When will balcony prices drop on my cruise?!

[CHAPULA]

Hubby and I are booked on upcoming 8-day cruise embarking Sept 26 on Liberty. Currently booked guaranteed balcony. We'd like to 'upgrade' to Lido deck when and IF prices drop since it's past final payment and we didn't book ES. I've been checking prices and they have yet dropped prices for rates that allow you to choose balcony cabin. (Rate as of today $979 pp) There are a MINIMUM of 106 balcony cabins still available. (At least 20 Lido balconies still available). I say 'minimum' since they show no more than 10 available cabins at a time, so there are likely more.

 

My question is, if there are so many balconies still available with less then 2 months left till sailing, when will they drop the prices for choosing your balcony cabin or do you think they even will? It seems all other 8 day cruises out of Port Canaveral during Sept have dropped, just not mine :(

[ItsAllAboutTheSass]

Hubby and I are booked on upcoming 8-day cruise embarking Sept 26 on Liberty. Currently booked guaranteed balcony. We'd like to 'upgrade' to Lido deck when and IF prices drop since it's past final payment and we didn't book ES. I've been checking prices and they have yet dropped prices for rates that allow you to choose balcony cabin. (Rate as of today $979 pp) There are a MINIMUM of 106 balcony cabins still available. (At least 20 Lido balconies still available). I say 'minimum' since they show no more than 10 available cabins at a time, so there are likely more.

 

My question is, if there are so many balconies still available with less then 2 months left till sailing, when will they drop the prices for choosing your balcony cabin or do you think they even will? It seems all other 8 day cruises out of Port Canaveral during Sept have dropped, just not mine :(

 

They may never drop. You don't know how many of those cabins will be guarantees. Just because a cruise is showing availability, doesn't mean it isn't selling.

[skrufy]

Only Carnival knows the answer.

[golfadj]

Carnival has a program that adjusts pricing due to supply and demand. Noway to know what will happen but if there are a lot of balconies left as you get closer you do have a good chance.

[funinthesun1964]

They may never drop. I have watched prices for a particular cruise before and thought for sure they would drop since it was only a few weeks to sailing. But it never did drop, and the ship sailed full. They know how to get the maximum money for those cabins. They could be unassigned guarantees, like the poster said above, or something else could be going on.

 

Only thing you can do is keep on checking! ;)

 

ETA: I've noticed lately that when they drop prices, it's only a pack n go special or a super saver, which can't be matched to an Early Saver rate. However, some people lately DID say they got away with matching to a Super Saver...guess it doesn't hurt to try

Edited August 6, 2014 by funinthesun1964

[Stallion]

If its in the Caribbean, they are going to drop this time of year especially with a glut of unoccupied cabins on just about every cruise. Be patient. You might have to even wait 3, 4 or 5 weeks out.

Edited August 6, 2014 by Stallion

[jcearth]

Are you 55 and over? There is a senior rate for this cruise and an 8D Lido is $1638 for 2 people (819pp)

[Stallion]

another strategy would be to wait for your Balcony assignment and then make your move. Then you can weigh how much that move is worth to you. I was a Balcony guarantee on Magic and just got assigned Deck 9 right under those Lido cabins. Just steps away from stairs and elevators to pool. I'm probably closer to pool than a lot of the Lido Balconies. Not worth the $600-$700 it would cost for me to get assigned to Lido. They are using the guarantee rates to fill ship while maintaining the assigned levels at much much higher prices.

[Canadian_J]

another strategy would be to wait for your Balcony assignment and then make your move. Then you can weigh how much that move is worth to you. I was a Balcony guarantee on Magic and just got assigned Deck 9 right under those Lido cabins. Just steps away from stairs and elevators to pool. I'm probably closer to pool than a lot of the Lido Balconies. Not worth the $600-$700 it would cost for me to get assigned to Lido. They are using the guarantee rates to fill ship while maintaining the assigned levels at much much higher prices.

 

Not a bad strategy at all. Do you guys gamble? Haha! ;)

[Stallion]

in August and September in Caribbean-sure

But not around holidays, summer or peak season

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[WLHyatt]

Our last two cruises we booked early saver but the prices never dropped below what we paid.

[jill24fan]

So can you upgrade if the price for better rooms are a good deal? Even if you DO NOT have ES rate?

[pbsteve]

There are a MINIMUM of 106 balcony cabins still available. (At least 20 Lido balconies still available). I say 'minimum' since they show no more than 10 available cabins at a time, so there are likely more.

 

Not necessarily true. If there are 105 people booked with a guaranteed cabin rate, than there could only be 1 room left. The guarantees are not assigned a room yet, so you can pick from any room that isn't assigned, however if they have 105 people booked for guaranteed cabin, they have to hold 105 cabins total of any type of balcony. This is also where the upsell troll comes into play. If theres 20 lido balconies left, they will call the people who booked other rooms and see if they can get them to pay a little more for a lido, so that the guaranteed people don't get the "top of the line" cabins for the bargain price. This is why no one but carnival knows how many rooms are actually left. My balcony rates for Sept 21st have dropped multiple times, leading me to believe its not selling well, but I cant be sure, if yours are not dropping, that leads me to believe they are selling out.

[Lovefuninthesun]

Our last two cruises we booked early saver but the prices never dropped below what we paid.

 

Interesting.

We always book ES well in advance for an October or November sail date.

And we have always been fortunate to realize at least $200, sometimes far more, in price reductions.

[Badfinger]

Dang, where is my crystal ball when I need it?

[cjnwildfire]

My experience has been that it drops right at the pay off date. However I continually check at the end of each sale. This sale cycle ends Aug 10. I will check again Aug 11.

At the 4 weeks out mark. For me it will be Aug 26, I will check every day! up until Sept 24.

You have to work for it if you really want it!

 

Hope this helps!!!!

 

PS. I generally get back $200-$500.

[keywest1]

Balconies on the Sunshine for Sept 13 dropped quite dramatically for a couple of days last week, just long enough for me to upgrade from Lobby 4J to forward Verandah balcony (cabins above and below) for $150 total including insurance premium increase for the three of us. Prices are back up now. So keep checking a couple of times a day and you may get lucky like we did ;)

[CHAPULA]

Just my luck Hubby is 54! Missed out by 1 lousy year. Especially since that's about the price I paid for the guarantee balcony!

[KansasK]

Hubby and I are booked on upcoming 8-day cruise embarking Sept 26 on Liberty. Currently booked guaranteed balcony. We'd like to 'upgrade' to Lido deck when and IF prices drop since it's past final payment and we didn't book ES. I've been checking prices and they have yet dropped prices for rates that allow you to choose balcony cabin. (Rate as of today $979 pp) There are a MINIMUM of 106 balcony cabins still available. (At least 20 Lido balconies still available). I say 'minimum' since they show no more than 10 available cabins at a time, so there are likely more.

 

My question is, if there are so many balconies still available with less then 2 months left till sailing, when will they drop the prices for choosing your balcony cabin or do you think they even will? It seems all other 8 day cruises out of Port Canaveral during Sept have dropped, just not mine :(

 

We are on the Liberty sailing Oct.25. Our final payment is August 11, coming right up. I checked the cost of our balcony cabin and found it was less. I called and we saved $345.00, so balcony prices did drop for our date.