Has Early Saver worked well for you with price drops?

[Galleon1234]

Just booked one for a February cruise. Any good tips on how to not miss the price drops? I think I have CF set up... But any other tips are appreciated.

Thanks

[Donh44]

Just booked one for a February cruise. Any good tips on how to not miss the price drops? I think I have CF set up... But any other tips are appreciated.

Thanks

 

 

 

I always book Early Saver. Then I check Fareviewer.com daily for any price drops. If you see that your cabin category has dropped its price then you can submit a Price Protection Form to get your fare reduced. If the cruise is already paid for then you will get On Board Credit in place of a price reduction.

[kona_wahine]

Cruise fish works well, even though our last price drop I found before the email from them. We've had a couple, including an obc offer. We have $50 for one cruise and $120 for our other.

[Galleon1234]

I went to fareviewer.com and wasn't sure how to use it. Or is the fareviewer on the Carnival website? Thanks

[cntrydncr1]

Use the fare viewer on the carnival site. It worked out well for our upcoming trip. We were booked OV which sold out so I was going to stop looking at the fares. Someone here told me to watch the balcony prices and sure enough they dropped to the same price we paid for our OV so we were able to switch to a balcony!

[rlkubi]

We always book ES. Below is the link to watch. It has always saved us.

 

 

http://www.carnival.com/bookingengine/fareviewer

[bjd2]

For us it depends on the cabin we book. If we book Lido balcony or aft extended (or Havana Cabana) and those rooms are sold out, we get no drops. Other categories we have gotten many drops on using the fareview link above.

[Ahsndpro]

Cruise fish has paid for itself each time I have used it.

[Badfinger]

Just booked one for a February cruise. Any good tips on how to not miss the price drops? I think I have CF set up... But any other tips are appreciated.

Thanks

 

Back in 2013 we netted a priced reduction of $1200 on our Magic cruise because of ES (was provided as OBC, but I withdrew it as cash at the Kiosk).

 

For our upcoming June Breeze cruise, I booked an ES rate back in late August. Check a couple days ago and all of our rooms (Cloud 9 Spa Balcony on deck 11) are sold out...so no benefit this time around.

 

However, I booked it because I was willing to pay that price.

Edited November 2, 2015 by Badfinger

[mompella]

I think I booked early saver but not sure, would my invoice say if I did? Also when I go to the carnival website link above, does that amount include taxes and port fees or what should I compare that price with? Thanks for the link!

 

I just found where it says :Pricing below is displayed as a total amount based on number of travelers not including government taxes and fees.

Edited November 2, 2015 by mompella

[Towel Critter]

For us it depends on the cabin we book. If we book Lido balcony or aft extended (or Havana Cabana) and those rooms are sold out, we get no drops. Other categories we have gotten many drops on using the fareview link above.

Yep. Same experience here. The more desirable categories sell out fairly quickly and ES ends up not being so beneficial as it often is with other categories. The only times I've benefited from ES, I was on a deck lower than Lido. Of course, the general popularity of the ship and itinerary enter into the equation too. I may be wrong, since I have no experience in booking inside and ocean view staterooms with Carnival, but I suspect those that book them benefit from ES more often. Edited November 2, 2015 by Towel Critter

[ready2cruzagain]

Since booking ES for our cruises we have had $720 in price drops. This is before final payment though so anyone could get them. Final payment on our cruises are this month so hoping ES will work out for us.

 

In the past ES has worked out most of the time but I have had cruises booked with ES where there was not one price drop. It just depends on how well the cruise is selling as to whether or not there will be price drops.

 

Wanted to state that I never use fareviewer. The reason is that it does not show all of the fares available. Therefore, I would have missed out on several price drops. Fareviewer does not show Military rates, Interline rates, or VIFP special offer rates. So, if you are eligible for any of those rates I would do a mock booking and not use the fareviewer.

Edited November 2, 2015 by ready2cruzagain

[carolinaviking71208]

Just booked one for a February cruise. Any good tips on how to not miss the price drops? I think I have CF set up... But any other tips are appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

 

I use fare viewer and check daily. My upcoming B2B I've got $400 in drops on the 8-night and $200 on the 6-night. My prior cruises, I've had between $300 and $600 in OBC. Of course, I usually book a year out, or in the case of my B2B a year and a half.

 

So yes, Earlysaver has worked well for me.

[carolinaviking71208]

Since booking ES for our cruises we have had $720 in price drops. This is before final payment though so anyone could get them. Final payment on our cruises are this month so hoping ES will work out for us.

 

In the past ES has worked out most of the time but I have had cruises booked with ES where there was not one price drop. It just depends on how well the cruise is selling as to whether or not there will be price drops.

 

Wanted to state that I never use fareviewer. The reason is that it does not show all of the fares available. Therefore, I would have missed out on several price drops. Fareviewer does not show Military rates, Interline rates, or VIFP special offer rates. So, if you are eligible for any of those rates I would do a mock booking and not use the fareviewer.

 

 

Agreed. I should've added that I do check for specials not listed on fare viewer as well.

