OMG... Early Saver! How OBSESSED do you become???

[ava_girl_123]

I have been checking every hour on the hour! I feel like I am going nuts!! I do not want to miss a price drop! :eek:

[firefly333]

Having only gotten one $20 pp drop on many ES cruises ... I dont bother checking that often. ..but I still check, out of curiousity. Now that ES dropped off my next cruise, its showing $140 pp more than I paid ....I wouldnt check that often until we get down to the last month when if there will be a drop it will be in the last 6 weeks id guess...so no not checking that often right now.

[VickiD59]

Do they drop or climb more than once in a day? I would think that IF there was a rate change, it would be for a 24 hour period, not hourly? :confused:

[chapps]

i've asked this question before on a couple of other threads to no avail. i've booked my fam on our first cruise for june 2011 using ES, how soon do i start checking for price drops? is there an average time that price drops start happening? i haven't become quite obsessed YET (it's borderline) about checking prices. i do check at least once a day though. it seems over a year out is a bit much, but i could be wrong?

[firefly333]

i've asked this question before on a couple of other threads to no avail. i've booked my fam on our first cruise for june 2011 using ES, how soon do i start checking for price drops? is there an average time that price drops start taking happening? i haven't become quite obsessed YET (it's borderline) about checking prices. i do check at least once a day though. it seems over a year out is a bit much, but i could be wrong?

 

How often is up to you. Some as the OP said check hourly, some check daily, some check weekly ...its up to you.

 

Rates can change multiple times per day. Some have caught huge drops that were only available for hours.

 

I was checking the empty cabins hourly when I had a guarantee waiting for it to be filled I booked 8 days before my last cruise ..hoping to see where they would put me. Stuff would say sold out, whole cruise sold out, 3 cabins available, not sold out, would change all day long at the end.

[The_Geek]

I check daily. We got a $460 savings yesterday.

[chapps]

thank you. so, as i understand, even with my cruise set to sail june 2011, it's not unusual to see price drops NOW--over a year out. i booked a couple of weeks ago, and actually started checking the very next day...:rolleyes:

[twinglemom]

We booked well over a year out and got a price drop of $240 in July 2009 for our Sept 2010 Valor cruise. I've been watching it since then and it mostly been up since that point although it did briefly drop back to the price we got right before ES rates disappeared. I'm hoping that there will be more drops once we get beyond final payment but so far I'm happy!

[elcuchio24]

Do they drop or climb more than once in a day? I would think that IF there was a rate change, it would be for a 24 hour period, not hourly? :confused:

 

Nope. Our last cruise the price dropped for 6 hours, then went back up again. Saw it, claimed it, got the a bunch of OBC.

[chapps]

We booked well over a year out and got a price drop of $240 in July 2009 for our Sept 2010 Valor cruise. I've been watching it since then and it mostly been up since that point although it did briefly drop back to the price we got right before ES rates disappeared. I'm hoping that there will be more drops once we get beyond final payment but so far I'm happy!

 

AWESOME! now i don't feel like a fool checking so soon, so often. :D

[peppermintpatty]

I am sailing in August. I have yet to see a price drop. It acutally went up not too long after I booked and it hasn't moved.

[2snorkel/cruisers]

I read somewhere that Carnival updates the prices on the site four times a day. I check daily sometimes a couple times a day. Found two drops for my sister so far. None on ours, we got it for a rock bottom price and it probably won't go below our price, but I keep checking!!

[ourtimenow]

I have become a crazy woman checking all the time. So I am happy to see that I am not the only one!!

I will continue my 3 or 4 time a day check. And hopefully it won't go up any more.

Happy price drops!

[Shelbyjane56]

How often is up to you. Some as the OP said check hourly, some check daily, some check weekly ...its up to you.

 

Rates can change multiple times per day. Some have caught huge drops that were only available for hours.

 

I was checking the empty cabins hourly when I had a guarantee waiting for it to be filled I booked 8 days before my last cruise ..hoping to see where they would put me. Stuff would say sold out, whole cruise sold out, 3 cabins available, not sold out, would change all day long at the end.

 

How does one check to see what cabins are left...call me blonde, (which I am) but I still dont understand checking the pricing, but Id like to understand ! Thanks for any help

[LJ2b2c]

I did check a couple of times a day while the rates were dropping. Now they have been increasing for the past few weeks, so I don't check as often. However, they do change several times per day, and can drop for a very short period of time. Most of this is probably driven by some rate model based on bookings and time, so if it is close to a threshhold, it may drop and then go back up after a couple of new bookings are made.

