Price Lowered Should I Get A Credit

[klfrodo]

[quote name='jtwanabe']This is my first cruise to handle by myself. The other two have been company cruises. I would have never suspected that there was this matrix of issues and characters.
It seems to be something of an art form to navigate all the twist and terns.

By nature I try to think the best of people but the fact remains that though I more than once asked about the "price reduction" the TA did not offer to mention this "price
reduction form". Kind of hard not to deduce that I wasn't being taken care of as a customer.

Well live and learn. The adventure continues. :rolleyes:[/QUOTE]

There are many many types of TA's.
Small community that the TA usually helps with hotels, airlines, and the occasional Hawaii trip, to the TA's in a large community that sells cruise vacations only.
A cruise vacation is a little more difficult and if a TA only sells 1 or 2 a year, they may not know all the nuances.

On the other hand, there are some TA's who don't want you to know about ES and OBC and such. They got paid on booking. Now, you come along with your ES OBC request,,, they have to do more work PLUS have to pay back some of their commission.

Sometimes ignorance is bliss. If you hadn't read CC and known about ES and OBC,,,, you'd be sitting back happy as a pig in mud :D knowing you're getting ready for a cruise. Now your stress level is up, you're less excited for your cruise,,etc,etc... I hope the amount of savings are worth it

[jtwanabe]

Getting the best deal, working all the angles is part of the overall
mindset that will allow me to take this cruise. Once I get on the
boat than the hunt is over and I will chillllllll out. But until then it's
get the best deal I ethically can.:rolleyes:

[klfrodo]

If DRAMA is what it's all about,,, then you could have stated that up front and could have saved a lot of us a lot of time trying to help out and explain things a little. :confused:

[jtwanabe]

Is that you Oprah ...... Lighten up. Seems there is always someone who wants to psychoanalyze the posts with the hope of some negative prognosis.

For a cruise newbie it has been something of a mystery and a drama as I educated myself on how this all works. I have found my search incredible interesting and rewarding.

To all the fine folks who have spent their energies helping instead demeaning
me I thank you for your time and your patience. To the rest ..... uh aw
whatever. :p

[spacepotatoes]

I hope your TA is able to come through for you! A tip for future price drops - when you see the reduced price, take a screenshot. Include it in your email to your TA.

TAs can be very hit or miss and I know what you mean about cruising being a surprisingly complex type of vacation! We booked our first through a TA and really didn't spend a lot of time doing leg work on it because we were busy planning our wedding (the cruise was our honeymoon). I did find CC before that cruise, though, and it was helpful. I stuck around after that cruise and learned just how much I didn't know the first time around! We ended up not using that TA again to book our second cruise.

We did book our two upcoming cruises through agencies but I made sure to get answers from them regarding their policies on making changes, honouring price reductions, and cancellations [B]before[/B] booking. And with the Carnival one, I had to explain the price drop form to them and they had to get their supervisor to confirm whether it was them or me that completed it :rolleyes:

It's a learning process and the more you do this, the more you learn the ins and outs. It sounds like you're a lot like me, and enjoy that process! Don't worry too much if things don't go 100% perfectly this time around. At least you'll know for next time :)

Have a great cruise!

[jtwanabe]

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm not sure where I am now. I got a note from my TA which doesn't make any sense to me. Below is what I received:

[COLOR=#000000][FONT=arial] [U][I][FONT=arial]The rate you have requested is for the Pack & Go promotion comes with a TBA cabin. The guest is currently assigned in a 4B cabin. If you answer back that you accept forfeiting your cabin number then I can switch your rate. [/FONT][FONT=qterm] [/FONT][/I][/U]
[U][I][FONT=qterm][/FONT] [/I][/U]
[FONT=arial][U][I]Carnival will assign your cabin within two weeks of sailing. It will be category 1A or higher. The cabin may have two bunk beds. You cannot select a cabin with this promotion, that is why it offers a lower rate. I will not change either your rate or cabin without your consent.[/I][/U]
[/FONT]
[/FONT][/COLOR]

Sounds like I either play it safe and stay where I am or go for the lower rate and take what I get. That's how I read it anyways. The only plus on top of the money seems to be that "guaranteed" is more eligible for an upgrade than an assigned or so I'm told.

What say you

[S.S.Oceanlover]

[quote name='jtwanabe']Thanks for the encouragement. I'm not sure where I am now. I got a note from my TA which doesn't make any sense to me. Below is what I received:

[COLOR=#000000][FONT=arial] [U][I][FONT=arial]The rate you have requested is for the Pack & Go promotion comes with a TBA cabin. The guest is currently assigned in a 4B cabin. If you answer back that you accept forfeiting your cabin number then I can switch your rate. [/FONT][FONT=qterm] [/FONT][/I][/U]
[U][I][FONT=qterm][/FONT] [/I][/U]
[FONT=arial][U][I]Carnival will assign your cabin within two weeks of sailing. It will be category 1A or higher. The cabin may have two bunk beds. You cannot select a cabin with this promotion, that is why it offers a lower rate. I will not change either your rate or cabin without your consent.[/I][/U]
[/FONT]
[/FONT][/COLOR]

Sounds like I either play it safe and stay where I am or go for the lower rate and take what I get. That's how I read it anyways. The only plus on top of the money seems to be that "guaranteed" is more eligible for an upgrade than an assigned or so I'm told.

What say you[/QUOTE]

You said the oceanview is the same price as the price you paid. Do you want the oceanview.