[cruising maniac]

I am very disappointed in ES. I booked a cove and the price has gone up and up then all of a sudden, the cabins are gone. I think that the guarantees were assigned and that a casino offer was made and cleared out the rest of the available cabins. I think that Carnival has this all figured out. I love to hear other peoples success stories but ours won't be on the list. :(

[KatPem]

Just got a $240 price drop last night on our upcoming cruise. I normally use the fare viewer on carnivals site but for some reason decided to do a mock booking. Well, I had a casino offer that won't show thru fare viewer. I submitted the form and it got declined. Decided to call and get clarification. The lady told me that when you submit the form, they only see what you see through the fare viewer. If it isn't on there you need to call. Got my price adjusted to the casino rate with no issues.

[Galleon1234]

Yesterday we upgraded to a specific cabin for a B2B cabin so we would be able to stay in the same cabin... The Carnival representative told us we were Early Saver on both legs so we would be able to get price drops up until 2 days prior to sailing. Ok great:)! So I repeated it back to her to be sure we were Early Saver on both legs and would be able to get the price drops... Yes...

 

Then had another question later in the evening and called back. That representative told me we were not Early Saver... What??? I was just told that an hour ago... by*******. I suggested they go back and listen to the recording because it will all be on the recording. So, they said they will pull the recording and get back to me in 48 hours.

 

We are before final payment. So this morning I checked

http://www.carnival.com/bookingengine/fareviewer and put in my details to check.

 

Now they are showing a "No Snow" rate where you have free upgrades and can select your cabin cheaper than what we are paying. So I called and tried to get it applied. I was now told the "no snow" rate only applies to a 1A type.

 

So, I read her what the "no Snow" rate said... Free upgrades and select your own cabin. So that is incorrect??:/

[ryoku]

We only ended up with $50 in obc for our cruise and it was actually before final payment so anyone could have gotten it. Once final payment was made it seemed like the better deals were for guarantee rooms only so I could have gotten more obc but would have given up my room.

 

We booked a cove balcony and didn't really want a higher balcony. My category has been sold out for a couple months now and we leave Saturday.

 

I'd still book ES since its a good price but only if you are sure of your dates and that you can go.

[ready2cruzagain]

Yesterday we upgraded to a specific cabin for a B2B cabin so we would be able to stay in the same cabin... The Carnival representative told us we were Early Saver on both legs so we would be able to get price drops up until 2 days prior to sailing. Ok great:)! So I repeated it back to her to be sure we were Early Saver on both legs and would be able to get the price drops... Yes...

 

Then had another question later in the evening and called back. That representative told me we were not Early Saver... What??? I was just told that an hour ago... by*******. I suggested they go back and listen to the recording because it will all be on the recording. So, they said they will pull the recording and get back to me in 48 hours.

 

We are before final payment. So this morning I checked

http://www.carnival.com/bookingengine/fareviewer and put in my details to check.

 

Now they are showing a "No Snow" rate where you have free upgrades and can select your cabin cheaper than what we are paying. So I called and tried to get it applied. I was now told the "no snow" rate only applies to a 1A type.

 

So, I read her what the "no Snow" rate said... Free upgrades and select your own cabin. So that is incorrect??:/

The "no snow" rate is NOT for a 1A only. Where do these CSR come up with these things??? If you are in a 4G and a 4H is cheaper than yours because of the free upgrades then you are eligible.

[Galleon1234]

Not sure how this will play out... Very frustrated... I feel like there is a constant "bait and switch" going on... We are in a 4F.

Edited November 2, 2015 by shadow1234

[jdcml]

So, I read her what the "no Snow" rate said... Free upgrades and select your own cabin. So that is incorrect??:/

 

Well, it's correct so long as you want to select a 1A cabin :p

 

It is this type of thing that has me unlikely to book an ES next time. We got burned this time around because we had to switch our dates. We realized when we booked it was non-refundable and change fees applied, but when we booked we had no idea that would ever come up. I'm not complaining that we paid extra fees, that's all part of the ES process.

 

What got me this time around was that it seemed that EVERY sale was for a gtty category with no cabin selection, and selecting your cabin was many hundreds of dollars more. It doesn't take long for cabins to sell out with a very cheap gtty rate that the ES can't match to. There were no price drops after final payment that ES could match, but they had plenty of open cabins after that time until they sold them all out with cheap gtty rates.

 

With all the price drops people are mentioning, I'd be curious to know how many of them were actually after final payment where it matters...

[Galleon1234]

Yep... Frankly I am sick of all the constant gimmicks, all the sales, all the different stories from every rep you talk to... Is Carnival under a new regime?

[DeDe63]

We're still using ES and still hoping for a price drop!

But, we mostly sail out of Galveston,and have never

gotten a price drop out of this port.

 

It also seems most of the sales for us are for new bookings.

[Galleon1234]

We sail out of Galveston also. There used to be even good solo rates and those are now gone. We are pretty tired of the short and 7 day cruises with the same ports we have been to many times. So we like the long B2B cruises they have offered out of Galveston with many interesting ports. But after looking at their 2016/2017 schedule seems that those are over also... and not going to be offered:(.

Anyone know what is going on with Carnival?

[Sparky2]

Just booked one for a February cruise. Any good tips on how to not miss the price drops? I think I have CF set up... But any other tips are appreciated.

Thanks

 

We've had very good luck with ES for the last few years. A couple of time we received huge price drops.

 

For our January 2016 B2B that we booked on last January's cruise, we have not yet received any price drops. Darn.