Early Saver Rate...Worth It?

[queenteacher]

I am taking my family on the Magic in December 2012. I have NEVER booked this far ahead and I can't imagine what will happen in 1 1/2 years. The rate is good, but the no refund deposit scares me (10 people). I can get a military rate for a bit more, with a refundable deposit, but I don't get the price drop guarantee. For those of you who have purchased the Early Saver Rate, did you see that the risk was worth any additional savings?

 

Thanks

[queenteacher]

Oh yeah, we always purchase insurance so don't consider that in your opinion :)

[wasiii]

I am taking my family on the Magic in December 2012. I have NEVER booked this far ahead and I can't imagine what will happen in 1 1/2 years. The rate is good, but the no refund deposit scares me (10 people). I can get a military rate for a bit more, with a refundable deposit, but I don't get the price drop guarantee. For those of you who have purchased the Early Saver Rate, did you see that the risk was worth any additional savings?

 

Thanks

 

.....you only lose $50 per person if you cancel. The remainder of each deposit is held by Carnival in EACH PERSON'S account and can be used for a future sailing. You can't be sailing with Tom, Dick and Harry and then later on use the credits for Mary, Jane and Yolanda.

 

Booking ES, I have only canceled 1 cruise but I immediately booked another.

 

I think the positive (low price) far outweighs the negative (losing $50).

 

:cool:

 

wasiii

[prattmom]

You still can get price drops with other fare types, just not after final payment...

[alreadypacked]

With early saver, no name changes are allowed. If someone cannot go, you have to actually cancel them off the booking, add the new person to the booking and pay another deposit for the new person. With other fare codes, you can simply pay a $50 fee to change a name if someone cannot go. Military rate doesn't allow name changes either.

[stewpapa]

From my experience, I would say, Yes it is worth it. ES is always the lowest price guaranteed until 2 days from sailing. That is potentially a big saver and always more than the $50 it costs to cancel. The nonrefundable deposit is not an issue if you are frequent cruiser.

 

The only thing from the OP's question I would worry about is the group thing. We are considering taking our whole family, 5 Cabins and we are paying for everyone as a gift, so if someone cancels, the nonrefundable deposit would be in their name, not ours. If I knew they would use it, it would be ok, but since they may not cruise again for a long time, I would hate to lose that money. They should have the deposits for canceled cruises go to the credit of whoever paid for the booking, not for the person who was going it use it. That would ease my mind a lot for a group.

[marshhawk]

I booked ES on the last three cruises, the first one I didn't know I could get any money back if rates lowered. One the second one the price just went up, not down (so lucky me ) and on this last one (trip coming up) I paid attention and got an OBC for 30. But this last time because I was traveling with people, and we would be driving together and cruising together, we got the insurance coverage. I would really want to verify everyone's commitment to the cruise, and then go ahead with the ES.:)

[tattoos]

In my experience, we have found that if you book a cruise at least a year in advance, the price of the cruise will not come down before you sail, you are getting the best possible deal at that moment. We booked ten months out for our upcoming cruise and the price dropped once by $10, big deal, not worth going thru the hassle of booking early saver. I find all the other "specials" offered by the cruise lines, i.e., category upgrade, onboard credits, etc., are really not specials, the cost of the cruise is pumped up to include these enticing come-ons and is so well marketed to the general public that it appears you are getting a great deal but they have already marked up the cruise price. It's all smoke and mirrors.

 

I think booking early and booking the exact stateroom you want is the best way to go. Don't expect to be visited by the upgrade fairy because you will be very disappointed. They might offer to upgrade you from an inside to an inside category on a higher deck but beware of room location that they want to upgrade you to, might be under the disco or worse. An upsell is something totally different but be very leery here also.

[happy cruzin]

I agree with what others have already posted. For us....the savings outweigh cancellation fee.

BUT.... if your group needs flexibility - then that is a reason NOT to go with the ES. Booking a group under ES could be an issue - if you are not 100% sure that there will be no changes.

[LPLRN]

You can book regular price now to get the cabins you want and then transfer to ES as the time gets closer and everyone is commited.

[happy cruzin]

In my experience, we have found that if you book a cruise at least a year in advance, the price of the cruise will not come down before you sail, you are getting the best possible deal at that moment. We booked ten months out for our upcoming cruise and the price dropped once by $10, big deal, not worth going thru the hassle of booking early saver. I find all the other "specials" offered by the cruise lines, i.e., category upgrade, onboard credits, etc., are really not specials, the cost of the cruise is pumped up to include these enticing come-ons and is so well marketed to the general public that it appears you are getting a great deal but they have already marked up the cruise price. It's all smoke and mirrors.

 

I think booking early and booking the exact stateroom you want is the best way to go. Don't expect to be visited by the upgrade fairy because you will be very disappointed. They might offer to upgrade you from an inside to an inside category on a higher deck but beware of room location that they want to upgrade you to, might be under the disco or worse. An upsell is something totally different but be very leery here also.

