Looking to book Carnival Cruise

[Yarrowfell]

Hi,

 

We are planning a trip Sept 2012 to the US (from Australia) and have found a cruise we want on Carnival Legend leaving Tampa on the 23rd September 2012. I have used cruise compete and got a few quotes as well as looked at vacations to go. Is there anywhere else I should get a quote?

 

Most quotes are around the same price for the cabin we are looking at (a Balcony) so what I want to know if it good to book so far out or do Carnival do "sales" and should we wait for one?

 

The offers from the TA have been poor so far - the best a $25 OBC for the cabin.

[soccersharon]

TA's are not allowed to undersell Carnival. The price you see on the Carnival site are rates TA's will quote you. You might consider booking under the ES program, and hope for price drops.

[Irishlinny]

You've picked a wonderful ship! She is our favorite!

Carnival has made it very difficult, if not impossible, for TA's to offer anything substantially better than booking with Carnival itself. So chances of you finding anything great somewhere else is slim. The best deal to get is to book Early Saver. However the deposit is non-refundable...you can apply it to another cruise within a year, but you will pay $50 per person in change fees. But those are the best prices, usually. Carnival does have sales from time to time, but generally they are not great, and don't often beat ES rates (or at least not by much). Sometimes you can get free upgrades to higher categories. They just had a 72 hour sale and it didn't have any effect on either of my 2 cruises, so it's selective. If you can handle the restrictions of ES, I would say book that way. Your price is protected up until 3 days before sailing, I believe. So you check the rates for your category as often as possible and if you see the rate go down, you go to Carnival's site and fill out the Early Saver form, submit it. When it's approved, you get either a reduction of your payment due, or On Board Credit if it's after final payment.

Good luck!:)

[5waldos]

However, some TAs undersell with OBC- although I think it cannot be advertised openly- you have to get in touch with them.

[Yarrowfell]

Thanks for all the replies. Just waiting on a few quotes so we can decide who to book thru. Being in Australia I cannot book via the Carnival site so that is not an option and TA's in Australia will charge 3 times the price for the same cruise.

 

I am happy to book an ES price - plans are firm and we will not change.

 

A few years ago we book a RC cruise using a US travel agent and a week before the cruise got a $300 per person price drop which was fantastic. Something TA's in Australia would NEVER do!!

 

Given the exchange rate atm - the US in a great place for us to visit.