[mndw09]

I check a couple times per week. So far I've had a $220.00 savings and that was in a one time price drop. :)

[Ken076]

How does one check to see what cabins are left...call me blonde, (which I am) but I still dont understand checking the pricing, but Id like to understand ! Thanks for any help

 

When you book Early Saver you're not only concerned with drops in the Early Saver Rate itself (which goes away in 3 months cruises 5 days or less and in 5 months cruises 6 days or more) but you also want to monitor drops for any rates that you're eligible for, including the FunSelect Rate, Past Guest Rate (if you're a Past guest), the 55+ Rate (if you're 55+), the Resident Rate for your State of Residence, and the Military Rate (if you're military eligible). If the Past Guest rate drops below your current ES rate, and you’re a Past Guest, you get that rate. Same for FunSelect, 55+, Resident and Military Rate drops. Remember that the price protection is for same ship, same dates, same Cabin Category and same number of passengers (the adjustment is for the combined PAX 1 and PAX 2 rates AND the PAX 3 (if any) and PAX 4 (if any) rates.

Once Booked, You can check the Early Saver and Past Guest, 55+ and Resident Promo Rates daily using the Quick Search Box on carnival.com . In order to view the promo rates, it may be necessary to first Log-In with your username AND Password, then Log-Out, such that no Name or Past Guest ID info is displayed when you visit carnival.com.

 

ken

[paulekrause]

I don't check, but called my TA to check for me because so many drops were happening. He got me $166 on my outside cabin and had my inside upgraded to an outside at no additional charge. Very satisfied and probably will check no more.

[FanofFlorida]

I have been checking every hour on the hour! I feel like I am going nuts!! I do not want to miss a price drop! :eek:

 

Time for an ES-price check INTERVENTION?

;)

[aqusis]

I thought I was bad checking once a day. I did get $313 credit a few days ago for booking on Legend 08/08/2010 so it does pay off!

[scchasgal]

I check both my cruises twice a day, once in the morning and once late afternoon. They can have price drops for just one day. Between both our cruises we are down 60.00 from our original ES price and we aren't at final payment yet.

[TinkyPatz]

Time for an ES-price check INTERVENTION?

;)

 

Hahaha, I think I need one too... I check 4-5 times a day! :o

[ava_girl_123]

Oh I need an intervention that is for sure.. I check on line then I call a few times to make sure I am looking at it the right way.. One time I looked, thought there was no drop, called and the rep said it dropped $50 pp.. Gave us the credit off our balance.. I am OBSESSED.. :eek:

 

 

On another note, I called to see if there was a drop.. first rep tells me yes, this is today mind you, she walks me threw the ES form and I submit it.. She sounded unsure so I called back, another rep tells me no, ES for this sailing is closed. I say, I am already book under ES, last rep said there is a 20$ pp drop... This rep says again, no, ES IS closed, besides, your cat and cabin did not drop.. I call a 3rd time, I figure 3rd time is a charm right.. This rep says no, ES is closed, rates will not drop anymore,once early saver is dropped the prices can no longer go down...???? Huh? I say...

 

No, you are wrong I told her.. She finally confrences the call with guest solutions who agree with me that both of the last 2 reps are wroong and she submitted a credit against our balance of $40.. My God, does anyone at Carnival know what they are talking about? The woman from guest solutions said she was sorry to me over and over again.. explained to the rep how ES works.. They both thought once ES dropped off of bookings people could not claim a drop...??? I told them both, "Don't tell me that, I belong to Cruise Critic and people receive OBC up until 2 days before the sailing.."

[oreomaximus]

Hello everyone:) -- new to cruising and cruise critic -- but I've been stalking the boards for about three weeks now since I discovered the site. I must say this before I address the topic at hand. This site is VERY , VERY informative and helpful-- especially for newbies like myself -- but it is also very cutthroat and intimidating. Wasn't ever quite sure if I would participate in any threads because of the constant "mobbing" that goes on here. Wow, I've never seen so many passionate people react so harshly to what is nothing more than a matter of opinion. Afterall, we're talking about VACATIONS here, not health and human rights. At any rate, I decided to change from an onlooker to a participator after I saw this thread.:rolleyes:

 

And on to the discussion at hand: OBC's are AWESOME. Never new they existed til someone in my roll call explained to me what they were and how you get them. I didn't think my cruise pric was going to do anything as it stayed at $200 over the price of what we paid for our back in August but low and behold 4 weeks before we cruise, the price is now AT what we paid so hopefully it will drop a little more and we will have an OBC as well. That would be icing on the cake. Wish us luck!!:D

[LJ2b2c]

My TA had the same problem when we first started submitting requests for OBC's. At first they said the ES program had expired (until I noted it was still on their website homepage), then they said we were past the 5 month cut-off (until I showed them where it counted until a couple of days before sail date).

 

Just keep asking till they get it right!