 

 

Although that can certainly happen - it is not typically our experience. Often we have sailed with substantial OBC (over $300.00/cabin) - or opted for upgrades because of past guest rates or price drops that happen closer to sail date.

It rarely happens for the cabins that DH and I choose - but those in my family who have booked BL, OV or IS have certainly benefitted. ;)

[tef43]

We book ES exclusively as there is absolutely nothing that can make us change plans.

 

We book the exact cabin that we want, so we have no interest in upgrades. It's all about the price.

[mzloolue]

To me, ES is a gamble.

 

I book it, but not far out.

[kicia]

It's paid off for us and most of our price drops have happened after final payment so if we were not booked ES we would not have gotten the OBC. We have $1300 in OBC this cruise for 2 people and we had to move to a suite to get that since our category was sold out but a suite isn't exactly roughing it so we made out OK.

[firefly333]

I would book refundable, military is good since you can get it now... and LATER change to ES.

 

You can always change to ES later. I dont see the rush. Its avaialbe until much closer to your cruise and ALL rates can get price drops until final payment. Slow down.

 

I had a problem with my 2nd pax and doing some cruises now solo because I cant just change names for $50. .. one more solo to go :)

[AWCHIEF]

I am taking my family on the Magic in December 2012. I have NEVER booked this far ahead and I can't imagine what will happen in 1 1/2 years. The rate is good, but the no refund deposit scares me (10 people). I can get a military rate for a bit more, with a refundable deposit, but I don't get the price drop guarantee. For those of you who have purchased the Early Saver Rate, did you see that the risk was worth any additional savings?

 

Thanks

 

Definitely worth it if you can live with the ES restrictions and purchase insurance. The ability to get price reductions up to 48 before the cruise is one of the best benefits.

[DebJ14]

I look at ES rate as buying an option - you pay $50.00 for the right to get the lowest price for the cabin you want. With the difference in prices between ES and the other rates I think it is worth it. Any price drops or upgrades are just gravy.

The cruise we have booked in May jumped $180.00 per person before our Category sold out. We have received 2 price reductions for our August cruise totaling $80.00 per person. So, yes in both cases it was worth it to go with the ES fare. If we have to cancel for business the company my DH works for will reimburse us and for other legit reasons we have third party insurance that was half the price of Carnival's insurance through Berkeley.

[firefly333]

Just remember ALL rates get price drops until final payment. I dont see the rush to lock in ES.

[happy cruzin]

Just remember ALL rates get price drops until final payment. I dont see the rush to lock in ES.

 

But....they have been significantly lower than any other rate for the ones we have booked. Maybe because we do book so far out - but locking in ES, for us, is the best was to ensure the lowest rate.

[pattyfresh]

It's been worth it for me so far, I booked last October for my cruise coming up in 2 weeks and the price is up $500 more than what I paid.

[realtrip]

Hi, I booked ES for the Magic. I booked in September for my June cruise. The price has dropped several times. Last one just a few weeks ago. So far, I have amassed 540$ in OBC for two of us in an inside cabin.

On other cruises, sometimes got OBC, sometimes not. Very worth it in my opinion.

 

Happy cruising!

[happy cruzer]

I think ES works best for those who cruise often and who live within driving distance.

 

If I cruised various lines and flew to the port, I am not sure that I like to be tied to Carnival and the 1 year rebooking window.

 

We do ES only from our home port that is driving distance otherwise shopping around to different dates and cruise lines can get great rates too without ES.

 

Just a different way of looking at it....

[Kiln Wood]

Very interesting posts here! Thanks for all the insight!!

[queenteacher]

From my experience, I would say, Yes it is worth it. ES is always the lowest price guaranteed until 2 days from sailing. That is potentially a big saver and always more than the $50 it costs to cancel. The nonrefundable deposit is not an issue if you are frequent cruiser.

 

The only thing from the OP's question I would worry about is the group thing. We are considering taking our whole family, 5 Cabins and we are paying for everyone as a gift, so if someone cancels, the nonrefundable deposit would be in their name, not ours. If I knew they would use it, it would be ok, but since they may not cruise again for a long time, I would hate to lose that money. They should have the deposits for canceled cruises go to the credit of whoever paid for the booking, not for the person who was going it use it. That would ease my mind a lot for a group.

 

This is my worry! We are taking our kids who absolutely can not afford to cruise on their own. They are young, with children, and don't have the resources.

[queenteacher]

Everyone has given me such great insight! Thanks so much. I will probably go with the lowest rate that's not EBS because of the non-refundable deposit that just wouldn't/couldn't be used if cancelled.

 

Getting the exact cabins we want is really important to us, especially traveling with grandbabies!

 

I love cruise critic and the information I get.