigation. Allegedly, when Banks and her partner posted their booking confirmation email on Facebook ahead of their trip, someone went on to Carnival’s website, created an account, and used their trip confirmation number.
The Carnival representative could be heard telling Banks that their reservation was canceled by someone who appeared to have an IP address in British Columbia. Per Banks’ report, Carnival offered her $10,404 in credit for their next trip if she posted on social media to say the company had resolved the issue. However, Banks said she wasn’t interested in that solution or ever booking with Carnival again.
The Independent has contacted Banks and Carnival for comment.
