Stallion

,,,and in the middle of summer there should be a huge number of teens on board. My son always enjoyed the Club or just hanging out-on last day of cruise there are usually crying teenagers getting telephone numbers and e-mails from their new friends. Numbers are better for these "crazy kids" than for us poor "old" single grownups

You could get called down for sneaking booze on the ship

New Orleans is a city that you can get a good "mystery hotel' on various booking sites. Of course, not when major event is in town. That's one city that has always come through because of so many higher ranked hotels.

they've said that every year for decades-but they always do last minute discounts in weaker off or shoulder seasons-but late June is usually booked full so not that likely

late June is a tough time to be looking for solo deals.

I've done it 5 times and its always been like finding hundreds of dollars-but you need to pay attention to how the ship is selling. I always sail in August and September in most recent years Carnival has had excess capacity on almost all its sailings. Probably not near as good a strategy in summer or the holidays

I've done it about 5 times (always in late August) and every time its been an absolute bargain saving hundreds of dollars over the equivalent price for the cabin assigned. Focus on date of cruise and amount of unsold inventory. Price could still go down substantially in October unless its already a rock bottom price like every other Carnival ship is going for right now

I got mine about 2 business days later for a cruise 3 weeks later. If the cruise is reasonably close, most report a pretty prompt assignment before cruise date. About 8 years ago I was assigned at the port

Carnival doesn't have much motivation to lower prices 8 months from the cruise. I find that right now I've never seen their prices LOWER in August/September. They are filling ships with the Guarantee rates while keeping assigned rates high-. There is an almost unlimited menu of 80-86% off cruises right now with these guarantee rates. Just consult one of the many last minute cruise indexes. When the guarantees are assigned cruisers are getting upgraded substantially

seems like more problems with credit cards involve international computer hacking than local security issues. Never had a problem while traveling in other countries but have had the now common security alerts while in the USA-most recently with an alleged charge from China where I've never been. Think the problem is broader in scope

The Kids are Heading Back to Schools-and we are headed for the Caribbean. Tough luck kids-only 9 months

Geez you guys are on a roll

Yes $497 pp today and there are balconies that I've seen in last week for about 1,100 per cabin. RCCL will change their rates every couple of hours. You got to be ready to jump. Tell your sister to keep looking once it gets to October unless you are talking Thanksgiving which will always sail at a premium

I did get an upgrade offer to balcony a few weeks AFTER expressing interest in upgrading and getting a rate quote. Booked directly with Carnival on that cruise. I wondered if it might have had something to do with the upgrade offer

I'm Platinum on both CCL and RCCL. Definitely like the RCCL ships better but also like the Fun as a single right now better on CCL.

RCCL pricing structure and itineraries really irritate me. Despite forcing you to pay a premium, they've got their own problems filling ships. See 98 Balconies on the Oasis remaining unsold sailing in less than 2 weeks to the Eastern Caribbean

and probably illegal under various state deceptive trade practices acts. I mean the evidence on this thread is pretty damning.

took the words right out of my mouth ! agree !

I'm too busy having fun on my cruise to take the time to meet and greet a bunch of Carnival suits. I know some seem to enjoy it. I'd be like the 6 year in church fidgeting in my chair and wondering "Can I go outside and play on the Cruise Ship now?"

Looks more like a 175-200% rate...

how do you figure that?

the lowest balcony I've seen on that cruise is $639 per person double occupancy or $1278 double occupancy

People worry way too much about the supplement rate anyway. Getting a single balcony for less than $800(plus taxes) on a 7 day cruise on a newer ship is a Grand Slam Homerun

We have a bunch of solos on our board (at least 10 or so) that have all gotten to know each other from prior cruises. Kind of funny a bunch of us just independently always like to cruise last week in August (school back in/lower prices/before football season) and so all just end up on the same ship every year out of Galveston when we do a Western cruise. Pretty diverse crowd but we all get along.

I'm on that cruise-and have been looking at rates for several months. Finally, jumped on Pack N Go Balcony for $988+ Taxes just last week. Ended up on Deck 9. So that's a great deal. Lowest possible on that cruise I have seen over last 4 months. I thought I had snagged lowest possible rate but you beat it in a cove. Make sure to check on Carnival using different rates to see if you can just get a full balcony. Sometime there is a link for alternative rates. They are still struggling to fill that ship. Join us on roll call

I've stayed at:

Tremont-excellent historically preserved, elegant hotel that gives you a feel of Galveston before the Great storm-but expensive-no pool is a negative for me. They do have an interesting porch at the top though

Galvez-excellent resort style-great pool-great location but expensive

Holiday Inn Resort hits a lot of things I'm looking for in a little bit cheaper alternative-great location right on seawall, nice pool overlooking the beach, comfortable rooms but its really more of a motel in that its corridors are open air. Free Parking. Has a fun little Nite Club that actually is pretty happening at nite.

All 3 have Park/Shuttle free Parking alternative but you have to stay 2 nites generally-I've always been able to book Holiday Inn Park/Cruise deal for 1 nite but only after checking numerous times-they sometimes drop the 2 nite requirement late. Galveston Hotel prices are generally ridiculously high in comparison to Miami, San Juan etc and the quality is generally not as high except for Tremont, San Luis Galvez and Moody Gardens(not in my favorite location). They've got you "over an Island" so to speak and the great Houston hotels are an hour + traffic away. There a bunch of average to below average hotels that somehow get $200-250 plus due to lack of decent hotel alternatives.

Quite frankly there are numerous outstanding luxury 4 and 5 star hotels in Houston you can get for as much as half the price but once you pass downtown there is not many good alternatives until you get to Clear Lake(the home of NASA)-about 25 minutes for Galveston. (ex you can get the Houston 4Four Seasons for less than a run down 2 star in Galveston). I'd look at Clear Lake if you couldn't find a reasonably priced Galveston hotel and don't like the Houston option. Then you could just get your own parking at the port. My son absolutely loved his visit to the NASA museum when he was young. Clear Lake is an interesting little community on a huge lake. They've now built the Kemah boardwalk that has attracted a lot of tourists and Hotels

In college I stayed at the Commodore but it was definitely a budget hotel-nothing special and I think its pretty much the same now

note-these are all damn good assignments saving hundreds of dollars. This time of year the Balcony guarantee is the way to go.

in August and September in Caribbean-sure

But not around holidays, summer or peak season

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Do a Google Image and video search. I believe they are on there. Good advice to many-a high percentage of the cabins now have images and many have videos on these Image and Video searhes

another strategy would be to wait for your Balcony assignment and then make your move. Then you can weigh how much that move is worth to you. I was a Balcony guarantee on Magic and just got assigned Deck 9 right under those Lido cabins. Just steps away from stairs and elevators to pool. I'm probably closer to pool than a lot of the Lido Balconies. Not worth the $600-$700 it would cost for me to get assigned to Lido. They are using the guarantee rates to fill ship while maintaining the assigned levels at much much higher prices.