When comparing price drops you can't compare inside guarantees to the a 4B. They must be the same category.

So they are offering to switch your rate even though you are not ES or are you ES?

Bill

[canadiancruiser13]

[quote name='Alliezona09']As long as you booked Early Saver rate, you can use this form~
[URL]http://www.carnival.com/BookingEngine/FareViewer[/URL][/QUOTE]
Thanks for sharing the link you posted. This would diffently help when we start booking for our next cruise even though we go through a TA.

[spacepotatoes]

[quote name='jtwanabe']Thanks for the encouragement. I'm not sure where I am now. I got a note from my TA which doesn't make any sense to me. Below is what I received:

[COLOR=#000000][FONT=arial] [U][I][FONT=arial]The rate you have requested is for the Pack & Go promotion comes with a TBA cabin. The guest is currently assigned in a 4B cabin. If you answer back that you accept forfeiting your cabin number then I can switch your rate. [/FONT][/I][/U]

[FONT=arial][U][I]Carnival will assign your cabin within two weeks of sailing. It will be category 1A or higher. The cabin may have two bunk beds. You cannot select a cabin with this promotion, that is why it offers a lower rate. I will not change either your rate or cabin without your consent.[/I][/U]
[/FONT]
[/FONT][/COLOR]

Sounds like I either play it safe and stay where I am or go for the lower rate and take what I get. That's how I read it anyways. The only plus on top of the money seems to be that "guaranteed" is more eligible for an upgrade than an assigned or so I'm told.

What say you[/quote]

Ah, this makes much more sense now! You are currently booked in a specific inside 4B cabin, under the Early Saver rate. ES lets you price match to the same category you are booked in. The rate you saw was a Pack n Go rate. With Pack n Go, you can only get a guaranteed room in the category of choice. All that means is that you're guaranteed a 1A or higher stateroom. The actual cabin will be assigned by Carnival. If you switch to that rate, you can no longer do the price matching because there is no category to match.

What they're saying is that you can keep what you've got and continue looking for a price drop in specific categories (stay with Early Saver and your chosen cabin), OR give up your current cabin to take your chances with a guarantee under a different fare program (Pack 'n Go).

How comfortable are you with gambling on your location? If you are totally flexible and really don't care where you end up, then take the upgrade. If you're not sure, better to stick with what you've got. Keep in mind, though, that if it's saying "1A or higher" that means you may end up in a lower category than the one you're currently in.

[jtwanabe]

Okay it's making more sense now. My cabin # is in the 11++ area of the Triumph on a 5 night cruise.
As far as I can tell it's not under any disco or in the vicinity of any noise makers. I love my quiet.
That being said what I don't understand is considering that I have an assigned room what should I
be looking for as a safe improvement over what I have. The money on a price reduction is not as
important as an enjoyable room. I have told my TA that if a balcony came within a reasonable rate
that I would be very interested. Should I just stop checking the daily price unless I'm willing to
release my assigned room.

Considering that I have an assigned room am I for all intense and purposes as good as I'm going to
get unless the upgrade fairly taps me for a balcony?

Inquiring minds want to know. :rolleyes:

[jbanana1]

Don't quit checking the price on fareviewer but check the price for a 4B category and for all the rates you qualify for such as past guest, resident rate (put in your state). We got 3 price reductions in April, all from resident rate, for our cruise at the end of June of this year so you still have time to get a reduction and OBC. I also checked several times a day. One day I checked when I first got on my computer and no price reduction but I decided to check one more time before getting off (had been on computer about an hour) and the price had gone down. You never know when it will occur.

[jtwanabe]

When I asked about over 55, resident, whatever discount he said that ES was the lowest there was and there was no need to worry about the others. :confused:
But how do you know if another 4b has gone down in price. How do you check?

[S.S.Oceanlover]

[quote name='jtwanabe']When I asked about over 55, resident, whatever discount he said that ES was the lowest there was and there was no need to worry about the others. :confused:
But how do you know if another 4b has gone down in price. How do you check?[/QUOTE]


You can certainly price match any rate you are eligible for.

Just reread your post and see that you are on a 5 day cruise so ES should still be available for a few more days.

Bill

[jbanana1]

On page two of this thread someone posted the link to the fareviewer. You can also get to it by going to FAQ's on Carnival's website. Search Early Saver and it brings up a question on how to check the fare and says click here to check. Once you click on it, you input your info and it will bring up the current rates. Click on the lowest rate you qualify for and it will give the current rate for all the categories of your type of cabin (inside, OV etc). You price match to your category, 4B. As long as early saver is still in effect, that should be the lowest rate. When early saver goes away the other rates might go below what you paid for as early saver. If it does, you would contact your TA and have them complete and submit the form.

[spacepotatoes]

[quote name='jtwanabe']
Considering that I have an assigned room am I for all intense and purposes as good as I'm going to
get unless the upgrade fairly taps me for a balcony?

Inquiring minds want to know. :rolleyes:[/quote]

If you have an inside cabin that you've selected yourself and are happy with it's location, then for me, it wouldn't be worth letting it go to gamble on an inside guarantee. You may get really lucky and end up with a balcony cabin but that kind of upgrade does not happen often. The key to booking a guarantee cabin is being comfortable with ending up in exactly what you've paid for. If it's the balcony you really want, then keep an eye on those rates and just pay the difference when the price is one you're comfortable with. In the meantime, keep checking the rates for the cabin you currently have.