Unusual question about price drop & Early Saver

[palmbaytish]

So my husband and I booked our trip for the Glory on March 25, 2012 and we got the Early Saver price and now I see that they are offering a Winter Sale where they are offering $75 per person onboard credit for the same cabin type, deck and mid ship location. The overall price is $40 less than what we paid, but it is because the taxes and fees are lower per person, which I thought was really weird. I took a screen capture of these changes and submitted a claim through the Early Saver guarantee, but since the room rate itself is not lower, do you think we would have any shot of getting the lower price difference or the on board credit that they are offering?

 

I figured it was worth a shot to ask for the difference in an OBC, but have you ever heard of taxes and port charges going down? Do you think we have any chance of getting the lower price?

 

Either way, we are so totally excited about the trip. This is our 3rd cruise on Carnival and our daughter is super happy to be doing another cruise on Spring Break! For an 8 year old, a cruise is the ultimate! :)

 

Thanks in advance for any comments or suggestions! :D

[5waldos]

If your cabin prices are the same and you are currently being charged more for the taxes and fees, they will eventually be given to you in the form of OBC is you have already paid in full. Usually it is an odd and not large amount. However, if it is because of an onboard credit they are offering, probably not. However from the prices I have seen with the Winter Warming sale, they are not the lowest fares being offered even after deducting the cash offer. At least not on the Magic in late March.

[palmbaytish]

We already paid in full and out taxes were around $520 or $550 and now they are in the $330 range for new bookings...So if I understand you correctly, if the taxes wind up being lower, do they automatically issue you an OBC or do you have to ask for the difference?

[5waldos]

We already paid in full and out taxes were around $520 or $550 and now they are in the $330 range for new bookings...So if I understand you correctly, if the taxes wind up being lower, do they automatically issue you an OBC or do you have to ask for the difference?

 

They will be automatically adjusted on board and credited to your account. That is a big change though- usually I've seen much smaller amounts- more in the range of $5-10. But whatever the difference is will be credited to your account. I believe I once read here that increases usually weren't charged- but if it is several hundred dollars they may very well change that practice. You might to go back and check this however- that is dropping the taxes and port fees by nearly half. Something doesn't sound quite right.

[Ken076]

If your cabin prices are the same and you are currently being charged more for the taxes and fees, they will eventually be given to you in the form of OBC is you have already paid in full. Usually it is an odd and not large amount. However, if it is because of an onboard credit they are offering, probably not. However from the prices I have seen with the Winter Warming sale, they are not the lowest fares being offered even after deducting the cash offer. At least not on the Magic in late March.

 

The ES price matching is for differences in Cruise Fare only. ken

[buddylover]

The ES price matching is for differences in Cruise Fare only. ken

 

We were just adjusted for both a price drop and tax amount difference ..... credited the entire difference to our "bottom line" (we are before final payment however).

[palmbaytish]

You might to go back and check this however- that is dropping the taxes and port fees by nearly half. Something doesn't sound quite right.

 

I booked through Carnival.com originally and the different price on the taxes was on Carnival.com as well. i called and verified it with Carnival, too. It struck me as being really odd too, to have that big of a price difference in taxes and port charges of all things!

 

Another thing I was wondering, when I originally booked, I paid the entire balance at the time of booking (back in September). Then at the beginning of January, I logged in and saw that there was a "Balance Due" of $40. I for the life of me can't imagine I would have paid everything but $40, but I went ahead and paid the other $40, as to not be past due. Have you ever heard of this happening? My husband and I had called and ordered a bottle of Rum from the Bon Voyage Department that was coincidentally $40, but I know I gave a credit card # and paid for it then. Does the Bon Voyage department just add the cost of the alcohol to the room, maybe?

 

Sorry for so many questions!

[5waldos]

The ways of Carnival are hard to figure. Perhaps they just hadn't run the credit card, perhaps..................oh, who knows. I'd call and ask them- $40 here and $40 there begins to run into real money. At the same time you can ask them about the taxes. We put in for a ES price drop and asked them to adjust the taxes at the same time- we had been charged about $40 more for 4 than the current rates were. You still have plenty of time to get it straightened out and you really don't want to be dealing with it on your cruise.

[palmbaytish]

Thanks for the replys. I really just need to double check my credit card statement and see if there was a $40 charge from the Bon Voyage dept. back when we ordered the bottle. ***I just checked and we were billed $42.80 by the Bon Voyage dept in october, so that wasn't it. I'll call carnival and get an accurate billing statement***

 

I checked the specifics on the taxes and we paid $543 and they are now $344. That's not just a little bit of pocket change! :)

[5waldos]

One heck of a lot of DODs for sure! Still odd that the taxes and fees have dropped so much- wish ours would!